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Click here for the original post/webpage
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Nehemiah 5:9
"I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting of usury stop."
It has been a long time since people have obeyed the prohibition of usury. But today the total consumer debt, business debt and government debt has reached unsustainable levels which can never be paid back. The economy based on such unsustainable debts cannot continue to grow.
The government encouraged banks to loan money to low income families for mortgages. Houses were sold with no down payments and no income checks to people who could not afford them. These loans were repackaged and sold as mortgage backed securities with AAA credit ratings given by the biggest bond rating agencies. The result was the biggest mortgage bubble in history with rapidly rising house prices. Eventually a lot of the borrowers could not make their payments and forclosures rose to record highs. This resulted in lower housing prices and a large number of home owners owed more on their mortgages than their houses were worth. This led to a vicious circle of spiraling foreclosures and lower house prices.
Credit card interest rates of 20% to 30% are certainly usury and are at ridiculously high rates. It is better not to borrow at such rates for things which are not needed.
Mortgage rates, however, 30 year fixed rates at 5.03% are not usury. In fact some time before thirty years are up it is likely that inflation will go way up along with interest rates. The money will be paid back with cheaper dollars. It is not a good business model for banks to borrow money in the short term markets and lend long term. To insure profits these loans are resold to the public as mortgage backed securities, insuring an underwriting profit for the banks. A large part of these loans are resold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were insolvent and whose bonds are now guaranteed by the government.
The total national debt is $12.3 trillion dollars and the deficit for this year alone is projected to be $1.6 trillion dollars. Such a deficit will be hard to finance. This is the sovereign debt crisis. The debt will never be paid back but each year the debt is rolled over with new lenders to pay back the old lenders plus new deficit. This is what is called a Ponzi scheme. The Madoff Ponzi scheme was very small compared to the sovereign debt Ponzi scheme. Now the deficit has reached a crisis stage. It is hard to find new buyers of the debt. Recently a large percentage of the debt was monetized by the Fed. That is to say the Fed created the dollars out of nothing to buy the debt. If this continues it will be highly inflationary. The US Government is no different than Zimbabwe printing money. Inflation was so high in Zimbabwe that they started printing $100 trillion dollar bank notes which are now worthless. The Fed does not say in advance that there will be high inflation but tries to talk down inflationary expectations. The Chinese are uneasy about the large amount of treasuries which they own worrying if they will become worthless. They have good reason to worry.
Brought to you by...
Greg
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
GovCorp at it again with #HCR
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Insurance Industry Already Finding Loopholes
Source: New York Times, March 28, 2010
===========================================
The new health care reform bill has barely been signed into law and already insurance companies are finding ways to avoid providing one of its centerpiece benefits touted by President Obama: coverage for children with pre-existing conditions. Congress meant to stop insurance companies from discriminating against children with chronic diseases like asthma, diabetes, birth defects and cystic fibrosis, and the law does say that if a company sells a health insurance policy, it has to cover these kinds of pre-existing conditions for children. But now companies are arguing that they don't have to sell the policies in the first place -- at least not until 2014 -- and if they do, they can hike the premiums to whatever amount they need to cover the additional costs. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-West Virginia) said, "The ink has not yet dried on the health care reform bill, and already some deplorable health insurance companies are trying to duck away from covering children with pre-existing conditions. This is outrageous.”
===========================================
Am I surprised by this development? No... of course not, not at all... We ALL know how the insurance industry works in this country...
Here is the portion of this piece that I do not believe...
"Congress meant to stop insurance companies from discriminating against children with chronic diseases like asthma, diabetes, birth defects and cystic fibrosis, and the law does say that if a company sells a a health insurance policy, it has to cover these kinds of pre-existing conditions for children."
After nearly 18 months of working on this thing are they trying to tell us that the congress was once again just too stupid to get it done right? Somehow I find that very difficult to believe...
In my opinion it is merely propaganda...
*I* think HOWEVER this health care bill is designed most likely that is the way it was meant to be designed. Full of holes... I suspect that during all the meetings between the administration and the drug companies and the insurance companies the 'loopholes' were intentionally written into the bill...
Remember Senator Chris Dodd's last minute change on the stimulus bill that allowed the huge bonus' of Wall Street TARP recipients to continue uninterrupted?
Here's a refresher...
Never forget that our kleptocratic leaders in Washington THINK that they are smarter than we are... That they are still operating in the old system, the pre-information explosion system...
These cronyism loopholes have ALWAYS been used in Washington by BOTH parties... It is so they can SAY 'look at the wonderful things we have accomplished for YOU, the American people'. While at the same time using amendments and legal mumbo jumbo language to intentionally create loop holes and set asides and restrictions and exemptions! It's complete, I'm sorry, bullshit!
Look at the state of our tax code! By now nearly the whole damn thing is one huge contradiction!
So how could anyone in congress, in Washington DC or in the public be surprised to find out that the health care bill is full of the same sort of language and loop holes?!
Don't you see that congress is juxtaposing itself against the insurance industry for show only?! It is my opinion that GovCorp is merely attempting to position itself against populist anger. The insurance companies are the imaginary 'whipping boys'. While congress and the administration verbally beat them up publicly the insurance companies, drug companies and others in the health care industry are laughing all the way to the proverbial bank!
As *I* have said all along... This health care bill has ALWAYS been designed as a huge profit windfall for the health care industry because the entire health care industry is a bubble in grave danger of collapsing! By adding 32 MILLION brand new customers for insurance companies who are about to go broke. These 32 MILLION new customers will be using health care services and buying DRUGS from the drug companies.
It IS and always has been a huge money grab FROM the American tax payer BY the United States government who will then turn over that collected tax money directly to the health care industry!
There is NO protection in the bill that prevents insurance companies from raising their premiums as often and/or as high as they like! There is NO protection in the health care bill that prevents drug companies from raising their prices as often and/or as high as they like! In FACT there ARE provisions that PROTECT the PROFITS of drug makers!
And, after BILLIONS of dollars of YOUR wealth has been stolen from you don't you dare expect anything in the health care industry to change at all until at least 2014!
With the exception of higher premiums! And higher costs all around, throughout the health care industry...
We CANNOT be so apathetic and docile so as to accept as James K. Galbraith says...
"... restricting the flow of thought and shrinking the sphere of admissible debate." And, paraphrased, limiting the range of presentable ideas, conveniently setting an entire panoply of reasoned discourse beyond the pale of what CAN be said, at least in public, by reputable people. There IS a process of internalization, of self-censorship. Once the 'rules' and 'boundaries' are understood, adherence becomes reflexive, and at the end of the day people come to think ONLY what it is permitted to think. They know, instinctively, when they might be "going too far".
*I* will continue, intentionally, to "go too far" in my own speech... *I* will continue to call for peaceful resistance and civil disobedience whenever and wherever possible. I will continue to hope that many Americans will join me in doing so. We are being rail-roaded badly. Completely 'run over' by a GovCorp that is COMPLETELY out of control.
Greg
Insurance Industry Already Finding Loopholes
Source: New York Times, March 28, 2010
===========================================
The new health care reform bill has barely been signed into law and already insurance companies are finding ways to avoid providing one of its centerpiece benefits touted by President Obama: coverage for children with pre-existing conditions. Congress meant to stop insurance companies from discriminating against children with chronic diseases like asthma, diabetes, birth defects and cystic fibrosis, and the law does say that if a company sells a health insurance policy, it has to cover these kinds of pre-existing conditions for children. But now companies are arguing that they don't have to sell the policies in the first place -- at least not until 2014 -- and if they do, they can hike the premiums to whatever amount they need to cover the additional costs. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-West Virginia) said, "The ink has not yet dried on the health care reform bill, and already some deplorable health insurance companies are trying to duck away from covering children with pre-existing conditions. This is outrageous.”
===========================================
Am I surprised by this development? No... of course not, not at all... We ALL know how the insurance industry works in this country...
Here is the portion of this piece that I do not believe...
"Congress meant to stop insurance companies from discriminating against children with chronic diseases like asthma, diabetes, birth defects and cystic fibrosis, and the law does say that if a company sells a a health insurance policy, it has to cover these kinds of pre-existing conditions for children."
After nearly 18 months of working on this thing are they trying to tell us that the congress was once again just too stupid to get it done right? Somehow I find that very difficult to believe...
In my opinion it is merely propaganda...
*I* think HOWEVER this health care bill is designed most likely that is the way it was meant to be designed. Full of holes... I suspect that during all the meetings between the administration and the drug companies and the insurance companies the 'loopholes' were intentionally written into the bill...
Remember Senator Chris Dodd's last minute change on the stimulus bill that allowed the huge bonus' of Wall Street TARP recipients to continue uninterrupted?
Here's a refresher...
Never forget that our kleptocratic leaders in Washington THINK that they are smarter than we are... That they are still operating in the old system, the pre-information explosion system...
These cronyism loopholes have ALWAYS been used in Washington by BOTH parties... It is so they can SAY 'look at the wonderful things we have accomplished for YOU, the American people'. While at the same time using amendments and legal mumbo jumbo language to intentionally create loop holes and set asides and restrictions and exemptions! It's complete, I'm sorry, bullshit!
Look at the state of our tax code! By now nearly the whole damn thing is one huge contradiction!
So how could anyone in congress, in Washington DC or in the public be surprised to find out that the health care bill is full of the same sort of language and loop holes?!
Don't you see that congress is juxtaposing itself against the insurance industry for show only?! It is my opinion that GovCorp is merely attempting to position itself against populist anger. The insurance companies are the imaginary 'whipping boys'. While congress and the administration verbally beat them up publicly the insurance companies, drug companies and others in the health care industry are laughing all the way to the proverbial bank!
As *I* have said all along... This health care bill has ALWAYS been designed as a huge profit windfall for the health care industry because the entire health care industry is a bubble in grave danger of collapsing! By adding 32 MILLION brand new customers for insurance companies who are about to go broke. These 32 MILLION new customers will be using health care services and buying DRUGS from the drug companies.
It IS and always has been a huge money grab FROM the American tax payer BY the United States government who will then turn over that collected tax money directly to the health care industry!
There is NO protection in the bill that prevents insurance companies from raising their premiums as often and/or as high as they like! There is NO protection in the health care bill that prevents drug companies from raising their prices as often and/or as high as they like! In FACT there ARE provisions that PROTECT the PROFITS of drug makers!
And, after BILLIONS of dollars of YOUR wealth has been stolen from you don't you dare expect anything in the health care industry to change at all until at least 2014!
With the exception of higher premiums! And higher costs all around, throughout the health care industry...
We CANNOT be so apathetic and docile so as to accept as James K. Galbraith says...
"... restricting the flow of thought and shrinking the sphere of admissible debate." And, paraphrased, limiting the range of presentable ideas, conveniently setting an entire panoply of reasoned discourse beyond the pale of what CAN be said, at least in public, by reputable people. There IS a process of internalization, of self-censorship. Once the 'rules' and 'boundaries' are understood, adherence becomes reflexive, and at the end of the day people come to think ONLY what it is permitted to think. They know, instinctively, when they might be "going too far".
*I* will continue, intentionally, to "go too far" in my own speech... *I* will continue to call for peaceful resistance and civil disobedience whenever and wherever possible. I will continue to hope that many Americans will join me in doing so. We are being rail-roaded badly. Completely 'run over' by a GovCorp that is COMPLETELY out of control.
Greg
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Who the heck are the largest lobbyists?
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Follow the money my friends... follow the money never fails...
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In boxing, big punchers seek knockouts. In government, the same principle applies: The wealthiest corporations and special interest groups usually pepper politicians with overwhelming amounts of money in hope of influencing the political process.
Here you'll find total contributions for the 100 biggest givers in federal-level politics since 1989 -- information that exists nowhere else.
Data courtesy Center for Responsive Politics
Click here for the Top Ten and more
Greg
Follow the money my friends... follow the money never fails...
---
In boxing, big punchers seek knockouts. In government, the same principle applies: The wealthiest corporations and special interest groups usually pepper politicians with overwhelming amounts of money in hope of influencing the political process.
Here you'll find total contributions for the 100 biggest givers in federal-level politics since 1989 -- information that exists nowhere else.
Data courtesy Center for Responsive Politics
Click here for the Top Ten and more
Greg
Big Pharma Wins Big With Health Care Reform Bill
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Lobbyists seem to be our biggest problem... They are the enablers of our corrupt politicians...
Click here to see the full original post
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Published on Monday, March 29, 2010 by the Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Chalk one up for the pharmaceutical lobby. The U.S. drug industry fended off price curbs and other hefty restrictions in President Barack Obama's health care law even as it prepares for plenty of new business when an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans gain health coverage.
Pharmaceutical interests spent $188 million lobbying last year, more than all but a handful of industry sectors, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. They employed an army of 1,105 lobbyists.
And after years of funneling most of its campaign contributions to Republicans, the industry has favored Democrats with 56 percent of the $5 million it has handed candidates so far this year. The biggest recipient, by far, of the industry's 2008 election cycle contributions of $13.8 million was Obama, who received $1.2 million for his presidential campaign.
© 2010 Associated Press
Click here to see the full original post
Greg
Lobbyists seem to be our biggest problem... They are the enablers of our corrupt politicians...
Click here to see the full original post
---
Published on Monday, March 29, 2010 by the Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Chalk one up for the pharmaceutical lobby. The U.S. drug industry fended off price curbs and other hefty restrictions in President Barack Obama's health care law even as it prepares for plenty of new business when an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans gain health coverage.
Pharmaceutical interests spent $188 million lobbying last year, more than all but a handful of industry sectors, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. They employed an army of 1,105 lobbyists.
And after years of funneling most of its campaign contributions to Republicans, the industry has favored Democrats with 56 percent of the $5 million it has handed candidates so far this year. The biggest recipient, by far, of the industry's 2008 election cycle contributions of $13.8 million was Obama, who received $1.2 million for his presidential campaign.
© 2010 Associated Press
Click here to see the full original post
Greg
CNN Slams “Patriot Movement,” Misrepresents FEMA Camp Evidence
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Debbie Morgan, Debbie@takebackwashington.com
December, 2009
In a flagrant attempt to mislead the American Public, CNN aired a series of hit pieces on patriots and the militia. One specific report by John Acosta was about the Oath Keepers, a group of military, firefighters, veterans and police officers who have decided to take their oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States seriously. Making a rather snide comment about the “patriot movement,” it may be time for Acosta to answer one quick question for the American people…since when did being a “patriot” in America garner such a negative connotation?
The meaning of “patriot” describes many, and those of us who are sworn American Patriots do, indeed, fit the bill. Webster’s Dictionary defines a patriot as someone “who loves and loyally or zealously supports one's own country.” American “patriots” love their country and its Constitution and want it protected. Yet the mainstream media and the over-reaching Federal government are demonizing patriots and the entire Patriot Movement. In a MIAC report, released earlier this year, many people who simply hold their Constitutional Rights sacred are to be considered potential threats.
Please see the balance of this important post on policestate21.com
Greg
Debbie Morgan, Debbie@takebackwashington.com
December, 2009
In a flagrant attempt to mislead the American Public, CNN aired a series of hit pieces on patriots and the militia. One specific report by John Acosta was about the Oath Keepers, a group of military, firefighters, veterans and police officers who have decided to take their oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States seriously. Making a rather snide comment about the “patriot movement,” it may be time for Acosta to answer one quick question for the American people…since when did being a “patriot” in America garner such a negative connotation?
The meaning of “patriot” describes many, and those of us who are sworn American Patriots do, indeed, fit the bill. Webster’s Dictionary defines a patriot as someone “who loves and loyally or zealously supports one's own country.” American “patriots” love their country and its Constitution and want it protected. Yet the mainstream media and the over-reaching Federal government are demonizing patriots and the entire Patriot Movement. In a MIAC report, released earlier this year, many people who simply hold their Constitutional Rights sacred are to be considered potential threats.
Please see the balance of this important post on policestate21.com
Greg
War Pigs! It never changes
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh lord yeah!
Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor
Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'til their judgement day comes
Yeah!
Now in darkness world stops turning
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees the war pig's crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing spreads his wings
Oh lord yeah!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Lodging tax revenue 2009
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While we still hear the steady drum beat out of Washington and Wall Street that the economy is improving, most local newspapers tell an entirely 'different' story...
I mention occasionally that I live in Joplin, MO. It's a fairly nice smallish community in southwest MO. with a population of something over 40,000 people...
Like most small communities, and likely large as well, we have too many 'places'. Too many restaurants, too many car dealerships, new and used, too many retail outlets... Too much 'stuff'...
No one wants to go out of business... but sometimes business' have to just close their doors... Some are here, as they are all over the country.
IMO, our government will not admit that what this country needs is a good old fashioned depression to recover... The wealthy elites and politicians cannot allow that to happen because our economy would go into melt-down mode. Which I believe it eventually will anyway...
Today's local paper (The Joplin Globe) includes an article that takes a close look at our lodging industry. I don't imagine Joplin is much different than most cities it's size, or otherwise...
===========================================
"The numbers paint a gloomy picture of Joplin's lodging industry."
"An analysis of lodging 'tax revenue' for 2009, coupled with industry data from Smith Travel Research, shows that about 51,360 fewer guests visited Joplin's hotels in 2009 than in 2008."
'Unprecedented'
"Lodging-tax revenue decreased by 10.2% in 2009 compared with the figure for 2008." Room occupancy fell 10.8% or 42,800 room nights.
"A 10.2% market decrease is a huge decrease and is unprecedented in our history," said Pete Hall, GM of Resident's Inn by Marriott. When you consider that Joplin's rate of decline is now at more than twice the national and state average, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is a problem."
"A 10.2% decrease means that nearly 50,000 fewer guests visited our city, ate in our restaurants, shopped in our stores and bought gas and groceries. The hit to our local economy is approximately $6.2 million in lost economic impact."
"In the past 3 months, far more restaurants have closed in Joplin than have opened."
Some hotels are down as much as 20% and 30%.
Lodging tax revenue for the city declined by $113,000 in 2009. Revenue from the city's general sales-tax revenue declined by $119,500. The total loss in tax revenue generated solely from lodging nights was $331,800.
The forecast is not good for Joplin's hotel industry. The report indicates that the Joplin market will most likely continue to see overall declines, resulting in further erosion of the lodging-tax revenue when compared with that of 2009.
"The Joplin lodging market has experienced 17 consecutive months of decline, and there is little reason to believe that any sustained improvement will occur within the next 12 to 18 months," Hall said.
Randy Shippy, director of operations for Comfort Suites and Quality Inn, said the lodging industry as a whole is feeling the impact of the current economic climate.
"No matter what state you're in, it's down," said Shippy of lodging-tax revenue.
==========================================
It seems to me that the governments plan is pretty much using the same play book that they did after the dot-bomb disaster of 2000... Which is to ignore ALL of the MILLIONS of Americans who have lost jobs that are not coming back. We are faced with our second consecutive jobless recovery. There seems to me to be an effort to merely sweep under the rug the 16 MILLION Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession. Apparently the FED plans to keep interest rates artificially low, not for an 'extended period', but FOREVER! In addition, this time around, the federal reserve banking system has proven that they will simply print money forever as well...
Washington seems to hope that by pretending these unemployed Americans do not exist they can paint a picture of a recovering economy in time for the 2010 elections...
Good luck with that...
Greg
While we still hear the steady drum beat out of Washington and Wall Street that the economy is improving, most local newspapers tell an entirely 'different' story...
I mention occasionally that I live in Joplin, MO. It's a fairly nice smallish community in southwest MO. with a population of something over 40,000 people...
Like most small communities, and likely large as well, we have too many 'places'. Too many restaurants, too many car dealerships, new and used, too many retail outlets... Too much 'stuff'...
No one wants to go out of business... but sometimes business' have to just close their doors... Some are here, as they are all over the country.
IMO, our government will not admit that what this country needs is a good old fashioned depression to recover... The wealthy elites and politicians cannot allow that to happen because our economy would go into melt-down mode. Which I believe it eventually will anyway...
Today's local paper (The Joplin Globe) includes an article that takes a close look at our lodging industry. I don't imagine Joplin is much different than most cities it's size, or otherwise...
===========================================
"The numbers paint a gloomy picture of Joplin's lodging industry."
"An analysis of lodging 'tax revenue' for 2009, coupled with industry data from Smith Travel Research, shows that about 51,360 fewer guests visited Joplin's hotels in 2009 than in 2008."
'Unprecedented'
"Lodging-tax revenue decreased by 10.2% in 2009 compared with the figure for 2008." Room occupancy fell 10.8% or 42,800 room nights.
"A 10.2% market decrease is a huge decrease and is unprecedented in our history," said Pete Hall, GM of Resident's Inn by Marriott. When you consider that Joplin's rate of decline is now at more than twice the national and state average, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is a problem."
"A 10.2% decrease means that nearly 50,000 fewer guests visited our city, ate in our restaurants, shopped in our stores and bought gas and groceries. The hit to our local economy is approximately $6.2 million in lost economic impact."
"In the past 3 months, far more restaurants have closed in Joplin than have opened."
Some hotels are down as much as 20% and 30%.
Lodging tax revenue for the city declined by $113,000 in 2009. Revenue from the city's general sales-tax revenue declined by $119,500. The total loss in tax revenue generated solely from lodging nights was $331,800.
The forecast is not good for Joplin's hotel industry. The report indicates that the Joplin market will most likely continue to see overall declines, resulting in further erosion of the lodging-tax revenue when compared with that of 2009.
"The Joplin lodging market has experienced 17 consecutive months of decline, and there is little reason to believe that any sustained improvement will occur within the next 12 to 18 months," Hall said.
Randy Shippy, director of operations for Comfort Suites and Quality Inn, said the lodging industry as a whole is feeling the impact of the current economic climate.
"No matter what state you're in, it's down," said Shippy of lodging-tax revenue.
==========================================
It seems to me that the governments plan is pretty much using the same play book that they did after the dot-bomb disaster of 2000... Which is to ignore ALL of the MILLIONS of Americans who have lost jobs that are not coming back. We are faced with our second consecutive jobless recovery. There seems to me to be an effort to merely sweep under the rug the 16 MILLION Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession. Apparently the FED plans to keep interest rates artificially low, not for an 'extended period', but FOREVER! In addition, this time around, the federal reserve banking system has proven that they will simply print money forever as well...
Washington seems to hope that by pretending these unemployed Americans do not exist they can paint a picture of a recovering economy in time for the 2010 elections...
Good luck with that...
Greg
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Did the cavemen have it right?
I mean the men fished and hunted game most days. They grabbed some low-hanging fruit and other edible green stuff. They built some crude shelters and structures.
I would guess they laughed and got something other than hardship out of life... Or we wouldn't likely even be here... When they wanted sex they... just got some... That's just the way things were.
They fought some I'm sure... Man can be a rather violent animal at times...
For the most part they would have been too busy trying to survive to watch American Idol...
I'm seriously trying to figure out in what ways we are truly better off now... iPhones? Bath beads maybe?
Are we exponentially happier on an emotional basis than were they?
You know... *I* think, down deep, to this very day we are nothing more than cavemen in fancy suits and rolling/flying machines.
We haven't changed genetically, only superficially...
We have a lot more 'stuff', but are we any 'happier' than they were?
Would we all be better off fishing, hunting and getting laid? Everyday... lol
Maybe some golf?
Maybe it's 'time' the human race evolve a bit...
Greg
I would guess they laughed and got something other than hardship out of life... Or we wouldn't likely even be here... When they wanted sex they... just got some... That's just the way things were.
They fought some I'm sure... Man can be a rather violent animal at times...
For the most part they would have been too busy trying to survive to watch American Idol...
I'm seriously trying to figure out in what ways we are truly better off now... iPhones? Bath beads maybe?
Are we exponentially happier on an emotional basis than were they?
You know... *I* think, down deep, to this very day we are nothing more than cavemen in fancy suits and rolling/flying machines.
We haven't changed genetically, only superficially...
We have a lot more 'stuff', but are we any 'happier' than they were?
Would we all be better off fishing, hunting and getting laid? Everyday... lol
Maybe some golf?
Maybe it's 'time' the human race evolve a bit...
Greg
Friday, March 26, 2010
#HCR Violence is NOT the answer
---
I'm really spooked anyway... The way government, our elected 'representatives, the Federal Reserve, the way ALL of the elites totally IGNORE the American people is frightening...
So now, after the passage of #HCR, there have been threats made and a limited amount of vandalism...
What did the administration and government EXPECT?! When 60% of Americans are dead set against what they are doing? Americans told them very clearly DO NOT DO THIS!
It's done... and the fact that a small minority of Americans choose to use threats of violence and vandalism to express their displeasure should come as NO surprise to anyone!
We're talking about a population of more than 300 MILLION people here!
IF any party becomes so radical as to completely alienate and anger even 1% of the population to violence you're talking about THREE MILLION PEOPLE!!!
IMO, 'they' have brought this on themselves, likely knowingly. They are not nearly as stupid as they pretend to be, our kleptocratic leaders...
I have never, and still do not, condone any act of violence against anyone... Violence is one of the 'things' we need to get rid of to survive... Including violence all over the world by our own government (ie; Afganistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Iran soon...
It is supposedly unconscionable for an American citizen to threaten to break the window of a congress person. In fact, apparently, it is punishable by imprisonment for up to 1 year...
But if our government feels like unleashing hail storms of hell fire missiles at peoples all over the world we are expected to SUPPORT them in that?!
So what next? Stoke the fire even more by passing Cap & trade & amnesty for illegals?
I'm warning YOU, the American people, to watch out, watch your back. It is my opinion that the administration, the government KNOWS exactly what they are doing and are able to closely discern what the response of a minority portion of Americans will be...
Soon 'they' will use the 'threat of violence' to clamp down on our freedoms big time. As is normally the case, in the name of national security...
I have had people tell me I'm a nut-case for suspecting Martial Law could be a possibility in our near future... For stating that our freedoms and liberty are being trampled by Washington... That it is POSSIBLE that the United States of America could fall into tyranny and/or dictatorship...
The only thing that leads me toward these WILD CONCLUSIONS is world history...
Nothing more than that. History repeats itself.
Be prepared for further 'change' coming to your city much sooner than you may think...
Our entire system/government/culture/society is ROTTEN to the core!
God help us all
Greg
I'm really spooked anyway... The way government, our elected 'representatives, the Federal Reserve, the way ALL of the elites totally IGNORE the American people is frightening...
So now, after the passage of #HCR, there have been threats made and a limited amount of vandalism...
What did the administration and government EXPECT?! When 60% of Americans are dead set against what they are doing? Americans told them very clearly DO NOT DO THIS!
It's done... and the fact that a small minority of Americans choose to use threats of violence and vandalism to express their displeasure should come as NO surprise to anyone!
We're talking about a population of more than 300 MILLION people here!
IF any party becomes so radical as to completely alienate and anger even 1% of the population to violence you're talking about THREE MILLION PEOPLE!!!
IMO, 'they' have brought this on themselves, likely knowingly. They are not nearly as stupid as they pretend to be, our kleptocratic leaders...
I have never, and still do not, condone any act of violence against anyone... Violence is one of the 'things' we need to get rid of to survive... Including violence all over the world by our own government (ie; Afganistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Iran soon...
It is supposedly unconscionable for an American citizen to threaten to break the window of a congress person. In fact, apparently, it is punishable by imprisonment for up to 1 year...
But if our government feels like unleashing hail storms of hell fire missiles at peoples all over the world we are expected to SUPPORT them in that?!
So what next? Stoke the fire even more by passing Cap & trade & amnesty for illegals?
I'm warning YOU, the American people, to watch out, watch your back. It is my opinion that the administration, the government KNOWS exactly what they are doing and are able to closely discern what the response of a minority portion of Americans will be...
Soon 'they' will use the 'threat of violence' to clamp down on our freedoms big time. As is normally the case, in the name of national security...
I have had people tell me I'm a nut-case for suspecting Martial Law could be a possibility in our near future... For stating that our freedoms and liberty are being trampled by Washington... That it is POSSIBLE that the United States of America could fall into tyranny and/or dictatorship...
The only thing that leads me toward these WILD CONCLUSIONS is world history...
Nothing more than that. History repeats itself.
Be prepared for further 'change' coming to your city much sooner than you may think...
Our entire system/government/culture/society is ROTTEN to the core!
God help us all
Greg
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Gerald Celente Predicts "Crash of 2010"
---
Celente: "The crash of 2010 is going to happen as we are forecasting. All the stimulus money from around the world is drying up and what are they going to do for an encore?
We need a productive capacity. You can't print your way out of this. So whether it's China, India, the UK, Japan, at some point the stimulus game runs out and the crash happens.
The Federal Reserve or anybody else in the United States Congress isn't going to stop it from happening. They have Katrina quality rescue skills."
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
See original post here
Celente: "The crash of 2010 is going to happen as we are forecasting. All the stimulus money from around the world is drying up and what are they going to do for an encore?
We need a productive capacity. You can't print your way out of this. So whether it's China, India, the UK, Japan, at some point the stimulus game runs out and the crash happens.
The Federal Reserve or anybody else in the United States Congress isn't going to stop it from happening. They have Katrina quality rescue skills."
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
See original post here
Monday, March 22, 2010
The bubble saviors
---
IMO, our entire health care system is a bubble... IMO, this includes health insurance providers, hospitals, doctors and drug companies.
The health insurance 'reform' that just passed is nothing more than a huge government hand out for all these companies/sectors. With an influx of more than 30 MILLION customers the insurance companies are said to be in line to receive an additional 70 BILLION dollars in revenue. Hospitals are guaranteed tax payer dollars to cover the uninsured who abuse our emergency rooms as if they were their own private clinics there to treat every sniffle... The larger the percentage of Americans (now working on 100%) that are covered by health insurance the more drugs the drug companies are expected to sell...
The stock market is a bubble... Supported ONLY by the U.S. government, the treasury and the federal reserve with all the assistance needed from the financial sector in collusion... See What or Who is Driving up Prices? For information... (via finance.yahoo)
IMO, the entire financial sector is still a huge debt bubble... Debt is the issue every where with everyone from the poorest of the poor in our society all the way to the federal government. And nothing at all is being done to address this crushing debt burden that exists throughout our entire economy.
Nothing has been done to address any of these bubbles. Nothing has been done to address the cruel unfairness and corruption that has sneaked it's way into our capitalist system... On the contrary now all we seem to see are new plots and plans everyday to take money away from the American tax payer and hand it to banks, insurance companies, hospitals, doctors, drug companies, auto companies, mortgage companies, unions, You name it... Just stick out your hand and some government (tax payer) money is bound to fall into it. It's raining non-existent cash in Washington... Money simply printed-on-demand by the federal reserve banks...
It seems the ONLY answer government, the treasury and the FED have to date is to prop up the system we have for as long as humanly possible... By manipulating interest rates, inflation data, unemployment data, GDP numbers, markets, the banks/mortgage market... The short answer being they/government intend to manipulate the hell out of whatever they have to manipulate to give the appearance that this house of cards, 100% debt based economy, is back on track to inflate forever...
Good luck with that... I'm about ready to move... Let the losers fight over what's left of America...
Greg
IMO, our entire health care system is a bubble... IMO, this includes health insurance providers, hospitals, doctors and drug companies.
The health insurance 'reform' that just passed is nothing more than a huge government hand out for all these companies/sectors. With an influx of more than 30 MILLION customers the insurance companies are said to be in line to receive an additional 70 BILLION dollars in revenue. Hospitals are guaranteed tax payer dollars to cover the uninsured who abuse our emergency rooms as if they were their own private clinics there to treat every sniffle... The larger the percentage of Americans (now working on 100%) that are covered by health insurance the more drugs the drug companies are expected to sell...
The stock market is a bubble... Supported ONLY by the U.S. government, the treasury and the federal reserve with all the assistance needed from the financial sector in collusion... See What or Who is Driving up Prices? For information... (via finance.yahoo)
IMO, the entire financial sector is still a huge debt bubble... Debt is the issue every where with everyone from the poorest of the poor in our society all the way to the federal government. And nothing at all is being done to address this crushing debt burden that exists throughout our entire economy.
Nothing has been done to address any of these bubbles. Nothing has been done to address the cruel unfairness and corruption that has sneaked it's way into our capitalist system... On the contrary now all we seem to see are new plots and plans everyday to take money away from the American tax payer and hand it to banks, insurance companies, hospitals, doctors, drug companies, auto companies, mortgage companies, unions, You name it... Just stick out your hand and some government (tax payer) money is bound to fall into it. It's raining non-existent cash in Washington... Money simply printed-on-demand by the federal reserve banks...
It seems the ONLY answer government, the treasury and the FED have to date is to prop up the system we have for as long as humanly possible... By manipulating interest rates, inflation data, unemployment data, GDP numbers, markets, the banks/mortgage market... The short answer being they/government intend to manipulate the hell out of whatever they have to manipulate to give the appearance that this house of cards, 100% debt based economy, is back on track to inflate forever...
Good luck with that... I'm about ready to move... Let the losers fight over what's left of America...
Greg
Friday, March 19, 2010
Police State - The Militarization of the Police Force in USA
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I was born in 1956... I have watched all this happen... For cryin' out loud, I used to watch Mayberry RFD on TV... It ain't Mayberry RFD anymore...
---
For reference... Mayberry R.F.D - what the police in the USA USED to be like lol
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I was born in 1956... I have watched all this happen... For cryin' out loud, I used to watch Mayberry RFD on TV... It ain't Mayberry RFD anymore...
---
For reference... Mayberry R.F.D - what the police in the USA USED to be like lol
---
#Entrepreneurial debt/death trap
---
I have been thinking about this for awhile now... About the American Dream in general... More specifically, what if it never really existed at all? What if, all along, it was planned as the American Nightmare. Disguised as the American Dream?
You know... Like the American Dream of owning your own home? That didn't work out so well did it? And the banks don't give a sh*t whether it worked out or not... If you can't pay your mortgage the bank will simply throw you out on your ear... into the streets to fend for yourself...
And I got to thinking about Entrepreneurship lately... What if it's merely a part of the same master plan to trap as many Americans as is humanly possible into a lifetime of debt?
It is my personal opinion that likely 40% of the business' in this country need to go, or should go, bankrupt... That the financial elites have played upon the ever dependable allies of greed and envy... They never seem to fail in our society... To entice business to forever borrow money from banks while chasing an elusive dream...
It 'seems' to me that business' which are failing are encouraged to forever borrow money to prop up their own failing business' That is just the way business works in America now... It used to be when/if a business in this country was losing money consistently it would close the doors and hope for better luck next time with a revised plan of attack... A new business venture... A fresh start... But now it seems the plan of attack is to lose money forever and simply BORROW continually to cover your costs!
Did you know that a business is allowed to have a NEGATIVE checking account... That many(all?) banks will still honor checks even though there is no money to cover them? When WE do that it is called writing hot checks and WE can be JAILED! There are so many accounting tricks of the trade used today that they are likely impossible to count. So many ways to move money around on paper to make it appear to be something other than what it is in reality. Complexity...
I'm telling you... this ENTIRE economy is nothing but... propped up... Nearly everything that exists in this country exists as a direct or indirect result of debt. Individuals are in debt, business' are in debt, towns, cities and counties are in debt, states are in debt, and we all should know by now how much debt is being carried, and added to daily, by our federal government and the federal reserve banking system.
Here is what *I* think... for whatever THAT is worth... lol
That our entire economy IS going to collapse. The historic tendency is for governments to collapse rather quickly when/if/after their economies collapse... It's not something I 'want' to see. It is simply historic fact.
So *I* also wonder... Just how far are 'they' willing to go to preserve themselves? Those in the elite upper crust, upper class, those in banking/finance, those in the federal reserve and those in our government?
Would they or could they resort to tyranny? A dictatorship? To maintain their elite ruling party? Yeah, some say I'm an extremist nut job likely... But it's not as if it hasn't all happened before... Many many times throughout history...
Even we Americans have the skeletons of revolution and civil war in our own closet... So laugh at your own risk, please...
And I also wonder... How much greed and corruption are the American people willing to put up with from these same entities?
I didn't use to believe in, or even give any thought at all to, 'false flag events'
Now I am more convinced that our government 'consistently' uses crisis and panic to convince us to just trust them to make it all better, for us.
"All that is necessary for success of “false flag” or “black ops” events is for the government to have its story ready and to have a reliable and compliant media. Once an official story is in place, thought and investigation are precluded. Any formal inquiry that is convened serves to buttress the already provided explanation."
Will a 'false flag event' lead us into the coming war with Iran?
Will the people of the United States of America rise up against government tyranny and say ENOUGH!
Could it be that our own government is not only expecting, but planning for, a revolution by the American people?
And if so what would be the government response?
To lay down and give up? Martial Law? A police state? Worse still?
I don't answer many questions... I ask a lot of them. I never pretend to have all the answers to all the difficult problems facing our economy, our government, our country, our society/culture and indeed the entire world...
I try to think about 'things' in a logical way. I ask myself 'What if'? And I try to use logic and reason to figure out possible scenarios...
Nearly everything I see these days scares the pee out of me... Buckle up, it's going to be a very rough and bumpy ride for awhile, IMO...
God be with us...
Greg
I have been thinking about this for awhile now... About the American Dream in general... More specifically, what if it never really existed at all? What if, all along, it was planned as the American Nightmare. Disguised as the American Dream?
You know... Like the American Dream of owning your own home? That didn't work out so well did it? And the banks don't give a sh*t whether it worked out or not... If you can't pay your mortgage the bank will simply throw you out on your ear... into the streets to fend for yourself...
And I got to thinking about Entrepreneurship lately... What if it's merely a part of the same master plan to trap as many Americans as is humanly possible into a lifetime of debt?
It is my personal opinion that likely 40% of the business' in this country need to go, or should go, bankrupt... That the financial elites have played upon the ever dependable allies of greed and envy... They never seem to fail in our society... To entice business to forever borrow money from banks while chasing an elusive dream...
It 'seems' to me that business' which are failing are encouraged to forever borrow money to prop up their own failing business' That is just the way business works in America now... It used to be when/if a business in this country was losing money consistently it would close the doors and hope for better luck next time with a revised plan of attack... A new business venture... A fresh start... But now it seems the plan of attack is to lose money forever and simply BORROW continually to cover your costs!
Did you know that a business is allowed to have a NEGATIVE checking account... That many(all?) banks will still honor checks even though there is no money to cover them? When WE do that it is called writing hot checks and WE can be JAILED! There are so many accounting tricks of the trade used today that they are likely impossible to count. So many ways to move money around on paper to make it appear to be something other than what it is in reality. Complexity...
I'm telling you... this ENTIRE economy is nothing but... propped up... Nearly everything that exists in this country exists as a direct or indirect result of debt. Individuals are in debt, business' are in debt, towns, cities and counties are in debt, states are in debt, and we all should know by now how much debt is being carried, and added to daily, by our federal government and the federal reserve banking system.
Here is what *I* think... for whatever THAT is worth... lol
That our entire economy IS going to collapse. The historic tendency is for governments to collapse rather quickly when/if/after their economies collapse... It's not something I 'want' to see. It is simply historic fact.
So *I* also wonder... Just how far are 'they' willing to go to preserve themselves? Those in the elite upper crust, upper class, those in banking/finance, those in the federal reserve and those in our government?
Would they or could they resort to tyranny? A dictatorship? To maintain their elite ruling party? Yeah, some say I'm an extremist nut job likely... But it's not as if it hasn't all happened before... Many many times throughout history...
Even we Americans have the skeletons of revolution and civil war in our own closet... So laugh at your own risk, please...
And I also wonder... How much greed and corruption are the American people willing to put up with from these same entities?
I didn't use to believe in, or even give any thought at all to, 'false flag events'
Now I am more convinced that our government 'consistently' uses crisis and panic to convince us to just trust them to make it all better, for us.
"All that is necessary for success of “false flag” or “black ops” events is for the government to have its story ready and to have a reliable and compliant media. Once an official story is in place, thought and investigation are precluded. Any formal inquiry that is convened serves to buttress the already provided explanation."
Will a 'false flag event' lead us into the coming war with Iran?
Will the people of the United States of America rise up against government tyranny and say ENOUGH!
Could it be that our own government is not only expecting, but planning for, a revolution by the American people?
And if so what would be the government response?
To lay down and give up? Martial Law? A police state? Worse still?
I don't answer many questions... I ask a lot of them. I never pretend to have all the answers to all the difficult problems facing our economy, our government, our country, our society/culture and indeed the entire world...
I try to think about 'things' in a logical way. I ask myself 'What if'? And I try to use logic and reason to figure out possible scenarios...
Nearly everything I see these days scares the pee out of me... Buckle up, it's going to be a very rough and bumpy ride for awhile, IMO...
God be with us...
Greg
Thursday, March 18, 2010
#MO asks ppl 4 advice
---
Excerpts taken from The Joplin Globe newspaper... Joplin, MO.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has cut more than 850 million dollars from a 23.7 billion dollar budget. Last week, Nixon outlined additional ideas -- eliminating 1,000 state jobs, half the state's primary vehicle fleet and all state scholarships for students at private colleges -- to help close an expected 500 million dollar gap in next year's proposed budget.
Gov. Nixon has also suggested consolidating the Department of Higher Education and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education into one agency and combining the State Highway Patrol and State Water Patrol into a single law enforcement agency to save money.
"We need to 'cut' hundreds of millions of dollars this year and hundreds of millions of dollars next year," said Icet, R-Wildwood
Does this sound like a 'healthy economy' to ANYONE out there?!
Do we need any more evidence that tax revenue has been and still is collapsing at every level of government?
I think not...
This is going on in towns, cities and states across the country. Not to mention the federal government's 12 TRILLION dollar deficit that promises only to grow larger...
Something BIG is going to happen one day... Be alert, be prepared, be educated...
It must not/may not be very far away once the state's become so panicked that they ask state residents "WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW?!"
lol
Greg
Excerpts taken from The Joplin Globe newspaper... Joplin, MO.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has cut more than 850 million dollars from a 23.7 billion dollar budget. Last week, Nixon outlined additional ideas -- eliminating 1,000 state jobs, half the state's primary vehicle fleet and all state scholarships for students at private colleges -- to help close an expected 500 million dollar gap in next year's proposed budget.
Gov. Nixon has also suggested consolidating the Department of Higher Education and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education into one agency and combining the State Highway Patrol and State Water Patrol into a single law enforcement agency to save money.
"We need to 'cut' hundreds of millions of dollars this year and hundreds of millions of dollars next year," said Icet, R-Wildwood
Does this sound like a 'healthy economy' to ANYONE out there?!
Do we need any more evidence that tax revenue has been and still is collapsing at every level of government?
I think not...
This is going on in towns, cities and states across the country. Not to mention the federal government's 12 TRILLION dollar deficit that promises only to grow larger...
Something BIG is going to happen one day... Be alert, be prepared, be educated...
It must not/may not be very far away once the state's become so panicked that they ask state residents "WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW?!"
lol
Greg
With the town potentially facing insolvency
---
City of Neosho to borrow additional 1.3 million dollars to replenish the general fund and avoid insolvency.
Locally, the city of Neosho, MO. is using Certificates of Participation to BORROW another 1.3 million dollars. Because... Certificates of Participation "are one of several forms of debt that cities can take on with ONLY a vote of the city council." (It passed 3 - 2)
Don't want to get those pesky 'voters' involved in all this at any level of government it seems... Imagine that...
The mayor of Neosho said that barring the infusion of additional money, the city would be unable to meet two upcoming debt service payments totaling almost $850,000.00. The first of those payments is due next month. The next payment is due in May, leaving the city little time and no other options.
The mayor also said of the BORROWING that "In the short term, it's something that's got to happen."
The hidden/secret drama continues across the country...
Greg
City of Neosho to borrow additional 1.3 million dollars to replenish the general fund and avoid insolvency.
Locally, the city of Neosho, MO. is using Certificates of Participation to BORROW another 1.3 million dollars. Because... Certificates of Participation "are one of several forms of debt that cities can take on with ONLY a vote of the city council." (It passed 3 - 2)
Don't want to get those pesky 'voters' involved in all this at any level of government it seems... Imagine that...
The mayor of Neosho said that barring the infusion of additional money, the city would be unable to meet two upcoming debt service payments totaling almost $850,000.00. The first of those payments is due next month. The next payment is due in May, leaving the city little time and no other options.
The mayor also said of the BORROWING that "In the short term, it's something that's got to happen."
The hidden/secret drama continues across the country...
Greg
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Interesting quote attributed to Professor Carroll Quigley, CFR member
---
“"The powers of financial capitalism had a far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalistic fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland; a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank... sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world." Professor Carroll Quigley, CFR member”
Greg
“"The powers of financial capitalism had a far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalistic fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland; a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank... sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world." Professor Carroll Quigley, CFR member”
Greg
Modern Day Mutually Assured Destruction
---
Below is an excerpt from a great, IMO, article about how government depends on banks for survival while banks depend on governments for the same...
Here you can see the entire original post from http://biggovernment.com/
---
One might ask why we in the US in 2010 should care about this 2001 report on Italy’s sleight of hand in 1997. Besides reminding us to always question government data, in my view this story represents the sort of incestuous relationship between big finance and big government that has transcended all eras, and which has significant explanatory power when it comes to our current economic situation. The above anecdote taken with what is forthcoming serves to show us that banks exist at the mercy of governments, while governments exist at the mercy of banks, with each side knowing that the death of one will trigger the death of the other. It is the 21st century’s version of Mutually Assured Destruction. Ergo bailouts.
For all intents purposes, this relationship began in the United States when we chartered our first central bank in 1791. President Andrew Jackson upon taking office in March of 1829 said of the second iteration of the Bank of the United States that it was a:
“monster, a hydra-headed monster…equipped with horns, hoofs, and tail so dangerous that it impaired the morals of our people, corrupted our statesmen and threatened our liberty. It bought up members of Congress by the Dozen…subverted the electoral process, and sought to destroy our republican instutions.”
Historian Douglass Adair’s critique of the architect of our initial national banking system read as follows:
“In carrying out his scheme…Hamilton transformed every financial transaction of the Treasury Department into an orgy of speculation and graft in which selected senators, congressmen, and certain of their richer constituents throughout the nation participated.”
Indeed it was the original Hank Paulson that had lobbied against the sage Jeffersonians and won his prize of a national bank, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton pushed for this bank for a handful of reasons. First, the central bank allowed the government to issue increasing amounts of debt to be held by the wealthy (politicians included), as the debt could be serviced through its monetization. Second, the central bank allowed the government to inflate the currency and increase and cheapen the supply of credit, in the case of the former through debt monetization and in the latter mere pump priming in order to both increase the size of government and artifically grow and prop up favored businesses such as those of Hamilton’s manufacturing friends in the Northeast, without explicitly increasing taxes. Third, the central bank granted lawmakers leverage over other private banking institutions by virtue of its size and political clout, either crowding out competitors or bending them to its will. For Hamilton had learned well from his statist predecessors. It was because of this monetary inflation that America suffered its first central bank-induced boom-bust cycle in the Panic of 1819, a Hamiltonian tradition that remains to this day. Though President Andrew Jackson would ultimately kill our national bank, the precedent for government-bank tethering and its pernicious effects had been set.
Due to President Woodrow Wilson’s creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, a bank that had been long agitated for by the nation’s largest financial interests, and FDR’s ending of all fiscal restraint in effectively abolishing the gold standard, today we have a monetary system that has all the defects of our original one and many more. Our PINO (Private In Name Only) central bank overtly cartelizes all of our major financial institutions and serves as their moral hazard-inducing “lender of last resort.” The banks no longer need to pyramid paper money off of gold or silver because instead the Federal Reserve prints money which it lends to our banks who create ever-increasing amounts of money out of thin air through a process called fractional reserve banking. As an aside, for those interested in this intentionally pedantic minutiae, I have written brief primers on our monetary system and the oft-misunderstood function of money in general.
In any event, the constant expansion of the money supply by the Federal Reserve allows the government to spend endless amounts of money without explicit tax increases, create artificial booms beneficial to favored constituencies that ultimately bust allowing the government to intervene even more, pay off entitlements and debt in ever-cheaper cash and generate increasing costs in goods and services that further distort the market mechanism of the price system even during the deepest of downturns, hindering economic calculation. It allows the government to prevent the necessary adjustments in the markets to clean out the wastes and imbalances that the government’s money printing has created, for the benefit of borrowers, spenders and those who get their hands on the money first, the banks.
This charade exists because of a quid pro quo between governments and banks. The government is given the freedom to do as it wishes, with the banks willing to continue to underwrite and make markets in government debt, and clearly in certain circumstances help government mask its fiscal sins (for a fee) so long as the banks are protected. Perhaps only the bond vigilantes can save us, save being a relative term because our borrowing costs would skyrocket. The governments need the banks to help finance themselves in insolvency, while the banks need the governments to help cover their own insolvency through the use of their coercive power to bilk the taxpayer. Any financial reform bill will merely perpetuate this symbiosis. And in this system of Mutually Assured Destruction, at every turn the prudent, the responsible and the moral will be further abused.
Here you can see the entire original post from http://biggovernment.com/
Greg
Below is an excerpt from a great, IMO, article about how government depends on banks for survival while banks depend on governments for the same...
Here you can see the entire original post from http://biggovernment.com/
---
One might ask why we in the US in 2010 should care about this 2001 report on Italy’s sleight of hand in 1997. Besides reminding us to always question government data, in my view this story represents the sort of incestuous relationship between big finance and big government that has transcended all eras, and which has significant explanatory power when it comes to our current economic situation. The above anecdote taken with what is forthcoming serves to show us that banks exist at the mercy of governments, while governments exist at the mercy of banks, with each side knowing that the death of one will trigger the death of the other. It is the 21st century’s version of Mutually Assured Destruction. Ergo bailouts.
For all intents purposes, this relationship began in the United States when we chartered our first central bank in 1791. President Andrew Jackson upon taking office in March of 1829 said of the second iteration of the Bank of the United States that it was a:
“monster, a hydra-headed monster…equipped with horns, hoofs, and tail so dangerous that it impaired the morals of our people, corrupted our statesmen and threatened our liberty. It bought up members of Congress by the Dozen…subverted the electoral process, and sought to destroy our republican instutions.”
Historian Douglass Adair’s critique of the architect of our initial national banking system read as follows:
“In carrying out his scheme…Hamilton transformed every financial transaction of the Treasury Department into an orgy of speculation and graft in which selected senators, congressmen, and certain of their richer constituents throughout the nation participated.”
Indeed it was the original Hank Paulson that had lobbied against the sage Jeffersonians and won his prize of a national bank, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton pushed for this bank for a handful of reasons. First, the central bank allowed the government to issue increasing amounts of debt to be held by the wealthy (politicians included), as the debt could be serviced through its monetization. Second, the central bank allowed the government to inflate the currency and increase and cheapen the supply of credit, in the case of the former through debt monetization and in the latter mere pump priming in order to both increase the size of government and artifically grow and prop up favored businesses such as those of Hamilton’s manufacturing friends in the Northeast, without explicitly increasing taxes. Third, the central bank granted lawmakers leverage over other private banking institutions by virtue of its size and political clout, either crowding out competitors or bending them to its will. For Hamilton had learned well from his statist predecessors. It was because of this monetary inflation that America suffered its first central bank-induced boom-bust cycle in the Panic of 1819, a Hamiltonian tradition that remains to this day. Though President Andrew Jackson would ultimately kill our national bank, the precedent for government-bank tethering and its pernicious effects had been set.
Due to President Woodrow Wilson’s creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, a bank that had been long agitated for by the nation’s largest financial interests, and FDR’s ending of all fiscal restraint in effectively abolishing the gold standard, today we have a monetary system that has all the defects of our original one and many more. Our PINO (Private In Name Only) central bank overtly cartelizes all of our major financial institutions and serves as their moral hazard-inducing “lender of last resort.” The banks no longer need to pyramid paper money off of gold or silver because instead the Federal Reserve prints money which it lends to our banks who create ever-increasing amounts of money out of thin air through a process called fractional reserve banking. As an aside, for those interested in this intentionally pedantic minutiae, I have written brief primers on our monetary system and the oft-misunderstood function of money in general.
In any event, the constant expansion of the money supply by the Federal Reserve allows the government to spend endless amounts of money without explicit tax increases, create artificial booms beneficial to favored constituencies that ultimately bust allowing the government to intervene even more, pay off entitlements and debt in ever-cheaper cash and generate increasing costs in goods and services that further distort the market mechanism of the price system even during the deepest of downturns, hindering economic calculation. It allows the government to prevent the necessary adjustments in the markets to clean out the wastes and imbalances that the government’s money printing has created, for the benefit of borrowers, spenders and those who get their hands on the money first, the banks.
This charade exists because of a quid pro quo between governments and banks. The government is given the freedom to do as it wishes, with the banks willing to continue to underwrite and make markets in government debt, and clearly in certain circumstances help government mask its fiscal sins (for a fee) so long as the banks are protected. Perhaps only the bond vigilantes can save us, save being a relative term because our borrowing costs would skyrocket. The governments need the banks to help finance themselves in insolvency, while the banks need the governments to help cover their own insolvency through the use of their coercive power to bilk the taxpayer. Any financial reform bill will merely perpetuate this symbiosis. And in this system of Mutually Assured Destruction, at every turn the prudent, the responsible and the moral will be further abused.
Here you can see the entire original post from http://biggovernment.com/
Greg
#Plastic Fantasy
---
My son has been saving money to buy a new flat panel TV... He's going to replace his 19" flat panel, which is about a year old now, with a 32" flat panel...
I can't complain too much because I will become the recipient of a 19" HD wide screen flat panel monitor for my trading platform ;)
But here's what I find interesting... The fact that electronics in our society/culture seem to follow different rules, economically speaking, than most everything else we use.
Of course I am speaking of the constant deflationary environment that exists in the electronics field... While the government and the federal reserve tell us that deflation is the biggest enemy in the world, capable of destroying our economy, electronics seem to thrive in a deflationary environment...
Deflation, 'they' say, could potentially spiral out of control and cause consumers to put off purchases while seeking ever lower prices. And that this self feeding cycle of destructive deflation could doom us, potentially, to a depression...
So why does the electronics sector not suffer this fate? Could it be that somehow the electronic sector is different 'by design'?
Lets take flat panel TVs as an example, though this applies to just about everything electronic, from iPods to stereos to GPS systems and cell phones, etc...
My son paid 300.00 about a year ago for his 19" flat panel HD wide screen TV... Currently the low end price for those TVs is closer to 150.00 / 160.00... That is a HUGE one year price decline, in my book. It seems now he can buy a brand new 32" HD wide screen flat panel TV for just about the same amount of fiat currency that a year ago he had to pay for a 19"
So the apparent lesson here is that one can upgrade electronic devices frequently and keep paying the same 300.00 or 500.00 or 800.00 over and over again for the same product but each time you buy one for the same amount of money it's just a little bigger, or just a little smaller, a little more 'full featured', a little faster or a little fancier...
The more people who 'want' a HD wide screen flat panel TV the cheaper they seem to become... How does that supply and demand work anyway?
"The power of supply and demand was understood to some extent by several early Muslim economists, such as Ibn Taymiyyah who illustrates:"
"If desire for goods increases while its availability decreases, its price rises. On the other hand, if availability of the good increases and the desire for it decreases, the price comes down."[12]
"Firms will produce additional output as long as the cost of producing an extra unit of output is less than the price they will receive."
"The demand schedule is defined as the willingness and ability of a consumer to purchase a given product in a given frame of time."
Ok... here's something important, in my opinion...
"At least two assumptions are necessary for the validity of the standard model: first, that supply and demand are independent; and second, that supply is "constrained by a fixed resource"; If these conditions do not hold, then the Marshallian model (of supply and demand) cannot be sustained."
It is my own theory that the entire electronics industry is a grand experiment in economic, and consumer, manipulation...
One in which prices drop with an increase in demand and rise with a decrease in demand... Which, if I understand this correctly, is pretty much the opposite of what should happen... The opposite of what happens with say oil...
Again, IMO, this is important...
---
"Firms will produce additional output as long as the cost of producing an extra unit of output is less than the price they will receive."
supply must/should be "constrained by a fixed resource"
So just what is it that 'they' sell us over and over again at ever lower prices regardless of demand?
When it comes to electronics it's normally a chunk of 'formed' plastic with a few electronics attached...
WTF?! Who are we anyway The Jetsons?
If you think about that wonderful 'stuff' called plastic you quickly realize that it can be melted and formed into almost any shape imaginable by man... It can even be melted down, reshaped into something totally different and sold again... So that, in essence, not ONLY can 'they' sell us the same product over and over again but, in theory, you could end up buying the exact same plastic that was in the last one you bought!
Plastic and electronics are cheap... I, personally, do not believe they are "constrained by a fixed resource"...
My main point here is that it seems, to me, that much of our economy is based on selling consumers the same products over and over again, all made from plastic with scant electronics attached. As in toys, cell phones, video game systems, DVD players, computers, printers, faxes, TVs... I think you see where I'm going with this... Hell... an ever larger percentage of our cars are even made from the magic, highly profitable, 'stuff'...
I worry that the science of economic & consumer manipulation is all over us and that breaking it's grip would be a very difficult, if not impossible, undertaking...
Brought to us by GovCorp... As my friend @EmergentCulture likes to call it...
Greg
My son has been saving money to buy a new flat panel TV... He's going to replace his 19" flat panel, which is about a year old now, with a 32" flat panel...
I can't complain too much because I will become the recipient of a 19" HD wide screen flat panel monitor for my trading platform ;)
But here's what I find interesting... The fact that electronics in our society/culture seem to follow different rules, economically speaking, than most everything else we use.
Of course I am speaking of the constant deflationary environment that exists in the electronics field... While the government and the federal reserve tell us that deflation is the biggest enemy in the world, capable of destroying our economy, electronics seem to thrive in a deflationary environment...
Deflation, 'they' say, could potentially spiral out of control and cause consumers to put off purchases while seeking ever lower prices. And that this self feeding cycle of destructive deflation could doom us, potentially, to a depression...
So why does the electronics sector not suffer this fate? Could it be that somehow the electronic sector is different 'by design'?
Lets take flat panel TVs as an example, though this applies to just about everything electronic, from iPods to stereos to GPS systems and cell phones, etc...
My son paid 300.00 about a year ago for his 19" flat panel HD wide screen TV... Currently the low end price for those TVs is closer to 150.00 / 160.00... That is a HUGE one year price decline, in my book. It seems now he can buy a brand new 32" HD wide screen flat panel TV for just about the same amount of fiat currency that a year ago he had to pay for a 19"
So the apparent lesson here is that one can upgrade electronic devices frequently and keep paying the same 300.00 or 500.00 or 800.00 over and over again for the same product but each time you buy one for the same amount of money it's just a little bigger, or just a little smaller, a little more 'full featured', a little faster or a little fancier...
The more people who 'want' a HD wide screen flat panel TV the cheaper they seem to become... How does that supply and demand work anyway?
"The power of supply and demand was understood to some extent by several early Muslim economists, such as Ibn Taymiyyah who illustrates:"
"If desire for goods increases while its availability decreases, its price rises. On the other hand, if availability of the good increases and the desire for it decreases, the price comes down."[12]
"Firms will produce additional output as long as the cost of producing an extra unit of output is less than the price they will receive."
"The demand schedule is defined as the willingness and ability of a consumer to purchase a given product in a given frame of time."
Ok... here's something important, in my opinion...
"At least two assumptions are necessary for the validity of the standard model: first, that supply and demand are independent; and second, that supply is "constrained by a fixed resource"; If these conditions do not hold, then the Marshallian model (of supply and demand) cannot be sustained."
It is my own theory that the entire electronics industry is a grand experiment in economic, and consumer, manipulation...
One in which prices drop with an increase in demand and rise with a decrease in demand... Which, if I understand this correctly, is pretty much the opposite of what should happen... The opposite of what happens with say oil...
Again, IMO, this is important...
---
"Firms will produce additional output as long as the cost of producing an extra unit of output is less than the price they will receive."
supply must/should be "constrained by a fixed resource"
So just what is it that 'they' sell us over and over again at ever lower prices regardless of demand?
When it comes to electronics it's normally a chunk of 'formed' plastic with a few electronics attached...
WTF?! Who are we anyway The Jetsons?
If you think about that wonderful 'stuff' called plastic you quickly realize that it can be melted and formed into almost any shape imaginable by man... It can even be melted down, reshaped into something totally different and sold again... So that, in essence, not ONLY can 'they' sell us the same product over and over again but, in theory, you could end up buying the exact same plastic that was in the last one you bought!
Plastic and electronics are cheap... I, personally, do not believe they are "constrained by a fixed resource"...
My main point here is that it seems, to me, that much of our economy is based on selling consumers the same products over and over again, all made from plastic with scant electronics attached. As in toys, cell phones, video game systems, DVD players, computers, printers, faxes, TVs... I think you see where I'm going with this... Hell... an ever larger percentage of our cars are even made from the magic, highly profitable, 'stuff'...
I worry that the science of economic & consumer manipulation is all over us and that breaking it's grip would be a very difficult, if not impossible, undertaking...
Brought to us by GovCorp... As my friend @EmergentCulture likes to call it...
Greg
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
#government #FED #market #manipulation
You may see the original post here
Now for the facts:
Any government can pump stock prices of insolvent institutions for a while by allowing them to lie on their balance sheets. The poster child for this is, of course, Lehman brothers. I reproduce for your edification a chart showing two quarterly reports during which Lehman was arguably insolvent (light gray) and then (in pink) a further period of time spanning more than a month when their counterparties knew they had no cash, yet FRBNY and The Fed, including but not limited to FRBNY, Paulson, Geithner and every other bank they dealt with knew they had no money. Yet their stock continued to trade, the company continued along, and Dick Fuld was on CNBS saying he was going to "burn the shorts."
What was the outcome Steve? Was it "all ok in the end" even though for a period of more than six months the stock continued to trade and in fact after that first report went up significantly?
What caused the collapse? They ran out of cash flow.
Now about those other large banks and their balance sheets....
As a corollary to the above governments can also pump markets generally by replacing private demand in GDP with borrowing and spending, just as you can by using your credit card even though your income has been cut off. This can and does lead to huge market rallies - for a while. However, unless you can manage to increase credit in the system generally, meaning that private parties "come back" and take over from government, eventually the government becomes unable to sustain such a practice, just as you become unable to sustain such a practice. In point of fact the government has borrowed and spent ten percent of GDP (in addition to all that it was spending before) for the last two years. This has prevented the recognition of an economic depression in the "statistics" put forward by government, but that replacement of private demand is not, in fact, private demand! Thus you have unemployment and underemployment, even under the government's statistics (among those who want jobs), hovering near one person in five in the economy, and only 60% of the labor force is actually working. The other 40% of working-age, non-institutionalized people, are not working - which means they're drawing on social programs of some sort. This, of course, exacerbates the demand for the government to continue borrowing and spending that additional 10% of GDP.
What will cause this to collapse? The same thing - recognition that the banks are in fact broke (and there are a bunch of them that are), inability to sell or roll over enough debt to satisfy the leaches in society, one of the rating agencies growing a pair of balls and downgrading the United States and more. Indeed, a lockup in the credit markets could easily occur just as it did in 2008, and for the same reasons - a recognition that "heh that jackass over there has no good collateral!"
Can the government keep this from happening forever? No.
Can it do so for "an extended period of time"? Sure, but for exactly how long?
That's the key, isn't it? We're not running an 89% debt-to-GDP ratio, it's in fact over 500%. We're lying just as Lehman was lying, but on a grader scale. Yet when Rick Santelli brings this up, the pump monkeys go nuts.
Why?
Well gee, if you want to sell something to someone that is based on a fraudulent premise, how much luck will you have if the truth is exposed?
'Nuff said.
You may see the original post here
Greg
Now for the facts:
Any government can pump stock prices of insolvent institutions for a while by allowing them to lie on their balance sheets. The poster child for this is, of course, Lehman brothers. I reproduce for your edification a chart showing two quarterly reports during which Lehman was arguably insolvent (light gray) and then (in pink) a further period of time spanning more than a month when their counterparties knew they had no cash, yet FRBNY and The Fed, including but not limited to FRBNY, Paulson, Geithner and every other bank they dealt with knew they had no money. Yet their stock continued to trade, the company continued along, and Dick Fuld was on CNBS saying he was going to "burn the shorts."
What was the outcome Steve? Was it "all ok in the end" even though for a period of more than six months the stock continued to trade and in fact after that first report went up significantly?
What caused the collapse? They ran out of cash flow.
Now about those other large banks and their balance sheets....
As a corollary to the above governments can also pump markets generally by replacing private demand in GDP with borrowing and spending, just as you can by using your credit card even though your income has been cut off. This can and does lead to huge market rallies - for a while. However, unless you can manage to increase credit in the system generally, meaning that private parties "come back" and take over from government, eventually the government becomes unable to sustain such a practice, just as you become unable to sustain such a practice. In point of fact the government has borrowed and spent ten percent of GDP (in addition to all that it was spending before) for the last two years. This has prevented the recognition of an economic depression in the "statistics" put forward by government, but that replacement of private demand is not, in fact, private demand! Thus you have unemployment and underemployment, even under the government's statistics (among those who want jobs), hovering near one person in five in the economy, and only 60% of the labor force is actually working. The other 40% of working-age, non-institutionalized people, are not working - which means they're drawing on social programs of some sort. This, of course, exacerbates the demand for the government to continue borrowing and spending that additional 10% of GDP.
What will cause this to collapse? The same thing - recognition that the banks are in fact broke (and there are a bunch of them that are), inability to sell or roll over enough debt to satisfy the leaches in society, one of the rating agencies growing a pair of balls and downgrading the United States and more. Indeed, a lockup in the credit markets could easily occur just as it did in 2008, and for the same reasons - a recognition that "heh that jackass over there has no good collateral!"
Can the government keep this from happening forever? No.
Can it do so for "an extended period of time"? Sure, but for exactly how long?
That's the key, isn't it? We're not running an 89% debt-to-GDP ratio, it's in fact over 500%. We're lying just as Lehman was lying, but on a grader scale. Yet when Rick Santelli brings this up, the pump monkeys go nuts.
Why?
Well gee, if you want to sell something to someone that is based on a fraudulent premise, how much luck will you have if the truth is exposed?
'Nuff said.
You may see the original post here
Greg
Space storm alert: 90 seconds from catastrophe
---
There are so many things that we humans simply have no control over... This is apparently one of them... May the Lord God / Allah help us all...
Excerpts below... check out the entire article here
---
===========================================
IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power.
A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation's infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation. Europe, Scandinavia, China and Japan are also struggling to recover from the same fateful event - a violent storm, 150 million kilometres away on the surface of the sun.
It sounds ridiculous. Surely the sun couldn't create so profound a disaster on Earth. Yet an extraordinary report funded by NASA and issued by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in January this year claims it could do just that.
===========================================
===========================================
Help is not coming any time soon, either. If it is dark from the eastern seaboard to Chicago, some affected areas are hundreds, maybe thousands of miles away from anyone who might help. And those willing to help are likely to be ill-equipped to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster. "If a Carrington event happened now, it would be like a hurricane Katrina, but 10 times worse," says Paul Kintner, a plasma physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
In reality, it would be much worse than that. Hurricane Katrina's societal and economic impact has been measured at $81 billion to $125 billion. According to the NAS report, the impact of what it terms a "severe geomagnetic storm scenario" could be as high as $2 trillion. And that's just the first year after the storm. The NAS puts the recovery time at four to 10 years. It is questionable whether the US would ever bounce back.
===========================================
===========================================
The report outlines the worst case scenario for the US. The "perfect storm" is most likely on a spring or autumn night in a year of heightened solar activity - something like 2012. Around the equinoxes, the orientation of the Earth's field to the sun makes us particularly vulnerable to a plasma strike.
===========================================
===========================================
When hell comes to Earth
Severe space weather events often coincide with the appearance of sunspots, which are indicators of particularly intense magnetic fields at the sun's surface.
The chaotic motion of charged particles in the upper atmosphere of the sun creates magnetic fields that writhe, twist and turn, and occasionally snap and reconfigure themselves in what is known as a "reconnection". These reconnection events are violent, and can fling out billions of tonness of plasma in a "coronal mass ejection" (CME).
If flung towards the Earth, the plasma ball will accelerate as it travels through space and its intense magnetic field will soon interact with the planet's magnetic field, the magnetosphere. Depending on the relative orientation of the two fields, several things can happen. If the fields are oriented in the same direction, they slip round one another. In the worst case scenario, though, when the field of a particularly energetic CME opposes the Earth's field, things get much more dramatic. "The Earth can't cope with the plasma," says James Green, head of NASA's planetary division. "The CME just opens up the magnetosphere like a can-opener, and matter squirts in."
The sun's activity waxes and wanes every 11 years or so, with the appearance of sunspots following the same cycle. This period isn't consistent, however. Sometimes the interval between sunspot maxima is as short as nine years, other times as long as 14 years. At the moment the sun appears calm. "We're in the equivalent of an idyllic summer's day. The sun is quiet and benign, the quietest it has been for 100 years," says Mike Hapgood, who chairs the European Space Agency's space weather team, "but it could turn the other way." The next solar maximum is expected in 2012.
===========================================
-72 hours of health care remaining
-30 days of coal left
-4-10 years to recover
-15 minutes' warning
I hope you will check out the entire article here
Greg
There are so many things that we humans simply have no control over... This is apparently one of them... May the Lord God / Allah help us all...
Excerpts below... check out the entire article here
---
===========================================
IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power.
A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation's infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation. Europe, Scandinavia, China and Japan are also struggling to recover from the same fateful event - a violent storm, 150 million kilometres away on the surface of the sun.
It sounds ridiculous. Surely the sun couldn't create so profound a disaster on Earth. Yet an extraordinary report funded by NASA and issued by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in January this year claims it could do just that.
===========================================
===========================================
Help is not coming any time soon, either. If it is dark from the eastern seaboard to Chicago, some affected areas are hundreds, maybe thousands of miles away from anyone who might help. And those willing to help are likely to be ill-equipped to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster. "If a Carrington event happened now, it would be like a hurricane Katrina, but 10 times worse," says Paul Kintner, a plasma physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
In reality, it would be much worse than that. Hurricane Katrina's societal and economic impact has been measured at $81 billion to $125 billion. According to the NAS report, the impact of what it terms a "severe geomagnetic storm scenario" could be as high as $2 trillion. And that's just the first year after the storm. The NAS puts the recovery time at four to 10 years. It is questionable whether the US would ever bounce back.
===========================================
===========================================
The report outlines the worst case scenario for the US. The "perfect storm" is most likely on a spring or autumn night in a year of heightened solar activity - something like 2012. Around the equinoxes, the orientation of the Earth's field to the sun makes us particularly vulnerable to a plasma strike.
===========================================
===========================================
When hell comes to Earth
Severe space weather events often coincide with the appearance of sunspots, which are indicators of particularly intense magnetic fields at the sun's surface.
The chaotic motion of charged particles in the upper atmosphere of the sun creates magnetic fields that writhe, twist and turn, and occasionally snap and reconfigure themselves in what is known as a "reconnection". These reconnection events are violent, and can fling out billions of tonness of plasma in a "coronal mass ejection" (CME).
If flung towards the Earth, the plasma ball will accelerate as it travels through space and its intense magnetic field will soon interact with the planet's magnetic field, the magnetosphere. Depending on the relative orientation of the two fields, several things can happen. If the fields are oriented in the same direction, they slip round one another. In the worst case scenario, though, when the field of a particularly energetic CME opposes the Earth's field, things get much more dramatic. "The Earth can't cope with the plasma," says James Green, head of NASA's planetary division. "The CME just opens up the magnetosphere like a can-opener, and matter squirts in."
The sun's activity waxes and wanes every 11 years or so, with the appearance of sunspots following the same cycle. This period isn't consistent, however. Sometimes the interval between sunspot maxima is as short as nine years, other times as long as 14 years. At the moment the sun appears calm. "We're in the equivalent of an idyllic summer's day. The sun is quiet and benign, the quietest it has been for 100 years," says Mike Hapgood, who chairs the European Space Agency's space weather team, "but it could turn the other way." The next solar maximum is expected in 2012.
===========================================
-72 hours of health care remaining
-30 days of coal left
-4-10 years to recover
-15 minutes' warning
I hope you will check out the entire article here
Greg
Friday, March 12, 2010
Let's see if I got this right
---
Got this in an email but thought I would like to share with whomever happens by here ;)
==========================================
IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.
IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.
IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.
IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.
IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR
FATE WILL BE SEALED.
IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON
TO ROT.
IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET
1 - A JOB,
2 - A DRIVERS LICENSE,
3 - SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,
4 - WELFARE,
5 - FOOD STAMPS,
6 - CREDIT CARDS,
7 - SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
8 - FREE EDUCATION,
9 - FREE HEALTH CARE,
10 - A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON
11 - BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE
12 - THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION...
===========================================
Greg
Got this in an email but thought I would like to share with whomever happens by here ;)
==========================================
IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.
IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.
IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.
IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.
IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR
FATE WILL BE SEALED.
IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON
TO ROT.
IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET
1 - A JOB,
2 - A DRIVERS LICENSE,
3 - SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,
4 - WELFARE,
5 - FOOD STAMPS,
6 - CREDIT CARDS,
7 - SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
8 - FREE EDUCATION,
9 - FREE HEALTH CARE,
10 - A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON
11 - BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE
12 - THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION...
===========================================
Greg
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Economic Reality
---
As the government of the United States and it's cohorts in the federal reserve banking system and large corporations continue to play with economic numbers in every way they can figure out in an attempt to paint a rosy picture for Americans still fortunate enough to have a job many 'other things' are saying otherwise...
The SPX, the S&P 500 if you will, is/was up 69% from it's March 2009 lows... We hear talk everyday about how the economy is improving and things are getting better... The banks are once again making lots and lots of profits trading the markets with money freshly printed by the Federal Reserve... The Greatest Depression has been 'avoided', or so we are told...
Do you read your local newspaper? Do you see the same things going on that I see on a daily basis?
Phone customers seeing added tax on monthly bill
Yesterday was an article about how the state of Missouri won a law suit against the evil phone company AT&T... HOORAY! we say... But, as a result of having to pay a settlement to the state of Missouri for wrong doing AT&T raised our phone rates 1.99 a month... AT&T isn't going to bear the cost of losing a law suit... No corporation is... They ALWAYS simply pass the cost on to consumers... us...
Now is an extra 1.99 a month going to send me to the poor house? No... But what our leaders at every level of government fail to understand is that it isn't JUST one company that is reaching into our pockets! It's more like ALL of them! At the SAME TIME! In a HORRIBLE economy (regardless of what 'they' say)...
Today's paper is full of MORE 'good' news.. (sarcasm)
The forcing through, ramming down our throats, of a health care reform plan that NO ONE WANTS!
Missouri cutting highway spending
MoDOT is eliminating 400 salaried positions by immediately instituting a hiring freeze on 75% of positions that become vacant. For God's sake, don't quit your job guys and gals... Their plan also includes cutting spending for inventory, vehicles and maintenance... MoDOT will also reduce the number of offices and buildings it owns... In other words they will be selling off assets due to budget shortfalls...
Health centers facing cuts in state funding
-Slow economy drives need, tough choices in health care
"State lawmakers in Missouri next week are expected to start reviewing a bill that would cut state funding for federally qualified health centers like 'Access Family Care'", (our own).
"Lawmakers need to make budget cuts amid a still struggling economy, but health officials say that weakness is likely to fuel an increase in demand for services that could be cut -- in this case, for services like Access.
Access Family Care is the only federally qualified health center in the Joplin area, and it uses a sliding fee schedule based on household income for uninsured and Medicaid patients.
Three area clinics saw a total of 40,000 patients last year (2009). Total patient visits increased 26% in 2009 as compared to 2008. Missouri has a total of 23 federally qualified health centers. A bill approved Feb 16th would eliminate the entire 9.25 million dollars in state grants that normally go to the health centers.
Dr. Charles Bentlage, medical director for Access Family Care, said the cuts would be coming at a time when Access is seeing "an ever increasing demand for services that we provide."
Of course our local paper was unable to contact any of the representatives for comments on the issue... Par for the course huh?
These "health centers" are "federally qualified" but about to go out of the business of helping cash strapped Americans due to budget cuts and the economy... And yet we are expected to believe that the federal government can effiently run our entire health care system???
And just one more story from today that I'd like to touch on...
Board narrowly OKs closing nearly half of K.C.'s schools
The Kansas City school board narrowly approved a plan Wednesday night to close nearly half the district's schools in a desperate bid to avoid a potential bankruptcy.
It seems the district is facing a 50 million dollar budget shortfall...
The approved plan calls for shuttering 29 of 61 schools -- a striking amount even as public school closures rise nationwide while the recession eats away at academic budgets.
Under the approved plan, buildings will be shuttered before the next school year. Teachers at six other low-performing schools will be required to reapply for their jobs, and the district will sell it's downtown central office. About 700 of the district's 3,000 jobs-- including 285 teachers--also are expectd to be cut.
Add to that 'stuff' the fact that Empire District Electric Company, our own profitable utility company, has proposed a 20% rate increase... All utilities are going up. The cost of everything is already rising. Inflation is already occurring... Every single entity in this country is currently desperately seeking ONE THING! MORE MONEY! From the federal government to local governments at every level, pension funds that can't be funded, government employees that can't be paid, to every corporation, all seeing sales slump, to every American, employed and unemployed alike...
American's cannot BEAR any more of the burden's of this collapsing economy... period.
Does any of this sound like an economy that's improving to you???
It is my own personal opinion that everything will continue to get worse... not better... Tax revenue has totally collapsed everywhere... It is my own personal opinion that eventually the entire fabric of our society will collapse as well.
This is the price everyone pays for completely unsustainable debt and an economy built entirely as a house of cards by people "leaders" who should have known better...
Greg
As the government of the United States and it's cohorts in the federal reserve banking system and large corporations continue to play with economic numbers in every way they can figure out in an attempt to paint a rosy picture for Americans still fortunate enough to have a job many 'other things' are saying otherwise...
The SPX, the S&P 500 if you will, is/was up 69% from it's March 2009 lows... We hear talk everyday about how the economy is improving and things are getting better... The banks are once again making lots and lots of profits trading the markets with money freshly printed by the Federal Reserve... The Greatest Depression has been 'avoided', or so we are told...
Do you read your local newspaper? Do you see the same things going on that I see on a daily basis?
Phone customers seeing added tax on monthly bill
Yesterday was an article about how the state of Missouri won a law suit against the evil phone company AT&T... HOORAY! we say... But, as a result of having to pay a settlement to the state of Missouri for wrong doing AT&T raised our phone rates 1.99 a month... AT&T isn't going to bear the cost of losing a law suit... No corporation is... They ALWAYS simply pass the cost on to consumers... us...
Now is an extra 1.99 a month going to send me to the poor house? No... But what our leaders at every level of government fail to understand is that it isn't JUST one company that is reaching into our pockets! It's more like ALL of them! At the SAME TIME! In a HORRIBLE economy (regardless of what 'they' say)...
Today's paper is full of MORE 'good' news.. (sarcasm)
The forcing through, ramming down our throats, of a health care reform plan that NO ONE WANTS!
Missouri cutting highway spending
MoDOT is eliminating 400 salaried positions by immediately instituting a hiring freeze on 75% of positions that become vacant. For God's sake, don't quit your job guys and gals... Their plan also includes cutting spending for inventory, vehicles and maintenance... MoDOT will also reduce the number of offices and buildings it owns... In other words they will be selling off assets due to budget shortfalls...
Health centers facing cuts in state funding
-Slow economy drives need, tough choices in health care
"State lawmakers in Missouri next week are expected to start reviewing a bill that would cut state funding for federally qualified health centers like 'Access Family Care'", (our own).
"Lawmakers need to make budget cuts amid a still struggling economy, but health officials say that weakness is likely to fuel an increase in demand for services that could be cut -- in this case, for services like Access.
Access Family Care is the only federally qualified health center in the Joplin area, and it uses a sliding fee schedule based on household income for uninsured and Medicaid patients.
Three area clinics saw a total of 40,000 patients last year (2009). Total patient visits increased 26% in 2009 as compared to 2008. Missouri has a total of 23 federally qualified health centers. A bill approved Feb 16th would eliminate the entire 9.25 million dollars in state grants that normally go to the health centers.
Dr. Charles Bentlage, medical director for Access Family Care, said the cuts would be coming at a time when Access is seeing "an ever increasing demand for services that we provide."
Of course our local paper was unable to contact any of the representatives for comments on the issue... Par for the course huh?
These "health centers" are "federally qualified" but about to go out of the business of helping cash strapped Americans due to budget cuts and the economy... And yet we are expected to believe that the federal government can effiently run our entire health care system???
And just one more story from today that I'd like to touch on...
Board narrowly OKs closing nearly half of K.C.'s schools
The Kansas City school board narrowly approved a plan Wednesday night to close nearly half the district's schools in a desperate bid to avoid a potential bankruptcy.
It seems the district is facing a 50 million dollar budget shortfall...
The approved plan calls for shuttering 29 of 61 schools -- a striking amount even as public school closures rise nationwide while the recession eats away at academic budgets.
Under the approved plan, buildings will be shuttered before the next school year. Teachers at six other low-performing schools will be required to reapply for their jobs, and the district will sell it's downtown central office. About 700 of the district's 3,000 jobs-- including 285 teachers--also are expectd to be cut.
Add to that 'stuff' the fact that Empire District Electric Company, our own profitable utility company, has proposed a 20% rate increase... All utilities are going up. The cost of everything is already rising. Inflation is already occurring... Every single entity in this country is currently desperately seeking ONE THING! MORE MONEY! From the federal government to local governments at every level, pension funds that can't be funded, government employees that can't be paid, to every corporation, all seeing sales slump, to every American, employed and unemployed alike...
American's cannot BEAR any more of the burden's of this collapsing economy... period.
Does any of this sound like an economy that's improving to you???
It is my own personal opinion that everything will continue to get worse... not better... Tax revenue has totally collapsed everywhere... It is my own personal opinion that eventually the entire fabric of our society will collapse as well.
This is the price everyone pays for completely unsustainable debt and an economy built entirely as a house of cards by people "leaders" who should have known better...
Greg
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Swaps That Swallowed Your Town -NYT
Excerpted from an article in the New York Times
Our f'ing American financial 'genius' at work... (I'm the one that said that... Not the NYT... ;)
---
As more details surface about how derivatives helped Greece and perhaps other countries mask their debt loads, let’s not forget that the wonders of these complex products aren’t on display only overseas. Across our very own country, municipalities, school districts, sewer systems and other tax-exempt debt issuers are ensnared in the derivatives mess.
Like the credit default swaps that hid Greece’s obligations, the instruments weighing on our municipalities were brought to us by the creative minds of Wall Street. The rocket scientists crafting the products got backup from swap advisers, a group of conflicted promoters who consulted municipalities and other issuers. Both of these camps peddled swaps as a way for tax-exempt debt issuers to reduce their financing costs.
Now, however, the promised benefits of these swaps have mutated into enormous, and sometimes smothering, expenses. Making matters worse, issuers who want out of the arrangements — swap contracts typically run for 30 years — must pay up in order to escape.
Critics of swaps hope that increased taxpayer awareness of these souring deals will force municipalities to think twice. “When municipalities enter into these swaps they end up paying more and receiving much less,” said Andy Kalotay, an expert in fixed income.
Please see the full article here
Greg
Our f'ing American financial 'genius' at work... (I'm the one that said that... Not the NYT... ;)
---
As more details surface about how derivatives helped Greece and perhaps other countries mask their debt loads, let’s not forget that the wonders of these complex products aren’t on display only overseas. Across our very own country, municipalities, school districts, sewer systems and other tax-exempt debt issuers are ensnared in the derivatives mess.
Like the credit default swaps that hid Greece’s obligations, the instruments weighing on our municipalities were brought to us by the creative minds of Wall Street. The rocket scientists crafting the products got backup from swap advisers, a group of conflicted promoters who consulted municipalities and other issuers. Both of these camps peddled swaps as a way for tax-exempt debt issuers to reduce their financing costs.
Now, however, the promised benefits of these swaps have mutated into enormous, and sometimes smothering, expenses. Making matters worse, issuers who want out of the arrangements — swap contracts typically run for 30 years — must pay up in order to escape.
Critics of swaps hope that increased taxpayer awareness of these souring deals will force municipalities to think twice. “When municipalities enter into these swaps they end up paying more and receiving much less,” said Andy Kalotay, an expert in fixed income.
Please see the full article here
Greg
#Insurance salesmen from #Hell
---
Is what *I* have been calling the Democrats lately... Now it seems I even have it in their own words! lol
It is *my* contention that our kleptocratic government is about figuring out a way to PRY money out of the pockets of Americans in order to hand it over to the health care industry including insurance companies, drug companies, hospitals and doctors.
Of course it is vital that 'they' do this in a such a way as to completely avoid the word bailout...
It certainly seems to *me* that what the White House is interested in is NOT making quality affordable health CARE available to all Americans... What they seem interested in, to me, is selling insurance to every single American in the country... And their recurrent 'threat' seems to be "IF you continue to REFUSE to buy the PRODUCT we are offering/SELLING we will simply pass a LAW that REQUIRES you to purchase it!"
So here, now, in today's paper, in their own words...
============================================
-Quote: George Miller D-California, Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee
"You've got to go out and SELL that PRODUCT and stop worrying about the process, and the president is a VERY POWERFUL SALESMAN for that PRODUCT."
============================================
The emphasis, through capitalization, is my own...
This is my whole point... Americans are NOT INTERESTED in talking to slick insurance sales people... It is access to health CARE that Americans want... NOT an insurance salesman who has the POWER to FORCE the purchase of their PRODUCT through the force of LAW!
Greg
Is what *I* have been calling the Democrats lately... Now it seems I even have it in their own words! lol
It is *my* contention that our kleptocratic government is about figuring out a way to PRY money out of the pockets of Americans in order to hand it over to the health care industry including insurance companies, drug companies, hospitals and doctors.
Of course it is vital that 'they' do this in a such a way as to completely avoid the word bailout...
It certainly seems to *me* that what the White House is interested in is NOT making quality affordable health CARE available to all Americans... What they seem interested in, to me, is selling insurance to every single American in the country... And their recurrent 'threat' seems to be "IF you continue to REFUSE to buy the PRODUCT we are offering/SELLING we will simply pass a LAW that REQUIRES you to purchase it!"
So here, now, in today's paper, in their own words...
============================================
-Quote: George Miller D-California, Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee
"You've got to go out and SELL that PRODUCT and stop worrying about the process, and the president is a VERY POWERFUL SALESMAN for that PRODUCT."
============================================
The emphasis, through capitalization, is my own...
This is my whole point... Americans are NOT INTERESTED in talking to slick insurance sales people... It is access to health CARE that Americans want... NOT an insurance salesman who has the POWER to FORCE the purchase of their PRODUCT through the force of LAW!
Greg
Friday, March 5, 2010
The World Economic and Geo-Political Game Plan Unveiled
The following short excert is from The World Economic and Geo-Political Game Plan Unveiled - on Emergent Culture (dot com)
==========================================
If one studies the collapse of civilizations, one learns that failure-to-adapt is fatal. Continuing on the path of pursuing growth would be such a failure to adapt. And if one reads the financial pages these days, one finds that it is full of doomsayers.
We read that the Eurozone is doomed, and Greece is just the first casualty. We read that stimulus packages are not working, unemployment is increasing, the dollar is in deep trouble, growth continues to stagnate, business real estate will be the next bubble to burst, etc. It is easy to get the impression that capitalism is failing to adapt, and that our societies are in danger of collapsing into chaos.
===========================================
Gee whiz! I thought *I* was the ONLY ONE who thought that!
===========================================
Also from this important post
---
In order to clear the way for the carbon-credit economy, it will be necessary for Western currencies to collapse, to become worthless, as nations become increasingly insolvent, and the global financial system continues to be systematically dismantled. The carbon currency will be introduced as an enlightened, progressive ’solution’ to the crisis, a currency linked to something real, and to sustainability. The old monetary system will be demonized, and again the mythology will contain much that is true…
===========================================
And...
===========================================
The catastrophe is upon us and it’s called Western Civilization version one gasping for its last few breaths as it strives to maintain the status quo at all costs.
2012 is the culmination of a process not an event. We are in the throes of that process now. Its called the birth of a Planetary Culture and the decline of Western modeled world.
Any bright future lies in the hands of a Planetary Culture built upon the principles of egalitarianism, gender balance, non-violence & ecology.
2012 is meaningful if only because humanity stands at a crossroads. We will have to make near future decisions that will either worsen our socio-environmental problems or begin to solve them.
===========================================
You really should click the link above and read the full article. Great stuff, as usual, from our friends at Emergent Culture. Check there often and you will KNOW what TF is going on... Whether you want to or not... lol
The World Economic and Geo-Political Game Plan Unveiled - on Emergent Culture (dot com)
Greg
==========================================
If one studies the collapse of civilizations, one learns that failure-to-adapt is fatal. Continuing on the path of pursuing growth would be such a failure to adapt. And if one reads the financial pages these days, one finds that it is full of doomsayers.
We read that the Eurozone is doomed, and Greece is just the first casualty. We read that stimulus packages are not working, unemployment is increasing, the dollar is in deep trouble, growth continues to stagnate, business real estate will be the next bubble to burst, etc. It is easy to get the impression that capitalism is failing to adapt, and that our societies are in danger of collapsing into chaos.
===========================================
Gee whiz! I thought *I* was the ONLY ONE who thought that!
===========================================
Also from this important post
---
In order to clear the way for the carbon-credit economy, it will be necessary for Western currencies to collapse, to become worthless, as nations become increasingly insolvent, and the global financial system continues to be systematically dismantled. The carbon currency will be introduced as an enlightened, progressive ’solution’ to the crisis, a currency linked to something real, and to sustainability. The old monetary system will be demonized, and again the mythology will contain much that is true…
===========================================
And...
===========================================
The catastrophe is upon us and it’s called Western Civilization version one gasping for its last few breaths as it strives to maintain the status quo at all costs.
2012 is the culmination of a process not an event. We are in the throes of that process now. Its called the birth of a Planetary Culture and the decline of Western modeled world.
Any bright future lies in the hands of a Planetary Culture built upon the principles of egalitarianism, gender balance, non-violence & ecology.
2012 is meaningful if only because humanity stands at a crossroads. We will have to make near future decisions that will either worsen our socio-environmental problems or begin to solve them.
===========================================
You really should click the link above and read the full article. Great stuff, as usual, from our friends at Emergent Culture. Check there often and you will KNOW what TF is going on... Whether you want to or not... lol
The World Economic and Geo-Political Game Plan Unveiled - on Emergent Culture (dot com)
Greg
Well, here's your problem... dumba$$
---
Jeeze... here's the type of 'stuff' that's going on around where *I* live... What does your local newspaper look like?
Neosho, little town about 13 miles from the huge metropolis of Joplin, MO.
Do you see these stories in your local paper too?
Due to the Great Recession it seems a little ways back that Neosho ran into some problems coming up with enough money to make payroll and meet other City obligations...
===========================================
From the Joplin Globe: Officials confirm firing of Neosho city manager
City Manager, Jan Blase was hired by Neosho in May 2006, with city officials touting his credentials in urban planning and development. Blase had previous posts as a city administrator or a community development official in Forsyth, Nixa and Branson.
During his tenure, Neosho attracted $17 million in federal, state and private investment for a host of projects. Voters also passed three separate ballot measures totaling $21.5 million to finance transportation, water and sewer projects.
Blase also had become a target of criticism for what some charged to be overspending, lax oversight and mismanagement. The city had added positions in recent years, only to institute layoffs and pay cuts last year. Blase last month said the city faced a cash-flow “crisis,” and that additional borrowing and cuts, and perhaps a restored property tax, could be needed for the city to escape insolvency.
Blase had acknowledged that the city’s fund for general operations, excluding the golf course and water and sewer services, had borrowed from a state loan earmarked for construction of new airport hangars, and from hotel-motel tax revenue, water and sewer money, and sales taxes due to the city’s tax increment financing fund. The borrowing of the hotel-motel tax revenue formed the basis of misdemeanor charges of official misconduct filed earlier this month against Blase and former city Finance Director Bob Blackwood.
Blase’s position
Jan Blase has said the city’s financial woes stemmed primarily from the recession and the city’s reliance on sales tax, a fluctuating revenue source for a city that is neither a tourist nor shopping destination. He also argued that he had been the subject of orchestrated political attacks, although he did not identify individuals.
===========================================
Mr Blase has been 'relived of his duties'... What a relief it must be lol But, incredibly, I think he is considering appealing his firing and fighting to get his job back. These politicians really DO hate unemployment. Especially when it is they who are unemployed lol
So that's a brief little taste of what has been going on in Neosho, MO lately lol
The point that *I* would like to make with this post is how close the City of Neosho's 'answers' are to the decisions being made by our kleptocratic government on the national level...
You see Neosho's 'problem' seems to be that they do not have enough money to pay for City projects with huge cost overruns, pension fund obligations, payroll! lol
So it appears their 'answer' to these problems is going to be...
1> Borrow 1.3 MILLION dollars... Seems they are going to HAVE to borrow money to avoid defaulting on their debt... Becoming that nasty 'insolvent' word... They have some really cool way they can do it WITHOUT voter approval too lol It's something called Certificates of Participation (Certainly SOUNDS wonderful enough ;) And somehow magically that allows the City to 'take on additional debt' with only a vote of the City council. How convenient for them that no voter 'participation' is required huh? lol
2> Come up with, someday... maybe... $300,000.00 in something really strange called 'spending cuts'. I HAVE heard of those... though I'm not real sure if I have ever actually SEEN any of them lol
3> BORROW an additional $425,000.00 (Gee... that's more than the 'proposed' spending 'cuts' right there... Something about that seems a little strange ;)
4> Raise taxes and or create brand new taxes that don't even exist right now... Seems the 'City' of Neosho has NO property tax. So they're talking about adding one, to get some money from people... pesky tax payers anyway... Of course at least a portion of the additional 'borrowing' will be shouldered by tax payers as well...
It seems the City feels that 'borrowing' another 1.75 MILLION dollars and raising/creating taxes will "create an environment" in which the 'city' and a 'planning committee' could START charting a course for long-term financial stability...
START?! Where TF have they been up to now? What? Have they been 'charting a course' for long-term financial INSTABILITY up till now?! Apparently so lol Like SO many other towns, cities, counties, states and governments everywhere lol
But on to those 'proposed' spending cuts for a moment...
It appears who they want to kill, oops... I mean cut... "a combination of spending reductions in the police, fire and parks and recreation departments, and from something called 'deferred grant projects'
My point here is that tax revenue has collapsed all over the country in just about any little burg you want to look at. Tax revenue has collapsed and is still collapsing at every level of government! It seems that every level of government has over spent, over borrowed, according to them, under-taxed and now they are ALL paying the price at once.
It doesn't take much of a leap to push the actions being taken by the city of Neosho onto the national scene...
The obama administration has put a massive effort into protecting state level government union jobs from the ravages of this recession. Those same policemen, fire fighters, teachers and auto workers. If you are fortunate enough to be a union member you likely have been holding up better than most of the rest of America...
But cuts will become mandatory even on the national level at some point... Especially as they continue to take the same actions as the city of Neosho.
Which is to 'borrow your way out of debt'...
Thank God for China's willingness to loan the United States money FOREVER with no expectation of ever being repaid... lol
Look around people... The markets look great don't they? And the talking heads on TV seem to think 'things' are improving, though slowly.
Look around a little. Look at your own cities finances, your states finances.
Maybe there are even some good ones out there.
But somehow I just don't think so...
Greg
insolvency: n. 1) the condition of having more debts (liabilities) than total assets which might be available to pay them, even if the assets were mortgaged or sold. 2) a determination by a bankruptcy court that a person or business cannot raise the funds to pay all of his/her debts. The court will then "discharge" (forgive) some or all of the debts, leaving those creditors holding the bag and not getting what is owed them.
Jeeze... here's the type of 'stuff' that's going on around where *I* live... What does your local newspaper look like?
Neosho, little town about 13 miles from the huge metropolis of Joplin, MO.
Do you see these stories in your local paper too?
Due to the Great Recession it seems a little ways back that Neosho ran into some problems coming up with enough money to make payroll and meet other City obligations...
===========================================
From the Joplin Globe: Officials confirm firing of Neosho city manager
City Manager, Jan Blase was hired by Neosho in May 2006, with city officials touting his credentials in urban planning and development. Blase had previous posts as a city administrator or a community development official in Forsyth, Nixa and Branson.
During his tenure, Neosho attracted $17 million in federal, state and private investment for a host of projects. Voters also passed three separate ballot measures totaling $21.5 million to finance transportation, water and sewer projects.
Blase also had become a target of criticism for what some charged to be overspending, lax oversight and mismanagement. The city had added positions in recent years, only to institute layoffs and pay cuts last year. Blase last month said the city faced a cash-flow “crisis,” and that additional borrowing and cuts, and perhaps a restored property tax, could be needed for the city to escape insolvency.
Blase had acknowledged that the city’s fund for general operations, excluding the golf course and water and sewer services, had borrowed from a state loan earmarked for construction of new airport hangars, and from hotel-motel tax revenue, water and sewer money, and sales taxes due to the city’s tax increment financing fund. The borrowing of the hotel-motel tax revenue formed the basis of misdemeanor charges of official misconduct filed earlier this month against Blase and former city Finance Director Bob Blackwood.
Blase’s position
Jan Blase has said the city’s financial woes stemmed primarily from the recession and the city’s reliance on sales tax, a fluctuating revenue source for a city that is neither a tourist nor shopping destination. He also argued that he had been the subject of orchestrated political attacks, although he did not identify individuals.
===========================================
Mr Blase has been 'relived of his duties'... What a relief it must be lol But, incredibly, I think he is considering appealing his firing and fighting to get his job back. These politicians really DO hate unemployment. Especially when it is they who are unemployed lol
So that's a brief little taste of what has been going on in Neosho, MO lately lol
The point that *I* would like to make with this post is how close the City of Neosho's 'answers' are to the decisions being made by our kleptocratic government on the national level...
You see Neosho's 'problem' seems to be that they do not have enough money to pay for City projects with huge cost overruns, pension fund obligations, payroll! lol
So it appears their 'answer' to these problems is going to be...
1> Borrow 1.3 MILLION dollars... Seems they are going to HAVE to borrow money to avoid defaulting on their debt... Becoming that nasty 'insolvent' word... They have some really cool way they can do it WITHOUT voter approval too lol It's something called Certificates of Participation (Certainly SOUNDS wonderful enough ;) And somehow magically that allows the City to 'take on additional debt' with only a vote of the City council. How convenient for them that no voter 'participation' is required huh? lol
2> Come up with, someday... maybe... $300,000.00 in something really strange called 'spending cuts'. I HAVE heard of those... though I'm not real sure if I have ever actually SEEN any of them lol
3> BORROW an additional $425,000.00 (Gee... that's more than the 'proposed' spending 'cuts' right there... Something about that seems a little strange ;)
4> Raise taxes and or create brand new taxes that don't even exist right now... Seems the 'City' of Neosho has NO property tax. So they're talking about adding one, to get some money from people... pesky tax payers anyway... Of course at least a portion of the additional 'borrowing' will be shouldered by tax payers as well...
It seems the City feels that 'borrowing' another 1.75 MILLION dollars and raising/creating taxes will "create an environment" in which the 'city' and a 'planning committee' could START charting a course for long-term financial stability...
START?! Where TF have they been up to now? What? Have they been 'charting a course' for long-term financial INSTABILITY up till now?! Apparently so lol Like SO many other towns, cities, counties, states and governments everywhere lol
But on to those 'proposed' spending cuts for a moment...
It appears who they want to kill, oops... I mean cut... "a combination of spending reductions in the police, fire and parks and recreation departments, and from something called 'deferred grant projects'
My point here is that tax revenue has collapsed all over the country in just about any little burg you want to look at. Tax revenue has collapsed and is still collapsing at every level of government! It seems that every level of government has over spent, over borrowed, according to them, under-taxed and now they are ALL paying the price at once.
It doesn't take much of a leap to push the actions being taken by the city of Neosho onto the national scene...
The obama administration has put a massive effort into protecting state level government union jobs from the ravages of this recession. Those same policemen, fire fighters, teachers and auto workers. If you are fortunate enough to be a union member you likely have been holding up better than most of the rest of America...
But cuts will become mandatory even on the national level at some point... Especially as they continue to take the same actions as the city of Neosho.
Which is to 'borrow your way out of debt'...
Thank God for China's willingness to loan the United States money FOREVER with no expectation of ever being repaid... lol
Look around people... The markets look great don't they? And the talking heads on TV seem to think 'things' are improving, though slowly.
Look around a little. Look at your own cities finances, your states finances.
Maybe there are even some good ones out there.
But somehow I just don't think so...
Greg
insolvency: n. 1) the condition of having more debts (liabilities) than total assets which might be available to pay them, even if the assets were mortgaged or sold. 2) a determination by a bankruptcy court that a person or business cannot raise the funds to pay all of his/her debts. The court will then "discharge" (forgive) some or all of the debts, leaving those creditors holding the bag and not getting what is owed them.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
THE #Wal-Mart #Healthcare Solution
---
I have been thinking about this for awhile...
400 Health Clinics to Open in Wal-Mart Stores During Next Three Years
Up to 2,000 Could Open Over Next Five to Seven Years
This full article is here
==========================================
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 24, 2007 – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (NYSE: WMT) intends to contract with local hospitals and other organizations to open as many as 400 in-store health clinics over the next two to three years, and if current market forces continue, up to 2,000 clinics could be in Wal-Mart stores over the next five to seven years, Wal-Mart president and CEO Lee Scott will say in a speech later today at the World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C. The clinic program’s expansion is just the latest in a series of moves by Wal-Mart to help implement customer solutions to America’s health care crisis, including the $4 generic drug prescription program, health information technology and participation in a major coalition supporting comprehensive healthcare reform by 2012.
“We think the clinics will be a great opportunity for our business. But most importantly, they are going to provide something our customers and communities desperately need – affordable access at the local level to quality health care,” Scott says.
===========================================
Also found this
===========================================
Wal-Mart Clinics
In-store clinic at Walmart
In-store retail clinics
We’re making it easy for customers to take advantage of convenient and affordable basic health care services. We lease space in our stores to independent local hospitals or health systems that the community already knows and trusts. Customers can receive medical care with no appointment necessary - and routine "get well" and "preventative" visits typically cost $50 to $65.
* The cost of every service the clinics offer will be clearly posted, bringing much needed price transparency to the health care industry.
* Many visitors have said that if it were not for our clinics, they would have forgone medical care — or they would have visited an emergency room.
* By visiting one of our clinics, patients receive the care they need and at the same time reduce overcrowding in emergency rooms and eliminate the costs of unnecessary hospital visits.
===========================================
And you know what? This certainly seems like a great start in addressing our nation's healthcare concerns to me...
I mean it's handled by private industry rather than government. I guess it's a for profit operation sure but like what we currently have isn't...
THIS is exactly what many Americans are looking for... Many Americans simply want to have the ability to purchase some health care at a reasonable price when/if they so NEED to do it...
We can certainly hold Wal-Mart to it's boastful claim: Always the Lowest Prices, Always
But access to actual health care at affordable prices is what's needed.,.. that's the point...
Contrast that with what our kleptocratic greedy corrupt "leaders" in Washington seek to do... 'They' aren't looking out for Americans 'they' are looking out for insurance companies. Gee whiz... even Denis Kucinich agrees that what the government is doing is a windfall for the insurance industry... 'They' are not trying to find ways to make quality, affordable health care accessible to Americans. 'They' are trying to FORCE every American to purchase a private product from a private industry. Completely unconstitutional, IMO. Suddenly our government has become the world's most active health care insurance sales force.
What?!
On top of that the bills currently in congress do little to nothing to control ever rising health care costs. And, further, they do nothing to prevent health care premiums from rising immediately and forever!
Why can Washington NOT understand that Americans are not seeking the ability to buy health care INSURANCE... but affordable health care SERVICES?!
I truly believe that Wal-Mart can be a big part of the answer here...
Why don't we just have government 'loan' Wal-Mart the money to kick their health clinic expansion into high gear? With a little interest even?
This way the private sector can address the problem thereby keeping government from becoming ever more entwined in our personal lives...
I don't expect anything of the sort to happen because, in my opinion, this entire health care debate is NOT about providing quality, affordable health care to all Americans. It's about government controlling a large part of our economy and it's about bailing out struggling health care insurance companies, drug companies/big pharma, hospitals and doctors...
Just follow the money... Our health care 'bubble' is bursting...
What our government seeks to do is bail them all out WITHOUT having to actually 'call' it a bailout. Seems that is a bit of a dirty word these days...
Wal-Mart's vision centers offer their services for about a THIRD of the cost of your fancy brandy vision centers. In my opinion, if you can't stand the idea of waiting a whole week to get your new glasses then you're just weird... lol
Wal-Mart normally does offer good value to it's customers. There is no denying that, it's a fact.
Think about it, please...
Greg
I have been thinking about this for awhile...
400 Health Clinics to Open in Wal-Mart Stores During Next Three Years
Up to 2,000 Could Open Over Next Five to Seven Years
This full article is here
==========================================
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 24, 2007 – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (NYSE: WMT) intends to contract with local hospitals and other organizations to open as many as 400 in-store health clinics over the next two to three years, and if current market forces continue, up to 2,000 clinics could be in Wal-Mart stores over the next five to seven years, Wal-Mart president and CEO Lee Scott will say in a speech later today at the World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C. The clinic program’s expansion is just the latest in a series of moves by Wal-Mart to help implement customer solutions to America’s health care crisis, including the $4 generic drug prescription program, health information technology and participation in a major coalition supporting comprehensive healthcare reform by 2012.
“We think the clinics will be a great opportunity for our business. But most importantly, they are going to provide something our customers and communities desperately need – affordable access at the local level to quality health care,” Scott says.
===========================================
Also found this
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Wal-Mart Clinics
In-store clinic at Walmart
In-store retail clinics
We’re making it easy for customers to take advantage of convenient and affordable basic health care services. We lease space in our stores to independent local hospitals or health systems that the community already knows and trusts. Customers can receive medical care with no appointment necessary - and routine "get well" and "preventative" visits typically cost $50 to $65.
* The cost of every service the clinics offer will be clearly posted, bringing much needed price transparency to the health care industry.
* Many visitors have said that if it were not for our clinics, they would have forgone medical care — or they would have visited an emergency room.
* By visiting one of our clinics, patients receive the care they need and at the same time reduce overcrowding in emergency rooms and eliminate the costs of unnecessary hospital visits.
===========================================
And you know what? This certainly seems like a great start in addressing our nation's healthcare concerns to me...
I mean it's handled by private industry rather than government. I guess it's a for profit operation sure but like what we currently have isn't...
THIS is exactly what many Americans are looking for... Many Americans simply want to have the ability to purchase some health care at a reasonable price when/if they so NEED to do it...
We can certainly hold Wal-Mart to it's boastful claim: Always the Lowest Prices, Always
But access to actual health care at affordable prices is what's needed.,.. that's the point...
Contrast that with what our kleptocratic greedy corrupt "leaders" in Washington seek to do... 'They' aren't looking out for Americans 'they' are looking out for insurance companies. Gee whiz... even Denis Kucinich agrees that what the government is doing is a windfall for the insurance industry... 'They' are not trying to find ways to make quality, affordable health care accessible to Americans. 'They' are trying to FORCE every American to purchase a private product from a private industry. Completely unconstitutional, IMO. Suddenly our government has become the world's most active health care insurance sales force.
What?!
On top of that the bills currently in congress do little to nothing to control ever rising health care costs. And, further, they do nothing to prevent health care premiums from rising immediately and forever!
Why can Washington NOT understand that Americans are not seeking the ability to buy health care INSURANCE... but affordable health care SERVICES?!
I truly believe that Wal-Mart can be a big part of the answer here...
Why don't we just have government 'loan' Wal-Mart the money to kick their health clinic expansion into high gear? With a little interest even?
This way the private sector can address the problem thereby keeping government from becoming ever more entwined in our personal lives...
I don't expect anything of the sort to happen because, in my opinion, this entire health care debate is NOT about providing quality, affordable health care to all Americans. It's about government controlling a large part of our economy and it's about bailing out struggling health care insurance companies, drug companies/big pharma, hospitals and doctors...
Just follow the money... Our health care 'bubble' is bursting...
What our government seeks to do is bail them all out WITHOUT having to actually 'call' it a bailout. Seems that is a bit of a dirty word these days...
Wal-Mart's vision centers offer their services for about a THIRD of the cost of your fancy brandy vision centers. In my opinion, if you can't stand the idea of waiting a whole week to get your new glasses then you're just weird... lol
Wal-Mart normally does offer good value to it's customers. There is no denying that, it's a fact.
Think about it, please...
Greg
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America - Part I
---
This is a small excerpt from an excellent series on what troubles America... I hope you will desire to continue reading it on the link provided below.
---
This is the first part of a six-part report. Part two will be posted on Wednesday. To be notified via email, subscribe to our newsletter here.
——-I: Casualties of Economic Terrorism, Surveying the Damage
——-II: The Rise of the Economic Elite
——-III: Exposing Our Enemy: Meet the Economic Elite
——-IV: The Financial Coup d’Etat
——-V: Overcoming the Divide and Conquer Strategy
——-VI: How to Fight Back and Win: Common Ground Issues That Must Be Won
“The American oligarchy spares no pains in promoting the belief that it does not exist, but the success of its disappearing act depends on equally strenuous efforts on the part of an American public anxious to believe in egalitarian fictions and unwilling to see what is hidden in plain sight.” — Michael Lind, To Have and to Have Not
The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America
It’s time for 99% of Americans to mobilize and aggressively move on common sense political reforms.
Yes, of course, we all have very strong differences of opinion on many issues. However, like our Founding Fathers before us, we must put aside our differences and unite to fight a common enemy.
It has now become evident to a critical mass that the Republican and Democratic parties, along with all three branches of our government, have been bought off by a well-organized Economic Elite who are tactically destroying our way of life. The harsh truth is that 99% of the US population no longer has political representation. The US economy, government and tax system is now blatantly rigged against us.
Current statistical societal indicators clearly demonstrate that a strategic attack has been launched and an analysis of current governmental policies prove that conditions for 99% of Americans will continue to deteriorate. The Economic Elite have engineered a financial coup and have brought war to our doorstep. . . and make no mistake, they have launched a war to eliminate the US middle class.
To those who feel I am using extreme rhetoric, I ask you to please take a few minutes of your time to hear me out and research the evidence put forth. The facts are there for the unprejudiced, rational and reasoned mind to absorb. It is the unfortunate reality of our current crisis.
Unless we all unite and organize on common ground, our very way of life and the ideals that our country was founded upon will continue to unravel.
Before exposing exactly who the Economic Elite are, and discussing common sense ways in which we can defeat them, let’s take a look at how much damage they have already caused.
I: Casualties of Economic Terrorism, Surveying the Damage
The devastating numbers across-the-board on the economic front are staggering. I’ll go through some of them here, many we have already become all too familiar with. We hear some of these numbers all the time, so much so that it appears as if we have already begun “to normalize the unthinkable.” You may be sick of hearing them, but behind each number is an enormous amount of individual suffering, American lives and families who are struggling worse than they ever have.
America is the richest nation in history, yet we now have the highest poverty rate in the industrialized world with an unprecedented number of Americans living in dire straits and over 50 million citizens already living in poverty.
The government has come up with clever ways to downplay all of these numbers, but we have over 50 million people who need to use food stamps to eat, and a stunning 50% of US children will use a food stamp to eat at some point in their childhood. Approximately 20,000 people are added to this total every day. In 2009, one out of five US households didn’t have enough money to buy food. In households with children, this number rose to 24%, as the hunger rate among US citizens has now reached an all time high.
We also currently have over 50 million US citizens without healthcare. 1.4 million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2009, a 32% increase from 2008. As bankruptcies continue to skyrocket, medical bankruptcies are responsible for over 60% of them, and over 75% of the medical bankruptcies filed are from people who have healthcare insurance. We have the most expensive healthcare system in the world, we are forced to pay twice as much as other countries and the overall care we get in return ranks 37th in the world.
In total, Americans have lost $5 trillion from their pensions and savings since the economic crisis began and $13 trillion in the value of their homes. During the first full year of the crisis, workers between the age of 55 - 60, who have worked for 20 - 29 years, have lost an average of 25% off their 401k. “Personal debt has risen from 65% of income in 1980 to 125% today.” Over five million US families have already lost their homes, in total 13 million US families are expected to lose their home by 2014, with 25% of current mortgages underwater. Deutsche Bank has an even grimmer prediction: “The percentage of ‘underwater’ loans may rise to 48 percent, or 25 million homes.” Every day 10,000 US homes enter foreclosure. Statistics show that an increasing number of these people are not finding shelter elsewhere, there are now over 3 million homeless Americans, the fastest growing segment of the homeless population is single parents with children.
Please find the complete article and the balance of this important series here
Greg
This is a small excerpt from an excellent series on what troubles America... I hope you will desire to continue reading it on the link provided below.
---
This is the first part of a six-part report. Part two will be posted on Wednesday. To be notified via email, subscribe to our newsletter here.
——-I: Casualties of Economic Terrorism, Surveying the Damage
——-II: The Rise of the Economic Elite
——-III: Exposing Our Enemy: Meet the Economic Elite
——-IV: The Financial Coup d’Etat
——-V: Overcoming the Divide and Conquer Strategy
——-VI: How to Fight Back and Win: Common Ground Issues That Must Be Won
“The American oligarchy spares no pains in promoting the belief that it does not exist, but the success of its disappearing act depends on equally strenuous efforts on the part of an American public anxious to believe in egalitarian fictions and unwilling to see what is hidden in plain sight.” — Michael Lind, To Have and to Have Not
The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America
It’s time for 99% of Americans to mobilize and aggressively move on common sense political reforms.
Yes, of course, we all have very strong differences of opinion on many issues. However, like our Founding Fathers before us, we must put aside our differences and unite to fight a common enemy.
It has now become evident to a critical mass that the Republican and Democratic parties, along with all three branches of our government, have been bought off by a well-organized Economic Elite who are tactically destroying our way of life. The harsh truth is that 99% of the US population no longer has political representation. The US economy, government and tax system is now blatantly rigged against us.
Current statistical societal indicators clearly demonstrate that a strategic attack has been launched and an analysis of current governmental policies prove that conditions for 99% of Americans will continue to deteriorate. The Economic Elite have engineered a financial coup and have brought war to our doorstep. . . and make no mistake, they have launched a war to eliminate the US middle class.
To those who feel I am using extreme rhetoric, I ask you to please take a few minutes of your time to hear me out and research the evidence put forth. The facts are there for the unprejudiced, rational and reasoned mind to absorb. It is the unfortunate reality of our current crisis.
Unless we all unite and organize on common ground, our very way of life and the ideals that our country was founded upon will continue to unravel.
Before exposing exactly who the Economic Elite are, and discussing common sense ways in which we can defeat them, let’s take a look at how much damage they have already caused.
I: Casualties of Economic Terrorism, Surveying the Damage
The devastating numbers across-the-board on the economic front are staggering. I’ll go through some of them here, many we have already become all too familiar with. We hear some of these numbers all the time, so much so that it appears as if we have already begun “to normalize the unthinkable.” You may be sick of hearing them, but behind each number is an enormous amount of individual suffering, American lives and families who are struggling worse than they ever have.
America is the richest nation in history, yet we now have the highest poverty rate in the industrialized world with an unprecedented number of Americans living in dire straits and over 50 million citizens already living in poverty.
The government has come up with clever ways to downplay all of these numbers, but we have over 50 million people who need to use food stamps to eat, and a stunning 50% of US children will use a food stamp to eat at some point in their childhood. Approximately 20,000 people are added to this total every day. In 2009, one out of five US households didn’t have enough money to buy food. In households with children, this number rose to 24%, as the hunger rate among US citizens has now reached an all time high.
We also currently have over 50 million US citizens without healthcare. 1.4 million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2009, a 32% increase from 2008. As bankruptcies continue to skyrocket, medical bankruptcies are responsible for over 60% of them, and over 75% of the medical bankruptcies filed are from people who have healthcare insurance. We have the most expensive healthcare system in the world, we are forced to pay twice as much as other countries and the overall care we get in return ranks 37th in the world.
In total, Americans have lost $5 trillion from their pensions and savings since the economic crisis began and $13 trillion in the value of their homes. During the first full year of the crisis, workers between the age of 55 - 60, who have worked for 20 - 29 years, have lost an average of 25% off their 401k. “Personal debt has risen from 65% of income in 1980 to 125% today.” Over five million US families have already lost their homes, in total 13 million US families are expected to lose their home by 2014, with 25% of current mortgages underwater. Deutsche Bank has an even grimmer prediction: “The percentage of ‘underwater’ loans may rise to 48 percent, or 25 million homes.” Every day 10,000 US homes enter foreclosure. Statistics show that an increasing number of these people are not finding shelter elsewhere, there are now over 3 million homeless Americans, the fastest growing segment of the homeless population is single parents with children.
Please find the complete article and the balance of this important series here
Greg
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Economy is a Lie, Too
September 23, 2009
Even the Part-Time Jobs are Disappearing
The Economy is a Lie, Too (Original post on counterpunch.org)
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Americans cannot get any truth out of their government about anything, the economy included. Americans are being driven into the ground economically, with one million school children now homeless, while Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke announces that the recession is over.
The spin that masquerades as news is becoming more delusional. Consumer spending is 70% of the US economy. It is the driving force, and it has been shut down. Except for the super rich, there has been no growth in consumer incomes in the 21st century. Statistician John Williams of shadowstats.com reports that real household income has never recovered its pre-2001 peak.
The US economy has been kept going by substituting growth in consumer debt for growth in consumer income. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan encouraged consumer debt with low interest rates. The low interest rates pushed up home prices, enabling Americans to refinance their homes and spend the equity. Credit cards were maxed out in expectations of rising real estate and equity values to pay the accumulated debt. The binge was halted when the real estate and equity bubbles burst.
As consumers no longer can expand their indebtedness and their incomes are not rising, there is no basis for a growing consumer economy. Indeed, statistics indicate that consumers are paying down debt in their efforts to survive financially. In an economy in which the consumer is the driving force, that is bad news.
The banks, now investment banks thanks to greed-driven deregulation that repealed the learned lessons of the past, were even more reckless than consumers and took speculative leverage to new heights. At the urging of Larry Summers and Goldman Sachs’ CEO Henry Paulson, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bush administration went along with removing restrictions on debt leverage.
When the bubble burst, the extraordinary leverage threatened the financial system with collapse. The US Treasury and the Federal Reserve stepped forward with no one knows how many trillions of dollars to “save the financial system,” which, of course, meant to save the greed-driven financial institutions that had caused the economic crisis that dispossessed ordinary Americans of half of their life savings.
The consumer has been chastened, but not the banks. Refreshed with the TARP $700 billion and the Federal Reserve’s expanded balance sheet, banks are again behaving like hedge funds. Leveraged speculation is producing another bubble with the current stock market rally, which is not a sign of economic recovery but is the final savaging of Americans’ wealth by a few investment banks and their Washington friends. Goldman Sachs, rolling in profits, announced six figure bonuses to employees.
The rest of America is suffering terribly.
The unemployment rate, as reported, is a fiction and has been since the Clinton administration. The unemployment rate does not include jobless Americans who have been unemployed for more than a year and have given up on finding work. The reported 10% unemployment rate is understated by the millions of Americans who are suffering long-term unemployment and are no longer counted as unemployed. As each month passes, unemployed Americans drop off the unemployment role due to nothing except the passing of time.
The inflation rate, especially “core inflation,” is another fiction. “Core inflation” does not include food and energy, two of Americans’ biggest budget items. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) assumes, ever since the Boskin Commission during the Clinton administration, that if prices of items go up consumers substitute cheaper items. This is certainly the case, but this way of measuring inflation means that the CPI is no longer comparable to past years, because the basket of goods in the index is variable.
The Boskin Commission’s CPI, by lowering the measured rate of inflation, raises the real GDP growth rate. The result of the statistical manipulation is an understated inflation rate, thus eroding the real value of Social Security income, and an overstated growth rate. Statistical manipulation cloaks a declining standard of living.
In bygone days of American prosperity, American incomes rose with productivity. It was the real growth in American incomes that propelled the US economy.
In today’s America, the only incomes that rise are in the financial sector that risks the country’s future on excessive leverage and in the corporate world that substitutes foreign for American labor. Under the compensation rules and emphasis on shareholder earnings that hold sway in the US today, corporate executives maximize earnings and their compensation by minimizing the employment of Americans.
Try to find some acknowledgement of this in the “mainstream media,”
or among economists, who suck up to the offshoring corporations for grants.
The worst part of the decline is yet to come. Bank failures and home foreclosures are yet to peak. The commercial real estate bust is yet to hit. The dollar crisis is building.
When it hits, interest rates will rise dramatically as the US struggles to finance its massive budget and trade deficits while the rest of the world tries to escape a depreciating dollar.
Since the spring of this year, the value of the US dollar has collapsed against every currency except those pegged to it. The Swiss franc has risen 14% against the dollar. Every hard currency from the Canadian dollar to the Euro and UK pound has risen at least 13 % against the US dollar since April 2009. The Japanese yen is not far behind, and the Brazilian real has risen 25% against the almighty US dollar. Even the Russian ruble has risen 13% against the US dollar.
What sort of recovery is it when the safest investment is to bet against the US dollar?
The American household of my day, in which the husband worked and the wife provided household services and raised the children, scarcely exists today. Most, if not all, members of a household have to work in order to pay the bills. However, the jobs are disappearing, even the part-time ones.
If measured according to the methodology used when I was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, the unemployment rate today in the US is above 20%. Moreover, there is no obvious way of reducing it. There are no factories, with work forces temporarily laid off by high interest rates, waiting for a lower interest rate policy to call their workforces back into production.
The work has been moved abroad. In the bygone days of American prosperity, CEOs were inculcated with the view that they had equal responsibilities to customers, employees, and shareholders. This view has been exterminated. Pushed by Wall Street and the threat of takeovers promising “enhanced shareholder value,” and incentivized by “performance pay,” CEOs use every means to substitute cheaper foreign employees for Americans. Despite 20% unemployment and cum laude engineering graduates who cannot find jobs or even job interviews, Congress continues to support 65,000 annual H-1B work visas for foreigners.
In the midst of the highest unemployment since the Great Depression what kind of a fool do you need to be to think that there is a shortage of qualified US workers?
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. This fall CounterPunch/AK Press will publish Robert's War of the Worlds: How the Economy Was Lost. He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com
Even the Part-Time Jobs are Disappearing
The Economy is a Lie, Too (Original post on counterpunch.org)
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Americans cannot get any truth out of their government about anything, the economy included. Americans are being driven into the ground economically, with one million school children now homeless, while Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke announces that the recession is over.
The spin that masquerades as news is becoming more delusional. Consumer spending is 70% of the US economy. It is the driving force, and it has been shut down. Except for the super rich, there has been no growth in consumer incomes in the 21st century. Statistician John Williams of shadowstats.com reports that real household income has never recovered its pre-2001 peak.
The US economy has been kept going by substituting growth in consumer debt for growth in consumer income. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan encouraged consumer debt with low interest rates. The low interest rates pushed up home prices, enabling Americans to refinance their homes and spend the equity. Credit cards were maxed out in expectations of rising real estate and equity values to pay the accumulated debt. The binge was halted when the real estate and equity bubbles burst.
As consumers no longer can expand their indebtedness and their incomes are not rising, there is no basis for a growing consumer economy. Indeed, statistics indicate that consumers are paying down debt in their efforts to survive financially. In an economy in which the consumer is the driving force, that is bad news.
The banks, now investment banks thanks to greed-driven deregulation that repealed the learned lessons of the past, were even more reckless than consumers and took speculative leverage to new heights. At the urging of Larry Summers and Goldman Sachs’ CEO Henry Paulson, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bush administration went along with removing restrictions on debt leverage.
When the bubble burst, the extraordinary leverage threatened the financial system with collapse. The US Treasury and the Federal Reserve stepped forward with no one knows how many trillions of dollars to “save the financial system,” which, of course, meant to save the greed-driven financial institutions that had caused the economic crisis that dispossessed ordinary Americans of half of their life savings.
The consumer has been chastened, but not the banks. Refreshed with the TARP $700 billion and the Federal Reserve’s expanded balance sheet, banks are again behaving like hedge funds. Leveraged speculation is producing another bubble with the current stock market rally, which is not a sign of economic recovery but is the final savaging of Americans’ wealth by a few investment banks and their Washington friends. Goldman Sachs, rolling in profits, announced six figure bonuses to employees.
The rest of America is suffering terribly.
The unemployment rate, as reported, is a fiction and has been since the Clinton administration. The unemployment rate does not include jobless Americans who have been unemployed for more than a year and have given up on finding work. The reported 10% unemployment rate is understated by the millions of Americans who are suffering long-term unemployment and are no longer counted as unemployed. As each month passes, unemployed Americans drop off the unemployment role due to nothing except the passing of time.
The inflation rate, especially “core inflation,” is another fiction. “Core inflation” does not include food and energy, two of Americans’ biggest budget items. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) assumes, ever since the Boskin Commission during the Clinton administration, that if prices of items go up consumers substitute cheaper items. This is certainly the case, but this way of measuring inflation means that the CPI is no longer comparable to past years, because the basket of goods in the index is variable.
The Boskin Commission’s CPI, by lowering the measured rate of inflation, raises the real GDP growth rate. The result of the statistical manipulation is an understated inflation rate, thus eroding the real value of Social Security income, and an overstated growth rate. Statistical manipulation cloaks a declining standard of living.
In bygone days of American prosperity, American incomes rose with productivity. It was the real growth in American incomes that propelled the US economy.
In today’s America, the only incomes that rise are in the financial sector that risks the country’s future on excessive leverage and in the corporate world that substitutes foreign for American labor. Under the compensation rules and emphasis on shareholder earnings that hold sway in the US today, corporate executives maximize earnings and their compensation by minimizing the employment of Americans.
Try to find some acknowledgement of this in the “mainstream media,”
or among economists, who suck up to the offshoring corporations for grants.
The worst part of the decline is yet to come. Bank failures and home foreclosures are yet to peak. The commercial real estate bust is yet to hit. The dollar crisis is building.
When it hits, interest rates will rise dramatically as the US struggles to finance its massive budget and trade deficits while the rest of the world tries to escape a depreciating dollar.
Since the spring of this year, the value of the US dollar has collapsed against every currency except those pegged to it. The Swiss franc has risen 14% against the dollar. Every hard currency from the Canadian dollar to the Euro and UK pound has risen at least 13 % against the US dollar since April 2009. The Japanese yen is not far behind, and the Brazilian real has risen 25% against the almighty US dollar. Even the Russian ruble has risen 13% against the US dollar.
What sort of recovery is it when the safest investment is to bet against the US dollar?
The American household of my day, in which the husband worked and the wife provided household services and raised the children, scarcely exists today. Most, if not all, members of a household have to work in order to pay the bills. However, the jobs are disappearing, even the part-time ones.
If measured according to the methodology used when I was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, the unemployment rate today in the US is above 20%. Moreover, there is no obvious way of reducing it. There are no factories, with work forces temporarily laid off by high interest rates, waiting for a lower interest rate policy to call their workforces back into production.
The work has been moved abroad. In the bygone days of American prosperity, CEOs were inculcated with the view that they had equal responsibilities to customers, employees, and shareholders. This view has been exterminated. Pushed by Wall Street and the threat of takeovers promising “enhanced shareholder value,” and incentivized by “performance pay,” CEOs use every means to substitute cheaper foreign employees for Americans. Despite 20% unemployment and cum laude engineering graduates who cannot find jobs or even job interviews, Congress continues to support 65,000 annual H-1B work visas for foreigners.
In the midst of the highest unemployment since the Great Depression what kind of a fool do you need to be to think that there is a shortage of qualified US workers?
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. This fall CounterPunch/AK Press will publish Robert's War of the Worlds: How the Economy Was Lost. He can be reached at: PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com
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