Calling the Criminal Capitalists Attacking Argentina Vultures Maligns the Birds. They are Terrorists!

Well meant protests denounce hedge fund criminals.
While maligning millions of innocent vultures

The crux of the story is that Argentina has once again, as it did 12 years ago, refused to make predatory payments to criminal 'holdout creditors' which according to U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa they must do. Argentina's spirit of resistance was reflected very clearly in a speech delivered by Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner earlier this week. She asserted that the historic summit recently between the BRICS and Unasur [Union of South American Nations] represented a reformulation of a new global order, in which "there are new actors who don't want to smash your head in, but rather want to cooperate with you." She solemnly vowed that she will not concede. She said, "I wish to say to each and every Argentine, that this President will not sign anything that compromises future generations of Argentines, as others did."

Why should Argentina 'concede'? Argentina's foreign debt began at $27 billion. Over the course of the 22-year period, from 1980 to 2002, Argentina paid in accumulated interest payment - only interest, not repayment of principal, only interest -  $120 billion. This is more than four times what they originally owed. And at the end of that period, what they owed was $142 billion. So they owed $27 billion, they paid $120, and they ended up owing $142. The debt increased six-fold. That's called bankers' arithmetic, Argentina calls bullshit [me too].

How can that happen? Well when you control the carnival, it's easy, you just raise interest rates. If you are old enough to remember the 80's you remember that in just a couple of years interest rates went from a couple of percent to 19, 20, 23%. What do you do if you're a debtor? Economist Dean Baker,  co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), explains that,"While individuals and corporations are granted the protection of bankruptcy law, no such mechanism exists for sovereign governments. " So Argentina defaulted 12 years ago. These hedge funds paid "a small fraction of [the debt's] face value. Their intention was to use their political connections to get a favorable ruling from the courts, with the hope of being able to extract something close to the face value of the defaulted bonds from Argentina's government. This is exactly what 'vulture funds' do." Baker said.

Who are these 'holdout creditors'? They are hedge funds NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management. NML Capital is a subsidiary of Elliot Management run by billionaire Paul Singer. And guess who has millions invested with Singers' firm, Elliot Management? The Romneys. Paul Singer is, according to Greg Palast's in depth article titled 'The Vulture', the worst criminal capitalist on the planet. It's a great read but make sure to have a bucket handy 'cause you be nauseous throughout.

Singer, and hedge funds generally, are the modern colonialists except that borders are meaningless. These criminals are just as happy to suck the life blood out of the their next door neighbor as a foreign country. For instance Detroit: The main hedge fund involved in the Detroit operation right now, destroying that city, is Aurelius Management, the same assholes involved in Argentina just as they're also involved in Puerto Rico, which is being driven over the edge as well.

Argentina is basically saying, "We don't owe you anything. You've been paid many times over. Go Fuck Yourself!" Iceland did too. Now if Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland had too maybe by now the IMF/World Bank/Wall St. thieves would be in jail making deals with huge guys covered in tattoos where they should be.

Finally, in the interest of full disclosure, i'm the International Head of The Vampires and Vultures Anti-Defamation League. i feel it's my duty therefore to object strongly when these hedge fund criminals are associated with my cousins and colleagues. Vultures are a type of scavenger, not criminals. There are countless species who live by scavenging from tiny bacteria to jackals and vultures. They serve a noble purpose in the web of life that supports us all. Vampires too, excluding perhaps the Twilight type, feel maligned by any association with capitalists.

In the end these symbolic associations of various types of capitalist assholes with fauna not only malign the innocent creatures but also serve to gloss over the truth - these hedge fund criminals are more accurately described as terrorists.