US Government is Closed!

[petros]

Food producers aren't capitalists?

Always have had a garden and will continue to do so as long as God gives me strength.

When it's personal food, it's not capitalism.

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

You are so right.


Yep I remember Gov. Palin being vilified for ranting against crony capitalists , You know the kind like the immortal Warren Buffet supporting the Democratic party with money and supporting inviromental organizations against keystone xl all the while building rail cars to move the same product as keystone xl. Crony Capitalists Most are Democrats if you look at the numbers. At least for the last 6 years.

I think it goes the other way actually with the Republicans getting more of the corporate sponsorship and looking at the Bush-Cheney debacle, companies closely associated with both men got filthy rich under their mandate, Haliburton and Carlisle Group being standouts. George senior and the Bin Ladens were in that one together and it was one of the largest defence contractors going into the Iraq War.

The Carlyle Group, integrated by the Bush and bin Laden families awarded a billion dollar contract to "rebuild" Iraq:

Directors of one of the world’s largest armament companies are planning on meeting in Lisbon in three weeks time. The American based Carlyle Group is heavily involved in supplying arms to the Coalition forces fighting in the Iraqi war.

It also holds a majority of shares in the Seven Up company and Federal Data Corporation, supplier of air traffic control surveillance systems to the US Federal Aviation Authority. The 12 billion dollar company has recently signed contracts with United Defence Industries to equip the Turkish and Saudi Arabian armies with aviation defence systems.

Top of the meeting’s agenda is expected to be the company’s involvement in the rebuilding of Baghdad’s infrastructure after the cessation of current hostilities. Along with several other US companies, the Carlyle Group is expected to be awarded a billion dollar contract by the US Government to help in the redevelopment of airfields and urban areas destroyed by Coalition aerial bombardments.

The Group is managed by a team of former US Government personnel including its president Frank Carlucci, former deputy director of the CIA before becoming Defence Secretary. His deputy is James Baker II, who was Secretary of State under George Bush senior. Several high profile former politicians are employed to represent the company overseas, among them John Major, former British Prime Minister, along with George Bush senior, one time CIA director before becoming US President.

The financial assets of the Saudi Binladen Corporation (SBC) are also managed by the Carlyle Group. The SBC is headed up by members of Osama bin Laden’s family, who played a principle role in helping George W. Bush win petroleum concessions from Bahrain when he was head of the Texan oil company, Harken Energy Corporation - a deal that was to make the Bush family millions of dollars. Salem, Osama bin Laden’s brother, was represented on Harken’s board of directors by his American agent, James R. Bath.

D-i-c-k Cheney may as well have been still working for Haliburton they way he created the demand for its services by doing more than anyone else to get the Iraq war going which saw KBR get an umbrella contract that has earned it over $37 billion. Let's remember that it was D-i-c-k Cheney who as Secretary of Defense in the early 1990s began the transition to private contractors doing many of the tasks once the responsibility of the armed forces. Then as VP he worked tirelessly behind the scenes to push America into a war that his former company made a huge winfall on.

Windfalls of war: KBR, the government's concierge | Center for Public Integrity

When U.S. forces moved into Afghanistan in 2001, there was little, if any, infrastructure to support and house U.S. troops. The military needed someone to do everything from housing troops to rebuilding airfields. The solution was a contract called the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LOGCAP, a type of umbrella contract the Army had been using to support is military bases overseas. In late 2001, the Army, after a competition, awarded LOGCAP III to KBR. The Houston-based firm, once a subsidiary of Halliburton, began providing everything from showers to dining halls.

Even beyond single-source contracts, the Pentagon has other types of contracts it can use to quickly award work without having to compete specific jobs. They include umbrella-type contracts, like LOGCAP, that allow the government to buy unspecified goods and services over long periods of time. “It’s the government’s way of saying ‘We don’t know what we want, and we don’t know how much it costs,’” said Laura Peterson, a senior policy analyst with Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group. “Instead they say, ‘we’ll put you on retainer and tell you later what we want and when we want it, and you just bill us.’ You become the government’s concierge, and it’s like a gigantic monopoly.”

Indeed, that’s the way LOGCAP III operated for almost a decade. And while KBR was competitively awarded the umbrella contract in December 2001, it didn’t have to compete for any of the subsequent work, which totaled over $37 billion by the end of July this year. For the next 10 years, the company provided water systems, heaters, tents, and dining facilities. The company also provided electricians, cooks and cleaners and other civilian workers needed to run military bases.

This alone is one of the biggest rip-offs in history, and it was during the 8 years of Bush/Cheney that the financial sector effectively ran amok and created the conditions that led to the 2008 financial meltdown. There were people predicting in 2000 that based on Bush's record of financial disasters in the private sector he would also have the same affect on America.

So the problem isn't a Democratic of Republican Party one, it's about individuals who have far more power than the US system was designed to handle effectively taking over control. Many Americans feel helpless and powerless because they are.

 

[pgs]

I think it goes the other way actually with the Republicans getting more of the corporate sponsorship and looking at the Bush-Cheney debacle, companies closely associated with both men got filthy rich under their mandate, Haliburton and Carlisle Group being standouts. George senior and the Bin Ladens were in that one together and it was one of the largest defence contractors going into the Iraq War.

The Carlyle Group, integrated by the Bush and bin Laden families awarded a billion dollar contract to "rebuild" Iraq:



D-i-c-k Cheney may as well have been still working for Haliburton they way he created the demand for its services by doing more than anyone else to get the Iraq war going which saw KBR get an umbrella contract that has earned it over $37 billion. Let's remember that it was D-i-c-k Cheney who as Secretary of Defense in the early 1990s began the transition to private contractors doing many of the tasks once the responsibility of the armed forces. Then as VP he worked tirelessly behind the scenes to push America into a war that his former company made a huge winfall on.

Windfalls of war: KBR, the government's concierge | Center for Public Integrity



This alone is one of the biggest rip-offs in history, and it was during the 8 years of Bush/Cheney that the financial sector effectively ran amok and created the conditions that led to the 2008 financial meltdown. There were people predicting in 2000 that based on Bush's record of financial disasters in the private sector he would also have the same affect on America.

So the problem isn't a Democratic of Republican Party one, it's about individuals who have far more power than the US system was designed to handle effectively taking over control. Many Americans feel helpless and powerless because they are.

You did perhaps notice I said at least in the last 6 years. Solandra any one.
As far as Chenney is concerned you are probably right why else would so many donate large chunks of change to political parties.
It is all for the back scratch and both sides play the same sickening game. Another thing that Gov. Palin spoke out against, but then she is just an idiot, right?

Food producers aren't capitalists?

Always have had a garden and will continue to do so as long as God gives me strength.

No Walter they just give it away .

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

You did perhaps notice I said at least in the last 6 years. Solandra any one.
As far as Chenney is concerned you are probably right why else would so many donate large chunks of change to political parties.
It is all for the back scratch and both sides play the same sickening game. Another thing that Gov. Palin spoke out against, but then she is just an idiot, right?

That's because Bush and Cheney shot the Republican party in the foot and the donor class invest campaign donations where they think it'll help them the best, it's government for hire in the US now. The number #2 campaign contributor to Obama in 2008, Goldman Sachs was the #4 contributor to McCain, it doesn't matter who wins when you play both sides of the table.

I don't Palin is stupid, I do think she has some pretty serious emotion issues that keep her from understanding the world beyond her narrow world. She was fundamentally ignorant of some very important issues in 2008 and would have been a disaster if McCain had died in office or been incapacitated. The crosshairs campaign to remove democrats she didn't like was a pretty ignorant thing to do and the woman who warned there would be consequences to Palin' actions was not long after shot in the head. Sarah Palin seems to provoke intolerance and violence against her opponents.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Talks Palin Cross Hairs - YouTube

 

[tober]

.... [T]he problem isn't a Democratic of Republican Party one, it's about individuals who have far more power than the US system was designed to handle effectively taking over control. Many Americans feel helpless and powerless because they are.

America has become the world's largest banana republic.

 

[Walter]

Gubmint's been closed 4 days in a row.

Federal Gov't Closes Due to Threat of Snow | The Weekly Standard