Obama, in summation, is acting just like the abject puppet of the Wall Street derivatives
merchants and warmongers which we have argued him to be.

WASHINGTON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE: THE DERIVATIVES BLOC VS. THE
ANTI-DERIVATIVES BLOC

We are also told that Barky has been on the phone to foreign leaders about matters of
economic. Let us read the tea leaves: whom did Barky call? Here is the list: Australia, the
British, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mexico, and South Korea.
Notice now who is NOT on the list. Start with the great world powers who have been
snubbed: Russia and China, both of whom are bigger holders of US Treasury bonds than
most of those who are on the list. Saudi Arabia, who might have needed reassurance that
Barky is not a commie, are also snubbed. Forget ideology, and behold the ineptitude.
Most glaring of all is the lack of any phone call to a leading third world or developing
sector country, other than Mexico, which is a branch of NAFTA. No calls were made to
Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, India or a long list of other leading
states. Nobody in Africa, nobody in south Asia, and nobody in South America got a call.
Not even those who will be coming to the pseudo-Bretton Woods conference set for
Washington later this month. The best we can hope for regarding that conference is that it
end in a stalemate, dividing the world between a US-UK dominated derivatives bloc and
a Brazil-India-Russia-China-South Africa anti-derivatives bloc interested in real physical
commodity production, not fictitious capital.

The most obscene is Trilateral Commission bigwig Paul Adolf Volcker, the bringer of the 22%
prime rate of 1981 and the destroyer of the US industrial base. What is truly notable
about this list is that there is not one single labor leader. No Sweeney of the AFL-CIO, no
Hoffa of the Teamsters, no UAW, not even the unsavory Andy Stern of the SIEU. Note
the difference to the New Deal, when labor reps were indispensable. With Barky, only
derivatives monsters need apply. Also notable by their absence are leaders of women’s
groups, small business associations, the congressional black caucus, retirees groups like
the AARP – there is not even a token face representing any of these groups, all of which
have a vital interest in economic policy. Read the ill omens if you have eyes to see. The
Obama regime is shaping up as of the bankers, by the bankers, for the bankers. This is not
the FDR New Deal – this is the Mussolini fascist corporate state.

Another Daschle-Citibank retread is transition co-chair Tom Rouse, who was the chief of staff for Daschle when he was the weakest Democratic majority leader in recent memory, surrendering to Bush on point after point. Chief strategist remains David Axelrod of the corrupt Illinois Combine, who was taught his mindbending skills in the infamous “1313” Rockefeller-funded think tank at the University of Chicago.

BANKERS ONLY: NO VOICE FOR LABOR, RETIREES, SMALL BUSINESS,
WOMEN

Obama’s transitional council of economic advisers is also notable. The dominant figures here are all Wall Street derivatives merchants and their quackademic apologists and politician clients. The key people here are plutocrat Warren Buffet, Obama moneybags and Hyatt heiress Penny Pritzker, Goldman Sachs-Citibank alum Robert Rubin, woman-hating thug and failed Harvard president Larry Summers, Google spook Eric Schmidt,
and Roger Ferguson, the former vice president of the Federal Reserve board.

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I was waiting for Max to pass judgement on Obama– i know he said he wanted to wait a couple of months– so here it is. Obama is complicit in my opinion. He's Goldman Sachs' man. He's Wall Streets man. Remember Obama got 3 times the amount of contributions from Wall Street than McCain. This is unprecendeted for a one term senator. Why else was he given the support of these crooks– BECAUSE HE'S THEIR MAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE!! Just look at the cabinet- the same ol' crooks from the Clinton era, Bob Rubinites and Goldman cronies. Change? what change!? ……thats just my opinion.

Obama has likened the banksters to suicide bombers publicly, but seems to be using such rhetoric to make himself look like someone who ultimately has no control over whether those banksters detonate their bombs. In time, the public will become less and less sympathetic to such rhetoric. There is no doubt that he is caught between a rock and a hard place–the public realizes that and is willing to be patient–but for him to suggest that the only way to proceed is to turn the FDIC into a giant hedge fund and allow the criminals to gather 'round the ol' casino table again–risk-free–is ludicrous.

On the topic of looting pension funds, I just learned tonight that in February of 2008, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation altered its investment policy, and jacked up its investment in the stock market and real estate from 15-20% of its fund to 55%! The PBGC board consists of the Secretary of Treasury, Sec. of Labor, and Sec. of Commerce, so again, we have Paulson to thank for putting tens of millions of US pensions at risk.

Link to Boston Globe article about the PBGC: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/arti…

I read that and almost threw up.

Simon Johnson is right: it's uncomfortable for Americans to realize that our system is in many ways no different than an emerging market economy. Obama must change course and break the power of the oligarchs.