Greg Smith recently resigned as a Goldman Sachs executive director and head of the firm’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.This NY Times op-ed on the reasons for his resignation tells it all–what every Wall Street firm has become since deregulation–predatory! (click to view article)

At one point or another I’ve heard all the Republican candidates (except Ron Paul) attack efforts to trim defense spending, making emotional appeals that we’d be putting our freedoms at risk. I can’t figure out what world they’re living in. A recent Forbes study showed that even with budget cuts, the USA will spend $700 billion on defense in 2012…5% of GDP. Defense spending in the USA makes up 46.5% of total defense spending world-wide, with China now in second place at only 6.6%, and France trailing in third at 4.2%…and we’ve been spending at that rate, with that global differential—for more than six decades now! So…by whose math are we putting our freedoms at risk? Go to section i) Faulty Logic and Irrational Appeals to learn more about what to watch out for in political rhetoric.