Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer/Review

Peter Schweizer (Author)

One of the biggest scandals in American politics is waiting to explode: the full story of the inside game in Washington shows how the permanent political class enriches itself at the expense of the rest of us. Insider trading is illegal on Wall Street, yet it is routine among members of Congress. Normal individuals cannot get in on IPOs at the asking price, but politicians do so routinely. The Obama administration has been able to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to its supporters, ensuring yet more campaign donations. An entire class of investors now makes all of its profits based on influence and access in Washington. Peter Schweizer has doggedly researched through mountains of financial records, tracking complicated deals and stock trades back to the timing of briefings, votes on bills, and every other point of leverage for politicians in Washington. The result is a manifesto for revolution: the Permanent Political Class must go.

About the Author

Peter Schweizer is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. From 2008-9 he served as a consultant to the White House Office of Presidential Speechwriting and he is a former consultant to NBC News.  He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, National Review, Foreign Affairs, and elsewhere. His books include The Bushes, Reagan's War, and Do as I Say, Not as I Do.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0547573146
ISBN-13: 978-0547573144 
Genre : Politics & Social sciences

Review
The Permanent Political Class is far more patriotic and intelligent than lazy Americans!,
By Hassan Z. Brockovich Sr.

In this revolutionary tome, the author boldly establishes that all average Americans--members of the military, moms and dads, those in the boy scouts--are all inferior in comparison to the elites in the political class of both parties...and I wholeheartedly agree. Schweizer has meticulously researched all the evidence, which is why I agree with him totally.

According to his earth-crushing investigation, the permanent political class is in power in Washington, D.C., because average Americans are all just lazy, stupid and unmotivated, while the political class is savvy, aggressive and very ambitious. I could not agree more; after all, how can you explain that the political class keeps lying to the average voter...yet the average voter keeps sending them back every election cycle to Washington, D.C., to screw them over some more?!?!? This groundbreaking research should be on everyone's Kindle, I dare say!

What I find particularly eye-opening is the persuasive power of Schweizer's argument. He says that the political class deserves to be in power because they have the deviousness to stay there. I couldn't agree more because the political class is so intelligent that they--get this!--compel CEOs to let them buy lucrative shares in IPOs at very low prices in exchange for passing favorable legislation for those CEOs! And all the while, the stupid idiot people of America--that would be you and me who have a 9 to 5 job, worship God and like to go to a ballgame every now and then--just carry on with their ignorance-is-bliss lives while the political class keeps enriching their wealth, power and influence in this way!! Genius...simply genius!
After being shellshocked by reading this, I have to agree with the thesis of Schweizer. The majority of Americans who is not among the permanent political class in Washington, D.C., is simply stupid and deserves to be poor and struggling. Conversely, I also believe in the author's words praising this same political class as the smartest and brightest of America. After all, they are the ones who are in power, have all the money and keep conniving with other rich people to permanently keep the 99% of us all down, poor and ignorant! All hail the permanent political class in this country!
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Monti takes office as prime minister

Mario Monti, the man tasked with hauling Italy out of the debt crisis that brought down Silvio Berlusconi, took office as prime minister Wednesday.

Monti announced he would also be finance minister, at least temporarily.

He replaces the flamboyant Berlusconi, who led the country on and off for 18 years.

Monti and his new ministers sat down for their first Cabinet meeting Wednesday evening, as they seek to find a way out of a crisis that has shaken the confidence of global investors.
The new prime minister will present his government's plans to the Italian Senate on Thursday.
Debate on the proposals will be followed by a vote of confidence, a measure to see if the new government has the support of a majority of lawmakers.

Monti took the oath of office Wednesday afternoon in the grand Baroque Ball Room of the Quirinale Palace, the official residence of President Giorgio Napolitano.
The government lineup the new prime minister unveiled will be composed entirely of technocrats, without career politicians.
That will make it easier to govern and will help calm political tensions in the country, Monti said.
It also emphasizes "that we are talking about an extraordinary moment, both because of the economic difficulties and because of the exasperated relations among the political forces," he said

Napolitano said he believes the new government "has been born in a positive climate." Its creation has "been delicate and difficult ... but I think we've all managed to do it," he said.
Italy has already seen "many positive signals" from the European Union as a result, he added.
The 68-year-old former European Union commissioner won the backing of Berlusconi's political party and Italy's largest left-wing party on Tuesday.

Monti said it is "very interesting and very demanding" to try to form a government.
His government will include three women as ministers, including Anna Maria Cancellieri, the first woman to be Italy's interior minister, and Paola Severino, who will be the country's first female justice minister.
The foreign minister will be Giulio Terzi Sant'Agata, while Corrado Passera becomes minister of industry.
Monti said he will serve as finance minister until he nominates someone else for the post.
The new prime minister refused to answer journalists' questions about pension reform or taxes on wealth, saying he would present his plans to lawmakers Thursday.

Monti faces an arduous task, because Italy has one of the highest national debts in Europe at €1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) -- about 120% of GDP -- and has seen low growth in recent years.
He suggested Monday that his government might not last much longer than a year, until scheduled elections in early 2013. And at any time, Parliament could dissolve his government "because of lack of trust," he said.
It is "obvious" that the task at hand is an emergency and that to achieve economic growth and social equity "should be the priorities," Monti said.
Berlusconi resigned Saturday night, prompting cheers, flag-waving and singing in celebrations outside his office and ending an era in Italian politics. He was brought down by difficulties in pushing through budget cuts after 18 years in and out of the prime minister's office.

Berlusconi is expected to give his first speech as a lawmaker in the lower house of Parliament on Friday, according to Italian media reports.
His People of Freedom party remains the strongest force in Parliament, and Berlusconi has said he plans to remain active in it.
Berlusconi is the second prime minister to resign this month over the debt crisis sweeping across Europe, following last week's replacement of Greece's George Papandreou. Papandreou was replaced by Lucas Papademos, a former European Central Bank official.

(CNN)

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Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi resigns

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi credit: news.xinhuanet.com

Elated Italians cheered the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi outside Rome's presidential palace Saturday night after the flamboyant prime minister officially stepped down, ending a 17-year political career that saw his notorious libido become a favourite topic among the country's media.

Despite a racy reputation and years of being dogged by accusations of philandering, it was economics — not a sex scandal — that finally brought the curtain down on the 75-year-old media baron turned politician.
Berlusconi had pledged to step down following Saturday's crucial parliamentary vote on austerity measures, which passed in the Italian lower house with 380 legislators in favour, 26 against.

MAP Europe feels the financial pinch
Thousands of people, a group of whom sang the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah, celebrated the resignation in the streets of Rome as security looked on. Some of the demonstrators waved signs bearing messages such as "Nov. 12 is the day of liberation" and "Bye bye, bunga bunga" — a reference to the wild sex parties Berlusconi was said to have attended.

The passage of the economic package, which includes spending cuts and proposals to boost growth and extend the retirement age, came after animated debate and "impassioned speeches from the left and the right" in parliament, freelance journalist Megan Williams told CBC News from Rome.

"Berlusconi himself looked grim. He came in at the last moment; he left early," she said.

He tendered his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano after convening his last cabinet meeting, and leaves as Italy's longest-serving, postwar prime minister.

Mario Monti tipped to become next PM
The approved economic austerity measures were demanded by the European Union. The same belt-tightening plan that passed Saturday in the Chamber of Deputies already won the approval of the country's senate, with little opposition, a day earlier.
Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men and the owner of a large portion of the Italian media, was booed and heckled by crowds as he was driven to and from the presidential palace. Shouts of "Shame!" and "Buffoon, buffoon!" were directed at his motorcade.
Although some of his supporters showed up to sing the Italian national anthem and express their sadness over his resignation, they were clearly outnumbered.

People celebrate in front of the presidential palace in Rome after hearing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi formally resigned. (Remo Casilli/Reuters)

In his years as the public face of Italian politics, Berlusconi was known for a racy tenure during which he was accused of partying with underage girls at sex parties.

Grant Amyot, a professor with Queen's University who has studied Italian policy, told CBC News he has watched with "horrified fascination" as Berlusconi managed to endure in politics despite apparent conflicts of interest and alleged trysts with young prostitutes.
He is facing several sets of criminal charges, including for corruption, tax fraud and allegations that he paid for sex with an underage Moroccan girl who went by the stage name "Ruby the Heart Stealer."
P.O.V.

What's next for Italy after Silvio Berlusconi?
Amyot said it's undeniable that Berlusconi has left his mark Italian politics, emerging in 1994 as a "fresh face" and surviving 51 confidence votes. Over time, Amyot, said, Berlusconi's rise "has led to a degradation of Italian democracy."

"The kind of party he set up, which is really the branch of a private business empire, obviously this isn't the private influence that makes for a healthy democracy, and the Italian right is in a real quandary because he is the party," Amyot said.

Mario Monti, a respected former European commissioner and economics professor, has been touted as a likely successor to form an emergency government.

Contrasts between Monti and Berlusconi
That expectation was heightened this week when Napolitano named Monti a senator for life. If chosen to be the next prime minister, Monti would have 18 months to shepherd the third-largest economy in the eurozone through further economic reforms.

Napolitano will hold consultations Sunday morning with all of Italy's political groups. The back-to-back, 10-minute meetings he has scheduled indicate the talks won't last long and that Monti would likely be nominated by the end of the day. Late Saturday, Berlusconi's party said it would support Monti, albeit with conditions.

There's a sharp contrast between Monti and Berlusconi. The latter has been at the heart of Italian politics for the last 17 years, but more recently he has been ridiculed and embroiled in legal action for hosting parties at which magistrates say he entertained starlets and prostitutes, CBC freelance contributor Dominic Valitis reported from London.

"They are very different people indeed. Monti is a former European Union commissioner with some pretty heavy connections within the EU. He is a tough negotiator. He's not afraid of a fight. He's been known to take on big corporations," Valitis said.

Resignation won't fix economic troubles
Italy is under intense pressure to quickly put in place a new and effective government to replace Berlusconi's, one that can push through tough reforms to reduce Italy's staggering sovereign debt, pegged at €1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion).

The economic reforms include increasing the retirement age from 65 to 67, starting in 2026, but do nothing to open up Italy's inflexible labour market. The measures also call for the privatization of some municipal services as well as the sale of state-owned real estate.

Italy's public debt totals twice that facing Greece, Ireland and Portugal combined. An Italian default could tear apart the coalition of 17 countries that use the euro as a common currency and deal a strong blow to the economies of industrialized countries struggling to avoid recessions.
Silvio Berlusconi, in the backseat, arrives in his car at the Quirinale Presidential Palace to meet Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in Rome. Berlusconi has stepped down as prime minister.Silvio Berlusconi, in the backseat, arrives in his car at the Quirinale Presidential Palace to meet Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in Rome. Berlusconi has stepped down as prime minister. (Andrew Medichini/Associated Press)

Patrick Young, a global markets analyst with the firm DV Advisors, said the problems with Italy run deep and won't be resolved with a single austerity package, and certainly not with Berlusconi's resignation alone.
"The problem we have here is that ultimately, this crisis has spiralled out of control due to a complete lack of leadership on the political level throughout the European Union. And the problem is that it's not just a question of this particular package of austerity, which is going to be pretty tough for Italians. The truth of the matter is people don't have confidence in the eurozone leadership and in the eurozone political classes," he told CBC News.
Young said Italy has had structural deficit issues for up to the last 50 years and those problems won't be resolved with one simple austerity package.

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Sarkozy called Israeli PM 'liar'

French President Nicholas Sarkozy and U.S. President Barack Obama shake hands as they attend an event in Cannes, France on Nov. 4, 2011. The French leader has worked to strengthen his country's relationship with Israel since 2007. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "liar" in remarks to US President Barack Obama overheard by journalists.
"I can't stand him any more, he's a liar," Mr Sarkozy said in French.
"You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day," Mr Obama replied.

The exchange at the G20 summit was quoted by a French website, Arret sur Images, and confirmed by other media.
The remarks - during a private conversation - were overheard by a few journalists last week but were not initially reported, the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says.

Journalists at the bilateral press conference had been handed translation boxes but had been told not to plug in their headphones until the backroom conversation had finished. But those who did heard the revealing comments.
For several days there was media silence in France about the exchange - a decision had been taken not to embarrass the French president, our correspondent says.
A correspondent for Le Monde newspaper referred to the conversation without the quotes.
But Israeli newspapers have reported it in full.

It is said Mr Obama was taking Mr Sarkozy to task for voting in favour of the Palestinian bid for full membership of the UN cultural organisation, Unesco, a bid that was approved despite American opposition.
The remarks indicate a breakdown of trust with the Israeli leader which could have wider implications for the Middle East peace process, our correspondent says.
BBC NEWS

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