Sunday, March 10, 2013

There are two important factors regarding the DHS/TSA which are rarely taken into consideration:

1. The profit motive.

The 2006 Citigroup "Plutonomy Symposium" memo states that technological revolution is one of the drivers of plutonomy, of the very rich becoming ever-richer. We've already seen Halliburton awarded no-bid contracts by former employees then in government, and using the opportunity to charge taxpayers $45 per case of cola delivered to troops, and $100 per bag of laundry done. A nation-wide "homeland security" tech revolution, including drones and TSA scanners, are working to help further engorge the profit parasites.


Meet the Contractors Turning America's Police Into a Paramilitary Force

"The national security state has an annual budget of around $1 trillion. Of that huge pile of money, large amounts go to private companies the federal government awards contracts to. Some, like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, are household names, but many of the contractors fly just under the public's radar. What follows are three companies you should know about (because some of them can learn a lot about you with their spy technologies)."

http://www.alternet.org/meet-contractors-turning-americas-police-paramilitary-force?paging=off


2. That the profit motive helping drive the very rich to ever further heights, becomes self-reinforcing through government and lobbyists working to vote into law bills which simultaneously limit our freedoms and provide wild profiteering for the very rich.


Anonymous: Night Raid Equipment-Maker Lobbied for NDAA, Singles Out Sen. Rob Portman.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/19/1046972/-Anonymous-Night-Raid-Equipment-Maker-Lobbied-for-NDAA-Singles-Out-Sen-Rob-Portman#

"Anonymous singles out Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) for receiving a particularly large sum from companies and PACs lobbying for the NDAA. From the RT report:

'Robert J. Portman...we are truly disturbed by the ludicrous $272,853 he received from special interest groups supporting the NDAA bill that authorizes the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.

Even in Washington terms, over a quarter million is a ridiculous amount of money from special interest groups supporting an issue to any single legislator. Congressmen have been bought for far less, with around $50,000 considered a serious ante at anyone's table, and much less merely keeping you in the game.'

snip

Among the supporters of NDAA are California-based manufacturer Surefire, L.L.C., who won a $23 million contract from the Department of Defense three months ago."


---
The leaked Citigroup memo, "The Plutonomy Symposium: Rising Tides Lifting Yachts."

http://www.box.com/shared/9if6v2hr9h


Halliburton bills taxpayers $45 per case of soda, $100 per bag of laundry


http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/whistleblower_hearings_denied.html


Scattered analysis of the Plutonomy memo from which this post is drawn:

http://occupyobservations.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-leaked-2006-citigroup-plutonomy-memo.html