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Getting Down to the Wire CounterPunchers!
Annual Fundraising Appeal
We are entering the third week of our annual fundraiser and as you can see, we have a way to go. Many CounterPunchers have responded generously. BUT WE NEED MORE OF YOU. If we don't meet our goal of $70,000 by Thanksgiving we'll have to cut back on everything we do. Our continued existence depends on YOUR support.We get thousands of emails from you each day. Hundreds of thousands of you visit this website every week. If each page view cost a dollar we'd be flush. But the website is free, and we need YOU to help us keep it going. Unlike many other outfits, we only ask for your support once a year. But when we ask, WE MEAN IT, BECAUSE WE NEED IT.
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November 16, 2007 Cockburn
/ St. Clair November 15, 2007 Cockburn
/ St. Clair Adolfo
Gilly Peter
Bohmer Andy
Worthington Gray
/ Derks Liaquat
Ali Khan Dave
Lindorff Christopher
Brauchli Anthony
Papa Martha
Rosenberg Ben
Terrall Website
of the Day
Cockburn
/ St. Clair James
Petras Al
Giordano Paul
Craig Roberts Andy
Worthington Stephen
Lendman Fatima
Bhutto Martin
Smith Jeff
Leys Website
of the Day November 13, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Jeffrey
St. Clair Robert
Bryce David
Macaray Mike
Whitney Ralph
Nader Nikolas
Kozloff Jordan
Flaherty B.
R. Gowani Website
of the Day
November 12, 2007 Vicente
Navarro Ben
Brown Omar
K. Sadia
Abbas Farzana
Versey Richard
W. Behan Paul
Krassner Cindy
Sheehan Peter
Stone Brown Dave
Lindorff Website
of the Day
November 10 / 11, 2007 Alain
Gresh Mike
Whitney Ron
Jacobs Jeffrey
St. Clair Alan
Farago Binoy
Kampmark Robert
Fantina Fred
Gardner Ayesha
Ijaz Khan Nicola
Nasser Philip
Rizk Michael
Dickinson Joel
S. Hirschhorn Paul
Krassner Wadner
Pierre /
November 9, 2007 Patrick
Cockburn Mohammed
Hanif John
Ross Mike
Whitney Tom
Barry Corporate
Crime Reporter Badruddin
Khan David
Macaray Martha
Rosenberg Website
of the Day
November 8, 2007 Kathleen
& Bill Christison William
Loren Katz Mike
Whitney Sheldon
Richman Liaquat
Ali Khan Marc
Gardner Jackie
Corr Brenda
Norrell Dave
Lindorff China
Hand Sen.
Russ Feingold Website
of the Day
November 7, 2007 Paul
Craig Roberts Russell
Mokhiber Vijay
Prashad Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Alan
Farago David
Macaray Nikolas
Kozloff Charlotte
Laws Daniel
White William
Cook Website
of the Day
November 6, 2007 Mike
Whitney Ralph
Nader Andy
Worthington Pam
Martens Liaquat
Ali Khan William
Schroder Stephen
Lendman William
Blum Former
US Intelligence Officers
November 5, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Russell
Mokhiber David
Macaray Gary
Leupp Dave
Lindorff Ludwig
Watzal Patrick
Cockburn Peter
Stone Brown Michael
Simmons Website
of the Day
November 3 / 4, 2007 Tariq
Ali David
Price Jeffrey
St. Clair Alan
Farago Paul
Krassner Rannie
Amiri P.
Sainath Ayesha
Ijaza Khan Robert
Fantina Seth
Sandronsky Ron
Jacobs Ramzy
Baroud Heather
Gray
November 2, 2007 Dr.
Mary Pipher Saul
Landau Andy
Worthington Sharon
Smith Gary
Leupp Gregory
Harms Christopher
Brauchli Peter
Morici Dave
Lindorff David
Penner Website
of the Day
November 1, 2007 Paul
Craig Roberts Patrick
Cockburn Dave
Lindorff Jonathan
Feldman Mike
Ferner William
S. Lind Diana
Johnstone Jacob
Hornberger A..K.
Gupta Lyuba
Zarsky / Felice
Pace Website
of the Day
October 31, 2007 Bill
Quigley Rev.
William E. Alberts Ray
McGovern Eric
Walberg V.
G. Smith Luis
J. Rodriguez Sheldon
Richman Walter
Brasch Website
of the Day
David
Price M.
Shahid Alam Andy
Worthington Patrick
Cockburn Anthony
Papa Floyd
Rudmin Sherwood
Ross Website
of the Day
October 29, 2007 Lisa
Hajjar Joe
DeRaymond Patrick
Cockburn Isabella
Kenfield / Fred
Gardner Farzana
Versey Stephen
Fleischman Marcelle
Cendrars Eamonn
McCann Martha
Rosenberg Website
of the Day
October 27 / 28, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Jeffrey
St. Clair James
Bovard Ralph
Nader M.
Reza Pirbhai Robert
Sandels Jacob
G. Hornberger Missy
Beattie John
Ross Robert
Fantina Ron
Jacobs Ali
Moayedian David
Michael Green Poets
Basement Website
of the Day
October 26, 2007 Brian
Cloughley Saul
Landau Ahmad
Al-Akras Franklin
Lamb Mike
Whitney Dave
Lindorff Alan
Farago Yifat
Susskind Website
of the Day
Jeffrey
St. Clair / Manuel
Garcia, Jr. Paul
Craig Roberts Col.
Dan Smith Alan
Farago Chris
Kutalik Brian
McKinlay Cindy
Sheehan Website
of the Day
October 24, 2007 Natalie
Washington-Weik Andy
Worthington Michael
Birmingham Corporate
Crime Reporter Tariq
Ali Farzana
Versey Dave
Zirin James
Murren Todd
Chretien Martha
Rosenberg Website
of the Day
October 23, 2007 Ralph
Nader Lawrence
R. Velvel Vijay
Prashad Bonnie
Bricker / Dave
Lindorff Mike
Whitney Farzana
Versey Stanley
Heller / Marcelle
Cendrars Regan
Boychuk Website
of the Day
October 22, 2007 Ishmael
Reed Marjorie
Cohn Rannie
Amiri Diane
Farsetta Todd
Alan Price Robert
Jensen Stephen
Lendman Jemima
Khan Sunsara
Taylor Binoy
Kampmark Website
of the Day
October 20 / 21, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Tariq
Ali Jeffrey
St. Clair Andy
Worthington Mike
Whitney Daniel
Wolff David
Rosen Saul
Landau Ron
Jacobs Robert
Fantina David
Heleniak Joe
Allen Prairie
Miller Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
October 19, 2007 John
Ross Sheldon
Rampton Rahul
Mahajan Devra
Davis Christopher
Brauchli Wadner
Pierre Bill
Quigley Website
of the Day
October 18, 2007 Saree
Makdisi Meg
Dwyer Alevtina
Rea Norman
Solomon Kristoffer
Larsson Harvey
Wasserman Website
of the Day
October 17, 2007 Steve
Niva Andy
Worthington Alan
Farago Russell
Mokhiber Sharon
Smith Mike
Whitney Robert
Fantina Chris
Irwin Website
of the Day October 16, 2007 Peter
Linebaugh Paul
Findley Robert
Bryce Uri
Avnery Paul
Craig Roberts Ray
McGovern Norman
Solomon Martha
Rosenberg William
S. Lind Joel
S. Hirschborn Website
of the Day
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November 16, 2007 Sprawl, Mortgage Fraud and Political CorruptionSnagged on the PrecipiceBy ALAN FARAGO In the Friday pullout real estate section of The Miami Herald, local Latin Builder Association member Caribe Homes announces it is throwing in a swimming pool and 3 percent off closing costs and "no builder's fee", for its stale inventory: Antilles Isles. But throwing in the kitchen sink or swimming pool won't be enough to stimulate buyers because there are none-or only a few. The last dregs of the housing boom sucked up the final tranche of possible buyers-culled from frauds, deadbeats, the weak and gullible. For the foreseeable future, it is a waiting game and an unstable one at that. Being Miami, it is always possible that a new wave of Latin American or Euro denominated buyers could come to the rescue of production home builders, but it is not likely given the unprecedented nature of the housing market collapse. This slow motion economic disaster is just starting to gather momentum. Months ago, I wrote that the economic distress radiating from crashing housing markets, foreclosures, and financial engineering would be the main issue in the 2008 election. Yesterday, the New York Times began to explore that story: "a sign that economic issues may challenge Iraq for attention in an election year." ("With eye on '08, House takes on mortgage rules", November 15th, NY Times) But still, a closer analysis-and food for political junkies everywhere-is the role that Miami developers and bankers played in recent past presidential elections, also tied to the fortunes of cement manufacturers and other parts of the Growth Machine that promoted the destruction of wetlands, the environment, and our quality of life in South Florida. This is the insider ball that you won't see on Tim Russert or even in the otherwise sharp wit of James Carville. Neither main political party are anxious to take on the Florida developers, because of their prowess in generating campaign cash: one political phone call from the telephone tree of the Latin Builders Association shakes the supply chain from steel to toilet paper. Eyeonmiami.blogspot.com (see archive: housing crash) has written extensively how Miami homebuilders and bankers provided the political muscle to ignite the housing boom in the US-through the agency of candidates it supported to high office-- Jeb Bush as Florida governor in 1998 and George W Bush in 2000. Consider one example. Family members of the publicly traded MasTec, whose late founder Jorge Mas Canosa headed the rapidly anti-Castro Cuban American National Foundation, were also majority shareholders of HABDI, a company constituted from directors of the Latin Builders Association to privatize the Homestead Air Force Base. The plan, a factor in the 1996 presidential election and also in 2000, would have created an economic generator heralded as $10 billion worth of construction and related activities in the last farmland and open space in South Florida. The HABDI principals enlisted an army of supporters; from major engineering firms like Post Buckley, whose former chief executives were recently indicted for violating federal campaign finance law, to lobbyists irrespective of political affiliation. Among others, MasTec was represented by a chief Gore fundraiser, Mitchell Berger. They, and their legion of lobbyists, and were not just politically influential in their pursuit of suburban sprawl. They also controlled then county mayor Alex Penelas, Democrat and protégé of then US Senator Bob Graham who forecast political opportunity in the air base devasted by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Penelas, whose own election as Miami Dade county mayor was cemented by developers pushing the air base redevelopment, was the one local elected official who could have forced the recount of the 2000 presidential ballots in Miami-Dade County. But the inconvenient truth was that Penelas was "unavailable" to alter the supervisor of election's decision to halt the recount under a near-riot by Republican operatives, who had been parachuted in from congressional offices in Washington, DC but represented themselves as aggrieved local voters. Penelas was an important business trip to Spain; more important than the presidential election. The recount was halted in Miami. And soon enough, other Florida counties stopped recounting ballots too. Today, the Homestead Air Force Base redevelopment-rabidly promoted as critical to the survival of the region-is going nowhere fast: it is stuck in litigation by HABDI. But in the most important respect, the development industry it symbolized got exactly it wanted: a "free" market building boom fueled by low interest rates care of Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve that was politically agnostic in its execution but tilted strongly to the Republican Party in its results. In just five years the assets of US Century Bank, whose founders are key development interests in Miami and prospective air base developers, has grown to more than $1.1 billion. Among its board of directors are land speculators and developers who--if they can secure the zoning changes--aim to build vast sections of suburban sprawl outside the Urban Development Boundary. They've called one of their projects, Krome Gold, in respect to the anticipated result of building sprawl to Krome Avenue. (Eyeonmiami has named a weekly photo contest, Krome Gold, in its honor: asking blog readers to electronically submit photos of empty tract housing projects, the poor and distressed suburbs and condo canyons as a result of the housing bubble that South Florida development interests spurred.) Five years, mazel t'ov. But fortunes are reversing with astonishing rapidity. Today, the parent company MasTec-which provides communication and electrical infrastructure to new suburban developments-is struggling: in early November on quarterly profit warnings, in one day its stock dropped 28 percent. And so are the homebuilders struggling, who pumped up the bubble from Miami Dade County, while dismissing critics as inconsequential to the "unstoppable" momentum of growth. Even today, in a Miami Herald report, the deal between the state of Florida and Miami Dade County for future water supply-in a region suffering chronic drought-is painted in terms of South Florida's inevitable growth. But the State of Florida is facing nearly weekly revisions of budget deficits totaling to the stratosphere in billions of dollars, because real estate transactions form the core of state revenues. (A clerk at the cash register of the corner paint store-owned by a public corporation-where I bought a quart to repaint a picture frame, told me same month store sales compared to prior year were down fifty percent.) In a season eerily absent of hurricanes, South Florida developers are facing an economic storm of unprecedented force. Why, unprecedented? The New York Times business section provided a glimpse of perhaps the biggest single hurdle to any recovery of credit markets and related activities like housing: "Foreclosures hit a snap for lenders" (November 15, 2007) "A federal judge in Ohio has ruled against a longstanding foreclosure practice, potentially creating an obstacle for lenders trying to reclaim properties from troubled borrowers and raising questions about the legal standing of investors in mortgage securities pools." It is exactly to the point of what I've been writing for months, along the lines of "no one knows where anything is". The Times writes, "But as foreclosures have surged, the complex structure and disparate ownership of mortgage securities have made it harder for borrowers to work out troubled loans, in part because they cannot identify who holds the mortgage notes, consumer advocates say." Wall Street and bankers, many of them local power brokers, cheered the invention of financial engineering, wherein fees, commissions, and bonuses rained down in the billions of dollars through the conversion of a dollar of ordinary mortgage debt into ten or twenty dollars of manufactured liquidity. There is going to be no recovery for housing markets, or the scarred Florida landscape, until the issues raised by the Ohio court are resolved. In the meantime, foreign buyers of financial derivatives--a market totaling in the trillions of dollars--will be either reluctant participants or sit on the sidelines as this Ponzi scheme works itself out. The judge's skeptical eye to the claims of distant bondholders in comparison to the millions of retail consumers facing foreclosure is going to have major repercussions in an industry that Congress and both political parties have refused to regulate. What we've seen, so far, is the leading edge of the "free" market orthodoxy that carpeted South Florida and the fastest growing areas of the nation with political corruption, mortage fraud, and unsustainable suburban sprawl. Alan Farago of Coral Gables, who writes about
the environment and the politics of South Florida, can be reached
at alanfarago@yahoo.com.
Contains the Explosive Investigation That Rocked the Pentagon! General Petraeus's Counterinsurgency Manual Anthropologist DAVID PRICE exposes how the fabled Counterinsurgency Manual contains a chapter filled with "borrowed" quotations. Price reveals the crucial role in the debacle played by anthropologist Montgomery McFate. The University of Chicago Press is badly compromised. And much more. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Remember contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now 
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