The Walmart Syndrome

Here is a piece I wrote on 11-30-09, which is totally relevant today.




America is being sold out. The blue light special is not just for that coffee maker, 31” big screen HDTV, $7.00 slow cooker, or washed out denim jacket, but its ultimate purpose is to sell you out! Your wages will be placed on the shelf of CheapMart and sold off to the lowest bidder. The corporate elite want you to continue to buy their Chinese made cheaply made $10.00 wet/dry vacuums, or $20.00 power drill sets so they can bring down YOUR wages so you, too, can make those cheapie things, which would in return force your wages down to the bottom, even though you have an $800 plus home mortgage, $300 per month health care premium bill, along with your car payment, which you got for 0 down, 0 interest but $300 a month payment for 6 very long years. And then, there is YOUR credit card interest payment, if you still have a credit card and have credit—period—look at your interest payment. I won’t even go into your weekly grocery bill.

As you continue to over-buy your holiday gifts, you are bringing down your wages, your standard-of-living, and pumping your cash into the central bank of China boosting their enormous budget surplus, while your kids and grandkids will have to work-for-less in order to pay off the US budget deficit. Happy Holidays, Mr. and Ms. Consumer.

Keep feeding what it is you and your kids nag you to buy, instead of learning how to live with less.

The Teabaggers have been so busy resisting a government health care protection plan that would help cover them after their personal home drops into foreclosure and their lives fall into bankruptcy that they have forgotten to take their meds, which would control, or suppress their pervasive Walmart Syndrome that has infected their brains.

The Walmart Syndrome is a parasite that infects the brain, whereby knowledge and understanding becomes significantly impaired. It entered the United States virtually undetected by the CDC—Center for Disease Control, but has begun to affect many brains over the last 10 years. It turns the gray matter into fatty deposits, whereby the brain is unable to process sensible information because nerve pathways disappear and fail to allow for what is called an action potential---the ability for the nerve impulse to move down the nerve pathways for a functional and purposeful action.

What has happened is that U.S. corporations decided to shut down domestic operations, resulting in outsourcing, and the relocation of jobs over to China, and other low paying, and punitive-worker countries. In China, the U.S. corporations (we gullibly thought they were U.S. corporations) found new friends in China, which they embraced as investors. They called these new relationships multi-national US/Chinese corporations.

The U.S. corporation benefits from the generous legal system, which protects their patents, and copyrights, foreign national product dumping violations, as well as the generous tax system allowing write-offs, write-downs, deductions, and loopholes, as they abandon the American worker and U.S. economy for more lucrative returns.

China, a booming industrialized country, has pegged its currency to the dollar so their exports can sell in U.S. stores, such as Walmart, cheaper than domestically made products, what is left of them. Even though the Renminbi, (China’s currency) is artificially kept low, in spite of their booming economy and massive trade surplus, they, and their brothers-in-manufacturing-arms—U.S. multi-national corporations, like it is this way because the average working American, who is suffering greatly as a result of unemployment and underemployment because of job losses and plant closings, home foreclosures, debt payments, rising out-of-pocket health care costs, and stagnant or falling wages can buy the cheap Chinese/US corporate manufactured products.

Now, why do those hugely rich corporate ex-patriot executives love this arrangement? Well, after you and I buy the cheap Chinese stuff, those dollars head right back to China where their banks are flooded with U.S. greenbacks. What do they do with all our cash? The Chinese central banks buy U.S. Treasuries from the Federal Reserve Bank which monetizes those returned dollars to continue their zero percent lending practices to their broker dealers (mega-banks), who then use this cash to gamble at the Wall Street casino parlor increasing the stock prices of fortune 500 multi-national corporations stimulating others to join in on the scam. That means more bonuses, and higher executive salaries, as well as fattened business expense accounts. In addition, these mega-banks buy commodities manipulating the street prices, such as oil, gas, grains, etc. This enriches the corporate predator investment bank balance sheets, as well as the giving out of tens of billions of dollars in corporate bonuses. They also hand over billions in campaign contributions, through their 22,000 lobbyist brigades, to make sure that very little is done to interrupt their wealth-building machine.

Also, those Chinese central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and private equity funds jump into the Wall Street speculation and gambling game as the rich US/China industrialists and financiers push the stock prices higher and higher, in spite of the fact that the average American is slipping further and further down.

So, when the Teabaggers and others who head over to Walmart to buy some cheap stuff for the holidays, they are really rewarding those U.S. companies that sold-them-out. I guess it is like asking the neighborhood bully to come over for a free dinner, and then, inviting him to beat you up for dessert.

Now, do you feel better, yet?

P.S.—For those who need a reason to NOT spend their dollars at Walmart, here is a big one. Walmart does not screen or research the origination of their gold jewelry products. It has been stated that much of their gold product comes out of gold mines in the Congo, where women, and children are raped, abused, beaten and forced to endure horrible working conditions at gun point.

Thanks for reading, jerry

Max Keiser, Stacy Herbert, and Thought Provoking Michael Krieger

McCain Leads the Grand Ole Plunderers (GOP)

How can John McCain tell the public that he is capable of fixing the economy by making the Bush tax shift permanent or effectively slicing and dicing the federal budget? McCain had voted with Bush on nearly every bill for the last 8 years. Just this last year, he voted with Bush 95% of the time. What is McCain's answer to his disappearing maverick act?

Bush, McCain and the Grand Ole Plunderers (GOP) have destroyed our economy and not helped it. Most of us are worse off now than we were 8 years ago; and, we can thank McCain for his role in it. As McCain gives his Plunderer-in-Chief his full embrace, his Boy Chief tells America that the economic fundamentals are good, yet 1 in 3 homeowners who purchased homes since 2003 now owe more than what their property is worth. This amounts to around 80 million homes.

(Read: "The Battered American Consumer: Even the Middle Class is Feeling Economic Pain", Kathleen Connell, Christian Science Monitor, on Alternet.org, 8-20-08).

Did Obama forget to tell McCain that when the Boy Chief took office our economy was robust? The American worker was benefiting from the growing GDP. But today, the average American worker has experienced a decline in their real wages. Did McCain forget that he supported his Boy Chief as he burned and plundered the U.S. budget surplus, while simultaneously doubling the national debt to nearly $10 trillion; and making this nation less safe and more vulnerable as he chose to use his "Political Capital" on wars and creating a new form of fascism with a sprinkle of kleptocracy? This is McCain's and his fellow G.O.Plunderer's legacy.

Did Obama forget that McCain's politics is commanded by lobbyists, who have been embedded inside no-bid government contracts and have infiltrated federal agencies and departments with their private sector partisan stooges? And then, there is the fact that he and his campaign advisor and lobbyist pal were deeply involved in the mess that occurred with the breakaway Republic of Georgia. Did Saashasvili actually believe that McCain, Boy Bush, or the GOP would morph into his Ironman saving him from the big bad Russian army? McCain's foreign policy agenda appears more like the Boy Chief's than that of a maverick who stands up to his party-line leaders.

McCain's foreign policy doctrine seems to be based on a hegemanical, Viagra-induced erection for wars and the threat of war. He has been in support of a policy that would financially drain the swamp through wars and by involvement in "client-contractor" style government relationships, i.e. Georgia and Ukraine.

Did McCain forget that bin-Laden said that he would take America down economically, which McCain has allowed, and has appeared to have embraced, as well? Nice going, Maverick! McCain embraced it because he stood with Bush on nearly all votes as a Senator. And, he followed the Phil Gramm doctrine to not regulate the financial markets, as did Bush Boy.

Now, Russia could burn down the House (and Senate) by flexing their retaliatory muscle just by dumping their dollar holdings, and their toxic assets, part of which they still hold but have not swapped for fresh Bada Bing Bernanke dollars. And then there is the $100-150 billion worth of bonds they bought off of Fannie and Freddie to keep them floating even though there was a hole in their tube.

Bada Bing Bernanke and Hank "the Paulie" Paulson swapped any greasy, slimy pieces of U.S. toxic assets, which have been basically worthless forms of "ha-ha" collateral from anyone foolish enough to buy them, even the Russians, for freshly printed dollars. Now, the Russians hold dollars they can use to threaten us just by tossing them out onto the world market creating deflationary havoc for our currency. The Russians would only sacrifice the full value of those dollars for revenge upon our Boy President and the U.S. economy. (Bada Bing.) Do we need more deflationary problems with our dollar?

This is the McCain and Bush legacy. They have destroyed our economy. So off to Minneapolis to claim victory!

(Read: "Reality Bites Again", Jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com) 

The McCain-Bush Legacy has crippled the availability of credit because the banks have less capital to risk/lend, as seen with Merrill Lynch, which basically gave away $30 billion of their mortgage-backed securities for 5 cents on the dollar after their arranged sale juggling act. The Fed holds around $400+billion of such fire sale junk assets and are closing in on the half-way buy back point. Also, FDIC has only $37 billion available to them for depositor insurance-based bailouts! Will they be asking for more? And, how soon?

McShame has performed his senatorial duties with reckless abandon as he gave the Boy Chief a wink and a nod for 8 years. Now that is what a Mav-wreck would do! Our very own McShame has allowed countries and nation states from around the world, which are our questionable friends when the dirt starts uh flyin', such as those in the Middle East, Russia, etc, to be our "bankers" as they bought our assets in order to keep us supplied, not unlike a dealer to a junkie, with cash in order to allow us to financially implode. The dollar may lose its glitter and sheen as the world's reserve currency thanks to the G.O. Plunderer's mismanagement of government.

(Read: "The Incredible Shrinking Dollar?", Mike Whitney, Counterpunch.org, 8-20-08) 

It seems that Bush Boy's Big Tent maybe falling down upon us as we ask the question, "Is there really enough gold in Fort Knox?" The value of gold and silver paper claims may not be backed by any actual gold or silver. Such precious metals are supposed to be sitting in the vaults of our biggest banks, and elsewhere, if paper claims are to be issued or "leased" to secondary dealer investors. It is believed not to be the case.

Why is the value of gold (and silver) falling, in the commodities markets, when the U.S. Mint had to suspend the production of gold bullion and ounces if commodities markets wants you to think that there is a drop in demand? Is there a game being played here? 

If a small dealer is afraid to take on a gold purchase "leasing" risk, then the larger bank 

(a holder of gold bullion) offers a subsidized lease with a negative interest rate, which means they are paid to take on the gold (or silver) lease deal. This arrangement deflates the metal's value. This ends up looking like a futures derivative scam, not unlike the mortgage-backed securities scam. Does it all sound familar? Yet, people all around the globe want to buy real gold and silver in spite of the street/COMEX price. There is a demand, and the people cannot get the real thing. Production is suspended because the U.S. Mint cannot get the stuff to mint! In addition, many central banks are trying to purchase more gold to cover themselves.

It is all about covering short selling on these metals. We are seeing a precious metal paper manipulation in order to make money shorting their covers before betting on the longs. The Fed and banks want to collapse the price, yet people, and central banks all around the world, want to own the real deal anyway.

Are the big banks trying to unwind what might be billions of dollars in mortgage related asset losses by forcing a collapse in metals and commodities, while holding billions in short sells, which would make billions for them as they leveraging out their previous losses? 

No matter what the talking heads are saying there is a demand for gold and silver in spite of a supply crunch. People are selling off their paper assets, going into cash, and trying to buy gold and silver ounces and bullions. Gold maybe a commodity, but it is still a world valued currency.

Before the U.S. Mint suspended production, it could not source enough gold product, all the while, they were minting "2.5 times as many gold coins, this year, and almost 4 times as many silver bullion coins, this year, compared to last year." This disconnect between street price and derivative price would not be happening if the banks holding gold bullion were selling claims based upon vaulting of the actual physical precious metal.

The 1987 President's Executive Order on Working Markets gave the Fed and Treasury the power to manipulate the markets secretly with full legal authority.

Will such gambling kill more banks? Will depositors pull their cash and stick it away where they know they can get at it? If this happens, will the price of gold and silver double?

(Read: "The Disconnect Between Supply and Demand in Gold and Silver", James Conrad, Seekingalpha.com, 8-20-08)   

This is the mess McCain has brought us. His former financial advisor, the New Menace, Phil Gramm, is the grand-daddy of these scams and helped McCain formulate his economic policy. Cindy McCain, Johnny Boy's sugar-momma, has set him up with so much wealth that he has no clue what he is sittin' on. So what does he care about the rest of America? He is the new leader of the Grand Ole Plunderers.

Thanks for reading, Jerry

POSTSCRIPT:

The St. Lewis Fed Borrow chart

This chart is a must read. It details borrowing over decades.

The G.O.Plunderers find new ways to offend and harm the nation.

Bush slips up on the war in Iraq.