Iraqi PM walks streets, handing out cash
"Iraq's prime minister is walking the streets handing out cash -- up to about $8,000 per person. The aim is to rebuild basic services and jump-start Iraq's damaged economy by quickly distributing as much of the country's glut of oil revenue as possible."
Maybe Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon, should get his fat ass out on the streets of America and start handing out some fucking checks.
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8 comments:
Iraqi stimulus checks are much better than ours,I want this guy for president.
That chaps my ass more than a little, mostly because Im jealous of the free 8K. Still, I wonder why our gas prices are so fucking high while we occupy and spend money and lives rebuilding one of the largest oil producing countries in the world.
midtown - Ummm, could it have anything to do with the fact that both the POTUS and the VPOTUS are oil men like Daniel Plainview?
Could it have anything to do with all of those secret "energy policy meetings" that the vice president conducted early in the first term and refuses to divulge any information about who attended or what was discussed?
Could it have anything to do with Dick Cheney's close, personal relationship with the Saudi royal family?
Nah, probably not. It's just the Chinese and the Indians (dots, not feathers).
while I am not a fan of current administration, it's just silly to think that they are more corrupt than any other administration in the past.and it's silly to think that /Jesus/ Obama will be any more honest and will fix it all. The book about CIA I am reading now (non-fiction)pretty much says that the last president who had conscience was Ike.One of the most corrupt- JFK.
meesha - I mostly disagree. It's less about corruption than it is about power. Nixon was the first "Imperial President" who thought the office gave him absolute power to do whatever the fuck he wanted.
Dick Cheney agreed with that point of view and felt that what happened as a result of the Watergate break-in was an unjustified impingement on the power of the presidency.
Dick Cheney's agenda from Day One has been to restore the power of the presidency to Nixonian level and even greater.
Dick Cheney does not believe in the concept of "checks and balances" or "three co-equal branches of government".
Being able to invade the middle east and drive up oil prices to make him and all of his friends richer than God was just gravy.
While previous administrations may have nibbled around the edges of corruption and power grabs, this administration said "Fuck it. Let's see what this puppy will do. Floor it!"
We may never recover.
"American Greatness" is a thing of the past. In another 20 years, we will be Italy.
well, I disagree right back, mostly based on the book I am reading Legacy of Ashes. Unlike most bloggers, I don't have first hand knowledge of behind the scenes of American presidency,but the book seems to be very well documented. It describes what went on in JFK White House and it makes you doubt some long established legends about the Camelot, etc. Covert operations, direct orders to kill elected leaders, and domestic surveillance. While Ike may have been lied to by Nixon and Allen Dulles, JFK and RFK controlled all these things, gave orders etc.And don't even get started about paying off some shady friends and mafia.I am still on JFK, few more presidents to go and then you are welcome to have the book.What I am saying is that perception plays a huge role in one's view of current events. If Al Gore and Kerry were in charge and oil prices were $4/gal people would say something like "shit happens" because millionaires Gore and Kerry were not perceived as greedy and shady by most people. I read somewhere that Gore is well invested in green technologies and directly benefits from his own global warming shtick.
Regardless of what you think of Nixon and JFK and LBJ, I do have to think that Ike was as honest as they come (on a relative scale, of course).
As proof I would encourage you to watch his "military-industrial" complex speech - remember, coming from the guy who was over D-Day and a career military man.
(I could be naive, but Ike was honest - imperfect but relatively honest)
Here's the key passage from Ike:
"This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
The whole speech is here
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html
Another prescient statement:
"Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."
Especially considering the time he lived and his background.
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