the American people were cheer leaders for the free trade at all costs republicans . and it is now coming home to bite them in the ass ! we will now see if America will survive or go the way of the roman empire ! if McCain is allowed to become president America is doomed if Obama is elected we may survive it will be touch and go for a while but i think he can turn us around and start back down the road to what America used to be before the Reagan and bush families destroyed all that made us great . On Sep 17, 12:47 am, Frank <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > SEP 2008 Election Campaign > No return to the 1930s! For the public ownership of the banks! > Statement by SEP presidential candidate Jerome White > 17 September 2008 > > The bankruptcy of Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers and the forced take > over of Merrill Lynch are the latest demonstrations of the collapse of > American capitalism. All the lies and propaganda about the supposed > infallibility of the “free market” are now utterly discredited. The > people of the US and the world are confronting a financial catastrophe > on a scale not seen since the Great Depression. > > What is revealed in this crisis is not merely the recklessness, > incompetence and greed of America’s financial elite, but the failure > of capitalism—an economic and political system that subordinates the > needs of society to profit and personal enrichment. > > Who is going to pay for this crisis? Here the US corporate and > political establishment agrees: working people must accept a drastic > reduction in their living standards to bail out the Wall Street > investors and banking executives who are responsible for this debacle. > > The American ruling class has for decades championed “private > enterprise” and the wonders of the market as the pinnacles of human > civilization, capable of solving all problems, while socialism has > been denounced as evil and oppressive. Over the past 30 years, the > operations of big business were deregulated—under both Republican and > Democratic administrations—removing all legal restraints on corporate > profit-making and the personal accumulation of wealth. > > The ruling class responded to the crisis of American capitalism by > carrying out a deliberate policy of deindustrialization, which wiped > out millions of jobs and decimated cities like Detroit. Vast > industrial assets were destroyed, and the savings of workers were > plundered in order to free up capital for the most parasitic forms of > financial speculation. > > Increasingly wealth was separated from the creation of real value. > Corporate corruption and insider dealing became the norm, and vast > fortunes were amassed in the hands of a small layer of the population. > Now, this orgy of financial speculation is coming to an end. Debts are > coming due. The corporations and banks are determined to roll back the > conditions of the working class to the 1930s to pay for the crisis > created by the capitalist system. > > Barack Obama and John McCain are absolutely committed to the defense > of capitalism and America’s financial elite. The next president— > whether a Democrat or Republican—will move to gut entitlement programs > such as Medicare and Social Security and support the corporate attack > on jobs and living standards. > > McCain’s sudden discovery of “greed” on Wall Street is laughable, > coming as it does from a long-time defender of the US corporate > establishment. Obama’s complaints about a lack of oversight ignore the > role of the Clinton administration, whose policies helped fuel the > speculative explosion and sub-prime mortgage crisis. Obama is a no > less committed defender of the financial elite, receiving more > campaign cash from Wall Street firms such as Lehman Brothers and > Goldman Sachs than John McCain. > > The Democratic candidate proposes no criminal investigations and > refuses to hold anyone responsible, making of his proposals for > “regulation” thoroughly meaningless. In comments Tuesday, moreover, > Obama declared his full support for the capitalist system, saying the > “free market has been our engine of our progress,” which “rewarded the > innovators and risk-takers.” > > It is precisely these “risk-takers” and “innovators” who manufactured > the forms of debt instruments and derivatives used to funnel billions > into the hand of the wealthy. Meanwhile, the working class—which had > been declared virtually obsolete in the “new economy”—is, as Marxists > have always insisted, the only producer of real value. > The Financial Times recently reported that compensation for major > executives of the seven largest US banks totaled $95 billion over the > past three years, even as the banks recorded $500 billion in losses. > Of course, neither of the candidates suggest that this money should be > paid back. > > It is indicative of the decrepit state of American democracy that the > bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, followed by > Wall Street insurer AIG—which will essentially double the national > debt while providing nothing for distressed homeowners—was taken > without the slightest political debate or discussion. This underscores > once again that the political system in America is as fraudulent as > the banking system. It is a plutocracy, i.e., a government of, by and > for the rich. > > The alternative to capitalism and financial catastrophe is socialism— > the reorganization of economic life to meet social needs and not > private profit. > > I call for: > * A public auditing of corporate finances and the personal accounts of > the top management of the financial institutions over the past decade. > > * The recovery of the vast sums of money that have been pocketed by > the wealthy elite. Those responsible for the economic devastation must > be brought to justice. > > * A massive public fund to make whole all of the victims of predatory > lending and the collapse of home values. All home foreclosures must be > immediately halted, and funds made available to provide quality > housing for all. > > * Trillions of dollars for rebuilding basic industry, cities and the > country’s infrastructure. This should be paid for through the > establishment of a genuinely progressive tax system that drastically > increases taxes on the wealthy, and through the dismantling of the > gigantic US war machine. > > * Transforming the giant banks and financial institutions into > publicly owned and democratically controlled utilities, with measures > taken to protect small shareholders. The financial resources of society > —which are the product of the labor of millions of working people—must > not be left in the hands of a financial aristocracy. > > * Reorganizing the economy on the basis of a rational, democratic and > egalitarian plan guided by the socialist principle of production for > human needs, not the enrichment of the already fabulously wealthy. > > Insofar as the Democrats even mention the economic crisis it is to > promote economic chauvinism and the pitting of American workers > against workers in other countries. In fact, the global consequences > of the breakdown of American capitalism demonstrated: 1) the > integration of the world economy, and 2) the pressing necessity for > the international unity of the working class in the struggle to defend > jobs and living standards. > > The SEP encourages all forms of mass opposition to attacks on social > services, the gutting of jobs and the wave of home foreclosures. This > crisis has proven that the capitalist class is unfit to direct > economic and political life and that working people must establish > genuine democratic control over society. > > This requires a political break with the two parties of big business > and the building of a mass political party of the working class > fighting for a socialist alternative. I encourage workers and youth to > support our election campaign, contribute to our fund and above all > make the decision to join and build the Socialist Equality Party. > > Click here to contact the Socialist Equality Party and take part the > SEP election campaign. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
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