Quantitative Sleazing
Ben Bernanke spoke today in Germany seeking fiscal policy changes to stimulate job growth. The Fed has a mandate since 1977 to provide for full employment and stable prices. The Republicans are calling for the Fed to forget the full employment goal and concentrate on stable prices. But inflation is at record lows, so why? Also the Republicans blocked passage of an extension of unemployment benefits using the excuse that there is no money, but when it comes to their pet projects, like defense spending, they cough up the dough. Meantime the rest of the world is pissed at this oozing of dollars into the market devaluing the dollar and raising the value of their currencies thus making it harder to export. We seem to be in a repeat of the 1930’s is a big war on the way? Will Bernanke pull the jobs rabbit out of his hat or will this simply be another excuse for the Republicans to lambast the administration while they play Scrooge.
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/19/131440695/bernanke-defends-bond-plan-urges-more-stimulus
Need I say anything about the President’s retreat on the Bush Tax cut issue with the rich getting their tax break too, as if their begging bowls were not already overflowing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexander-stille/post_1301_b_786199.html
Why are the Republicans opposed to the Start Treaty? Without the treaty we have no verification that the parties are keeping faith with agreements to limit nuclear weapons. The treaty only reduces the number of nukes in the US arsenal from 1700 to 1500, still enough to blow up the population centers of the world several times over. It could be because Obama suggested it and they simply are in the habit of saying no to Obama.
http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/03-11-2010/115647-start_treaty-0/
Today in Lisbon the NATO countries agreed to build a defensive missile shield that covers all of their countries. Whom exactly are they protecting themselves from? Iran? Give me a break. Iran has maybe 18 missiles that reach Europe. The rest of the their arsenal is on the level of the SCUD missile that Iraq used in the Gulf war. They have made some significant claims for their missiles but there is little proof. They claim they are going to invite the Russians to join in but the Russians were skeptical when President Bush offered to let them join, one wonders if Obama will win them over with his Cheshire Cat grin. I doubt it the Russians are good chess players.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AI32P20101120
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/Policy.aspx?Id=1486352
http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/04-11-2010/115660-nato_russia-0/
http://www.jcpa.org/brief/brief005-26.htm
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Iran-Claims-System-to-Defend-Against-Missile-Attack-109279709.html
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Iran-Claims-System-to-Defend-Against-Missile-Attack-109279709.html
Really though Afghanistan is the big issue of the day in the American international vision. It seems that 2014 is the new goal for the end game to begin there, pushing back 3 years from the beginning of the beginning next summer to the real beginning in 2014. When will the end come, maybe by 2020…and what is this sending Abrams tanks there? What exactly are they going up against, does the Taliban have a tank force of their own now?
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/20/c_13614304.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/8147747/Lisbon-Natos-Afghanistan-withdrawal-date-not-set-in-stone.html
On the other hand the USA is moving right along in offering bribes to Israel to get their conditional agreement to not build housing for Jews on Arab land, except in Jerusalem because as we all know, Solomon built his temple there and that is that. Obama seems to have offered something like 20 F-35 jets for a 90 day moratorium. That doesn’t seem like particularly good poker on the part of the USA, Netanyahu must be laughing all the way to the airport with this one.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-17/israel-offered-more-f-35-fighter-jets-at-pentagon-meeting-ashkenazi-says.html
And lest we forget what those jets are for. Israel just bombed Gaza again. When is the American government going to get out of the business of bribing nations into doing our bidding and then bombing them if they don’t.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gaza-violence-20101120,0,6498513.story
Tags: USA Goes Global.