Obama Drops Plan to Cap Salaries, in Today's News 06.10.09

Obama Drops Plan to Cap Salaries. WSJ: "The Obama administration is dropping its plan to cap salaries at firms receiving government bailout money, leaving them subject to congressionally imposed limits on bonuses. The move is likely to end months of confusion on Wall Street about separate pay directives from the White House and Congress."

This is Obama retreat number two. (For a commentary on retreat number one go here.) Yesterday the Obama people dropped one of the key cryptocracy mandates. Today's retreat is of a different character. Salary caps were definitely not a cryptocracy directive. Salary caps are just a liberal fantasy about trying to look important, like good socialists. Imposing caps was never really a serious consideration. The caps basically provided a militant-looking cover for the liberals' abysmal deference to the cryptocracy. It was inevitable that a retreat would occur. Now we wait for congress to water down its proposal.

But, it is now possible to generalize that Obama has come up against the reality of hard Washington politics.  He is being forced to tone down some of his more extreme plans. 

Saving face becomes prominent, "The push to revamp compensation practices at all financial firms suggests the administration hasn't dropped its goal of making far-reaching changes to how banks pay employees. But this element of the plan will likely come in the form of recommendations, which may raise questions about how effective they can be."

In other words, they are abandoning the pay-cap ship.

The Clinton Machine Fades Away, in Today's News 06.10.09

The Clinton Machine Fades Away. Just for the record, observers should note that Terry R. McAullife, former Clinton hack-supreme and former Democratic Party chairman, lost embarrassingly in the Virginia Democratic primary for governor yesterday.

WSJ: "State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds won Virginia's three-way...primary...with shocking ease, defeating a former Clinton White House insider..." "...McAuliffe...had around a quarter of the vote."

How far they fall.  McAwful once upon a time was riding as high as you can get. But with Bill Clinton essentially gagged by the Democrats and Hillary running around pretending to be Secretary of State, there is no more role for McAwful. So he had to go looking for different work, and failing miserably at his first try.

The big point here is that the Obama machine has now completely replaced the Clintons' in running the Democratic party and related institutions. The eclipse of the Clintons' control of the Democratic party is just about total.

Finance Reforms Pared Back, in Today's News 06.09.09

Finance Reforms Pared Back.  WSJ: "The Obama administration is backing away from seeking a major reduction in the number of agencies overseeing financial markets...suggesting that the current alphabet-soup of regulators will remain mostly intact."

Well, what do you know? The bureaucracy wins!!!! One of the cryptocracy's key mandates to the Obama administration was to reform the regulatory world that watches the financial industry. The goal was to centralize the work of various agencies through the privately-owned Federal Reserve, which would give the world's richest families (starting with the Rothschilds) the ability to regulate themselves. This was their great dream, nirvana in fact, and they precipitated the economic crisis to create an atmosphere to accomplish this dream among others.

And the existing bureaucratic apparatus set-up by the cryptocracy becomes an obstacle to the new cryptocracy plans. Priceless!!! "The [administration's] decision is partly practical and partly political...Officials worry that trying to start [the reform process] from scratch could ignite messy turf battles that might slow or even derail the entire process." Never underestimate the staying power of an entrenched bureaucracy!!!!

"But sidestepping a major regulatory restructuring could spark criticism that the administration has missed a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

"'History shows that opportunities for real reform are short-lived,' Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo, who has close ties to the White House, said in a speech on Monday. 'Momentum can too easily be lost, and the return of better times too easily leads to complacency.'"

In other words, the Obama administration blew it, and now it is too late. The economic crisis was for naught in regard to regulatory reform.

The Obama administration tries to save face: "Rather than seeking additional consolidation, the administration's plan now appears to be focused on setting up new rules for containing risk."  

There are some gains for the cryptocracy: "The Federal Reserve will likely emerge stronger, gaining power to oversee companies, financial products and industry practices that might pose systemic risk."

It must be frustrating for the owners of the world's wealth. They control so much and yet they still have to work through unreliable political operatives. Here they bought and paid for and trained Obama and gave him a unique opportunity, and still he couldn't bring home the bacon. Again: Priceless.  

"Pope Visibly Upset over Abuse" in Ireland, in Today's News 06.08.09

"Pope Visibly Upset."  The Vatican response to the government-initiated report on abuse in Catholic institutions in Ireland is not off to a propitious start.

From the Irish Times: "Pope Benedict was 'visibly upset' when he heard details contained in the Ryan report on abuse in State institutions run by religious orders, Archbishop of Dublin Diamuld Martin said today."

"In a statement to journalists after today's meeting, Cardinal Brady said the Pope had 'listened very carefully, very attentively, very sympatheticly to what we had to say and he said in reply that this was a time for deep examination of life here in Ireland in the Church.'"

"He said the Pope urged them to establish the truth of what has happened, ensure that justice is done for all, put in place measures that will prevent these abuses happening again with a view to healing the survivors."

See previous commentary on this situation here.

Here we have a carefully planned, conscious assault on the authority of the Church in Ireland. The report itself is ambiguous, short on details, highly provocative, and opens the door for anyone wanting to make a buck to sue the Church.

The preliminary Vatican response described above indicates that the Vatican and the Irish Church officials will follow the pattern of the American response to similar charges, which was so successful (sarcasm) in the United States. In short, this response assumes the charges are legitimate, expresses deep sorrow, launches all manner of 'healing' procedures, sets up ineffective measures to prevent recurrence, and above all, forks over the money.

The alternative is to fight. It is not an easy fight to conduct. The opposition has all the emotional cards in their hand. But to not fight means the death of the influence of the Church in Ireland.  

The Vatican officials seem oblivious to the concerted efforts to undermine the Church authority. There are many very powerful individuals, groups, and institutions in the world who are anti-Christian, and who are constantly looking for ways to destroy the Church's influence on humanity. Their efforts never stop.  

The Vatican, sooner or later, is going to have to meet these challenges. That is, if it wants to survive. The Irish report is cleverly written and puts the Church on the defensive, but the Church leaders have to fight back somewhere.  The Church will be lost in Ireland if the current accommodationist approach is followed. 

Michael Hoffman on Vatican Secret Deal to Remain Quiet re: Communism

Michael Hoffman has a brief, but highly revealing article, titled "Vatican's Secret Deal to Keep Silent on Red Holocaust,"  The article may be read here.

Mark Glenn on Wiliamson Event and Pope's Trip to Israel

Mark Glenn has written an interesting article on the Bishop Williamson controversy and Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Israel.  Titled "Controversy Exploited to Muzzle Catholic Church", it may be viewed on page 23 of the page linked here.  I don't quite agree with Glenn (I don't know if he is being ironic when he talks of the 'holocaust heresy') but the article is a worthwhile read.

Paul Craig Roberts on Hate Crimes Legislation

Paul Craig Roberts has written an excellent article on hate crimes legislation.  Titled 'Record Shows 'Hate Crimes Prevention Bill' Will Suppress Speech', it may be read here.