Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Opinion & Editorial

by Bob Scott, Hamilton

The corporate crime wave has struck Montana. Smurfit-Stone, the company that shut down its Frenchtown mill, laid off more than 400 workers, and owes Missoula County $1.18 million in taxes, has just awarded $8.1 million to company executives! It is being called the greatest heist since the Montana Power Company slipped away under the cover of deregulation destroying the jobs, pensions, and life-savings of hundreds of innocent Montanans.

Smurfit-Stone has evidently learned quickly from the big time robbers like AIG, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Citicorp, and Bank of America, and picked up a few tricks from Crime Hall of Famers like Enron, World Com, and Long Term Capital Management, whose thefts dwarf those of Bernie Madoff, the Galleon Group and other comparative small timers currently serving as token scapegoats. Corporate crime used to be pretty much a backroom, under-the-table sort of thing. Not any more. The 21st century way is to rob the public in broad daylight. Just grab the money and run to the protection of the government – or better yet, have the government steal for you.

The Federal government is supposed to be protecting us, of course, but it has been taken over by corporations quite some time ago. The public is too stunned, too afraid, or perhaps too brainwashed to do anything about it. Corporations, just in the last couple of years, have received hundreds of billions in cash and trillions in guarantees from the government they control. This huge payoff was bought for peanuts. The campaign contributions and other corporate money that flows to government officials are bribes, of course, but if they were investments the aggregate return is something in excess of 200,000%. King Midas was a piker compared to these guys.

Before the current crime wave got rolling with the Bush-Obama TARP bailout, the public was told for years that “there is no money” for health care, schools, roads, jobs, or anything else we needed. But when the big banks came calling because they had gambled away the last money they stole, the government came up with $700 billion overnight, and $10 trillion in guarantees in a matter of months. This comes on top of the billions of taxpayer dollars already being expended in a global war to protect corporate hegemony and their financial system. The scale and audacity of this racket is truly stunning. The damage it is doing to people and the environment is nothing short of a catastrophe. What didn’t work for the Roman Empire is somehow supposed to work for the USA.

The fact that Goldman Sachs and their corporate gang even needed a taxpayer bailout is astounding. They already controlled – directly – the Federal Reserve System which is their own private banking center that creates ALL the money in the first place. It is a measure of their brazenness, greed, and incompetence, that even with 100% control of the US money supply, they still had to rob the taxpayer. Evidently what was supposed to be a “controlled demolition” to increase the big banking monopolies (while Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson was running the Federal Reserve) got out of hand when the Lehman Brothers elimination turned up trillions of dollars of toxic gambling “assets.”

Make no mistake; this country is in the grip of one of the largest and most sophisticated criminal gangs in world history. Goldman Sachs is the leader of this parasitical crime family, and currently has dozens of its employees and several of its top lieutenants (such as Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers – protégés of top neoliberal bankster and long-time Goldman Sachs capo Robert Rubin) in key government positions to insure control.

This is just another sign of how badly this country needs financial reform. Not that we are going to get it. CEOs, Wall Street and big banks get rewarded for their disastrous practices while local workers, communities and small businesses get left holding the bag to do all the suffering. Clearly, Congress should act to hold these people accountable to the same rules the rest of us must follow. Montana needs redress for the damage done by the likes of Smurfit-Stone.

It wouldn’t hurt to call Rehberg or Baucus, of course, but all indications are that they are in on the game. I live in hope that we will get real change, but at this point it looks like only a mass revolt of consumers and taxpayers can bring the change we need. Without something like another American Revolution, this country is evidently going to go the way of all empires – into the dust heap of history. It may get there quickly and violently (like the Nazi regime) if the exploited part of the world gets really fed up with the excesses of this country, but more likely it will suffer a long, slow, whimpering death like that experienced by Rome.

Reform Wall Street for the good of Main Street

Dear Editor,

A group calling itself the Committee for Truth in Politics is spending big bucks on a TV ad being aired in Montana opposing Senate adoption of H.R.4173 - Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 by calling it "The Big Bank Bailout Bill." The ad is a Big Lie because the bill actually restricts ‘bailout’ power the Federal Reserve has had since 1932. For example, the bill says the Fed must be 99% certain that money lent will be repaid with interest.

Little is known about the ad’s sponsor because it refuses to file reports with the Federal Elections Commission. But anyone who can spend such big bucks has selfish reasons to oppose a bill that regulates Wall Street and big financial institutions and protects our Main Streets and ordinary citizens from financial abuse, meltdowns, and recessions - like we have and are still suffering and paying for.

One section of the bill protects us from "unfair and abusive financial products and services." Another section protects against predatory lending and deceptive mortgages. Also, the bill strengthens the Security and Exchange Commission to protect shareholders and give them a "say on pay" that executives get. And the bill gives other protections.

To read either a summary or the whole bill, go to OpenCongress.org. To get the facts behind the ad, go to FactCheck.org and search for "The Big Bank Bailout Bill?"

After you get the facts about the bill and the ad, call or write Senators Baucus and Tester and urge their support.

Milton Crum
Helena

Time to speak out

Dear Editor,

"There is a time to be silent; there is a time to speak out." Now is the time to speak out. A waste disposal plant is being planned near Stevensville along U.S. Hwy. 93 and bordering North Kootenai Creek Drive. It is now being processed through the Montana Department of Environmental Quality which has conducted a frighteningly inadequate environmental assessment of the site. Not only is this proposed dumpsite for human sewage an assault on the sensitivities of the residents in the area, the bikers and pedestrians out for a run in the brisk morning air, it is a possible threat to the Bitterroot River and to the Lee Metcalf Refuge, both treasures to our community and to our state. It is frightening to contemplate the danger to the river should a combination of rain-snow and snowmelt reach that site and continue downward carrying with it a load of contaminants, human waste, toxins, carcinogens. A threat to the Lee Metcalf Refuge was not even mentioned in the EA.

Citizens may check out this story in last week's (Feb. 3, 2010) issues of our local newspapers, the Bitterroot Star and the Ravalli Republic. This is your neighborhood, your valley, your community. If you are concerned contact Governor Schweitzer and ask him to delay the pending decision on permitting a proposed sewage dumping site near Stevensville until a complete, in depth environmental assessment is made at this site. Contact the governor by phone: 406-444-3111 or email: mt.gov or mail: Governor Brian Schweitzer, Montana State Capitol, Helena MT 59808.

Jeanne E. O'Neill
Stevensville

Student asks for info

Dear Editor,

Hello! My name is Steven S. I am a fifth grade student at West Ridge Elementary School in Harlan, Iowa. My class is studying the history and geography of the United States. I am glad I got the state of Montana. I would appreciate it if you could send me a souvenir, map, or information about the state of Montana. My teacher would like a car license plate for a school project, if possible. I really appreciate your time. Thank you.

Steven S.
Mrs. Newlin's S.S. Class
West Ridge Elem. School
1401 19th St.
Harlan, IA 51537

Setting the record straight

Dear Editor,

A letter in the Bitterroot Star on February 10 questioned why I supported appointing a nurse practitioner to serve on the Board of Health instead of a physician the writer thinks is more qualified. The letter also incorrectly stated that the successful candidate missed the December 28 application deadline but her application was allowed after that date, implying something underhanded was done. 

The truth is the nurse practitioner submitted her application at least a month before the deadline. Both applicants were eligible for the post.

Regarding my support of the nurse practitioner, I need to tell you a personal story. In 1994, my 14-year-old son was severely injured when he was hit by a car on his bicycle. After spending several months by his side in the hospital, and being a single mother with our bills piling up, I worried about losing our home. Then, just when Brian stabilized enough to come home, our septic system failed. Until I replaced the system I could not bring my son home. The estimate was $3800.00. This, added to my other urgent concerns, seemed like the last straw.

Thanks to the kindness and support from friends, family, and church members, to whom I will always be grateful, I was able to make it through the crisis. But the experience makes me scrutinize how rules made for the public good affect real people’s lives. It’s important for County Boards to have members who understand how our regulations and decisions – no matter how necessary for community well-being – help or hurt individuals. 

Kathleen Mauer, a nurse practitioner, and Bill Hester, a retired pathologist, are both qualified to serve on the Health Board. During the interview process, I felt that Ms. Mauer demonstrated the ability to set and follow rules, but at the same time had current familiarity with the challenges responsible, hard-working families have to face. For me, this tipped the balance in her favor.  

When initially contacted by Dave Hurtt via e-mail, I asked for his phone number so I could explain my reasoning to him directly. Before I was able to reach him, he wrote his letter requesting a public explanation, which I am more than happy to do. As your elected representative, I do not believe in keeping secrets. If you have concerns, please contact me at HYPERLINK "mailto:kdriscoll@ravallicounty.mt.gov" \t "_blank" kdriscoll@ravallicounty.mt.gov or 375-6510. I welcome conversations with all citizens on all business at the commissioner’s office.

Kathleen Driscoll
County Commissioner

Senators as foresters?

Dear Editor,

We pay professionally trained Forest Supervisors to do forest use land planning as directed by the Forest Management Act, passed by Congress some years ago. We certainly do not want or need our Senators trying to be the Forest Supervisors by taking over their responsibilities, as per SB 1470. Besides, most of our Senators wouldn’t know a tree from a power-pole and could care less. Senator Tester is a politician and should stick to it and leave our forestry and wildlife professionals alone to do their jobs.

Congress is not helping. It has passed so many bills, probably meaning well, but with unintended negative consequences, that have hampered good, reasonable, scientific forestry and wildlife management to the point where our forests are being destroyed by large fires, insect infestations epidemics and over-crowding.

The sad part is, we did it to ourselves. We asked for these stupid laws that are destroying our precious woods.

Senator Tester, if you want to help, start cleaning out the negative clauses from the proliferation of forest resource laws and let our District Rangers and Forest Supervisors do the professional job they were educated and motivated to accomplish. Then watch these professionals bring our forestlands again to the level of worldwide recognition as the example of proper forestry.

Ray Karr
Stevensville

About that ‘questionnaire’ petition

Dear Editor,

Last month, a petition titled “Questionnaire for Sheriffs and County Commissioners” was submitted to the county clerk. The unsigned cover sheet states that it was designed for county officials to “affirm” that they will “abide by their oath of office” and “uphold the Constitution of the united (sic) States Republic as well as the organic Constitution of the Republic of Montana.” Sadly, the language used by its unnamed authors is a history lesson of anti-government “paper terrorism” over the last 30 years, and we that feel that all taxpayers – including any unwitting signers of the petition accompanying it – should be fully informed as to where the language comes from  and what it means to our community.

The “organic Constitution” traditionally referred to by Right-Wing extremists is basically the original document, which they consider divinely-inspired. This original “organic” Constitution, in their view, only allowed for “sovereign citizens” to possess the natural rights of citizenship. These “sovereign citizens” are clearly defined in the original (divinely-inspired) document as free, white, property-owning males. Thus when the 13th and 14th Amendments were adopted after the Civil War, giving rights of citizenship to former slaves and their descendents, “God’s law,” in their view, was overturned, which created “unconstitutional” citizens. In this context-free world, “sovereign citizens” are freer than “14th Amendment citizens.” Similarly, lower-casing the “u” in “United States” has been used in frivolous documents for decades to signal their disdain of the federal government in favor of “state’s rights” and the “supremacy” of the county sheriff. These typographical currents run throughout a broad spectrum of past and present literature from the Far Right, which now, unfortunately, includes Ravalli County’s “Questionnaire.”

Posse Comitatus was a violently anti-Semitic and anti-tax organization that raged through the Midwest in the 1970s and 1980s, claiming that farmers could escape their bank debts because they were "organic sovereigns," not ordinary citizens and could file frivolous liens and warrants against county officials whenever they wanted to. They believed in the supremacy of the county sheriff. Similarly, the Montana Freemen lower-cased the “u” in United States and consistently used the term “organic Constitution.” They also believed in the supremacy of the county sheriff. In numerous frivolous documents filed in Sanders County in the early 1990s, John Trochmann of Militia of Montana consistently lower-cased the “u” and referred to the constitutions of Montana and the U.S. as “organic.” In frivolous documents he filed in Sanders County in the early 1990s he actually referred to himself as “a free white Christian Man, Republic of Montana State (sic).” Paul Stramer, who led an unsuccessful petition drive last summer in Lincoln County to recall the sheriff and who shared the stage with “sheriff” Richard Mack at Celebrating Conservatism’s August event at our tax-funded fairgrounds, was deeply involved with the Montana Freemen before and during their 80-day standoff in Eastern Montana. Richard Mack, for his part, refers to Montana as “sovereign” and asserts that the local sheriff “can and should arrest IRS employees.”  

There are many other examples: the website of Michael Heit’s Constitution Party in the Flathead at the beginning of this decade consistently lower-cased the “u” until Heit was identified as a member of a conspiracy to kill Flathead Co. officials in a secret operation they dubbed “Project 7” for the number 7 on Flathead Co. license plates. Terry Nichols, who considered himself a “sovereign citizen” and answerable only to “common law” as defined in the “organic Constitution,” was convicted of helping Timothy McVeigh blow up the Murrah Federal Bldg. in Oklahoma City. Local Bitterrooters will hopefully also remember F. Joe Holland and Cal Greenup of the North American Militia. They were so concerned with judges upholding their oath of office to the “organic Constitution” that they threatened to fill body bags with our local county officials.  

Other bizarre aspects of this “Questionnaire” include:

• All Federal employees need written permission from the Sheriff prior to approaching a “Citizen” (sic) or face criminal charges. The term ‘federal employee’ is expanded to include all “federalized employees” who “attempt to enforce a Federal agenda.” School officials would fall into this category, as well as active servicemen and women and contractors for federal highway projects like Hwy 93.

• EPA and other environmental regulation officials or workers are specifically singled as needing surveillance because, according to the questionnaire, the majority of scientists globally agree that we are not experiencing global warming.

• No restrictions on weapons whatsoever, including fully automatic weapons, silencers or length of barrel.

• And the kicker: the Sheriff has a duty to form and command a County Militia to ‘protect’ citizens from “all enemies foreign and domestic (sic).” “All able-bodied Citizens 18 years and older” will forcibly serve. Women too, but not in a combat capacity “unless the men are in danger of being overrun.” Those not willing to serve will be forced into “noncombat services.”

The questionnaire finishes with an explicit threat: that failure to agree with their demands and interpretations will result in a “Grand Jury investigation (sic)” with the possibility of “criminal charges.” The “Grand Jury” they’re referring to, of course, is not the typical one that might come to one’s mind, but rather the “citizen grand jury” so often used by extremists in the past to threaten people with hangings and firing squads, and currently advocated by such Right-Wing rock stars as Red Beckman, the anti-Semitic extremist who was also a guest of Celebrating Conservatism.

Significantly, the cover sheet was not signed by any individual or group. It states only that it was submitted by “a representative of those who attached their signatures.” The only reference, other than the signatures on the petition, as to who was responsible for it was the return address: Celebrating Conservatism’s post office box. In other words, even though it originated from that group, neither they nor any individual want to take credit for it. Given the numerous veiled and explicit threats within it that have been the hallmark of anti-government ‘paper-terrorism’ and have justifiably landed many of them in prison, they have good reason to be less-than-forthcoming.

Bill LaCroix, Coordinator
Bitterroot Human Rights Alliance

©2009 Bitterroot Star
This site was Done By Dooney