Bernie Sanders: I Think We're an Oligarchy and I Think It's Getting Worse
Sen. Bernie Sanders said something we don't hear often enough on cable news shows while talking to Dylan Ratigan about the amendments being considered on the Senate floor today on financial reform.
Sanders: Are we a democracy or are we an oligarchy where the very powerful special interests exert enormous influence over our government.
..I think we're an oligarchy and I think it's getting worse and I think we need to rally the American people...
The middle class in this country is collapsing. Poverty is increasing and the gap between the very rich and everybody else is growing wider. And what's happening with the banks is one of the reasons that that is occurring, so this is not esoteric. This is our standard of living. This is the survival of the middle class.
This interview was before -- no big surprise -- some of those amendments started going down in flames. Shocker right? More good news for the banks all around.
Republicans derail Merkley proposal to regulate banks:
A furious Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., accused Republicans Tuesday of blocking debate on a closely watched amendment that would insulate customers from conflicts of interest and prohibit banks from making risky but highly lucrative trades that helped trigger the recession.
Merkley's outburst came after Republicans objected to what Democrats thought was a routine request for the Senate to consider -- and later vote on -- the amendment he co-sponsored with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. That pattern had been followed for two weeks.
GOP Threats On Trading Amendment Endanger Financial Reform Package:
At the center of the latest showdown over financial reform legislation is a proposal to strengthen the Volcker rule, which would limit on risky trading on Wall Street. The amendment, which was scheduled for a vote by bipartisan agreement, is now being objected to by GOP leadership. But Progressive Dems say without a vote on their amendment, they may not allow the bill to proceed.
For his part, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) supports the measure, but is not inclined to put it in his manager's amendment in order to make sure it gets a vote.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) told reporters at a press conference this evening that the refusal by Republicans to allow a vote on the issue put the cloture vote in jeopardy. "There's a reasonable expectation...that our amendments would be brought to a vote," Levin said. "I'm not inclined to vote for cloture if we can't get a vote on this."
Dorgan 'Not Interested' In Voting For Too-Weak Financial Reform:
The Senate just voted 56-38 to table Sen. Byron Dorgan's amendment to the Wall Street reform bill that would have banned trading in naked credit default swaps, essentially eliminating a huge gambling market, wherein speculators bet on the success or failure of entities in which they have no financial interest.
That may complicate matters for Democratic leaders, who quite possibly just lost Dorgan's vote.
"I'm not very interested in moving a bill that doesn't address the central issue that I want to address," Dorgan told me a few minutes before his amendment was tabled. "But we'll see. We'll work tonight and see what happens."
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speaking truth to power. Or in the US Senate, more like Diogenes with his lamp, searching for an honest politician. Good luck with that, Bernie!
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
-- John F. Kennedy
We are barely a representative democracy anymore. It's only the few like Sanders that give me any hope of salvaging this system. We all need to support him and write letters and make phone calls in support of this issue.
Hopefully humanity will one day learn to be humane.
this reform..Call them on it and then shore up the Dems that are fighting the good fight...1.800.828.0498 or 1.866.220.0044!
... and if everybody sent him $1.00 (one for each family member), he would have $300 million to fight these crooks. This 'oligarchy' problem is something both right & left can agree upon, and Bernie is perfect because he is Independent and courageous enough to win.
Though I feel 'kleptocracy' is the correct definition over oligarchy, the most important thing Bernie touched on was giving states' power to cap usurious rates.... this should extend to all public utilities, water, insurance, etc., that customers are 'forced' to purchase in order to provide the basic food, clothing, & shelter, and should be either publicly owned or non-profit.
Even Germany said 'Nicht Mehr' and 'Genug!' to their kleptocratic sector this week:
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/2...
Mine too , the only one I trust and put faith in .
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
He stated it a little more kindly than I would. What I would call it is the death of the American dream. I never wanted to be rich. I just wanted to live comfortably and pay my bills. For the most part I have had most everything I ever really wanted. In the early 90s things got tight and have been getting worse since. 2000 was the time everything really started getting bad. At this point I wonder what my grandchildren are going to do.
republicans have really messed up everything!
I thought "plutocracy" better describes the cabal of bankers and other corporatists running the show. Maybe it's being picky but does anyone have a clear explanation of the difference?
as we both know the elite and wealthy run the show. multinational corporations and the elites that work for/with them don't really want the "free market"......they want a controlled market. subsidizes and entitlements in some respects represent a strategic co-dependency. if we had a real "free market" many issues would resolve...... NOT all mind you but many.
plutocracy is more accurate.
Oligarchy is government by the few, but who those few are is determined by a variety of factors: class, family, connections to power, etc. These variables change based on situation (for one, one oligarchy might be based on "royal bloodlines"/nepotism ... while another could be based on being born into a favored ethnic group or something like that). In any case, the determining factor for deciding who the "few" are varies, but the result remains the same: the few, chosen by whatever criteria, rule the many.
Plutocracy is a specific kind of oligarchy where the few are chosen based on one prerequisite: $$$. Essentially, if you are wealthy, you rule (or at least are able to if you want). You might be in the favored religious group in the society, but if you aren't wealthy, you don't rule.
The thing with the U.S. is that sometimes our politicians aren't exactly wealthy, but they are connected (and owned) by the wealthy. Without money, they couldn't get elected... So, our government is kind of a hybrid between oligarchy and plutocracy... Because, generally, most of the people calling the shots are "wealthy," but there are a few who aren't really "wealthy" but are part of that "wealthy"/Goldman Sachs country club class.... so, it starts to border on being an oligarchy at the same time.
Effectively, though, we're a plutocracy... because whether the politician is rich or not, the money behind him/her is ultimately what rules. Even in cases like the Christian Right or other groups that seemingly are untied to money, when you really look at the power that they have, it all comes down to campaign contributions and the almighty $. Votes do count, but money is what greases the wheels of government in this country.
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the "representative" part is symbolic.
whomever the wealthy owners have preselected for our consideration... xD
Times like this make me glad we decided not to have children.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Even if he couldn't spell "oligarchy."
In a miracle, but in typical Beck fashion, he came to the right conclusion, but with unrelated factoids pulled past the hemorrhoids.
Oh, and Glenn, it isn't 16 months of Obama, it's 30 years of Reagan, Bush Magnus, and Caligula "Little Boots" Bush (with Clinton no angel either); Oh, and throw in 8 years of Nixon, and you've got an oligarchy.
...known for deifying his horse while murdering anyone who not only didn't bow down, but simply disagreed.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
In my minds eye, I can see Caligula in that flight suit on the aircraft carrier. I can also see him toruring prisoners himself. I'm not sure about Bush torturing, but, I can definitely see Cheney getting a chubby while torturing.
'Man-sized' safe? Or Cheney's toy box?
but he sure enjoyed witnessing executions.
I bet Saddam's gun (his trillion dollar trophy) is a textbook definition of "fetish" for ol' chimpy. I wonder if Laura likes, or dislikes it?
"In a miracle, he came to the right conclusion, but in typical Beck fashion, with unrelated factoids pulled past the hemorrhoids."
My apologies for giving anyone the impression that Beck could ever come to 'the right conclusion' without miraculous help.
unknowingly slow one. And, obviously, as Bush #2.
...might turn into one of the journalists I trust. I have to observe for a while, though.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
Corpora-Fascism. The corporations now run the gov't. - they dictate the rules, they own the media and spew the propaganda to us peoons, and they have the cash that keeps the so-called 'lawmakers' in line with their wishes.
I think the difference is that an oligarchy could be run by a benign wealthy-ruling class; we have the militarism, racism, and classism
that lean more toward the fascist variety.
Whatever you call this mess - We the People are screwed.
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
corporations.
It traces back at least to the Reagan era, but soon politicians from both parties would seek to redesign governing, including adopting the push for "small government", and often deregulation. Ironically, this drive led them to create a bigger, far less transparent "shadow government" -- by steadily passing government work, cache -- and, crucially, power -- over to business interests. One result: the lines between business and government have blurred, making it hard to figure out who's in charge, or what an agency even is. Case in point: the MMS. Was MMS a government regulator or an arm of the industry? You be the judge of this description, from the Wall Street Journal.
It is supposed to be a watchdog that halts drilling when it spots unsafe behavior. But it is also supposed .... to generate government revenue from drilling on government lands.....Of MMS's fiscal 2010 budget of $342 million, nearly half comes from the oil industry....
It's this conflicted mandate the White House is trying to clear up, with the move this week to split those oversight and revenue functions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-keenan/em...
..and the weakening of labor unions(?) and was completed with the repeal of Glass-Steagall.
That organization is typical of governmental agencies - the BLM with gas & oil, National Forest Service with logging, etc. etc.
The Department of the Interior needs to be relieved of it's revenue collecting duties and focus solely on resource protection and preservation.
very good points. this is all part of the strategy to have asymmetrical power. they (the elites) downplay the "collective" as bad when in fact they use the collective for their strategies.
we are ruled by interest beary debt........usury. we are not ruled if you will by government but by financial institutions/financial powers that use interest bearing debt to control government(s), corporations and people. the chickens are coming to roost as we see what happens when we believe those that say bank regulations are a hinderance to the "free market". that's why this financial reform is very important to empower "we the people".
Let's (the Fed) stop lending money to big financial institutions at zero-interest so they can turn around and lend to main street at market rates or simply by bonds. That's a no-brainer!
exactly.........they go to the fed window at 0% and turn around and charge 4% or more. then we the people pay taxes to pay for that interest. we're based/enslaved with debt. like you and many of us have said, there's too much money in washington. i agree with you and the post above it's plutocracy. but i do feel there are people with more power than money but whatever. it's way way out of hand.
one example of the weakness in government is the revolving door between corporations/k-street and government. TOYOTA was a recent example. TOYOTA recruits people from public safety/transportation to smooze legislators.........for their quest to be number#1.
The American People better get on top of this issue like right now if you want your country intact.
I'm not sure what country Bernie Sanders thinks he lives in, but this is America, we are mostly a bunch of lazy morons who couldn't care less what their country does in their names.
Sure you can rally some of us, but the majority just don't give a shit. - Not sure what it takes to get this country moving, but I believe it will take quite a bit.
there will be barricades burning in the streets and Greece will seem like a cakewalk.
Nope! Sorry. no way man. I am not going to have my kids fed to the MIC just so you can make a point. What did they ever do? It's the baby boomers and Gen Xer's who created this mess - not them.
If we did reinstate the draft, it should be for 40-75 year-old white guys. Now, that might get some action. I can see "little dick' cheney running down to the army recruitment center, asking for a 6th deferrment. And "little chimpy" bush showing up with his dad - big grin on face, and saying "do you now who I am? Tell them daddy. I'm not going anywhere! Ahehehehe, ahehehehe...........,"
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
don't you know that MOLOCH demands sacrifice? The falling gods of speed and steel MUST be satiated!!!
I hate banks
I belong to no organized political party -- I am a Democrat.
--Will Rogers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTFASpNOpHw
http://real-economics.blogspot.com/2010/05/ka...
"One afternoon in late April, Karl Rove welcomed an elite group of conservative political operatives and moneymen into his home in Washington, D.C. Along with his protégé Ed Gillespie, who succeeded him as George W. Bush's top political adviser, Rove had gathered together the heavyweights of the GOP's fundraising network. In attendance were the political director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as the leaders of two new megadollar campaign groups loyal to Rove: American Crossroads and the American Action Network. Rove's plan was straightforward: to seize control of the party from Michael Steele, whose leadership of the Republican National Committee was imploding in the wake of a fundraiser at a lesbian bondage club. By building a war chest of unregulated campaign cash – an unprecedented $135 million to be raised by these three groups alone – Rove would be able to wage the midterm elections on his own terms: electing candidates loyal to the GOP's wealthiest donors and corporate patrons. With the media's attention diverted by the noisy revolt being waged by the Tea Party, the man known as "Bush's brain" was staging a stealthier but no less significant coup of the Republican Party."
"What they've cooked up is brilliant," says a prominent Democrat. "Evil, but brilliant."
in preventing States to impose usury laws. Usury laws have been on the books in one form or another in every country since the Middle Ages! ( I kid you not!)
Does anyone still has any doubt on which side is the US Senate?
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20020320a...
.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I don't see how it'll be conceivable for the Republiscums to win many seats in November if they keep bending over to the banksters like that.
This isn't just about the 'middle class'!! This is about our entire nation!
If the Corporate Megalomaniacs who've usurped our government aren't stopped, we will most assuredly witness the demise of our nation.
monolithic usury destroys the real "free market". i believe many religions were fundamentally against usury but sold out except islam. in my opinion this is part of the extreme christian republican doctrine and part of the divide and conquer. what does the church do? next to nothing.....they don't want to rock/jeopardize that tax exemption.
Mr. Oliver Garchy
white courtesy telephone please.
If the democrats don't take these issues and make campaign commercials out of them, they are fools. You-tube and the internet could destroy the GOP.
They would be in for another 2006, 2008 style whooping if the dumbocrats took it to them.
But that would require Mr. Bi-partisan to ditch his DLC republican-lite agenda, if he wants to use the bully pulpit effectively. But, I don't think Rahm will let him?
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
...he's only realizing this now??? The gap between the very wealthy and everyone else has been widening steadily ever since the 80's to the point that 50% of all the income in this country is going to the top 10% -- and if that statistic isn't enough to scare you, the last time that the country's wealthiest people received such a large percentage of the income was during the years immediately preceding the Great Depression.
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
I used to listen to him regularly on Thom Hartmann's "Brunch with Bernie" segment on Fridays for at least the past year or so.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
i agree he knows like many of us. we went off the gold standard and became the world currency reserve. the bond market rules the day. look what they did to greece. hedge funds don't necessarily cause the problem, but they make the problem worse. we don't own our republic. this was/is design by economics(neo-classical economics). these people/corporations have asymetrical power and consequently own our government/others. many have been told government is the problem....and many believed and still do....when in fact the contrarian thought is that the global elite/bankers are the culprits. there would be different outcomes/strategies/priorities if there was a true "free market". we are a debt based economy gone wild. so now the masters of usury are going abroad to spread the good news.
...it could very well be that the reason why he hasn't really said much about this in the mainstream news media -- at least, not to the best of my knowledge -- is because the message conflicts to some extent with the interests of the corporate-owned/corporate-operated mainstream news media. That being said, the fact that he's apparently being given the opportunity to bring this up now raises a very good question...why now, particularly? Chalking it up to the zeitgeist of frustration doesn't quite seem to cut it, since the mainstream media has chosen to focus their attention almost exclusively on right-wing frustration as embodied by the Tea Party.
Never trust anyone who insists that patriotism requires you to blindfold yourself with the flag.
He's right of course.
*
of a republican's face especially a republican of the extreme persuasion when you explain that corporations and global elite are part of the problem. yes, government is part of the problem but so are the corporations. it's too painful. it takes them away from the your either with us or against us. it brings them closer to the middle/moderate spectrum. the middle can represent more power/bipartisanship for the people which is not what the corporate world/bankers want......that would balance out/provide more fairness for the "free market".
talking about this for a very long time.
he was one of my sources for years. not too long ago he had a guest that wrote a book about there being too much money in washington.
Lets get rid of the Senate. How? Vote every incumbant out! Every last one.
than the rest of the body combined.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Bernie Sanders for dictator ! Compared to what we have I'd be comfortable with that and we'd all be better off .My mom is 85 , a while back she asked me out of the blue what I thought of Bernie Sanders , asked me if I'd ever heard of him . LOL . I told her that I thought he's the best man in DC , maybe the only honest one and a very smart guy , she is not into politics , too busy living the after life , but she really likes Sanders , Pop who is pushing 90 likes Obama , they do not like the Republicans to say the least . They are not normal , LOL , Christians , live in Northern Minnesota which is almost 100 % Republican , Limbaugh listening ... dairy farm country .Pop makes sure Obama's books are out on the coffee table when the neighbors and relatives ( Repugs all ) come to visit , he said they don't talk politics with him . LOL
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
Stories like this are what still give me a glimmer of hope for this country despite the rest of the shit all around.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
boy that was a refreshing interview! Thanks to Bernie Sanders and Dylan Rattigan.
We've been an oligarchy for a long time.
Flash Back to Shrub addressing his base, The haves and the have mores.
It sad to see so many Democrats are bought and paid for by the banksters. I guess most want to make nice so that when they either lose their senate seat or retire they will have a job as a future lobbyists for the banksters. Nader was right most of congress is bought and paid for.
The powers that be like it just as it is and are not about to outlaw the Corporate $ and lobbyists . Campaign finance reform is needed , it's the only thing that could turn things around but they will never let it happen ... just like they will never allow term limits , we tried that in Washington State and look what happened . Not by accident the entire system is broken / sabotaged , Supreme Court included , for we the people and for Democracy ... realistically it's looking real bleak . Just wait until the Repugs regain power and control again , that's not if but when .Beam me up and outta here Scotty !
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
Mojo Nixon will always be awesome. Nothing has changed since this song came out in 1986.
Anyone interested in sending a banker to Dante's Inferno for some hot treatment, you are welcome to it...
http://www.dantesdunktank.com/game/play/32f07...
It is my apparent belief that Bernie Sanders has been right on this subject for a while - a long while.
He runs for Federal office as an Independent because he's really a democratic socialist, which I have begun to favor for a few years now, and if only some of the American people would get behind Senator Sanders in his work, we may get a better country.
We must hold the feet of both the Senate and the banking industry to the fire, so we can get a better country.
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