Fearmongering At It's Best!

Read Naomi Klein's book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, you'll be glad you did!

Deeper Than We Know

Right after I wrote my last post, it dawned on me that my anger with the whole CEO golden parachute deal was perhaps exactly what those that are really 'pulling the strings', so to speak, want me to focus on. If I am focused mainly on the greed of CEO's I tend to forget where the greed, deception, lies and corruption actually begin. Maybe that's what "they" want. Wait, who are "they" anyway? I believe "they" are those elected (legally or not) officials that are currently running the government, and who knows, it may run even deeper than that, at this point nothing would surprise me.

I think it's important to remember that corporations have bought and paid for our elected officials. The reason republicans and conservative democrats are comfortable with fraud, greed and a blatant disregard for you and I, something that corporations demonstrate daily, is that they are the primary beneficiaries of these actions. They ARE the corporations! If you are wondering what, if anything, this has to do with the environment, it has everything to do with our planet's health. Every politician in Washington that votes with the backing of a corporation, consistently votes for the bottom line and NOT for the health of the environment.

If You're Not outraged You're Not Paying Attention!!

That saying is becoming closer and closer to reality these days, isn't it? It's 2008 and the economy of the US is at the point where the richest 1 percent of Americans now hold over $2.5 trillion more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined. We have more inequality in the United States than we've had since 1928, the year right before the Great Depression began. Greed has been the driving force behind the most devastating economic collapse since the Great Depression. I mean, who in their right minds aren't outraged by the fact that we (that's you and me) with our hard earned dollars are bailing out all these financial giants. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but what I garner is that this bailout will cost taxpayers about 700 - 800 billion dollars.

Now, get a load of whats being called the "golden parachute" phenomenon-

CEO PAYOUTS

Richard Fuld, who oversaw bankrupt Lehman Brothers self-destruction, reaped nearly a half-billion –$490 million – from selling his stocks before they became worthless.

Jimmy Cayne, former chairman of Bears Sterns which was rescued when the feds threw a $29 billion lifeline, received $60 million when he was replaced.

Stanley O'Neal, who steered Merrill Lynch as the venerable financial institution collapsed before being taken over by Bank of America, was given a package of $160 million when he left his post last year.

Angelo Mozilo, founder and top executive at Countrywide Financial Corp. which has been at the forefront of the subprime fiasco, cashed in $122 million in stock options in 2007.

Robert Willumstad, CEO at insurance behemoth AIG which just got an $85 billion respite from Uncle Sam, was handed $7 million for his three months at the helm.

The following are examples of 2007 CEO salaries -

E. Stanley O'Neal
Chief Executive Officer
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.
2007 pay: $24,306,586

Richard S. Fuld
Chief Executive Officer
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
2007 pay: $34,382,036

Daniel H. Mudd
Chief Executive Officer
Fannie Mae
2007 pay: $11,648,409

Richard F. Syron
Chief Executive Officer
Freddie Mac
2007 pay: $18,289,575

Kerry K. Killinger
Chief Executive Officer
Washington Mutual Inc.
2007 pay: $5,250,770

These people continue to get rich, and continue to have their wealth while we, the taxpayers are left with a bill that could total $1,000,000,000,000!

The greed of all CEO's are ruining the American economy and it needs to be stopped!

Vote Environmentally -

In case you're wondering, I don't vote based on partisan politics! In fact, truth be known, I'm not very fond of either party and believe our two party system is outdated and doesn't work. That said, I intend to continue to show the truth of "McPalins" environmental records -

Thanks PassionateGreen!

Thanks to Passionategreen for the comment on my last post! You're quite right, Damon sums it up quite succinctly, check it out -

Palin As Energy Czar? Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse......

If you have any facts to the contrary, please let me know, but, what I have read about Sarah Palin has led me to understand that in addition to her frightening lack of qualification to be vice president (much less president) of the United States, she is an evangelical, anti-choice, pro-gun, right-wing conservative who wants creationism taught in schools. Can anyone give me any facts to repudiate this?

She's also currently under investigation by the Alaska Legislature for alleged abuse of office aka Troopergate. Oh yes, lest we forget, there's also the little known fact that there has been a lawsuit filed by a group of Alaska Republican lawmakers, with the support of a Texas-based conservative legal group to stop the Alaska Legislature's "Troopergate" probe into Gov. Sarah Palin. Heaven forbid, we (the public) know the truth!

The words that were chanted at the RNC "Drill, Baby, Drill" were still lingering in the recesses of my soul when I read the following headline- "PALIN AS ENERGY CZAR" I gasped and staggered with alarm....NO, PLEASE, NO!!! The following are her words verbatim "John and I, we've discussed some new responsibilities that I'm going to have as vice president, first, I'll help to lead the mission of energy security". Yikes, Palins environmental record is abysmal by any standard, unless of course you're more the NRA member type, which I'm NOT! The thought of her being the main voice for US energy policies is downright scary. Even Obama, for some reason is still toting "Clean Coal" which is an oxymoron to be sure! Hopefully he will get out of the coal industry's pocket and into REAL alternative energy. Hey, won't it be great when we no longer say "alternative" when speaking of solar, wind, geothermal and other sources of energy?

It took me a bit of time to find this interview with McCain in Portland Maine, as a few of them have been pulled off of YouTube (hmmmmmm). This is the interview where he states that Palin knows more about energy than anyone else in the country. Be forewarned, this man could become your next president.........

Please sign this petition!

END BIG OIL'S ENERGY PLAN

With rising gas prices and America's growing dependence on oil, it is clear that too many politicians in Washington are paid for by big oil.

We need to stop letting oil companies run our energy policy. To make America truly energy independent, we call on Congress to boost production of clean energy, end all tax breaks for oil companies, and resist the false promise of drilling in environmentally sensitive areas.

We need an energy policy that isn't paid for by big oil.

Check this out, you can enter your zip code to find out how much money your local politicians have received from Big Oil - Paid For By Big Oil