Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Inside Trump's playbook for dealing with foreign leaders
Axios | Mike Allen, Jonathan Swan | 06/14/18

It took Little Rocket Man just seven months to go from President Trump calling him "a sick puppy," to "very talented" during the post-summit press conference, to syrupy praise of Kim Jong-un during the president's interview in Singapore with Fox News' Bret Baier.

The shift is jarring but is part of the Trump modus operandi: People come in and out of favor with wind-shear-like abruptness. Anyone in Trump's orbit knows they can be banished on a whim -- but have a good chance of coming back. ... Read more

How American Greed Led to a World in Decline
AlterNet | Tom Engelhardt / TomDispatch | 06/14/18

We find our planet with ever more failed states, destroyed cities, displaced people, and right-wing "populist" governments.

Think of it as the all-American version of the human comedy: a great power that eternally knows what the world needs and offers copious advice with a tone deafness that would be humorous if it weren't so grim. If you look, you can find examples of this just about anywhere. Here, for instance, is a passage in the New York Times from a piece on the topsy-turvy Trumpian negotiations that preceded the Singapore summit. "The Americans and South Koreans," wrote reporter Motoko Rich, "want to persuade the North that continuing to funnel most of the country's resources into its military and nuclear programs shortchanges its citizens' economic well-being. But the North does not see the two as mutually exclusive."

Think about that for a moment. The U.S. has, of course, embarked on a trillion-dollar-plus upgrade of its already massive nuclear arsenal (and that's before the cost overruns even begin). Its Congress and president have for years proven eager to sink at least a trillion dollars annually into the budget of the national security state (a figure that's still rising and outpaces by far that of any other power on the planet), while its own infrastructure sags and crumbles. And yet it finds the impoverished North Koreans puzzling when they, too, follow such an extreme path. ... Read more

Getting Rich on Government-Backed Mortgages
Bloomberg | Prashant Gopal | current

Each time Christian sells a home loan, the company he works for, American Financial Network Inc., takes as much as 5 percent--$12,500 on a $250,000 loan, to be distributed among his staff, corporate headquarters, and, of course, himself. As he and his team chase more than 250 leads a week, they're on pace to close 50 a month. Christian says he has a Lamborghini on order to go with his Mercedes.

On a recent afternoon in a suburban Houston office park, he leans back in his swivel chair, iPhone glued to his cheek. A TV projecting to a screen behind his desk pounds music videos, keeping his adrenaline flowing. He calls back a customer who's spent hours watching his sales videos: "Bad Credit, I Can Help," "Fresh Start: Credit Boost," and "Go For Your Dreams." This would-be homeowner has a 596 credit score, putting him in the subprime range. His car has been repossessed, something that would likely disqualify him at the Bank of America branch next door. ... Read more
WARNING: Housing Bubble About To Burst | TYT | 06/12/18 | 11:03

Scott Pruitt's Corruption Is Bad, But His Planetary Sabotage Is Worse
AlterNet | Jill Richardson / Common Dreams | 06/14/18

Did you hear that the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, is so corrupt that he spent $1,560 on 12 customized fountain pens? Or that he spent another $43,000 on a soundproof phone booth in violation of government spending laws? Pruitt's big spending on the taxpayer dime has earned him well-deserved scrutiny and outrage. But what's really outrageous is what he's doing with the EPA.

While Pruitt was getting headlines for having taxpayer-funded aides do his private business, his EPA just gutted an Obama-era law to protect Americans from toxic chemicals.

For four decades, the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 did little to require that all new chemicals (or untested old ones) were properly vetted for safety before allowed onto the market. Even the chemical industry said it was flawed. In 2016, the Republican-led Congress passed an update that would help keep Americans safer from toxic chemicals. ... Read more