EDITORIAL

Trump’s Turn to Glass-Steagall Opens Field for LaRouche’s Four Laws

Oct. 30 (EIRNS)—Candidate Donald Trump last week made a direct call for implementing the 21st Century Glass-Steagall act, while also issuing a blunt warning that Hillary Clinton’s call for military confrontation with Russia in Syria, has already brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Whatever Trump’s motivation, this has put the issues identified internationally with Lyndon LaRouche at the center of the U.S. political crisis.

LaRouche today responded to this shift in a discussion with his associates, nine days before the U.S. presidential elections:

“Trump has done Glass-Steagall.  He laid down the argument. What’s more, he hates Hillary Clinton and despises Barack Obama. Trump has an enormous ego, and it means he wants to do something big and important.  But all this means is that there is something to work with.  What this means is that the most important thing is what we have to tell the incoming administration about what must be done.  The fact that Trump supports Glass-Steagall is now an established fact, and this is a starting point, but only a starting point. We understand what must be done, overall, to enact a Hamiltonian policy of saving the United States.  That is what really counts. And that message is resonating.”

The situation within the United States is fraught with demoralization and fear, as the standard of living of American families is collapsing at a rapid rate, and as the citizenry see no hope in the election. LaRouche noted: “The situation here is so rotten that it is cause for great worry.  The typical American citizens have no honor or belief in themselves.  There are no practical solutions.  There is nothing in the U.S.A. except what we are calling for as the urgent solutions, starting with Glass-Steagall, but then immediately launching a massive capital investment of Federal credit into infrastructure and other projects to boost productivity of the economy as a whole.  This means a revival of Hamiltonian national banking.  That’s how it goes.

“There is a real danger of the end of civilization. There are no options other than decisive actions, of the sort I have spelled out in my Four Cardinal Laws. That is the real process.” These Four Cardinal Laws start with Glass-Steagall, together with a return to Hamiltonian National Banking as a means of extending credit into the real economy, spearheaded by science-drivers in fusion energy development and a restoration of NASA and the exploration of space.

“We are entering into something we have never seen before—right now,” LaRouche said. “There is no will in the trans-Atlantic region to act to solve any of these problems. Eurasia is where the real effort is.  That is where the big initiatives are taking place. Putin is doing important things, but he is also aware of the weakness of his own position, and he factors that into his decisions and actions.”

Dumping Obama is an urgent necessity, but the time is short. Acting on the shift created by the Trump initiative, regardless of the outcome of the election—to implement Glass-Steagall and the full LaRouche program to restore Hamiltonian policies—must be acted upon now as well as on the day following the election.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Trump’s Charlotte Speech Was Serious

Oct. 28 (EIRNS)—There are indications that Donald Trump’s promotion of “21st-Century Glass-Steagall Act” in his Charlotte, North Carolina speech was planned and intended to be the serious, though very belated, presentation of an economic program.

Aside from the serious tone of the presentation—it may have been Trump’s only speech this year, outside a church, which was nearly free of buffoonery and macho aggression—it was also preceded and accompanied by public expressions from Trump advisors, locating Glass-Steagall restoration as part of an economic plan.

In July Trump named 15 men, mostly billionaires and certainly none economic saints, to an economic advisory team. Three have promoted Glass-Steagall.

On Oct. 7, vulture-capitalist Wilber Ross and Peter Navarro, another Trump-panel advisor, were interviewed by Politico, attacking Hillary Clinton’s idea of what caused the 2008 crash, and calling for restoration of Glass-Steagall. A third member of Trump’s billionaire panel, former NuCor Steel CEO and now author Dan DiMicco, has also spoken out for Glass-Steagall, this past Summer.

Don’t rule out, that the manipulative Trump also called it the “21st-Century Glass-Steagall Act” in order to provoke his ferocious electoral foe, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Head of Kissinger Associates Says U.S. Must Stop Trying To Isolate Russia

Oct. 28 (EIRNS)—The managing director of Kissinger Associates said the U.S. must stop its attempts to isolate Russia and cooperate with it in order to resolve the Syria crisis, reported Sputnik. Thomas Graham, who was also former White House Senior Director on Russian Affairs in the George W. Bush administration, said in a speech at the McCain Institute on Oct. 27: “We cannot contain or isolate Russia nor is it our interest to do so. The task is to construct a balance of competition and cooperation.” He warned that the next President must realize that Russia will remain a great power with such assets as a world-class diplomatic corps, its conventional military forces, and great resources, as well as its enormous territory and strategic location across Eurasia. Moreover, Graham said, the United States has benefitted from cooperation with Russia in many fields, including non-proliferation efforts, fighting international terrorism, and toppling the Taliban.

On Syria, Graham said: “We have promised to separate the moderate opposition from al-Nusra. Have we done that? No,” Graham said. “Can we do that? No, that’s the reality.”

Graham called for the U.S. government to abandon its insistence that Assad must be immediately removed from office.

Did Comey Reveal Renewed Clinton Probe To Avert Leak?

Oct. 30 (EIRNS)—The Washington Post reported today that one key motive behind FBI Director Robert Comey’s decision to inform Congress of the reopening of the email probe of Hillary Clinton was his concern that the renewed probe would have been leaked to the media, and the impact would have been worse, including for him.  Washington sources have confirmed that Comey was facing an internal revolt of FBI officials, who disagreed with his decision in July to not open criminal prosecution of Hillary Clinton. Many of those FBI officials are Trump supporters and they viewed Comey’s decision not to prosecute Clinton or her top aides as a gift to the Democratic nominee.  Comey, according to the Post, feared that he would be charged with covering up the reopening of the investigation if he failed to alert Congress and the information then came out in the media. Indeed, one former Assistant FBI Director who is openly backing Trump, told reporters that “agents are furious” over Comey’s July decision not to recommend prosecution.  James Kallstrom railed against Clinton in media interviews, and asserted “I know for a fact” that there is an internal revolt against Comey at the FBI.

According to the Post, even though Comey was warned by top Justice Department officials not to inform Congress, the FBI Director viewed it as a guideline, not an order.  Generally, according to a Washington source, the DOJ and FBI refrain from taking any criminal actions against Federal candidates in the 60-day  period before elections. Comey violated that informal rule, but the source emphasized that this presidential election has been all about breaking all of the rules and so the Comey action was not shocking.

The Clinton campaign activated a full-scale damage control effort immediately after the Comey letter to Congress was made public, starting with an unusual press availability by Clinton’s two top campaign officials, John Podesta and Robby Mook.  Black and Hispanic caucus leaders rapidly issued statements denouncing the Comey action, and four leading Democratic Senators—Thomas Carper, Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein and Ben Cardin—sent a letter to Comey, demanding the release of all available information by Monday.  Republican Sen. Ron Johnson also wrote to Comey on Friday evening, Oct. 28, with the same demand for full disclosure.

Writing in today’s New York Post, Paul Sperry quoted extensively from the FBI 302 form, summarizing the FBI’s April 5, 2016 interview with Huma Abedin (a top Hillary advisor), in which it was revealed that she maintained a private yahoo account, a Clinton Foundation account and her State Department account, and regularly forwarded emails to the unsecured Yahoo and foundation accounts, which contained classified material.  The FBI recently confiscated the computers of Abedin’s estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, and found more than 1,000 of Abedin’s emails stored on the hard drive, prompting the renewed investigation.  The FBI is trying to determine whether the Abedin emails included some of the emails that were deleted from Clinton’s accounts. The FBI is investigating Weiner for alleged “sexting” with a 15-year-old girl.

At Least 6 Million Families Devastated by Massive Obamacare Hikes

Oct. 30 (EIRNS)—A review of recent studies on the Obamacare collapse by the Congressional Budget Office reveals that at least 6 million American households are being hit with impossible rate hikes in 2017.  In the Phoenix area, some rate hikes are 145%, going from an average of $207 a month to $507.

While President Obama has cavalierly lied that these astronomical rate hikes are all covered by government subsidies, the data tells another story.  According to the study, of the 22 million Americans covered by the Obamacare exchanges, only 9.5 million are getting the government subsidies because they earn below 150% of the poverty rate of income (12 million qualify for the subsidies, but 2.5 million people have not applied for them).  At least 6 million are being hit with the full costs of the enormous hikes, and as many as 4 million others may also be impacted.  The Post noted that insurance companies are dropping out of the exchange pools because they are losing so much money, due largely to the fact that a high percentage of healthy young people are choosing to pay the $695 per year penalty for refusing to take health insurance, instead of signing up.

Putin on the U.S. Election at Valdai Club

Oct. 30 (EIRNS)—In a spirited question and answer session held on the final day of the Valdai Club event in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin answered a question about Russian “interference” in the U.S. elections.  Putin referenced a theme in his opening speech where he had said that increasingly voters in referenda and elections “create surprises for the authorities,” because it is “ordinary citizens who are losing trust in the ruling class.” While these results are denounced by the elites as “fringe,” that isn’t true.

“Who is actually the fringe?” Putin said. “The expanding class of the supranational oligarchy and bureaucracy, which is in fact often not elected and not controlled by society, or the majority of citizens, who want simple and plain things – stability, free development of their countries, prospects for their lives and the lives of their children, preserving their cultural identity, and, finally, basic security for themselves and their loved ones.”

His answer about Russia intervening against Hillary Clinton was that this claim was deliberately created in the media:

“How is this done? First, they create an enemy in the form of Russia, and then they say that Trump is our preferred candidate. This is complete nonsense and totally absurd. It’s only a tactic in the domestic political struggle, a way of manipulating public opinion before the elections take place.

“As I have said many times before, we do not know exactly what to expect from either of the candidates…. Of course, we can only welcome public words about a willingness to normalize relations between our two countries. In this sense, yes, we welcome such statements, no matter who makes them….

“As for Mr. Trump, he has chosen his method of reaching voters’ hearts. Yes, he behaves extravagantly, of course, we all see this. But I think there is some sense in his actions. I say this because in my view, he represents the interests of the sizeable part of American society that is tired of the elites that have been in power for decades now. He is simply representing these ordinary people’s interests…. Some of the experts there [in the U.S.] have written openly about this. He operates in this niche…. As for me, I cannot but repeat what I have said already: we will work with whichever president the American people choose and who wants to work with us.”

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

U.S. General Petraeus, Saudi Prince Turki Demand U.S. Bombing of Syria

Oct. 29 (EIRNS)—At this week’s National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations conference, held in Washington, D.C., Gen. David Petraeus, former CIA Director and Centcom commander, used his position as the concluding keynote speaker to outline a set of policy proposals for Syria that could rapidly lead to World War III.

Speaking on Oct. 27, General Petraeus made a very bold set of proposals that unfortunately dovetailed very precisely with the kinds of things that have been coming out of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign throughout this Presidential election: the creation of safe zones inside Syrian sovereign territory; the creation of a no-fly zone over a large portion of Syrian territory; and the U.S. use of both sea-based and air-based cruise missiles to knock out the Syrian air force.

Then he very nonchalantly said, that of course this brings on the danger of a war with Russia; but he brushed that aside, saying, Vladimir Putin responds to power, and responds to serious threats to use power. Therefore, in the face of these kinds of actions, Putin will back down.

That conclusion not only flies in the face of reason, but of all competent intelligence.

This is exactly what Hillary Clinton is calling for in her own Presidential campaign speeches. There have been recent studies presented on behalf of the Clinton campaign by the Center for a New American Security and the Center for American Progress, that go almost as extremist as General Petraeus’ statements. Basically, the war danger cannot in the least be underestimated; and President Putin has repeatedly made that clear.

China Nuclear Policy Unchanged, But Changes in Strategic Environment Causing Serious Debate

Oct. 30 (EIRNS)—Speaking at a seminar at Carnegie Endowment on Oct. 28, where a new report, “Understanding Chinese Nuclear Thinking” was released, Maj. Gen. Yao Yunzhu (PLA, ret.) outlined the basis of China’s nuclear doctrine.  “It has not changed since it was announced in 1964,” she said. She went on, it includes unconditional non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states, no first use of nuclear weapons even against nuclear states. In addition, China will maintain only a small arsenal and will not engage in an arms race. Furthermore it will provide no nuclear umbrella for other nations. General Yao also indicated that the 2006 budget clearly qualified China’s nuclear strategy as a “self-defensive nuclear strategy.” She also indicated that China’s policy aims at total disarmament of all nuclear weapons, and if that process were to begin, China would join “when the time is ripe.”

She then noted that the entire strategic environment has changed as has the nuclear policy of other nations. She pointed out in particular the development of new pinpoint accurate non-nuclear weapons and the development of hydrosonic glide vehicles, the development of missile defenses, and emerging new cyber-technologies as factors affecting China’s nuclear posture. “There is now a debate in China as to how we should react if attacked by these non-nuclear weapons,” Yao said.  “Our nuclear forces are counter-value, not counter-force,” she said (namely targeting something of value for the enemy rather than specific military targets), indicating that if a retaliatory strike could be prevented or thwarted, there might be a rethinking of the no-first-strike strategy.

When asked about the THAAD deployments, Yao replied, “We do not feel threatened by these missiles, but by the radar. It can see deep into Chinese territory and therefore could target our second-strike capability,” she said. “Furthermore, the radar does not have the same capability of targeting certain areas of North Korea where their missiles might be located, so they are of no use in defending against a strike by the D.P.R.K.”

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Italy Rejects EU Budget Demands—People Come First

Oct. 30 (EIRNS)—Italian Finance Minister Gian Carlo Padoan has responded to the EU Commission letter explaining that Italy will not change its budget plan. The difference between what Italy needs and what the EU allows is apparently €5 billion.

Italy will spend €3.5 billion on assistance to refugees and their integration. The EU is allowing for €0.5 billion. Italy will spend €4.8 billion for earthquake aid, reconstruction, and prevention. The EU is allowing only €2.8 billion, for aid and reconstruction but not allowing funding for prevention.

Regarding the refugees, Padoan’s letter sharply makes the point that Italy is making “an extraordinary effort in the name of the European Union” and also paying the cost of other countries’ refusal to relocate refugees. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had directly attacked Hungary in a statement yesterday, saying that Italy is a net EU payer, whereas Hungary is an EU receiver. If Hungary refuses to abide by EU Schengen (visa-free) and relocation rules, Italy might veto the next EU budget.

Renzi visited the earthquake areas hit on Oct. 26 yesterday and announced €40 million in immediate aid. There are more than 5,000 homeless, who will be moved into hotels on the coast while demolition and reconstruction take place. News reports are that another, 6.6 magnitude quake struck the area on Oct. 30.

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

Duterte’s Unstated Agreement with China on Fishing Is Now In Place

Oct. 28 (EIRNS)—Chinese Coast Guard vessels left the Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal) three days ago, and Filipino fishermen have returned, the Philippines Presidential Palace announced today. In keeping with the intention by both sides that sovereignty issues are to be put aside indefinitely, neither China nor the Philippines announced any formal agreement over fishing in contested areas, but clearly reached a “win-win” solution.

It is expected that Chinese fishing boats will also return to the area at some point without contention from the Philippines. It was the Philippine Coast Guard boats that started the problem by apprehending Chinese fishing boats in the area, to which China responded by sending Coast Guard to the area.

China Released Detailed Data on Belt and Road

Oct. 29 (EIRNS)—China’s State Information Center on Oct. 28 released the first detailed report on the One Road, One Belt project, with data on the cooperation between China and the 64 countries involved and role of the Chinese provinces. Called “Belt and Road in Big Data 2016,” it has two volumes: “the first offers a comprehensive assessment of the building of the Belt and Road, and the second presents special analysis on important issues, such as international industrial cooperation, regional cooperation, internationalization of RMB and cross-border e-commerce, and puts forward some practical suggestions,” according to China.org.cn.

They report that “Russia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Pakistan and Indonesia are the five most cooperative countries in advancing the Belt and Road Initiative…. Industrial cooperation in automobile, construction materials, iron and steel, railway and information communication attract the most attention from overseas. Specifically, Southeast Asian countries care more about the automobile, iron and steel, electricity and information communication industries; countries in the Central and Eastern Europe are eager to absorb infrastructure investment from China; while industrial cooperation, automobile, real estate, highway and power grid construction are the main concerns for Northeast Asian countries.”

China To Finance Major Infrastructure Projects in Eastern Libya

Oct. 30 (EIRNS)—The Libya Herald and other local media are reporting on major Chinese investment plans for Tobruk and Eastern Libya. “There will be a new deep water port which will be the largest in Libya, a new commercial new airport, also to be the largest in the country, and a railway heading south to Sudan.” The three projects will be built over a three-year period.

In addition, Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni said in an interview with Al-Hadath TV, there are plans for 10,000 new housing units, a 300-bed hospital and development of the new university.

“Funding for the three projects will come from a consortium of Chinese investors, he explained. He did not name them but on this scale they would have to be Chinese state-owned enterprises.

“The contracts will be on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis with transfer taking place after 20 years.

Russia Offers Uganda Nuclear Expertise and Technology

Oct. 30 (EIRNS)—Uganda signed an MOU with Russia’s Rosatom on Oct. 28, to help it meet its goal to have 40,000 MW of electric generating capacity by 2040. In 2002, Uganda’s parliament approved principles for the use of nuclear power. In 2008, the Atomic Energy Council was established as the government regulator, and the Nuclear Energy Unit was formed under the Ministry of Energy.

Now, with this new agreement, “the cooperation will see Uganda gain expertise and technology from Russia,” said Rosatom’s vice president for Sub-Saharan Africa, Viktor Polikaparov. Russia has fanned out across Africa, as it sees the potential for the continent to be a market for its nuclear technology, and is “actively engaging” with Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

China Firm Awarded Contract To Build Egypt’s Industrial City in Proposed New Capital

Oct. 29 (EIRNS)—In the presence of Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, the Minister of Trade and Industry, and other officials, the Egyptian government signed a contract today to award the building of a new industrial city in Egypt’s new administrative capital, to China Fortune Land Development (CFLD), reported Trade Arabia today.

In March 2015, at an investment conference at Sharm el-Sheikh, Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly had announced plans to build a new capital 28 miles southeast of the present capital, Cairo. Planners say the proposed city’s site “is situated along the corridor between Cairo and the Red Sea, providing linkages to significant shipping routes,” BBC News had reported on March 13, 2015. The cost of the first phase of building the capital and the industrial city will be about $45 billion, and it will take 5-7 years to complete. On completion, the new city is expected to cover about 700 square kilometers and will feature one of the world’s largest parks, in addition to smart villages, industrial zones, housing for 5 million people, and over 1,000 mosques.

The second phase of “building Egypt’s new administrative capital initiative will see CFLD integrate the urban planning, construction, and operation, to build this city with a high degree of industrial agglomeration [and] urban functionality,” Trade Arabia reported.

According to a CNN report, cited by Face Africa on Oct. 27, CFLD has agreed to foot the cost of $35 billion following a meeting between heads of the firm and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Covering on the signing ceremony for the industrial city, Trade Arabia reported that Zhao Hongjing, the president of CFLD International, said, “facing Europe in the north and Asia in the east, and adjoining Africa in the south, Egypt is the place where the League of Arab States is headquartered. This strategic position makes Egypt a key node under the Belt and Road strategy, and a bridgehead via which Chinese enterprises go out for trans-continental development. Egypt is an important gateway for African and Middle East countries, and China has become Egypt’s largest trade partner, with a trade volume amounting to $12.9 billion in 2015 alone.”