Another IMF disgrace

~ "De women find de pipe intoxicating, no?" - Dominique Strauss-Kahn

The big news of the weekend which every major media source has reported is that Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been arrested on charges he allegedly forced a hotel cleaning woman onto his bed and sexually assaulted her early afternoon Saturday, then was taken into custody that evening before his plane departed for Paris.

According to Reuters, "She told detectives he came out of the bathroom naked, ran down a hallway to the foyer where she was, pulled her into a bedroom and began to sexually assault her... She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act... He (then) tried to lock her into the hotel room,"

Its a juicy story with salacious details obviously but what makes the story important isn't in the sexual aspects but in the fact that Strauss-Kahn held ambitions to run for France's presidency and was a leading contender of the French Socialist Party.  This political aspiration seems to be now derailed.

Most importantly as far as 'A&G' is concerned is the fact this vile man (In October 2008, he apologized for "an error of judgment" for an affair with a female IMF economist who was his subordinate) is head of the IMF, in itself a Most despicable organization that destroys whole nations by acting as the worst kind of loan shark or Mafioso, lending money when a nation has no where to turn.

Once the money is lent, the IMF then immerses itself in the governance and economic decision making policies of such nations, and forces through harsh austerity which cause endless economic pain and suffering upon the populaces for generations. In the process, the IMF collects its pounds of economic "flesh" from these fiscally struggling nations and all the Investors who get paid 100 cents on the dollar on their investments on national debts instead of taking 'haircuts', are happy cockroaches.

Ask the people Greece, Ireland & Portugal how they are liking the IMF...

There is an irony of sorts that the head of the IMF was arrested and may face imprisonment for raping a hotel cleaning woman, yet the IMF itself pretty much rapes the nations they lend to and yet there's no entity powerful enough to stop them.

Here are some facts about the IMF you may not know...

--  It came into existence in December 1945 when 29 countries came together and signed an agreement with a goal to stabilize exchange rates and assist the reconstruction of the world's international payment system.  Today 187 countries are members and headquarters are located in Washington, D.C.

--  The US has by far the largest share of votes (approx. 17%) amongst IMF members. Japan is second largest with 6.01% share of votes.  The seven largest industrialized countries (G-7) hold a total of 45% share of votes.  

-- Major decisions require an 85% supermajority. The US has always been the only country able to block a supermajority on its own due to the 17% share in voting.

--  The US contributes about 20% of the total annual IMF budget.  So for instance, when Greece received a $40 billion bailout from the IMF in May, 2010, approximately $8 billion came from US taxpayers.  Yet when any of the loan gets repaid back to IMF, the taxpayers don't receive a penny.

~ So, in essence while the US does not "run" the IMF directly, it makes sure the financial body never goes against US economic or political interests, and has the final say on all important decisions due to its 17% supermajority vote.

The most unfortunate aspect of this incident isn't so much what happens to Dominique Strauss-Kahn.  Its that no matter what, IMF will be insulated and continue running 'business as usual', as it rapes nations of their wealth and sovereignty.