I just heard the perfect example of why we're being hosed by both parties on another thread

[Armstead]

Penny Pritzger , a big time Obama backer and Sec. of Commerce Penny Pritzger talking to Chuck Todd on MSNBC from the gathering of the Elites in Davos.

Free Trade is wonderful. NAFTA was successful. TPP will be great.

"I was having lunch with Jamie Diamond and he told me..."

"All of the businesspeople we speak with tell us they want moee of these free trade deals because they want to export goods."

(No Penny, they want to export more jobs and escape those pesky regulations here in the US.)

The 1 Percenter Kool Aid is flowing freely in the halls of power, even with a Democratic president.

I guess ol' Jamie's opinion is more important than us measly leftist base average dopes. We don't know the real story.

Nothing new, but hearing the mentality that is driving this all and our President's policies is just infuriating.

The link to the video:
http://www.msnbc.com/the-daily-rundown

The other thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024382545

[djean111]

1. It will be interesting to see who drinks the Kool Aid.

[rhett o rick]

13. If you notice, those that disparage efforts to stop the TPP wont explain their stand.

Most go and hide when subjects like this come up, but some take pop-shots at the arguments against. They never have arguments for. I think they are Conservative Democrats and secretly support Wall F'n Street.

[JoeyT]

43. They're also the most fervent libertarian hunters.

Which is hilarious, because free trade is pure free-market horseshit and a central tenet of libertarian ideology.

ronpaul.com:

Ron Paul is a proponent of free trade and rejects protectionism, advocating “conducting open trade, travel, communication, and diplomacy with other nations.

Apparently libertarianism is only bad when you're advocating for privacy. When you're talking about economics, everyone can bring on the fucking tricorn hats, because libertarianism rocks.

[imthevicar]

48. At last...

Wisdom on DU!

[Scuba]

2. It's Jamie Dimon, but we get the point.

[NuclearDem]

3. It might as well be Diamond.

At least then it would complete the cartoonishly evil rich guy image.

[cui bono]

4. Blood Diamond. n/t

[Maedhros]

50. Can that be his nickname? Jamie "Blood" Dimon? It fits, n'est pas? [n/t]

[RVN VET]

53. Just call him "Blood"

I like it!

[Scuba]

5. Funny, 'cause I was fantasizing that this lunch was in a prison cafeteria.

I really need better fantasies.

[rhett o rick]

14. I think there is an app for "better fantasies". Just sayin'. nm

[Armstead]

6. Spelling of names was never my strong suit (I type fast here)

I try tio look them up first, but sometimes that interferes with the momentum of righteous indignation

[BelgianMadCow]

7. Of course, there's also the wonderful Bob Diamond

“There was a period of remorse and apology for banks—and I think that period needs to be over.”

That was what greedy banker Bob Diamond, the highest paid bank chief executive in Britain, told MPs on Tuesday.

He even moaned that people had accused him of “casino banking” whining, “It’s not pleasant for us.”

He refused to say whether he would give up his bonus of £9 million this year—but added that he thought it was “restrained”.

so the litlle slip-up is understandable. Evil has many faces.

[rhett o rick]

11. It's also Penny Pritzker but we get the point. nm

[Scuba]

12. Good catch!

[Armstead]

19. President Oboma

[1000words]

8. Good cop/Bad cop

Those who can't see it, don't want to see it.

[rhett o rick]

9. I prefer to call it Bad Cop, Worse Cop. nm

[Armstead]

10. I see it as Bad chief/worse cop

The problem is this mentality is at the root of the administration, and the pooh bahs of the Democratic Party.

If they're buying into people like Jamie Dimon as the source of all economic wisdom, that's what the policies are gonna be.

[liberal_at_heart]

15. Let's not have a Commerce Secretary that works with unions and small business owners.

No, we have to help poor helpless Jamie Dimon.

[imthevicar]

16. People Got Angry durning the GWB admin.

And voted for the Democrats in droves taking over the House and Senate. Then we got mad at the Democrats and voted for the GOP. Now we are Mad at the GOP again. Now when are we going to remember the definition of insanity?

[polichick]

27. One party; two faces. Yes, when will enough people stop acting insane?

[truedelphi]

17. Facebooks' "From the Other 98%" put up this terrific poster:

Last edited Fri Jan 24, 2014, 10:01 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=750757684935212&set=a.115969958413991.17486.114517875225866&type=1&theater

[Armstead]

18. This?

[truedelphi]

20. Yep that poster.

Thanks for uploading it here.

[KoKo]

24. All I can think of is Jamie Dimon's Raise and his Holiday Card of

his lovely family playing Racquet Ball all over their Furniture in their Millions of Dollars House or Penthouse in Manhattan.

It was "IN YOUR FACE" with them shoving it to us. They should have shown the "Finger" to the people they sent that card to...so it would be total wipe out.

[classykaren]

45. Did you see the response to this on facebook just read a few. Wow

[Armstead]

46. A comnbination of ignorant mean-spirited knuckleheads arguing with people who...

.,..actually understand the problem.

Sort of mirrors the country.

[truedelphi]

21. K and R this topic.

Back in the day, if something like this Davos Summit was happening, we would have intelligent discussion of the event. And we also would have an Ed Murrow examination via one of his films of what it means to be a nation where a damn 49 cents out of every dollar of profit is going directly into the coffers of the Four Biggest Banks in America, and from there into the pocket of the 85 richest people.

But since most Talking Heads are glitterati themselves, they are only to happy to drool with admiration while on camera over in Davos. And meanwhile, any thinking person knows it is these rich people at Davos that desire to fastrack the TPP. I guess really really stinking rich, is just not rich enough!

If instead of that drool, we were to see the little kids in Africa whose parents have been killed by the Stinger missiles our richest One Percent continually send over to the rebels of other nations, if we could see the effects on a family here in the USA after their home has been foreclosed, if we could see the teenagers who are sent to prison for years, on trumped up charges to help the executives in the Privatized Prison companies, if all those segments of human misery were portrayed on our TVs, rather than Justin Bieber, if that extreme human misery was demonstrated as being the source of the spectacle of luxury at Davos, then maybe we could trust that a better world is coming.

[arcane1]

25. Colin Quinn suggested they hold these summits in Haiti instead.

Then, instead of walking around Davos thinking "everything looks good" they would be thinking "it's not working, shut it down!"

[truedelphi]

55. That is one great idea. n/t

[KoKo]

26. I used to watch that Davos Stuff and find it interesting like the Aspen Fest

But, it really falls more flatevery year they do those extravaganzas of the Elites/Thinkers/Harvard Grads and Techies flaunting their wares along with Euro and American Capitalist Trash going there to get "Face Time" to attract the Investor Crowd.

What I read on financial sites is that they just Can't Understand why the Average American Investor isn't "COMING BACK" into the SCAM THAT SCAMMED THEM BEFORE!

They are going to be left in their Pods of 1% Until they realize they are just Scamming Themselves and their Own...because they can't SCAM the REST OF US...to Pick our Pockets any more!

We are done...they took what the could and left us with kids and family and the rest that we will be supporting the rest of our lives...while they laugh and preen and do their Wall Street Greed Movies so they can see themselves in their glory and laugh more about "US SUCKERS!"

It's truly disgusting...but, they will implode on their own. Not soon enough...but, eventually. They have become so INSULAR...they are INBRED..and that never has done well for Species to INBREED. Bad things come eventually.

Sorry...sound like a raver...but, they are just so OTT in their Flauting and Getting Off from their Criminality...it brings out the Rant/Hyperbole...

[davidthegnome]

44. Beautiful post.

Very much agreed.

[n2doc]

22. The billionaires think differently

For them it is all about the flow of money. So long as they get a cut they don't care about the direction.

[delrem]

23. To someone not in the 0.5% bubble she sounds like an airhead.

She also, when saying that she gives a damn about "income inequality", sounds like an airhead liar.

Chuck Todd... we all know where Chuck is at, don't we? He opens ".... billionaires... are talking peace, climate change, women's issues and finance, so where does the US fit into this fiscal discussion?" That isn't the most disgusting intro to the topic of all time, it's just Chuck Todd doing what he does. He's paid well by MSNBC, I hear.

Penny Pritzger... says everything that needs to be said about this US admin w.r.t. economic policy.

Please, DUers: name *one* thing different between Dem and Rep administrations in this regard. Now think about it and explain: what does this say about US democracy?

[2banon]

28. Thanks for this thread and to everyone else contributing intelligent analysis.

So refreshing to see here.

[Titonwan]

29. You go, Armstead

The only way to keep this ship on an even keel is to steer to the left. The reich wing only means to consolidate power to rich people. You know- whites with leisure wrote into their contracts. I have no envy of the land stolen- only sadness for ignoring nature. I still sing to my ancestors. How can any of you justify what's goin' on now, I'll never know. Thanks, Armstead.


Chickasaw

[Titonwan]

30. Nothing new, but hearing the mentality that is driving this all and our President's policies is just

I know how you feel. Until the remainder of us recognize we're two weeks from total devastation if a job ends, then nothing will get done. We are gettin' skinned and it's done so slow we barely feel it, anymore. How fuckin' sad is that, I ask ya.

[840high]

31. Frustratimg and beyond sad.

[truedelphi]

32. But

Cheer up! Word on the street is if we just give Obama his third term, THEN things will finally be changed around! It's that simple!

[Armstead]

34. We might see that with the administration of President Hillary Obama or President Barack Clintion

[CrispyQ]

33. I changed my party affiliation this year.

First time since 1976 that I am not a registered dem. I wrote to my three & told them they can no longer count on my straight dem party vote - they'll have to earn it.

Voting for the lesser of two evils has gotten me exactly what I was voting against in the first place.

[A Simple Game]

52. I know what you mean. Voting Dem is still driving down the same road that the Republicans are

driving on, you're going in the same direction the only difference is in the speedometer reading.

No more lesser of two evils. I have been unaffiliated for years, have not voted for a Republican in at least 20 years or a Democrat in about 10 years. I vote for the most liberal candidate available.

[TBF]

35. The way I look at it -

Global capitalists are pushing for TPP. It will be like NAFTA only worse - many more jobs shipped wherever it is cheapest to do the work.

What this means for America: lowered standard of living across the board because it forces wages down here

I've come to the conclusion that there are a couple ways to look at this. We can try to prevent TPP and slow them down. That's step one and may work for awhile. Second, we can think about what it means for labor worldwide. There are pockets of extreme poverty that will get more jobs and pull their standard of living up.

I dunno, I kind of like the idea of borders coming down for people and areas of extreme poverty getting a better lifestyle. But as a socialist I think the efforts have to be on organizing labor (not just here - everywhere). So, to me, the important thing is to keep the internet open. In order to organize we've got to be able to communicate.

The silver lining: If we can organize labor worldwide we have a shot at taking down capitalism - there are many more of us (workers) than them (the 1% globally who control most of the wealth).

So, if we fail at slowing TPP I think we just have to ramp up our worldwide organizational efforts to organize labor.

[snot]

36. I think we need to do all of the above --

with protection of the internet the highest priority, since if that fails, all other organized efforts may become much more difficult.

[Armstead]

38. Yup...Net Neutrality and TPP are among the issues that seem disconnected but are related.

[TBF]

40. Yes - agree completely. nt

[Armstead]

37. I'm not against capitalism...Just the form of Sociopathic Capitalism that's evolved

I guess I'm a Bernie Sanders Social Democrat. In the reality we live in, it will never go away. But we need strong counter-forces to keep the bastids honest.

Otherwise i agree with you. The only way to get some kind of balance is for the power to make these policies and economic systems come from the ground up.

A blue collar worker in Ohio has more in common with a sweatshop worker in India or china than they do with the Oligarchs and the rotten system of Global Corporatism that are oppressing both.

[TBF]

39. We largely agree -

I just go a step further with wanting the complete abolition of capitalism because I think it's inherently unequal and can't be controlled. With the caveat that I'm not statist - I don't see replacing it with a dictator as the answer. I'd like a more libertarian communism. But that is just theory and ideals. I do like Bernie and see a lot to work with there.

Almost anything going in a socialist direction is a far better answer for a greater number of people than what we have now (rule by the corporations and for the corporations).

[me b zola]

41. Eat ur peas

...this is clearly nine-dimensional chess.

[Armstead]

42. Sorry, I got lost at the 5th dimensional level

[WillyT]

47. K & R !!!

[Phlem]

49. K&R!

-p

[villager]

51. You weren't really hoping for change, were you?

I mean, it makes for great marketing, but you know, there's business to be done...

[Armstead]

54. I was open to varying amount of change....But something, anything

[MrSunNShineNYC]

56. To be a Democrat or Not a Democrat

I am left of the Democrat Party in my own idiosyncratic way. I face the temptation of not participating in the party because I don't like how they operate frequently and don't endorse my policies at other times. I see the hypocrisy of Democratic leaders but know that no one is immune to hypocrisy, except those caught in the bubble of "I".

I also realize the world isn't perfect, but have noticed a new focus on economic concerns in the Democratic party, led by a resurgence of unapologetic progressives like NYC Mayor De Blasio. I embrace that he is practical and believes a bigger and dramatic vision of the future can only be reached step by step, as attitudes change and people awaken to social realities they ignored or were obscured. Capitalism cannot be retooled in a day or even perhaps a generation.

My hope is to slowly leverage the party, evolve from the inside. History always bend to the more effective movements, so one sees how in under a decade the legalization of marijuana and gay marriage have become a growing piece of the Democratic agenda. In the past, my opinion is that progressive activism has been less open minded and more dismissive rather than strategic. I believe that is changing as we are building more bridges to all kinds of communities. These communities are finding out how we all agree and we are cutting through the noise of angry pontificators.

Right now, I would not fret, only realize that there is work to be done, and that the party needs to be recaptured by progressives. The unions of America used to form the economic policy of the party, but they are only a shell of their former power. This means that progressives have to unify, work together, build bridges and reclaim the initiative. The alternative is that the Democrats will sell out to campaign donors and the plutocracy will continue unchecked.