Community | September 18, 2011 | 77 comments

What Do You Have That The Top One Percent Wants?

source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP6B380YvSA&feature=player_embedded

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77 comments // What Do You Have That The Top One Percent Wants? // Video

  • DDJohnAdams
    • 0
      DDJohnAdams  

    • IN SIMPLEST TERMS: WHY THE US WAS DOWNGRADED

      U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
      Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
      New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
      National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
      Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000

      Let's remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:
      Annual family income: $21,700
      Money the family spent: $38,200
      New debt on the credit card: $16,500
      Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
      Total budget cuts: $385

      If you're not outraged you're not paying attention!
      (OR you are a radical progressive)

    • 1 year ago
  • DDJohnAdams
  • DDJohnAdams
    • -5
      DDJohnAdams  

    • The folks who are getting the free stuff, don't like the folks who are paying for the free stuff, because the folks who are paying for the free stuff, can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff,
      And, the folks who are paying for the free stuff,
      want the free stuff to stop. And the folks who are getting the free stuff, want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting!
      Now,
      the people who are forcing the people who pay for the free stuff, have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff, that the people who are PAYING for the free stuff, are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.
      So...
      the people who are GETTING the free stuff, have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff, by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff, and giving them the free stuff in the first place.
      We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.
      Now understand this. All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded. The reason?
      The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.
      The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 231 years ago. The number of people now
      getting free stuff outnumber the people paying for the free stuff. We have one chance to change that in 2012.
      Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

      A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!

    • 1 year ago
  • PressCore
  • CalgarC
    • +1
      CalgarC  

    • they want it all... if they can grind our bones to make piano keys and and use our meat to make dog food they would...

    • 1 year ago
  • Warren_Merrill
  • Argon18
  • wolfess
  • Warren_Merrill
  • Argon18
    • +5
      Argon18  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      Isn't it a bit hypocritical to start worry about credibilty now when you never have before? You can get the same kind of credibilty from Bill O'Reilly as he shows in this video.

      http://video.foxnews.com/v/1168810312001/raising-revenue-by-punishing-achievemen...

      That's the best reason I've heard so far to pass Obama's tax plan, if Bill ever intended to quit over it, I'm certain a lot of people that have to work for him would have him packed and out the door in minutes, since they are the ones that put in all the "sweat" to know the true meaning of being "oppressed" so his corporation can take the profits to "achieve" There are plenty of other talking head to replace Bill that are easier to work for.

      I bet it would be a great incentive to many in Congress to be persuaded to go along with passing the bill, just for the chance that O'Reilly would quit and they wouldn't have to hear him anymore.

    • 1 year ago
  • Warren_Merrill
    • -2
      Warren_Merrill  
    • Argon18:

      Didn't Obama say just a few months ago taxes shouldn't be raised during a recession? Either he was lying, he deceived the American public or he is saying the recession is over and it is now his economy. And if we are not in a recession anymore we do not need a stimulus package. Pick one. From every angle Obama looks bad.

    • 1 year ago
  • DDJohnAdams
    • 0
      DDJohnAdams  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      Wow, the hypocrisy is amazing Warren. The truth hurts.
      I posted a video of Obama saying "everyone knows you
      cannot raise taxes during a recession." I'm sure that got
      negative votes too.
      HYPOCRISY LIVES HERE!

    • 1 year ago
  • remanns
  • Mark701
    • +7
      Mark701  

    • http://1.th

      I will say with 100% certainty, that any attempt by our corporate overlords to touch social security will result in a serious revolution. It's all we have left AND we've paid into it our entire lives. IT'S OUR MONEY NOT THEIRS!!

      Consider:
      1)They took our homes when the housing bubble popped.
      2)They lost TRILLIONs from our retirement funds
      3)They continue to ship our jobs overseas.
      4)They privatized health care and made the cost of health insurance prohibitive
      5)They took OUR money, bailed themselves out, and left Main Street to rot. 6)The Fed lent tens of TRILLIONS of dollars to foreign countries, "that we the people" are responsible to pay off if any of them default.

      These are the people that want to get hold of your Social Security!! My mind reels at the thought. It's like trusting a crack addict to manage your money.

      The video indicated they want this money to pay off their bills. However, I believe there's more to it than that. Privatizing SS allows them to set up retirement accounts much like 401Ks. Now, if you know anything about 401Ks, with the exception of the Vanguard Fund, they're all set up to pay the account managers far more than the account ever pays you. This will allow them to pocket trillions more of your money while trickling down whats left. WORSE YET is that they will raise the required payments to privatized Social Security just like they did health insurance, the result being that many people will NEVER be able to retire without being plunged into poverty.

      There's one more aspect of this scam that keeps rolling around in my head. Like many state pension funds, the US government invests SS payments to keep the fund solvent. The advantage is that government investments are generally quite conservative and the lions share of the profits get put back into the fund. If trillions in SS funds suddenly become available for the financial houses to play with, there is NOTHING to prevent them from loaning out the money on risky investments just as they did before the housing bubble popped. Even if a laws were introduced to prevent this, banks and investments firms would spend years, decades if necessary to get the law overturned. It's how these people work.

      Always remember that Wall Street doesn't lose THEIR money, they lose YOUR money.

    • 1 year ago
  • telcod
    • +4
      telcod  
    • Mark701:

      Good one brother. Nice summation. And I look forward to the day when the marker over the mass graves of corporate overlords and their political whores, reads, "This time they went too far."

    • 1 year ago
  • entropyincarnate
    • +2
      entropyincarnate [removed]  
    • Mark701:

      How does one revolt when everything is under surveillance and the police force is controlled by those with money? A question best answered privately methinks. Furthermore, what if this revolution is exactly what they want in order to justify more security and surveillance. It's a very sticky situation indeed. Plus, not everyone lives in a place where you can revolt very well. There are some places where they take you in and use rubber batons on you, so as to leave no marks!

      Love or Hate the GOP, they are prepared for this I think, and some may even want it. I have no solutions mind you, I'm simply giving my input. Thank you for your informative post. I was simply addressing your first part dealing with "revolution". Again, great post.

    • 1 year ago
  • Mark701
    • +3
      Mark701  
    • entropyincarnate:

      If there's one thing the GOP doesn't understand, it's human nature. They acknowledge certain aspects of human nature like fear, violence, and greed but can't seem to fathom that if you push someone too far, you'll get pushed back, hard, possibly by millions of people. It's happened hundreds of times in recorded history including our own in 1776. Unless there are changes I see revolution as a 100% possibility surveillance be damned. Besides, they're already watching us. But no matter how much surveillance there is, if millions are in the streets it won't do them much good.

    • 1 year ago
  • entropyincarnate
  • remanns
  • entropyincarnate
    • +3
      entropyincarnate [removed]  
    • Mark701:

      Respectfully, this is an over-simplistic analyses Mark. I empathize with your frustration though. You have to understand something, there is a very large "zombie" population who are sitting cozily right now watching the "same old same old". There are too many who don't care imo, so many who are no longer connected to reality in fact. So, when they actually do wake up, they'll have become too weak to fight. Just enough of them bought off, and just enough of them who don't care.

      I look forward to talking more about this but am busy. I found one of our citizens I was referring to though.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rO2HZKyazw

    • 1 year ago
  • wolfess
  • entropyincarnate
  • DavidYates
    • +4
      DavidYates  

    • "What Do You Have That The Top One Percent Wants?"
      They'll grind our bones to make their bread...oh, and our gold fillings, you know, those that aren't already in Swiss banks from WW2.

    • 1 year ago
  • BrushwithDeathToothpaste
  • telcod
  • Frosty46
    • +3
      Frosty46  

    • Why are Republicans traitors to America?
      Why do Republicans lie about almost everything that spews from their mouths?
      Why do we not kill off the fungus called Republican?

    • 1 year ago
  • entropyincarnate
    • +3
      entropyincarnate [removed]  
    • Frosty46:

      "Why do we not kill off the fungus called Republican?"

      Because they have more money and have thoroughly infiltrated the intelligence community. When the hippies were preaching love and peace the GOP was doing the aforementioned. Liberals failed to understand Hamlet. Hamlet wasn't a love story, it was a "revenge tragedy". Most know it's not a love story too, I'm simply using it as an example because the story is so broadly applicable.

      Furthermore calling your opponent a traitor and proposing to kill them off like a "fungus" only emboldens them in fact. I'm not saying it isn't a war, I'm saying one must be less direct in waging this war.

      There is also another way to look at your post. You could be a republican. But let me be clear, I'm not saying you are, I'm simply trying to make a point that I hope others will have the imagination to understand. There is a reason we don't use "drummer boys" on the battle field anymore.

      Lastly, I'm not trying to pigeonhole all liberals or conservatives either, these are generalizations.

    • 1 year ago
  • telcod
  • telcod
    • +2
      telcod  
    • entropyincarnate:

      Generalize away, friend, and throw in some judgements as well. People deserve to be generalized when they act like herds of sheep. And without judgements we will end up with no standards.

    • 1 year ago
  • entropyincarnate
  • VoyagerFilms
  • notonmywatch59
  • letsliveinpeace
  • gypsysailor
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • telcod
  • Warren_Merrill
  • kayopunk
  • CalgarC
  • rossmick
    • 0
      rossmick  

    • Why aren't the D’s running out front with this info? I just don't understand why they just set there and never take the lead and attack the R's head on. How can they lose, history has shown that they who fool with reducing or killing SS do not get re-elected?

    • 1 year ago
  • telcod
  • entropyincarnate
  • CalgarC
  • Argon18
    • +8
      Argon18  
    • Image

    • What The Top One Percent Wants, the GOP candidates will do their best to get for them, because they depend on them for their livelihood.

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/17/gop-candidates-social-security_n_967810...

      "Most of the top Republicans running for president are embracing plans to partially privatize Social Security, reviving a contentious issue that fizzled under President George W. Bush after Democrats relentlessly attacked it.

      As President Barack Obama sidesteps ways to keep the retirement system viable, his would-be rivals are keen on letting younger workers divert part of their payroll taxes into some type of personal account to be invested separately from Social Security."

      That would expose SS to the same kind of risk that the housing market had when it went through a financial meltdown.

    • 1 year ago
  • telcod
    • +2
      telcod  
    • Argon18:

      And remember (I know it hurts) that had Bush succeeded, it would have been right before the crash of 2008 and investors and retirees would have lost 40%. And we still haven't got that money back.

    • 1 year ago
  • Konkey__Dong
  • CalgarC
  • Schnookums
    • +7
      Schnookums  

    • They don't really want your Social Security per se, they just want to be able to charge transaction fees as the money moves from contributor to recipient.

      Wall Street wants some middle-man action, basically. Something for nothing. Pushing paper and making money.....that's their motto (at least unofficially:)

      In my eyes, they are the true welfare recipients. The ones sucking off of everyone else's actual labor (which sadly is the same as it ever was).

    • 1 year ago
  • nikonwilly
  • rossmick
    • +3
      rossmick  
    • Schnookums:

      They managed to get the 401K plan in place which is nothing more than a GAINT cash flow machine which feeds money in to their pockets. If you want to invest, invest when you want to, just don't have it forced on you every paycheck when you have little or no control over what is happening with your hard earned money.

    • 1 year ago
  • DanCastro
    • +2
      DanCastro  
    • Schnookums:

      Might they also want to dig into the money in the SS fund as they did when they took workers pension funds? Do you know many people with a "defined" retirement plan or even with a plan to which the employer contributes?

    • 1 year ago
  • Schnookums
    • +1
      Schnookums  
    • DanCastro:

      There's no need to dig into it as they already have the money in the SS fund in their Wall Street system as Treasuries. They trade Treasuries around as the base of the monetary system, the foundation on which everything else rests.

    • 1 year ago
  • DanCastro
    • +2
      DanCastro  
    • Schnookums:

      Ah, but there is only so much they can take at one time with government treasuries without breaking the entire system and our government might not be able to respond in an effective way as Obama did when he was first elected. If they "privatize" SS as they did with auto worker's pensions, the fund "magically" disappears!

    • 1 year ago
  • telcod
  • faye59
    • +5
      faye59  

    • I love this. Wish you could make this available on cable or regular tv. More people need to know the truth. We rarely hear it now on the news.

    • 1 year ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • DanCastro
    • +2
      DanCastro  
    • faye59:

      Yes, but we can also use our social media. We can re-tweet or put on facebook those issues we consider important and true. We can talk to those we trust and who trust us about how we can return to a country where what you can do is much more important than who you think you are.

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
  • attilatheblond
    • +6
      attilatheblond  

    • Have known for some time that Wall Street wants the Social Security pot to prop up the REAL Ponzi scheme, which is Wall Street. The Street only works if it keeps growing and they have already taken all the discretionary investment money the common man has, and then some. Those who produce nothing but paperwork that parades as product are vampires. Money not 'invested' on there game board just makes them nuts. They have tried many end runs around common sense and morality to raid SS or force workers to pay into Wall Street via payroll taxes called Social Security. They want the government to FORCE workers to give them money to play with.

      But that is not all they want. For a while, I figured they wanted to undo FDR's work. Lately, it seems to go well beyond even undoing the New Deal.

      Actually, I think they want the Emancipation Proclamation AND Magna Carta undone. They want feudalism.

    • 1 year ago
  • Leen61
  • letsliveinpeace
  • Leen61
  • wolfess
    • +11
      wolfess  

    • Suddenly I feel very wanted :-); tell the koch[roaches] they can BITE ME!
      Congressman Cantor: BITE ME!
      Speaker Boehner: BITE ME!
      Senator McConnell: BITE ME! You can have my social security when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands!

    • 1 year ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • wolfess
    • +6
      wolfess  
    • letsliveinpeace:

      I posted something like this on the story about Obama deciding to leave SS alone ... we are ENTITLED to our ss benefits b/c WE paid them, but that does NOT make them an entitlement. We EARNED them!

    • 1 year ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • DanCastro
    • +4
      DanCastro  
    • wolfess:

      I also like to think of it as a symbol of who we are as a nation at our core. We look out for one another. We pay today for yesterday's workers like we pay for today's bridges which will be used for generations of Americans.

    • 1 year ago
  • wolfess
    • +3
      wolfess  
    • DanCastro:

      Exactly! What the hell is wrong with, IMO, far too many people in this country right now? It used to be that when we individuals had more than someone else had we were happy to share; I know that there are people like that still out there, but we aren't the ones who get the news coverage, are we?
      Pwr 2 the sharing peons! Love the infidels (to death if need be)!

    • 1 year ago
  • DanCastro
    • +2
      DanCastro  
    • wolfess:

      If we can survive our current "brain fart" of a mess, I hope we reach that point of evolution. I'm more "here&now" in that I want US to push our reps until we get taxes on the rich at a fair level now so we can get back to "normal".

    • 1 year ago
  • Argon18
    • +5
      Argon18  
    • Image
    • wolfess:

      Yes there are some stories like that out there, but I suppose they aren't sensational enough to be widely reported.

      http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/08/24/today%27s_stories/20089034.txt

      "When Brenda Zmuda made the difficult decision to donate her mother’s kidneys after she died to save the lives of two Connecticut men, she had no idea that nine years later she would be looking for a kidney to save her husband.

      Now a little good karma might be heading Brenda’s way.

      Her husband, Steven Zmuda, a diabetic who undergoes nightly dialysis because of chronic renal failure, is set to receive a healthy kidney donated by a complete stranger just looking to save a life and help out a family. That stranger is Mary Gotay, a single mother who overheard Brenda talking about Steven’s ailing health outside their kids’ school one day in May.

      “After all we’ve been through in the last year, we didn’t expect the kindness of a stranger to save Steve’s life,” Brenda says.

      Though still unusual, more and more people are stepping up as living donors willing to give up an organ to save a life. Kim Hathaway, chief executive officer of the National Kidney Foundation of Connecticut, says it’s called being a “Good Samaritan” donor and it is becoming more popular because of increased education and awareness about organ donation."

      Maybe they just don't fit the narrative a lot of media are supposed to follow since they might catch on and upset the status quo as this study suggests.

      http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/03/29/bc-good-news-stu...

      "Good news begets better people.

      That was the conclusion of new research released Tuesday by the University of British Columbia, that found people with a strong sense of "moral identity" were inspired to do good when they read media stories about Good Samaritans' selfless acts.

      According to lead author Karl Aquino, who studies forgiveness and moral behaviour issues, four separate studies found a direct link between a person's exposure to media accounts of extraordinary virtue and their yearning to change the world.

      He said media reports could potentially play a crucial role in the mobilization of history makers if less attention was paid to negative coverage"

    • 1 year ago
  • aj727b
    • +4
      aj727b  
    • wolfess:

      What is wrong with "far too many people" is that they are being lied to, taught to fear their neighbors and their government, taught to love corporations, fed on a diet of plasti-crap, high-fat and high fructose, and lulled into a semi-conscious TV-drip version of un-reality. What WE can all do (as many here have mentioned) is to PASS IT ON when we get a nugget of truth. Stay strong sisters and brothers, speak the truth, be loud, proud, and never bowed by these plutocrats and fascists.

    • 1 year ago
  • Lisayou
  • Lisayou
  • wolfess
    • +3
      wolfess  
    • aj727b:

      :-)! Eighteen months ago our house burned down -- we (and our 4 dogs) were in it when the furnace tech set it on fire -- we all got out and our next door neighbor was standing on the sidewalk in front of our house when we came out the front door. She helped us get the dogs over to her house and kept us all safe and warm (not hot :-) while the fire dep't was putting out the fire. Before that day we had always said hi whenever we were out at the same time, but had never really gotten friendly -- now we are best friends. There are still people out there that do the right thing, and while this fire was reported on our local tv stations and in the paper the wonderful things our neighbors did never made it into the story ... what did get reported was the tech that fucked up everything -- like you said, negativity sells.

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
  • letsliveinpeace

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