Let's discuss what Matt Stoller says about Bernie

Thoughts?

All week Matt has been warning us about how bad this bill was going to be and he was right.

What Matt means:

$6 trillion at 0% interest means you can buy up America, the world really, and essentially rent it back out to the peasants at 2%, 4%, 10%, 20% by buying Treasuries, housing, real estate, MBSs, REITs, ETFs, stocks, natural resources, etc. etc..

How bad do we get screwed? Bigly.

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This article is really worth a read too.

Welcome to Sweatshop Amerika!

Imagine if the congress approved a measure to form a public-private partnership between the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve. Can you imagine that?

Now imagine if a totally captured congress panicky and ill-informed Congress gave the Fed a blank check to bail out all of its crooked crony corporate and Wall Street friends, allowing the Fed to provide more than $4.5 trillion to underwater corporations that ripped off Mom and Pop investors by selling them bonds that were used to goose their stock prices so fatcat CEOs could make off like bandits. Imagine if all that red ink from private actors was piled onto the national debt pushing long-term interest rates into the stratosphere while crushing small businesses, households and ordinary working people.

Now try to imagine the impact this would have on the nation’s future. Imagine if the Central Bank was given the green-light to devour the Treasury, control the country’s “purse strings”, and use nation’s taxing authority to shore up its trillions in ultra-risky leveraged bets, its opaque financially-engineered ponzi-instruments, and its massive speculative debts that have gone pear-shaped leaving a gaping black hole on its balance sheet?

Well, you won’t have to imagine this scenario for much longer, because the reality is nearly at hand. You see, the traitorous, dumbshit nincompoops in Congress are just a hairs-breadth away from abdicating congress’s crucial power of the purse, which is not only their greatest strength, but also allows the congress to reign in abuses of executive power by controlling the flow of funding. The power of the purse is the supreme power of government which is why the founders entrusted it to the people’s elected representatives in congress. Now these imbeciles are deciding whether to hand over that authority to a privately-owned banking cartel that has greatly expanded the chasm between rich and poor, incentivized destructive speculation on an industrial scale, and repeatedly inflated behemoth asset-price bubbles that have inevitably blown up sending stocks and the real economy into freefall. The idea of merging the Fed and the Treasury first appeared in its raw form in an article by former Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen in the Financial Times. Here’s a short excerpt from the piece:

“The Fed could ask Congress for the authority to buy limited amounts of investment-grade corporate debt… The Fed’s intervention could help restart that part of the corporate debt market, which is under significant stress. Such a programme would have to be carefully calibrated to minimize the credit risk taken by the Fed while still providing needed liquidity to an essential market.” (Financial Times)

But notice how Bernanke emphasizes how “Such a programme would have to be carefully calibrated to minimize the credit risk taken by the Fed”. Why do you think he said that?

He said it because he anticipates an arrangement where the new Treasury-Fed combo could buy up to “$4.5 trillion of corporate debt” (according to Marketwatch and BofA). And the way this will work, is the Fed will select the bonds that will be purchased and the credit risk will be heaped onto the US Treasury. Apparently Bernanke and Yellen think this is a “fair” arrangement, but others might differ on that point.

Keep in mind, that in the last week alone, investors pulled a record $107 billion out of corporate bonds which is a market which has been in a deep-freeze for nearly a month. The only activity is the steady surge of redemptions by frantic investors who want to get their money back before the listing ship heads for Davey Jones locker. This is the market that Bernanke wants the American people to bail out mainly because he doesn’t want to submerge the Fed’s balance sheet in red ink. He wants to find a sucker who will take the loss instead. That’s where Uncle Sam comes in, he’s the target of this subterfuge. This same theme pops up in a piece in the Wall Street Journal. Check it out:

This is the contempt these people have for you and me and everyone else who isn’t a part of their elitist gaggle of reprobates. Here’s a clip from another article at the WSJ that helps to show how the financial media is pushing this gigantic handout to corporate America:.

Fair use so read the rest yourselves to see how bad this is.

History does repeat itself.

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ICYMI my other essay on the bailout which Krystal and Saagar covered the day before.

Video h/t gulfgal and Azazello

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@on the cusp

All he had to do was table that bill for some public debate.

The fix was already in, and all that would have happened would have been everyone blaming Bernie for the delay in benefits.

Not that they didn't blame him anyway for the bill, but how do you not see what really went on here?

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2 users have voted.

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger @Not Henry Kissinger If the fix was in, what did he have to lose?
He has this movement going on. People just might have mobilized.
History is filled with warriors who courageously went into battle, knowing they would die.
You make a reasonable assumption he would have been blamed for withholding some pittance to the 99%.
I make the assumption he could have shamed the crooked ass senate and awakened the 99% into some action.
Anyway, you and I both know what assumptions make of us.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@on the cusp

History is filled with warriors who courageously went into battle, knowing they would die.

And what happens next? Everyone will suddenly rise up and overthrow the status quo in righteous fury?

It only works that way in the movies.

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1 user has voted.

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger

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1 user has voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@on the cusp

when you're not the one being martyred.

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1 user has voted.

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger

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2 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

janis b's picture

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TheOtherMaven's picture

is that at this moment Bernie is the only thing standing between us and a full-on fascist coup. If he bows out, is pushed out, or is forced out, it's game over and lights out.

I am not kidding. The Dim Establishment WANTS Bernie to go away so that they can replace ByeDone with another compliant Establishment stooge (probably Cuomo) who will take a dive in the general election and complete the solidification of the Uniparty against us all.

If Ratbag Stoller realizes this, he is complicit with the coup and a crypto-fascist himself.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

snoopydawg's picture

@TheOtherMaven

the bill has passed and the coup is complete. There might be more bills coming that will give people more help, but the Trillions given to corporations will not be rescinded.

But let's keep shooting the messenger.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

TheOtherMaven's picture

@snoopydawg

The other half is slamming shut the door on any hope of change, ever, without violent and bloody revolution. And if the Dims get away with pulling the shit they are obviously planning, that's next.

Bernie may not be much, but he's all we've got. And for him to be kneecapped by what is supposed to be his own side, is beyond disgusting.

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2 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

snoopydawg's picture

@TheOtherMaven

What I've gotten from some comments here is that no criticism of Bernie is allowed? Is this right? And because I do agree with some of what Matt says others are thinking about leaving the site? Don't. I'll be the one who leaves if people here think that others shouldn't state their opinions. Boy that didn't take long. I left DK because I couldn't speak my mind. Nice!

This is what I am getting from yours and other comments here. Bernie is doing his best and so I should just stfu and not say anything about him. Fine. I will wait to see what he does if the DNC does put Cuomo in over Biden and over Bernie.

This is what was just passed:

Now try to imagine the impact this would have on the nation’s future. Imagine if the Central Bank was given the green-light to devour the Treasury, control the country’s “purse strings”, and use nation’s taxing authority to shore up its trillions in ultra-risky leveraged bets, its opaque financially-engineered ponzi-instruments, and its massive speculative debts that have gone pear-shaped leaving a gaping black hole on its balance sheet?

Well, you won’t have to imagine this scenario for much longer, because the reality is nearly at hand. You see, the traitorous, dumbshit nincompoops in Congress are just a hairs-breadth away from abdicating congress’s crucial power of the purse, which is not only their greatest strength, but also allows the congress to reign in abuses of executive power by controlling the flow of funding. The power of the purse is the supreme power of government which is why the founders entrusted it to the people’s elected representatives in congress. Now these imbeciles are deciding whether to hand over that authority to a privately-owned banking cartel that has greatly expanded the chasm between rich and poor, incentivized destructive speculation on an industrial scale, and repeatedly inflated behemoth asset-price bubbles that have inevitably blown up sending stocks and the real economy into freefall.

Could this have been stopped? Maybe, but we will never know because Bernie didn't tell people how bad this was and tell people to call congress and try to get it stopped. We stopped Obama from passing his cat food commission because Bernie spoke out against it. AoC did, but only just before she voted on it. The rest of the progressive squad? Dunno...

I have posted mostly positive essays here on Bernie since the primary started and the one time I am disappointed that he didn't do more to derail this I get this response. Bernie is not the only one I am disappointed with of course. Every senate dem voted for it as did the progressives in the house. It is a done deal. It is the final nail in the coffin of the dead corpse of the USofA, but let's keep hoping that if Bernie gets elected he can roll it back.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXPjNLIJ3W4&list=TLPQMjkwMzIwMjDGJUu8VUi...

Corporations that got bailed out have a condition that they have to keep their workers on their payroll for 3 months. United has told people that they will be firing its workers in 3 months. This was before the house voted on it and Trump signed it.

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1 user has voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

CS in AZ's picture

@snoopydawg

You posted this essay titled “Let's discuss what Matt Stoller says about Bernie“

A discussion means everyone gets to say what they think, including if they happen to strongly disagree with what Matt Stoller says about Bernie.

If you meant instead “Let’s have a Bernie Roast where Everyone Must Throw Rocks at Him” then you should have titled it as such.

As I said yesterday, I’m not even a Bernie supporter, and have not been a big fan of him ever since 2016. But I find the general level of rage and cruel lashing out at him to be very disturbing. As well as totally off base.

For all the many things I have criticized him for, this is not one of them. This bill was going to pass, Bernie could not have stopped it, and him even trying to do so would have been politically suicidal in the current situation. Attacking him over it simply makes no sense to me. That’s what I think about what Matt Stoller said about Bernie. The topic of your essay.

No I’m not saying you shouldn’t post your views here or open the discussion. I’m just saying, if you invite a discussion then you should allow for varying thoughts and disagreement to be expressed too.

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snoopydawg's picture

@CS in AZ

A discussion means everyone gets to say what they think, including if they happen to strongly disagree with what Matt Stoller says about Bernie.

But it sure looks like people say that I am throwing Bernie under the bus for my opinion.

And for him to be kneecapped by what is supposed to be his own side, is beyond disgusting

How do you interpret that?

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2 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

CS in AZ's picture

@snoopydawg

Maven saying that she believes/feels that attacking (kneecapping) Bernie for the emergency rescue bill is wrong. The word disgusting I think suggests someone experiencing an intense internal pain/revulsion to a moral wrong: i.e., in this case, attacking a person who is actually doing his best to do the right thing. She clearly has a strong view on it, and is saying what she thinks, same as everyone else is doing.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

@CS in AZ

so that they can abandon the last remaining shreds of our allegedly-democratic candidate selection process and hand-pick their Designated Loser who will put up ineffectual opposition and give us a guaranteed four more years of Trump.

They're terrified of Bernie because he just might, against all the odds, win and stop their gravy train.

Bernie's clean as a whistle, no scandals, no nothing, so all they've got is sneak attacks based on how he's "not doing enough".

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2 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Alligator Ed's picture

Well, at least Stoller has performed the useful service of finally pointing out that Bernie, like Obama and Trump before him, doesn't walk on water. This will be met with the usual denial and refusal to see the truth among Bernie's fervent followers who think Bernie is The One to Light the Way. Stoller will join Michael Tracey in the small group of independent-minded lefties who will get plenty of incoming flak for their truth telling. But it needed to be said.

Amen.

According to Pluto, Stoller is embittered and a refugee from the Sanders campaign. Perhaps Stoller quit because he saw that Bernie is in actuality, a paper tiger. In 2016, I was embittered and angry because Bernie supported the Giant Rat of Chappaqua more vigorously than she Herself did.

I hereby, officially declare, for the 30th time on c99 that Bernie's campaign is dead and he is but a hollow shell of whatever integrity used to energize him. I bring a funeral wreath to his entombment, befitting his abilities as field general in his failed frontal assaults on the DNC. Bernie knowingly accepted their blank cartridges, which he ineffectually fired at and continues firing at the DNC.

Please accept my bouquet, Berniecrats. It is meant for your soon-to-be-dashed aspirations once again.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KV4vuZiJGo]

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