BIG Money Bad - Part 8

Hey Barry -

The BIG money is all over it. They thinkin they bought us. They buyin lections an laws. Was next?

Make me wanna puke an move to Canada.

See two links:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/corp-ethics/message/5375

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/28/EDTO1EKH6D.DTL

Itsa BIG fight Barry.

We with y'all.

Your pal

Bank Regs Only A Start

Hey Barry

Thye's some big holes in the bank reg act. Its start, but y'all gotta lotta work to do.

Robert Reich nails it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/25/INPM1EI4LO.DTL

Devil's inna details Barry.

We need ya on this.

Your pal,

National Security - Why Rich Folks Bad - Part 7

Hey Barry:

First off - big congrats on the bank reg bill. You and all your team stepped up big time when the chips were on the line. I see your pride when y'all make the announcement. Pride is well deserved Barry - enjoy it.

Wot y'all did was to put some controls on money. An thas goin a long way to keepin the good ol U S of A in one piece. Les be clear here - big money gonna be the doom of us all unless y'all controls it. They is jes as bad as bin Laden far as killin our country goes. Sure dey aint gonna plant bombs or nuthin, but they is jes as big a danger to us all as Al Queda with guns. Sumtimes I think bin Laden was runnin them banks.

Now as far as the other half of the puzzle goes, Barry, Ima gonna give y'all an idea. But I gotta warn y'all Barry, this here idea is kinda like a new strain of virus: gonna start out small an then is gonna grow and take over. When it takes over, is gonna be good for the country, but it may be bad for you, Barry Obama. Caint predict that. So read ahead Barry, but watch yo back.

The good ol U S of A is right now like sum folks drivin on a curvy mountain road at two in the AM and bein more than jes a little stoned - an then sum fool puts a blindfold on the driver. Yo know y'all gonna die, jes don know when.

Here wot Im talkin: we is at the end of a cycle where we rich an powerful. We can go one of two ways - we can change an stay rich an powerful or we can be rigid an die.

An you, thas you Barry Obama, is gonna make that choice for us. Please choose wisely, Barry.

Here sum background - there have been sum other countries in the same place we is now before in history: namely, Spain, Holland and Britain. Jes before they declined to second rate status, dey was jes like we are now: lots of rich folks, big time financial goins on and lotta po folks. See wot make a country secure an safe is when all the folks are doin well. If only a few doin good, den the few don give a rats behind bout da rest and the country go to hell. Jes like Yogi Berra says : "You could look it up."

Les go back to 1970 Barry, thas 40 years ago. We was OK then. But since then what has happened? Well, the average American has seen his living standard decline steadily for them 40 years. At the same time, the rich folks has multiplied like rabbits an they have jes gotten richer an richer. Bill Gates hisself is worth bout 100 billion. Wot the hell Barry, that aint American. It aint even comprehensible - caint git my brain round 100 billion of anything.

Das where all them bankers gittin they fun money - the rich jes rollin in cash like Uncle Scrooge McDuck.

Rest of us is goin downhill steady like.

Here we are wid a few folks settin up a nobility, plutocracy, aristocracy, thas gonna last forever unless y'all changes it. An that will screw our national security and put us in second rate status real soon.

So here wot y'all gotta do, Barry: ya gotta cut them fortunes down to a manageable size. Dat gonna mean ya gotta put a big inheritance tax on and a big income tax on.

When yo do that, then the big fortunes gonna go the US Treasury, we gonna have da cash to fix stuff an the average person gonna be able to have a decent living. Thas when we gonna be secure as a country, Barry. Thas what we need.

Ifn y'all caint git that done, them rich is gonna keep gamin the system an doom us all to second rate, Barry.

Thas the stakes. Plain as the nose on my face.

This tape will now self destruct.

Your pal,

Winston Churchill - Why Rich Folks Bad - Part 6

Hey Barry:

Here's What Winston Churchill had to say in 1908 about England:

"The seed of ...national decay - the unnatural gap between the rich and poor...the exploitation of boy labor, the physical degeneration which seems to follow so swiftly on civilized poverty..the swift increase of vulgar, jobless luxury - are the enemies of Britain."

Sounds kinda familiar, dontcha think Barry.

Your pal,

Corporations - Why Rich Folks Bad - Part 5

Hey Barry:

Les take corporations as examples of rich folks. They aint families, but the rules now is such that the CEO's are definitely RICH.

Corporations have consistently behaved badly over our history as a country - there is no reason to expect corporate behavior will change in the forseeable future. Not all corporations all the time behave badly, but a big enough majority do so consistently. For example, the Sarbanes Oxley Law was pased in response to the Enron debacle a few years ago.

Their bad behavior is consistently designed to enrich their shareholders and executives by manipulating markets, courts and laws to obtain the greatsest possible profit while simultaneously transferring risk and costs to the public - thas us, you and me. Its called privatizing the gain and socializing the loss. An, Barry, its downright Un American.

Since 1998 I have moderated an internet discussion list which attempts to document corporate behavior - both good and bad - from relevant press articles.

The archives are available publicly here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/corp-ethics/messages

The archives are searchable - it is a valuable resource.

Your pal,

Wealth, Poverty and Monopoly

Hey Barry:

Here's James Baird Weaver, Greenback Presidential candidate in 1880 writing as a Populist in 1892:

"If the master builders of our civilization one hundred years ago had been told that at the end of a single century American society would present such meloncholy contrasts of wealth and poverty, of individual happiness and widespread infelicity as are today to be found throughout the republic, the person making the unwelcome prediction would have been looked upon as a misanthrope and his loyalty to democratic institutions would have been seriously called into question. Our federal machine, with its delicate interlace work of national, state and municipal supervision, each intended to secure perfect individual equality, was expected to captivate the world by its operation and insure domestic contentment and personal security to a degree never before realized by mankind.

But there is a vast difference between the generation which made the heroic struggle for self-government in colonial days and the third generation which is now engaged in a mad rush for wealth. The first took its stand upon the inalienable rights of man and made a fight which shook the world. But the leading spirits of the latter are entrenched behind class laws and revel in special provileges. It will require another revolution to overthrow them. That revolution is upon us now."

Your pal,

Platform: American Economic Association 1885

'1. We regard the state as an educational and ethical agency whose positive aid is an indespensible condition of human progress. While we recognize the necessity of individual initiative in industrial life, we hold that the doctrine of laissez faire is unsafe in politics and unsound in morals; and that is why it suggests an inadequate explanation of the relationship between the state and the citizens.'

AEA, Saratoga, New York, September 1885

Homeless Children

Hey Barry:

This is from the US Conference of Mayors in 1986:

'My name is David Bright. I am ten years old. I am homeless. I am often hungry. Right now I live in the Martinique Hotel [a 'welfare hotel' in New York]. The Martinique is a mad house. The hallways are dangerous. Many things could happen to you while you're in the hallways. Like you could be shot or raped. The roaches and rats are a big problem too. But being raped is worse. There are people who rape little boys in the hallways.

I am often hungry because I don't get enough to eat. Homeless kids are taken to schools far away. When the bus comes late I can't even get breakfast at school. When I arrive the bell rings, then breakfast just stops. I just can't think in school when I'm hungry. My mind just stops thinking and this can't go on forever. That's because I want to learn. I want to get a good education. Learning is fun for me.

There are too many little kids in the hotel who never go to school. There just is not enough room in the school for them. Just like there's not enough homes for poor chuildren and not enough food.

When I grow up I will be President of the United States. When I am the President every American will have a home. Every American will have something to eat every day. Everyone in America will have a little money in his pocket. When I am President no ten year old boy like me will have to put his head down on the desk at school because it hurts to be hungry.'

Your pal,

John Winthrop - 1630

Hey Barry:

Here's where we from:

"Now the only way to...provide for our posterity is to follow the counsel of Micah: 'to do Justly, to walk humbly with our God.'

For this end, we must be knit together in this work as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection. We must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others' necessities."

John Winthrop, A MODEL OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY, 1630

Your pal,

'The man who dies rich dies disgraced.' Andrew Carnegie

Hey Barry;

The good ol U S of A has a history of levellin the playin field by taxin rich folks so's they don become heriditary plutocracy.

Cep now we dont.

What happened anyways?

Here Rutherford Hayes on how much is enough from January 22, 1886:

"...We ought not to allow a permanent aristocracy of inherited wealth to grow up in our country. How would it answer to limit the amount that could be left to any one person by will or otherwise? What should be the limit? Let no one receive from another more than the law gives to the chief justice, to the general of the Army, or to the president of the Senate. Let the income of the property transmitted equal this, say $10,000 to $20,000. If after distributing on this principal there remains undistributed part of the estate, let it go to the public. The object is to secure a distribution of great estates to prevent accumulation.'

Not sure how much income that $10,000 is today, but it sure aint no millions or billions. If memory serves, the President - thas you - makes bout $500,000 per year.

Your pal,

Why Rich Folks Bad - Part 4

Hey Barry:

Who are the American rich anyways?

Y'all can buy a mailing list of them for less than 10c per name, but Ima too broke to do that.

Here's the link: http://www.allied-media.com/MAILING%20LISTS/Mailing/Millionaires.htm

Instead I'll go with a list of the top 100 names in 2004 from Forbes an y'all kin get all 400 here: http://www.forbes.com/2004/09/22/rl04land.html

Now the thang is: they all got a lot richer since 2004. Rest of us was gettin poorer, but dese guys got a lot richer.

Here's the question: How rich is enough in the USA?

One billion? Ten Billion? One hundred Billion?

Ima thinkin that the answer is this: Y'all too rich if you can buy a law from the US congress.

I don know the price since I never bought a law, so Ima gonna guess that anything above one billion is rich enuf to buy a law. That's jes too rich for the U S of A.

At some place, yo cross from being a person inta being a country.

Anyways, here's the list from Forbes in 2004:


Rank Name Net Worth ($mil)

1 Gates, William Henry 48,000
2 Buffett, Warren Edward 41,000
3 Allen, Paul Gardner 20,000
4 Walton, Alice L 18,000
4 Walton, Helen R 18,000
4 Walton, Jim C 18,000
4 Walton, John T 18,000
4 Walton, S Robson 18,000
9 Dell, Michael 14,200
10 Ellison, Lawrence Josep 13,700
11 Ballmer, Steven Anthony 12,600
12 Johnson, Abigail 12,000
13 Anthony, Barbara Cox 11,300
13 Chambers, Anne Cox 11,300
15 Kluge, John Werner 11,000
16 Omidyar, Pierre M 10,400
17 Mars, Forrest Edward Jr 10,000
17 Mars, Jacqueline 10,000
17 Mars, John Franklyn 10,000
20 Redstone, Sumner M 8,100
21 Icahn, Carl 7,600
22 Knight, Philip H 7,400
23 Ergen, Charles 7,300
24 Soros, George 7,200
25 Newhouse, Donald Edward 7,000
25 Newhouse, Samuel Irving 7,000
27 Murdoch, Keith Rupert 6,900
28 Broad, Eli 6,000
28 Johnson, Edward Crosby 6,000
30 Davis, Marvin H 5,800
30 Kerkorian, Kirk 5,800
32 Arison, Micky 5,300
33 Anschutz, Philip F 5,200
34 Bloomberg, Michael Rube 5,000
34 Warner, H Ty 5,000
36 Abele, John E 4,500
37 Geffen, David 4,400
38 Bezos, Jeffrey P 4,300
38 Bren, Donald L 4,300
40 Duncan, Dan L 4,200
40 Perelman, Ronald Owen 4,200
40 Perot, Henry Ross & fami4,200
43 Brin, Sergey 4,000
43 Kaiser, George B 4,000
43 Koch, Charles De Ganahl 4,000
43 Koch, David Hamilton 4,000
43 Page, Larry E 4,000
43 Wrigley, William Jr 4,000
49 Moore, Gordon Earle 3,800
49 Nicholas, Peter M 3,800
51 Menard, John R Jr 3,700
51 Sorenson, James L 3,700
53 Crown, Lester & family 3,600
54 Rowling, Robert 3,500
55 Cook, William Alfred 3,200
55 Goodnight, James 3,200
55 Lauder, Leonard Alan 3,200
55 Taylor, Jack Crawford 3,200
59 Greenberg, Maurice Raymo3,100
60 Adelson, Sheldon 3,000
60 DeVos, Richard M 3,000
60 Kroenke, Ann Walton 3,000
60 Lucas, George 3,000
60 Tisch, Preston Robert 3,000
65 Bass, Robert Muse 2,900
65 Van Andel, Jay 2,900
65 Wexner, Leslie Herbert 2,900
68 Davidson, William Morse 2,800
68 Hillman, Henry Lea 2,800
68 Laurie, Nancy Walton 2,800
68 Schwab, Charles R 2,800
72 Lauren, Ralph 2,700
72 Perenchio, A Jerrold 2,700
74 Filo, David 2,600
74 Jobs, Steven Paul 2,600
74 Johnson, Barbara Piaseck2,600
74 Spielberg, Steven Allen 2,600
74 Trump, Donald John 2,600
79 Bronfman, Edgar M Sr 2,500
79 Hughes, Bradley Wayne 2,500
79 Ingram, Martha R & famil2,500
79 Johnson, Charles Bartlet2,500
79 Rockefeller, David Sr 2,500
79 Schulze, Richard M 2,500
79 Simons, James H 2,500
79 Stern, Leonard Norman 2,500
87 Bechtel, Riley P 2,400
87 Bechtel, Stephen Davison2,400
87 Blavatnik, Leonard 2,400
87 Udvar-Hazy, Steven 2,400
87 Zell, Samuel 2,400
92 Burkle, Ronald 2,300
92 Hunt, Ray Lee 2,300
92 Huntsman, Jon Meade 2,300
92 Pohlad, Carl 2,300
92 Simplot, John Richard & 2,300
97 Butt, Charles C 2,200
97 Helmsley, Leona Mindyl 2,200
97 Saban, Haim 2,200
97 Spangler, Clemmie Dixon 2,200

Your pal,

Video: Free Trade Doesn't Work

Hey Barry:

We gotta give this some serious time; here's Ian Fletcher:

"This is me on TV this morning (video dead until about minute 8 for some reason):

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/294588-4

Ian"

Your pal,

Bank Regs Passed - Huzzah!

Hey Barry:

Y'all got the bank bill passed. Its a good thing.

Congrats to you and Dodd an all you folks there.

Lotta work to do, but the ship is turning.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/15/national/w122700D77.DTL

Your pal,

Meg Whitman - Why Rich Folks Bad - Part 3

Hi Meg:

This is for you. Seems I gotta write to y'all since y'all won talk ta any real folks. I be happy ta talk with y'all anytime and anyplace in public an on the record. Y'all is tryin to buy my state and I aint happy bout it.

Ima fourth generation Californian an y'all be very bad for our state. Please give up now an save yo money. Go run for President of Haiti where dey needs yo money for da campaign jobs. Save us here da grief.

Read my Billionaires Givin Back down below here - y'all git the idea.

Ima happy for y'all dat ya gotta lot of cash. But dat don mean that ya knows any ting worth knowin.

Here's my tax plan fo y'all: put an estate tax on ya now, leave y'all wid a lot of money, say ten mill or so. Tax da rest and put it inta the California budget.

Das the best y'all kin do for us.

We need lotta jobs an your job creation plan is standard Rep BS; it aint gonna work, an here's why:

From your web: "Meg will create 2 million new private-sector jobs by 2015...offer job-creating tax cuts to put Californians back to work"

Yo is jes flat wrong. Ifn y'all cuts taxes on bidness the owners gonna buy a yacht or buy a Swiss villa wid the extra cash - they aint gonna hire sumbuddy jest cause they gots mo money. Bidness hires people when the bidness is sellin lotta stuff and the people thay have caint handle the bidness.

Yo plan will KILL jobs in California.

Here how to git jobs in California: tax 90% of all incomes over one mill per year, tax all estates over ten mill an put the cash inta the budget for schools and poor folks.

Then let unions organize for higher wages, put a tariff on imports and get da bidness community to xpand now.

Dey will xpand when dey knows the folks like me is gonna have mo money ta spend and when they knows that Chinese crap will cost the same as our crap.

Dat da way to get jobs here.

Itsa bad thang when y'all got so much money that yo descendents to lebenty seven generation will never have to work. Thas a Royalty and that aint Amercian.

Be an American Meg - do da right thang.

Why Rich Folks Bad - Part 2

Hey Barry:

I understand if'n y'all sayin that rich folks caint be all that. After all, our rich folks is Americans aint they?

Well Ima gonna show y'all a video bout wot can happen ifn rich folks kin do wot they wants.

Yo gotta be warned Barry, do NOT watch this video if'n yo sensitive or under 16 years old - do NOT show this to your kids.

Here da link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/RussianUntouchables#p/a/u/1/4ZB3YoAvEro

Basic point is this: If Ima rich and steals sumthin an ifn y'all calls me out, yo gonna die nine months slow and painful and knee deep in raw sewage. Go head an scream - aint nobody gonna pay yo no mind.

Keep it in mind, Barry.

Your pal,

Why Rich Folks Bad - Part 1

Hey Barry:

So, Ima sayin that rich folks is a problem for the good ol U S of A.

Don mean that I wanna off 'em - I aint no Mao Tse Tung.

But, when sumbuddy gets too much money, they hire all these folks ta keep them rich. Its wot I'd do ifn I get rich. An, cuz they rich, they get real good people to help them stay rich.

An part of what those people do is to work on laws to help the rich families stay rich. An, since aint nobody payin folks to keep them from stealin from me, they gonna steal from me.

Here's xample from the water wars in California:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/12/BAB21EAV9U.DTL&type=newsbayarea

Jes nuther case of rich stealin from poor folks.

So Barry, y'all gonna ask why the govment caint take care da problem.

Well Barry, the govment aint gonna take care the problem cuz the rich folks gonna buy the govment. Duh.

Seems that big fortunes jes keep gettin bigger - even after the riginal founder is long dead. Them people he hired are real good an they keep the fortune growin even tho the founder in da ground.

An that's an effin royalty, Barry. It aint the American way. If I gotta live in a kingdom, think I'll move to Europe where at least they got some castles to look at.

So Barry - where are y'all on this anyways?

Your pal,

Fraidy Cat Bidness

Hey Barry:

So, question is dis: where da jobs?

Here da answer: dere is zero jobs cause bidness sittin on they hands.

Bidness gots losta plans to build, but they fraid if they do sumthin, the bogey man gonna git em, or sumthin.

Read it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/11/ED1D1EA5FP.DTL

I bin rantin on two ways ta get jobs: unions and tariffs. Here nother way to get me more money sos I kin buy more stuff - get them bidnesses to expand. When dey expand, we get jobs and we can buy stuff. Simple.

Besides all dat, now's a real good time for bidness ta move cuz the fed's givin away free money. Imagine dat. Free money.

And, if'n they dont expand, then we gonna have ta raise wages with unions and put on tariffs. Bidness wont like dat. Course we gonna do dat anyways, but don tell them.

Whattya say Barry, go head and jawbone them bidnesses to expand.

We needs it.

Your pal,

Cryin for The Troops

Hey Barry:

Thanks for helpin our men an women get help when they needs it.

Read it here: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0710/PTSD-New-regs-will-make-it-easier-for-war-vets-to-get-help

We send a kid to harm's way, we gotta take care dat kid.

Is the right thing.

Your pal,

FDR Himself

Hey Barry

Here's the words of FDR, as quoted in WEALTH AND DEMOCRACY, Kevin Phillips, 2002 Broadway Books, p 47:

'We now know that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob....I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it, the forces of selfishness and lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second administration that in it these forces met their master.' Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936.

How about it Barry?

We needs ya here.

Your pal,

Free Trade and Our Future

Hey Barry:

Y'all can catch a 25 minute video where I am interviewin author Ian Fletcher [FREE TRADE DOESN'T WORK] about the impact on the good ol U S of A of our continuing trade deficit.

Lotta food for thought there Barry - git your guys to check it out.

Ian and I go right after the consequences for your second term and y'all can watch here:

http://www.americaneconomicalert.com/

Your pal,

Elephants Forgettin

Hey Barry:

Well, dem Reps is runnin off that they has the best job creation ideas since sliced bread.

Da Elephant ideas is all B S, Barry, an I knows y'all knows it.

Les be clear - Reps have zero understandin of jobs. Dey gonna claim that they is all bout bidness and bidness is where all da jobs come from.

OK, we gonna give em dat.

But, dat xactly 100% of wot they know.

See, ting is, they claims that bidness gonna create mo jobs when bidness costs are lowered by less taxes, lower wages, zero regulation an all.

Dat is jes total B S.

Think bout it. Wot a bidness owner gonna do when he gets lower costs? He gonna buy a new car, buy a sailboat like Larry Ellison - who don xactly hire bunch new employees - take a vacation or sumthin like dat. Wot he aint gonna do is hire sumbudy jes because he has mo money.

He gonna hire sumbudy when his stuff is flyin out da door - when his sales goin up an up. Das when he needs mo folks to handle all da bidness.

We want mo jobs, we gotta get mo sales fo bidness - not lower costs.

So the bottom thang is how do we get more sales for bidness. And the onliest way to do dat is to get mo money in my hands so I can buy mo stuff.

Its all bout jobs Barry, an I bin dere before: y'all gotta up our income so's we can buy more stuff and den y'all gotta put on a tariff so's the bidness can pay da salaries dat support da jobs.

Keep on em Barry - we needs ya here.

Your pal,

Happy Birthday To Da Rich, Rest Y'all Kin Watch

Hey Barry:

Been thinkin bout our good ol U S of A.....its da reason I started writin this thing here in 2007.

I loves the country - [but hates da fireworks - its my thing].

Anyways, thanks to all you folks who been readin this thing, appreciate it.

Three and a half years ago, I started wid dis: we in danger from these specific internal trends - Political Corruption, Military Industrial Complex, Energy, Income/Wealth Disparity, Elections, Judicial Independence, Trade Imbalances and Usury [banks].

Where Ima at today is dis: Rich people da main problem.

We kin deal wid all those nine thangs and save the country if, an itsa big if, we kin corral rich folks.

Aint gonna bore y'all wid reasons - reasons clear as a bell. Of course, you rich then y'all caint see nuthin. But ifn yo poor or strugglin, yo kin see thangs clear.

Ifn y'all don know what the hell Ima talkin, jes do a little readin - tak y'all five minutes to figgure it out.

So Barry, y'all was elected cuz da promise y'all made was dat y'all would control the rich folks. Now I knows ya did NOT say that in so many words, but Barry, thas why you dere. Scratch any voter and dat gonna pop out some way.

Y'all on track to be nuther FDR and thas all good. But, y'all wanna make it to da finish, ya gotta put a lasso on dem Princes.

We hadda little war in 1776 ta git rid Princes. But, they back.

Up to you Barry - we needs ya here.

Your pal,

Gettin Rid Oil - Pushin Solar

Hey Barry:

Good on y'all for pushin solar an stuff.

Read it here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jy6s4th2AWz2wvrF9UGpJs3t_WxgD9GNJBC82

Its da right thang, keep on it.

Your pal,

Supremes - Ugh

Hey Barry:

Da Supremes just got a scorecard. Guess what: they is helpin the rich stay rich an screwin the rest.

Dis bad for da country, Barry, an I knows y'all knows it.

Read the score here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/03/MN5M1E8CDT.DTL&type=politics

Dis xplains why so many folks is bout to give up on the good ol U S of A. Cause eventually we gonna git it.

Positively depressin.

Your pal,

Optical National Security

Hey Barry:

Good that y'all on the case - keep US companies from sellin fibre optic secrets to da Chinese - or anyone else for that matter. The FT reported that story June 30, 2010.

We gotta keep our tech vantage where we can.

Your pal,

O M G - Supremes Backtrackin

Hey Barry:

Y'all wins one from the Supremes: Republican National Committee v. FEC, 09-1287. Y'all was pushin for it and the Supremes bought it. Good on ya.

Court upholds ban on soft money - that ties da hands of the corps and unions a little bit. Better'n nuthin.

Keep them FDR moments comin.

We with ya.

Your pal,

Supreme's - Jes Shoot Me

Hey Barry;

The supremes is at it agin.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-court-guns-20100629,0,7786166.story

They jes let us all - each an ever one of us - carry guns.

Holy cow, Barry.

Kin y'all do anything bout this??

Is gettin down right crazy.

Your pal,

Les Make a Deal

Hey Barry:

Its great thang for y'all - the bank reform is a deal. Now, y'all gotta git it passed.

Read it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/06/25/national/w071734D03.DTL

Read list of deal points here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/06/25/national/w072553D07.DTL

I'm not seein the Volcker rule - no BS stocks as part of reserves. If'n we don git that, we is doomed to be back here in five years, guaranteed. Now it may be in the rule that a bank kin own only 3% of capital in BS stocks - mebbe thas it. If its not there, ya gotta fix that Barry.

But, big congrats to all y'all up there - sumthin we really need. Course, y'all kin make some adjustments down the road and we is countin on ya ta do dat.

Keep on it, Barry.

Your pal,

Terrorists Win - Supremes Kill First Amendment

Hey Barry:

Y'all gotta do sumthin bout talkin to 'terrorists'. Sum of us wants to jawbone wid dem, talk em down.

But da Supremes say I caint even talk to 'em.

Read it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2010/06/24/DDHM1E383N.DTL
Here da First: 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.'

We aint gonna win nuthin les we can talk to anybody - including terrorists. We is all bout open ideas - we aint fraid of no ideas atall.

Cept, now we is.

Dis da wrong way Barry.

Your pal,

Taxin Banks - EU Doin It

Hey Barry:

Les git Timmy on this - tax the banks. If'n the Euros can do it, we can too.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322533439813538.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

We needs ya here too Barry.

Your pal,

Taxin Oil

Hey Barry:

Mebbe now's the time to put some 'fees' on oil an stuff.

Read it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/22/MNBL1E0PCQ.DTL&type=politics

Best way to get outta the oil mess - make it profitable to use other energy.

Whattya say Barry: How bout it?

Your pal,

O Canada

Hey Barry:

Don give up on reformin da banks and da conomy. Jes take a look at Canada - they showin us how:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/06/20/international/i061220D58.DTL

Your pal,

Billionaires Givin Back

Hey Barry:

This aint for you, leastways I don think so.

This is for da billionaires who gonna give a bunch back to charity.

Here my comment: B F D

You billionaire guys want to be good an all, but yo money not the problem. Neva yo mind that behind every great fortune lies a great crime. No big thang.

Problem is effin royalty.

Don matter you gives away half or 90% of what yo got, we an our great grandchildren still gonna be stuck with bunch generations of useless stinkin rich folks who jes buys wot they wants, especially and specifically includin laws.

Good ol U S of A founded on the idea that ya gotta make it on your own - not live off daddy.

Nuther U S of A idea is that we'all gets to vote on laws - laws aint supposed to be for sale.

Onliest sensible thang is a big heritance tax. We gotta kill them too big fortunes cuz they is only gonna make our lives poorer if'n they stays round.

We is doomed if'n we dont kill them big fortunes.

Your pal,

Messy Oil

Hey Barry:

Caught yo talk testerday an I'm gonna give you a B.

[UPDATE - Ima uppin the grade to a B + , BP jes put $20 Billion inta the fund. Way ta go Barry!]

Good bout it was this: Y'all took the hi road an gave us some hope. Thas good.

Here wot y'all left out: aint no details bout gittin it done.

Itsa a management problem, cleanin it up, and y'all didnt show managin.

Here how ta manage dis mess:

1. Set up a payment procees wid BP cash thas managed by govt - thas y'all - an pay em quick, don do no shilly shallyin round there.

2. Hire one person per county to be da govt coordinator for the clean up. Here wot he do: he holds one meetin wid da local county folks and makes a clean up plan by the end of the meet. May be an hour may be a week - but the end is a plan.

3. Then, he make a list of wot to do and wot all he needs to do it.

4. Then he make nuther list of wot he aint got an wot he has got.

5. Then he git on do phone an git wot's missin.

6. Then he tell y'all how much he spendin ta git it done an sends y'all the lists.

Then you - Barry Obama - make a list of wot is happenin county by county, beach by beach.

An that'll make y'all the manager.

Thas was missin from yo talk, but yo can still do dat.

Mebbe y'all doin all that already; if thas true, then all ya gotta do is tell us.

We with y'all Barry, keep on it.

Your pal,

Ghanistan Rocks

Hey Barry:

Ima guessin - or mebbe hopin - your question is how we gonna keep all da cash from the minin in Ghanistan.

Thas our goal so's the Ghanis can git some schools, roads, police, hospitals an other good stuff.

Here da answer Barry

1. Don allow no free money outflow - make a rule that all money goin out the country needs central bank OK first.

2. Dat gonna mean the customs and bank police have to be honest - an thas a big job. They gonna have ta import some temporary folks from the EU ta git that done.

3. Corps wot build da mines also gotta build da processin plants - goal is export finished products stead of raw ore. Keep lotta jobs in country.

4. Let the corps take out of country a max of 20% each year of capital they bring in. They gonna need good countants for dat.

Read sumwhere dat y'all gonna git accounting firms to compare contracts from other countries so dat the Ghani's don git totally screwed. Das all good, but most other countries allow free capital flow and dat will kill Ghanistan even deader than now. Gotta get creative here Barry - git yo guys on it.

5. Mining corps gotta pay a tax for mine safety inspection and nuther tax for roads an schools an police.

6. Wages gotta be high in da mines - they gotta have good unions so they can git good wages. Thas the only way ta git rid the Talis.

Jes in case y'all needs to argue bout dis - its da opposite of the Bush suitcase full of cash development program. But, if'n y'all needs help splainin it, I be happy to help y'all.

Your pal,

Barry - IT Czar

Hey Barry:

Liebermann wants to give you power over the internet.

Read it here: http://www.out-law.com/page-11102

Sounds good to me, especially if the commercial guys don like it - an they dont.

They kinda like the seniors who don want the federal govment messin with they medicare.

I say go for it.

Your pal,

Afghans Gonna Come Kill Us

Hey Barry:

Turns out they is whole bunch of scarce minable goodies in Afghanistan - enuf to make the country rich.

Read it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/06/13/national/w224428D29.DTL

So Barry, here's wot y'all gotta do: Y'all gotta make sure we don't do the Nigerian, free market, swindle the po folks an take all the money to Switzerland model that the good ol USA seems to like so much.

'Wot's the big deal, anyways,' yo may say. 'The corps got the money and we got the muscle - so full speed ahead.'

Here da deal - jes think on an Afghanistan wid ten times the money now and xactly same income distribution, graft and wot all.

Think the Talis pissed now, jes y'all wait til then.

Barry, wot y'all gotta do is make sure ALL the money stays in Ghanistan - course it'll be crooked, but they be some cash for the Talis and the police and the schools and wot not.

Bout our national security Barry, if'n we don help them folks, they gonna come kill us.

Pretty simple, Barry. Help us out here.

Your pal,

Bank Regs - Short Strokes

Hey Barry:

Here's list of wot we need from the bank regs as a first step: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/06/13/national/w014403D50.DTL

Lincoln's Rule - Regulate derivatives. Caint have no BS stocks floatin round wid zero oversight or disclosure. No Brainer here.

Volcker rule - Banks wot take deposits and make loans jes caint buy BS stocks, if'n they do, we'll be rite back here. No brainer - gotta have it.

Debit card fees - keep they hands out my pocket. Don wanna pay for no Swiss villas no more.

Consumer protections - Doh, same as above.

Keep on em Barry, this jes the first step.

Your pal,

Kyrgyzstan Riots

Hey Barry:

Ethnic riots are killing folks in Kyrgyzstan.

The government asks Russia for troops and Russia refuses.

Read it here: http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article454075.ece

Itsa big mess, Barry. Hope y'all on it.

Your pal

SWAPS Out of Banks

Hey Barry:

Blanche Lincoln wins the Arkansas primary and she's been pushing to get BS stocks out of the banks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/09/AR2010060904197.html

Seems sum of y'all been resistin her on that.

That aint good Barry. Ya gotta think on that one.

Your pal,