Rubin-Horton Who’s A Conscience

(Commentary posted by Roger Erickson)

How ignoring climate change could sink the US economy

That's all true. But coming from Robert Rubin, of all people? Yes. He recently posted a claim that he really does have a conscience. Oddly, rather than apologizing for having Brooksley Borne muzzled, repealing the Glass-Steagall act and robbing the US Middle Class on a massive scale, Rubin chose to distract his growing critics with a morality claim about global warming.

Huh?

Maybe this fulfills a childhood duty, to someday, somewhere disorient all the victims with a nominal act of ritual penance. Has Rubin-Horton picked a ritual WHO to pretend to hear? Something to indicate that he does have at least of some sort conscience? Or is this just a standard "look over there!" ploy to divert our attention?

One can almost picture Robby as a child, discussing dynasty plans with a relative.

Rubin-relative: “Listen, Robby. Your #1 responsibility is to grow up and sequester more demand-leakages for the family.”
Robert Rubin: “From where?” 

Rubin-relative: “From your neighbors, others, the country … who cares? The important thing is to hoard huge amounts of demand-leakages.”
Robert Rubin: “What’s a demand-leakage?” 

Rubin-relative: “Anything they got, son. Anything they got. If you take what’s theirs, then you have power over them. That’s what we want.”
Robert Rubin: “What for?” 

Rubin-relative: “What for? Don’t be some Mack stuck at the bottom, Robbie. You wanna be a Yertle, someone who’s better than others, and gets lots of nice toys. We either stick together as a family and screw this country first, or they might remain strong enough to survive us. Capiche? There’s no room for a conscience.”
Robert Rubin: “I guess. But at school we’re told that having a conscience is good, and necessary if we want this country to maintain a social conscience! Why can’t both the neighbors and us all become better off?” 

Rubin-relative: “Conscience, smoncience! You listen to me. We came here to get ahead of others, not to build no damn democracy. You start talking conscience & you’ll end up like those fools who wrote the US Constitution. Most of them died poor!!!”
Robert Rubin: “But I LIKE having a conscience!” 

Rubin-relative: “Fine. Once you get rich, you can BUY some token conscience. Just don’t overspend. You wouldn’t wanna let YOUR family down, now would you?”
Robert Rubin: “I get it! Okay, I promise. When I grow up, I’ll get so rich that I’ll buy the whole Congress! Then I can show people I have a conscience, and can buy as much of it as I want, no matter how much stuff we sequester from others.” 

Rubin-relative: “That’s my boy! Now you’re talking big stuff.”

Robert Rubin? Conscience? SOCIAL CONSCIENCE? Is any combo of Rubin & conscience an oxymoron?

Perhaps it’s just Robert Rubin’s way of saying that he’s gonna go into the global warming insurance business.

After that pond’s all fished out, what’s next?

Will Rubin, et al try to sell derivatives on Solar System insurance? Who’ll be left to buy that policy ... and get screwed on an even bigger scale? God? And does little Robbie really think he’ll be able to collect? Maybe he should go back to that childish inner voice, and see if it’s still asking “why” - before it’s too late.

No fun in being Yertle once there's no Mack left.

Larry Summers Memo Bids Adieu To The Last Well Democracy (not confirmed in the wild since 1945?)

Commentary by Roger Erickson

Has anyone else seen this? Please provide any feedback about it's authenticity.

Larry Summers and the Secret "End-Game" Memo

Or here, if the prior link is overwhelmed.

THE CONFIDENTIAL MEMO AT THE HEART OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

Who knew that Larry Summers might be living proof of Lily Tomlin's maxim: "No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up."

If there's any sliver of a democracy left in the USA, might this put the nail in the coffin of both our economy AND Larry's clamor to put another "man's man" imprint on the Federal Reserve? 

Lily bar the door? Santa Fraud's already been skulking 'round town!

In fact, he already knows what you've been doing. He knows every word you wrote. He knows where you sleep. He knows that he's been bad. He interpolates what you've been thinking and have bought. So don't shop for heavens sake.

Encrypt anything you write?

And decrypt anything you read in any corporate-owned media.

We've been had? For bad men's sake?
Someone could make a scary, Rubinesque nursery rhyme out of this. The chorus refrain could be: 

 Control Frauds have seized this town. 

 Control Frauds have seized this town. 

 Control Frauds already own ... YOUR nation!

Might the last well democracy coincide with the last well person, for related but analogous reasons, ultimately attributable to the combination of unchecked institutional momentum and active Control Fraud?

Romney chooses Greg Mankiw as chief economic advisor?!!

This is really incredible. Greg Mankiw. I swear, it's almost getting comical. Anyone who had any hope whatsover that we would see some change (surprise...it didn't happen with Obama) in the sick, misguided, neoliberal fascism that's been gripping us for the past 30 years just got punched in the gut one more time. Greg Mankiw???

Yes, Greg Mankiw...this is Romney's brilliant choice to lead his economic policy?

Mankiw, of course, is the Harvard Professor best known as being George Bush's head of the Council of Economnic Advisors. He's also the economic "genius" who didn't see the financial crisis coming, probably because he pushed the very policies that caused it to happen. Last year a bunch of his more enlightened students walked out of his "Introductory Economics" class in protest to the garbage he was teaching them.

Mankiw is a gung-ho "deregulationist;" a believer that less is more when it comes to financial sector regulation and that ZERO regulation is best. He also apparently thinks that fraud is pretty good too. That's right, he condoned it. Here was an actual Mankiew quote: "It would be irrational for savings and loans [CEOs] not to loot.”

How is it that these guys, who have been wrecking our economy, destroying the incomes of working people and supporting outright ciminality keep coming back, over and over and over again? Mankiw, Summers, Rubin, Greenspan...the merry-go-round continues. That means we have another four years to look forward to of the same, destructive policies.