A parable comes to life

Jesus told a parable about the folly of greed and materialism, recorded in Luke 12:15-21:

15 Then he said to them,“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

For some reason, this parable came to mind as I read the story about how the rich in America are flocking to South Dakota to protect their wealth from estate taxes. Even the title is priceless. "Moguls rent South Dakota addresses to dodge taxes forever." I would not bet on eternity if I were them.

Here is a little taste of what is going on in South Dakota.

In the past four years, the amount of money administered by South Dakota trust companies like these has tripled to $121 billion, almost all of it from out of state. The families needn’t actually move to South Dakota, or deposit their money at a local bank, or even touch down in the private jet. Little more than renting an address in Sioux Falls is required to take advantage of South Dakota’s tax-friendly trust laws.

Congress just passed a budget that cut unemployment and assistance programs for the poor, all in the name of reducing the federal deficit. The budget savings are a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of the $121 billion that has flooded into empty storefront offices in the past four years, but alas, I digress.

The story goes on to describe how the rich are attracted not only to the loopholes, but also the secrecy and protection from creditors and ex-wives. The tale was sufficiently nauseating that the oatmeal I had for breakfast felt like a rock in my stomach.

Then I came to the part where the state lawmakers put a gaudy shade of red lipstick on their pig.

In South Dakota, a farm state that’s home to two of the 10 poorest counties in the U.S., lawmakers say they’re bolstering the trust industry to generate work for local law firms and bankers, and forge ties with prosperous families that may one day decide to build a factory or a warehouse here.

Yes, pearls before swine. So these lawmakers, who claim to be such righteous, God-fearing men and women on the campaign trail, are doing something they know does not benefit the people in their state. The chance of any future benefit is less than that of winning the latest mega-super-powerball lottery. That is probably not completely accurate. I am sure these glorious public servants will be rewarded with generous and anonymous campaign contributions so they can continue to serve state residents to the best of their ability. Trickle down economics at its very finest.

“If you’ve got several hundred well-paying jobs, it’s worth it to us,” said Governor Dennis Daugaard, a Republican who used to travel to Minneapolis pitching tax-saving trusts when he worked at a bank in Sioux Falls. “It also gives us the opportunity to develop relationships with people who have the ability to encourage business here of other sorts. Now, I can’t point to a single case where that’s occurred yet, but I think it’s possible.”

I am curious what sort of "relationships" one can have with people who rent out offices in empty storefronts. I am sure they are deep and meaningful, just like a Kardashian marriage.

To try to maintain its edge, South Dakota assembled a permanent task force comprising industry players such as McDowell to monitor developments in other states and propose new legislation each year. In March, Governor Daugaard signed the group’s latest submission into law, making it harder for former spouses and their offspring to tap certain trust assets. The bill was sponsored by the House’s Committee on State Affairs, whose chairman, David Lust, is also House majority leader and head of the trust task force. When the part-time legislature isn’t in session, Lust works at a Rapid City law firm where one of his partners is a leading trust lawyer.

Come on, Lust, say something in lawyerese.

Lust receives no “direct benefit” from the legislation, he said.

Thank you.

Meanwhile, in the real world, millions of Americans are struggling to pay for food, shelter, utilities, and medical care. Lord, we need guidance and we need it quickly.

Entitlement

We hear a great deal about entitlements these days. Politicians love to whine about programs that benefit everyone. These "public servants" worry most about the cost of the programs because of the number of people that qualify, how much they receive, and how long the benefits last. Their goal is trim  these programs regardless of need or principle.

There is another type of entitlement that warrants more attention. It is the narcissistic view of some that the rules of society no longer apply to them. These people are worshippers of self and wealth. To hell with others.

First up, we have an attitude of entitlement from a free market fundamentalist. It comes from Robert Benmosche, CEO of AIG, the insurance company that got burned by playing in the derivatives market and then was bailed out by the taxpayers of the United States. In other words, he ran his business ship aground and then demanded we all pitch in and pay for the mistakes of his company. As we were bailing his butt out of the water, he was passing out $165 million in bonuses to the very people responsible for the wreck. He is still steamed about the public outcry over those bonuses.

That was ignorance … of the public at large, the government and other constituencies. I’ll tell you why. [Critics referred] to bonuses as above and beyond [basic compensation]. In financial markets that’s not the case. … It is core compensation. 

“Now you have these bright young people [in the financial-products unit] who had nothing to do with [the bad bets that hurt the company.] … They understand the derivatives very well; they understand the complexity. … They’re all scared. They [had made] good livings. They probably lived beyond their means. …They aren’t going to stay there for nothing. 

The uproar over bonuses “was intended to stir public anger, to get everybody out there with their pitch forks and their hangman nooses, and all that–sort of like what we did in the Deep South [decades ago]. And I think it was just as bad and just as wrong. 

“We wouldn’t be here today had they not stayed and accepted … dramatically reduced pay. … They really contributed an enormous amount [to AIG’s survival] and proved to the world they are good people. It is a shame we put them through that.”

So the whiz kids made lots and lots of money, started living well beyond their means, and then made high risk bets that put AIG into catastrophic debt. According to the CEO, these hipsters deserve extra cash to stay on with the company so they can enjoy the fruits of taxpayer generosity. Any criticism of the 6- and 7-figure bonuses is as bad as the lynch mobs that once terrorized people of color in the old South. Right. Greed and arrogance on steroids. It is the perfect illustration of the ethical bankruptcy of many corporate leaders.

In their minds, these people felt they were entitled to ever larger paydays without risk or consequence. Their only innovation was dressing up sow's ears and selling them as silk purses to unsuspecting customers.

Next we have spoiled rich kids. These 300 teens thought they were entitled to break in and vandalize the home of a former professional athlete, Brian Holloway. They even posted pictures of their debauchery and destruction on social media. Mr. Holloway had the pleasure of watching the destruction of his home unfold live on Twitter and Instagram. Kelly Lynch describes his reaction in this open letter to the parents of these kids.

Instead of demanding the arrest of your kids, he instead created a website, www.helpmesave300.com, where he reposted their photos, identified the people involved, and called for ways to reach out to young people and show them that there are better ways to spend their time than drinking, drugs and vandalism.

Only one of the 300 teens took responsibility and showed up. The other 99.67% took their attitude of entitlement to the next level.

Kelly Lynch goes on to describe more entitlement in this saga, this time from the parents.

Instead of sitting little Johnny down and reminding him that what he did is not acceptable and then dragging him by the collar to apologize to Mr. Holloway, you chose instead to harass and threaten the victim. Let's not forget here, your child victimized this man by destroying his home. How dare you respond with anything other than regret, embarrassment, and a sincere apology instead of righteous indignation, threats of violence and lawsuits. 

There is no question where these teens learned their irresponsible, self-centered worldview.

The final illustration of entitlement comes from the millionaires that populate the halls of the U.S. Congress. The latest trend is for these privileged people to demand slashing government assistance for the poor, old, sick, and disabled. So we have people that want for nothing feeling entitled to take away any security for the less fortunate. To amp up the perversity, these people even go so far as claim their callousness is God's will by twisting scripture to serve their mean-spiritedness.

The most recent example comes from Kevin Cramer, a congressman from North Dakota that has been a professional political operative his entire career. In other words, this man has never worked outside the rarified world of wealthy donors, lobbyists, and generous salaries paid by the taxpayers.

Earlier today, a constituent of North Dakota Congressman Kevin Cramer posted a comment on Cramer's Facebook wall. The constituent apparently wanted to make sure that -- after Cramer's vote to take food out of the mouths of hungry children, disabled people, the elderly and many military veterans -- Cramer was aware of some of the Biblical passages supporting the idea of helping the least of these. Cramer's response is kind of stunning. His response is, essentially, to let those people starve. Citing a different Biblical passage, here's what Cramer wrote:

Congressman Kevin Cramer 2 Thessalonians 3:10 English Standard Version (ESV) 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

Cramer's response was to a constituent that dared post Matthew 25:34-43 on the congressman's Facebook wall for all to see. This man is apparently undaunted by Jesus explaining how He will judge the quick and the dead. He is more than willing to bear false witness against the poor by calling them lazy and unwilling to work when the vast majority of those receiving government food assistance are working, but earning too little to support their families. This comes from a man that is paid $174,000 a year to work 125 days, not to mention lifetime health and retirement benefits. He is an entitled hypocrite.

My favorite example of entitlement in the U.S. Congress comes from Stephen Fincher from Tennessee. Like Cramer, he is a big fan of 2 Thessalonians 3:10 as he called the poor freeloaders and frauds on the House floor. His family has also received over $3 million in government farm subsidies from 1999 to 2012.

In Fincher's plan, he recently used a Bible verse about those unwilling to work not eating – as a defense. 

But some have called him hypocritical for reportedly accepting more than $3 million in federal farm subsidies himself since 1999. That includes more than $70,000 in his re-election year of 2012.

He also spearheaded changing how farm subsidies are handed out so large farms (like his) now get large tax cuts instead of direct payments. Profit without social responsibility is his motto.

The reason Christ expressed doubt about the moral fiber of the rich is the attitude of entitlement we see all too often on display. They exhibit narcissism on steroids. No empathy for the suffering of others. Inflated sense that they deserve all they have been given in life and even much more. Their actions have no consequences. They are above reproach. You can see all of those traits on display in the words and deeds of the people cited above.

Jesus used the parable of the faithful servant (Luke 12:42-48) to warn those given much that much more will be expected. The Lord promised dire consequences for the self-centered and self-satisfied, even those that profess faith.

45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

No one should be surprised that Christ had a very pessimistic view of the rich, predicting that most would fail the test of life. Some will exhibit a generosity of spirit that pleases God, but most will only be generous with themselves and their loved ones while giving no thought or care to others. They will succumb to the temptation of self-centeredness that comes from wanting for nothing. Woe to you rich for you have your reward (Luke 6:24).

The question is how should we, the body of Christ, respond during these trying times where the poor are condemned, hated, and left to suffer every indignity possible? Should we approach the rich and appeal to their conscience? Brian Holloway attempted to do that with the 300 children from wealthy families that destroyed his home and he was threatened with violence and lawsuits. Should we engage them by pointing out the error of their ways according to scripture and demand repentance? Do you seriously think that business leaders like Robert Benmosche and political leaders like Kevin Cramer and Stephen Fincher will admit the error of their ways, express remorse, and look to lend a helping hands to the less fortunate? It seems like a colossal waste of time and energy. These people are immune to shame. They respond aggressively to anyone that dares question their actions.

One flaw of liberation theology was attempting to confront and change unjust political and economic systems through political engagement. In the process, some in the church found themselves in bed with those seeking change by any means necessary including violence.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was successful in raising awareness of the evils of racial discrimination through nonviolent protest, but he was murdered when he raised his voice against war and poverty. In our society, mistreating the poor is now perfectly acceptable as long as you do not use skin color as the excuse. Economic inequality and injustices have increased since the death of Dr. King. So far, the arc of history has not bent toward economic justice in a country where Christianity remains the overwhelmingly dominant religion.

Politicians like Cramer and Fincher even tout their Christian credentials, especially when running for office as champions of "family values." Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth but warned that we can lose our savoriness in the eyes of God if we are not careful. In nature salts typically lose their potency by dilution and pollution. These political leaders are pursing materialism (Mammon) while claiming to follow Christ. Their unsavoriness is apparent as they scramble for a sentence of scripture to twist to justify their callousness while ignoring the unmistakeable call for compassion that runs from Genesis to Revelation. Political advocacy by people of faith is not going to change their heart.

Perhaps a more Christ-centered way of bending the arc of history is to find ways to lift the crosses of the poor, sick, disabled, and old that go beyond government assistance and charity. To do that requires people of faith work together and think creatively. Working through or with those infected with the yeast of Mammon will not succeed and more than likely will drag us into the muck with them.

Mental impoverishment

A few days ago, I discussed a study published in Science that showed the impact poverty and financial concerns have on cognitive function. Matthew Yglesias does a much better job in framing the results that I did.

But the impact on cognitive skills is especially noteworthy for how it should influence our understanding of poverty. Poor people—like all people—make some bad choices. There is some evidence that poor people make more of these bad choices than the average person. This evidence can easily lead to the blithe conclusion that bad choices, rather than economic conditions, are the cause of poverty. The new research shows that this is—at least to some extent—exactly backward. It’s poverty itself (perhaps mediated by the unusually severe forms of decision fatigue than can affect the poor) that undermines judgment and leads to poor decision-making.

There is a large body of evidence that indicates stress disrupts attention, memory, and problem-solving. Chronic stress even causes some areas of the brain to shrink and atrophy.

Yglesias puts the study findings in the context of our nation's increasingly callous and punitive approaches to the people struggling at the bottom of the economic ladder.

This paternalistic notion that we should be relatively stingy with help, and make sure to attach it to complicated eligibility requirements and tests, may itself be contributing to the problem of poverty. At home or abroad, the strain of constantly worrying about money is a substantial barrier to the smart decision-making that people in tough circumstances need to succeed. One of the best ways to help the poor help themselves, in other words, is to simply make them less poor.

If God were as stingy with grace and love as our society is towards those in need, our spiritual poverty would be eternal.

How you know greed is evil?

Here is some convincing evidence:

The lavishly compensated CEOs we spotlight here should be exemplars of value-added performance. After all, sky-high CEO pay purportedly reflects the superior value that elite chief executives add to their enterprises and the broader U.S. economy.

But our analysis reveals widespread poorperformance within America’s elite CEO circles. Chief executives performing poorly — and blatantly so — have consistently populated the ranks of our nation’s top-paid CEOs over the last two decades.

The report’s key finding: nearly 40 percent of the CEOs on these highest-paid lists were eventually "bailed out, booted, or busted."

Some meritocracy! Look how many of the highest paid are ethically bankrupt. They get more gold than they can carry, yet fear no consequences for failure. Sounds like Satan to me. 

A little Micah in the morning

Micah 2:1-2:

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it. 

They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.

America in the 21st century:

Back in 2012, the major US banks settled a federal mortgage-fraud lawsuit for $95,000,000. The suit was filed by Lynn Szymoniak, a white-collar fraud specialist, whose own house had been fraudulently foreclosed-upon. When the feds settled with the banks, the evidence detailing the scope of their fraud was sealed, but as of last week, those docs are unsealed, and Szymoniak is shouting them from the hills. The banks precipitated the subprime crash by "securitizing" mortgages -- turning mortgages into bonds that could be sold to people looking for investment income -- and the securitization process involved transferring title for homes several times over. This title-transfer has a formal legal procedure, and in the absence of that procedure, no sale had taken place. See where this is going? 

The banks screwed up the title transfers. A lot. They sold bonds backed by houses they didn't own. When it came time to foreclose on those homes, they realized that they didn't actually own them, and so they committed felony after felony, forging the necessary documentation. They stole houses, by the neighborhood-load, and got away with it. The $1B settlement sounded like a big deal, back when the evidence was sealed. Now that Szymoniak's gotten it into the public eye, it's clear that $1B was a tiny slap on the wrist: the banks stole trillions of dollars' worth of houses from you and people like you, paid less than one percent in fines, and got to keep the homes.

Never doubt the existence of evil, especially when greed is treated as a virtue.

Food for thought

In today's world, you will find three types of people. You call tell them apart by their response to a major  tragedy or crisis in the world. Some will rush to help. Some will rush to profit. And the rest will breathe a sigh of relief that their lives have not been touched by it.

I wonder how which of these types Jesus would find acceptable. Rush to help? Check. Rush to profit? Toast. Kinda don't care? I would not bet on it.

Here is an easy question. Label the type of person represented in the following scenario:

In reaction to the drought- and heat-related crop failures and soaring food prices in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa, the head of agricultural trading at the large brokerage house of Glencore said ...

"The environment is a good one. High prices, lots of volatility, a lot of dislocation, tightness, a lot of arbitrage opportunities.

"We will be able to provide the world with solutions... and that should also be good for Glencore."

Oh look, food prices are going to be outrageous and cause the folks at the bottom of the economic ladder to go hungry, if not get sick or die. Sucks to be them, but we are going to get rich on the pain.

Here is another question. How come we have many "Christian" politicians desperate to cut government programs designed to aid the poor while shrugging the suffering off to religious charities? That is a tougher call. Do they really believe that the body of Christ in America can pick up the slack? Or do they really not care whether the poor suffer as long as we can give tax breaks to the rich and increase our military might? I cannot say what is really in their minds, especially in the midst of one disastrous growing season after another and rising food prices. I am fairly certain the Lord will have an opinion. And you probably do not want to be standing in their shoes when that opinion arrives.

Please identify the source of the following passage:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

(Hint: Revelation 3)

Any questions?

Instructions on the theology of greed

The Vatican took the wind out of liberation theology's sails with its doctrinal reprimand in 1984. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger argued that liberation theology was seeking a political solution to economic injustice, borrowing too heavily from Marxism.

Impatience and a desire for results has led certain Christians, despairing of every other method, to turn to what they call "marxist analysis."

Their reasoning is this: an intolerable and explosive situation requires 'effective action' which cannot be put off. Effective action presupposes a 'scientific analysis' of the structural causes of poverty. Marxism now provides us with the means to make such an analysis, they say. Then one simply has to apply the analysis to the third-world situation, especially in Latin America.

The "Instruction" argues that addressing the exploitation and economic injustices found in many developing Latin American countries was an appropriate target for the body of Christ, but liberation theology applied the wrong tools. Ratzinger made it clear that the "Instruction" was not to be taken as tacit approval for the ethically bankrupt dictatorships and multinational corporations responsible for the injustices.

This warning should in no way be interpreted as a disavowal of all those who want to respond generously and with an authentic evangelical spirit to the "preferential option for the poor." It should not at all serve as an excuse for those who maintain the attitude of neutrality and indifference in the face of the tragic and pressing problems of human misery and injustice. It is, on the contrary, dictated by the certitude that the serious ideological deviations which it points out tends inevitably to betray the cause of the poor. More than ever, it is important that numerous Christians, whose faith is clear and who are committed to live the Christian life in its fullness, become involved in the struggle for justice, freedom, and human dignity because of their love for their disinherited, oppressed, and persecuted brothers and sisters. More than ever, the Church intends to condemn abuses, injustices, and attacks against freedom, wherever they occur and whoever commits them. She intends to struggle, by her own means, for the defense and advancement of the rights of mankind, especially of the poor.

Much has changed in the past three decades. Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI. Communism has largely been discarded as an economic foundation. Capitalism is the only economic game in town. Liberation theology has been replaced by slavish free market worship. The economic injustices that spawned liberation theology have disappeared as we bask in a paradise where profit serves the common good and ethics are practiced with the skill of a monk in prayer. The Pope's encyclical warnings about the need for ethical capitalism have been taken to heart across the world.

"Profit is useful if it serves as a means toward an end. Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty."

Here are a few highlights from the recent fortnight for economic freedom celebration.

In the United States, poverty levels have reached the highest levels in five decades.

The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.

Europe is mired in an economic crisis of debt, unemployment, and austerity. The bottom is nowhere in sight.

The economic crisis spreading across the developed world has clear winners and losers. Corporations have been reporting record profits and hoarding wads of cash.

The poor and middle classes have shouldered by far the heaviest burdens of the global political obsession with austerity policies over the past three years. In the United States, budget cuts have forced states to reduce education, public transportation, affordable housing and other social services. In Europe, welfare cuts have driven some severely disabled individuals to fear for their lives.

But the austerity game also has winners. Cutting or eliminating government programs that benefit the less advantaged has long been an ideological goal of conservatives. Doing so also generates a tidy windfall for the corporate class, as government services are privatized and savings from austerity pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens.

I am sure the irony of the unethical people responsible for the global recession also benefiting from austerity measures pursued in the wake of the crisis is lost on the less fortunate.

And then there are the ethically bankrupt rich that have stashed at least $21 trillion in tax shelters to avoid contributing to the common good while the poor, sick, disabled, and old suffer. While some quibble about the exact amounts, their only counter is patently stupid.

He also pointed out that if tax havens were stuffed with such sizeable amounts, "you would expect the havens to be more conspicuously wealthy than they are".

Money stashed in a private bank is not going to "trickle down" to the locals. The fact that Cayman Islanders are not driving Ferraris hardly disproves that trillions are socked away in secret accounts in private banks. I prefer my red herrings fried with a hearty helping of chips, thank you.

For all the talk of ethical capitalism, economic disparities have grown along with greed and fiscal shenanigans. It does raise the obvious question. When will Christians "become involved in the struggle for justice, freedom, and human dignity because of their love for their disinherited, oppressed, and persecuted brothers and sisters?" Or does the "preferential option for the poor" mean that their numbers will increase and they will suffer slow and terrible death? Perhaps widespread misery is one of the miracles required for the canonization of Ayn Rand.

One would hate to think that the doctrinal reprimand of liberation theology was nothing more than an attempt to short-circuit a popular movement for social justice grounded in the teachings of Christ. Then again, the slashing of the safety net for those in need by politicians invoking Catholic social teaching warranted only a mild rebuke while health insurance coverage of contraception had the bishops gnashing their teeth and taking to the street. Christ was not a fan of hypocrisy. As a matter of fact, He despised it.

Hunger that cannot be satisfied

Christ said you cannot chase wealth and God. You cannot lust for riches and love God. Mammon and God are mutually exclusive. They pull you in very different directions. And that comes straight from the Son of God. There is no theological wiggle room in what Jesus said.

The Apostle Paul wrote that love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Loving money means the Evil One knows you will sell your soul and your asking price.

Given the words of Christ and Paul, it is hard to understand why so few Christians confront greed as a mortal sin. How hard do you have to work to overlook what was said by the Prophets, the Messiah, and the Lord's Disciples? You cannot miss it. But you find legions of Christians bleating about sexual morality, particularly the sexual activities of other people. It is strange to find such outrage over sex and barely a peep about lust for money.

The problem with greed is that it causes you to hurt many people. The victims will include people that work for a company or buy its products. Executives routinely receive bonuses for cutting jobs, salaries, and benefits of employees. The suffering of those workers does not matter. Financial mismanagement, theft, pollution, and waste disrupts the lives of millions. Lust for money makes you glad there are people with less and covet the wealth of those with more. You do not care about anyone but yourself and your family. Everyone else be damned. You cannot follow Christ and have an attitude like that. You cannot serve God and money.

Take a look at Mammon in the news during the past week.

Here we have lies. Duke Energy made false promises to facilitate the purchase of Progress Energy.

"I do not believe that a single director of Progress would have voted for this transaction as structured with the knowledge that the CEO of Duke, Jim Rogers, would remain as the CEO of the combined company," former board member John Mullin III told WSJ.

"In my opinion this is the most blatant example of corporate deceit that I have witnessed during a long career on Wall Street," he continued in a letter shared with The News & Observer, "and as a director of ten publicly traded companies and as a former Trustee of Putnam's numerous mutual funds."

The CEO for a day "walked away with a severance package that could be worth up to $44.4 million."

Here we have theft, lies and even an attempted suicide. An Iowa brokerage firm is fined $700,000 for deceptive sales practices, sued for facilitating a $190,000,000 Ponzi scheme, and then $220,000,000 of customer funds suddenly disappears. The CEO attempts to kill himself, the feds file fraud charges, and the company declares bankruptcy. Tens of thousands of investors have been completely ruined financially by these shenanigans.

Here we have lies and theft on scale "too huge to wrap our mortal heads around." Rate fixing by Barclays and other securities firms on $800 trillion in trades. And it may only be the tip of the iceberg.

Combining the penalties assessed by a trio of U.S. and British regulators, and the roughly $155 million that Barclays spent during the multiyear investigation, this one bank alone has incurred more than $600 million in charges. The bank's CEO, Bob Diamond, has resigned in disgrace, and the familiar Barclays name has been significantly tarnished.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) -- the propped-up bank in which, in a royally cruel twist of fate, British taxpayers hold an 82% stake -- will reportedly be next on the hook with penalties of $233 million for its role in the rate-setting scandal. Swiss bank UBS (UBS) received "conditional immunity" from prosecution last year in return for its cooperation with the Justice Department's ongoing investigation. Meanwhile, authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are reportedly looking into potential misconduct by, among others: Citigroup (C), HSBC (HBC), Deutsche Bank (DB), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Lloyds, and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.

The victims include anyone with adjustable rate loans, pension funds, corporations with financed debt, and stockholders. In short, millions of people have been hurt. The Motley Fool asks if "there any corner of our financial markets that can be deemed safe from such reckless and deceptive behavior?" Here is the moral of the story:

Where opportunity and motive coincide for banks to pursue their own agenda through secretive and unsavory means, it seems far safer to presume that they will rather than to trust that they will not.

Lies, theft, and breaking the law is becoming the rule rather than exception.

A quarter of Wall Street executives see wrongdoing as a key to success, according to a survey by whistleblower law firm Labaton Sucharow released on Tuesday.

In a survey of 500 senior executives in the United States and the UK, 26 percent of respondents said they had observed or had firsthand knowledge of wrongdoing in the workplace, while 24 percent said they believed financial services professionals may need to engage in unethical or illegal conduct to be successful.

Sixteen percent of respondents said they would commit insider trading if they could get away with it, according to Labaton Sucharow. And 30 percent said their compensation plans created pressure to compromise ethical standards or violate the law.

Greed and sin go hand in hand. You cannot serve God and Mammon. There is no way to satisfy the hunger created by love of money. So why are Christians silent on all the evils that come from love of money, particularly when it has become a global epidemic? Greed destroys souls and causes suffering across the world. The people with little or nothing are living in despair because of the wretchedness of people with more than they can spend.

Yes, the hogs will be slaughtered (James 5:1-6):

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

So why are we, the body of Christ, silent on the morass caused by greed? Are we afraid? Are we blind? Have we been misled into obsessing about sex while ignoring the depravity of Mammon? Whatever the reasons, the Lord will not be amused.

Strange world we live in

It sounds like a scene from a dystopian novel. In the distance stands a glittering palace with lush grounds and shimmering pools. Outside its walls, water is more precious than gold. Armed men stand guard over a maze of pumps and pipes. Through one set of pipes, the palace pumps dry nearby wells and streams. Another set of pipes discharge sewage downstream where it will sicken the peasants desperate for water for their pots and fields, out of sight and mind of the beautiful people frolicking on the palace grounds. The trouble is this is not some fictional cautionary tale. It is an all too common reality.

Some 884 million people lack sufficient access to water and sanitation globally. In many tourism destinations in the global South, lack of infrastructure, government capacity and resources means that communities struggle to meet their daily water needs. . . Meanwhile, neighbouring resorts and hotels consume vast quantities of water in the servicing of guest rooms, landscaped gardens, swimming pools and golf courses.

Tourism Concern, an advocacy organization that promotes ethical conduct in the tourism industry, has just released a new report that documents water rights abuses by popular resorts in developing countries. The report ("Water Equity in Tourism – A Human Right, A Global Responsibility" pdf) examined the water shortages, conflicts, and negative impacts of resorts on local communities. While the study focused on Indonesia, India, and Tanzania, the problems are not confined to these countries.

"While hotels may have the money and resources to ensure their guests enjoy several showers a day, swimming pools, a round of golf, and lush landscaped gardens, neighbouring households, small businesses and agricultural producers can regularly endure severe water scarcity."

It is the perfect brew for exploitation - corrupt local governments, inexpensive beachfront property, big multinational corporations, and rich tourists with money to burn. Grease the palms of a few politicians and the sky is the limit. Developers promise jobs and prosperity, but all the profits flow to resort owners and the local residents are left with water shortages and pollution. Paraphrasing Tony Soprano, money flows uphill and crap flows down.

"The hotels here all have lush lawns and boreholes. But there is contamination of groundwater and the huge consumption of water by hotels lowers the water table. Wells in the neighbouring village have already become saline and unfit for human consumption. These hotels don't benefit us in any way." 

-- Sheela Gracia, local activist in Goa, India

There are so many ethical failures that it is impossible to doubt the banality of evil. Bribes are just the cost of doing business. Corporations like Hyatt and Hilton are just making money by keeping costs low and profit margins large. And the well-heeled tourists are spending their hard-earned cash. Sure, lots of people get hurt, but no one is really to blame.

Rachel Noble, Tourism Concern's director of policy and research, suggests that governments should put people ahead of profits.

"Governments need to provide and enforce clear regulatory frameworks for tourism and water management that puts the water rights of communities first. If governments are serious about using tourism as a means to alleviate poverty and to support sustainable development, marginalised groups and communities, particularly women who usually bear the greatest burden of fetching water, must be empowered to participate in water and tourism decision-making processes. It's time for the tourism sector to take responsibility for its water use and address the wider impacts of its consumption beyond the hotel walls."

She is quite right. All that is required is for government officials to put its people first, particularly the less fortunate, and for corporations to behave ethically and responsibly. Of course, pigs will sprout wings and fly before that ever happens.

 Here is the description of the Grant Hyatt Bali:

Grand Hyatt Bali Hotel is the crown jewel of resorts in Nusa Dua, the luxury stretch of magnificent beachfront on the island of Bali, offering 636 luxury rooms & suites nested in low-rise Balinese villas, most located in 4 villages. Grand Hyatt Bali resort was conceived as a water palace with lakes, landscape gardens and five lagoon or river pools surrounding low-rise Balinese style buildings. Our Bali resort offers the comfort and luxury services of a world class hotel blended with the relaxing tranquillity of a secluded beach resort. Experience total relaxation at Kriya Spa in Bali designed as an exotic 24-villa water palace amid tropical gardens, with spa treatments focusing on the 4 Balinese healing rituals: harmony, purity, energy and bliss. Play at the 18-hole championship Bali Golf & Country Club 5 minutes away or try the variety of water sports available. Pasar Senggol is the Balinese village and night market of our hotel in Nusa Dua hosting cultural shows, food stalls, a handicraft exhibition and bazaar-style market.

I guess they forgot to mention the costs to the local people, but that might get in the way of the "harmony, purity, energy, and bliss" for the privileged. Funny how paradise and hell can be located so very close together. Good thing you can worship both God and Mammon.

The virtue of greed on display again

It is interesting to hear priests and other religious leaders heaping praise on the "free market." They claim unregulated capitalism will free us from want and evil. Greed and virtue go hand in hand. What a hoot!

Here is how unregulated capitalism works in the real world. In 1998, our glorious political leadership removed much of the regulation of banks. Since that time, there has been a steady stream of bad behavior, not to mention economic catastrophes. I guess the bankers and brokers did not get the memo that the knights of the free market roundtable are supposed to be paragons of virtue.

To wit, J.P. Morgan Chase announced that they made a $2 billion blunder in May. CEO Jamie Dimon claimed the mishap was the fault of a few bad apples and there was no need for any stinking regulation. A little over a month later, it turns out the loss is likely to be at least $9 billion. Whoops. And here is the kicker. Larry Doyle, a former J.P. Morgan securities analyst, is saying something smells funny about this mess.

So many questions. So few real answers. Neither the morning news shows nor the major media outlets seem to want to draw real attention to this reported quadrupled loss.

I am compelled to repeat my question posed back in early May, “how do you know if/when Jamie Dimon is not telling the truth?” Did somebody say, “when his lips move?”

The experts on worshipping Mammon and God claim that if priests worship Mammon, then corporate leaders will give wads of cash to churches and worship God. This all sounds so familiar. Here is some of what God told Jeremiah to tell the people (Jeremiah 8:10-11):

From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.

What harm can possibly come from glorifying greed . . .

Poor get shanked in the Supreme Court ruling on the health care law

All the major provisions of the health insurance reform law will stand except one. The requirement for states to increase Medicaid spending for the poor was ruled unenforceable by the federal government.

Regarding the Medicaid portion of the act, the opinion held the expansion of the low-income health insurance constitutional, but said that the federal government couldn't withhold funds for the program from states that don't comply with federal provisions.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote in his opinion, "nothing in our opinion precludes Congress from offering funds under the ACA to expand the availability of health care, and requiring that states accepting such funds comply with the conditions on their use. What Congress is not free to do is to penalize States that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding."

In other words, the poor get bupkis if the state or Congress does not come up with the money to cover Medicaid costs.

"What you did not do for the least of my Kingdom, you did not do for me," said the Lord.

Should we unfriend Facebook?

Facebook is growing up. It has gone from a chic social networking site aimed at college students to a global behemoth. It used to be a cool tool to keep up with your friends. Now it is becoming a robot to mine your personal data so advertisers can bomb you with well-targeted ads. Ho hum.

There are many reasons to dislike Facebook. Prospective and current employers can use the information posted on your page against you. You can be bullied in cyberspace. Cyber-thieves and Big Brother love it.

Here is another reason. The company is run by people who have become obscenely rich but have no interest in contributing to the common good.

We face a crisis in this country. Poverty is rampant and growing as more and more wealth is concentrated at the very top of the economic ladder. Government programs to help the most vulnerable are on the chopping block because the rich do not want to pay taxes. When Greed is God, we are all going to Hell.

And Facebook is run by people with underdeveloped consciences. You have probably heard about Facebook's co-founder, Eduardo Saverin. He decided to give up his American citizenship to avoid a big capital gains tax bill. But Severin is the tip of the iceberg.

The me-first ethic is pervasive among everyone at the top of Facebook's food chain.

The biggest tax burden, unsurprisingly, falls to the senior-most Facebook employees and biggest shareholders who will be collectively saddled with a bill from Uncle Sam to the tune of about $200 million. However six of these folks -- Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Sean Parker, Sheryl Sandberg, Reid Hoffman and his wife Michelle Yee -- will take advantage of a somewhat arcane and totally legal tax trick by putting large portions of their shares in grantor-retained annuity trusts (GRATs). According to The Wall Street Journal's Laura Saunders, "these trusts transfer asset appreciation from one taxpayer to others, virtually tax-free."

All of these people already have more money than they can spend and they are about to be showered with even more once the company goes public. Their first thought is how can I give back as little as possible to the society that made my success possible.

Zuckerberg is even considering another tax gambit popular among the internet billionaires.

But how much income tax will Mr. Zuckerberg pay on the rest of his stock that he won’t immediately sell? He need not pay any. Instead, he can simply use his stock as collateral to borrow against his tremendous wealth and avoid all tax. That’s what Lawrence J. Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle, did. He reportedly borrowed more than a billion dollars against his Oracle shares and bought one of the most expensive yachts in the world.

Isn't that special? All of this reveals the gigantic tax loopholes that have been created to serve the rich and leave the rest of us scrambling for crumbs. The temptation is certainly there, but no one is obligated to give in to it. The trouble is people like Mark Zuckerberg do not think twice about it.

And here is the real kicker. The tax rate applicable to these billions and billions is only 15%. Yes, thanks to the hard work of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, the capital gains tax has been slashed and slashed. But even that is too high for these pigs. Every year we hear more cries to lower it further or eliminate it altogether, including calls from a vulture capitalist currently running for president.

And the icing on the cake is that tech companies like Facebook have corporate tax loopholes large enough to drive Larry Ellison's massive yacht through.

Tech firms have a few advantages that make them especially able to exploit loopholes in the U.S. corporate income tax. One is that a lot of their income comes from intellectual property. Firms can use strategies to shift the ownership of U.S.-developed IP into subsidiaries located abroad, thus treating the income it generates as foreign and not taxable in the U.S. Our corporate income tax also has generous credits for research and development; since a large share of tech firms’ expenditure is R&D, that preference benefits them.

If you are a retailer, manufacturer, or small business, you have a big tax bill. If you are a tech company or energy company, there is a veritable Garden of Eden filled with juicy loopholes to pick from so you give back nothing to our society.

I hear people ask what the Occupy movement is all about. Simple, it is about the rigged system that allows the rich to get richer at great cost and consequence to the rest of us. It is the financial bankruptcy of our nation driven by the moral bankruptcy of the rich.

The mark of a successful parasite is one that does not kill the host. Those are only tiny brain parasites. The truly dangerous ones are human with no ethics about how they treat their fellow humans. And isn't it funny that the founders of a social network site are among the most socially callous people you can imagine.

When you sit down at your computer, log into your Facebook account, and start friending this person, liking that company, and posting videos of dancing cats, understand that every click makes people without a conscience richer. Just remember that Mark Zuckerberg got his start by invading privacy to steal photographs and create a demeaning game known as Facemash.

It all gives me a greater appreciation of why Jesus said that it will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. What I cannot understand is why Christians are so reluctant to make greed a moral issue. Could it be that money corrupts? Well, if you are going to go on Facebook, at least unfriend Judas and High Priests.

More evil in the love of money

Jesus said "woe to you rich for you have your consolation (Luke 6:24).  Paul said that "love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). It is kind of odd, perverse even, that so much attention is given to sexual ethics by some Christians while saying next to nothing about the ethics of wealth and power.

Here is a hint of just how perverse it is to neglect greed. Jesus followed his condemnation of the rich with a dire warning. If you are fat and happy now, you will be hungry and wallowing in despair for an eternity. And let's not forget those who lust for riches. Paul completes his "root of evil" statement by declaring,"some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." In other words, lust for wealth causes you to walk away from your faith. Remind me again why the faithful are condemning sexual behavior and all but ignoring the unequivocal threat from greed.

Let me connect a few dots for you. First, let's ask a basic question. Are there reasons to believe that pessimism about Mammon worship is justified? Here is one. Paul Piff and colleagues at the University Michigan just published a study of wealth and ethical behavior in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.

The researchers used data from a national survey and a series of field studies. Each analysis yielded strong evidence that people higher up the socioeconomic status ladder are prone to all sorts of unethical behavior in business and social settings. Much of the effect was accounted for by their attitudes about greed. The more they valued money and the trappings of materialism, the more likely they were to behave unethically in their dealings with others. Love of Mammon carries with it a contempt for others.

Maybe the rich are possessed by demons. I am sure you know that greed and unethical behavior collapsed our economy and cost millions their jobs, houses and dreams in 2007. You no doubt remember this collapse came 6 years after tax rates were lowered on the rich. Despite all the promises that supply side economics would produce job creation and prosperity for everyone, unethical behavior in the financial and corporate worlds created the worst economic period since the Depression. That is a lot of suffering produced by a few thousand Mammonites.

Instead of having to fear for their freedom, the rich got richer. They made a few hollow promises to behave themselves if we give them another chance. The politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, "reluctantly" accepted those promises and even bailed them out. Meanwhile, all rules against the rich corrupting our democracy with money were thrown out by the US Supreme Court.

And what did the rich learn through all of this? Steal harder.

In the financial sector, JP Morgan Chase just lost 2 billion dollars in a flash (and the loss will be closer to 3 billion by the time the dust settles).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the firm suffered a $2 billion trading loss after an “egregious” failure in a unit managing risks, jeopardizing Wall Street banks’ efforts to loosen a federal ban on bets with their own money. The firm’s chief investment office, run by Ina Drew, 55, took flawed positions on synthetic credit securities that remain volatile and may cost an additional $1 billion this quarter or next, Dimon told analysts yesterday. Losses mounted as JPMorgan tried to mitigate transactions designed to hedge credit exposure.

Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase have been carpet-bombing Congress with lobbyists and cash to get rid of the few pathetic regulations that were put in place after the crash of 2007. So Mr. Dimon, how did this massive failure happen on your watch if regulations are not needed because the banks can police themselves. That sounds freaking stuppppiddddd!!! Let the foxes guard the hen houses because what could possibly go wrong. Really, trust us.

“There were many errors, sloppiness and bad judgment,” Dimon said as the company’s stock fell in extended trading. “These were egregious mistakes, they were self-inflicted.”

Oopsie. Tee hee hee. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. I am so sorry (we got caught).

The only mistakes were losing money and getting caught. Another elaborate check-kiting scheme known as derivatives trading blew up and billions disappeared in the blink of an eye. And these are not nickel and dime ethical misdemeanors. No, these were capital crime level felonies.

Bloomberg News first reported April 5 that London-based JPMorgan trader Bruno Iksil had amassed positions linked to the financial health of corporations that were so large he was driving price moves in the $10 trillion market.

Trades worth $10 trillion. In other words, we could pay off the federal debt with what these clowns were betting in the Wall Street Casino.

Or how about Chesapeake Energy. It is another warm and fuzzy story about unbridled greed.

Chesapeake Energy is the second largest gas producer in the US. Their CEO, Aubrey McClendon, was just ousted when some of his financial shenanigans came to light. Improper personal loans. A little hedge fund on the side. A wicked compensation deal that paid MeClendon a fat salary, fatter bonuses, hog-worthy stock options, and a piece of every single gas well operated by the company. Think about that for a second. McClendon received four sources of revenue for doing one job - serving himself.

Now comes word of another financial irregularity.

A US report contends that the embattled Chesapeake Energy has “previously unreported liabilities” summing to $1.4 billion resulting from a programme that allowed it to exchange future oil and gas production for cash up front.  

 The Wall Street Journal analysed 10 of the company’s Volumetric Production Payment agreements and projected that the costs associated with the arrangements was far higher than $600 million over 10 years previously estimated.  

The liabilities raise questions about the company’s ability to manage its cash flow, the newspaper said, among the concerns about the No. 2 US gas producer among investors and analysts.

Another oopsie. An $800 million accounting mistake. No worries, mate. Goldman Sachs to the rescue. A $3 billion unsecured handshake loan. Problem solved. Whew. That was close.

Here is a little icing for the cake in case you doubted the ethical bankruptcy of these titans of industry. The CEO of Yahoo just resigned after being exposed for padding his resume.

Good thing we Christians are preoccupied with sex. We do not want the faithful casting aspersion on the greed and corruption of the rich and powerful. That would spoil all the fun.

Republican circle of protection for the poor is a death panel

For months, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been calling for a "circle of protection" for the poor, sick, aged, and disabled in the federal budget. And they have been repeatedly ignored. Well, actually, House budget chair Paul Ryan has all but given them a middle finger salute.

Monsters are nothing if not audacious and vicious. Last year, Ryan and his budget plans were criticized as not in keeping with Catholic social teachings as he called for deep cuts to the social safety net while protecting tax cuts for the rich and subsidies for the most profitable corporations. This year, Ryan decided to double down on taking from the poor to pamper the rich by claiming it was guided by Catholic teachings. When that sparked a flurry of letters from the USCCB, Ryan dismissed their authority. And despite 5 letters to Ryan and company over the past two months, the budgetary bills put forth by Ryan's committee and passed by House Republicans can only be described as morally bankrupt. Instead of letting the poor eat cake, Ryan wants them to eat dust.

If this bill were enacted, estimates suggest that nearly two million Americans would lose food stamps and 44 million others would find them reduced. The bill would eliminate a program that allows disabled older people to live at home and out of institutions. It cuts money that helps low-income families buy health insurance. At the same time, the House bill actually adds more than $8 billion to the Pentagon budget.

All the pro-life, family values rhetoric coming out of these people is nothing but a lie. Half of all Americans live below the poverty line or within spitting distance above it. These budget initiatives will cause tens of millions to suffer or even die from hunger, homelessness, lack of heat or air conditioning, or disease. It will shackle more with fewer and fewer opportunities to escape poverty. All the while, it creates the largest military budget in human history. Here is a timely reminder from Ezekiel 16:49.

"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy."

At least we know who the real Sodomites are.

While culture wars rage, economic injustices grow

Greed knows no bounds:

Growing income inequality has a number of sources, but a distinct aspect of rising inequality in the United States is the wage gap between the very highest earners—those in the upper 1.0 percent or even upper 0.1 percent—and other earners, including other high-wage earners. Driving this ever-widening gap is the unequal growth in earnings enjoyed by those at the top. The average annual earnings of the top 1 percent of wage earners grew 156 percent from 1979 to 2007; for the top 0.1 percent they grew 362 percent (Mishel, Bivens, Gould, and Shierholz 2012). In contrast, earners in the 90th to 95th percentiles had wage growth of 34 percent, less than a tenth as much as those in the top 0.1 percent tier. Workers in the bottom 90 percent had the weakest wage growth, at 17 percent from 1979 to 2007.

So, for 90% of Americans, their wages grew 0.6% per year over the three decades before the Great Recession. Factor in the Great Recession, the numbers look even worse. In other words, they did not keep up with inflation. Meanwhile, the top 1% saw their wages grow an average of 5.6% per year.

And what about the pigs in the executive suites?

From 1978 to 2011, CEO compensation increased more than 725 percent, a rise substantially greater than stock market growth and the painfully slow 5.7 percent growth in worker compensation over the same period.

So where is all that trickle down from supply side economics that we hear so much about? Oh, never mind. We should forget about economic injustices and the growing ranks of the poor, instead keeping our eyes on culture wars.

Certainly, when building coalitions around initiatives and projects like “Justice Invitationals,” issues like the environment, slavery, poverty, natural disasters, and the like are going to build more consensus, allowing for us to re-build the bridges burned by so much demonizing in the past. However, we have a responsibility to both publically denounce the practice of homosexuality and abortion as well as give our young evangelicals the tools to learn for themselves why these practices are not the way God intended the world to be. Speaking and writing such in today’s secular milieu is certainly more dangerous than it used to be but it is still our responsibility before God.

There are more than 2000 references to the need to care for the poor, sick, aged, and disabled in the scriptures. Obsession with issues like homosexuality, abortion, and contraception indicates a heart to disobey God. When you have young evangelicals lead by the heart of God to answer the prayers of those that suffer, the culture warriors are nothing but false prophets.

 

Republicans continue their war on the poor

From Politico:

American soldiers learned the hard way not to walk down enemy trails in Vietnam — and certainly not twice. But here come the House Republicans, marching into the sunlight by shifting billions from poverty programs to the Pentagon, all within hours of adopting an entirely new round of tax cuts for those earning more than $1 million a year..

Satan tweets: Booyah!!!