American Kleptocracy

[Michael Tee]

Here's an article by William J. Astore, on the real business of America, which is kleptocracy.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175235/tomgram%3A_william_astore%2C_the_business_of_america_is_kleptocracy__/#more

American Kleptocracy
How Fears of Socialism and Fascism Hide Naked Theft
By William J. Astore

The "naked theft" of course is the national wealth being siphoned off into the pockets of the military-industrial complex, fueled by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the preparations for wars with Iran or Yemen, the handouts to firms "too big to fail" and the entry of lobbyists into the government, whether that government is GOP or Democratic.

To quote but one paragraph from the article:

<<If we were to take an honest look at America’s blasted landscape of “losers” and the far shinier, spiffier world of “winners,” we’d have to admit that it wasn’t signs of onrushing socialism or fascism that stood out, but of staggeringly self-aggrandizing greed and theft right in the here and now.  We’d notice our public coffers being emptied to benefit major corporations and financial institutions working in close alliance with, and passing on remarkable sums of money to, the representatives of “the people.”  We’d see, in a word, kleptocracy on a scale to dazzle.  We would suddenly see an almost magical disappearing act being performed, largely without comment, right before our eyes.>>

Read the whole thing.  It's very instructive.  The corporate world is robbing America blind as we speak.

[sirs]

And here I thought it was you and Chomsky referencing our need to be concerned with Fascism.  Be nice if you made up your mind     

[Plane]

I wish , but no , it isn't true .


Social services and entitlements are takeing a bigger bite from the public moneys than the military , and a  fraction of the military spending is retirement , health care and such for the military section of the American public .


Is spending on social services klepting?

Sure it is , if the military is why not the rest?

Wait untill Obamacare goes full scale , it will be bigger than the Army by itself.

[Plane]

Why does this guy blame the corporate American for the government actions?

[kimba1]

very true, but the politics is beyond my feable mind to understand.

in thoery entitlement should easily be bypassed but somehow it still wins out.

have you notice the statement" we can` afford it" is worded very minimully .

the truth is alot of these cost are paid for in credit (not actually money) ,meaning legally nothing should be compelling these growing debts.

unless I`m mistaken you can

[kimba1]

oop


as i was saying

is it legal make a government get into debt?

[Michael Tee]

<<Social services and entitlements are takeing a bigger bite from the public moneys than the military . . . >>

I don't know if that's true, simply because a lot of the military and "covert action" budgets are kept off the books.  They're set out in "supplementary" budgets or bills and so by this kind of sleight-of-hand accounting, the true cost of war and "defence" spending is never known to the public.

<< . . .  and a  fraction of the military spending is retirement , health care and such for the military section of the American public .>>

Yeah, well, your argument there would be a lot more telling if we knew what the numerator and the denominator of that "fraction" actually were.  In any event, the "health care" for the bastards would not be nearly so high if they would spend less of their time invading and occupying other people's homelands and torturing, raping, killing and maiming people all over the world.  

<<Is spending on social services klepting?

<<Sure it is , if the military is why not the rest?>>

Hmmm, let's see.  When a buck is spent on social services, somebody who needs food gets food, someone who needs counseling gets counseling, kids who need mentoring get mentors, etc.  No, I don't see it as klepting.  (Nice English verb invention, BTW.)

When a buck is spent on "defence" the chances are it goes into the pockets of the military-industrial complex for creating weapons to fight people who don't want to fight you, to kill people who had no intention of harming you, to create mortal enemies out of people who previously didn't give a shit if you lived or died, and to basically set yourselves up for the ultimate retribution that is going to dwarf the Biblical Flood.  All to further enrich the already rich.  Who set the policies that create the demand for the weapons.  Now THAT'S kleptocracy.

<<Wait untill Obamacare goes full scale , it will be bigger than the Army by itself.>>

Well, Obamacare's a crock.  It's going to enrich the insurance industry and it's something that Big Pharma and the  AMA have signed on to, so it's also a part of the Kleptocracy.

[Amianthus]

I don't know if that's true, simply because a lot of the military and "covert action" budgets are kept off the books.  They're set out in "supplementary" budgets or bills and so by this kind of sleight-of-hand accounting, the true cost of war and "defence" spending is never known to the public.

Bullshit. And I've called you on this before.

Just because some spending is voted on separately doesn't mean it doesn't show up in the budget. There are even categories in the budget for that supplementary spending.

[Universe Prince]

The corporate world is robbing America blind as we speak.

That comment reminds me of something I saw on television.

Derren Brown - How To Change The Perception Of Color

Specifically, it reminds me of what happens at the end of the video.

The government takes money from people and gives it to others, but somehow the corporate world is robbing America? Someone is clearly confused. Don't misunderstand me. There is much that the corporate world is doing and has done that is wrong and even immoral. But they get away with it because of the government, not the other way around. But I guess if you move your hands around and talk fast, you can confuse people into thinking red is black and that the corporations are the ones responsible for the theft.

Hmmm, let's see.  When a buck is spent on social services, somebody who needs food gets food, someone who needs counseling gets counseling, kids who need mentoring get mentors, etc.

That statement is either a lie or naive. I'm not sure which.

[sirs]

Couldn't be a lie, because of course, Tee's never been caught lying     

[Michael Tee]

<<Bullshit. And I've called you on this before.>>

Yeah, you have.  I didn't buy your ludicrous defence of government chicanery then and I don't now either.

http://mwcnews.net/focus/politics/1954-defense-spending-is-much-greater-than-you-think.html

Here's a pretty good run-down on how government "creative accounting" pushes the true costs of "defense" (English translation:  criminal aggression) way beyond the nominal  budgetary allocations.

Of course, the one big difference between social spending and "defense" spending is that the former goes largely to the benefit of needy Americans and the latter fills the pockets of contractors in the military-industrial complex, which buys the politicians who create the wars that fuel the demand for the contractors' merchandise in the first place.  So that the elimination of social spending will only harms dozens of millions of Americans in dire need, while eliminating the corporate welfare scheme that is otherwise known as "defense spending" will hurt only the greedy and conscienceless bastards who line their pockets with the blood and tears of millions of murdered Third World citizens.

[Amianthus]

Here's a pretty good run-down on how government "creative accounting" pushes the true costs of "defense" (English translation:  criminal aggression) way beyond the nominal  budgetary allocations.

This article does not show that spending is not accounted for by the CBO as you claimed. It just tries to argue that some spending should be classified as military spending based on the opinion of the author.

Regardless of how a spending authorization was voted on, the funds are accounted for by the CBO when the check is cut. There is no "hidden" spending.

[BT]

1/3 of defense spending goes to payroll and benefits.

[Plane]

If a majician were a theif could he be practiceing Kleptomancy?

[Michael Tee]

<<This article does not show that spending is not accounted for by the CBO as you claimed. It just tries to argue that some spending should be classified as military spending based on the opinion of the author.>>

Well, first of all it was based on a little more than "the opinion of the author."  The author provided some pretty cogent reasons why some spending should be classified as military spending, and it doesn't seem likely to me that those reasons can easily be contradicted.

Secondly, it seems to me that the case has been adequately made out that those neat little government pie charts showing what percentage of the pie goes to the DOD is substantially misleading to anyone without an accounting degree and a lot more detailed breakdown than the pie charts provide, with respect to how much federal money actually does go to the military and its helpers.  As the article itself says,

<< . . . few appreciate that the total amount of all defense-related spending greatly exceeds the amount budgeted for the Department of Defense.

<<. . .  other lines identify funding that serves defense purposes just as surely as—sometimes even more surely than—the money allocated to the Department of Defense.

<<On occasion, commentators take note of some of these additional defense-related budget items, such as the Department of Energy’s nuclear-weapons program, but many such items, including some extremely large ones, remain generally unrecognized.>>

It's clear to me that through smoke-and-mirror accounting tricks, the full extent of the military budget is in fact kept from American eyes.  Ami may be correct in the sense that a good accountant, with access to detailed budgetary breakdowns of the pie slices that aren't overtly military, and more time on his hands than most of us are able to enjoy, might be able to piece together a more accurate picture of U.S. "defense" spending, but this is hardly what most people understand as a frank and open disclosure by the government.  What I said was essentially true, and Ami may or may not be correct in assuming that it's all there, in supplementary bills, etc., for anyone with the time and skill to pull it all together.

The other comment I wanted to make on this whole line of argument is that it's absurd to compare spending on such social welfare programs as SS, food stamps, etc. with military spending.  Social benefits spending puts the money right back into the pockets of the most needy Americans and shows immediate benefits in brighter futures for them, so in no way is it wasted.  The military spending either goes to the pockets of an army of thugs whose main function is to murder, rape and torture, or it goes into the pockets of the so-called Merchants of Death, giant corporations manufacturing ever more horrible ways to mutilate and kill other human beings.  That's what I call wasted money.