|
QUESTIONS
you might want to answer... What do you think of U.S. Government policies?
How do you feel about the American people? What do you think it would take
for the world to live at peace. What advice would you give to the U.S. Government,
and what advice would you give to U.S. Citizens? Constructive comments are
appreciated. Submissions become the property of www.Democratic Fundamentalism.org
PRAYER FOR UNITY
Merciful God, You made all of the people of the world in Your own image and placed
before us the pathway of salvation through different Preachers who claimed to have been
Your Saints and Prophets. But, the contradictions in their teachings have resulted in
creating divisions, hatreds and bloodshed in the world community. Millions of innocent
men, women and children have so far been brutally killed by the fundamentalists who have
been committing horrifying crimes against humanity, and millions more would be butchered
by them in the future, if You would not help to reunite us.
Merciful God, look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the
controversial teachings of arrogance, divisions and hatreds which have badly infected our
hearts; break down the walls that separate us; reunite us in bonds of love; and work
through our struggle and confusion to accomplish Your purposes on earth; that, in Your
good time, all nations and races may jointly serve You in justice, peace and harmony
around Your heavenly throne.
(Amen)
Movement For Reforming Society
Lahore / Pakistan
Comments 8/2/2002 From the BBC, regarding
Bush's Get Tough Corporate Policies
US president Bush has been pressurising small, developing countries into
creating transparent and accountable leaderships. I suspect that a lot of people from such
countries would derive great satisfaction from being able to say to him, "Clean out
your own backyard first".
Sanjeev, Canada
I can't remember the last time I had confidence in a big business company. You can't get
around them as they control much of what is on offer regarding food, fuels, communications
and many other products, but do I trust them? No. I much prefer to find local shops run by
my neighbours rather than any high street multinational. But again, there is no going
around them sometimes.
Victor D, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The real question is will the shareholders do anything? Who put the cheating CEOs in? Who
set up and approved their compensation? Who is whining now? The greed goes ALL the way up,
past the CEOs to the people who put them there. Bush and Congress can help, but as long as
we ignore bad news and pay CEOs to lie to us, we can expect to hear lies.
Jeff, USA
Big business, corruption and fraud has been going on for years in this
country. Just because Bush is the president when all of this comes out to the media
doesn't make it his fault. I really think this is just the beginning. How many other
businesses cook their books? I bet a whole lot more. I think Bush is a sincere man and he
will help to put an end to this evil.
Eric, USA
We live in a world surrounded by conflicts of interest. The CEOs are concerned about their
multimillion dollars in stock options; our politicians are consumed by dreams of
re-election and the money to support to their re-election. So who do you look to take care
of the little people and their little money?
G. Anschuetz, USA
We all should encourage the companies with which we choose to do business to act more
ethically, especially when it comes to honest bookkeeping. Those of you reading this
commentary are probably in a decision-making role, whether a large or small company,
public or private. Take it upon yourself to set the moral and ethical example. Instead of
somehow blaming Mr Bush for this fiasco, when was the last time you asked yourself,"
Is there anything I can do to help?"
Scott, Florida, USA
I'm fed up with this twisted value system
Misha Taylor, UK
Integrity is not exactly one of the President's strengths. Unfortunately, he hasn't caught
up with reality on any level. He will back business to the hilt, regardless of the
corruption and lies, the pollution and the exploitation. He has shown in his conduct
following Sept 11 that human rights and political or personal integrity do not feature in
his repertoire. I'm fed up with this twisted value system that strives for more and more
money and power as an ultimate goal; it is destroying all of us.
Misha Taylor, UK
I find it rather droll that we expect a man whose own stock sales and ties to big business
are so shady can even speak of corporate responsibility. That aside, however, President
Bush's proposals would seem ineffectual at best, and offer no real solutions. A change in
corporate culture and real public accountability is needed, not more empty words from our
oily Texan head of state.
Paul, United States
The chickens are roosting and it will take much more direct effort by both the US
administration and the global business community to recover investor confidence quickly.
It looks as though it will be long and slow road back.
Graham Land, Croydon, UK
The question we should be asking is why has it taken the collapse of two large
corporations before any action is taken. The horse has bolted. If you believe that Bush is
run by big business, then presumably he wants it to be healthy, robust and producing lots
of money. He realises that these corporate frauds are a seriously threat to confidence in
the markets, and thus investment in US corporations.
Jonathan Michaud, USA (Ex-UK)
President Bush is the product of big business. To believe that his administration would
seriously take steps to quash the greed of their corporate "buddies" would be
foolish. I believe his threats are merely rhetoric and behind closed doors, those who
outwardly cower from his threats are giggling alongside him.
Andrew, Canada
As long as executives' pay is linked to stock price they will do all they can to inflate
that price.
Kuhan, UK
Surely Mr Bush has failed to address the wider issue of executive
compensation. For as long as executives' pay is linked to stock price they will do all
they can to inflate that price. The market itself is also at fault; with institutional
investors happy if the price is going up and they're getting good earnings without
examining the fundamentals. He also has failed to point the finger at the auditors. An
audit is supposed to be a 'formal examination of an organisation financial situation'. The
word audit comes from the latin 'auditus' - the act of hearing. In corporate America
people only listen to the sound of dollars...
Kuhan, UK
If he would first answer questions on how he and Cheney were involved in the entire Enron
collapse, it would be possible to think that he is serious. But I think his hands are far
too dirty as far as US corporations are concerned. The current White House staff is far
too deeply involved in the business sector to clean it up honestly.
Anonymous, Germany
I trust Bush as our president to provide leadership in this time of scandal, but I
wouldn't go as far as to look to him for the answers to our problems. It goes much deeper
than that. A lot of these accounting practices began to take shape during Clinton's watch,
but I don't blame him either. It has to do with greed, not who is president or head of the
SEC. What we must do is take our existing regulations concerning corporate and accounting
practices and give them a boost with some new oversight power.
Chris, Texas USA
Does anyone really believe that big business will suddenly be staffed with scrupulous
people?
Chris, US
Does anyone really believe that big business will suddenly be staffed with
scrupulous people? Individuals go into business to make money, and when push comes to
shove, they don¿t care if it's off someone else's back or at the expense of another
"sucker" (and often push doesn't have to come to shove). Let's all have a
reality check. Caveat emptor, and all that.
Chris, US
Even if Bush gets Congress to legislate what he's proposing, the other changes he wants
won't happen. No one can force a corporation of any kind to drastically curtail benefits
to executives or Board members, this cannot be legislated. There would have to be an
across-the-board reduction in perks and benefits for company leaders, levelling the
playing field. No one will take jobs with that level of responsibility for much lower
compensation unless all the companies agree to this. But increasing SEC powers to include
enforcement would help achieve the ends that Bush is talking about. It would take very
many years but would be worth the effort.
T.P. Bland, USA
There are no new substantial penalties for corporate profiteers. All George W.
Bush has done is to basically rearrange the deck chairs on the (Wall Street) Titanic.
Brian M., Canada
Mr Bush is where he is today because of only two things - his name and the help he got
from "corporate America". He knows it and they know it. He would never do
anything to hurt big business. Any new laws that come into place will surely be toothless
tigers.
V Gill, UK
It doesn't matter whether I'm convinced or not. What matters is whether or not the market
is convinced. If large institutional investors continue to believe that corporate balance
sheets are suspect because the laws and regulations aren't strict enough or they aren't
being enforced properly, then the market won't bounce back, the economy will suffer, and
George Bush's re-election will be in jeopardy. There's an old saying in American politics
- Americans vote with their pocketbooks.
Mark, USA
I trust Bush about as far as I can throw him. However there is one idea that he and his
advisors have mentioned that interest me. It has been suggested that CEOs be required to
sign off on the financial statements of their company, and then be held liable for any
gross impropriety. I'd like to see this perpetuated to the entire "head shed",
to include CFO's and the like. In the event of a catastrophic error, somebody will go to
jail. That is what you call motivation.
Anon, USA
I am not convinced. He's shown a tendency to speak roughly and carry a very small stick.
I've already written to my Congressman, my two Senators, and President Bush, letting them
know that rhetoric will not be enough this time. Either something changes or they will.
The only problem is that it's hard to threaten today's politicians while most of my fellow
Americans don't seem to care enough to force their hand.
Michael Boh, California, USA
On April 9th, 2002, this was posted on the
ab.politics News Group, a mostly Canadian group.
What do you think of www.democraticfundamentalism.org? Is
this the same as Liberal Socialism? What is the Canadian view of what's going on in
the U.S. and it's foreign policy. Just curious about YOUR opinions
The response on April 12th, 2002 from GAB in
Canada:
You are controlled by the same shadow government as all other once
colonies of Britain, The Crown Corporation, shareholders, are the Royalties
of the past and the multi Rich, who own the world banks, and who have bribed your heads of
state in 1913 to give the making of money to the Federal Reserve, and the governments
borrows at interest, causing the trillion dollar debt to the world bank, our shadow
government dictates to Canada, likewise, and for the same reasons. GAB.
Editor's Notes: I was
skeptical at this response, but when you do the research, it's easy to
corroborate. (Posted on this site prior to this newgroup posting, these articles: Where Money Comes From and Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World
Economy)
This is a Canadian web sites' definition of a Crown Corporation:
A corporate
organization established by government, but having a separate legal and organizational
identity from the government itself. Crown corporations have been established in a wide
variety of social and economic sectors including transportation, mining and manufacture,
communication and financial services. Canada has relied heavily on crown corporations,
especially as a means of stimulating economic development and meeting communications and
cultural objectives.
In many ways,
what this describes is what we refer to as Corporate Socialism. Now, the
theory is actually sound. Just as is the theory of Communism. (Argueable, but for
the sake of arguement)
The problem,
as always, is that the intent is that these entrusted corporations will act in good faith
toward the consumers, otherwise called citizens. In return, they're guaranteed
maximum profits, and minimal governmental interference. Since control and
administration has been primarily granted to the corporations, recourse by the citizens
then becomes primarily against the corporations, with admonishments toward the government
officials, and the potential of election or un-election.
Unions, and
general strikes in countries like Italy (going on now) are examples of how people have
learned to communicate to their "leaders", regardless of the interpretation of
who that would be, by causing or threatening financial damage if the people's needs are
not met.
In
large part, the corporations run utilities and large business, monopolies, on behalf of
government. Government's job is then to find a way to give as much authority to
the corporations balanced by their public plans/campaign promises to regulate this
"free market economy", and to stave off those people who get carried away
thinking their own genius is what made their company great abd all their friends
millionaires, and that they now possess the answers on how to run the world.
Current U.S.
examples of this would be Enron, Unocal, Andersen Accounting, Merrill Lynch... and the
insurance companies that have presumably eliminated the need for universal health care by
giving us such great things as HMO's.
The biggest
problem I saw in reading many of the sites describing current day Crown Corporations is
that what's there is more to do with the corruption of the system, and very little showing
people as feeling any particular benefit.
Useful Search Engine Searches:
crown corporation |
crown corporation 1913 |
| federal reserve board 1913 |
| kennedy gold standard |
| gold standard 1913 |
| american bar association |
| 13th amendment |
| reaganomics |
|
