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Questions for loquitur and Ustwo:
The unsuccessful 1936 Republican party presidential candidate, Alf Landon, and the next successful Republican candidate, President Dwight Eisehower. made remarkably similar statements, 15 years apart, related to progressive measures taken by government in the mid 1930's in response to the collapse of US economic activity:

<h3>It isn't well known, anymore, but in the mid 1930's, in response to the inequity in wealth and power distribution in the US, over the strenuous objection of business and wealthy interests, a temporary committee was formed to investigate power and wealth distribution in the US, with an emphasis on the effects of patents and monopolies. The committee, "TNEC" was only allowed to investigate for less than three years, and it issuded a number of reports, BUT, EVEN AFTER MORE THAN 66 YEARS TIME, MOST OF IT'S INVESTIGATIVE RECORDS ARE STILL SEALED...</h3>

<h3>My questions so far, are, what has changed, besides the reaction to wealth inequity of the 1930's? Can you make a case that it is distributed more equitably in the US today, than it was 70 years ago?</h3> When did the republican POV change? Where did the impetus come from to propose privatization of social security, for example? Isn't SS, with it's $186 billion per year, <a href="http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/ProgData/fyOps.html">current surplus</a>, not "the problem"? Isn't "the problem" actually the tax cuts, and increased defense, intelligence operations, and DHS spending since 2001?

Isn't it fair, since "the people" demanded and paid for the TNEC investigations and reports on the distribution of power and wealth in the US, and the effect of monopolies, that, after nearly 67 years, all of the records gathered by the TNEC committee that do no involve personal, non-financial details, be unsealed and made available for public examination, especially considering that 1940 census data will be released to the public , two years from now?

If inequity in wealth and power in the US is "not a problem", why would anyone argue for continuing to keep sealed, the records of the only in depth, congressional committee investigation, of the "non problem"?

I can think of no better example than the following, to answer Ustwo's question:
I think, Ustwo, that the impact is about "opportunity cost" to the rest of, and the flow of power and wealth away from most of us, because opportunity is "preempted" by the "juice" of the connections that the concentration of wealth, attracts. Officials and their power and influence, is bought, siphoned off, and upcoming politicians, are "bred" similar to race horses.

In the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, a group of friends kept a close association, and conducted related business activities. The elder man in the group, ten to fifteen years senior to the others, managed to obtain the franchise, granted by the state government regulators, after the end of prohibition in 1933, to distribute liquor in Arizona, and eventually grew his business to a level that excluded all competition. If you operated a retail or an entertainment establishment in Arizona that sold liquor to the public, you had to buy from United Liquor.

This same elder gentleman of this group, came to deal with the investors and principles who conceived of and built the initial modern casino hotels in Las Vegas. It is documented in a New Mexico state police investigation that the owner of Arizona's United Liquor distributors came to own the Transamerica race-wire, the sports betting, bookmaker's information service that originated with Al Capone's Chicago crime organization, and he was a principle in an <a href="http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:7T3uAEHe4yIJ:www.nevadaobserver.com/Reading%2520Room%2520Documents/Kefauver%2520Committee%2520-%2520Testimony%2520of%2520Louis%2520Wiener%2520(1950).htm+%22valley+national+bank%22+flamingo+siegel&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us">Arizona bank that loaned $2 million to the Mafia</a> principles who built the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas in 1947....
Read the rest of the nps.gov history article to see how another mob connected figure and builder of the Flamingo Hotel, Del Webb, benefited from the growth in Phoenix brought in large, part, by the government construction of the US interstate highwy network.

In 1946, two of the younger members of the group of friends described above, a pair of brothers, were employed as managers at United Liquor by Kemper Marley, and were arrested on federal liquor bootlegging violations, accused in testimony by another United Liquor manager, of altering nearly 1400 invoices of case sales of liquor, sold in cash transactions to unknown parties. Owner Marley was not charged, and James Hensley was found guilty and sentenced to 6 months in prison, suspended, while his older brother Eugene was convicted and served a one year prison sentence. Both brothers, along with 50 other United Liquor employees and the firm itslef, were tried on similar charges again in 1953, but were not convicted. Owner Marley was never charged.

The two Hensley brothers, also in 1953, purchased the Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico horse racing track, lying to the racing commission about the participation of a 1/3 owner's stake partner in the purchase, a gambler not approved by the NM racing commission, named Clarence "Teak" Baldwin. James Hensley sold his stake in the track to brother Eugene in 1955, and became the owner of record of the Budweiser beer distributorship in Phoenix, allegedly thorough the aid of United Liquor owner Marley. In 1948, a man named Greenbaum who was a partner in the race-wire with Marley, was murdered in a gangland style "hit". Eugene Hensley entered into a long term food and beverage concession lease at Ruidoso downs with an Emprise Company of Buffalo, NY subsidiary. Eugene served a one year income tax evasion prison sentence in the 195os and was banned from his track by the NM Racing Commission, after he was convicted a second time of tax evasion, but before he served a five year prison sentence for the second offense. Eugene, in the late 1960s and still as principle stock holder of the race track, sold the track to a group financed by the still long term track concession leasee, the Jacob's company, Emprise subsidiary:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...gewanted=print

Well, you get the idea....or not. My last and most important question for you guys is why does your concern seem to be for the exact opposite of what you truly should be concerned about?:
Why is it that you are so concerned, especially you, Ustwo, about the "unwashed masses", lazy louts who want to use "government", to take "your money"? Why do you think that they are the motherfuckers, when the REAL motherfuckers are the men who use whatever it takes to gain a monopoly on the power and wealth in the country? The fruits of the organized crime enterprise originated by Kemper Marley has financed and influenced the placement of John McCain, literally at the front door of the white house, but you have little reaction, and no concern, at all.

For both of you, have you ever considered, what if I am right? What if roachboy is right? What if, all of your lives, you have been concerned about the exact oppostite political activities and principles than those that are actually "the problem"?