Barack Obama’s election as president on that momentous inauguration event brought millions upon millions of people to Washington, DC in that bitter freezing cold January day to send off LilBoyBush with raised middle fingers, while simultaneously welcoming our new president into the White House with promises of real change and a new day for working Americans.
Today many, or even most, and even those who did not vote for President Obama, but thought something better might come of his presidency now believe they will trust no one from this day forward who runs for president, let alone any other political office.
The trust has been broken. There is no more circle of trust. The circle of hope never was. It was only a broken promise never meant to be fulfilled. It was all a big lie!
Barack Obama has broken America’s belief that those who run for president, and make promises to greatly improve the state of the nation, the condition of the country, reform what has been broken, reign in corruption, greed and criminals of the highest order are not to be trusted or believed.
Today we are closing in on two years of the Barack Obama presidency and what we are experiencing is a further decline in the state of the union and little as been done to fix it. On the contrary, what has been done is to further enrich those who destroyed it. Our nation is continuing to slip into despair, decline, and deflation. Those who once trusted the stock market, no longer do, and have pulled out or will pull out at some point leaving it to those with fancy high frequency trading computers to play it like a Roulette Wheel of finance. Come on down!
The hard working Americans who were ripped off by Wall Street to the tune of $13 trillion (home market value), and $4 trillion in stock market capitalization, by the financial crime syndicate that owns it, have pulled what money they have left from the stock market and moved it into cash deposits where it pays virtually no interest. The Fed likes it just that way! Average Americans have entered a self-imposed austerity program through their savings deposit accounts. Congress doesn’t need to impose more of it upon already damaged and financially wounded working people. But they want to make it worse by feeding Social Security and Medicare to that Giant Vampire Squid we call Wall Street.
We are in a jobs depression. There is no doubt about it. When you include those workers who are no longer looking for employment because there is none to be found, and have been removed from any statistical database, we are over 20% unemployed, with another half as many under-employed.
We can no longer trust anyone running for president ever again. The lie has been cast in stone.
The health care reform bill ended up being a windfall for the health care industry, since the American citizen had the “public option” taken out of the debate.
The financial reform bill was a watered down version of “fix-it”, since the financial industry can continue to ramp up leveraging, and keep an unregulated devivatives market in the clutches of the mega-bankstas. “Let’s make more bubbles.”
The two wars continue siphoning billions of dollars from the treasury and the real economy. The “war stimulus packages” are running full speed ahead, for now. US manufacturing has dropped to just 11% of GDP, when not too long ago it was 18% of GDP.
Consumers are spent out. Foreclosures continue. The banks don’t really know who actually holds the mortgages to these foreclosures, since the paperwork was sold and resold and resold again to whatchamacallit somewhere down the line in the securities trading naked-selling business. The banks have kept a huge inventory of repossessed, foreclosed and walked-away-from-homes off the market in hopes that Bada Bing Bernanke would re-inflate another Bubble in housing, once again, with really low interest rates. But it didn’t happen. The shadow inventory of unsold homes must be eventually dumped into the open market, and that will send home values down into the empty shaft freefalling the prices another 15-20-25% or more. Bada Bing Boys.
Construction and home building is dead. There are no new building permits out there, as they once were boosting GDP. It’s a dead man walking.
Bernanke has nowhere to go but to print more cash and sell more bonds, and then, buy them back up, in hopes to further engorge the bankstas holdings, which he clutches close to his chest as Fed reserves not unlike a hen roosting her eggs. He ignores the real economy and employment, and should be investigated for that. The bylaws of the Fed state that the job of the chairman is to address full employment. Oops. Ben forgot that one! Bernanke is the Worst Man of the Year.
Barack Obama is still keeping the Goldman Sachs crooks and liars around in his government. Why?
Nowhere in the president’s speeches does he demand massive campaign contribution reform, or the way political campaigns are funded. Campaign reform is nowhere to be heard. Therefore, millionaires and billionaires will continue to buy seats in Congress.
We have just heard from the President in an Oval Office address proclaiming that military actions in Iraq have ended, but our al-Qaeda bogyman threat continues to lurk in the corners of Afghanistan’s desert hideaways, and the dark crevices of mountain caves waiting to pounce upon Americans not unlike a cobra upon an unsuspecting victim. Haven’t we heard enough of this garbage, yet? When will the LilBoyBush Bogeyman be filed under CIA and Cheney/Rumsfeld creations? So, Barack has to use the ‘Be afraid of the silhouette in the dark’ approach to keep our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan alive and well, and enriching the private war profiteering sector of corporate elite.
The way I see it, the real threat is the Taliban, poverty, joblessness, oppression, and the warlord rule of law. It appears that the young have nothing to look forward to; therefore, they get nurtured by Taliban leaders, handed a gun, while being provided food and protection. A generation of gangbangers are being raised for the purpose of viewing the enemy as the US military and the American occupation of their country. Should be disagree? Just follow the money and one will understand why it continues.
In Iraq, after years of avoidance techniques, their “parliament” has failed to form a functioning government. Come on Barack. Do you actually believe there is an end in sight? As American unemployment rises everyday, and your administration permits US multi-national corporations to use free Fed fund “loans” to build manufacturing facilities wherever the cheapest labor and most oppressive work standards can be found in order to sell the crap back to Walmart so the Sheeple can buy it at absolutely minimum prices, the cost of war continues on and on aiding in the bankruptcy of the country without a single benefit to the overall real economy as a sustainable product.
This is a nation in decline with heavy personal debt and deflating asset values, while consumer goods invite inflationary prices. Thank you Barack for walking blindly into that good night!
According to Market-ticker.org, personal income increased by .02 percent ($30.0 billion) in July, yet personal consumption expenditures increased by .04 percent ($44.1 billion).
So, what does that mean? It means that consumers spent more than their personal income! Oh, consumers put more of their spending on their credit cards, I guess. They must have packed up all the kids and dog into their SUV or minivan and headed to the beach for a fun filled week all on credit. So much for increasing savings and paying down debt.
Also, we just might realize that there was a portion of those consumers who stopped paying their underwater mortgages and decided to use that extra cash to splurge on stuff and more stuff before having to find another place to live. Party hardy while you can. Even Bristol Palin found a gig on Dancing With The Stars, even though she has not done a damn productive thing in her life other than give birth to her child. Reward the freeloaders. Maybe that could be a new reality show: Reward The Freeloaders! “This week we have Bristol Palin with us showing how she can dance real pretty. Dance for us Bristol. Can you shake your bootie?”
While talking about free money, will Barack sanction the Fed’s biggest swindler—Bada Bing Bernanke who wants to restart the Quantitative Easing overheated engine again? We keep hearing the propaganda that it would be all for those small business owners who are already too afraid to borrow a single penny because most are just trying to hold on for dear life! Retail business is down, as is construction, as is manufacturing suppliers. So, who or what would most benefit from quantitative easing?
Large business. Now that’s the ticket! Let it roll. Bring it on! The large business corporations that supply our representatives with huge pocketfuls of cash to spend on re-election campaigns would love to get their hands on more free “loans”. These are the same corporations that influence and write and demand that their rules get passed as law!!
Thank you Barack for being the Change President!
Thank you Barack for giving Americans the trust in the words of presidential candidates!!
So, these large corporations take Bernanke’s zero percent loans so as to ship more jobs overseas and boost the GDP of those foreign countries that choose to join as their partners in the destruction of the United States!! Would anyone consider that Bernanke is a traitor? That he should be tried as a traitor and corporate terrorist collaborator?
Let’s look at GDP. According to my favorite reference, Mr. Mike Whitney (The Recovery is Dead-The Backward Slide Into Recession), he wrote in his August 31st piece, “Last week, 2nd quarter GDP was revised down to 1.6 per cent. First quarter [2010] GDP was twice the size at 3.7 percent, while 4th quarter 2009 was higher at 5 per cent. The underlying trend is reasserting itself as growth turns to stagnation.”
Is this a dead cat bounce?
“The Fed does not have the tools to fix the ailing economy. Quantitative easing can lower rates and keep asset prices inflated, but it cannot increase demand, reduce the output gap or lower unemployment. Only fiscal stimulus can do that and policy makers have rejected that option. The US is now facing a protracted period of high unemployment and … the recovery is over.”
“As the current account deficit continues to widen, the global system inches closer to a major currency crisis. Ballooning trade imbalances signal that a disorderly unwinding of the dollar is becoming more probable. If the dollar drops precipitously, US demand for foreign exports will fall and the world will plunge into another deep slump.” (End)
Thank you Barack and your Right wing Democrats and Repugnicons who believe that tax cuts for the rich, and austerity for everyone else is what will Greece the skids allowing the mega-rich to buy up all the decaying real estate for pennies on the dollar. A honest-to-goodness kleptocratic oligarchy will be entrenched forever!
Vladimir Putin will retire and run for US president in 2016!
The reality is that wages must grow in order for workers to pay down debt allowing them to spend their money buying what they make. That can only happen through an increase in employment, an increase in demand leading to an increase in wages. Only a modest amount of inflation can bring this about so more investment dollars find their way into the business sector, as well as an increase in interest rates giving those who have saved a boost in their asset values. This would likely lower the current account deficit, raise GDP, raise tax revenues, and build a sustainable economy that might actually help wean us off of foreign oil. The backlog of empty homes might actually begin to unwind, too.
Bada Bing Bernanke would rather see currency deflation in order to pay on the debt with deflated dollars. The heck with the rest of the economy. Finance rules!
Many will not like to read this but government must be the driver here. The private sector isn’t going to stimulate the economy, nor will the bailed out corporate elite who have other plans, or the Fed, which has heavily enriched the Golden Corporate Calves, molded by the likes of Bernanke, Geithner, and Hank-da’ Paulie-Paulson, which are basically kept on the shelf of the Fed’s underground secret vault, want to bring about real growth to the real economy.
This has become a real Rubicon---they hide in plain sight. The course of action they have taken cannot be avoided because the corporate crime syndicate is calling the shots. We have no leadership to break the Rubicon.
Thanks for reading, jerry
http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com
39 comments:
Nail on the head my friend. You describe me perfectly with this paragraph. I did not vote for Obama, but when he won, I had hoped, there's that word again, that he would take the path to responsible government with the transparancy he promised. He has actually one upped baby Bush which I didn't think was possible. It's sad that in the same month we celebrate the pull out from Iraq he just broke the number killed during Bush's Presidency in Poppy-stan. My great hope, I know, there's that damn word again, that the J6P's of this word will realize that there is no difference between the two partys in this land we call America and that unless we come together as Americans and not as Democrats or Republicans, all is lost, and in truth I see no way out of this debacle, as the numbers are mind numbing at this point. Welcome to the early stages of the 4th Turning.
Also,they are now running TV ads wanting you to spy on your neighbors. IN AMERICA! This is the shit that was pulled in the USSR and it's satelite states. I never thought I would see such a thing in our country, but here we are. My naivity was breathtaking.
Definition for naive
- extremely simple and trusting: having or showing an excessively simple and trusting view of the world and human natur…
- not shrewd or sophisticated: showing a lack of sophistication and subtlety or of critical judgment and analysis
- artless: admirably straightforward and uncomplicated or refreshingly innocent and unaffected
Today many, or even most, and even those who did not vote for President Obama, but thought something better might come of his presidency now believe they will trust no one from this day forward who runs for president, let alone any other political office.
Hi Spectre,
Thank you for your kind words regarding my brand of "liberalism". I will thoughtfully disagree some of your points, but, of course, you are, without a doubt, completed entitled to them.
I believe that the "hippie-liberal" movement that we witnessed in Chicago during the 1968 convention, and during the subsequent Chicago 7 trial as a direct reaction to the lies, etc that had been shoved down America's throats by corrupted war profiteering politicians and corporatists.
What we saw was rebelliousness driven to extreme heights by the "establishment". Unfortunately, we need the same rebelliousness to the same class of people regarding what is occurring today. But we are not seeing it. What we are seeing is a Tea Party movement driven and paid for by the corporate elite.
There would not likely be such an organized group if their figureheads were not funded by the corporate elite on the RIght.
I believe as you we need all people coming together. Those are wise words, Mr. Spectre!
We are cut apart by the political divide. But that won't change anytime soon.
Harry Reid is no liberal. He may think so, but he is a Democratic conservative moderate. So many other politicians are on the extreme side on the RIght.
Robert Reich is often very correct. He has the situation pegged. Yet, American productivity MUST be rebuilt.
Thus far, I do continue to believe that since the private sector is not wanting to rebuild the real economy in order to drive US productivity, GDP, and economic growth, the people, ie. government must do it.
FDR took 60% of the unemployed and drove a public works program building bridges, roads, schools, government building, airfields, painting murals, planting trees, and more. He took 25% unemployment down to 9 plus by 1934?, but up to 14% by 1936, due to austerity pressures put on him.
GDP grew to 14% nominally by 1936.
We need to rebuild America and stabilize the economy.
Please tell me what are your suggestions?
take care friend, jerry
"FDR took 60% of the unemployed and drove a public works program building bridges, roads, schools, government building, airfields, painting murals, planting trees, and more. He took 25% unemployment down to 9 plus by 1934?, but up to 14% by 1936, due to austerity pressures put on him."
Jerry, at no time during the 1930s did our deficit to GDP go above 5%. Currently it's pushing 10% - 12% depending on who you believe concerning real GDP, but that's another story for another time.
I don't disagree about infastructure projects, but where did the $780 Billion dollars go? During the first Depression we built the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge ect. ect. under budget and ahead of schedule. Today, we can't even figure out where the damn money went.
Also, during the Depression we did have periods of positive GDP, but it wasn't sustainable then or now. If, I'm not mistaken 1937 forward was the pits. I'm going to take a hard look at Depression era stats because you deserve an honest answer regarding employment and GDP. It's my contention that it was the 2nd WW that actually pulled us out of the Depression. People forget that even though we weren't in the war when it started, we did have lend-lease to England and other countries that had to of brought employment up.
I will take this weekend to really think about possible answers, but clearly a centralized govt. Hell bent on stealing our RIGHTS is not a remedy to our ills. Perfect Citizen by NSA starts soon. Every American could actually be tracked like a criminal.
Can you tell me who you consider a real liberal leader in this era? I want to know who the shining example should be.
Hi Spectre,
Here is the link of GDP growth under FDR before the war began for the US.
http://www.angrybearblog.com/2007/07/would-economic-growth-of-1930s-be.html
We had serious GDP growth due to the government stimulus'.
Where the $787B went to? Around $400B of it went into tax cut benefits for business, which did not stimulate the economy. The Republicans demanded that more than half went into tax cuts, otherwise they would not vote for the stimulus bill.
Unfortunately, much of it went to the states to be divided out for "shovel-ready projects". That is why we currently see every darn road getting paved again. But here in PA we are getting crumbling bridges repaired.
The sustainability of the stimulus was short-lived.
Now, who do I see as a real liberal? I believe if we had more Alan Graysons we might see more legislation dedicated toward the real economy and working people.
jerry
Jerry, take a gander at the two charts from the first link I provided. There was no growth to speak of concerning GDP or employment until the War. Once we started re-arming ourselves was when we came out of the debacle. The second link provides further evidence regarding what pulled us from the debacle. Here's a bit from the article:
"As the above graph indicates that while the economy recovered somewhat from its state in 1933 the unemployment rate remained in the 15 percent range for the rest of the decade. The unemployment rate did not drop from depression levels until the economic impact of World War II was felt."
Great Depression in the United States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_the_United_States
The Recovery from the
Great Depression of the 1930s
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/recovery.htm
Jerry, if you read the link I provide, you will see that a big chunk of the money that was claimed as tax relief actually flowed to the categories more to your liking. It's the small details my friend. Be sure to read the bottom where the asterisk appears:
The 2009 Stimulus Package Explained
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/article/Thrifty/The_2009_Stimulus_Package_Explained
Jerry, the answer to the article below is of course no. There's not a snowball's chance in Hell of a recovery because we are in the early stages of the 4th Turning.
Record Low Mortgage Rates, A Record Low Federal Funds Rate And Obscene Economic Stimulus Spending Have All Failed - Will Nothing Stimulate This Dead Horse Of An Economy?
Over the past several years, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government have tried everything that they can think of to stimulate this dead horse of an economy but nothing has worked.
The Fed has slashed the federal funds rate to record low levels, mortgage rates have been pushed to all-time lows and the U.S. government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in an effort to get the economy going. But despite all these of these extraordinary efforts, the U.S. economy continues to just lie there like a dead corpse. Never before have the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government done more to try to stimulate the economy and never before have their efforts produced such poor results. Home sales continue to set new record lows, more than 14 million Americans continue to be unemployed, foreclosures continue to soar, personal bankruptcies continue to soar and an increasing number of Americans continue to sign up for food stamps and other anti-poverty programs. All of the things that once worked so well to stimulate the U.S. economy seem to be doing next to nothing here in 2010, and the American people are becoming increasingly frustrated by economic problems that just keep getting worse.
Once upon a time, a big drop in mortgage rates would get Americans running out to buy homes in big numbers. But that is just not happening this time.
As you can see from the chart below, mortgage rates are at ridiculously low levels right now. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.32 percent this week. That is the lowest it has ever been since Freddie Mac began tracking mortgage rates back in 1971.
(SNIP)
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/record-low-mortgage-rates-a-record-low-federal-funds-rate-and-obscene-economic-stimulus-spending-have-all-failed-will-nothing-stimulate-this-dead-horse-of-an-economy
2011 will be the third year in a row that we will run almost $1.5 Trillion in deficit spending (2011 is projected at $1.42 Trillion). That's 10% to 12% in deficit spending to GDP 3 years running. I will mention again that FDR never ran over 5%, so to say that enough hasn't been done is false. We are outspending FDR 2 to 1 and have been for 2 years. God help us when the Treasury Market blows which it must. When will the sheeple realize that this Empire is nothing special when compared to other Empires throughout history?
I will also repeat that NO EMPIRE has ever existed past 40 years once they went total fiat. Next year is our 40th year. In 1971, Nixon cried uncle when France demanded payments in gold to settle balances. The seasonality of history is fascinating, and in this case, somewhat frightening. Most have not a clue.
Concerning the Stimulus, when the $780 Billion Stimulus was announced, it was said that it would save jobs and keep unemplyment from going past 8%. Well here we are much later at 9.6%with the stimulus. The argument has now shifted to the amount of jobs saved because the original goal was blown out of the water. Keep the goal post moving so the sheeple stay confused.
I will also mention that Democrats have the Presidency, the House and the Senate. The only thing more convenient would be a dictatorship.
As I said previously, the Democrats control the Presidency, the House and the Senate. The blood of Americans targeted for assasinations is on the hands of those leaders, and if this is liberalism as we were promised with "change we can believe in", then we don't want or need their type of change. It leads to dictatorship as I have warned before. You can't blame this on anyone else but the Democrats as they hold the reins of power.
Obama targeted killings lawsuit spotlights American civilians
Rights Groups File Challenge To Targeted Killing By U.S. (Photo: CCR)
"An extrajudicial killing policy under which names are added to CIA and military 'kill lists' through a secret executive process and stay there for months at a time is plainly not limited to imminent threats." - Center for Constitutional Rights
________________________________________________________________________________
Targets on Obama's high-tech kill-list in the "war on terror" hope that the American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) lawsuit challenging government's asserted authority for "targeted killings” of U.S. citizens far from armed conflict zones will shed light directly on them, innocent American Targeted Individuals (TIs) and TIs in other countries, each struggling to survive the covert operation already operational. There is widespread belief that already, voiceless, faceless targets are dying or have been covertly killed according to TI support group communications.
"That the government adds people to kill lists after a bureaucratic process and leaves them on the lists for months at a time flies in the face of the Constitution and international law," stated Vince Warren, Executive Director of CCR. (CCR, Rights Groups File Challenge To Targeted Killing By U.S., Sept. 1, 2010)
(SNIP)
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/obama-s-targeted-killings-lawsuit-may-spotlight-tis
Charlie Chaplin does "The Dictator"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvjoWOwnn4&feature=player_embedded
Obama Added More to National Debt in First 19 Months Than All Presidents from Washington Through Reagan Combined, Says Gov’t Data
In the first 19 months of the Obama administration, the federal debt held by the public increased by $2.5260 trillion, which is more than the cumulative total of the national debt held by the public that was amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan.
The U.S. Treasury Department divides the federal debt into two categories. One is “debt held by the public,” which includes U.S. government securities owned by individuals, corporations, state or local governments, foreign governments and other entities outside the federal government itself. The other is “intragovernmental” debt, which includes I.O.U.s the federal government gives to itself when, for example, the Treasury borrows money out of the Social Security “trust fund” to pay for expenses other than Social Security.
At the end of fiscal year 1989, which ended eight months after President Reagan left office, the total federal debt held by the public was $2.1907 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That means all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan had accumulated only that much publicly held debt on behalf of American taxpayers. That is $335.3 billion less than the $2.5260 trillion that was added to the federal debt held by the public just between Jan. 20, 2009, when President Obama was inaugurated, and Aug. 20, 2010, the 19-month anniversary of Obama's inauguration.
(SNIP)
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/72404
Jerry, the unemployment chart says it all concerning the bullshit flying from the WH. How about Paul Krugman calling for a housing bubble in 2002? Pretty neat when you get exactly what you called for, and now I wonder what Paul wants to blow up next. Oh I know, it's the Treasury Market of course, and he's gonna get his wish on this one to. I have said ever since finding your site that you can't fix a debt problem with more debt. It's like giving an alcoholic a 1.75 instead of a fifth, and expecting the alcoholic to improve. I'm waiting on the "fall of The Fall" myself.
Labor Day 2010: A Merciful End to the "Summer of Recovery"
For months the nation's economic outlook has steadily worsened. The housing market collapsed this summer. Unemployment and underemployment are unchanged from levels 12 months ago despite massive spending purported to manufacture steady labor improvement following September 2009. Unemployment was supposed to have fallen for 11 consecutive months under the Stimulus Bill, instead it has fallen only 4 times during the past year.(SNIP)
http://theaffordablemortgagedepression.com/2010/09/06/labor-day-2010-a-merciful-end-to-the-summer-of-recovery.aspx
Hi Spectre,
Just got back from several days of West Virginia camping at Blackwater Falls State Park. West Virginia sure keeps after their state parks. It was beautiful.
I have been away from all of this and the news. It felt good.
The sky was lit like a planetarium!
I read the the FDR piece. The chart did show that GDP went up from 1933-1936. What happened after 1936, it seems, was pressure for FDR to implement austerity programs, which effected the GDP, jobs and more. Then the war came.
What is different today, than what it was like back then, was that we had a huge manufacturing infrastructure in place. Today is has collapsed.
The other piece you sent (I have only gotten through those two, thus far) was about Obama's stimulus.
I continue to believe that the 65% was directed toward consumerism. What really needs to be done is a belief that recovery can only come from jobs. It is all about jobs, and not consumer spending. Yes, it did keep workers, more specifically in the trades, employed.
I met a camper who is a windows installer, and he has been working.
You know Spectre, I believe that we won't see the change that is needed in order for real jobs to be realized. It just won't happen, since there is not the will of government to radically change the system that favors the wealthy elite class.
Bernanke and the rest of them know that the wealthy elite classes make lots of money when there is a bubble, and when it breaks. Both ways are how they swing. They buy up the assets on the up swing, and then mop them up on the down swing, too.
jerry
Here are the facts about the national debt, and exactly which presidents added to it.
Reagan drove the national debt up around 30% and LilBoyBush drove it up another 20%. Obama, thus far, has driven it up around 10%.
http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
Spectre, liberals don't accept the war, rendition, spying on Americans, illegal searches and seizures, let alone the assassinations of world leaders.
If you insist that Obama is a liberal and the Democrats in government are also all liberals, then the same must go for conservatives being neo-con-fascist Republicans.
There are liberal and conservative political points of view. Political parties are Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Within those parties are political points of view, which vary depending upon the specific issues. A Democrat and Republican can view an issue in a liberal or conservative or neo-liberal, or neo-fascist, or socialist points of view.
You paint with a very broad brush.
Obama is NOT a liberal. Actually, he appears to be an extension of the Bush Boy legacy. He is a conservative Democrat with a neo-liberal agenda.
jerry
Jerry, I also remember the Luxury Tax of 1988-1991(?) It did nothing but destroy American JOBS, as the rich can and did spend their money elsewhere. In the end CONgress couldn't repeal the damn law fast enough as their constituents were being laid off in large numbers and raising Holy Hell. The Rule of unintended consequences strikes again. Pensions both public and private are massively underfunded. This is how all Ponzi Schemes end.
QE Adverse Side Effect #1: Corporate Pension Underfunding Hits Record $460 Billion Deficit, A $108 Billion Deterioration IN ONE MONTH
US retirees better pray that their Schwab accounts will rise forever and ever, because if they rely on defined benefit pension plans, they are fucked. According to actuarial and consulting firm Miliman, in August 2010, the funded status of the 100 largest defined benefit pension plans sponsored by U.S. companies dropped by $108 billion to a 10-year low of 70.1%. Yes, that's a $100 billion + deterioration in one month! The culprit - Ben Bernanke - financial market performance was poor in August, but the main reason for the decline in funded status was a large decrease in corporate bond interest rates. Who would have thought that pushing all markets so far from equilibrium could possibly have an adverse side effect. Soon, once pension funds like the Illinois TRS and others fold, and tens of millions of people who have diligently saved all their lives only to wake up one day and find they have no money left at all, their anger may finally rise and be rightfully directed at its just source: the corrupt slaveocratic inhabitants of the Marriner Eccles building. Expect to hear much, much more about this worst side effect of the Fed's flawed Keynesian solution to all of life's problems.
The assets of corporate pensions relative to their deficits, known as the funded ratio, fell to 70.1 percent in August, also the lowest in at least 10 years, from 75.6 percent the month before, according to the Milliman. Pension plan assets declined $17 billion last month to $1.076 trillion, a loss of 1.12 percent. The median expected monthly return for plans in the index is 0.65 percent for 2010, a yearly return of 8.1 percent.(SNIP)
http://www.zerohedge.com
This has to be one of those, "can't make this BS up" moments. These jackasses want to take away our 2nd Amendment rights so that they can steal with impunity, and all of it in the name of protecting the people. Just like Uncle Joe, Moa and Hitler. Enjoy your time in the pokey thieves!! You felons cannot have guns, so you got your wish, but only for your thieving selves.
A follow-up: Mayor Eddie Perez (recently mentioned in the blog) was sentenced to three years in prison, and three years probation, of a possible 60 year sentence. Perez was convicted on five of six felony charges. He is one of the rogues gallery of Mayor Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns members that have been indicted or convicted of felonies including Sheila Dixon, Kwame Kilpatrick, Gary Becker, Larry Langford, Samuel Rivera, Jerramiah Healy, the late Frank Melton, Will Wynn, and David Della Donna. One can only wonder what the felony conviction rate is for members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, versus the general population. It is noteworthy that a felony conviction in the U.S. brings with it the loss of the right to own a firearm, for life. So at least these socialist mayors have been successful in getting a few guns out of the hands of criminals--themselves.
Hi Spectre,
News ---US revenues are up 1.6% and deficits are down 2.4% in this fiscal year over last year.
Regarding Mayor Perez, here is a case where you are saying 2=2=6.
Perez, who sat on the Mayors Commission to remove illegal guns from the streets, has been convicted of corruption.
I am all in favor of getting this guy off the street, as well! In many cases power breeds corruption.
But to think that the second amendment is about to get axed by getting illegal guns out of the hands of gangbangers is extreme. Stolen guns, which are obtained because gun owners did not secure them well enough, or gun dealers "laundered" them to organized crime figures, who then filtered them down to gangbangers, should be taken off the streets.
No one is saying to disarm law-abiding gun owners!
To say so is a big leap, my friend.
Spectre, what is your opinion on Chattanooga, I believe, receiving dollars for the nation's fastest internet service?
Also, you never answered my question regarding the the economy. I asked what would like to see happen, and how we would get there?
enjoy the coming Autumn season, jerry
So we can burn the American Flag and the Bible, but the koran is off limits? Let me use my 1st Amendment Right to tell Justice Breyer to go F#CK himself. His hubris is breathtaking even for a black robed tyrant.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_1...78-503544.html
Stephen Breyer Questions Right to Burn Quran
During an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America this morning, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer addressed the recent controversy over a Florida pastor's plan to hold a Quran-burning rally on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, saying he wasn't convinced the First Amendment would protect such an action if the case were brought to the court in the future.
"Holmes said it doesn't mean you can shout 'fire' in a crowded theater," Breyer told George Stephanopoulos during the GMA interview, referring to Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who wrote the opinion in a 1919 Supreme Court decision that addressed Freedom of Speech. "Well, what is it? Why? Because people will be trampled to death. And what is the crowded theater today? What is the being trampled to death?"
Breyer, who was on the show to promote his new book, "Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View," said that questions about the changing definition of free speech in the internet age will "be answered over time in a series of cases which force people to think carefully."
(SNIP)
Jerry, I will answer your question today. You deserve an answer although you won't agree with all my points. So be it. Regarding the Perez business, it's funny that those who would take our guns are the very same people who break the law with impunity. Just an observation. I know they would never do anything to take away our God Given Rights because of the virtue that pours forth from these humble servants of the people. As I said before, just like Uncle Joe, Moa and Hitler. END SARCASM!
I Haven't read anything on Chattanooga, but I will have to look that up.
Concerning the economic numbers, let me share a June article with you regarding the state of our affairs.
50 Statistics About The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/50-statistics-about-the-u-s-economy-that-are-almost-too-crazy-to-believe
I always enjoy the Fall by the way. It's hunting season in the south, and we will probably throw in some trout fishing as well. Nothing like taking a river boat down a river/stream during Fall with the mountains surrounding you. Quite breathtaking!
Jerry, with the consumer representing 70% of GDP, anyone who tells you it's getting better is a liar! Obama has spent more in 19 months than the period of Washington through Reagan. Keep juicing things until it all blows up. That is the only plan I see. 2.4% of a $1.5 Trillion deficit is pocket change, and what is the margin of error as the govt. numbers are always suspect. Just look at GDP revisions. It's all about bread and circus while they steal the last nickel. You cannot run $1 Trillion + deficits year after year and not expect an explosion somewhere down the road. It will leave those you would protect in a very dire situation, and in fact we are already there. Like other things, just remember that I told ya so long before it happens. From today, to go along with all your good economic news.
20 Signs That The American Consumer Is Now Completely Tapped Out
Many economists have been mystified that even though the recession is "over", American consumers have not opened their wallets and started spending again like they normally do at the end of a recession. News report after news report has encouraged Americans to grab their credit cards and to head out to the stores and start spending again, but it just is not happening.
Click here to see the signs >
So why are things different this time? Well, for one thing there is a lot of fear in the air. Poll after poll after poll shows that faith in the economy has collapsed and that large numbers of Americans fear that things are going to get even worse for the economy soon. But for millions of other Americans there is another problem - they couldn't spend more money if they wanted to.
The truth is that living on credit for decades has caught up with us as a nation. Americans are absolutely drowning in mortgage debt, car loans, credit card debt and student loan debt. As wages have stagnated, credit has enabled many of us to pursue the American Dream and to live far beyond our means, but that doesn't last forever. Now tens of millions of Americans are completely and totally tapped out. But without the return of the voracious American "consumer" there is not going to be a full economic "recovery".
For decades, the American consumer has always returned with a vengeance. Continually expanding debt loads have fueled a level of prosperity that most of humanity only dreams of. But unfortunately, no debt bubble lasts forever.
Now the consumer debt bubble in America has started to pop, and many are wondering what is going to fuel the U.S. economy if American consumers are unwilling or unable to do it any longer.
http://www.businessinsider.com/20-signs-the-american-consumer-is-completely-and-totally-tapped-out-2010-9#iin-the-first-quarter-of-2010-the-number-of-loans-at-least-three-months-past-due-increased-for-the-16th-quarter-in-a-row-1
From Washingtonsblog.com, and I couldn't of said it better myself and welcome to Amerika:
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Silence is the Death of Liberty
First they tortured a U.S. citizen and gang member ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't a criminal
Then they tortured a U.S. citizen, whistleblower and navy veteran ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't a whistleblower
Then they locked up an attorney for representing accused criminals ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't a defense attorney
Then they arrested a young father walking with his son simply because he told Dick Cheney that he disagreed with his policies ...
I remained silent;
I've never talked to an important politician
Then they said an entertainer should be killed because she questioned the government's version of an important historical event ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't an entertainer
Then they arrested people for demanding that Congress hold the President to the Constitution ...
I did not speak out;
I've never protested in Washington
Then they arrested a man for holding a sign ...
I held my tongue;
I've never held that kind of sign
Then they broke a minister's leg because he wanted to speak at a public event ...
I said nothing;
I wasn't a religious leader
Then they shot a student with a taser gun and arrested him for asking a question of a politician at a public event ...
I remained silent;
I wasn't a student
Then they declared that they could label U.S. citizens as "unlawful enemy combatants" and imprison them indefinitely - and even assassinate them - all without trial ...
I remained silent;
I assumed I wasn't on a list
When they came for me,
Everyone was silent;
there was no one left to speak out.
Inspired by the poem First They Came by Martin Niemöller, which was written about the Nazis.
I originally wrote this poem in 2007. I have updated it with the additional verse about assassinations.
What does $1 Trillion Dollars look like? Just for fun, as it's funny money anyway which will never be repaid.
http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html
Washingtonsblog is on a roll. Additionally, they are using white vans with X-Ray Machines inside to spy on Amerikans as we ply the highways. All of this happening under a Democratic President, Democratic House and Democratic Senate. Just sayin'. Where exactly are the liberals again Jerry?
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Government Using Anti-Terrorism Laws to Crush Dissent
The following quotes all have something in common:
"It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error"
– United States Supreme Court decision in American Communications Association v. Douds
"To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men."
- Abraham Lincoln
"Those who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Ben Franklin
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
- Thomas Jefferson
"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
-Thomas Jefferson
"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
- Robert F . Kennedy
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."
- Samuel Adams
"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country."
– Teddy Roosevelt
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
– Teddy Roosevelt
“The citizen who sees his society’s democratic clothes being worn out and does not cry it out, is not a patriot, but a traitor.”
- Mark Twain
"Liberty has never come from government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of government power, not the increase of it."
- Woodrow Wilson
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent"
- Thomas Jefferson
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it."
- Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural
"In this point of the case the question is distinctly presented whether the people of the United States are to govern through representatives chosen by their unbiased suffrages or whether the money and power of a great corporation are to be secretly exerted to influence their judgment and control their decisions."
- Andrew Jackson
"I am more than ever convinced of the dangers to which the free and unbiased exercise of political opinion -- the only sure foundation and safeguard of republican government -- would be exposed by any further increase of the already overgrown influence of corporate authorities."
- Martin Van Buren, Eighth President of the United States
(SNIP)
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/09/government-using-anti-terrorism-laws-to.html
Let me congratulate the Tea Party, and Conservatives in particular for their various victories yesterday and deciding that the RINO Party can give a rat's ass concerning their thoughts. The RINO elites are shitting their pants this morning, and with good reason, as we aren't listening to their bullshit anymore. Jerry, it's about time that Liberals did the same with the Demoncrats. Are they really representing your ideals at this point? Just askin'.
Hi Spectre,
I am not trying to offer apologies for the Obama administration. I have been consistent throughout the life of this blogspot pointing out the ills of the past and present administrations.
The Obama administration has its significant flaws, both structurally and philosophically; although, it was presented with 8 million unemployed and a ballooning deficit.
To quote the chart you previously posted, Reagan/Bush ballooned the deficit by 30% and Lilboybush ballooned it another 20%. Obama, since in office ballooned it 10%, and, as if this posting, has lowered it by 2.4%, or so.
I am not offering any hopefully opinions on the coming weeks or months, but offer these facts as we write.
It is clear that creating short term deficits in order to begin to rebuild a viable workforce who could contribute to the GDP, and the sustainability of the nation, is required, while assessing and remediating the long term deficit problems.
We are both very opposite in our views, and I realize it, but we both have to view it from a longer term perspective if we are to ever move away from war-creating fossil fuels, and China's grip upon our lives.
jerry
Once again Spectre, you ignore what I say here!
What liberals in Washington are you speaking about? There are virtually none in this government today.
The voice of liberals, and those opposing domestic spying and more, spoke up under LilBoyBush, and do speak up today but are not printed or written about in the mostly conservative media: both print and broadcast.
Those in Congress and in the White House are neo-liberal corporatists hoping to protect the elite wealth class, their campaign contributions, and their exist from government consulting contracts.
Obama is NOT a liberal, but a corporatist. He has handed over the treasury and the Fed to the corporate elite to take domestic dollars and boost their businesses overseas at the expense of the American worker with the support and votes of the conservative Rs and Ds.
You keep harping on where are the liberals. Dude, there are not heard or read except by a few writers and voices.
What drowns them out over and over again are the neo-fascist RIght who are totally behind the corporate neo-fascist elite who want austerity for the working classes and more wealth, sucked up from the bottom and the Fed, for themselves.
jerry
Jerry, as promised I will do my best to answer your question regarding what to do, but I won't get into policy as we are past the point of simple or even complex answers without pain for all developed societies.
Let me paint a picture for you. A car hits the top of a steep hill at 100 MPH and becomes airborne, and the passenger looks at the driver and asks, "what should we do", and the terrified driver, of course, hasn't a clue. This is of course right before they hit a big nasty tree that got in the way of the car as it traveled through time and space.
Now I could go into a thousand points supporting my position, and I think you know me well enough to know I'm not blowing smoke. How do you tell society that all the promises made to them must be broken in order for things to carry on for who knows how long because you lied to them for decades? That's where we find ourselves my friend. It's where all victims of a Ponzi scheme find themselves as the lie winds down to the actual hard truths and reality.
Honestly, I will supply as much material as you would like to see, but we are past the point of simple policy decisions as solutions that are acceptable to the masses. You can't write checks that can't be cashed forever is the bottom line.
Hi Spectre,
I read your response to my question asking you exactly what it is you want to see happen regarding the economy and our political situation, but you hid behind an excuse. To paraphrase, you seemed to say, "Well, this is how it is going to be; therefore, any plan, or alternative strategy to fix our current peril is immaterial."
"...we are past the point of simple policy decisions as solutions that are acceptable to the masses. You can't write checks that can't be cashed forever is the bottom line." This was as close to an answer as you offered.
I understand all about how we have been engaged in a Ponzi scheme, and the brick wall crash analogy. I am with ya on that, but the nation will not fall. It will suffer and lose dominance in many ways, but will remain a world player.
Greece, Japan, and GB will, and/or have been suffering, yet have remained players.
Americans are survivors, thinkers, creative beings, and resourceful. Many will suffer and fall, but the nation will recover.
jerry
Jerry, I follow Rosenberg closely because he's been spot on. The FedEx miss this morning just backs up what he's been saying. Laying off 1700 workers is the tell on what's really going on. Also, GE just closed their last incandescent light bulb factory in the US a full 3 years before CFLs must be used. They will now be made in China or some other emerging market, so thank you very much environmentalists for the lay offs. More unintended consequences with policy from our dear leaders. Meanwhile, we the American Taxpayer saved GE's ass with bailout money.
Rosenberg: Here Are 13 Signs That We're Actually In A Depression Right Now
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/david-rosenberg-depression-2010-9#wages-and-salaries-still-down-37-from-prior-peak-1#ixzz0zh6NxIrY
Jerry, I'm not saying we won't survive to come out the other end of this debacle. We certainly will, and maybe we will be the stronger for it, but getting there will be more painful than most realize or want to recognize. Looking at history, THE 4th Turning, we see BIG WARS, with plenty of pain spread around so that everyone get's at least their share, deserved or not.
If you want to see where we are headed, look no further than previous empires. We are nothing special when examining thousands of years of history. Look at Spain, England and France for starters as to what happens when things go to the shitter. Chaos is what you get my friend. We are well past the point of making minor adjustments to our current system. We wrote checks for decades that have no chance of being cashed. Absolute power corrupts absolutley, and boy oh boy have we had some crooks seizing absolute power. Now the piper must be paid.
Dangerous Economic Misconceptions
http://neithercorp.us/npress/?p=748
Real World Solutions To Economic Tyranny
http://neithercorp.us/npress/?p=767
I don't buy the argument that Liberals can't be heard because of conservatives and neo-liberal corporatists unless I don't have the right definition for Liberal. I had thought that anyone who consistently voted conservative or liberal could be pegged as such, but I guess not. There are organizations out there that grade for both, so I'm not sure why we can't find any Liberals in any positions of power, but maybe I have been looking at this all wrong. If so, please educate me regarding what I should be looking for if not a voting record over many years.
It was Paul Krugman in 2003 who said we needed a housing bubble, and I have quoted him on this statement at your site previously. Is Paul Krugman a Liberal or a neo-liberal corporatist, as he's asking for more stimulus? Barney,The Fudd,Frank was tickled shitless regarding rising home ownership until it blew up. Is he a Liberal or a neo-liberal corporatist?
This new system with degrees of hyphenated liberalisms is making my head hurt already.
Let's just say both policial parties are evil. Not degrees of evil with a "but" thrown in at the end which stands for Behold The Underlying Truth. The thought that both are evil, but mine is more evil than yours is bullshit plain and simple. Once you head down that path of evil you are done, and you are willing to do anything to survive. Look at the Nazi Party where many good people said nothing in the beginning. By the end they were all willing to do anything to survive.
Vigilant Guard 2010 Riot Control, Detention Drills
http://publicintelligence.net/vigilant-guard-2010-riot-control-detention-drills/
Jerry, the first link to Karl D. offers his suggestions for straightening out this debacle. I see very little chance of any of it happening, but there are some answers out there if only we the sheeple would listen. Instead we are a polarized society with various groups having pitchforks at the ready for any group that disagrees with their thesis. The Z1Report paints the ugliest of pictures for our economy per Karl and Zero Hedge.
How To Truly Take Back America
http://market-ticker.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www?post=166762
Fed Z1: From Bad To Getting Worse
http://market-ticker.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www?post=166869
Household Net Worth Plunges By Most Since Q4 2008, As Government Borrowing Surges
http://www.lewrockwell.com/spl2/household-net-worth-plunges.html
Hi Spectre,
Thanks for links. I tend to agree with much of what Karl Denninger writes about, but he tends to be too Libertarian for me. His list of fixes were worth reading and digesting, although there were some I did not agree with. I must say that I respect his passion and knowledge. I believe he is one I can respectfully disagree with when I see a difference in opinion.
I read his site daily, as you must, too.
I also read Zerohedge daily, as well. I agree with Tyler Durden's views much of the time. I believe his opinions are fair and balanced.
His views regarding the hit the banks are about to take regarding real estate is going to be huge, as are pensions and individual nest eggs.
I really feel for what hard working Americans are going through after saving decades worth of income.
I don't feel sorry for those who reached way out too far in their excessive spending habits.
I must assume that you have lived simply and within your means. I have too. I believe in simple living habits.
I have not forgotten your question to me about liberalism. I am working on a posting answering your question from my personal point of view, which may differ from other liberal viewpoints.
jerry
Jerry, we do indeed read many of the same folks, and this is over years and not months. What the American People don't know is scary as Hell, and I fear that when the veil is lifted it's gonna turn ugly real fast.
I 100% agree with your thoughts regarding real estate, pensions, unemployment, and the various other ills we suffer from. It's why I truly don't know how to come up with workable solutions for our various ills. Everything is inter-connected and oh so damned screwed up.
I have always thought that the FED would never risk hyperinflation, as it would destroy the bankers who would receive dollars that are worth less than they are today. However, there is nothing to say that these made whole by American Taxpayers bankers won't take what we have given them and divest themselves of American Dollars for tangible assets that won't take the hit. Nothing says they can't move their headquarters to Kong Kong or 100 other places where prospects are much better. I just don't know how far they are willing to push this, but already farther than I had thought when this began. (As an aside, we have already done some of this with AIG and the currency swaps)
Yes we have lived within our means for our entire adult lives. Vivid memories of my grandparents telling Depression tales to us kids, and wanting more for our child. Like you, we are in a much better position than most, but who knows how far we must fall to right this ship. Once again, it's scarier than Hell when thinking of family.
Thanks for the future posting regarding "ism". Is there any scenario where you see liberals and conservatives coming together for the sake of our constitution and country? It's our only hope in this one party system we now live in. Maybe it takes the worst to bring out our best, and I sure pray that that is the case for the sake of the young of this country.
Take care friend, and much thanks for allowing me to post when it would be quite easy to tell me to take a hike. Your convictions are commendable!
20 Signs That The Economic Collapse Has Already Begun For One Out Of Every Seven Americans
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/
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