Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Richest 1 Percent To Own More Than Half Of The World's Wealth By 2016, Oxfam Finds
HP | Jade Walker | 01/19/15

The rich keep getting richer, and by next year, just a handful of the upper-class will have accumulated more than half of the world's wealth. A new report released on Monday by Oxfam warns that this deepening global inequality is unlike anything seen in recent years.

Using research from Credit Suisse and Forbes' annual billionaires list, the anti-poverty charity was able to determine that the richest 1 percent of the world's population currently controls 48 percent of the world's total wealth.

Drill down the numbers even more and you'll learn that the 80 wealthiest people in the world possess $1.9 trillion, which is almost the same amount shared by some 3.5 billion people at the bottom half of the world's income scale. Thirty-five of the lucky 80 were Americans with a combined wealth of $941 billion. Germany and Russia shared second place, with seven uber-rich individuals apiece. ... Read more

Republicans and Wall Street Say to Hell With Protecting the Public!
BillMoyers | Bill Moyers | 01/17/15

Since December, Congress has twice passed measures to weaken regulations in the Dodd-Frank financial law that are intended to reduce the risk of another financial meltdown.

In the last election cycle, Wall Street banks and financial interests spent over $1.2 billion on lobbying and campaign contributions, according to Americans for Financial Reform. Their spending strategy appears to be working. Just this week, the House passed further legislation that would delay by two years some key provisions of Dodd-Frank. "[Banks] want to be able to do things their way, and that's very dangerous." MIT economist Simon Johnson tells Bill.

"'Here we go again' -- I think that's exactly the motto, or the bumper sticker for this Congress. It's crazy, it's unconscionable, but that is the reality."... Read more

Obama To Propose Tax Hikes On Wealthy, Breaks For Middle Class
HP | Dave Jamieson | 01/17/15

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Barack Obama will lay out a plan to extend tax credits to the middle class by hiking taxes on wealthier Americans and big banks, according to senior administration officials.

Under the plan, the capital gains tax for couples with income over $500,000 per year would be raised from its current level of 23.8 percent up to 28. The plan would also strip a tax break, known as a "step-up," that allows heirs to avoid capital gains taxes on large inheritances.

In addition, the plan would institute a new tax on the biggest financial institutions, basing the fee on liabilities in order to discourage risky borrowing. The administration says the fee would hit the roughly 100 banks that have assets of $50 billion or more. ... Read more

Franc-ly Speaking: What If It Were All A Set Up?
ZeroHedge | author | 01/19/15

... I make that point because when I first thought about the Swiss National Bank's (SNB) declaration to rescind its commitment to the Euro peg, I wondered why when just mere days before they assured their commitment to it.

A decision of this scale and magnitude with all its disruption directly thrust upon its own business infrastructure (i.e. The immediate throwing of profits into the waste-heap via a new exchange rate.) there had to be a reason far more onerous to the SNB than previously imagined. And that's when my first thoughts went to thinking that maybe the SNB -- was set up. ... Read more

Saudi Arabia Constructing 600-Mile Wall To Keep Out ISIS
Newsweek | Damien Sharkov | 01/15/15

Saudi Arabia is building a 600-mile long wall along its northern border with Iraq in order to keep ISIS at bay, the Telegraph newspaper reported today. Once completed, the wall will consist of a ditch and a triple-layered steel fence, with 40 watchtowers spread out along it. Each watchtower will be equipped with high-tech surveillance radars that are capable of detecting low-flying helicopters and approaching vehicles, as well as being able to spot a human from the range of about 20km. ... Read more

It's Time for a Revolution: Bankrupt Policies, Historic Losses Call for New Generation of Leaders
AlterNet | Bill Curry | 01/18/15

It's always "Groundhog Day" for Democratic leaders who can't adjust, can't organize and can't win. Let's dump them.

As a wise man once said, never underestimate the capacity of an entire social order to commit suicide. The Democratic Party's old order is doing it now. It may seem strange but make no mistake, the Democrats' leaders are already unconscious. If they don't wake up soon, they'll go the way of the Whigs. If progressives don't wake up now, they'll go with them.

... Life is change and these Democrats never change. It's like watching "Groundhog Day" but without laughs, a love interest or a learning curve. Democrats in Congress ran the same race in 2014 they ran in 1994, lost badly, and then reelected all their leaders. Obama handled the budget this year the same way he does every year, with the same result. Hillary Clinton is poised to run the same awful race in 2016 she ran in 2008. ... Read more

Mitt Romney Has a Huge New Conflict-of-Interest Problem
MotherJones | David Corn | 01/16/15

... But there's another matter that will be be added to the pile of financial controversies for Romney to face: Solamere Capital, the $700 million private equity firm cofounded by his son Taggart that Romney has helped run since March 2013. Who has Romney been investing with, and what has he been investing in? These are questions that Romney 2016 will confront and that, no doubt, the firm will not want to answer. ...

... In the 2012 campaign, Romney was the candidate who defied transparency. (In one memorable moment, an irritated Ann Romney huffed that she and her husband had disclosed "all you people need to know.") ... Read more