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2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Bill Clinton was going to privatize Social Security until, uh, Fate stopped him. [View all]Octafish
(55,745 posts)86. White House dining companion with the late First Lady Nancy Reagan.
President Kennedy had to give his friendship with Frank Sinatra because of the entertainer's alleged links to organized crime. Contrast that with the friends of Ed Meese:

EXCLUSIVE: Revealed, how the MAFIA helped Ronald Reagan get to the White House. Shocking documentary reveals Mob connections that catapulted him to the presidency - and how a probe was thwarted at 'the highest levels'
President Reagan owed his acting and political career to Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman, chief of entertainment behemoth MCA, who was in bed with the Mob
An investigation into the relationship between MCA and the Mafia was halted and Federal prosecutors believe it was one of the 'political favors' that can be traced back to Reagan's White House
'Ronald Reagan is a complete slave of MCA who would do their bidding on anything,' one secret Justice Department document revealed
According to the producer of the documentary, Wages of Spin II: Bring Down The Wall, one MCA executive had ties to Mob boss John Gotti
'Reagan's whole career in politics was subsidized by MCA,' he asserts, and helped him financially because for a long time he was living above his means
The Mob was probably working Nancy Reagan too, according to the producer. 'She was a driving force behind Reagan'
By JERRY OPPENHEIMER
Daily Mail, PUBLISHED: 13:22 EST, 21 May 2014 | UPDATED: 03:42 EST, 22 May 2014
A shocking new documentary screened exclusively by MailOnline exposes the chilling conncections between the Mafia, one of Hollywood's most powerful entertainment companies and its head honcho Lew Wasserman and President Ronald Reagan and his Justice Department.
SNIP...
But there was a dark side to Wasserman - and to Reagan - all of which is revealed in a shocking new documentary, Wages of Spin II: Bring Down The Wall, that, according to the film's producer and those interviewed, links both of them in darkly shadowed ways to the Mafia, and the killing of a U.S. Department of Justice organized crime Strike Force investigation into Mob influence and infiltration at the highest levels of MCA.
SNIP...
Richard Stavin, a former veteran federal prosecutor who was assigned to the Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force in Los Angeles and was an integral member of the MCA-Mafia probe team, declared in the film for the first time:
'It's my belief that MCA and its' involvement with Mafia individuals, Mafia-dominated companies and our inability to pursue those was not happenstance. I believe it was an organized, orchestrated effort on the part of certain individuals within Washington, D.C. to keep a hands-off policy towards MCA.
'At the time, Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States and Edwin Meese was the Attorney General of the United States (Stavin's ultimate boss). A little known fact was MCA and Lew Wasserman supported Ronald Reagan when he wanted to become president of the Screen Actors Guild, which was the launch of Mr. Reagan's political career.
'I would like to think that the people in the highest levels of this government were not protective of MCA...But I'm not so sure about that.'
SNIP...
SAG's bylaws had always banned talent agencies like MCA from producing any form of entertainment, such as TV programs and movies. But during Reagan's fifth year as the guild's president a secret blanket waiver was negotiated with SAG, and it gave MCA and Wasserman the platinum opportunity to not only market talent as agents but also to move into TV and film making.
CONTINUED...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2635094/EXCLUSIVE-Revealed-MAFIA-helped-Ronald-Reagan-White-House-Shocking-documentary-reveals-Mob-connections-catapulted-presidency-probe-thwarted-highest-levels.html
Well. That's a "wow" as they used to say in Hollywood.

One very important name that was left out: Dan Moldea, an investigative reporter who actually uncovered and documented the story in the early 1980s and wrote about it in "Dark Victory: Reagan, MCA and the Mob."
Wish it were on the news or in the history book.
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Bill Clinton was going to privatize Social Security until, uh, Fate stopped him. [View all]
Octafish
Apr 2016
OP
Much of what gets decided economically & politically, not just national defense, gets done in secret
Octafish
Apr 2016
#37
Agreed! The Shock Doctrine Treatise treats This Nonsense Well...So If the Other Night's Festivities
CorporatistNation
Apr 2016
#58
And there is no sane or valid reason to believe Hillary wouldn't do this. With the happy
djean111
Apr 2016
#2
History is important - We sure as hell don't want a repeat of a CLinton Admin
Ferd Berfel
Apr 2016
#17
We are not the ones grasping at straws. Those who do not remember history are doomed to
djean111
Apr 2016
#20
In case you missed it -- Hillary said Bill would be a trusted economic advisor
Armstead
Apr 2016
#53
No however he did call Hillary his co-president are you saying she will not reciprocate?
azurnoir
Apr 2016
#93
Thanks again for expansion of the truth, I love when you respond that way /nt
Dragonfli
Apr 2016
#33
Oh so that's what they mean by incremental change! I thought that's what I've been experiencing
highprincipleswork
Apr 2016
#9
Thank you, arikara. Hers is an outstanding presentation detailing cyberbullying...
Octafish
Apr 2016
#23
I am definitely war weary. So many of us are. That explains a lot of Bernie's surge.
Overseas
Apr 2016
#76
Next time the stock market crashes and doesn't wipe out your retirement, you'll understand.
Octafish
Apr 2016
#25
Thank you for explaining in detail. My concern regards the same US government.
Octafish
Apr 2016
#36
I asked the question after 2008 if SS had been privatized, how much of the Trust Fund would have
Samantha
Apr 2016
#41
That article doesn't even go far enough on Bill Clinton and SS privatization
BernieforPres2016
Apr 2016
#24
This is worth another kick and a special request blast from the past with a message.
bobthedrummer
Apr 2016
#28
The Lies of Neoliberal Economics (or How America Became a Nation of Sharecroppers)
Octafish
Apr 2016
#63
Old blue eyes in that context and picture, Sir, made me laugh albeit knowingly-thanks
bobthedrummer
Apr 2016
#85
Instead we've got perception manager George Stephanopoulos, and the Pentagon Entertainment Network
bobthedrummer
Apr 2016
#87
yes, and did not know that he continued Reagan's plan to means test it w/ heavy taxation:
amborin
Apr 2016
#29
One's gotta be a lawyer and a CPA to understand all the stuff -- except the politics.
Octafish
Apr 2016
#67
HRC Is Owned By The Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks - Make No Mistake About Her Loyalties
cantbeserious
Apr 2016
#55
Neil Barofsky Gave Us The Best Explanation For Washington's Dysfunction We've Ever Heard
Octafish
Apr 2016
#103
Clinton was talking about using the budget surplus, investing a small portion in the private sector
BlueStateLib
Apr 2016
#57