I’ve been away a few days, in a news blackout except what I could read in USA Today – and the events that have unfolded are astounding, discouraging, an affront to the United States Constitution, and an unmitigated disaster to the American and global economy. It’s hard to believe that in so few days, five to be exact – our Congress, against the will of the majority of the people of the United States, have embraced a financial bailout that caters to the wealthy/corporations and leaves the rest of us to fend for ourselves. What came as not too great of a surprise, except that someone had the courage to report it, was that our Congress was threatened with the imposition of Martial Law if they didn’t pas the bail-out plan! Some of this may sound impossible to believe, however, it appears the other shoe has dropped, and the Bush administration has taken off the “Velvet Gloves” of fascism and now appear ready to assume the authoritarian “I’m the Decider” mantra that many believe will occur before any newly elected President can assume the mantle of power. This frightening news that Congress was intimidated and coerced into passing this egregious Bill has been reported in other publications, and it appears to be true rather than a rumor. You can find substantiation and other sites who are reporting the same story, with substantiation, here:

There’s No Difference Between Martial Law And the Threat Of Martial Law

US Congresspeople Told Martial Law Would Be Imposed if Bailout Bill Didn’t Pass

Oct 7 – Congressmen threatened with martial law if bailout didn’t pass

Representatives Were Threatened with “Martial Law” if Bailout Bill Did Not Pass

When the enormity of the situation sinks into your most inner thoughts, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Greens, you name it, there should not be anyone in our political spectrum that shouldn’t be enraged that our own Congress was blatantly blackmailed, and this time, there is a trail of their treachery against The United States.

I could list more, but from the video and substantiation that was presented, it’s obvious that Bush and Cheney are tightening their grip on every segment of our nation, and are systematically destroying our proven way of governance, our checks and balances where all government agencies are accountable, but the “Decider” seems to be believe that his history of underachieving will somehow reverse itself, and decisions must be made in regard our economy that also take into consideration the middle-class and America’s poor and disadvantaged. So far, this huge segment of our population has been virtually ignored and Congress has been immersed, under orders from the Bush Administration, to come forward with a plan that uses taxpayer dollars to bail-out the elitists who contributed to this financial meltdown based on their poor and many times unscrupulous business transactions. In this matter, we are actually rewarding those who contributed to our demise, handing those responsible for our financial crisis even more money, which they still stubbornly refuse to loan and help to end the credit crunch that is virtually stalling our economy.

I read yesterday that a “Jobless father kills family, self.” The sheer despair of seeing years of hard work turn to financial disaster is bringing many to the edge, tempers are flaring, and family life with an economy that is bleeding middle-class America is beginning to reach nightmarish proportions. One of the victims of the jobless father was his “19-year-old son Krishna Rajaram, a Fulbright Scholar and honor student at UCLA (Emphasis added).” At the onset of the Great Depression, it was the wealthy who watched their fortunes evaporate that committed suicide, unable to face the world as an average man; the thought of forging on for some without their wealth was too much to bear… This time around, the wealthy are being protected, and it’s the middle-class and the poor who are taking it on the the chin – and it’s stressful to us too, as many of us face homelessness and live within margins that could spell financial doom when any bad month presents itself.

Knowing that our complicit Congress will embrace almost anything Bush demands, it wasn’t a huge surprise to find out that the “Federal Reserve to buy loans crucial to business to unfreeze markets.” This supposedly, will ease the credit crunch that is strangling our nation.

Paranoia even between banks is apparent when we learn that banks are reluctant to loan to other banks. As always, everything rolls downhill, and for the American consumer, credit is now reserved for those with excellent credit – not the sub-prime credit that countless millions of Americans remain in and now, find themselves becoming mired in an endless stream of bills that are impossible to pay as everything we attempt to shop for in a double-digit inflation economy makes us face prices that have risen to the point where one paper has advised families to “eat more Ramen Noodles.”

The last I heard of the Bail-out was that it was 700 Billion with another few Billion expected to be added later; what I saw that emerged as a Bill to help the economy was a joke, loaded with Pork at a time that we as a people are finding it hard to feed our families. Those are your tax dollars at work. The majority of you were against this bail-out, (Some figures place public disapproval between 80 and 95%.) yet again our Congress acquiesced to the Lobbyists and Special Interest Groups rather than the people, and an absurd plan that was already stealing 700 Billion Dollars from the American taxpayer grew to an estimated final cost which could exceed 10 Trillion Dollars! Without doubt or question, this is robbery without a gun using the legislature to “appropriate” tax dollars that are being handed to corporate America. It’s taxation without representation and every Senator or Representative that voted for this affront on the poor and middle-class America should be reminded of who it was that eventually sold us down the river when they come up for re-election.

When someone says the Bush administration and the economy make them sick, it may be more than an expression, as Americans are lying awake in bed at night, anger easily at other family members and are less productive at work. Stress in regard the economy is a major factor in the majority of American lives (80%) as we attempt to adjust to living in a country that was bankrupted because of its imperialism and the actions of a “”C Average President.”

Study: 8 out of 10 Americans stressed because of economy

By Madison Park
CNN

(CNN) — If you’re lying awake at night, feeling angry or fatigued, because of stress, you’re in the majority, according to a nationwide report released Tuesday.

Mounting anxieties led 60 percent of poll respondents to report that they’re feeling angry and irritable, 53 percent reported feeling fatigued and 52 percent said they lie awake at night.

As many as 47 percent reported having headaches, 35 percent had upset stomachs and 34 percent experienced muscular tension because of stress.

“We have a significant number of people reporting physical signs and symptoms of stress: muscle tension, headache, difficulty falling asleep,” Nordal said. “Stress warning signs should be ringing all over the place. One of the interesting things is while the majority of Americans thought they’re managing stress well, many were reporting physical symptoms.” MUCH MORE

Two failed wars, the second of which caused global oil prices to skyrocket and the US’s housing bust has brought financial markets throughout the world to the brink of disaster:

Global economic meltdown continues

Agence France-Presse
Published: Tuesday October 7, 2008

by Rob Lever

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US and European authorities launched fresh initiatives Tuesday to break the grip of a global credit crunch, but the moves failed to boost market confidence as Wall Street and other stock markets sank to new lows.

The US Federal Reserve said it would buy up short-term commercial paper or company debt in an effort to kick-start credit flows and ease a squeeze in bank lending, a move it described as “necessary to prevent substantial disruptions to the financial markets and the economy.”

Despite the dramatic move by the Fed and new actions in Europe, markets ran into new turbulence a day after a meltdown in most stock markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of blue chips slid 508.39 points (5.11) percent to a five-year closing low of 9,447.11 following a 369-point slide Monday and a global rout. MUCH MORE

For the bulk of the American population, President Bush and the Neo-conservative policies he has followed has changed life within these United States, perhaps forever – and even America’s remaining middle-class are now beginning to shop at thrift stores in order to conserve every conceivable dollar. We now drive less, buy less expensive beer and alcohol, plan our vacations closer to home – and the nation is hunkering down for the anticipated recession/depression that is being forecast by economists throughout the world.

Thrift stores: We’re seeing more middle-class shoppers

COLUMBIA, Missouri (AP) — Forget about the outdated notion of thrift shops as the refuge of the working poor, the down and out or the vintage fashion hipster. In these troubled times, the powerful lure of a secondhand retail bargain is attracting a whole new breed of customer.

The Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries International, the nation’s two largest charitable resale organizations, report year-to-date sales increases of 6 percent to 15 percent.

The gains are even more pronounced in the private sector. In an industry trade group survey of more than 200 resale and thrift shops, nearly two-thirds of those businesses reported higher sales in 2008 compared to the previous year. The average sales increase: 35 percent. MORE

The Jury is in; we’re in a serious recession that could reach the magnitude of the Great Depression. What we must do is two-fold. First, when a new President is elected and if Bush/Cheney release their grip on power, it is vital that Congress and the American people are taught a brief course in economics and history from our own past. We cannot survive as a “Service Based Economy.” Our homes are priced and valued on the economy of yesteryear – when industry and manufacturing flourished in the United States – and besides many of our products being superior, it has always been “Yankee Ingenuity” that has solved some of the most important questions of the 20th Century.

Like it or not, if the United States is to scratch our way back to a financial superpower – or even bring our economy back to a place where “average Americans” can buy homes and are not punished for a financial implosion that none of us had anything to do with. This is Washington’s mess; some say it is well-planned and falls into the realm of “The New Word Order.” I try to stick with facts that are easily substantiated so the reader can assure him/herself that what they are reading is not mere speculation, but carefully researched points indicate Martial Law could still be lingering on the horizon.

We have to bring home our industry and manufacturing. If not, the corporations will go broke too, although we know that they have socked enough money away to weather any storm that may come our way, they must understand that a strong American economy is the only way to uphold our power and prestige throughout the world. We are faced with too many problems that were caused by our own greed. Corporations, led by Wal-Mart, attempted to squeeze every penny they could from every vendor, and when the vendors wouldn’t or couldn’t comply with Wal-Mart’s demands, the business was outsourced to another country where labor was not an issue – and through our shortsightedness, we built-up our enemies and other economies while destroying our own… Enough is enough!!!!

We can survive in a global economy even with our higher labor costs because when we put our will and back into it – the US is known to be innovators and provide some of the most reliable products in the world. How many of you buy at Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart and a host of other stores and have noticed a trend that is becoming a reality in the global marketplace. We buy products that have a one (1) year parts and labor warranty, and for the past five or six years, I have noticed that many
‘new products” were malfunctioning soon after their one year warranty. It’s reminiscent of the American automobile; years ago American cars were manufactured to last an average of 50 to 60 thousand miles. The industry anticipated consumer’s trading in their cars on a regular basis, therefore they were not manufactured to standards that in the Orient, cars were being manufactured that would last in excess of 100,000 thousand miles. (It’s too bad that our own auto makers didn’t respond sooner and understand that as much as new cars cost now, we expect them to last a minimum of a 100 Thousand miles with normal maintenance. We can recapture the bulk of US auto sales, but only if Detroit finally understands why they have been getting their butts whipped by foreign manufacturers.)

The automobile was so entrenched in the American economy that regular trade-ins were the model for successful automobile sales. Our other products were different; you could purchase a TV, toaster, and a host of other household appliances and many would work year after year. sometimes for decades – and American quality was the standard for the world. We are still the best, but we have placed our manufacturing capabilities in locations that are only intended to bolster the corporate bottom-line. Our corporations need a wake-up call. With an economy teetering on utter collapse, it’s time for corporate America to re-evaluate their position and understand that we have a symbiotic relationship; when one does well, so does the other. This unmitigated greed being manifested by corporate America will be their own demise unless they wake-up and re-invest in America. The housing crunch will only get worse, and when the average home in the United States is over “$195,900, down 8.2% from $213,500 in February 2007.” Common sense dictates that in order to solve this housing crisis, it’s imperative that the people can make wages that will purchase homes that for now, are far out of reach of the bulk of the population.

Since wages are stagnant, and every day, more and more people are unable to pay their mortgage(s), it becomes obvious that outsourcing and two wars were events that caused the housing collapse. They can blame it on sub-prime loans all they want, but when the core of the middle-class is struggling to pay their mortgages, and many have (or Had) good credit, and on a daily basis, many of those solid Americans are finding out they are unable to make ends meet – the housing crisis grows deeper by the day…

We have spent Billions that will wind up to be Trillions of taxpayer money to bail-out corporate America. They receive our tax dollars, and still – they refuse to loan to other banks. Like the tax breaks that were handed out to corporate America so they could re-invest in their companies, we found out how they intended to do so – by raping our economy and bolstering third-world countries who will one day challenge us for the mantle of power. Most American businesses pay little or no tax at all – absolutely insane when our nation needs all of the tax revenue it can muster.

My Mother passed away last month, and I was going through her personal effects and I came across gas stamps and sugar vouchers that were used in World War II. Historically, when the nation is at war and it’s an expensive war, great Presidents get their constituency behind them and request that Americans conserve and contribute to the war effort as much as possible so its end can become a quick reality. Where other great Presidents requested that the nation conserve in a time of war, our President has lied to us several times and stated the economy was strong, and instead of asking us to conserve – he asked us to spend more. When we are literally spending billions of dollars per day on two separate wars, common-sense glaringly shouts that tax decreases are not the answer – that if the war is to be paid for, it can only be accomplished by asking all of us to conserve and contribute to the effort – as long a we know it will not remain an open-ended conflict. Our past tax structure, where the ultra-wealthy paid their fair hare of taxes, it was much easier to raise federal revenue to finance whatever it is we’re involve in.

President Bush’s economic mistakes are wonderful for perhaps the top 1 to 2 percent of our population, but for the health of the nation as a whole, for all practical purposes, Bush and Cheney have bankrupted the nation. I hear all of this talk about Martial Law, I vividly see that our own administration is the epitome of corruption, yet nobody in Congress has the courage to do anything about it. We have millions of federal employees in all segments of the government, and if they review the time when they were hired, all had to pledge their loyalty to the job, but being federal positions, they were also sworn to uphold and protect the tenants of The United States Constitution. This includes our military, the FBI, and every Federal Agency imaginable. I have hopes that if this administration renders an unconstitutional declaration of Martial Law, either via a severe economic collapse, or through a real or false-flag terrorist event – the people will see through it. There may be hesitation at first, but our nation is becoming accustomed to Bush’s politics of fear – and while some of those fears may be correct, in my opinion, the greatest danger this country faces is from within – not Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group. Those are isolated attacks. The attacks on our constitution and the transfer of America’s middle-class wealth to the rich is enough to make anyone sick. No wonder we’re stressed-out and lie awake at night! Bush has his hands in everything, even those matters he doesn’t understand himself, so we can only surmise that he is working to further the interests of everyone but the average American – the people Bush appears to hold in the highest contempt, even so much so that he has knowingly destroyed what took over 200 years to create. Don’t let it happen. Enough is enough!

William Cormier

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