Best of Dennis – Men Who Will Not Learn From The Past Are Condemned To Repeat Their Mistakes!

Best of Dennis…

Dennis is taking some time off as he and Jo settle into their new home, but he will be back writing soon. With the Fed once again cutting interest rates amid growing economic uncertainty, this article from October 10, 2024 on the perils of repeating past mistakes offers timely perspective on the Fed’s latest moves….

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Quote Investigator credits Barry Goldwater for the above statement.

The never-ending struggle….

President #3, Thomas Jefferson’s (1743-1826) early warning:

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks…will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered…. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”

President #7 Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), screaming:

“Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. …. You are a den of vipers and thieves.”

Continuing on, Lord Acton, a nineteenth-century historian, chimes in:

“The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.” — Lord Acton 1834-1902

Bill Bonner explains the struggle continues:

“The big bankers wanted to be able to make big bets, but without the risk of going broke.  They solved that problem by creating the Fed in 1913. Now, when business is good, they keep the profits. When their bets go bad, they get bailed out by the Fed, generously sharing their losses with the public.”

Uneducated Mistakes??

It’s no longer “uneducated mistakes.” For centuries, gambling bankers have charged horrendous losses to the taxpayers. Irresponsible politicos ignore the behavior and consequences, while enhancing their personal wealth, blaming their political opponents for all that goes wrong.

The battle between the people and politically connected banks is looming.

A recent GATA headline blares:

“Financial Times discovers that the Federal Reserve serves only the banking industry.”

Quoting the Financial Times (FT) (behind paywall):

“(A FT study found) U.S. banks made a $1 trillion windfall from the Federal Reserve’s 2 1/2-year era of high interest rates….”

“We’ve been very, very clear that we will not allow inflation to rise above two percent or less.” — Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke

The Fed pretends to be committed to bring inflation down to its 2% target. With inflation spiraling out of control, they finally raised interest rates to around 5%. The casino banks screamed; they want free gambling money – while pocketing the $1 trillion windfall the FT writes about.

With inflation well above 2%, and an election looming, Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced a rate cut. Kitco reports:

“Powell fielded a number of questions about whether today’s large rate cut before the election was politically motivated, and designed to support the incumbent president.

‘We do our work to serve all Americans,’ Powell insisted. ‘We’re not serving any politician, any political figure, any cause, any issue, nothing. It’s just maximum employment and price stability on behalf of all Americans. It’s a good institutional arrangement which has been good for the public.’

…. ‘We concluded this was a right thing for the economy, for the people that we serve, and that’s how we made our decision,’ he said.”

Chuck Butler beat me to it, writing:

“Well, the Fed Heads did the dirty deed, done dirt cheap…. They cut rates 1/2% yesterday… I have to question their intelligence, or maybe they know something we don’t….

The last time the FOMC cut by half a point was in 2008 during the global financial crisis. Yes, the great financial crisis… Is that what we’re up against again? Or is this just the Fed Heads kowtowing to the markets, yet again? Probably the latter of the two, don’t you think?

OK, so he did it ‘for the people.’…. I call BS here!“

Institution good for America???

Claiming the Fed (institution) is good for the public is BS galore!

Good for thee, but not for me! Since Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999, the top 1% really made out.

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Bill Bonner runs the numbers:

“The Fed began manipulating stock prices about thirty years ago. Since then, each of the households in the top 1% has gained about $32 million in wealth. Down below, in the 90% of households…the wealth gain has been, relatively, negligible.”

Bonner summarizes:

“The biggest problem in the US: too much (fake) money.

It distorts prices. Perverts federal policies. Makes some people rich, while making most people poorer. The excess money favors Wall Street with trillions in fees and capital growth.

But it destroys Main Street with inflation and a lack of real capital investment. It shrinks savings, boosts consumption, funds wasteful spending and leaves us with $100 trillion in private and public debt.”

Powell is dishonest, masking the truth that the Fed serves only the banks and their politico enablers. How has this institution been good for Main Street America? Rich get richer, poor remain poor; while the banks make out like bandits – which they are.

Since the repeal of Glass-Steagall the big casino banks are now deemed (by the Fed, with congressional complicity), “Too Big To Fail.” It doesn’t take a little Orphan Annie Decoder Ring to understand that definition – “So big they control the legislature, the economy, make huge profits, while charging taxpayers with their losses.”

The Federal Reserve reports the total assets of all US banks. Using some back of the envelope math, the top 10 “too big to fail” banks control 57% of total US banking assets.

Wall Street On Parade (WSOP) explains more Fed BS:

“Last year, the Federal Reserve, FDIC and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a proposal to require higher capital levels at banks with $100 billion or more in assets.

Many of these banks had demonstrated quite clearly in the spring of 2023, via bank runs on deposits, that they could spread systemic contagion throughout the U.S. banking system.

…. The megabank cartel made its anger and intention to push back known in a 7-page letter that assaulted the proposal.

…. (The Bank Policy Institute) launched an ad campaign that grossly distorted what the increase in capital would do, claiming that it would harm working families. (These are the same megabanks that blew up the U.S. economy in 2008,…and got a secret $29 trillion bailout from the Fed – because they had inadequate capital).

These megabanks then formed their own coalition to battle in court against the Fed.

…. The very suggestion that the Fed could end up in an embarrassing, headline-grabbing court battle with the very banks it regulates…had the intended effect of intimidation.”

What about congressional oversight?

“Fed Chair Jerome Powell appeared before the Senate Banking Committee.

…. (Senator) Elizabeth Warren was incensed that after Powell had promised in 2023 to support…capital reforms to prevent more bank runs and systemic contagion, Powell was now caving to pressure from the banking industry.

…. Warren told Powell: …. “Public reporting now says that you are driving efforts inside the Fed to weaken the capital rule.

…. You are the leader of the Fed and when the heat was on…you talked…about getting tougher on the banks. But now the giant banks are unhappy…and you’ve gone weak-kneed on this. The American people need a leader at the Fed who has the courage to stand up to these banks and protect our financial system.”

WSOP concludes:

“The Federal Reserve completely capitulated to the demands of the Wall Street megabanks on its plan to dramatically raise capital levels at the megabanks.

…. The Fed…will continue to allow the megabanks to use their own dodgy internal models to assess market risk.”

Political BS abounds!

An angry Ms. Warren claims, “The American people need a leader at the Fed who has the courage to stand up to these banks and protect our financial system.” She overlooks the fact that Congress oversees the Fed.

The banks are not stupid, they own the political class that protects them, ignoring their oversight responsibility. Like most grandstanding politicians, Ms. Warren talks a good game, but does nothing. What the American people need is a responsible congress to do their job, stand up to these banks, and protect the American people.

WSOP quotes Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr.:

“Wilmarth correctly concludes in Taming the Megabanks that there is only one way to protect the U.S. economy and the financial stability of the nation’s banking system and that is to break up the megabanks by restoring the Glass-Steagall Act, which would separate Wall Street’s global trading houses from federally-insured banks.

Otherwise, the megabanks will continue to dictate government policy, regulate their own regulators, and set the stage for the next destabilizing Wall Street and banking collapse.”

Glass-Steagall worked well. $300 million was spent on lobbying to get it repealed. That buys a lot of politicians.

“The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations.” — Thomas Jefferson

A century ago, congress passed anti-trust legislation and Glass-Steagall, which was good for America. They MUST do it again, quickly, or the entire system will collapse.

Picking sides

Which side of the battle is Congress going to take, the people or the banks?

If Congress doesn’t stop ignoring the people, I predict the stock prices of Exxon Mobil and Tyson Foods will rise due to skyrocketing sales of tar and feathers…

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Quote of the Week…

“Youth is not entirely a time of life; it is a state of mind. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. You are as young as your faith, and as old as your doubts; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope as old as your despair.” — General Douglas McArthur

And Finally…

Jo sent along some “truisms” for out enjoyment:

• If a child can work a tablet, phone or game, they can work a broom, do dishes and clean their room.

• A million kids want to clean up the earth. A million parents want them to start with their room.

• If you don’t leave your past in the past, it will destroy your future. Live for what today has to offer, not what yesterday has taken away.

• You don’t have to attend every argument you are invited to.

• TRUTH does not mind being questioned. A LIE does not like being challenged.

• Some talk to you in their free time, and some free their time to talk to you. Learn the difference.

• You cannot raise your children the way your parents raised you. Your parents raised you for a world that no longer exists.

• There is no such thing as a grouchy old person. The truth is once you get old you stop being polite and start being honest.

• Why must I prove that I am me to pay my bills over the phone? Do strangers call to pay my bills? And if they do, why don’t you let them?

• I finally figured out what I want to be when I get older. Younger….

And my favorite…

• Cell phones bring you closer to the person far from you. But they take you away from the ones sitting next to you.

Until next time…

Dennis Miller

“Economic independence is the foundation of the only sort of freedom worth a damn.” – H. L. Mencken

 

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