Joyanna Adams

Nobody's Opinion

Wal-Mart Hosts the Federal Reserve?

Nobody’s Opinion

Banks…have become a dirty word. Attach the minds-eye image of Barney Frank sweating in a wet tee-shirt in front of the Bank of America, and you might want to take a shower. Everyone knows by now, it was Barney who kept up the good work of telling us all that the banks of Fannie and Freddie were sound, before the great bank robbery of the history of the planet happened. In fact—I bet Barney personally thought up those names…Freddie and Fannie…in honor of some of his past stable boys.Last year, we saw all the Kings Horses (but none of the King’s men) came tumbling down in 2011, and yet, I managed to not panic. Every pundit from FOX to CNN was screaming..”BUY GOLD! BUY GOLD! BUY …BUY!!!”

And bring us all your little gold bracelets too, my little kiddies! I have no money to buy gold…but Glenn Beck did, and he bought enough for all of us. He told us so, every single day.

My bank, the Bank of America, has always been pretty good to me. I always thought..gee..if I go to South America some day to go white water rafting in the Amazon (okay, I dream) …my bank will be there.

How cool.

When the Bank of America announced that it was going to add a five dollar fee to debit card transactions last year, right away, there was Tricky Dick Durbin (come on…I miss saying Tricky Dick) on the Senate floor telling everyone in the world who had their money with Bank of America to take it out and put it in a local bank, Nobody was a bit concerned. Remember that?

“Bank of America customers, vote with your feet, get the heck out of that bank,” Durbin said. “Find yourself a bank or credit union that won’t gouge you for $5 a month and still will give you a debit card that you can use every single day. What Bank of America has done is an outrage.”

(Right. Five dollar fee…as compared to Obamacare, Dubin? Which will cost more?)

Well…sure, I could do that. But then I’d have to drive ten miles out of my way to my new little community bank, every time I wanted to go to the ATM. The gas alone would be suck up my five dollars.

What to do? Well…I like to tiptoe first before I do anything..you know…stick my toe in the water…so I looked for the nearest community bank near me…and there it was.  It was even called First Community! I put a whole $75 dollars in. I was officially supporting a small Bank— God…bless my little American soul.

As I was throwing out my junk mail tonight, and I came upon a brochure from my new little bank. Much to my surprise, my new little community bank’s President had been appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank. And more importantly, you could go to Wal-Mart and do your banking there! He wanted you to do that. Cash that check and go spend!

Let me see….My little community bank was part of the Federal Reserve and it was using Wal-Mart to get customers…have I missed something here?

From Forbes:

Four years ago, Wal-Mart abandoned its plans to obtain a long-sought federal bank charter amid opposition from the banking industry and lawmakers, who feared the huge retailer would drive small bankers out of business and potentially conflate its banking and retail operations. Ever since, Wal-Mart has been quietly building up à la carte financial services, becoming a force among the unbanked and “unhappily banked,” as one Wal-Mart executive.

Let’s talk about this Wal-Mart, We do everything but change your underwear retail experience, shall we?  

In the past twenty years, America has replaced its vast network of privately owned retail shops to the big shopping retail stores: Home Depot and Lowes have annihilated the small mom and pop hardware stores. This is progress…we are told. This is American capitalism at its finest. Our country was flooded with cheap products from China.

When Wal-Mart popped up all over the world..you STILL had competition: you had Kmart and Target.

Competition is good–Right? So said Adam Smith. Competition is what makes capitalism so great…so….this year, my local Wal-Mart is going to move a few miles down the street…just so it can be between K mart and Target. Almost on the same block.

Kmart will be crushed. We all know it’s days are numbered. I know it’s the job of the CEO’s to smash all competition…but when there’s no one left standing, you have a monopoly. And that’s NOT good. That’s China. One Store. One Party. One Food supply. Yuk.

Nobody is confused here: Bank of America…is not part of the Federal Reserve…right? BUT…Wal-Mart is hosting banks from the Federal Reserve in its stores…which go all over the world. And..what if…Wal-Mart is the last store standing, and it holds the cheapest banking rates in the world, and those banks are all owned by the Federal Reserve some day?

Aren’t we all suppose to be going towards MORE competition..not less? Isn’t that just a bit too…scary? All the little banks will go under, and the only ones left standing will be the big ones…and the Federal Reserve Bank will be the only place the lower classes will be able to bank. It might not happen…but then…did you ever think that we’d have a President named Barack Hussein Obama?

Wal-Mart’s slogan is: Low prices, everyday. I don’t know about you…but the last time I was in Wal-Mart, all I wanted to do was leave.

Obama would be proud. Wal-Mart is fundamentally changing America. When all Wal-Mart’s competition is gone, you will be able to buy everything you need…in just one store, and you will get your money right there at Wal Mart. To the Federal Reserve and Wal-Mart, it’s a win/win.

I remember not too long ago, Rush Limbaugh lauding the wonderful world of Wal-Mart..how it helped the poor with low prices, what a model of success it was…etc. etc…but sometimes you can get too much of one thing. The rich will aways have their stores, but the poor will have only one place to go: Wal-Mart. It’s already the story here in North County, St. Louis.

 The banking will be cheap, the groceries will be…cheap. The drugs will be cheap….but the price you really pay, you might never know.

January 1, 2012 Posted by | capitalism, China, Congress, Uncategorized | , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Nobody Gets Email: Tom Beebe’s Amendment…

Nobody Gets Email

Here’s an idea from one of my readers, who starts out the year with some much needed reforms: like getting the big corporations out of being able to control our Congress and Presidents by having the unfair advantage over the single citizen, who cannot afford to hire hundreds of lobbyists. Most of our big corporations spend millions each year lobbying Congress. (The ordinary citizen thinks this is okay, because we, frankly, we really don’t think about it much.)

The other problem: Chinese and Saudi money swamp our elections. Remember Bill and Hillary’s morning (Chinese) coffee trysts at the White House? Pay, and you can meet them. Obama, it was reported by many last year, received millions from the Saudi’s in the last election.
Having said all this: We have many laws on the books already that are completely ignored, including our Constitution. We are reminded of that every time we are strip searched in an airport…. and that’s the harder problem, isn’t it?

Anyway, here’s Tom’s suggestion…which is a good one!

(Thanks to Tom Beebe)

                                         

                                        TOM BEEBE’S AMENDMENT

                     (Commentary in {..}, not part of proposed Amendment}

No candidate for the Presidency or either house of Congress shall accept contributions in cash or in kind from any organization or group of persons for expenses incurred in a campaign for that office. All such contributions shall be made only by individual citizens who shall attest that the funds or other items of value are from their own resources and that they have not received, nor have they been promised, offsetting items of value from any other party in exchange for their contribution. The identity and extent of contributors to such campaigns shall be made public for a period of thirty days from receipt before being employed or used as collateral for a loan by such campaigns. Organizations of any type, {i.e. corporations, unions, gun rights advocates, environmental protection groups, even “Susie’s Flower Shop”, a theoretical small business cited in the Citizen’s United Case,} may, without restriction, expend money to advocate a position on any issue before or likely to come before the electorate insofar as no candidate’s name or description is included in their expressions of advocacy.

(The intent of the above is to bring “transparency” to campaign financing by removing any group from the process whereby that group may conceal the identity of an individual  contributor as well as limiting the influence of such groups or “special interests”. It further prevents an organization from making such contributions when an individual within that organization, such as a union member or corporation stockholder, may oppose the candidate. Considering the large equity position in certain corporations that the federal government has recently taken in response to the economic crises, this is particularly important in excluding such influence. The money from “special interest” groups will then go to promote that for which they exist, their “special interest”. The media will be directed to expositions on the issues facing the electorate, thus enhancing discussion and hopefully understanding of issues, bereft of personalities.)
 
NOBODY NOTES:
If anyone has an idea on how to solve some of our problems, and you’d like me to post it, just send your thoughts to joyanna5150@yahoo.com, and I will post them on my weekend emails. We KNOW the problems, what we need are solutions. Any subject is open.

January 1, 2012 Posted by | capitalism, Constitution, corruption | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment