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Published: Monday, Mar. 10, 2003
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by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. — March 8, 2003
Monday, March 10th begins a week whose importance could possibly, even probably, prove more or less as significant, in its own way, as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. This memorandum serves to summarize the following crucial issues of the present crisis.
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The Root of the Crisis
1. The first factor, the root of this crisis, is a Classical quality of existential crisis within the institutions of the U.S. government.
The pivotal issue of the crisis is, as France's representative said, implicitly: The issue of war or peace as such, is not Saddam Hussein or Iraq, but, primarily, two distinct but converging features of the current U.S. Bush Administration. The first cause of that aspect of the crisis, is the influence of the imperialist followers of the late fascist ideologue, Professor Leo Strauss, in creating the core of those war-mongers known variously as the "Chickenhawks" or "neo-cons." The second, converging cause of that critical factor, is the convergence among the pro-imperialist "neo-cons" inside the Bush Administration, with the thoughtless and stubborn, "barnyard-style unilateralism" expressed by President George W. Bush himself.
...more
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The week of March 10-16 in 1933, saw the first fruits of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decisive action to restore confidence to the American banking system, the circulatory system required for animating the real economy. The U.S. Congress, which he had brought into Special Session, passed the Emergency Banking Act on March 9, and that Act went into effect March 13, when the Federal government-imposed bank holiday was lifted. In preparation for the reopening of most of the banks, FDR held his first Fireside Chat, on Sunday evening, March 12.
The crisis which had led the new President to take such drastic action as a Federal bank closure, and emergency legislation, was nothing less than the total bankruptcy of the banking system. When FDR took office March 4, some 38 states had already closed their banks, because depositor runs on them threatened to put them into insolvency, if they were not already there. Gold had been drained from the system, and sent abroad. The system of national credit, upon which industry and the well-being of the nation depended, had frozen up, due to lack of confidence, and out-and-out looting.
Such a banking crisis is almost precisely what has happened in Argentina since December 2001, and what could easily happen here in the United States, or in Europe, at any time, given the unsustainable debt-to-asset ratios which prevail in today's financial system, best described as a worldwide casino. Such an emergency would fully justify measures almost identical to those FDR announced in his Proclamation of the Bank Holiday, where he acted to stop "heavy and unwarranted withdrawals of gold and currency form our banking institutions for the purpose of hoarding" and "continuous and increasingly extensive speculative activity abroad in foreign exchange [which has] resulted in severe drains on the nation's stocks of gold."
In his Fireside Chat, President Roosevelt patiently explained the principles upon which the Federal government would revive, and reorganize, the banking system. An estimated audience of 60 million Americans heard the President describe how the "public welfare" would be served by reopening the banks, and by the new set of "regulations permitting the banks to continue their functions to take care of the distribution of food and household necessities and the payment of payrolls."
There is no reason to worry, Roosevelt said. "This bank holiday, while resulting in many cases in great inconvenience, is affording us the opportunity to supply the currency necessary to meet the situation. No sound bank is a dollar worse off than it was when it closed its doors last Monday. Neither is any bank which may turn out not to be in a position for immediate opening. The new law allows the 12 Federal Reserve Banks to issue additional currency on good assets and thus the banks which reopen will be able to meet every legitimate call. The new currency is being sent out by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in large volume to every part of the country. It is sound currency because it is backed by actual, good assets."
The President went on to emphasize that "the essential accomplishment of the new legislation is that it makes it possible for banks more readily to convert their assets into cash than was the case before. More liberal provision has been made for banks to borrow on these assets at the Reserve Banks and more liberal provision has also been made for issuing currency on the seucrity of these good assets. This currency is not fiat currency. It is issued only on adequate security, and every good bank has an abundance of such security" (emphasis added).
He said: "We had a bad banking situation. Some of our bankers had shown themselves either incompetent or dishonest in their handling of the people's funds. They had used the money entrusted to them in speculations and unwise loans. This was, of course, not true in the vast majority of our banks, but it was true in enough of them to shock the people for a time into a sense of insecurity and to put them into a frame of mind where they did not differentiate, but seemed to assume that the acts of a comparative few had tainted them all. It was the government's job to straighten out this situation and do it as quickly as possible. And the job is being performed."
The principles here are clearly applicable today as well, although the percentage of banks sucked into dishonest operations, and speculations, is likely much greater. It is government's job to reorganize and straighten out the situation.
As Roosevelt concluded, "After all, there is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work.
"It is your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail."
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The Essential Fraud of Leo Strauss
by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.
March 5, 2003
This subject is of direct and implicit relevance to the case of the gangster-linked Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a body which, ironically, used what are fairly described "Brown Shirt" methods in its most recent attempts to suppress democratic political deliberation within the precincts of the Democratic National Committee.
The Welfare of Our People Comes First
After his presentation on Feb. 23 at a Pine Bluff, Ark.town meeting, Democratic Party Presidential pre-candidate Lyndon LaRouche engaged in an extended dialogue with the audience. The Rev. Dr. Henry "Hank" Wilkins IV, who also serves in the Arkansas State Senate and chairs the Legislative Black Caucus, moderated.
Democratic Presidential pre-candidate Lyndon LaRouche was interviewed for one hour by Jack Stockwell on Salt Lake City's KTKK 'K-Talk' radio on March 3.
LAROUCHE ON THE STOCKWELL SHOW
An 'Exit Strategy' From War, For A Self-Isolated U.S.
The interview followed a widely-heard interview with LaRouche by Internet Radio host Jeff Rense on Feb. 27,
INTERVIEW WITH JEFF RENSE
and an hour interview and call-ins with Washington, D.C. talk-show hostess Bev Smith on Feb. 26.
INTERVIEW WITH BEVERLY SMITH
All followed upon the Feb. 22-23 Winter Meeting of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in Washington, at which the candidate's Youth Movement—as Stockwell put it—'served notice to the DNC,' which is trying to bar LaRouche's more and more influential candidacy.
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Links to articles from Executive Intelligence Review*.
*Requires Adobe Reader®.
Feature:
Economics:
Official Axed, Exposed Threat Of U.S.Housing Bubble Crash
by Richard Freeman
A new government report showing the underlying weakness of the U.S. housing market and financial system, and animmediate demand by Wall Street that the head of the reporting agency be fired, has revealed a bruising and crucial fight in Washington over a critical subject: the increasing rate of the financial disintegration, and what is to be done about it.
UN Projection Drops 400 Million More People
by Paul Gallagher
UN demographers have once again lowered their projections for the future human population, this time reducing their consensus guess at the global population in 2050, by 400 million people. Such scaling-down of population projections has become commonplace since approximately 1990, as the world's physical economy has sunk towards and into depression.
Business Briefs.
...Derivatives:
Buffett Warns of 'Mega-Catastrophe'
In his annual letter to shareholders, excerpts of which have appeared on the Fortune websiteonMarch3, WarrenBuffett says that he and Berkshire Hathaway partner Charlie Munger 'are of one mind in how we feel about derivatives and the trading activities that go with them: We view them as timebombs...
International:
Will Bush Heed Warning Of LaRouche And Avert World War?
by Jeffrey Steinberg
Lyndon LaRouche has forcefully warned President George W. Bush that if he plunges ahead into a war with Iraq, he will have squandered the last opportunity to avert an even more grave military confrontation on the Korean peninsula. In combination, such an Iraq-Korea crisis would likely be cata-logued, by future historians, as the beginning of a global war, even more horrible than the 'Clash of Civilizations' conflict promoted by Dr. Bernard Lewis and the 'war party' inside Bush's own Administration.
Eurasia 'Axis of Reason' Moves Against Iraq War
by Jonathan Tennenbaum
A group of leading nations of Europe and Asia—pivoted on the role of France, Germany, and Russia, and with important input from circles in the Vatican and other institutional forces—has joined together in an extraordinary offensive to stop war in Iraq, and a misguided U.S. Administration from bringing catastrophe upon itself and the rest of the world.
New Korean Leader Calls For Land-Bridge Strategy
by Kathy Wolfe
South Korea's new President Roh Moo-hyun focussed his Feb. 25 inaugural address on the Eurasian Land-Bridge, the 'New Silk Road,' from the Korean Peninsula to the Atlantic Ocean, under the title 'An Age of Northeast Asia Begins: A New Takeoff Toward an Age of Peace and Prosperity.'
Nemesis Hits Spain's Aznar
by Elisabeth Hellenbroich
Spanish Prime Minister Jose´ Mari´a Aznar, one of the staunchest allies of the Bush Administration in its Iraq war drive, is, like his close friend British Prime MinisterTony Blair, finding himself confronted with a massive political uproar in his own country, whichmay very well lead to his removal from power.
U.K.: Blair Could Well Do a Ramsay MacDonald
by Mark Burdman
As each passing day brings him closer to his political doom, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is actively considering a radical, and high-risk domestic political maneuver, to save his hide.
U.S. Military Plans in Philippines Collapse
by Michael Billington
The plan to launch a small U.S. combat operation into the southern islands of the Philippines has collapsed, with egg all over U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's face.
Interview: Francisco S. Tatad
Philippines Needs Strong and Forward-Looking Leadership
Senator Francisco 'Kit' Tatad is one of the senior statesmen of the Republic of the Philippines. Senator Tatad was Majority Leader to five Senate Presidents, and also served as a Cabinet Minister (1969-80) and Senator (1992-2001). He is the author of several books on political affairs.
Chirac Flanks U.S. War Drive—in Africa
by David Cherry
French President Jacques Chirac arrived in Algeria on March 2 to a hero's welcome, as his open-top motorcade, travelling the nine miles from the airport to downtown Algiers, was greeted by cheering, confetti-throwing crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
The meaning of his visit was not lost on London and Washington. Chirac 'is leading the diplomatic campaign against a U.S.-led war in Iraq'...
EIR Becomes Lighthouse In Middle East
by Hussein Askary
In the days before and during the Arab League summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on March 1, two expose´s by EIR were widely circulating around the Arab world, contributing to strengthening the resolve of the Arabs to resist a war against Iraq.
LaRouche Wild Card in Australian Election
by Allen Douglas
Oneof the most memorable campaign events in recent Australian political history took place in Maitland, New South Wales on March 1. There, in the historic town hall, longtime LaRouche activist and Citizens Electoral Council (CEC) State Secretary Ann Lawler officially launched her campaign for the March 22 state parliament election, before an enthusiastic audience of 130.
Jorge Castan'eda Drug Legalizer Soros' Man in Mexico
by Rube´n Cota Meza
'The Soros Foundation isn't operating yet in Mexico, but soon it will be, and it will be headed by former Foreign Minister Jorge G. Castan'eda,' wrote Federico Arreola, executive vice president of the Multimedios Editorial Group, in the Feb. 5 edition of the Mexico City newspaper Milenio.
National:
The DNC Doesn't Really Represent Anyone!
by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.
"That outburst by one important Democratic official, came in response to the measures which have been taken by the DNC faction of the 2000 Presidential campaign-ticket of Al Gore and Joseph Lieberman, all in a frankly hysterical and thuggish attempt to exclude me from the list of current candidates for the Democratic Party's 2004 Presidential nomination."
The Welfare of Our People Comes First
After his presentation, Lyndon LaRouche engaged in a dialogue with the audience at the Pine Bluff town meeting on Feb. 23. The Rev. Dr. Henry 'Hank' Wilkins IV, who also serves in the Arkansas State Senate and chairs the Legislative Black Caucus, moderated.
Campus Nazis Are Smoked Out
by Mark Calney
Under the pretext of an absurd allegation, members of the LaRouche Youth Movement were stopped from campaigning by campus police and thrown off the grounds of Pasadena City College (PCC) on Feb. 24. This type of police-state tactic, which Democratic Presidential pre-candidate Lyndon LaRouche warned against in a January 2001 webcast to mobilize support against the nomination of John Ashcroft, is yet another example of the Attorney General's 'arrest them all, and let God sort 'em out' policy.
Slot Machines Can't Save Maryland's Budget
by Lawrence K. Freeman
Over halfway through the 2003 session of the Maryland State Legislature, the state is no closer to finding a solution to its $1.3 billion budget deficit, than when its legislature convened in January. Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) and his staff have pulled out all the stops to blackmail and strong-arm the nearly 200 state legislators, and local government leaders, to support his immoral introduction of 10,500 slot machines at the Maryland horse racetracks.
American People Don't Support an Iraq War
by Nancy Spannaus
Forget the phony opinion polls. The vast majority of the American population opposes war against Iraq, and wants attention paid to the collapsing economy at home. This reality contrasts sharply with that of the 1991 Gulf War...
Congressional Closeup
by Carl Osgood
Editorial:
'Presidential Prayer' vs. Religion
As a projected attack on Iraq appeared more and more irrational, the warhawk faction had enveloped George W. Bush with a manic quality of crusading religion. One feature of this mental management of the President and his supporters is the 'Presidential Prayer Team'— an Internet-centered network encouraging Americans to pray continuously for the President as he (is steered and) steers the nation off a cliff to war.
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