tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post1908548243641212956..comments2024-03-28T20:28:01.733-04:00Comments on Mike Norman Economics: Greg Palast - How the "Bernie of Mexico" Won the Presidencymike normanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296006882513340747noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-75421170638632268232018-07-03T12:36:28.281-04:002018-07-03T12:36:28.281-04:00Yes, I was looking for a leftist perspective on Ob...Yes, I was looking for a leftist perspective on Obrador. The NBC Nightly News show I watched referred to him as Mexico's Trump, or something to that effect. I see that the both inherited hotel chains. Oh wait, <br /><br />"like Bernie, AMLO is a working class kid who worked in the social movement trenches: Sanders as a SNCC organizer in Chicago, while López Obrador spent six years living with, sharing the lives of and fighting for the poorest Mayan families."Detroit Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03718490473585220856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-59668721571708885472018-07-02T23:15:05.339-04:002018-07-02T23:15:05.339-04:00Excellent reporting by Greg Palast, as usual. Than...Excellent reporting by Greg Palast, as usual. Thanks for posting it.Tom Hickeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08454222098667643650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-4898210732371017462018-07-02T16:47:14.275-04:002018-07-02T16:47:14.275-04:00When Lopez Obrador was mayor of Mexico City (2000-...When Lopez Obrador was mayor of Mexico City (2000-2003) Carlos Urzua was his finance manager. Urzua reduced the growth in city debt, which is a good thing, since cities are revenue-constrained. <br /><br />Now with Obrador's win, however, Urzua will be finance manager of a government that is not revenue-constrained. <br /><br />Neoliberals are worried. What if Urzua helps Obrador reduce poverty? What if Urzua increases the general happiness of average Mexicans? What if Urzua makes Mexico a bit less like hell?<br /><br />This keeps neoliberals awake at night. Our hell is their heaven. <br /><br /><i> “Urzua was quick to tell investors on Monday that he intended to remain fiscally disciplined, to respect the autonomy of the country’s central bank and its floating exchange rate regime.” </i> <br /><br />Was Urzua being truthful, or did he just say this to prevent a neoliberal attack by the Mexican congress? We may not know the answer until after December when Urzua takes office. <br /><br />Let’s keep in mind that this entire planet runs on the <b><i> LIE </i></b> that monetarily sovereign governments (like Mexico’s) run on loans and tax revenue. If a politician exposes this <b><i> LIE,</i></b> then the loudest protests will come not from the rich elitists, but from the masses themselves, who have been told the <b><i> LIE </i> </b> from birth, and who have based their entire lives on this <b><i> LIE. </i> </b> <br /><br />No politician can simply speak the truth. The peasants will not have it. Instead, a politician must continue to give lip service to the <b><i> LIE </i> </b> while he does whatever he plans to do.<br /><br />Ronald Reagan continually repeated the <b><i> LIE </i> </b> while massively increasing the federal deficit in order to throw money at the Military Industrial Complex. Reagan said one thing, but did another. This is necessary in politics, since the peasants <b><i> insist </i> </b> on being lied to. It makes their lives feel predictable and “safe.”<br /><br />W. Bush’s first Treasury Secretary was Paul Henry O'Neill. When Bush told O'Neill about the plan to increase federal spending for Bush’s upcoming “war <b><i>OF</i></b> terror,” O'Neill strenuously objected, since O’Neill believed the <b><i> LIE </i> </b> that the U.S. government ran on loans and on tax revenue. Bush and O’Neill went round and round on this. Cheney told O’Neill that “Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter.” Nonetheless, O’Neill continued to complain. <br /><br />After about a year, O’Neill went on the talk show circuit and started announcing that Bush’s policies would “bankrupt” the U.S. government. In response, Bush fired O’Neill and replaced him with John William Snow. During Bush’s second term, he replaced Snow with Henry Paulson, who embarked on a series of Wall Street bailouts. <br /><br /><b> The point is</b> that we still don’t know what Carlos Urzua will actually do. The neoliberals don’t either, and they are worried. <br /><br />At this point Urzua is just repeating the <b><i> LIE. </i> </b>Konradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739209449391854796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-52683842107930642422018-07-02T14:59:57.835-04:002018-07-02T14:59:57.835-04:00Mexico does anything useful for its people and we&...Mexico does anything useful for its people and we'll label them a terrorist threat and bomb them back to the stone age. They've got a lot of oil ...<br /><br />Bernie is toast. A couple of good talking points, a lot of big holes (nothing about "defense" or perpetual war), and then full capitulation. He sold his soul to the Clinton Dynasty and her corrupt Democratic Party Machine.Noah Wayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12012500819097539976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-49222238876489628252018-07-02T13:43:39.357-04:002018-07-02T13:43:39.357-04:00FM is a fiscal hawk:
“He reined in expenditures t...FM is a fiscal hawk:<br /><br />“He reined in expenditures then, and the increase in the city’s level of indebtedness in real terms during his boss’s term was 3.3 percent, compared with the previous administration’s 19 percent,<br /><br />Urzua himself was quick to tell investors on Monday that he intended to remain fiscally disciplined, to respect the autonomy of the country’s central bank and its floating exchange rate regime.“<br /><br />https://twitter.com/markets/status/1013835479266013188?s=21<br /><br />Doesn’t look good ... Matt Frankohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11978352335097260145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-37328192262603449742018-07-02T13:21:28.832-04:002018-07-02T13:21:28.832-04:00“The rest of Obrador’s platform included expanding...<i> “The rest of Obrador’s platform included expanding free college education, raising the minimum wage, fighting income inequality and creating a massive infrastructure-fixing jobs program.” </i><br /><br />Great, but how will Mexico <b><i> pay for it?</i></b><br /><br />By creating the money <b><i> out of thin air.</i></b><br /><br />But who will do the work?<br /><br />How about Mexico’s 123.6 million people, who instead of dying in poverty, or dying from the drug trade, can be gainfully employed?<br /><br />Even if Obrador turns out to be another Obama, his election has shown average Mexicans that change is at least <b><i> possible.</i></b> Obrador will not transform Mexico, but at least a step has been made in that direction. <br /><br />Obrador, aged 65, has been involved in politics for decades. He knows how the game is played, and he has made many tactical retreats (which are not to be confused with sell-outs.) <br /><br /><i> “Mexican media blared apoplectic prophesies that AMLO would be the Second Coming of Hugo Chavez, with mass nationalizations to follow. (The hysteria was parroted in the New York Times, not coincidentally, owned by Mexico’s richest man.)</i><br /><br />This is to be expected. All the Mexican corporate media outlets are pro-neoliberalism (except for <i>La Journada</i>). Indeed, all the corporate media outlets throughout Latin America are pro-neoliberalism. <br /><br />Incidentally Carlos Slim (Mexico’s richest man) had only a 17% stake in <i>The New York Times,</i> and he sold half of that in April 2018.<br /><br /><i> “I spoke with voting rights activist (and movie star) Yareli Arizmendi in Mexico City, who told me that the old guard politicians were tied up with the Zetas and other drug gangs.”</i><br /><br />Politicians and bankers are the biggest drug dealers in Mexico and the USA. When they attack particular drug cartels, they do it to eliminate private competitors. Then the drug-lord politicians pose for the cameras as saints who have "rid Mexico of the drug scourge." <br /><br /><i> “Many victims were not just AMLO allies but also PRI, Green Party and independents who challenged the control of their cities and states by narco-traficantes.”</i><br /><br />Until NAFTA, the <i>narco-traficantes</i> were the main benefactors of local communities. They used their money to build roads, schools, and hospitals for their people. Federal politicians ended this when they entered the game. They used the Mexican military to take control of the drug trade. <br /><br />It’s been war ever since. <br /><br />Whenever there is an earthquake in Mexico, or a hurricane, or a landslide, or some other natural disaster, celebrities offer to pay for relief and reconstruction, but politicians checkmate this. Politicians want average people to grovel to <b><i>politicians.</i></b> Politicians want to keep average people impoverished and dependent, so that they fall to the knees and treat politicians as gods.<br /><br /><i> “It was a hard sell, especially as the wife of the current President, PRI man Enrique Peña Nieto, was caught taking a $7 million condo from a government contractor.”</i><br /><br />Ah yes. Angélica Rivera Hurtado. Pretty girl. Former soap opera star. Corporate media outlets affectionately call her “La Gaviota” (the seagull). <b><i> She’s as corrupt as they come. </i></b>Konradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739209449391854796noreply@blogger.com