Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Trump Team's Ties To Russia Face Sharper Scrutiny Amid New House Probe And Explosive Reports
HP | Jessica Schulberg , Sam Stein | 03/01/17

A series of bombshell revelations Wednesday night cast new light on Donald Trump's potential ties to the Russian government during the course of the presidential campaign and seem likely to escalate calls for a special prosecutor to investigate the matter.

The New York Times reported that intelligence officials working for the Obama administration had grown so concerned about the scope of Russia's meddling in the elections and the evidence of ties to Trump's operation that they began to leave a breadcrumb trail of clues for future investigators to follow. Among those data points that had them spooked were a series of meetings that affiliates of the Trump campaign and the Russian government allegedly held in European capitals ? meetings that the Trump White House has consistently denied ever took place.

About an hour later, The Washington Post published its report that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke twice last year with Russia's ambassador to the United States and failed to disclose it to lawmakers during his January confirmation hearing. Sessions had been a top surrogate for the Trump campaign and a senior member of the influential Senate Armed Services Committee. ... Read more

Stockman: "Trump Will Create A Debt Crisis Like Never Before"
ZeroHedge | author | 03/02/17

"Trump is so deep in fiscal la-la-land, he won't even find the wrong envelope... he is saying crazy things."

Stockman added that "...by the time we get to June or July, we are going to see a debt ceiling crisis like never before." "I think what people are missing is this date, March 15th 2017. That's the day that this debt ceiling holiday that Obama and Boehner put together right before the last election in October of 2015. That holiday expires. The debt ceiling will freeze in at $20 trillion. It will then be law. It will be a hard stop. The Treasury will have roughly $200 billion in cash. We are burning cash at a $75 billion a month rate. By summer, they will be out of cash. Then we will be in the mother of all debt ceiling crises. Everything will grind to a halt. I think we will have a government shutdown. There will not be Obama Care repeal and replace. There will be no tax cut. There will be no infrastructure stimulus. There will be just one giant fiscal bloodbath over a debt ceiling that has to be increased and no one wants to vote for." Read more
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Democrats On Donald Trump's Address To Congress: It Was 'Surreal'
HP | Laura Barron-Lopez , Michael McAuliff |03/01/17

"It was a surreal experience," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told The Huffington Post moments after Trump's address. "We have a reality show host in the White House masquerading as the president of the United States of America and half the country is still in complete shock."

For freshman Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a constitutional law professor who won election in November, it was unlike anything he's ever heard. "To me, it actually felt a little bit like The Hunger Games at points. There was something kind of dystopian, science fiction about the experience," he said. "I looked up and I saw [former House Speaker] Newt Gingrich and suddenly I felt that I was transported to a different world." ... Read more

Crony Capitalism at Work? Trump Adviser Carl Icahn Strong-Arms Ethanol Lobby to Save His Company Millions
TheIntercept | David Dayen | 03/02/17

that billionaire investor Carl Icahn has used his position as Donald Trump's deregulatory czar to strong-arm the ethanol lobby into agreeing to a change that will save one of Icahn's companies $200 million a year.

If so, this would be the most obvious example yet of crony capitalism in the Trump era.

Trump named Icahn as deregulatory czar in December, saying he would be "a leader in helping American entrepreneurs shed job-killing regulations that stifle economic growth." But because Icahn was a "special adviser" to the president with no formal White House position, the administration said he did not have to divest from any of his prodigious financial holdings. At the time, observers noted that Icahn would have a perfect opportunity to advise on deregulatory actions that would line his own pockets. Read more

Federal Officials Are Searching Caterpillar's Corporate Headquarters; Stock Plunges
ZeroHedge | author | 03/02/17

Federal officials have executed search warrants at three Caterpillar, Inc. facilities in the Tri-County Area -- including the corporate headquarters -- Thursday morning. Company officials confirmed the presence in a statement without specifying which agency was performing the search or what the search was in regard to. ... Read more

The Illusion Of Progress
ZeroHedge | author | 03/02/17

This is precisely what you'd expect of a self-serving elite that was desperate to cloak the unhappy reality that the relative few are benefiting immensely at the expense of the many. ... Read more
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