Of the Billionaires, For the Billionaires and By the Billionaires

100 Billion in Tax Cuts for the Nation's Wealthiest?

You'd never know it if you looked around but we're experiences the greatest bull run in the history of the stock market. Since 2009, Wall Street and the stock market have been achieving record breaking profits month-after-month, year-after-year.

As James Corbett (@corbettreport) points out,

For those keeping track at home, that's 3,453 days of uninterrupted gains as of last Wednesday.

...

The first thing you'll notice is how they play up the post-Lehman "recovery," justifying the record-breaking streak by touting the "skyrocketing" valuations of companies like Netflix and Amazon. But if you read in between the lines of that blather, you'll notice how they blithely admit that the markets were helped along by "unprecedented aid from the Federal Reserve." You don't say. As readers of this column will already know, the Fed's flood of funny money in the years after the Lehman collapse was directly responsible for 93% of the market's rise from 2008-2016. 93%!

US Markets Have Just Entered the Longest Bull Run in History

Tax Cuts for the 0.01%

It's been reported that the Trump administration is considering bypassing congress and using executive power to gift an obscene $100 billion tax break on capital gains to the wealthiest 0.01 percent of Americans.

In an interview with Bloomberg president Trump is reported to have remarked:

There are a lot of people that love it and some people that don’t, but I’m thinking about it very strongly.

Source

The remarks come on the heels of a national wage freeze on all federal employees.
In essence, there's no money for the middle class and working class Americans but plenty to spare for the country's wealthiest families.

Billions for Billionaires, is Anyone Surprised?

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, now president of the United States, with the richest cabinet ever assembled are preparing to hand over billions to their billionaire peers... seems about right.

When Trump entered the Whitehouse in January 2017, he filled his cabinet with a whole slew of former Goldman Sachs executives.

I wrote about the Goldman Sachs / Vampire Squid and the continuation of government last year in this post -

squid man.gif

V for Vampire Squid

During the presidential race Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was paid more than $250,000 dollars for a single speech by the Goldman brass which inevitably contributed to her failed campaign. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump said he could not be bought by Wall Street since he claimed to be self-funded.

However, despite pledging to 'Drain the Swamp' while campaigning for president, Donald Trump has filled his administration with Swamp Monsters including, but coming as no surprise, several prominent former officials from Goldman.

Steve Mnuchin US Treasury Secretary

Former executive at Goldman Sachs

Gary Cohn - National Economic Counsel

Former Chief Operating Officer at Goldman Sachs

James Donovan - US Deputy Treasury Secretary

Former managing director at Goldman Sachs

Stephen Bannon - White House Chief Strategist

Former executive at Goldman Sachs

Dina Powell - W.H. senior counselor for economic initiatives

Former Head of Impact Investing at Goldman Sachs

Jay Clayton - Chairman of the SEC

Former Goldman Sachs lawyer

Source: The Hill

Out in the Open Oligarchy

mashable.com

It certainly feels as if the mask is coming off. The reality that America is an oligarchic state is being revealed and the superficial facade of democracy is slowly being stripped away. We can argue semantics about whether the United States is an oligarchy, a plutocracy, a corporatocracy, a kakistocracy, a technocracy or what have you but the truth of the matter is that American democracy is in advanced decay.

In 2014, Princeton and Northwestern Universities published a stunning paper: Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups and Average Citizens concluding that only a few powerful actors, special interest groups and wealthy elites are able to influence US policy. Meaning, the average US citizen has absolutely zero sway over government and economic policy. The US system is completely dominated by a small percentile of the upper class.

US is an Oligarchy PDF LINK

Coke vs. Pepsi - More Cola or More Cola

The system is in a state of paralysis. Both political parties, the Republicans and Democrats, are controlled by their corporate masters and special interest groups.

The Vampire Squid continues to squeeze all levels of government for tax payer dollars and Wall Street representatives permeate the halls of government. Although this has been going on for decades, it's reaching a climax as corruption and greed run rampant.

If one can step back from partisan politics and look at the system with clear eyes it's possible to see the illusions put in place all around us. It matters not which leader is paraded around in front of us, we must learn to see the repeating patterns of this reoccurring nightmare. In this tornado of distraction we must see those that perpetuate the status quo. The players change but the game remains the same. The game is rigged. Continuity of government means more of the same no matter who's president.