OpEdNews: Former asst. Secretary of the treasury Paul Roberts on Rob Kall Radio tonight‏

If you have a problem reading this email, please click here to see the web page version Lots to discuss today. Paul Craig Roberts on Rob Kall Radio Show Tonight Naomi Klein on Rob Kall Radio Show October 15 I'm looking forward to chatting with Paul Roberts tonight. The "czar" managing the $700 billion bailout is assistant secretary of the treasury. Paul Roberts WAS assistant secretary of the treasury. during the time of Reagan. He's become quite a critic of the current administration's policies and has some strong opinions about the bailout. Here are some of his latest articles: Monday, October 6, 2008 The End of American Hegemony (16 comments) George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did the deregulation that led to the current crisis. The Paulson bailout saves his firm, Goldman Sachs. The Paulson bailout transfers the troubled financial instruments that the financial sector created from the books of the financial sector to the books of the taxpayers at the US Treasury. This is all the bailout does. It rescues the guilty. It does not address the real problem... Thursday, October 2, 2008 The Bailout Is A Fraud (1 comments) the Paulson bailout does not address the core problem. It only addresses the problem for the financial institutions that hold the troubled assets. Under the bailout plan, the troubled assets move from the banks' books to the Treasury's. But the underlying problem--the continuing diminishment of mortgage and home values--remains and continues to worsen. Wednesday, October 1, 2008 Can A Bailout Succeed? Not without these elements and possibly not with them (7 comments) However, whatever bailout package that emerges will fail unless it takes into account the following. Tuesday, September 23, 2008 Has Deregulation Sired Fascism? (12 comments) The control over the financial system that the bailout would give to the executive branch would mean, in effect, state capitalism or fascism. If we add state capitalism to the Bush administration's success in eroding both the US Constitution and the power of Congress, we may be witnessing the final death of accountable constitutional government. Monday, September 15, 2008 US Economy: Rudderless and Reeling From Direct Hits (7 comments) Call centers, IT operations, back-office operations, and manufacturing have long been moved offshore. Now high-value-added proprietary activities such as research and development, engineering, product development, and analytical services are being sent offshore. All that's left is finance, and it is crumbling before our eyes. Fascism Alert. Call for multiple articles. The implications of this are frightening. How many other states have done the same? This is bone-chilling and I'd love to see it reported, explored and analyzed by a number of writers. The way I see it, we can't have too many articles on this. I'll headline every one that comes in, in response to this call. ONes that interview people in congress or on "The list" will be top headlined. But even if you just recap the story, I'll headline it. You can use up to 499 words rom the article. Feel free to include in the article the email, home phone number and address of the fascists who perpetrated this assault on democracy. I don't recall ever approaching a story like this before. I am beyond outraged in a time when outrage is the norm. Md. Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists Surveillance's Reach Revealed By Lisa Rein Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 8, 2008; A01 The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police chief acknowledged yesterday. Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan revealed at a legislative hearing that the surveillance operation, which targeted opponents of the death penalty and the Iraq war, was far more extensive than was known when its existence was disclosed in July. The department started sending letters of notification Saturday to the activists, inviting them to review their files before they are purged from the databases, Sheridan said. "The names don't belong in there," he told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. "It's as simple as that." The surveillance took place over 14 months in 2005 and 2006, under the administration of former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R). The former state police superintendent who authorized the operation, Thomas E. Hutchins, defended the program in testimony yesterday. Hutchins said the program was a bulwark against potential violence and called the activists "fringe people." Sheridan said protest groups were also entered as terrorist organizations in the databases, but his staff has not identified which ones. Stunned senators pressed Sheridan to apologize to the activists for the spying, assailed in an independent review last week as "overreaching" by law enforcement officials who were oblivious to their violation of the activists' rights of free expression and association. The letter, obtained by The Washington Post, does not apologize but admits that the state police have "no evidence whatsoever of any involvement in violent crime" by those classified as terrorists. read the rest using this link: Lots of commentary on the debate below. Have a great one, Rob kall