The Revenge of the Thin Blue Line 4: Miami Yikes

Even Judge Dredd showed concern for Hostages...

Cops, huh Bad Boys! Watcha gonna do when they come for you? #BlueLivesMatterMostofAll

The video from the UPS Robbery chase and highway shoot-out was appalling. Engaging the suspects on the busy highway, shooting into the truck, shooting while hiding behind vehicles full of innocent bystanders.

"If you shoot at us, we are going to engage. We are going to stop the threat," Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said Friday. "When bad guys are shooting at you, how do you negotiate?"

"If you're shooting into a truck and you don't have a clear vision of who you're shooting at, you don't just shoot at the truck," Manny Orosa, Miami-Dade Police Chief from 2011-2015 said.  

Two "civilians" were killed; Richard Cutshaw a 70 year old driver in another vehicle and the hostage UPS driver Frank Ordonez. But, hey whatcha gonna do?

The trite saying I oft heard uttered in Iraq was 'Better judged by 12 than carried by 6'. Nowadays a third line can be added, 'Pardoned by the 1' as the Traitor in the White House loves to pardon war criminals to #OwntheLibs. That was language used in an actual Warzone but, with the proliferation of easily obtainable guns, the wreckage of the social safety net and economy from the ravages of Trickle-Down Neoliberalism, and the militarization of Police Forces the United States is sliding rapidly into a Failed Nation State.

The recent incidents of Police Abuse, criminal acts, and murder have taken those last bits of luster of the badge. But, the odious AG Bill Barr recently said Americans, "have to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law enforcement deserves. And if communities don't give that support and respect, they might find themselves without the police protection they need."

Respect is earned, not given away. Recall the 2nd of Robert Peel's 9 Principals of Policing;

To recognize always that the power of the police to fulfill their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behavior, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.

This Miami Yikes incident is just the most explosive recent one involving Police Officers in Florida although an Officer in LA surpassed them in immorality. I'm getting sick and tired of these criminal cops making my job harder, acosting and sometimes murdering American Citizens for minor infractions, and treating the United States like Fallujah.

Uber and Lyft at O'Hare Airport and Beyond

Today, Uber, Lyft and similar application based ride-share services scored a victory by not having to follow the traditional route of taxi and chauffeur's licensing. Chauffeur's licenses are costly because drivers get fingerprinted, undergo drug tests and background checks. But, any one with a smart phone and car can be an Uber driver.

The Chicago City Council Finance Committee passed the Rahm Emanuel supported Ordinance to open up McCormick Place, Navy Pier, O'Hare Airport and other Chicago locations without Uber driver's going through the proper regulations or having to apply for the expensive Chauffeur's license.

Uber et al. play by a different set of rules than taxis, but the service they are providing is exactly the same, thus they should be subjected to the same regulations. It doesn't matter if you hailed the driver on the street, made a phone call, sent an email, or downloaded a smart phone app. Uber should be regulated in the same manner as other services.

The founders of Uber, Travis Kalanick and Garret Camp haven't created a new product, invented a new service, discovered a new alloy, or revolutionized production, they've exploited a hole in the law. It's incredible we reward legerdemain so much but here is Uber and their creators lauded as though they were Jonas Salk.

I dislike Uber because I'm not jumping in a car with some random person. But, more than that I dislike what the Republican Economic Policies of the last 35 years have reduced Americans to doing.

People drive for Uber because Ronald Reagan's and the Neoliberal economic revolt he got rolling has undercut the American Worker and gutted the American Dream. It's uniquely American, to quote George W(orst Potus Ever) Bush, that Americans have to work multiple jobs because they Plutocracy he worked for decided they wanted to destroy the Middle Class and reduce every American Worker to a Wage Slave shackled in Corporate Bondage.

Republicans and the Rich are supporting Mayor 1%. You should support Chuy Garcia

Republican Mark Kirk, one of the 47 Senate Traitors, who recently compared Liberals to the Southern Racists of the 1850's, said,

"I would worry about the value of the Chicago debt if Rahm was not re-elected. It’s a concern if we have some of the less responsible people running against him."

'Awful nice City you have there... Be a shame if something was to happen to it,' Cheap Gangster rhetoric from Traitor Mark Kirk. Responsibility to Traitor Kirk is kicking poor people into the gutter and ensuring the Mayor uses the power of Government to transfer wealth upwards to the Rich. All you really need to know about the Race for Chicago Mayor is the Rich and Republicans en masse are supporting Rahm Emmanuel.

Rahm is acutely aware of this and has been trying to tout his "Union" Support.

"While you may want to say Ken Griffin or other people, then you have to include all the members of the Unite Here Local 1 (a hospitality worker's group), all the members of the carpenters union, all the members of the electrician workers, all the Teamsters..." Mayor 1% Rahm Emmauel named a bunch more working class groups to show that he knows the little people.

However, this week alone Ken Griffin gave another $500,000 to a Re-elect Rahm PAC. A former Goldman Sachs executive Muneer Satter and his wife has donated another half million to Rahm. Officially Mayor 1% has raised $20 million for re-election.

Griffin and Bruce Rauner have each donated millions to Rahm's Election. Governor Rauner, since being sworn in, has done nothing but try to destroy Unions and screw over Working Class people. So, he sees in Rahm Emmanuel a kindred spirit. Rahm Emmanuel's entire tenure as Mayor has been a steady effort to balance the budget on the backs of the Working Man.

From his illegal Red Light Cameras with their 2 second yellows, closing down half a dozen mental health clinics that help the poor, and his decision to close schools in poor and minority communities while telling the Chicago Teacher's Union to lie back and enjoy it, Rahm has been nothing but a blight upon the Working Class and Neoliberal Hatchet Man.

Of course, the most grievous allegations are Rahm's tacit support(?) for the Chicago Police Black Site at Homan Square. Of course, Rahm's staunch supporters, the Republican Party and the Rich don't care about Homan Square because that abuse is heaped upon poor people and minorities.

Meanwhile, there is a better alternative for Chicago; Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.

Chuy Garcia worked in Mayor Harold Washington's cabinet, has resided and labored in Chicago for decades. The facts surrounding the despicable Rahm Emmanuel are so egregious Chuy forced a run-off during the Democratic Primary, the first time a sitting Chicago Mayor has ever faced such a defeat. But, that defeat galvanized the Rich and the Republicans and they kicked their slime ball tactics and big money smear campaign into high gear.

"Unless they get the crazy lefty money machine going nationally, it’s not going to matter that there’s a resurgent left,” said an adviser to Mr. Emanuel who did not want to speak publicly about strategy. "The liberals at Heartland Cafe in Rogers Park can think great thoughts and read poetry for Chuy, but nothing else will happen."

While, money is key; it is not the key to this election. Rahm, his PAC and his Rich Owners are terrified a slightly liberal moderate like Chuy Garcia will get into the Mayor's Office and disrupt their schemes to destroy the Teacher's Union, institute Charter Schools (funded by regular taxpayers) and end the tax haven Chicago has become so Corporations can funnel Billions of Dollars through the City at an infinitesimal tax rate.

401(k) amounts to Businesses Taxing your Income and to Grand Larceny of your retirement savings

Companies love the 401(k) System because it amounts to Private Enterprises being able to Tax American Workers.

Americans hold $4.2 trillion in 401(k) plans, according to the Investment Company Institute. An additional $6.5 trillion is in Individual Retirement Accounts.

A Defined Benefit pension plan is superior to 401(k) which is why Corporations don't like them. Corporations don't want workers who have assured retirement benefits, they want workers who are slightly desperate and willing to agree to whatever Ownership wants for fear of losing everything.

But, in keeping with the Neoliberal Economic Assault on 99% of Americans the 401(k) plan was sold to America as a superior way for you to manage your retirement! But, all 401(k) turned out to be was another mechanism for Corporations to steal your money.

If you happen to be planning on retiring during one of Capitalism regular crisises say 2001 or 2007 for instance, well then you are truly screwed because the 401(k) you've been contributing too and the market in general, probably lost 50% or more of its' value.

But, it's the day-to-day, year after year nickel-and-diming fees which eventually allow Hedge Funds to steal thousands of dollars from your retirement account.

From the Center for American Progress (CAP) comes a study of the impact the often hidden fees which Wealth Mismanagement Firms use to siphon off your retirement funds.

The CAP study showed how raising the annual fee from 0.25% to 1% or 1.25% would take $70,000 to $100,000 from the employees 401(k) account.

Putting aside the current American Job Market where no employee is going to last 30 years at a company offering up to 5% matching funds for your 401(k) account, the bigger picture is the continuing Legerdemain and accounting gimmicks Hedge Funds use.

One of the ways, Vultures like Wealth Mismanagement Pro Bruce Rauner caused the Illinois Pension Crisis was by charging fees. Rauner's firm GTCR and other Hedge Funds gained access to Public Pensions in the 1990's and now we find they are underfunded.

By Rauner's own admission 2/3rds of GTCR funds were supplied by Public Pensions. In Illinois GTCR has "managed" money for the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) and the Illinois State Board of Investment, the state's largest and third-largest, respectively. Additionally, GTCR had access to state and municipal pension plans from the San Francisco City and County Employees' Retirement System to the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board. 

For this "work" GTCR, takes consultation and management fees. Bruce Rauner got paid no matter what the funds he "managed" did.

So, it's not surprising that Illinois and other Public Pensions began to go into insolvency once Vandal Capitalists got their hands on the funds. In fiscal year 2009, TRS lost $4.4 Billion (22% of its' value) in 2008 TRS lost 5% of it's value because of the Management of their Portfolios by Rauner-types.

Hedge Funds aren't growing wealth, they are parasitic Rentiers clinging to productive workers, like Teachers, sucking money from the Working Class like leeches and Vultures.

Mayor 1% to balance the Chicago Budget on the backs of the Working Class

So Mayor Rahm Emmanuel is back at enforcing Neoliberal economic Austerity on Chicago.

Besides shutting down mental health clinics for poor people, eliminating CPS buildings used by minorities and working class families, and then giving hundreds of millions of welfare dollars to private contractors to build a casino in McCormick Place, a basketball stadium for DePaul University, and for bizzare Navy Pier upgrades like a pool-szed "Giant Civic Hot Tub"; Rahm Emmanuel has earned his moniker Mayor 1%.

Now, Rahm has proposed a novel way of balancing the budget, by squeezing more and more money from working class Chicago families and collar county residents.

Mayor 1% is counting on $120 million in fines from red-light and speed cameras and $10 million more from higher parking fines and impounded vehicle storage fees. Additionally, along with other so-called "sin" taxes, the price of cigarettes is going to go up by 75 cents, making the purchase of a pack of smokes in Chicago the most expensive in the US.

Rahm likes to brag about not raising taxes but like all neoliberals his tax hikes are firmly targeted at those who don't have his ear and aren't rubbing elbows with him. Like, all "Capitalists" in America, Mayor 1% friends make their money by getting government stooges to funnel taxpayer money to them.

Previously, Rahm gave $15 million plus of taxpayer monies to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange right after CME blackmailed Governor Quinn with ransom demand for $100 million in Corporate Welfare from the State of Illinois or else.

When Mayor 1% closed 6 of 12 mental health clinics in Chicago he did so at the behest of his owners. Rahm is a tool of the Rich and powerful. His Plutocratic owners will make huge profits from mental healthcare now that the clinics are closed and people have less options. In fact, Rahm had to give at least $500,000 in government funds to private mental healthcare immediately upon closing the 6 clinics, slashing a third off the so-called budget savings back in 2012.

Mayor 1% tax hikes are set at working class people who can't afford to rent limos and have to drive and park in the city and each day are subjected to a fine for that turn on red or a fee for parking to close to that hydrant.

The March of Austerity and the Republican Assault on Americans

Despite whatever you may have heard from various MSM talking heads or across the Blog-o-sphere; the Republican Government Shutdown was a Victory for the Right.

Besides getting more people angry at Government gridlock and become exasperated because Both Sides Do It! the Shutdown was a successful Economic Coup d'Etat. 

The $24 billion lost during the government shutdown wasn't "wasted". It was permanently stolen from the Working Class. That money is going to have to come from somewhere and don't think for a second that it'll come from taxes on the Rich or Sequestration cuts to the DoD.

The Plutocracy has been using the DoD and US military to conduct the biggest grift in World History. Trillions have been stolen from the American People

As an example in 2004 the US Army adopted a digital set of Cammies, dubbed the Universal Camoflauge Pattern (UCP). Well now less than 10 years later the Army has revealed that the UCP is totally flawed, completely ineffective and shoddily constructed. The UCP was beset with flimsy materials, ridiculous velcro and a worthless "everywhere" color scheme which blends in nowhere; so they'll need to be replaced. 

Hoo-Ah! Another $5,000,000,000 President Bush and Vice-President Cheney stole from the US taxpayer. And it'll cost another $5 Billion to replace them, most likely with a Go Army version of the MARPAT USMC digital cammies.

But, happy day! Guess what? The Republicans recently "found" $4.1 Billion which they cut from SNAP in their 2013 Farm Bill. The Republicans neatly stole food from the mouths of children, the elderly and disabled veterans and shuttled it to the Military-Inudstrial-Complex.

"The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat," Republican Stephen Fincher of Tennessee.

Recall that George W(orst President Ever) Bush's stated his biggest regret while in office was his failure to Privatize Social Security. If Bush had succeeded in moving Social Security to Wall Street,  circa 2005-2006, it would have forestalled the Republican Grand Recession and allowed the bubble economy expand for another couple of years before exploding. Of course, Social Security would have vanished into so many Plutocrats Cayman Island and Swiss Bank Accounts, and with the Collapse happening after Bush left office, Austerity pushing Republicans would have been able to enforce deeper cuts to the Social Safety net.

When Ron Fournier and other Conservatives bemoan and tsk-tsk President Obama's "failure to yield" E.J. Dionne correctly deduced that what conservatives are pouting about is President Obama's failure to adopt Republican goals of increasing taxes on the Middle Class while cutting them on the Rich, slashing and dismantling Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and every government program designed to aid the Poor and Working Class.

There is an Ultra-Reactionary assault on America. The Republicans are the Shock Troops of the Plutocracy enforcing all manner of Neoliberal Economic doctrines and leading the Charge for Austerity. What the Republicans and their Moneyed Masters want is a reduction in the standards of living of Americans. They want the Working Class too tired to organize, too timid to speak out and too afraid to fight back.

The New York Times notes the Koch Brothers Americans for Prosperity Non-Think Tank has spent millions “in states around the country, including Arkansas, Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania, to run the kind of aggressive campaign that it is now waging here in Virginia, where much will depend on the governor’s race.” 

Spending millions of dollars to keep 40+ million Americans without healthcare coverage isn't a fight for freedom it's a fight to crush the American Dream and turn the American people into defeated Wage Slaves.

The Right-Wing Neoliberal Government the Plutocracy wants in America will offer no help to the Working Class, it will allow the Plutocrats to pay the Working Class less and less, offer them no benefits and threaten any who dare speak out against them. And most importantly it will allow the Rich to steal more and more of the Wealth of Nations.

Getting the Working Class to enslave itself

The 1% have been incredibly successful at convincing a significant segment of the United States to abrogate their rights and accept less. Those they have not convinced to accept the chains of corporate bondage and wage slavery they get their Republican Attack Dogs to marginalize and demonize.

Thus while most Americans have at best tread water as the Nation attempts to come out of the Great Republican Recession America's Moneyed Masters have increased their share of the Nation's Wealth. Because 90% of Wall Street stocks and dividends are owned by the Richest Americans, Capital Gains and deferred income and the Housing recovery for mansions has allowed the top 1% to appropriate 22.5% of all income earned in 2012 while over 50% went to the top 10%.

A Rising Tide drowns those in lower part of the torn social safety net first, while their money and benefits float up those safely ensconced on top of the backs of the Working Class.

This is not some new phenomenon but the work of 30+ years of Neoliberal policies. Faced with the victories of the Labor Movement, and the rise of the secure Working Class, the Plutocracy reorganized and began their Counter-Offensive.

"The standard of living of the average American has to decline." Paul Volcker, Chairman of the Federal Reserve 1979-1987.

And with the elevation of President Ronald Reagan, the mentally-addled, terrorist-loving, cut-and-run, chickenhawk, tax-raising, war criminal to the Presidency we entered an era of Ultra-Reactionary Domination of the Nation.

The Ultra-Reactionary Neo-Feudalist dream state is one in which Child Labor Laws are abolished (see Republican Senator Mike Lee and Newt Gingrich), in which SNAP benefits are eliminated, in which the Clean Air and Water Act of 1972 is stricken from U.S. Law and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce gets taxpayer welfare for Foreign Oil Conglomerates while Working Class Americans tax relief is voted down.

So, while the Chamber of Commerce fights to destroy the Social Safety Net they receive $236 million from the Koch Brothers to craft legislation ensuring Middle Class taxes are rerouted as Corporate Welfare winding up in bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

And this is what the duped and battered conservative voters don't understand. The Koch Brothers message of Smaller Government is one which fits inside their breast pocket; to be brought out to destroy Unions, quash Domestic Dissent and viciously open up Foreign Markets for exploitation.

The Neo-Feudalist Plutocracy uses many avenues of approach in their Class War to subjugate and oppress the American populace. Fix-the-Debt is one of the most insidious. The same CEOs who have made Corporations "profitable" by stealing worker's pensions and slashing company overhead by eliminating American jobs and factories while voting themselves massive multi-millions are behind the push to steal Social Security benefits and ensuring that no future American can count on either pensions or social security.

Right-Wing Think Tanks employ Libertarians as the intellectual puppets of the Plutocracy. They exist to proclaim the Good News of Free Markets and Personal Liberty but their true purpose is to get the Working Class to fasten the chains of Wage Slavery upon themselves.

And how do they do this? By Divide-and-Conquer. The CATO institute continually pushes the meme that Poor families have it too good in the US and list all the possible assistance programs in existence and pushing ancedotal stories which are picked up by Republican Congressmen about men built like brick-shithouses eating lobster. Of course, the CATO "study" always acknowledges, in small footnotes, that a majority of poor people don't actually benefit from the programs,

Due largely to the fact that eligibility requirements have already become harder to overcome, these programs are helping fewer poor families get by. In 2009, around three out of four poor families with kids weren’t getting any TANF benefits. At the height of the economic crash, about 25 percent of those eligible for food stamps weren’t receiving them; during better times, that number hovers around 40 percent. And as the CATO study concedes, six out of seven poor families aren’t getting housing assistance.

But, those points are always ignored by the duped Right-Wingers who want to, and need to believe that America is the Land of Opportunity and it's only the lazy poor and evil Government programs keeping them down.

And that is the Goal of the Plutocracy to sow division amongst the 99%. So, that one day soon Americans will wake up and realize that we are enslaved in Corporate Bondage.

Update:

Student Debt Slavery No Bankers Left Behind

The federal Loan Rate for approximately 7 million Students doubled on Monday. Federal law has set the rate for new subsidized Stafford loans at 6.8 percent, up from 3.4 percent.

We are living in an Ultra-Reactionary Time when the Ruling Class doesn't just want to reassert the Dominance of Neo-Feudal Capitalism but crush the hopes of the Working Class and Middle Class.

So of course Congress didn't do anything about the Student Loan Rate. With a few exceptions Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders being the two loudest proponents, the Ultra- Reactionary Republican Party and the Pro-Business Democratic Party are enforcing the Neo-Liberal Economic Strategy in an attempt to grind the Middle Class out of existence and return the 99% to the Status of Wage Slavery; Cogs in the Gears of Industry and Massive Debt for a career in the Petty Bourgeoisie.

Of course, it shows the utter hyporcisy of the Free Marketers. The Stafford Loan rate isn't determined by "The Market" but by fiat from the Congress. So, it's just another way in which Capitalism is a rigged game, for the Banking Institutions get their federal loan rate set by the Federal Reserve. It's currently set at 0.75% for Big Predatory Banks.