[Peace-discuss] "Obama paid $600,000 for a single speech"

[J.B. Nicholson]

C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote:
>  From almost 15 years ago:<https://www.counterpunch.org/…/illinois-anti-warriors-and-…/>.
> =============================================
> "His administration oversaw the largest redistribution of wealth in
> history from the bottom to the top one percent, spearheading the attack
> on the living standards of teachers and autoworkers. Under Obama’s watch
> the stock markets soared as the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased
> by 149 percent. [...]
Mr. "We tortured some folks"[1] (but we're going to "look forward not 
backward"[2] so that nobody in power pays a price) apparently wants Wall 
St. to thank him instead of "grumblin' about anti-business".

Consider what Obama recently told bankers from 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjVFfX4BtvI

> I know we're an oil country, and we need American energy and, by the
> way, American energy production. You wouldn't always know it but it went
> up every year I was president. [light applause] And that whole suddenly
> America's like the biggest oil producer and the biggest ga-- that was
> me, people, I just want you to-- [laughter] So, so [Obama chuckles] It's
> a little like, sometimes you go to Wall Street and folks be grumblin'
> about anti-business. I said "Have you checked where your stocks were
> when I came into office and where they are now? What? What are you
> talkin'-- What are you complainin' about? Just say 'Thank you' please.".
> Because I wanna raise your taxes a couple percent to make sure, you
> know, kids have a chance to go to school?
It's not clear that Wall St. firms paid these higher taxes or that college 
students were relieved of student loan debt as a result of a higher tax burden.

-J



[1] "'We tortured some folks' is not accountability. President Obama's 
refusal to declassify the torture report left the door open—a dark legacy." 
(such as "Biggest @AP scoop in a long time: US government behind UAE 
torture in Yemen, with some reportedly grilled alive.") Edward Snowden in 
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/877906451187998722 which also links to 
https://apnews.com/4925f7f0fa654853bd6f2f57174179fe

[2] Dan Froomkin on "Obama Wanted to ‘Look Forward, Not Backward’ on 
Torture, But He Failed to Look Either Way" 
https://medium.com/@DanFroomkin/obama-wanted-to-look-forward-not-backward-on-torture-but-he-failed-to-look-either-way-c1b258ac3258 
.

Froomkin said he found Obama's choice here to be "inexplicable" but it's 
easily understood as being consistent with other US administrations 
(including Donald "Lock her up" Trump's administration). These choices are 
designed to keep previous administrations insulated from accountability. 
Similarly the US's choice to selectively recognize the International Court 
of Justice -- as the Wikipedia article on the World Court points out in the 
'Criticisms' section: "[P]ermanent members of the [UN] Security Council 
[have the power] to veto enforcement of cases, even those to which they 
consented to be bound. Because the jurisdiction does not have binding force 
itself, in many cases, the instances of aggression are adjudicated by 
Security Council by adopting a resolution, etc. There is, therefore, a 
likelihood for the permanent member states of Security Council to avoid the 
legal responsibility brought up by International Court of Justice, as shown 
in the example of Nicaragua v. United States." See 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_court#Criticisms for more.