---
I'll provide a link to the video in a few moments..
But this morning I heard former assistant treasury secretary Kashkari say..
"While we are looking for a new engine of economic growth"
This should be a warning to everyone..
I would rephrase that sentence to say..
"While we are [desperately] looking for a new engine of economic growth [with which to blow the next bubble]"
You can find the quote at 6 minutes 22 seconds into this video on CNBC
Do we really need a new bubble to drive credit / debt expansion further?
We currently have the healthcare industry, including insurance companies, who have created such a huge bubble that no normal citizen of the United States can any longer afford the services they offer. Hence we end up with the POTUS passing new laws mandating consumer spending for same services. Like so many other industries they seem to be consciously destroying their own customer base, pricing themselves right out of business.
We have commodity bubbles with gas projected to be as high as $4.50 a gallon by June of 2012.
This because the Federal Reserve is handing out FREE fiat to Too Big To Fail banks and Primary Dealers, you know, like MF Global, with which to buy commodities, while also intentionally devaluing the dollar.
The politicians in Washington act as if there is little we can do about high gas prices.. Bullshit.. The politicians merely run cover for the Federal Reserve. It's a tax, it's all a tax. The Federal Reserve has complete control over the value of our fiat currency, that's why we HAVE a fiat currency by decree. So it can be manipulated by the Federal Reserve Bank.
Any time consumer spending threatens to drop off and affect corporate profits the Federal Reserve Bank, with the blessings of congress, can simply FORCE higher consumer spending by intentionally creating inflation.
Utilities, student loans, credit cards, sub-prime lending.. Everything about this economy is dependent upon bubbles, exponetial credit expansion forever..
So I would say to Mr. Kashkari, Thank you.. but we have enough "engines of growth" or "bubbles" as it is.. I, for one, don't think we should be desperately searching for a new one.
Greg
Showing posts with label resistance revolution money government greed corruption Federal reserve central banks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resistance revolution money government greed corruption Federal reserve central banks. Show all posts
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
JEEZE! You f'ing SHEEPLE!
---
Its human nature and its psychological proven fact: we humans are a social animal and we seek other peoples approval by showing them we are just like them.
Hence, it follow if everyone is saying the same thing we naturally have a tendency to agree with everyone else. Following the crowd is the easiest and safest option- we have less chance of look foolish or the odd one out having a different opinion from everyone else. After all, they can't all be wrong. Yes its safe to say we have the need to be liked and like everyone else and not be in the minority. In general we are conformists. Even the non-conformists are conform to other none-conformists. Ask your self who do you follow on Facebook or Twitter? The answer will be in general you follow other people like yourself who have similar interest and opinions.
Call it a human flaw if you wish but this flaw has been exploited by Cameron and co via the help of his buddies in the media- by giving the impression that "everyone" knows and its a given fact that the last goverment created the financial mess, deficit and they created biggest debt and deficit in the whole wide universe. This a not a knew strategy by the Tories. No, it was last exploited by Thatcher and her friends in the media by constantly telling us the people want or believe a certain thing and the people expect and want us to do this that another etc etc. Its not a technique they invented either- they stole the idea from a gang of unsavery characters in the 1930's- there are no prises for guessing who.
People in the media like to sanatise it by calling it spin but does it really matter how they label it when the technique and its intended results are the same- to conform to a opinion in order to sell their policies.
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. George S. Patton.
Grabbed this off Scoop
Its human nature and its psychological proven fact: we humans are a social animal and we seek other peoples approval by showing them we are just like them.
Hence, it follow if everyone is saying the same thing we naturally have a tendency to agree with everyone else. Following the crowd is the easiest and safest option- we have less chance of look foolish or the odd one out having a different opinion from everyone else. After all, they can't all be wrong. Yes its safe to say we have the need to be liked and like everyone else and not be in the minority. In general we are conformists. Even the non-conformists are conform to other none-conformists. Ask your self who do you follow on Facebook or Twitter? The answer will be in general you follow other people like yourself who have similar interest and opinions.
Call it a human flaw if you wish but this flaw has been exploited by Cameron and co via the help of his buddies in the media- by giving the impression that "everyone" knows and its a given fact that the last goverment created the financial mess, deficit and they created biggest debt and deficit in the whole wide universe. This a not a knew strategy by the Tories. No, it was last exploited by Thatcher and her friends in the media by constantly telling us the people want or believe a certain thing and the people expect and want us to do this that another etc etc. Its not a technique they invented either- they stole the idea from a gang of unsavery characters in the 1930's- there are no prises for guessing who.
People in the media like to sanatise it by calling it spin but does it really matter how they label it when the technique and its intended results are the same- to conform to a opinion in order to sell their policies.
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. George S. Patton.
Grabbed this off Scoop
THIS is a #recovery?!
---
This post was grabbed from The Joplin Globe
Check out the highlighted portions, bold, and see if it sounds like a recovery to you?!
---
April 9, 2012
Crowder College tuition to increase next fall
By Josh Letner
news@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — The Crowder College Board of Trustees is in hopes of less pain than initially anticipated via state budget cuts, but has approved a 5.5 percent, in-district tuition increase that will take effect next fall.
Crowder President Alan Marble said the recent tuition action was a response to several years of shrinking state subsidies.
“It’s a long-term situation,” he said. “We received about $4.9 million in 2001 and had half as many students. Now we’re receiving $4.2 million and we’re looking at an eight percent cut. Our percentage of state funding is at a historical low. Fifteen years ago it wasn’t unusual for us to receive about 45 percent of our funding from the state, but this year we’ll be well below 20 percent.”
The increase approved calls for a 5.5 percent boost of $4 per credit hour for the current in-district tuition of $73 to $77, a 5 percent boost of $5 per credit hour for out of-district students from $100 to $105, and a 4.7 percent hike of $6 per credit hour for out-of-state students from $128 per hour to $134.
Rep. Mike Kelley, of Lamar, a member of the House Committee for Education Appropriations, said representatives chose to eliminate Gov. Jay Nixon’s proposed cuts in the House’s draft budget that is currently under consideration in the Senate.
“We are currently funding our colleges and universities at levels lower than what we were a decade ago, so it’s not going in the right direction,” Kelley said. “As you continue to increase the cost of higher education, it makes it harder to have an educated work force.”
Representative Tom Flanigan, of Carthage, said the reduced funding for colleges and universities is a result of a struggling economy. He said that by stabilizing funding levels, the House is trying to encourage residents to invest in higher education.
“I think it’s a trend in the economy more than anything else,” he said. “When the economy starts to pick back up things are bound to improve, but until then, if we can maintain the present level I think that creates certainty and people will be more likely to continue their education.”
Like state officials, Marble said Crowder’s administration has tried to do everything possible to address shrinking revenue.
“We have been very frugal in how we have operated,” he said. “We don’t pay the highest salaries around. We have tried to combine and not duplicate things wherever possible, and we have opened up several locations to help increase enrollment and tuition revenue.”
While government and institutions try to tighten their belts, the financial burden of higher education is increasingly coming to rest on the shoulders of students like 30-year-old Joe Wiliams, a non-traditional student from Neosho. Williams said higher tuition will only make his life more difficult.
“Times are tight,” he said. “Obviously, the higher the tuition gets, it’s going to make it harder, not only for adult students, but for traditional students as well who might not get (financial aid). It makes it harder for them or their parents to pay tuition.”
Marble said he can empathize with students who may be operating on tight budgets.
“I’ve been a student before,” Marble said, “and you’re never happy about a tuition increase, but letting the institution go down the tubes is not a good option either, so I think the students are very understanding and realize that we raise tuition as a last resort.” <-- I add BS
For his part, Williams is taking a pragmatic view of the increase.
“Nobody’s happy about increasing what we have to pay, but Crowder’s still the lowest tuition in this area by far.”
Budget background
In January, Gov. Jay Nixon proposed a 12 percent cut in higher education funding for fiscal year 2013, which begins July 1. Nixon proposed cutting $89 million from four-year institutions and $16.9 million from two-year institutions. In February, Nixon scaled back the proposed cuts to 8 percent, or $66 million before sending his proposed budget to the House.
---
It certainly SEEMS that the EASY way for everyone to increase revenue is through inflation!
Dumb asses continue to price themselves right out of business as they BLOW MORE BUBBLES!
Greg
This post was grabbed from The Joplin Globe
Check out the highlighted portions, bold, and see if it sounds like a recovery to you?!
---
April 9, 2012
Crowder College tuition to increase next fall
By Josh Letner
news@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — The Crowder College Board of Trustees is in hopes of less pain than initially anticipated via state budget cuts, but has approved a 5.5 percent, in-district tuition increase that will take effect next fall.
Crowder President Alan Marble said the recent tuition action was a response to several years of shrinking state subsidies.
“It’s a long-term situation,” he said. “We received about $4.9 million in 2001 and had half as many students. Now we’re receiving $4.2 million and we’re looking at an eight percent cut. Our percentage of state funding is at a historical low. Fifteen years ago it wasn’t unusual for us to receive about 45 percent of our funding from the state, but this year we’ll be well below 20 percent.”
The increase approved calls for a 5.5 percent boost of $4 per credit hour for the current in-district tuition of $73 to $77, a 5 percent boost of $5 per credit hour for out of-district students from $100 to $105, and a 4.7 percent hike of $6 per credit hour for out-of-state students from $128 per hour to $134.
Rep. Mike Kelley, of Lamar, a member of the House Committee for Education Appropriations, said representatives chose to eliminate Gov. Jay Nixon’s proposed cuts in the House’s draft budget that is currently under consideration in the Senate.
“We are currently funding our colleges and universities at levels lower than what we were a decade ago, so it’s not going in the right direction,” Kelley said. “As you continue to increase the cost of higher education, it makes it harder to have an educated work force.”
Representative Tom Flanigan, of Carthage, said the reduced funding for colleges and universities is a result of a struggling economy. He said that by stabilizing funding levels, the House is trying to encourage residents to invest in higher education.
“I think it’s a trend in the economy more than anything else,” he said. “When the economy starts to pick back up things are bound to improve, but until then, if we can maintain the present level I think that creates certainty and people will be more likely to continue their education.”
Like state officials, Marble said Crowder’s administration has tried to do everything possible to address shrinking revenue.
“We have been very frugal in how we have operated,” he said. “We don’t pay the highest salaries around. We have tried to combine and not duplicate things wherever possible, and we have opened up several locations to help increase enrollment and tuition revenue.”
While government and institutions try to tighten their belts, the financial burden of higher education is increasingly coming to rest on the shoulders of students like 30-year-old Joe Wiliams, a non-traditional student from Neosho. Williams said higher tuition will only make his life more difficult.
“Times are tight,” he said. “Obviously, the higher the tuition gets, it’s going to make it harder, not only for adult students, but for traditional students as well who might not get (financial aid). It makes it harder for them or their parents to pay tuition.”
Marble said he can empathize with students who may be operating on tight budgets.
“I’ve been a student before,” Marble said, “and you’re never happy about a tuition increase, but letting the institution go down the tubes is not a good option either, so I think the students are very understanding and realize that we raise tuition as a last resort.” <-- I add BS
For his part, Williams is taking a pragmatic view of the increase.
“Nobody’s happy about increasing what we have to pay, but Crowder’s still the lowest tuition in this area by far.”
Budget background
In January, Gov. Jay Nixon proposed a 12 percent cut in higher education funding for fiscal year 2013, which begins July 1. Nixon proposed cutting $89 million from four-year institutions and $16.9 million from two-year institutions. In February, Nixon scaled back the proposed cuts to 8 percent, or $66 million before sending his proposed budget to the House.
---
It certainly SEEMS that the EASY way for everyone to increase revenue is through inflation!
Dumb asses continue to price themselves right out of business as they BLOW MORE BUBBLES!
Greg
Alternative #news - Be #smart
---
This is a great post, here's a link to the rest of it on market-ticker.org Be sure to check it out.
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This is a great post, here's a link to the rest of it on market-ticker.org Be sure to check it out.
---
Monday, April 9, 2012
Isn't this being charged TWICE?! City of: Joplin
---
Here is the source link for the story below
This "news" makes no sense to me.. Isn't it the job of the utility companies to bill their own customers?
Now the city of Joplin is taking over the billing duties at a cost of an estimated $165,000.00 per year. That's after the initial start up phase which is expected to cost $273,000.00 in the first year.
My beef is won't Joplin be using taxer payer money to pay for a billing system with which to charge tax payers?
WTF???
Isn't this just crony capitalism on display?
---
April 8, 2012
Joplin to take over sewer, trash billing
By Debby Woodin
Globe Staff Writer
JOPLIN, Mo. — Joplin residents will see a change later this year in how they are billed for sewer and trash service.
The city will issue its own bills for those services, taking over from Missouri American Water Co., said Leslie Jones, the city’s finance director.
“The water company will quit in December, but it will take us that long to get it all set up,” Jones said. “But they did give us longer than all the other cities because of the tornado. And we can do it early if we get it ready, but we have to have it done by Dec. 14.”
The water company, which handles bills for many cities in its service area, has made a business decision to phase out that part of the business as it changes software, said Matt Barnhart, operations manager for the water company’s Joplin branch.
“We’re changing all of our operating software, so we decided to look at different software companies. We elected to not add that option,” Barnhart said. “We felt it was better for us as a business to provide quality water and sewer services and to get out of the billing business.”
Barnhart said the company will work with the city to make the changeover seamless for local residents.
“We’ll work with the city and individuals 100 percent to make sure they have all the information they need to make the transition,” he said.
Jones looked at the costs of having another company bill for the city and the alternative of hiring an employee to do the billing in-house. Several companies she checked turned down the job or would only sell software to do the billing. Two companies estimated what they would charge to do the billing at $237,600 and $248,400, or $1.10 to $1.15 per bill. By Jones’ estimates, the city could do the billing at about 76 cents per bill after paying the initial start-up costs. If the final costs are different from the estimates, the billing cost could change, Jones said.
Jones estimated the cost for the city to do its own billing the first year at $273,000. About $100,000 of that would be the cost to purchase the software. There would be some other one-time costs, Jones said, and the annual cost after those start-up costs would be about $165,000. There will be about 18,000 bills a month to issue and collect, Jones said. The biggest cost would be postage to mail the bills at about $97,000.
The City Council has authorized Jones to proceed with arrangements to do the work in-house.
She said arrangements will tentatively be made for residents to pay the bills by mail, at City Hall or online, but those details will have to be worked out later.
The city will still assess sewer charges based on an average of the amount of water used by individual customers. The water company will supply that figure to the city for each customer annually.
If the sewer and trash bill is not paid, the water company will disconnect water service to that address for the city, Jones said.
A date for the conversion will be announced later.
New approach
The city started billing for sewer and trash service through the water company in 1998.
Here is the source link for the story below
This "news" makes no sense to me.. Isn't it the job of the utility companies to bill their own customers?
Now the city of Joplin is taking over the billing duties at a cost of an estimated $165,000.00 per year. That's after the initial start up phase which is expected to cost $273,000.00 in the first year.
My beef is won't Joplin be using taxer payer money to pay for a billing system with which to charge tax payers?
WTF???
Isn't this just crony capitalism on display?
---
April 8, 2012
Joplin to take over sewer, trash billing
By Debby Woodin
Globe Staff Writer
JOPLIN, Mo. — Joplin residents will see a change later this year in how they are billed for sewer and trash service.
The city will issue its own bills for those services, taking over from Missouri American Water Co., said Leslie Jones, the city’s finance director.
“The water company will quit in December, but it will take us that long to get it all set up,” Jones said. “But they did give us longer than all the other cities because of the tornado. And we can do it early if we get it ready, but we have to have it done by Dec. 14.”
The water company, which handles bills for many cities in its service area, has made a business decision to phase out that part of the business as it changes software, said Matt Barnhart, operations manager for the water company’s Joplin branch.
“We’re changing all of our operating software, so we decided to look at different software companies. We elected to not add that option,” Barnhart said. “We felt it was better for us as a business to provide quality water and sewer services and to get out of the billing business.”
Barnhart said the company will work with the city to make the changeover seamless for local residents.
“We’ll work with the city and individuals 100 percent to make sure they have all the information they need to make the transition,” he said.
Jones looked at the costs of having another company bill for the city and the alternative of hiring an employee to do the billing in-house. Several companies she checked turned down the job or would only sell software to do the billing. Two companies estimated what they would charge to do the billing at $237,600 and $248,400, or $1.10 to $1.15 per bill. By Jones’ estimates, the city could do the billing at about 76 cents per bill after paying the initial start-up costs. If the final costs are different from the estimates, the billing cost could change, Jones said.
Jones estimated the cost for the city to do its own billing the first year at $273,000. About $100,000 of that would be the cost to purchase the software. There would be some other one-time costs, Jones said, and the annual cost after those start-up costs would be about $165,000. There will be about 18,000 bills a month to issue and collect, Jones said. The biggest cost would be postage to mail the bills at about $97,000.
The City Council has authorized Jones to proceed with arrangements to do the work in-house.
She said arrangements will tentatively be made for residents to pay the bills by mail, at City Hall or online, but those details will have to be worked out later.
The city will still assess sewer charges based on an average of the amount of water used by individual customers. The water company will supply that figure to the city for each customer annually.
If the sewer and trash bill is not paid, the water company will disconnect water service to that address for the city, Jones said.
A date for the conversion will be announced later.
New approach
The city started billing for sewer and trash service through the water company in 1998.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Here's where you are wrong Fisher.. @DallasFed
---
Dallas Fed Fisher said..
"Our businesses are poised to take off," he said. "They're lean, they've got enormous productivity, they've cut their costs to the bone...We're in awfully good shape, and we're in much better shape, I would argue, than our counterparts overseas."
---
Here's where you're wrong..
"They're lean, they've got enormous productivity, they've cut their costs to the bone...
All of the above is due to the same thing it's always due to.. When the economy crashed what did big business do?
They got "lean" - Meaning they fired workers
They increased productivity - Meaning they fired workers
They cut costs - Meaning they fired workers
You KNOW it's different this time!
After the 2000 crash the jobs did NOT come back. After the 2008 crash the jobs are NOT coming back. You are SHRINKING the economy! You seek to sweep the unemployed, the foreclosed, the homeless, under the rug. Throw them under the bus. And for what purpose?
As always, to save your solely credit expansion / bubble, debt based, ponzi scheme, nothing BUT F.I.R.E. economy!
We don't CARE anymore! We don't WANT it anymore! You can KEEP your consumerism!
Now what?
Flush it all away?
LMAO
Greg
Dallas Fed Fisher said..
"Our businesses are poised to take off," he said. "They're lean, they've got enormous productivity, they've cut their costs to the bone...We're in awfully good shape, and we're in much better shape, I would argue, than our counterparts overseas."
---
Here's where you're wrong..
"They're lean, they've got enormous productivity, they've cut their costs to the bone...
All of the above is due to the same thing it's always due to.. When the economy crashed what did big business do?
They got "lean" - Meaning they fired workers
They increased productivity - Meaning they fired workers
They cut costs - Meaning they fired workers
You KNOW it's different this time!
After the 2000 crash the jobs did NOT come back. After the 2008 crash the jobs are NOT coming back. You are SHRINKING the economy! You seek to sweep the unemployed, the foreclosed, the homeless, under the rug. Throw them under the bus. And for what purpose?
As always, to save your solely credit expansion / bubble, debt based, ponzi scheme, nothing BUT F.I.R.E. economy!
We don't CARE anymore! We don't WANT it anymore! You can KEEP your consumerism!
Now what?
Flush it all away?
LMAO
Greg
Lifting the Veil - Really good video
---
You may click here to view the video source if you prefer
(Grabbed this from the comment section..)
"A system of Elite rule, which is a little more soft-core than the type of Elite rule we would see under a military dictatorship for instance, but what we are under - a Polyarchy is that the basic socioeconomic system does not change, it does not become democratised, wealth is not redistributed downward. You don't see a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources.
So that is the key: Socioeconomic Dictatorship and Free Elections."
Every right thinking individual knows this statement to be true.
The real hope is that we will in the short term start to act on that.
Look at how the Ruling Class which pretends to support Democracy has turned its back on the ordinary people of Libya.
---
Source link
You may click here to view the video source if you prefer
(Grabbed this from the comment section..)
"A system of Elite rule, which is a little more soft-core than the type of Elite rule we would see under a military dictatorship for instance, but what we are under - a Polyarchy is that the basic socioeconomic system does not change, it does not become democratised, wealth is not redistributed downward. You don't see a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources.
So that is the key: Socioeconomic Dictatorship and Free Elections."
Every right thinking individual knows this statement to be true.
The real hope is that we will in the short term start to act on that.
Look at how the Ruling Class which pretends to support Democracy has turned its back on the ordinary people of Libya.
---
Lifting the Veil from S DN on Vimeo.
Source link
Monday, April 2, 2012
Reality check
---
Source link on financialarmageddon.com
---
March 27, 2012
'Surreal'
It's a good thing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the man who saved our economy, is in charge. Otherwise I might be a bit concerned about these three (and many other) bailouts-in-the-making:
"FHA Bailout Risk Looming Larger After Guarantee Binge: Mortgages" (Bloomberg)
The Federal Housing Administration won’t be able to earn its way to financial health this year, increasing the chance it will need a taxpayer bailout, based on an updated forecast from Moody’s Analytics, which provides the agency’s housing-market analysis.
The U.S. government mortgage-insurer, which guarantees $1.1 trillion in home loans, had been counting on “robust growth” in home prices to help rebuild its insurance fund after paying out $37 billion to cover defaults the past three years, according to its annual report to Congress, filed in November.
It won’t get that growth until 2014, according to the latest outlook from Moody’s Analytics. Prices will fall 3 percent in fiscal 2012 before growing 1.4 percent in 2013 and 6.5 percent in 2014, said Celia Chen, a Moody’s Analytics housing economist who updated her estimate after providing the housing-market forecast for the FHA’s annual actuarial report.
“The FHA’s economic projections are surreal,” said Andrew Caplin, a New York University economics professor who has testified to Congress on the agency’s finances. “They must believe there will be very few readers in Congress able to critically review such a complex report.”
In their annual review, the FHA’s actuaries -- risk analysts who specialize in insurance -- used earlier projections that called for increases of 1.2 percent in 2012 and 3.8 percent in 2013. The agency, which backs mortgages that cover as much as 96.5 percent of a home’s value, is sensitive to changes in home prices. While the insurance fund’s 2012 outlook called for net growth of about $9 billion, that will drop if home prices decline, according to the FHA’s November report.
"The First Crack: $270 Billion In Student Loans Are At Least 30 Days Delinquent" (Zero Hedge)
Back in late 2006 and early 2007 a few (soon to be very rich) people were warning anyone who cared to listen, about what cracks in the subprime facade meant for the housing sector and the credit bubble in general. They were largely ignored as none other than the Fed chairman promised that all is fine (see here). A few months later New Century collapsed and the rest is history: tens of trillions later we are still picking up the pieces and housing continues to collapse. Yet one bubble which the Federal Government managed to blow in the meantime to staggering proportions in virtually no time, for no other reason than to give the impression of consumer releveraging, was the student debt bubble, which at last check just surpassed $1 trillion, and is growing at $40-50 billion each month. However, just like subprime, the first cracks have now appeared. In a report set to convince borrowers that Student Loan ABS are still safe - of course they are - they are backed by all taxpayers after all in the form of the Family Federal Education Program - Fitch discloses something rather troubling, namely that of the $1 trillion + in student debt outstanding, "as many as 27% of all student loan borrowers are more than 30 days past due." In other words at least $270 billion in student loans are no longer current (extrapolating the delinquency rate into the total loans outstanding). That this is happening with interest rates at record lows is quite stunning and a loud wake up call that it is not rates that determine affordability and sustainability: it is general economic conditions, deplorable as they may be, which have made the popping of the student loan bubble inevitable. It also means that if the rise in interest rate continues, then the student loan bubble will pop that much faster, and bring another $1 trillion in unintended consequences on the shoulders of the US taxpayer who once again will be left footing the bill.
"More Municipalities Betting on Pension Bonds to Cover Obligations" (Los Angeles Times)
Local governments are increasingly borrowing money to plug shortfalls in their employee pension funds by exploiting a loophole in federal law. Market experts say the risks and long-term costs are frequently ignored.
-- NEW YORK Struggling to pay employee pensions, local governments are increasingly borrowing money to cover their obligations — exploiting a loophole in federal law that allows them to issue taxable bonds without seeking voter approval.
Oakland took a bet on its pension fund that ended up costing the city an estimated $245 million — nearly a quarter of its annual budget. That hasn't stopped the city from looking to try its luck one more time.
The bets are being made using an exotic but increasingly popular financial instrument known as a pension obligation bond. Cities, counties and states use the bonds to take out high-interest loans from private investors to plug shortfalls in their employee pension funds.
If the pension funds make smart investments with the borrowed money, the returns can help pay the interest due to borrowers and sometimes even spin off some extra cash to pay pension costs. If they don't, the bonds can create additional costs for taxpayers, put the retirement funds of teachers and firefighters in jeopardy, and, in the worst case scenario, force municipalities into bankruptcy.
Municipal finance experts are sounding alarms about the practice, saying that local elected officials are taking unnecessary risk because they are afraid to anger voters by raising taxes. There is also the risk of instigating powerful public employee unions if pensions are cut.
"There are communities that just do not want to make the hard choices, even though it means the choices in the future will be worse," said Robert Doty, a municipal finance consultant in Sacramento. "They are just going to dig themselves deeper and deeper into a hole."
But Apple closed up on the day, so that's all that matters -- right?
Source link on financialarmageddon.com
Source link on financialarmageddon.com
---
March 27, 2012
'Surreal'
It's a good thing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the man who saved our economy, is in charge. Otherwise I might be a bit concerned about these three (and many other) bailouts-in-the-making:
"FHA Bailout Risk Looming Larger After Guarantee Binge: Mortgages" (Bloomberg)
The Federal Housing Administration won’t be able to earn its way to financial health this year, increasing the chance it will need a taxpayer bailout, based on an updated forecast from Moody’s Analytics, which provides the agency’s housing-market analysis.
The U.S. government mortgage-insurer, which guarantees $1.1 trillion in home loans, had been counting on “robust growth” in home prices to help rebuild its insurance fund after paying out $37 billion to cover defaults the past three years, according to its annual report to Congress, filed in November.
It won’t get that growth until 2014, according to the latest outlook from Moody’s Analytics. Prices will fall 3 percent in fiscal 2012 before growing 1.4 percent in 2013 and 6.5 percent in 2014, said Celia Chen, a Moody’s Analytics housing economist who updated her estimate after providing the housing-market forecast for the FHA’s annual actuarial report.
“The FHA’s economic projections are surreal,” said Andrew Caplin, a New York University economics professor who has testified to Congress on the agency’s finances. “They must believe there will be very few readers in Congress able to critically review such a complex report.”
In their annual review, the FHA’s actuaries -- risk analysts who specialize in insurance -- used earlier projections that called for increases of 1.2 percent in 2012 and 3.8 percent in 2013. The agency, which backs mortgages that cover as much as 96.5 percent of a home’s value, is sensitive to changes in home prices. While the insurance fund’s 2012 outlook called for net growth of about $9 billion, that will drop if home prices decline, according to the FHA’s November report.
"The First Crack: $270 Billion In Student Loans Are At Least 30 Days Delinquent" (Zero Hedge)
Back in late 2006 and early 2007 a few (soon to be very rich) people were warning anyone who cared to listen, about what cracks in the subprime facade meant for the housing sector and the credit bubble in general. They were largely ignored as none other than the Fed chairman promised that all is fine (see here). A few months later New Century collapsed and the rest is history: tens of trillions later we are still picking up the pieces and housing continues to collapse. Yet one bubble which the Federal Government managed to blow in the meantime to staggering proportions in virtually no time, for no other reason than to give the impression of consumer releveraging, was the student debt bubble, which at last check just surpassed $1 trillion, and is growing at $40-50 billion each month. However, just like subprime, the first cracks have now appeared. In a report set to convince borrowers that Student Loan ABS are still safe - of course they are - they are backed by all taxpayers after all in the form of the Family Federal Education Program - Fitch discloses something rather troubling, namely that of the $1 trillion + in student debt outstanding, "as many as 27% of all student loan borrowers are more than 30 days past due." In other words at least $270 billion in student loans are no longer current (extrapolating the delinquency rate into the total loans outstanding). That this is happening with interest rates at record lows is quite stunning and a loud wake up call that it is not rates that determine affordability and sustainability: it is general economic conditions, deplorable as they may be, which have made the popping of the student loan bubble inevitable. It also means that if the rise in interest rate continues, then the student loan bubble will pop that much faster, and bring another $1 trillion in unintended consequences on the shoulders of the US taxpayer who once again will be left footing the bill.
"More Municipalities Betting on Pension Bonds to Cover Obligations" (Los Angeles Times)
Local governments are increasingly borrowing money to plug shortfalls in their employee pension funds by exploiting a loophole in federal law. Market experts say the risks and long-term costs are frequently ignored.
-- NEW YORK Struggling to pay employee pensions, local governments are increasingly borrowing money to cover their obligations — exploiting a loophole in federal law that allows them to issue taxable bonds without seeking voter approval.
Oakland took a bet on its pension fund that ended up costing the city an estimated $245 million — nearly a quarter of its annual budget. That hasn't stopped the city from looking to try its luck one more time.
The bets are being made using an exotic but increasingly popular financial instrument known as a pension obligation bond. Cities, counties and states use the bonds to take out high-interest loans from private investors to plug shortfalls in their employee pension funds.
If the pension funds make smart investments with the borrowed money, the returns can help pay the interest due to borrowers and sometimes even spin off some extra cash to pay pension costs. If they don't, the bonds can create additional costs for taxpayers, put the retirement funds of teachers and firefighters in jeopardy, and, in the worst case scenario, force municipalities into bankruptcy.
Municipal finance experts are sounding alarms about the practice, saying that local elected officials are taking unnecessary risk because they are afraid to anger voters by raising taxes. There is also the risk of instigating powerful public employee unions if pensions are cut.
"There are communities that just do not want to make the hard choices, even though it means the choices in the future will be worse," said Robert Doty, a municipal finance consultant in Sacramento. "They are just going to dig themselves deeper and deeper into a hole."
But Apple closed up on the day, so that's all that matters -- right?
Source link on financialarmageddon.com
Friday, March 30, 2012
Students / young ppl are our future.. NOT #banks!
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I thought this was awesome ;) Here's a link to the source on OccupyTheBanks.com
F the banks!
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Still.. LMAO
Greg
I thought this was awesome ;) Here's a link to the source on OccupyTheBanks.com
F the banks!
---
Still.. LMAO
Greg
Student Loans For Kindergarten, High School On The Rise
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Don't you SEE that the elite, the politicians, the corporations, the plutocracy, USE the things dear to us to make insane profit?!
Health care costs and education costs are very late stage huge BUBBLES that MUST burst!
"They" want ALL of your fiat from kindergarten through the end of your life. If you have anything left at the end of your life doctor's, hospitals and nursing homes will quickly relieve you of it!
---
As if the student loan debt burden wasn't troubling enough, some parents are saying, "Bring on the debt!"... even though their kids haven't even learned to read.
That's right: cash-strapped parents who want to send their young ones to private schools are taking out loans to pay for grade school, according to SmartMoney. And demand is growing.
Your Tuition Solution, one of the largest providers of loans for K-12 education, reported that the amount of money parents requested is up 10 percent from last year, and that the company is on track to finance $20 million in loans for the 2012-2013 school year, SmartMoney reports. Demand is increasing fast enough that First Marblehead, another pre-college lender, has returned to the market after exiting it in 2008, according to SmartMoney.
As more parents turn to loans to finance private education, school tuition is increasing, furthering the demand for the loans. Over the past 10 years, the median price of first grade at private schools has increased 35 percent nationally, as compared to a 24 percent price hike at Ivy League colleges, according to the New York Times.
Ten years ago, the median tuition for 12th grade at a private school was $14,583. Today, that number has skyrocketed to $24,240, according to the National Association of Independent Schools. Stunningly, in New York City, some of the city's most elite private high schools are poised to break the $40,000 tuition line this year, surpassing Harvard's $36,305 price tag, reports the New York Times.
The tuitions are "outrageous," said Dana Haddad, a private admissions consultant, in an interview with the New York Times. "People don't want to put a price tag on their children's future, so they are willing to pay more than many of them can afford."
It's a dangerous gamble, as Americans are already struggling under mounting student loan debt. Last week, officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Agency announced that total student debt outstanding is now more than $1 trillion. Student debt is rising not only because of a commiserate increase in tuition, but also because in recent years more Americans have turned to college to flee the lousy labor market, reports the Wall Street Journal.
But with that debt comes sacrifices, explained Rohit Chopra, student-loan ombudsman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at a banking conference in Austin. "First-time homebuyers are a substantial part of the housing market. Instead of saving for a down payment, these borrowers are sending big [student loan] payments every month."
---
Jeeze..
Here's a link to the source post on Huffington Post
Don't you SEE that the elite, the politicians, the corporations, the plutocracy, USE the things dear to us to make insane profit?!
Health care costs and education costs are very late stage huge BUBBLES that MUST burst!
"They" want ALL of your fiat from kindergarten through the end of your life. If you have anything left at the end of your life doctor's, hospitals and nursing homes will quickly relieve you of it!
---
As if the student loan debt burden wasn't troubling enough, some parents are saying, "Bring on the debt!"... even though their kids haven't even learned to read.
That's right: cash-strapped parents who want to send their young ones to private schools are taking out loans to pay for grade school, according to SmartMoney. And demand is growing.
Your Tuition Solution, one of the largest providers of loans for K-12 education, reported that the amount of money parents requested is up 10 percent from last year, and that the company is on track to finance $20 million in loans for the 2012-2013 school year, SmartMoney reports. Demand is increasing fast enough that First Marblehead, another pre-college lender, has returned to the market after exiting it in 2008, according to SmartMoney.
As more parents turn to loans to finance private education, school tuition is increasing, furthering the demand for the loans. Over the past 10 years, the median price of first grade at private schools has increased 35 percent nationally, as compared to a 24 percent price hike at Ivy League colleges, according to the New York Times.
Ten years ago, the median tuition for 12th grade at a private school was $14,583. Today, that number has skyrocketed to $24,240, according to the National Association of Independent Schools. Stunningly, in New York City, some of the city's most elite private high schools are poised to break the $40,000 tuition line this year, surpassing Harvard's $36,305 price tag, reports the New York Times.
The tuitions are "outrageous," said Dana Haddad, a private admissions consultant, in an interview with the New York Times. "People don't want to put a price tag on their children's future, so they are willing to pay more than many of them can afford."
It's a dangerous gamble, as Americans are already struggling under mounting student loan debt. Last week, officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Agency announced that total student debt outstanding is now more than $1 trillion. Student debt is rising not only because of a commiserate increase in tuition, but also because in recent years more Americans have turned to college to flee the lousy labor market, reports the Wall Street Journal.
But with that debt comes sacrifices, explained Rohit Chopra, student-loan ombudsman for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at a banking conference in Austin. "First-time homebuyers are a substantial part of the housing market. Instead of saving for a down payment, these borrowers are sending big [student loan] payments every month."
---
Jeeze..
Here's a link to the source post on Huffington Post
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Structural Unemployment
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Link to source
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March 28, 2012
Column: Unemployment is the problem that won't go away
Dale McFeatters
The United States may soon face a problem that has bedeviled Europe's industrialized nations — endemic and chronic unemployment — and the nation's leaders are making little effort to prepare for it.
Surveying the platforms of the presidential hopefuls, Scripps Howard News Service reporter Bartholomew Sullivan wrote that none "addresses the prospect of permanent unemployment for a class of often middle-aged, semi-skilled workers whose jobs have disappeared and are unlikely to return."
And, he found, there is a real dearth of entry-level jobs with the prospect of advancement.
In other words, some American adults may never again enjoy meaningful employment, with very little in the way of a social safety net for able-bodied adults.
Unemployment benefits have been repeatedly extended and expanded — 10 times since 2008 — up to a maximum of 99 weeks in some hard-hit states. But Congress has been losing its enthusiasm for further extensions and in February voted to gradually begin scaling back the duration of the benefits.
A General Accountability Office study last month found that less than 3 percent of those who exhausted their benefits in 2009 were eligible for a major safety net program — Temporary Assistance to Needy Families — because most were too old to have dependent children. About 21 percent found their way onto a Social Security program but, as Sullivan points out, these programs were never intended as safety nets "for the able-bodied formerly employed."
Historically, the United States has relied on robust economic recoveries to resolve unemployment. But while the economy is now in a recovery that shows every evidence of getting stronger, many of the jobless are being left behind.
Some 5.1 million of them today have been out of work six months or longer; 8.1 million can only find part-time work; and at least another 1 million have quit looking altogether.
Many labor analysts, as Sullivan finds, believe the U.S. is entering a period of structural unemployment: Workers, especially older ones, don't have the skills that employers want; or the industries in which they've spent their careers have disappeared or relocated. Thanks to the productivity gains from automation, there's not enough work to go around.
The nation's leadership seems philosophical about, even resigned to, periodic bouts of severe joblessness.
In 1972, both Republican and Democratic political platforms endorsed full employment, a job for everyone willing to take one. By 1992, those planks had disappeared. While the Obama administration has endorsed some tightly targeted employment programs, there is no appetite at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue for the kind of massive public works projects that sustained employment during the Depression.
We may indeed be looking a lot more like Europe but not in the way anybody wants.
Dale McFeatters writes for the Scripps Howard News Service.
Link to source
---
March 28, 2012
Column: Unemployment is the problem that won't go away
Dale McFeatters
The United States may soon face a problem that has bedeviled Europe's industrialized nations — endemic and chronic unemployment — and the nation's leaders are making little effort to prepare for it.
Surveying the platforms of the presidential hopefuls, Scripps Howard News Service reporter Bartholomew Sullivan wrote that none "addresses the prospect of permanent unemployment for a class of often middle-aged, semi-skilled workers whose jobs have disappeared and are unlikely to return."
And, he found, there is a real dearth of entry-level jobs with the prospect of advancement.
In other words, some American adults may never again enjoy meaningful employment, with very little in the way of a social safety net for able-bodied adults.
Unemployment benefits have been repeatedly extended and expanded — 10 times since 2008 — up to a maximum of 99 weeks in some hard-hit states. But Congress has been losing its enthusiasm for further extensions and in February voted to gradually begin scaling back the duration of the benefits.
A General Accountability Office study last month found that less than 3 percent of those who exhausted their benefits in 2009 were eligible for a major safety net program — Temporary Assistance to Needy Families — because most were too old to have dependent children. About 21 percent found their way onto a Social Security program but, as Sullivan points out, these programs were never intended as safety nets "for the able-bodied formerly employed."
Historically, the United States has relied on robust economic recoveries to resolve unemployment. But while the economy is now in a recovery that shows every evidence of getting stronger, many of the jobless are being left behind.
Some 5.1 million of them today have been out of work six months or longer; 8.1 million can only find part-time work; and at least another 1 million have quit looking altogether.
Many labor analysts, as Sullivan finds, believe the U.S. is entering a period of structural unemployment: Workers, especially older ones, don't have the skills that employers want; or the industries in which they've spent their careers have disappeared or relocated. Thanks to the productivity gains from automation, there's not enough work to go around.
The nation's leadership seems philosophical about, even resigned to, periodic bouts of severe joblessness.
In 1972, both Republican and Democratic political platforms endorsed full employment, a job for everyone willing to take one. By 1992, those planks had disappeared. While the Obama administration has endorsed some tightly targeted employment programs, there is no appetite at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue for the kind of massive public works projects that sustained employment during the Depression.
We may indeed be looking a lot more like Europe but not in the way anybody wants.
Dale McFeatters writes for the Scripps Howard News Service.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
The madness of the Euro - Part of "Conflicts" via @Poet_Carl_Watts
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I grabbed this from a post by @Poet_Carl_Watts (on twitter) It's an excellent post in it's entirety, IMHO. I have provided a link to his full post below. Be sure to check it out ;)
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Please view Conflicts on carlwattsartist.com
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Greg
I grabbed this from a post by @Poet_Carl_Watts (on twitter) It's an excellent post in it's entirety, IMHO. I have provided a link to his full post below. Be sure to check it out ;)
---
---
Please view Conflicts on carlwattsartist.com
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Greg
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
10 Signs That America Is On The Verge Of A Horrible Municipal Debt Crisis
10 Signs That America Is On The Verge Of A Horrible Municipal Debt Crisis
Is America on the verge of a horrible municipal debt crisis? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. From coast to coast there are an increasing number of cities, towns and counties that are rapidly going broke. Financial analyst Meredith Whitney took a lot of heat when her prediction of a municipal bond crash in 2011 did not happen, but she was not fundamentally wrong in her analysis. A horrifying municipal debt crisis is starting to unfold right in front of our eyes. It just did not happen as soon as she thought that it would. When most Americans think of our "debt problem", they think of the federal government. But the truth is that we have hundreds and hundreds of smaller "debt problems" all across the country. In 2012, cities such as Stockton, California and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania have already defaulted and a whole bunch of other cities and towns are headed down the exact same path. Once we see the first major wave of municipal defaults, creditors will become much tighter with their money and that will cause even more municipalities to get into financial trouble. This crisis could start spinning out of control at any time.
The frightening thing is that all of this is happening at a time when we are supposed to be having an "economic recovery".
So what will things look like when the economy gets even worse than this?
If hundreds of cities, towns and counties are barely able to keep their heads above water financially right now, what is going to happen when the next recession hits?
That is frightening to think about.
The following are 10 signs that America is on the verge of a horrible municipal debt crisis....
Continue reading on The American Dream
Is America on the verge of a horrible municipal debt crisis? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. From coast to coast there are an increasing number of cities, towns and counties that are rapidly going broke. Financial analyst Meredith Whitney took a lot of heat when her prediction of a municipal bond crash in 2011 did not happen, but she was not fundamentally wrong in her analysis. A horrifying municipal debt crisis is starting to unfold right in front of our eyes. It just did not happen as soon as she thought that it would. When most Americans think of our "debt problem", they think of the federal government. But the truth is that we have hundreds and hundreds of smaller "debt problems" all across the country. In 2012, cities such as Stockton, California and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania have already defaulted and a whole bunch of other cities and towns are headed down the exact same path. Once we see the first major wave of municipal defaults, creditors will become much tighter with their money and that will cause even more municipalities to get into financial trouble. This crisis could start spinning out of control at any time.
The frightening thing is that all of this is happening at a time when we are supposed to be having an "economic recovery".
So what will things look like when the economy gets even worse than this?
If hundreds of cities, towns and counties are barely able to keep their heads above water financially right now, what is going to happen when the next recession hits?
That is frightening to think about.
The following are 10 signs that America is on the verge of a horrible municipal debt crisis....
Continue reading on The American Dream
#Usury Lament and UsuryFree Option - The flaw of #usury was designed to #steal Your property and the #money that you earn
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Here's a link to the source post
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Friday, March 23, 2012
Usury Lament and UsuryFree Option
By Tom J. Kennedy
The flaw of usury was designed to steal
Your property and the money that you earn.
Lies, deceit and deception are keys to this unscrupulous deal.
Your mortgage, personal and auto loans you’ll learn
Are backed by your collateral, indeed you risk a lot.
While the bankers risks so little, ‘cause with blue ink he simply pens
The amount of principal to create, BUT the usury he does NOT.
In this way, the banker steals money that he never lends.
It’s true that banking corporations are a legal invention
Created by the rich to prey upon the poor.
With qualities and powers not even in possession
Of any free will, flesh and blood man, that’s for sure.
There is now a collective will to take back the powers
As we-the-people confront the usury banking economy
We are creating a usuryfree option that trades hours
Empowering we-the-people, locally, nationally and globally.
Here's a link to the source post
---
Friday, March 23, 2012
Usury Lament and UsuryFree Option
By Tom J. Kennedy
The flaw of usury was designed to steal
Your property and the money that you earn.
Lies, deceit and deception are keys to this unscrupulous deal.
Your mortgage, personal and auto loans you’ll learn
Are backed by your collateral, indeed you risk a lot.
While the bankers risks so little, ‘cause with blue ink he simply pens
The amount of principal to create, BUT the usury he does NOT.
In this way, the banker steals money that he never lends.
It’s true that banking corporations are a legal invention
Created by the rich to prey upon the poor.
With qualities and powers not even in possession
Of any free will, flesh and blood man, that’s for sure.
There is now a collective will to take back the powers
As we-the-people confront the usury banking economy
We are creating a usuryfree option that trades hours
Empowering we-the-people, locally, nationally and globally.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The crisis in public morality - Robert Reich
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No Robert Reich fan here but.. There is a serious morality / trust / confidence problem in the USA & it is not improving in any way at all..
My suggestions Bring back usury laws, cap all interest rates at 10% or less.
Don't hold your breath lol
Click here for the source link if you prefer
---
By Robert B. Reich
March 21, 2012
Republicans have morality upside down. They're condemning gay marriage, abortion, access to contraception, and the wall separating church and state.
But the moral crisis in America isn't a breakdown in private morality. It's a breakdown in public morality. What Americans do in their bedrooms is their own business. What corporate executives and Wall Street financiers do in boardrooms and executive suites affects all of us.
We're living through a new Gilded Age of financial fraud and conflicts of interest; exorbitant pay to executives, traders, hedge-fund and private-equity managers; tax loopholes that allow them to pay a lower rate than many middle-class Americans; and legalized bribery of public officials through unlimited campaign "donations."
Greg Smith, the former Goldman Sachs vice president who created a furor with a stinging public rebuke of the firm for putting its own profits before the interests of its clients, would have seen the same practices anywhere on the Street.
The problem isn't excessive greed. If you took the greed out of Wall Street, all you'd have left is pavement. The problem is endemic abuse of power and trust.
Political scientist James Q. Wilson, who died a few weeks ago, noted that a broken window left unattended signals that no one cares if windows are broken. It becomes an ongoing invitation to throw more stones at more windows, ultimately undermining moral standards of the entire community.
The windows Wall Street broke in the years leading up to the crash of 2008 remain broken. Despite financial fraud on a scale not seen in this country for more than 80 years, not a single executive of a major Wall Street bank has been charged with a crime.
The new Dodd-Frank law that was supposed to stop Wall Street from a repeat performance is now so riddled with loopholes, courtesy of the Street's lobbyists, that it's almost a sham. Wall Street prevented the Glass-Steagall Act from being resurrected, and successfully fought against limits on the size of the largest banks.
And now money is flowing more freely than ever from giant corporations and Wall Street banks into the coffers of candidates for public office. The Supreme Court's shameful decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the floodgates.
Americans are entitled to their own religious views about gay marriage, contraception, abortion and God. A society where one set of religious views is imposed on a large number of citizens who disagree with them is not a democracy. It's a theocracy.
But abuses of public trust such as we've witnessed on the Street and in the executive suites of our largest corporations are not matters of private morality. They're violations of public morality. They undermine the integrity of our economy and democracy. They're leading millions of Americans to conclude that the game is rigged.
Regressive Republicans have no problem hurling the epithets "shameful," "disgraceful" and "contemptible" at private moral decisions they disagree with. Rush Limbaugh calls a young woman a "slut" just for standing up for her beliefs about private morality.
Republicans have staked out the moral low ground. It's time for the rest of us to stake out the moral high ground and demand an end to the abuses of economic power and privilege that characterize this new Gilded Age.
Glass-Steagall should be resurrected. The biggest banks should be broken up. Taxes should be raised on exorbitant incomes. We need a constitutional amendment to overturn the travesty of Citizens United.
Twice before, reformers have saved capitalism from its own excesses by appealing to public morality and common sense. First in the early 1900s, when the captains of American industry had monopolized the economy into giant trusts, American politics had sunk into a swamp of patronage and corruption, and many factory jobs were unsafe -- entailing long hours of work at meager pay and often exploiting children. In response, we enacted antitrust, civil service reforms and labor protections.
And then again in the 1930s, after the stock market collapsed and a large portion of the American workforce was unemployed. Then, we regulated banks and insured deposits, cleaned up the stock market, and provided social insurance to the destitute.
It's time once again to save capitalism from its own excesses -- and to base a new era of reform on public morality and common sense.
Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of "Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future." He blogs at www.robertreich.org.
No Robert Reich fan here but.. There is a serious morality / trust / confidence problem in the USA & it is not improving in any way at all..
My suggestions Bring back usury laws, cap all interest rates at 10% or less.
Don't hold your breath lol
Click here for the source link if you prefer
---
By Robert B. Reich
March 21, 2012
Republicans have morality upside down. They're condemning gay marriage, abortion, access to contraception, and the wall separating church and state.
But the moral crisis in America isn't a breakdown in private morality. It's a breakdown in public morality. What Americans do in their bedrooms is their own business. What corporate executives and Wall Street financiers do in boardrooms and executive suites affects all of us.
We're living through a new Gilded Age of financial fraud and conflicts of interest; exorbitant pay to executives, traders, hedge-fund and private-equity managers; tax loopholes that allow them to pay a lower rate than many middle-class Americans; and legalized bribery of public officials through unlimited campaign "donations."
Greg Smith, the former Goldman Sachs vice president who created a furor with a stinging public rebuke of the firm for putting its own profits before the interests of its clients, would have seen the same practices anywhere on the Street.
The problem isn't excessive greed. If you took the greed out of Wall Street, all you'd have left is pavement. The problem is endemic abuse of power and trust.
Political scientist James Q. Wilson, who died a few weeks ago, noted that a broken window left unattended signals that no one cares if windows are broken. It becomes an ongoing invitation to throw more stones at more windows, ultimately undermining moral standards of the entire community.
The windows Wall Street broke in the years leading up to the crash of 2008 remain broken. Despite financial fraud on a scale not seen in this country for more than 80 years, not a single executive of a major Wall Street bank has been charged with a crime.
The new Dodd-Frank law that was supposed to stop Wall Street from a repeat performance is now so riddled with loopholes, courtesy of the Street's lobbyists, that it's almost a sham. Wall Street prevented the Glass-Steagall Act from being resurrected, and successfully fought against limits on the size of the largest banks.
And now money is flowing more freely than ever from giant corporations and Wall Street banks into the coffers of candidates for public office. The Supreme Court's shameful decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the floodgates.
Americans are entitled to their own religious views about gay marriage, contraception, abortion and God. A society where one set of religious views is imposed on a large number of citizens who disagree with them is not a democracy. It's a theocracy.
But abuses of public trust such as we've witnessed on the Street and in the executive suites of our largest corporations are not matters of private morality. They're violations of public morality. They undermine the integrity of our economy and democracy. They're leading millions of Americans to conclude that the game is rigged.
Regressive Republicans have no problem hurling the epithets "shameful," "disgraceful" and "contemptible" at private moral decisions they disagree with. Rush Limbaugh calls a young woman a "slut" just for standing up for her beliefs about private morality.
Republicans have staked out the moral low ground. It's time for the rest of us to stake out the moral high ground and demand an end to the abuses of economic power and privilege that characterize this new Gilded Age.
Glass-Steagall should be resurrected. The biggest banks should be broken up. Taxes should be raised on exorbitant incomes. We need a constitutional amendment to overturn the travesty of Citizens United.
Twice before, reformers have saved capitalism from its own excesses by appealing to public morality and common sense. First in the early 1900s, when the captains of American industry had monopolized the economy into giant trusts, American politics had sunk into a swamp of patronage and corruption, and many factory jobs were unsafe -- entailing long hours of work at meager pay and often exploiting children. In response, we enacted antitrust, civil service reforms and labor protections.
And then again in the 1930s, after the stock market collapsed and a large portion of the American workforce was unemployed. Then, we regulated banks and insured deposits, cleaned up the stock market, and provided social insurance to the destitute.
It's time once again to save capitalism from its own excesses -- and to base a new era of reform on public morality and common sense.
Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of "Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future." He blogs at www.robertreich.org.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Desire
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You know, if you have the desire to conquer something and you love and cherish the pursuit of that goal you will not fail..
Be that computer programming, Wall St "finance", farming, janitorial work, trading, prostitution or eating a lot of fattening foods..
That part is entirely up to you to choose. Where your passions might lie.
Sure a college education makes it easier in most cases (I just got lucky I guess when I sold "myself" lol). But look at the cost. Look at the whole structure of the system.
Government has been pimping college education to the "dumbed down public" at large for decades. Creating another vestige of the "American Dream". Meet SallieMae I guess we are to "assume" it's in much better shape than Freddie and Fannie?
Business, big business, corporations, play the game as well. They most often "require" a college education. Why?
Would you rather have an employee who exhibits real passion about what they do or one who is bored and looking for a paycheck, though "adequately" educated?
From The Case Against College Education (on Time.com)
"It is absurd that people have to get college degrees to be considered for good jobs in hotel management or accounting — or journalism. It is inefficient, both because it wastes a lot of money and because it locks people who would have done good work out of some jobs. The tight connection between college degrees and economic success may be a nearly unquestioned part of our social order. Future generations may look back and shudder at the cruelty of it."
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1967580,00.html#ixzz1pJFWh1mT
It's just one tiny example of the cog within a cog, the wheel within a wheel, that is our underlying economic structure. Each piece of the, solely financial, economy (F.I.R.E.) depends upon other pieces. We try not to design our software this way, with dependencies, so maybe we should take another look at our economic system?
Student loans surpassed total credit card debt recently..
5 Shocking Facts About Student Loan Debt: It has surpassed credit card debt and has twice the delinquency rate
Don't they take away enough of our fiat with their silly games and semantics?
Just stop playing..
Greg
You know, if you have the desire to conquer something and you love and cherish the pursuit of that goal you will not fail..
Be that computer programming, Wall St "finance", farming, janitorial work, trading, prostitution or eating a lot of fattening foods..
That part is entirely up to you to choose. Where your passions might lie.
Sure a college education makes it easier in most cases (I just got lucky I guess when I sold "myself" lol). But look at the cost. Look at the whole structure of the system.
Government has been pimping college education to the "dumbed down public" at large for decades. Creating another vestige of the "American Dream". Meet SallieMae I guess we are to "assume" it's in much better shape than Freddie and Fannie?
Business, big business, corporations, play the game as well. They most often "require" a college education. Why?
Would you rather have an employee who exhibits real passion about what they do or one who is bored and looking for a paycheck, though "adequately" educated?
From The Case Against College Education (on Time.com)
"It is absurd that people have to get college degrees to be considered for good jobs in hotel management or accounting — or journalism. It is inefficient, both because it wastes a lot of money and because it locks people who would have done good work out of some jobs. The tight connection between college degrees and economic success may be a nearly unquestioned part of our social order. Future generations may look back and shudder at the cruelty of it."
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1967580,00.html#ixzz1pJFWh1mT
It's just one tiny example of the cog within a cog, the wheel within a wheel, that is our underlying economic structure. Each piece of the, solely financial, economy (F.I.R.E.) depends upon other pieces. We try not to design our software this way, with dependencies, so maybe we should take another look at our economic system?
Student loans surpassed total credit card debt recently..
5 Shocking Facts About Student Loan Debt: It has surpassed credit card debt and has twice the delinquency rate
Don't they take away enough of our fiat with their silly games and semantics?
Just stop playing..
Greg
Occupy the Banks
---
"From: Z A N
Organization(s):
JPMorgan Chase
Comment No: 57019
Date: 3/14/2012
Comment Text:
Dear CFTC Staff,
Hello, I am a current JPMorgan Chase employee. This is an open letter to all commissioners and regulators. I am emailing you today b/c I know of insider information that will be damning at best for JPMorgan Chase. I have decided to play the role of whistleblower b/c I no longer have faith and belief that what we are doing for society is bringing value to people. I am now under the opinion that we are actually putting hard working Americans unaware of what lays ahead at extreme market risk. This risk is unnecessary and will lead to wide-scale market collapse if not handled properly. With the release of Mr. Smith’s open letter to Goldman, I too would like to set the record straight for JPM as well. I have seen the disruptive behavior of superiors and no longer can say that I look up to employees at the ED/MD level here at JPM. Their smug exuberance and arrogance permeates the air just as pungently as rotting vegetables. They all know too well of the backdoor crony connections they share intimately with elected officials and with other institutions. It is apparent in everything they do, from the meager attempts to manipulate LIBOR, therefore controlling how almost all derivatives are priced to the inherit and fraudulent commodities manipulation. They too may have one day stood for something in the past in the client-employee relationship. Does anyone in today’s market really care about the protection of their client? From the ruthless and scandalous treatment of MF Global client asset funds to the excessive bonuses paid by companies with burgeoning liabilities. Yes, we at JPMorgan that are in the know are fearful of a cascading credit event being triggered in Greece as they have hidden derivatives in excess of $1 Trillion USD. We at JPMorgan own enough of these through counterparty risk and outright prop trading that our entire IB EDG space could be annihilated within a few short days. The last ten years has been market by inflexion point after inflexion point with the most notable coming in 2008 after the acquisition of Bear.
Continue reading
"From: Z A N
Organization(s):
JPMorgan Chase
Comment No: 57019
Date: 3/14/2012
Comment Text:
Dear CFTC Staff,
Hello, I am a current JPMorgan Chase employee. This is an open letter to all commissioners and regulators. I am emailing you today b/c I know of insider information that will be damning at best for JPMorgan Chase. I have decided to play the role of whistleblower b/c I no longer have faith and belief that what we are doing for society is bringing value to people. I am now under the opinion that we are actually putting hard working Americans unaware of what lays ahead at extreme market risk. This risk is unnecessary and will lead to wide-scale market collapse if not handled properly. With the release of Mr. Smith’s open letter to Goldman, I too would like to set the record straight for JPM as well. I have seen the disruptive behavior of superiors and no longer can say that I look up to employees at the ED/MD level here at JPM. Their smug exuberance and arrogance permeates the air just as pungently as rotting vegetables. They all know too well of the backdoor crony connections they share intimately with elected officials and with other institutions. It is apparent in everything they do, from the meager attempts to manipulate LIBOR, therefore controlling how almost all derivatives are priced to the inherit and fraudulent commodities manipulation. They too may have one day stood for something in the past in the client-employee relationship. Does anyone in today’s market really care about the protection of their client? From the ruthless and scandalous treatment of MF Global client asset funds to the excessive bonuses paid by companies with burgeoning liabilities. Yes, we at JPMorgan that are in the know are fearful of a cascading credit event being triggered in Greece as they have hidden derivatives in excess of $1 Trillion USD. We at JPMorgan own enough of these through counterparty risk and outright prop trading that our entire IB EDG space could be annihilated within a few short days. The last ten years has been market by inflexion point after inflexion point with the most notable coming in 2008 after the acquisition of Bear.
Continue reading
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Apocalipsis – Expansión (Music and Film on the Capitalist Model of Consumption and Fear)
---
Same old shiite forever!
Capitalism (as we have always known it) is already gone now..
It's past time for real change..
It's past time for revolution..
Same old shiite forever!
Capitalism (as we have always known it) is already gone now..
It's past time for real change..
It's past time for revolution..
#Elite "stuff" you should know
---
i want to begin this post with a WikiPedia link to Military Keynesianism
---Excerpted from it..
Military Keynesianism is the accusation that John Maynard Keynes advocated government economic policy in which the government devotes large amounts of spending to the military in an effort to increase economic growth.[1] In fact, Keynes advocated that government spending be used to "in the interests of peace and prosperity" instead of "war and destruction".[2] An example of such policies are the Public Works Administration in the 1930s in the United States.
and.. (Think the "economics" of military spending and ignore the "if we don't spend it we will all DIE!" crowd for a bit..)
On the demand side, increased military demand for goods and services is generated directly by government spending. Secondly, this direct spending induces a multiplier effect of general consumer spending. These two effects are directly in line with general Keynesian economic doctrine. (ie; economic stimulus)
---
And here you can find a treasury of information concerning World Military Spending (on Global Issues)
including..
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes … known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
— James Madison, Political Observations, 1795
Global military expenditure stands at over $1.6 trillion in annual expenditure at current prices for 2010 (or $1.56 trillion dollars at constant 2009 prices), and has been rising in recent years.
---
This is a large, and somewhat complex, issue to tackle so I'm going to settle for just throwing information at you..
Published on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 by On the Commons
Why is the Most Wasteful Government Agency Not Part of the Deficit Discussion?
Republicans ignore incompetence, bloat and corruption at the Pentagon
by David Morris
---
Granted this post is about one specific issue, military spending. However it represents the "control" the government has as the entity in control not only of taxpayer dollars but also deficit spending / borrowing that never decreases but only increases.
Just multiple this effect throughout government and you begin to see the "big picture" that everything we see is somehow manipulated by government spending priorities and or Federal Reserve Banking "issues" or the lobbyists of multinational corporations.
Those entities seem to think, at this point in American history, that they have the ability to manipulate all that is economic endlessly (and, at least so far, they have been proven correct).
Take a look at this webpage which ranks the United States manufacturing industry.. (Sortable and really cool)
As one might expect the list is filled with..
Petroleum & Coal Products (The oil economy)
Motor Vehicles (GM and company)
Aerospace & Defense (The war economy)
Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Tobacco (Some of the things we enjoy "manufacturing")
In my opinion many, if not most, of these industries can be and indeed are frequently manipulated by government via policy / regulation.
This IS crony capitalism.
People need to understand that every aspect of their lives is ALREADY being micro-managed by government (taxes, regulation, policy), the Federal Reserve Bank (who decides how much, or how little, your dollars are worth) and multinational corporations (who control our food, our access to medication, our cost for services).
We, the people, lost our voice and ability to participate in the system, long ago..
Greg
i want to begin this post with a WikiPedia link to Military Keynesianism
---Excerpted from it..
Military Keynesianism is the accusation that John Maynard Keynes advocated government economic policy in which the government devotes large amounts of spending to the military in an effort to increase economic growth.[1] In fact, Keynes advocated that government spending be used to "in the interests of peace and prosperity" instead of "war and destruction".[2] An example of such policies are the Public Works Administration in the 1930s in the United States.
and.. (Think the "economics" of military spending and ignore the "if we don't spend it we will all DIE!" crowd for a bit..)
On the demand side, increased military demand for goods and services is generated directly by government spending. Secondly, this direct spending induces a multiplier effect of general consumer spending. These two effects are directly in line with general Keynesian economic doctrine. (ie; economic stimulus)
---
And here you can find a treasury of information concerning World Military Spending (on Global Issues)
including..
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes … known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
— James Madison, Political Observations, 1795
Global military expenditure stands at over $1.6 trillion in annual expenditure at current prices for 2010 (or $1.56 trillion dollars at constant 2009 prices), and has been rising in recent years.
---
This is a large, and somewhat complex, issue to tackle so I'm going to settle for just throwing information at you..
Published on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 by On the Commons
Why is the Most Wasteful Government Agency Not Part of the Deficit Discussion?
Republicans ignore incompetence, bloat and corruption at the Pentagon
by David Morris
---
Granted this post is about one specific issue, military spending. However it represents the "control" the government has as the entity in control not only of taxpayer dollars but also deficit spending / borrowing that never decreases but only increases.
Just multiple this effect throughout government and you begin to see the "big picture" that everything we see is somehow manipulated by government spending priorities and or Federal Reserve Banking "issues" or the lobbyists of multinational corporations.
Those entities seem to think, at this point in American history, that they have the ability to manipulate all that is economic endlessly (and, at least so far, they have been proven correct).
Take a look at this webpage which ranks the United States manufacturing industry.. (Sortable and really cool)
As one might expect the list is filled with..
Petroleum & Coal Products (The oil economy)
Motor Vehicles (GM and company)
Aerospace & Defense (The war economy)
Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Tobacco (Some of the things we enjoy "manufacturing")
In my opinion many, if not most, of these industries can be and indeed are frequently manipulated by government via policy / regulation.
This IS crony capitalism.
People need to understand that every aspect of their lives is ALREADY being micro-managed by government (taxes, regulation, policy), the Federal Reserve Bank (who decides how much, or how little, your dollars are worth) and multinational corporations (who control our food, our access to medication, our cost for services).
We, the people, lost our voice and ability to participate in the system, long ago..
Greg
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Ron Paul Gets No Respect - NewsMax #RonPaul
---
Ron Paul Gets No Respect - NewsMax <-- source
Tuesday, 13 Mar 2012 06:31 PM
By Doug Wead
Ron Paul supporters are used to getting shortchanged by the media.
Take the debates for example. In one of the South Carolina debates, Paul was given only 89 seconds by CBS to speak — out of an entire hour.
Ron Paul addresses what appears to be many more than 40 people. Paul had just come in second in the New Hampshire primary and was leading all other contenders, including President Barack Obama among independents.
In another debate, NBC gave Brian Williams as much time to speak as Paul. NBC’s own poll showed Paul tied with Mitt Romney as leading the pack in a head-to-head contest with Obama.
There are reasons why the pundits and the mainstream media exclude Paul. He is taking on the establishment. He is seeking to reform the monetary system, including changes that would make the Federal Reserve more transparent.
He wants us all to know how much money they are "printing" and to whom it is given.
Sounds reasonable.
A partial audit Paul obtained in 2008 showed trillions of new dollars being loaned out — interest free — to banks and major corporations, including corporations that own companies, that own companies, that own television networks.
It also showed money being loaned to companies that advertise on those networks — but mostly to banks that loan the money that allow those big companies to make their dreams come true.
Whatever happened to "in the interest of full disclosure?" The network talking heads trudge on, never saying a word about the fact that the news they are reporting is impacting their own companies and their own careers.
Of course, there is nothing conspiratorial about most journalists. They follow the herd, running when the herd runs and relaxing when the herd stops.
God help the poor journalist that strays too far from the pack. His or her greatest fear is not to be wrong about a story, but rather, to be different.
Paul supporters come via the internet. That's why so many are young. They don't watch television news. They do their own research.
Paul doesn't convert them. The facts do. They simply match up the facts to the candidates. Many are even shocked to find that the old man has it right.
Some are Democrats and independents surprised to find they agree with a Republican. And they are loyal because they have experienced the pride of authorship, the pride of self-discovery.
So here is another little story for the Ronulans. something to add to the collection:
According to an Associated Press report that was published by the Chicago Tribune and carried worldwide by the wire service, "about 40 people lined up to enter the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville (Michigan) where Paul was speaking Sunday afternoon."
The AP claimed in its story that the report originated in the Detroit News, but I couldn't find it there.
The campaign called AP and asked for a correction based on the fact that there were not 40 people there. There were more than 2,000 people at the event.
AP refused.
Fortunately, Adam de Angeli, Paul’s Michigan State Director, had photos — or corroborating evidence as the case may be.
Maybe we should print T-shirts that say, "I was one of the 40 at Hudsonville."
If everybody buys one who attended the event, we might be able to convince AP to run a correction.
Doug Wead is a presidential historian and a senior adviser to the Ron Paul presidential campaign. He is a New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist, and adviser to two presidents, including President George H.W. Bush. Read more reports from Doug Wead — Click Here Now.
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Ron Paul Gets No Respect - NewsMax <-- source
Tuesday, 13 Mar 2012 06:31 PM
By Doug Wead
Ron Paul supporters are used to getting shortchanged by the media.
Take the debates for example. In one of the South Carolina debates, Paul was given only 89 seconds by CBS to speak — out of an entire hour.
Ron Paul addresses what appears to be many more than 40 people. Paul had just come in second in the New Hampshire primary and was leading all other contenders, including President Barack Obama among independents.
In another debate, NBC gave Brian Williams as much time to speak as Paul. NBC’s own poll showed Paul tied with Mitt Romney as leading the pack in a head-to-head contest with Obama.
There are reasons why the pundits and the mainstream media exclude Paul. He is taking on the establishment. He is seeking to reform the monetary system, including changes that would make the Federal Reserve more transparent.
He wants us all to know how much money they are "printing" and to whom it is given.
Sounds reasonable.
A partial audit Paul obtained in 2008 showed trillions of new dollars being loaned out — interest free — to banks and major corporations, including corporations that own companies, that own companies, that own television networks.
It also showed money being loaned to companies that advertise on those networks — but mostly to banks that loan the money that allow those big companies to make their dreams come true.
Whatever happened to "in the interest of full disclosure?" The network talking heads trudge on, never saying a word about the fact that the news they are reporting is impacting their own companies and their own careers.
Of course, there is nothing conspiratorial about most journalists. They follow the herd, running when the herd runs and relaxing when the herd stops.
God help the poor journalist that strays too far from the pack. His or her greatest fear is not to be wrong about a story, but rather, to be different.
Paul supporters come via the internet. That's why so many are young. They don't watch television news. They do their own research.
Paul doesn't convert them. The facts do. They simply match up the facts to the candidates. Many are even shocked to find that the old man has it right.
Some are Democrats and independents surprised to find they agree with a Republican. And they are loyal because they have experienced the pride of authorship, the pride of self-discovery.
So here is another little story for the Ronulans. something to add to the collection:
According to an Associated Press report that was published by the Chicago Tribune and carried worldwide by the wire service, "about 40 people lined up to enter the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville (Michigan) where Paul was speaking Sunday afternoon."
The AP claimed in its story that the report originated in the Detroit News, but I couldn't find it there.
The campaign called AP and asked for a correction based on the fact that there were not 40 people there. There were more than 2,000 people at the event.
AP refused.
Fortunately, Adam de Angeli, Paul’s Michigan State Director, had photos — or corroborating evidence as the case may be.
Maybe we should print T-shirts that say, "I was one of the 40 at Hudsonville."
If everybody buys one who attended the event, we might be able to convince AP to run a correction.
Doug Wead is a presidential historian and a senior adviser to the Ron Paul presidential campaign. He is a New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist, and adviser to two presidents, including President George H.W. Bush. Read more reports from Doug Wead — Click Here Now.
© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
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