by Lefty Coaster
America's most powerful new nobleman Charles G. Koch's has issued his instructions to his retainers in the Congress and the States, and to all of his bands of peasant inquisitors. Koch's instructions were relayed through the nobility's favorite broadsheet the Wall Street Journal.
Why Koch Industries Is Speaking Out MARCH 1, 2011
By CHARLES G. KOCH
Years of tremendous overspending by federal, state and local governments have brought us face-to-face with an economic crisis.
Charles resents that the government provides services that he and his companies have no need for, and wost of all that the government has the effrontery to expect him and his companies to help pay for those services.
For many years, I, my family and our company have contributed to a variety of intellectual and political causes working to solve these problems. Because of our activism, we've been vilified by various groups. Despite this criticism, we're determined to keep contributing and standing up for those politicians, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are taking these challenges seriously.
Yes he and his brother are determined to roll the clock of our government back 100 years, before socialist evils like the income tax, unions, and modern climate science. Walker is one of Charles' loyal retainers as Walker demonstrated when he was Punked.
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More from Charles
Even though it affects our business, as a matter of principle our company has been outspoken in defense of economic freedom. This country would be much better off if every company would do the same. Instead, we see far too many businesses that paint their tails white and run with the antelope.
This part is gratifying. Charles is admitting that pushing their libertarian politics so forcefully has made them unpopular and hurt business. He wants other corporate leaders to join him in his unpopular stands and take the heat off of Koch Industries.
moreUpdate 2 to add this
comment from Daily Kos:
The Koch Bros have quickly gone from
being invisible puppet masters of the right
to the target of every other protest sign.
The prank call was the tipping point - the offer of a trip to Cali for a really good time and Walker's outstanding reply.
That's some serious toothpaste that got out that can't be put back in the tube.
Updated to counter Koch's bogus attack on government and public employees:
by Andy Stern
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2. Wall Street Created the Fiscal Crisis, Not UnionsPublic workers, elected officials, unions, or others whom one might want to blame did not create today's fiscal crisis. An already weak and increasingly two-tier economy, dragged down by a 2000-10 jobless decade, globalization, and a lack of real wage growth for a generation, was sunk by greedy big banks and Wall Street. They, abetted by blind regulatory oversight, created irresponsible investment schemes.
When the fiscal tidal wave hit, American workers had exhausted their tools to maintain their standard of living—a second family income, second or third job, more hours worked, credit cards, a stock-market bubble before it burst, home refinancing, home-equity loans, student loans, and additional education. Most states, having used up many of their budget "gimmicks," also fell into a huge new hole, and are still digging out.
And here's a little-noted statistic: According to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, two-thirds of corporations in the state pay no taxes, and the share of corporate tax revenue funding state operations has fallen by half since 1981.
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5. The Assault on Workers' Rights Is a Republican Choice<...>
Well, consider this: More than 15 other states are facing Republican initiatives to change their teacher, state employee, and local government bargaining laws, or private sector right-to-work laws.
moreNYT:
Former Mortgage Officer Admits to FraudThe former treasurer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corporation, once one of the largest mortgage lenders in the country, admitted to helping run a $1.9 billion fraud scheme that was directed at the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program and contributed to the failure of Colonial Bank.
The former treasurer, Desiree Brown, 45, pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., to wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiring to commit bank fraud. She also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the trial of Lee Farkas, former chairman of Taylor, Bean, on April 4. Ms. Brown also settled civil charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the S.E.C. said.
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Until now, Mr. Farkas, 58, was the only person charged in what the government said was an extensive scheme to deceive financial firms and the Troubled Asset Relief Program by covering up shortfalls at Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, according to the S.E.C. Mr. Farkas was charged in a 16-count indictment in June and faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison, according to court papers.
Ms. Brown, of Hernando, Fla., faces up to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and an order to pay restitution to more than 250 victims. She is to be sentenced on June 10.
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William Greider:
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is better than its reviews but still very disappointing. Its 545-page report represents a powerful, fact-filled indictment of the financial system and the leading players and institutions that produced the national catastrophe. But there is one glaring omission—the massive fraud that occurred on Wall Street.
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For one example of the FCIC’s buried treasures, turn to page 165 and read about the true meaning of “due diligence.” In 2006–07, an auditing firm, Clayton Holdings, was hired to examine some 900,000 mortgages. It found that 255,000 (28 percent) were flawed and should not have been packaged as mortgage-backed securities. Clayton’s president delicately described the high deficiency rate as “a quality control issue.” But the banks went ahead and included nearly 100,000 of the dubious loans in new securities anyway, without informing the buyers. “They knew a significant percentage of the sampled loans did not meet their own underwriting standards or those of the originators,” the FCIC concluded. “Nonetheless, they sold those securities to investors. The Commission’s review of many prospectuses provided to investors found that this critical information was not disclosed.”
This smells like old-fashioned investor fraud. The biggest players were Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and three leading European banks. The FCIC observed that this sleight-of-hand occurred when the housing market began to collapse and banks were eager to dump their rotten assets. It has provided a wealth of material evidence for the growing flood of investor lawsuits. Even the Federal Reserve is suing financiers to recover on the bad assets it was sold.
Shouldn’t someone go to jail? Determining criminal intent is always difficult. Corporate law is a thicket of exemptions and clever distinctions designed to shield the big boys at the top. If the feds got serious, they would apply the same techniques used against Mafia dons. First “squeeze” lesser players down below—traders, salesmen, accountants—then “turn” them into government witnesses. Build a chain of evidence against those who knew the score and gave the orders. What did the titans know and when did they know it?
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