Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Secret Quarter-Billion-Dollar Koch Brothers Political Operation Revealed
AlterNet & Politico.com | Steven Rosenfeld | 09/12/13

Politico.com, the Washington insider website, has the money-in-politics scoop of the year: It has unmasked a previously unknown political money laundering operation, set up by the energy billionaires and libertarian Koch brothers, that raised $256 million and secretly spent almost all of it last year against Democrats.

"The group has about 200 donors, each paying at least $100,000 in annual dues," Politico reported, saying Freedom Partners would soon be filing papers with the IRS disclosing its existence. "It raised $256 million in the year after its creation in November 2011, the [IRS] document shows. And it made grants of $236 million--meaning a totally unknown group was the largest sugar daddy for conservative groups in the last election, second in total spending only to Karl Rove's American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, which together spent about $300 million." ... Read more

Underpaid 83-Year-Old Professor Died Trying to Make Ends Meet by Working Night Shift at Eat an' Save
AlterNet | Daniel Kovalik | 09/18/13

On Aug. 16, I received a call from a very upset Margaret Mary. She told me that she was under an incredible amount of stress. She was receiving radiation therapy for the cancer that had just returned to her, she was living nearly homeless because she could not afford the upkeep on her home ...

... Meanwhile, I called Adult Protective Services right after talking to Margaret Mary, and I explained the situation. I said that she had just been let go from her job as a professor at Duquesne, that she was given no severance or retirement benefits, and that the reason she was having trouble taking care of herself was because she was living in extreme poverty. The caseworker paused and asked with incredulity, "She was a professor?" I said yes. The case- worker was shocked; this was not the usual type of person for whom she was called in to help. ...

... As amazing as it sounds, Margaret Mary, a 25-year professor, was not making ends meet. Even during the best of times, when she was teaching three classes a semester and two during the summer, she was not even clearing $25,000 a year, and she received absolutely no health care benefits. Compare this to the salary of Duquesne's president, who makes more than $700,000 with full benefits. ... Read more

6 Things You Need to Know About the Woman Who May Soon Be the Most Powerful Economist on Earth
AlterNet | Lynn Stuart Parramore | 09/18/13

With Larry Summers knocked out of the running for Federal Reserve chair, attention has turned to Janet Yellen, considered his main rival for the job. So far, what most Americans know about her is that she is not Larry Summers, which is no small point. Summers is a crony capitalist with strong ties to Wall Street, a history of poor judgment and multiple conflicts of interest that make him uniquely unsuited to lead the Fed. That he will not should be a relief to all. But who is Yellen in her own right?

Druckenmiller Blasts "The Biggest Redistribution Of Wealth From The Poor To The Rich Ever"
ZeroHedge | author | 09/19/13

Reflecting on exactly what was said yesterday, Duquesne's Stanley Druckenmiller is initially perplexed as Bernanke explained 'financial conditions' - not interest rates - have prompted the decision to forestall any taper. His confusion is that financial conditions are actually slightly better than they were in June and "a stock market at an all-time high would suggest we don't have a problem with financial conditions." ...

... At 15:00 min, he explains how this is the biggest redistribution of wealth from the middle class and the poor to the rich ever - "who owns assets" he asks rhetorically... Read more

Druckenmiller Blasts "The Biggest Redistribution Of Wealth From The Poor To The Rich Ever" (short version) (09/19/13) [2:00]