(Commentary posted by Roger Erickson.)

Either that, or they believe PT Barnum's maxim, that they can never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the US electorate. How's that make YOU feel?
Either way, there are two discussions going on here. First, there are the literal words being presented, repeated, and heard, by many distinct audiences. Second, there's the single, underlying situation that ALL audiences are part of. Let's just hold ourselves to a higher standard, ignore the semantic inanities, and focus on real, Situational Awareness, and any Desired Outcomes which the USA can get to, from here.
Barack Obama to announce aggressive strategy to attract [foreign] investment
For Pete's sake!!! What does ANY nation need foreign fiat for?
Alexander Hamilton & the rest of the Founders must be spinning in their graves, wondering how we could stoop to endorsing, and topping, the very stupidity which they rebelled against!
Being railroaded into using foreign fiat, as opposed to organizing their own, collective fiat. Why? Pray tell? What's the consensus, Desired Outcome? What makes Obama's preferred path more attractive than the other ones? Are there any attractions which are more equal (to him) than outcomes that seem attractive to the rest of us? What about any remaining attraction to what's left of a resilient Middle Class in the USA?
Faced with this level of imbecility - or fraud - it really would be far smarter for every community to just organize their own,
Public Bank - IF this current electorate could keep the Control Frauds from owning
all Public Banks too, within 5 years. Yet if we could do that, why not just have a citizens revolt, and take back control of our own, national public bank? Make the Fed a Public Fed? We couldn't possibly do any worse than the
existing pit of Control Fraud vipers that rules the Fed for the gain of orthodox economists, not the nation.
Hell, while we're at it, why not have democracy seize control of all lobbying organizations, and their little Treasury and Congress too? Who OWNS this supposed democracy, anyway? Whomever is willing to act like owners? Non-gangsters can act like owners too you know, in theory, if there's any domestic fiat left, that is, distributed throughout our former Middle Class. Anyone else willing to step up and voluntarily alter their acting career? New roles beckon in an ongoing, epic feature reality play. The outcome depends entirely on the efforts of the current cast of characters.
We need to have an honest discussion about methods for achieving that conensus, Desired Outcome. NOT a discussion that keeps us conquered, divided, confused and distracted from even acknowledging the consensus Desired Outcome that we used to accept.
Meanwhile, is this ongoing move by mega-merchants a formal coup by the wealthy 1% everywhere, to rule the 99% everywhere? Or are they just dumber'n a sack of hammers? It's not just a class war going on.
Shipping and finance merchants are also perverting our entire government to wage guild-war against all manufacturers AND labor. And they are winning, so far.
Free trade just means that mega-merchants are in control of tax and trade policy, and now fiscal policy as well.
What are we? Citizen owners of our own democracy, or just mega-merchant-fodder? Better answer that quick, or else the mega-merchants will run off with the royal-we response, supposedly on our behalf. (Did you notice that there's a 99% discount sale on democracy going on? Beneath our feet?)
This makes no sense, and is just another, unbalanced descent into yet another version of Central Planning by a cabal too small to wield the full-group intelligence we need just in order to survive. It's the parasites "winning" by killing their host. Once again, like in 1933, we need to save these idiots from themselves, as part of saving ourselves.
The merchant lobby logic is also inconsistent.
MICC & other
Corporate Welfare operates by fiat currency logic, while we're told that gold-std logic applies to the serfs.
Huh? When do double-standards EVER scale efficiently? When wielded by supposedly genius-level Central Planners? In their dreams, and in our nightmares, that's when.
And we're also instructed to not ask questions? WTF is going on?
Why aren't more citizens asking WTF is going on?
ps: Forget 666. We're dealing with 444 - Foreign Fiat For. It's officially dumber than Cain's "999" formula, and more evil to boot.