Disaster Capitalism: Millionaire Congress Slashes Disabled Benefits to Fund War

Lawrence Zeegen

The other day we were informed that Barack Obama secretly met with John Boehner and agreed to slash benefits for disabled Americans to fund more war.  From New York Times:

Excerpt:

Congress and White House Reach Tentative Budget Deal

WASHINGTON — After five years of bitter clashes, Republican congressional leaders and President Obama on Monday night appeared to settle their last budget fight by reaching a tentative deal that would modestly increase spending over the next two years, cut some social programs, and raise the federal borrowing limit.

The agreement would raise spending by $80 billion over two years, NOT INCLUDING a $32 BILLION INCREASE INCLUDED IN AN EMERGENCY WAR FUND. Those increases would be offset by CUTS in spending on Medicare and Social Security disability benefits, as well as savings or revenue from an array of other programs, INCLUDING SELLING OIL FROM THE NATION’S STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVES. 

The Medicare savings would come from cuts in payments to doctors and other health care providers….

Man, what kind of heartless bastards could do something like that? Obama and Boehner agreed on a budget that freezes increases for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to $40 billion per year and at the same time increased the off-the-books war slush fund by $32 billion.

Aides said that the Social Security Disability Insurance program would be amended, in part to tighten and STANDARDIZE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS that now vary by state. That change was projected to save the government $5 billion.

Hmmm, I wonder what it means to “standardize eligibility requirements” and how does that save $5 billion dollars?  From The Hill:

Excerpt:

GOP leaders and the White House are pushing structural reforms to Social Security and Medicare that would avert the double-digit increases expected next year for many beneficiaries in both programs while saving billions in other areas.

A key piece of the budget deal — and one of its costliest provisions — staves off a 52 percent premium hike that would have hit 8 million Medicare Part B enrollees next year. That fix, which is THE RESULT OF A GLITCH in federal benefits law, is estimated to cost nearly $8 billion.

The deal would also prevent a 20 percent across-the-board cut in Social Security disability benefits for 11 million people next year, which was the result of a quickly drying-up trust fund.

In addition to averting those increases, the deal would enact a series of changes to both the disability and Medicare programs — some of which could be tough for Democrats to stomach….

But one of the key pay-fors in the deal is the extension of the 2 percent cut in Medicare payments, which was first passed under the sequester…

“This would be the first significant reform to Social Security since 1983 and would result in $168 billion long-term savings,” the source said.

The GOP had particularly pushed for reforms to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which would see stronger penalties for those charged with fraud and abuse, stronger oversight and reporting requirements.

Whoa, just a minute.  What the hell is that?  This deal between Obama and Boehner “staves off a 52 percent premium hike that would have hit 8 million Medicare Part B enrollees next year” and prevents “a 20 percent across-the-board cut in Social Security disability benefits for 11 million people next year.”

Where did that 52 percent premium hike for 8 million seniors on Medicare Part B and the 20 percent across-the-board cuts in Social Security disability benefits for 11 million people come from?  Oh yeah, that was the deal Paul Ryan made with Patty Murray back in December 2013.  From Politichicks:

Excerpt:

VIRAL: Military Veteran Shoots Down Ryan-Murray Budget Bomb

December 20, retired Chief Master Sergeant Chuck Wooten posted a letter to Congressman Paul Ryan that has now gone viral. His letter was written in response to a year-end fundraising request from Ryan that, not surprisingly, struck a sour note. 

Right after Wooten and other American veterans had their benefits cut by the Murray-Ryan budget, Wooten was being hit up to contribute his now reduced income to support Ryan, the very man who spearheaded that reduction….

The Murray-Ryan budget boondoggle, passed by the Senate on December 18, partnered Democrats with establishment Republicans in shameful betrayal of the trust of our military veterans. The ‘deal’ cuts all veteran’s retirement benefits to 1% below inflation until veterans reach age 62, providing an approximately $6 billion budget cut, meanwhile increasing federal spending elsewhere….

Here’s how The Nation described the Ryan-Murray “deal” that was made between Democratic Senator Murray and Republican Representative Paul Ryan:

Excerpt:

A Cruel, Irresponsible and Dysfunctional Budget Deal

Budget negotiators are patting themselves on the back. But what they've agreed to is a lousy deal for jobless workers, federal employees, military personnel and the economy….

Murray and Ryan are excited that they had stopped fighting for long enough to agree to $63 billion in “sequester relief” – as opposed to an actual end to sequestration – and $23 billion in net deficit reduction. 

They're also glad that they have set the discretionary spending level for fiscal year 2014 at $1.012 trillion, while setting the level at $1.014 trillion for fiscal year 2015. That apparently qualifies – in the eyes of the budget negotiators – as a sufficient alternative to lurching from crisis to crisis.

But the agreement does not address the crises that matter. “This plan won't create jobs, get the economy back on track, or meaningfully cut the deficit,” explains Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon.

And that's not the worst of it.

What of the 1.3 million jobless Americans who – with a fully Dickensian twist – now stand to lose Federal unemployment benefits three days after Christmas?...

The budget agreement does not look like a “step in the right direction” for them. And unless Democrats succeed in renewing benefits in a distinct piece of legislation that apparently must pass this week – as Congress is moving rapidly toward recess – many of the most economically vulnerable Americans will be “lurching from crisis to crisis” very soon.

Their crisis is our crisis. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, extending benefits for the long-term unemployed would boost a still slow economy by two-tenths of a percent in the coming year – creating 200,000 needed jobs.

As the CBO explains: “Recipients of the additional benefits would increase their spending on consumer goods and services. That increase in aggregate demand would encourage businesses to boost production and hire more workers than they otherwise would, particularly given the expected slack in the capital and labor markets.”

Without providing for the extension, something that easily and appropriately could have been done in the budget agreement, Ryan and Murray failed in their most basic humanitarian and economic duties.

And what of the federal workers and members of the military who will be required to take what is effectively a pay cut in order to pay more for their retirement benefits?

“Federal workers have sacrificed over $113 billion for deficit reduction since 2011, including a three-year pay freeze and increased pension contributions for newly hired employees. 

This figure does not include the up to eight furlough days caused by sequestration this summer and a 16-day shutdown in October which resulted in financial hardship and profound anxiety for half the government’s workforce and their families,” noted unions that represent federal employees. “Given these contributions, we are dismayed to learn that increasing the pension contributions and/or changing the retirement formula for current federal employees is on the table. This is simply unacceptable.”

Members of House and Senate who are paid $174,000 annually, collect generous benefits and – thanks to redistricting and an incumbent-rewarding campaign finance system – enjoy no small measure of job security…

Crews break up homeless camp in Silicon Valley

That was the grand bargain cut by Paul Ryan and Patty Murray that has led to the current “budget ceiling” crisis.  Hey assholes, I have an idea why don’t you take that $34 billion dollar increase to the “emergency war fund” and shore up Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security.

The “debt ceiling” scam is just part of what Naomi Klein calls the Shock Doctrine, Disaster Capitalism.

“The Shock Doctrine” is Klein’s ambitious look at the economic history of the last 50 years and the rise of free-market fundamentalism around the world. “Disaster capitalism,” as she calls it, is a violent system that sometimes requires terror to do its job.

And what could be more terrorizing than having your Social Security Disability cut by 20% and having your Medicare Part B insurance premiums rise 52 percent?  That’s the Shock Doctrine American Style, baby.

Isn’t it amazing that our millionaire congress is lavishing another $34 billion into their off-the-books “emergency war” fund when the Pentagon can’t account for $8.5 trillion dollars.   From Global Research:

Excerpt:

Report Reveals $8.5 Trillion Missing From Pentagon Budget

Yahoo Money’ The Daily Ticker  quoting a Reuters investigation that reveals that $8.5 trillion – that’s trillion with a “T” – in taxpayer money doled out by Congress to the Pentagon since 1996 that has never been accounted for….

While Republican politicians rush to slash food stamps for the 47 million Americans living in poverty – the highest amount in nearly two decades –  Republican U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has the audacity to complain that $20 billion dollars in automatic sequester cuts to the massive and secretive $565.8 billion Defense Department budget are “ too steep, too deep, and too abrupt,” all while the Pentagon and the Defense Department are overseeing massive fraud, waste, and abuse…

In an interview, Linda Woodford, an employee at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service – the Pentagon’s main accounting agency – reveals to Reuters that she spent the last 15 years of her career simply “plugging in” false numbers every month to balance the books;

Where's the select committee on waste, fraud and abuse.  When will Ms. Woodford testify under oath for 11 hours before a select committee?

“A lot of times there were issues of numbers being inaccurate. We didn’t have the detail … for a lot of it.”

In the REAL WORLD, that would be called MASSIVE FRAUD.

Woodford’s involvement in the fraud doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. The report also reveals that “a single DFAS office in Columbus, Ohio, MADE AT LEAST $1.59 TRILLION – YES, TRILLION – IN ERRORS, including $538 billion in plugs, in financial reports for the Air Force in 2009.”

God, who are these elected “public servants” in the House and Senate?  From Open Secrets:

Excerpt:

For the first time in history, most members of Congress are millionaires, according to a new analysis of personal financial disclosure data by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Of 534 current members of Congress, at least 268 had an average net worth of $1 million or more in 2012, according to disclosures filed last year by all members of Congress and candidates. The median net worth for the 530 current lawmakers who were in Congress as of the May filing deadline was $1,008,767 — an increase from the previous year when it was $966,000…

Members of Congress have long been far wealthier than the typical American, but the fact that now a majority of members — albeit just a hair over 50 percent — are millionaires represents a watershed moment at a time when lawmakers are debating issues like unemployment benefits, food stamps and the minimum wage, which affect people with far fewer resources ….

Really?  I mean, really? 

“Despite the fact that polls show how dissatisfied Americans are with Congress overall…. in our electoral system, candidates need access to wealth to run financially viable campaigns, and the most successful fundraisers are politicians who swim in those circles to begin with.”

I think George W. Bush summed up our politicians’ loyalty to their “constituents” when he said at a fundraiser, “these are my people, the haves and the have more’s. 

Lo and Behold as I was writing this post, Roll Call just came out with their latest tally of congressional wealth, and here’s a little tid bit from the article that caught my attention.

Excerpt:

The median net worth among all 535 members is more than five times that for all U.S. households, $81,400 in 2013. Half the senators and 140 House members are paper millionaires, but just 5 percent of all adults are, in the estimate of Credit Suisse Research.

And the richest 50 lawmakers were worth at least $7.3 million at the start of the year. The current threshold for being a member of “the one percent” is a net worth of about $7.9 million, according to the most recent Federal Reserve study of census data….

There are several real estate success stories, trial lawyers, oil and gas entrepreneurs and online innovators among the 50 richest. But it’s the car business that’s produced the most members on the list: five auto dealership magnates and the former CEO of a parts manufacturer.

Gee, wasn’t the Obama/Biden  2014 campaign slogan “Bin laden is dead GM is alive?”

The only Democrat among the auto millionaires, Rep. Don Beyer Jr., the onetime Volvo kingpin of Northern Virginia, is also the only Democrat among the six Hill freshmen who joined the 50 richest based on their net worth as candidates in 2014.

The Republicans are Sen. David Perdue of Georgia (a corporate turnaround expert), Rep. Dave Trott of Michigan (home foreclosures), Rep. Tom MacArthur of New Jersey (insurance claims processing), Rep. Rod Blum of Iowa (software development) and Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter of Georgia (a chain of pharmacies).

My, my my.  New members of the “people’s house” truly do represent the people.  How did that Disaster Capitalism work out for the American people?  From The Guardian:

Excerpt:

Disaster capitalism is a permanent state of life for too many Americans

By Steven W Thrasher

In the United States, disaster has become our most common mode of life. Proof that our daily existence was something other than a simmering, smoldering disaster has been historically held somewhat at bay by the myth that hard work equals some kind of subsistence living. For the more deluded amongst us, this ‘American dream’ even got us to believe we could be something called ‘middle class’. We were deceived.

For those not yet woke, I don’t see how y’all can stay asleep when story after story proves how screwed we are.

The New York Post, no bastion of bleeding heart liberalism, reported on Monday that “Hundreds of full-time city workers are homeless”. These are people who clean our trash and make our city, the heart of American capitalism, safe and livable, including for those who plunder the globe from Wall Street. 

These are men and women, living in shelters and out of their cars, who have government jobs – the kind of workers CONSERVATIVES LOVE TO PAINT AS GREEDY, GLUTTONOUS PIGS.

When a full time government worker can’t “find four walls and a roof to call his own” in the city he serves, we are living in a perpetual state of disaster capitalism….

This, too, is perpetual disaster capitalism, creating havoc and inflicting disaster upon individual souls for corporate greed without even needing the pretense of a crisis for an excuse.

So what happened to Senator Patty Murray and Rep. Paul Ryan?  Where are they today?  Well Paul’s going to be the next Speaker of the House, just so long as it doesn’t interfere with his family time.  Isn’t that touching?  From Salon:

Except:

“I cannot and will not give up my family time,” Ryan told reporters following the House GOP meeting.

That statement set off a firestorm of criticism, from the left and right.

As the heir-apparent to Speaker Boehner, Paul Ryan made his need for work-life balance clear. As the father of three children, he’s right—Americans work too hard, for too long, and for too little (and inequitable) pay.

Every weekend, Paul Ryan, who’s worth an estimated $7.7 million, flies home to Wisconsin to care for his three children. That’s admirable, and a huge luxury that most Americans could only ever dream of. 

Unfortunately, Ryan has also been at the forefront of a conservative policy movement to deny Americans who lack that luxury the same privilege, particularly through vicious cuts to SNAP, Medicare, and Social Security.

And, Senator Patty Murray?  She’s up for reelection and surprise, surprise, she’s likely to easily win her 5^th term.  President Obama is in Washington State to make sure Patty is rewarded for the great “deal” she made, for the rich it’s been a gift that keeps on giving.   

Excerpt

SEATTLE (AP) — President Barack Obama is looking toward the 2016 elections, stumping for Democratic Sen. Patty Murray with a fundraiser in her home state.

The seat is considered a safe one for Democrats. But Murray is leaving nothing to chance, particularly after her narrow victory with just 52 percent of the vote in 2010, her closest Senate contest yet.

Obama describes the four-term senator as a lawmaker who gets things done without a lot of drama and fuss…

Yep, Patty Murray is “the lawmaker who gets things done”, no drama, no fuss, no heart, no soul.  She’s the whole package alright.

In the article from The Hill, entitled GOP Eying Social Security Reforms, I was taken back by this quote:

“The White House, every Democrat running for president, and every Democrat in Congress should make clear that any deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits would be unacceptable policy — and politically, would be wildly unpopular with voters,” Adam Green, co-founder of the progressive group, wrote in a statement late Monday.

Hey Adam, fat chance.  Everything congress has done since 2000 has been “wildly unpopular with voters.”  Why isn’t your progressive group picketing the Patty Murray reelection campaign?

This is disaster capitalism, a millionaire congress cuts everything necessary to sustain life in order to fund the violent destruction of life across the world.  Kind of like killing two birds with one stone.

By Patricia Baeten

As Canada Makes Left Turn, America Threatens Nuclear Holocaust

Are these neoconservatives and neoliberals that have taken over the American government nuts?  Last night Canadians came out in force and dumped the war mongering conservative Stephen Harper and elected the liberal Justin Trudeau as the new Prime Minister.  Canada’s 10-year nightmare has ended, and hopefully Trudeau can salvage what’s left of that once great nation.  This headline from Harper Watch says it all:

Excerpt:

THANK YOU TO ALL CANADIANS WHO VOTED TO HEAVE STEVE! WE DID IT!

Now we can get down to the serious work of repairing this wonderful country of ours and stay engaged in the process so that we NEVER allow fascism to take root here again!

Thank you Canada!  There’s definitely a liberal change in the air from Australia to Britain to Canada.  We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.  But America is still in the throes of insanity and the neocons who have taken over the Pentagon and the State Department are willing to get us all killed rather than let go of power. 

In spite of the dire warnings from all sides of the political spectrum of the consequences of courting nuclear disaster, the lunatics who have seized power are trying to provoke an incident with Russia.  Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, who served in the Reagan Administration had this to say:

Excerpt:

Will The Crazed Neocons Bring Us Nuclear Winter? — Paul Craig Roberts

As readers know, I have emphasized that the declared neoconservative intention of achieving global hegemony has resurrected the threat of nuclear armageddon as Russia and China are most definitely not going to submit, as every European country, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Columbia, and Japan have submitted, to being Washington’s vassals.

The president of Russia and the president of China have made this completely clear.

If the arrogance, ignorance and incompetence of the Western political systems permit the continuation of the crazed, totally unrealistic, neoconservative agenda, the planet will die…

What the neocons have done is to throw away every treaty and violate every agreement that had the world on the path to nuclear disarmament. These evil persons have caused massive moderization of Soviet and Chinese nuclear forces. There is no prospect whatsoever of American hegemony over the world…

The damned neoconservatives have destroyed seven countries, and the bastards and bitches walk around free!

Their two-bit, dumbshit punk media spokespersons ask, “What’s the good of nuclear weapons if you can’t use them?”

Indeed.  To show just how insane these people are and the lengths they will go to in order to remove the elected President of Syria, Bashar Assad, they are supplying arms to terrorists.  

Excerpt:

US Weapons Drops Arming Unvetted Syrian Rebel Factions

Pentagon Insists Rebels Don't Need to Be Vetted

Say what??  Pentagon insists rebels don’t need to be vetted?  That’s insane.

Past US programs of smuggling arms into Syria for “vetted” rebel factions have mostly failed, and left a lot of weapons in the hands of Islamist factions like ISIS and al-Qaeda. Incredibly, with the return to throwing arms at Syria’s Civil War, the US is moving away from the vetting part.

Pentagon officials are conceding that this week’s airdrops of weapons and ammunition to rebels in northeast Syria are going to wholly unvetted forces, saying it is a “moot point” since the rebels are meant to be fighting ISIS, and not the Syrian government.

The problem here is pretty clear, because one of the big reasons for vetting was to try to keep US weaponry out of the hands of factions that might give them to terrorist groups…

Pentagon officials are refusing to talk about the “restrictions” on these arms drops, but did say that they “ask” the factions to use them to fight ISIS, and apparently that’s tantamount to a full-fledged vetting process these days.

So the vetting process for the Pentagon is basically making them pinky swear not to give the arms to the terrorists.  And what about the General that was in charge of training “moderate” terrorists to fight in Syria?  $500 million to train 5 guys, has that guy been fired yet?  From New York Times:

Excerpt:

New Role for General After Failure of Syria Rebel Plan

WASHINGTON — The Army general in charge of the Pentagon’s failed $500 million program to train and equip Syrian rebels is leaving his job in the next few weeks, but is likely to be promoted and assigned a senior counterterrorism position here, American officials said on Monday.

The officer, Maj. Gen. Michael K. Nagata, is stepping down as commander of American Special Operations forces in the Middle East, which made him responsible for the training program that ultimately produced only a few dozen fighters. That was a far cry from the 15,000 fighters that the program was going to train over a three-year period when it was formally started in December.

Who the hell is making these decisions?  The Pentagon is missing $8.5 trillion dollars and still congress is giving even more taxpayer cash to the Pentagon while slashing Social Security benefits and increasing Medicare premiums by 52%.  From Forbes:

Excerpt:

No Social Security Benefits Or Tax Hike For 2016, But Medicare Premiums Could Soar For Some

The Social Security Administration today made official what everyone already knew: thanks to falling energy prices, the nation’ s 65 million Social Security recipients won’t be getting a cost of living increase for 2016, the first year they’ve gotten no boost since 2011.  And since the law provides that when benefits don’t go up the maximum wage on which Social Security tax is imposed can’t rise either, it will remain at $118,500….

But a big and unsettling unknown remains for about 30% of Medicare recipients, who could face premium increases of as much as 52%, even as 70% of Medicare beneficiaries will have their premiums held to the same $104.90 per person a month they paid in 2015….

Among those who aren’t protected are high income seniors—defined as singles with a modified adjusted gross income of $85,000 or more and couples with an AGI of $170,000 or more. They pay a graduated high income premium surcharge.  Under the July actuary’s predictions, the monthly premium for a single with an AGI of $85,000 would jump from $146.90 to $223 while the premium for a single with AGI of $214,000 or more would go from $335.70 to $509.80. A wealthy senior couple could pay as much as $12,235 a year in Part B Medicare Premiums in 2016, up from $8,056 in 2015.

Along with the well off, the unlucky 30% also includes anyone who didn’t have Medicare premiums taken out of his or her Social Security check in 2015. That category includes some federal and other government retirees who don’t get Social Security and seniors who weren’t receiving Social Security benefits in 2015 because they were waiting until a later age to claim them…

In one particularly cruel irony, a single retiree with an AGI of BELOW $85,000 first claiming Social Security benefits in 2016 will pay a Medicare premium of $159.30 a month, compared to the $104.90 paid by someone who started receiving benefits in 2015 or earlier.

That’s right, Barack Obama made a deal with Paul Ryan and Patty Murry to cut your Social Security benefits and charge 52% more for Medicare Part B because you had not yet reached the age of 65 when you would be eligible for Medicare.  Make no mistake this was Joe Biden and Barack Obama who made this decision.  From Washington Blog: 

Excerpt:

If, as expected, U.S. President Barack Obama will, for the first time in his Presidency, be given by the nation’s voters two Republican-controlled houses of Congress, he’ll finally be able to sign into law bills that are as conservative as he wants; and one of these new laws will transform Social Security…

Back in 2009, he came into office wanting to address the long-term financial issue of Social Security not by removing the annual earnings-cap of around $100,000 that pertained (and above which income was/is untaxed for Social Security, so that this change alone could solve the problem), but instead by reducing retirement benefits to seniors: cutting the benefits they receive…

President Obama’s plan to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, predated his becoming President…  Everyone had simply assumed that no Democrat would want to weaken or reduce the crowning achievements of Democratic Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson, not to mention of the Democratic Party itself.

Yep, I always said that Obama is not a Democrat, he’s a Reagan Republican.  America has been devastated under “Democrats” like Barack Obama and Joe Biden, willing to work with Republicans to destroy Social Security, Medicare and all the programs that Democrats like Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson fought hard to enact. 

The election of Justin Trudeau in Canada changes the equation.  No longer is Stephen Harper there to offer unlimited Canadian financial and military support to overthrow the elected governments in Ukraine and Syria.  From Reuters:

Excerpt:

New PM Trudeau to Obama: Canada's Islamic State combat mission to end

Canada's Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau, who came from behind to trounce his Conservative rivals and snatch a majority mandate, now has to deliver on pledges from tackling climate change to legalizing marijuana.

Trudeau, who had also promised to withdraw Canada from combat in the coalition fight against Islamic State, said he told U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday that Canada will pull out of the bombing mission but maintain humanitarian aid and training.

The White House had earlier said it hopes the new Canadian government will continue to support the efforts of the U.S.-led coalition to fight Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

"He understands the commitment I've made around ending the combat mission," Trudeau told reporters.

Trudeau, who campaigned on a promise of change, toppled Stephen Harper's Conservatives on Monday, giving him the freedom to start implementing his campaign pledges largely unimpeded.

He struck a chord with Canadians weary of nine years of Conservative rule. Harper resigned as party leader after the defeat.

The 43-year-old son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau swept to victory with 39.5 percent of the popular vote in an election that saw the highest voter turnout since 1993.

The Liberal leader will have to quickly start delivering on his promises to change policy, beginning with a U.N. climate change summit in Paris in December.

Trudeau plans to double spending on infrastructure to jump-start anemic growth. In addition, his Liberals plan to begin working on legalizing marijuana "right away," Trudeau said during the campaign. He has said marijuana laws could be changed within the first two years of his government.

So the cool kids’ clique that was formed by the conservative leaders in America, Britain and Canada to bully the world into endless war has ended.  The people have spoken and we feel betrayed, abused and broken by these conservatives.  We’ve been robbed of dignity, treasure and our heritage.  So, so long to Harper and his ilk, Obama and Biden’s only allies remaining are the beheaders and human rights abusers they claim to be fighting against.

By Patricia Baeten

 

Sunday Morning Coming Down: American Empire Abandoned as World Coalesces With Russia

Oh breakups are so messy.  When control of the American government was seized by a confluence of neoconservatives and neoliberals in 2000, Bush declared “You are either with us or you are against us.”  Either you clear the way for American hegemony or we’ll bomb you back to the Stone Age. 

Since 2000 the various conservative think tanks in Washington, drunk with power have been on binge of hegemony in the Middle East and Eurasia.  The European Union like an abused wife trapped in a loveless marriage has finally had enough.  The choice is stark, break free and swim for the surface or you will drown with your abuser.  Russia has provided a “Battered Wife” safe house and the European nations are flocking to the safety Russia has offered.  For America the drunken binge is over, it’s Sunday Morning Coming Down.

In July, 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin banned the NGO National Endowment for Democracies from Russia after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia for “human rights abuses”.  From The Guardian:

Excerpt:

The National Endowment for Democracy, a Washington-based nonprofit funded largely by the US Congress, has become the first group to be banned in Russia under a law against “undesirable” international nongovernmental organisations.

According to its website, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is “dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world” and has funded local non-governmental organisations in more than 90 countries. But in a statement on Tuesday, the prosecutor general’s office said it “poses a threat to the constitutional order of the Russian Federation and the defensive capability and security of the government”.

“Using Russian commercial and noncommercial organisations under its control, the National Endowment for Democracy participated in work to declare the results of election campaigns illegitimate, organise political actions intended to influence decisions made by the authorities, and discredit service in Russia’s armed forces,” the statement said.

Of course America’s boilerplate response was Putin is trying to quash dissent.  From Fiscal Times:

Excerpt:

The National Endowment for Democracy, a U.S.-based non-profit that promotes the spread of democratic government worldwide, is the first victim of a new law in Russia that allows the country’s prosecutor general to declare foreign entities “undesirable organizations” and bar them from operating in the country….

The decision appears to be the first use of the new authority granted to the Prosecutor General earlier this year, and which appears to be another effort by the government of President Vladimir Putin aimed at stifling dissent.

Though structured as an independent organization with a board of directors made up of private citizens, NED it is widely seen an arm of the United States government, receiving almost all of its funding from congressional appropriations. And while its board members are not current government employees, many have had considerable careers in the government prior to joining.

A grant-making organization, NED has provided millions of dollars in financial support to civil society groups in Russia, some of which have challenged official state policies. The decision makes it illegal for Russian citizens to interact with the organization, on pain of fines or prison time…..

…. when a group is designated as undesirable, “all its assets in Russia must be frozen, offices closed and distribution of any of its information materials must be banned. If the ban is violated, both the personnel of the outlawed group and Russian citizens who cooperate with them face punishments of heavy fines, or even prison terms in case of repeated or aggravated offence.”

My, my, my.  Who to believe Putin or the NED?  Let’s take a look at some of the previous handiwork of the NED spreading democracy.  How about their democracy spreading work in Egypt and Syria.  From Global Research:

Excerpt:

National Endowment for Democracies Broke U.S. Laws by Funding Terrorists in Egypt and Syria

What's that you say?  The National Endowment for Democracies broke U.S. Laws funding terrorists in Egypt and Syria?  Hmmm,

Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, interviews, and public records reveal Washington’s “democracy assistance” may have violated Egyptian law, which prohibits foreign political funding.

It may also have broken US government regulations that ban the use of taxpayers’ money to fund foreign politicians, or finance subversive activities that target democratically elected governments.

Washington’s democracy assistance programme for the Middle East is filtered through a pyramid of agencies within the State Department. Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars is channeled through the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), USAID, as well as the Washington-based, quasi-governmental organisation the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)….

A main conduit for channeling the State Department’s democracy funds to Egypt has been the National Endowment for Democracy. Federal documents show NED, which in 2011 was authorised an annual budget of $118m by Congress, funneled at least $120,000 over several years to an exiled Egyptian police officer who has for years incited violence in his native country.

This appears to be in direct contradiction to its Congressional mandate, which clearly states NED is to engage only in “peaceful” political change overseas.

Oh, dear.  Are you saying the “non-profit” NED was given $118 million in American taxpayer money in 2011 to spread democracy in Syria and Egypt by congress?  Isn’t 2011 when congress passed the Budget Control Act? From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

  

Excerpt:

The Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 imposed caps on discretionary programs that will reduce their funding by more than $1 trillion over the ten years from 2012 through 2021….

Broadly speaking, for 2013 the across-the-board cuts will mean about an 8.4 percent cut in most affected non-defense discretionary programs, a 7.5 percent cut in affected defense programs, an 8.0 percent cut in affected mandatory programs other than Medicare, and a 2.0 percent cut in Medicare provider payments. 

For 2014 through 2021, the Medicare cut will remain at 2 percent while the percentage cuts in other programs will gradually shrink. 

Well I’m sure the American people don’t mind cutting VA Benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, Social Security and all so that the National Endowment For Democracies can “spread democracy” in Egypt and Syria.  So let’s see what the American people got for their money from the NED:

Colonel Omar Afifi Soliman – who served in Egypt’s elite investigative police unit, notorious for human rights abuses – began receiving NED funds in 2008 for at least four years.

During that time he and his followers targeted Mubarak’s government, and Soliman later followed the same tactics against the military rulers who briefly replaced him. Most recently Soliman set his sights on Morsi’s government.

Soliman, who has refugee status in the US, was sentenced in absentia last year for five years imprisonment by a Cairo court for his role in inciting violence in 2011 against the embassies of Israel and Saudi Arabia, two US allies.

He also used social media to encourage violent attacks against Egyptian officials, according to court documents and a review of his social media posts.

US Internal Revenue Service documents reveal that NED paid tens of thousands of dollars to Soliman through an organisation he created called Hukuk Al-Nas (People’s Rights), based in Falls Church, Virginia. Federal forms SHOW HE IS THE ONLY EMPLOYEE.

Former Egyptian police colonel Omar Afifi works from his command center in his apartment in Falls Church, Va.

After he was awarded a 2008 human rights fellowship at NED and moved to the US, Soliman received a second $50,000 NED grant in 2009 for Hukuk Al-Nas. In 2010, he received $60,000 and another $10,000 in 2011.

Well, sounds like this Soliman guy doesn't have to worry about living on Social Security or relying on Wall Street profit drive Obama Care for his medical needs.  Why old Soliman must be grateful to the NED for this largess he received for his “2008 human rights fellowship at NED” being a wanted man in Cairo and all.

In an interview with the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley, Soliman reluctantly admitted he received US government funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, but complained it wasn’t enough. “It is like $2000 or $2,500 a month,” he said. “Do you think this is too much? Obama wants to give us peanuts. We will not accept that.”

NED has removed public access to its Egyptian grant recipients in 2011 and 2012 from its website. NED officials didn’t respond to repeated interview requests….

US taxpayer money has also been sent to groups set up by some of Egypt’s richest people, raising questions about waste in the democracy programme.

Well, well, well.  So Americans on Social Security Disability will have their benefits cut by 20%  in 2016 as part of the “agreement between the Obama Administration and congress” to give Soliman $2,000 to $2,500 per month which he calls “peanuts.”   And, that’s not all, the lawless Obama Administration also has broken an American law called the Leahy Amendment by arming terrorists in Syria to overthrow the elected government.  From InformationClearing House:

Excerpt:

Enacted in 1997, the so-called Leahy Amendment, named after its author Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., makes it illegal for the U.S. to arm or train foreign militaries credibly accused of human rights violations. While the law hasn’t stopped all U.S. support for atrocities, it is an eminently reasonable measure that now the Obama administration wants to do away with.

The president claims the arms will only be delivered to “vetted” rebel groups, avoiding the hundreds of other rebel factions said by United Nations investigators to have committed war crimes. But it’s virtually impossible to funnel weapons into a chaotic civil war without them getting into the wrong hands.

Milton Bearden, a 30-year CIA veteran who oversaw the $3 billion covert program to arm the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviets told Foreign Policy that the Obama administration should beware. “If you [arm the rebels], don’t try to convince yourself that you’re in control,” he said…

This makes it difficult for the Obama administration to abide by the spirit of the Leahy Law, given that many of Syria’s rebel groups have engaged in torture, extra-judicial killings, and mutilation of the dead. The leading rebel groups have close ties to al-Qaeda groups….

The U.S. has a long history of supporting extreme brutality, even genocide, through unsavory proxy militias. And now, as the Obama administration is increasing its support for fighters in places like Syria, Honduras and Nigeria, Washington is looking to revive that storied pastime.

When they say the “The U.S. has a long history of supporting extreme brutality, even genocide, through unsavory proxy militias” I assume that “storied history” goes back to 1983 when Reagan’s National Endowment for Democracies was started.

But there’s trouble in Paradise, the EU has sobered up and now Putin has provided a way out of this endless American made nightmare.  Unfortunately the American government and the NED is addicted and the only hope for America is an intervention, tough love.  And that tough love is now being imposed by Vladimir Putin.  From PaulCraig Roberts:

Excerpt:

A Decisive Shift In The Power Balance Has Occurred — Paul Craig Roberts

The world is beginning to realize that a seachange in world affairs occured on September 28 when President Putin of Russia stated in his UN speech that Russia can no longer tolerate Washington’s vicious, stupid, and failed policies that have unleashed chaos, which is engulfing the Middle East and now Europe. Two days later, Russia took over the military situation in Syria and began the destruction of the Islamic State forces.

Perhaps among Obama’s advisors there are a few who are not drowning in hubris and can understand this seachange. Sputnik news reports that some high-level security advisors to Obama have advised him to withdraw US military forces from Syria and give up his plan to overthrow Assad.

They advised Obama to cooperate with Russia in order to stop the refugee flow that is overwhelming Washington’s vassals in Europe. The influx of unwanted peoples is making Europeans aware of the high cost of enabling US foreign policy. Advisors have told Obama that the idiocy of the neoconservatives’ policies threaten Washington’s empire in Europe….

If you are an advisor to Obama and you are sane, there’s no chance that he will listen, especially with self-declared Zionist Joe Biden and John Kerry pushing for more arms to be given to “moderate rebel” terrorists.

The neoconservatives’ plan for a UN no-fly zone over Syria in order to push out the Russians is a pipedream. No such resolution will come out of the UN. Indeed, the Russians have already established a de facto no-fly zone.

Putin, without issuing any verbal threats or engaging in any name-calling, has decisively shifted the power balance, and the world knows it.

Washington’s response consists of name-calling, bluster and more lies, some of which is echoed by some of Washington’s ever more doubtful vassals. The only effect is to demonstrate Washington’s impotence.

If Obama has any sense, he will dismiss from his government the neoconservative morons who have squandered Washington’s power, and he will focus instead on holding on to Europe by working with Russia to destroy, rather than to sponsor, the terrorism in the Middle East that is overwhelming Europe with refugees.

If Obama cannot admit a mistake, the United States will continue to lose credibility and prestige around the world.

Well Dr. Roberts therein lies the problem, Obama’s ego will not allow him to admit a mistake and he’ll take America down with him.  Obama’s America is drunk with power and has gone on a binge from which he has yet to wake up.  When the sun comes up, the drunk is going to find his battered wife, European Union has fled to Putin’s safe house, and now it’s Sunday Morning coming down.

By Patricia Baeten