Soldiers of Fortune vs. Food Stamps

Juan Cole; Professor at the University of Michigan states-”Drone strikes, electronic surveillance and stealth engagements by military units such as the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), as well as dependence of private corporations, mercenary armies and terrorist groups, are now arguably more common tools of US foreign policy than conventional warfare or diplomacy.”

Jeremy Scahill, interviewing the commander of government forces in Yemen about the devastating attack by militants in 2011, the commander said as the Yemeni military began fighting the militants, the men from Yemen’s Central Security Forces (CSF) fled, abandoning heavy weaponry as they retreated, leaving behind heavy artillery pieces, modern antiaircraft weapons, a number of tanks and armored transports in addition to large quantities of different kinds of ammunition. When the Yemeni forces tried to repel the militants in early June, they were attacked by the militants using artillery seized from the CSF units”. The counter terrorism unit is armed, trained and funded by the United States.

From the AP March 11, 2012-”Officials warn that the group (AQAP) has taken broad advantage of the unrest in Yemen to expand its foothold in the south, capture weapons, ammunition and equipment and score successes against the Yemeni military. “

From the same AP article, “While no agreements have been cemented, U. S. defense officials said the Pentagon and the State Department are putting together as much as $75 million in military assistance which could begin to flow this year.” Oh that’s right, since they have a “new” government, we can start sending them money again, it’s that easy!

An article in the Nation magazine said Ron Paul’s largest donor founded a controversial defense contractor Palantir Technologies. “The company profits from government espionage work for the CIA, the FBI and other agencies. Last year it was caught organizing an illegal spy ring targeting opponents of the US Chamber of Commerce.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US will supply rebels in Syria with intelligence. Which contractor is going to be gathering the “intelligence” to be supplied?

We have money for contractors and mercenaries, but the GOP wants to cut back on food stamps to prevent cuts to the defense Department. From the AP 4-18-12 “Republicans controlling the House are eyeing big cut to food stamps as they piece together legislation to trim $261 billion from the federal budget over the next decade, hoping to forestall major Pentagon cutbacks.

Government is being privatized but the privateers have convinced everyone that food stamps are a major cause of government deficit. Never mind all the defense, security and “intelligence” gathering contractors behind the curtains, they’re just protecting America. After all, somebody’s gotta supply the enemy, might as well be us, right? And think of all the jobs created for mercenaries, the job market must be tough in this economy.

Blaming Regulations Rings Hollow

I keep hearing that government is incompetent, can’t do anything right and should get out of the way, especially when it comes to financial regulations.
As reported on the PBS NewsHour: “The JOBS Act supporters in Congress argued it will create jobs by helping startup firms raise capital. Under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups, or JOBS law, such companies have longer exemptions from disclosing financial information and don't have to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission until they have 2,000 shareholders, instead of the current 500. The statute also permits so-called crowd funding, allowing small online sales of stock to a large number of investors.”

John Coffee is a professor of law at Columbia Law School specializing in corporate and securities law. He testified about the new law on Capitol Hill and said, “Congress is in effect saying, welcome back, go and sell stock your old-fashioned way by promoting it with inflated recommendations. That may work for a couple offerings, but that's a short-term perspective. You will lose investor confidence. And when you lose investor confidence, the cost to capital goes up and all companies will be hurt.” Where’s the charges of incompetence in failing to safeguard “business confidence” now?

The administration is eliminating regulations, which according to John Coffey, lessen government oversight creating the same situations which allowed shadow banking of sub prime derivatives sold with triple A ratings. Even when the current administration “gets government out of the way” it’s barley noticed. Yet the charge of too many regulations due to an incompetent government will continue, even though, it may not be true.

This bill curbs SEC authority and says John Coffey “It tells a variety of basically sensible self-regulators, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and other self-regulators, they no longer have any authority over these emerging growth companies.” “But you have written some permanent rules now that allow those companies that want to hide in the dark to do so.”

Letting banks operate in the dark is what led to the global financial meltdown. Where’s the charge of incompetence now? It should be evident that self regulation does not exist in the gargantuan financial industry that has become the US economy. Add to that more opportunities to take advantage of weaker rules, all on line with little supervision.

The complaint of too many regulations isn’t always necessarily true but it does redirect focus away from laws like this that pass without much attention. Maybe that’s the point.