Speaking of the rich . .

"As the recession lifted, poor and middle class Americans dug deeper into their wallets to give to charity, even though they were earning less. At the same time, according to a new Chronicle analysis of tax data, wealthy Americans earned more, but the portion of the income they gave to charity declined. . .Residents of Utah remain by far the nation’s most generous... Memphis, Birmingham, Ala., Atlanta, and Nashville are the most generous cities, and . . . The 17 most generous states, as measured by share of income donated to charity, voted for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the 2012 election." (Chronicle of Philanthropy)

President Obama complains about the income gap and the fat cats. Does his staff understand "optics?" (perception not physics) Last night he had a fund raiser in Connecticut, talked about wealth inequality at a lavish mansion in a gated estate, the home of Richie Richman. The economy is stagnant, the rich are getting richer, and he whines at the home of a rich man named Richman (real estate developer who's made his wealth in "affordable housing"). Federal tax credits and subsidies for “affordable housing” are very complex, but the recession of 2008-09 really had Richman’s business booming since other investors had to back off.

Government profits $51 billion from student loans

Story at Huffington Post, May 14, 2013

“The Obama administration is forecast to turn a record $51 billion profit this year from student loan borrowers, a sum greater than the earnings of the nation's most profitable companies and roughly equal to the combined net income of the four largest U.S. banks by assets.

Figures made public Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office show that the nonpartisan agency increased its 2013 fiscal year profit forecast for the Department of Education by 43 percent to $50.6 billion from its February estimate of $35.5 billion.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the nation's most profitable company, reported $44.9 billion in net income last year. Apple Inc. recorded a $41.7 billion profit in its 2012 fiscal year, which ended in September, while Chevron Corp. reported $26.2 billion in earnings last year. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo reported a combined $51.9 billion in profit last year.”

A heads up for Christians

I recently watched a few minutes of an anti-Wall Street, anti-Federal Reserve, anti-U.S. government film called, "The Obama Deception." If you believe this film, you're in trouble.

“The Obama Deception is a hard-hitting film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people.”

O.K. I agree. Yes, about 50% of the electorate realized he is a socialist and/or marxist. (And about 40% of those who voted for him did so for the novelty and guilt factor, never even looking at his politics, only his ethnicity.) But that’s a long way from believing this. . .

“The Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order.

“The Obama Deception is not about Left or Right: it's about a One World Government. The international banks plan to loot the people of the United States and turn them into slaves on a Global Plantation.”

Covered in this film: who Obama works for, what lies he has told, and his real agenda, and how his initial appointments and actions prove he serves the corporate oligarchs, not the American people. If you want to know the facts and cut through all the hype, this is the film for you."

The films claims Obama works for the same interests that George Bush I & II worked for. The film claims to be non-partisan. However, “new world order” has always been code for “the Jews did it.” Or, in the 19th century, "watch out for the pope." Tarpley can say it’s the “Anglo-American” world order, but we’ve certainly been hearing this conspiracy theme since--well, during my entire lifetime. “Military-industrial complex” (warned by Eisenhower) in the 50s; and we were railing against this in the 1970s. “Oligarchs,” “Wall Street fat cats,” “international bankers,” call it what you will, but remember, we've heard it all before--and not all that long ago, either.

Update: Ted Anthony, AP: "Here's an incomplete list from the history books: Indians, Quakers, witches, Englishmen, the federal government, Southerners and Northerners, Chinese "Celestials," Tammany Hall Democrats, Germans, Jews, Japanese, North Koreans, communists, socialists, Vietnamese, liberals, conservatives, gays, lesbians and Muslims. The Evil Empire and the Axis of Evil.

Now, a fresh group has been dropped into the cultural dunk tank. Bin Laden? Back-burnered, at least for now. Saddam? Gone and forgotten. Instead, in these jumbled days of economic uncertainty, fairly or unfairly, America's newest Snidely Whiplashes bear faces like those of Bernie Madoff, AIG executives and the private jet-flying heads of the Big Three automakers.