Has anyone paused or stopped to consider how, exactly, Washington can create jobs? By that I mean, while perhaps well intentioned, how can the President or Congress force/encourage/cajole companies to hire new employees? I’m giving both the benefit of the doubt at present with the “well intentioned”.
The direct method is that Washington has the ability to create jobs through expansion of its own labor force. You can interpret that as new Federal civilian employees and the military. However well intentioned that concept might be, how can the nation sustain such a hiring blitz on the basis of reduced revenues and a lack of productivity in the private sector? The more optimistic of you might think that would have been a better use of the money used to stabilize the financial institutions and support any number of other programs used to support an idle labor force and it gets people at least working. The pessimistic among you will think this is just another way of increasing the size of government, increase the tax burden, or social engineering. So how many people could the Federal Government put to work? Well, a few actually. I’m sure there is a new program that needs administering or a new place with lots of sand or jungle that we haven’t fought over yet. They could even trickle money down to the States and Local Governments to drive them forward… for a while. The big stimulus is getting ready to run out of funding. When that happens, projects started or continued and people hired are going to be eliminated because recovery and sustainability has not been what or where it should be.
The indirect method is instituted by lowering the corporate tax rate or offering tax breaks to companies relieving part of the income tax burden as a means of generating hiring. Does it work? There is really no direct answer for that question. It can work low scale, but what happens after the tax breaks run out? Why would companies hire new employees with no prospects for sales or market for their products? According to the last numbers I saw, recession recovery is being done without hiring. Jobless recovery is the term used today. Technology is replacing some of those positions, others have been outsourced, and some just simply aren’t coming back. In this new paradigm of jobless recovery, the numbers are estimated at 2.2 million jobs lost that will never be recovered. Gone, ain’t coming back, wave good-bye. With the tax breaks option, the optimistic number of jobs that could be generated is in the range of 700,000 on the top, 250,000 on the bottom. The total number unemployed at present hovers around 10 million.
So in the interest of listening closely to what is being said, how precisely, is government or any politician going to create new jobs? And an even better question to ask is, what kind of jobs are going to be created if they can, in fact, accomplish this feat? Politicians and Presidential hopefuls like to cite their records on job creation. What they don’t tell you is what kind of jobs they are bringing in, since they don’t really create job one unless they hire someone themselves. They create environments or make conditions suitable to Corporate America to hire people. Basically, Government is willing to eat a loss of revenue across time to bring a large corporate monolith to your area, in addition to sweetening the pot with promises of cheap labor, why, corporate America is all ears. So again, what kind of job is it that is being fostered through tax incentive?
It’s true the economy is growing so it’s not all doom and gloom I suppose, but the growth is at the top of the economic scale. The Koch brothers each saw their earning increase by $15 billion each this year alone and we’re just into the 3rd quarter. Corporations have seen their profits grow, and the top earners come mostly from Wall Street. Millions and millions of dollars are pumped into political causes in an effort to maintain control and perpetuate economic growth at the top of the scale. And these people and corporations pay that money to ensure that the rules stay in place so that they continue to amass wealth.
Now can someone explain to me why it is that the people, all of these millions of people that are out of work and looking or trying to find work, are supposed to do more with less, but why can't the Koch brothers and corporate America do the same? Why can’t they take $7.5 billion and invest it in something viable to help America? Why can’t GE, or Glaxo, or pick-a-corporation reduce the size of their lobby budget they use to buy influence and use that money instead to inject growth in the American economy? Why can’t Exxon-Mobil take half the profit they’ll make per quarter and reduce fuel to an affordable level in an effort to help everyone and reduce the negative effects of recession, since we’re all in this, allegedly, together? They’re still making money hand over fist compared to the rest of us, how about giving the rest of us a chance just to make it at least.
Why not, indeed! There is nothing to be gained by Corporate America or the dandies of Wall Street or those on the Billionaire list to do any of that. They know that compliance and docility comes from having those you seek to control in a state of weakness; economic, nutritional, and educational. Which is why they pay the money they do to the lobbyists they hire in order to get the legislation passed that makes practically everything they do legal, or at least legitimate.
There is nothing legal or moral about starving, in a literal or figurative sense, millions of people into submission. You can color it, twist it, package it, or spin it any way you feel the need to. It doesn’t change the bottom line of what is. There have only been two other times in our history that so much was owned by so few. The aftermath of those times brought Federal regulations with one and a global depression with the other. Don’t you think that there was a really good reason that Woodrow Wilson instituted a progressive tax on the wealthy and that it was allowed to remain in place as long as it did until Reagan abolished it? That reason was that Wilson knew the dangers of concentrating so much wealth at the top.
Whether you agree or disagree with me, in whole or in part, we all know that something has to be done. It’s the how of it that is presently in contention. But I’ll leave you with this observation. As long as the bulk of capital remains located at the top, those with it will only use it to gain more and to enhance their control of everything they can. Until that money starts flowing down, in the form of loans for houses, cars, and durable goods that serves to put people to work, things will not change. Until the rules that allow money to be off-shored and that allow goods to be imported and take advantage of cheap labor in other markets, things will not change. Billions have been spent to foment the creation of those rules. Words and votes must be fomented to bring about their elimination. What we have to understand and grasp the concept of is, it is a better use of capital for millions of American workers to buy a house, a car, or furniture than it is for a couple of billionaires to buy a mansion for $35 million, a painting for $10 million, a Ferrari for $500,000, or Congress for a bunch of meals at five star restaurants or some plane rides around the country, or hiring the Congress member’s kid into their corporation with a do nothing job and a big salary.
It’s time we reasserted the notion that merely because you have money doesn’t give you title, benefit, or privilege beyond anyone else that may not have the assets you enjoy... That owning a successful business makes you good at business and a bit lucky, not a Demi-God of economic prowess... That with greatness comes greater responsibility and not just to yourself, but mankind as a whole... Because how is it you have been successful in the first place? What good is the product or gadget if there isn’t someone who purchases it? It's time Corporate America took stock of that second word in the title; America.
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Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- September 4, 2011
Black unemployment: Highest in 27 years - CNN Money - Annalyn Censky @CNNMoney September 2, 2011 - Black unemployment surged to 16.7% in August, its highest level since 1984, while the unemployment rate for whites fell slightly to 8%, the Labor Department reported... "This month's numbers continue to bear out that longstanding pattern that minorities have a much more challenging time getting jobs," said Bill Rodgers, chief economist with the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University... Black unemployment has been roughly double that of whites since the government started tracking the figures in 1972. (The Sense of Urgency needs to shift from vacations and travel to how are we going to help the poor and middle class find jobs. The Black population needs to wake up to the fact that they have been used by Barack Obama and realize that he hasn't done anything to represent the socio-economic group that the vast majority of them belong to.)
U.S. creates no jobs in August - Active Post - September 2, 2011
Gallup: Unemployment Went Up—Again—in August - CNS News - Terence P. Jeffrey - September 1, 2011
Roubini Sees 60% Chance of A Double Dip in 2012, China and Brazil Also at Risk - Business Insider - EconMatters - Sep. 1, 2011 - Party heardy NYU economist Nouriel Roubini went on Bloomberg TV on Aug. 31 to give his latest prediction of the global economy: "We’ve reached a stall speed in the economy, not just in the U.S., but in the euro zone and the UK. We see probably a 60 percent probability of recession next year, and, unfortunately, we’re running out of policy tools.....and sovereigns cannot bail out their own distressed banks because they are distressed themselves."Regarding markets and QE3. "There’ll be more monetary easing and quantitative easing done by the Fed and other central banks, but the credit channel is broken. ...the market is rallying on the expectation of QE3, but I think it will be a short-lived rally. The macro data, ISM, employment, and housing numbers will come out worse and worse, the market will start to correct again."The bond market is already expecting a recession.
Precious Metals Surge As QE3 Now Merely A Formality - Tyler Durden - Zero Hedge - September 2, 2011
U.S. Is Set to Sue a Dozen Big Banks Over Mortgages - New York Times - NELSON D. SCHWARTZ - September 1, 2011 - The Federal Housing Finance Agency suits, which are expected to be filed in the coming days in federal court, are aimed at Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, among others, according to three individuals briefed on the matter.. The suits stem from subpoenas the finance agency issued to banks a year ago. If the case is not filed Friday, they said, it will come Tuesday, shortly before a deadline expires for the housing agency to file claims... The suits will argue the banks, which assembled the mortgages and marketed them as securities to investors, failed to perform the due diligence required under securities law and missed evidence that borrowers’ incomes were inflated or falsified. When many borrowers were unable to pay their mortgages, the securities backed by the mortgages quickly lost value.
DOJ Advises Gibson Guitar to Export Labor to Madagascar - Red State - Ben Howe - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - Now, according to CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, agents of the United States government are bluntly informing them that they’d be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas. In an interview with KMJ AM’s “The Chris Daniel Show,” Juszkiewicz revealed some startling information.
U.S. creates no jobs in August - Active Post - September 2, 2011
Gallup: Unemployment Went Up—Again—in August - CNS News - Terence P. Jeffrey - September 1, 2011
Roubini Sees 60% Chance of A Double Dip in 2012, China and Brazil Also at Risk - Business Insider - EconMatters - Sep. 1, 2011 - Party heardy NYU economist Nouriel Roubini went on Bloomberg TV on Aug. 31 to give his latest prediction of the global economy: "We’ve reached a stall speed in the economy, not just in the U.S., but in the euro zone and the UK. We see probably a 60 percent probability of recession next year, and, unfortunately, we’re running out of policy tools.....and sovereigns cannot bail out their own distressed banks because they are distressed themselves."Regarding markets and QE3. "There’ll be more monetary easing and quantitative easing done by the Fed and other central banks, but the credit channel is broken. ...the market is rallying on the expectation of QE3, but I think it will be a short-lived rally. The macro data, ISM, employment, and housing numbers will come out worse and worse, the market will start to correct again."The bond market is already expecting a recession.
Precious Metals Surge As QE3 Now Merely A Formality - Tyler Durden - Zero Hedge - September 2, 2011
U.S. Is Set to Sue a Dozen Big Banks Over Mortgages - New York Times - NELSON D. SCHWARTZ - September 1, 2011 - The Federal Housing Finance Agency suits, which are expected to be filed in the coming days in federal court, are aimed at Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, among others, according to three individuals briefed on the matter.. The suits stem from subpoenas the finance agency issued to banks a year ago. If the case is not filed Friday, they said, it will come Tuesday, shortly before a deadline expires for the housing agency to file claims... The suits will argue the banks, which assembled the mortgages and marketed them as securities to investors, failed to perform the due diligence required under securities law and missed evidence that borrowers’ incomes were inflated or falsified. When many borrowers were unable to pay their mortgages, the securities backed by the mortgages quickly lost value.
DOJ Advises Gibson Guitar to Export Labor to Madagascar - Red State - Ben Howe - Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - Now, according to CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, agents of the United States government are bluntly informing them that they’d be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas. In an interview with KMJ AM’s “The Chris Daniel Show,” Juszkiewicz revealed some startling information.
CHRIS DANIEL: Mr. Juszkiewicz, did an agent of the US government suggest to you that your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of American labor?
HENRY JUSZKIEWICZ: They actually wrote that in a pleading.
CHRIS DANIEL: Excuse me?
HENRY JUSKIEWICZ: They actually wrote that it a pleading.
CHRIS DANIEL: That your problems would go away if you used Madagascar labor instead of our labor?
HENRY JUSKIEWICZ: Yes
In America The Rule Of Law Is Vacated Bank fraudsters, torturers, and war criminals running free -by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts - August 31, 2011 -With bank fraudsters, torturers, and war criminals running free, the US Department of Justice (sic) has nothing better to do than to harass the famous Tennessee guitar manufacturer, Gibson http://rt.com/usa/news/gibson-guitar-raid-wood-489/ , arrest organic food producers in California http://rt.com/usa/news/food-agents-year-milk/ and send 12 abusive FBI agents armed with assault rifles to bust down yet another wrong door of yet another innocent family, leaving parents, children, and grandmother traumatized. http://rt.com/usa/news/fbi-family-adams-home/...What law did Gibson Guitar Corp break that caused federal agents to disrupt Gibson’s plants in Nashville and Memphis, seize guitars, cause layoffs, and cost the company $3 million from disrupted operations...No US law was broken. The feds claim that Gibson broke a law that is on the books in India.
Gerald Celente - Economy is going to get Much Worse: I begun trading Gold in 1978 , my first buy was at 187 dollars and fifty cents an ounce , and what's different now and then that people do not understand and why they think it is a bubble and it is not is back then it was only the United States that was really playing the gold market you had guys like The Hunt Brothers that had cornered the silver market for example it is a whole different world now , back then there was the red Chinese nobody was doing business with them and Russia and Eastern Europe were locked behind the Soviet Union's iron curtain , there is a whole global game going on it is a global meltdown and Gold is the ultimate golden safe heaven that's gold is going so high it is because everyone knows that the only way that the Europeans or the Americans can get their way out of this mess they are actually not going to get out of it but to keep the Ponzi scheme going is by printing more money but they put those white shoe boyz labels on it such as 'QE2' and 'QE3' it means just printing more money and by the way : interest rates the FED have said that they are going to keep them down near zero until mid 2013 and the European Central Bank ECB is talking about lowering them and so the lower the interest rates go and they stay low the higher the price of gold goes it is simple arithmetic ...there is another thing too that I wanted to mention when people are talking about comparing gold to the real estate bubble and the Dot Com bubble , those are real bubble , the Dot Com bubble was built on these silicon valley con artists that had no business plans but a lot of Wall Street barkers hype , and the real estate market was just that a bubble , they created remember they had those wonderful adds on TV you know your house is as good as a piggy bank take out a home equity loan , people flipping homes buying pre construction priced condominiums in Florida that's a bubble this is not a bubble , the bubble is the fake money that the Federal Reserve and the European Central Banks are printing ....
Friday, September 2, 2011
I apologize
I want to apologize for not being able to do more than I do. I am sorry that I am not more effective in discussions with the public. It is truly unsatisfying that I can't get through to people, whether because people don't accept the message, because it is too complex or I don't go into enough detail. Why am I doing this at all? It isn't acceptable and it really doesn't even matter.
I am sorry that I have pointed to areas of disagreement that I have with various members of the government. They are smarter than me or they would not hold the positions they do. Who am I to provide an opinion. I understand that they have feelings and that some of what I have said has harmed their ego or self-esteem. It hasn't been my goal to hurt people's feelings. It isn't my goal to harm them. My goal has been to show where I feel that the government is not representing the best interests of the people, but who am I to question motives? We should trust that these people have all of the answers and we really have no right to question them, because we are the ones who empower them and give them their authority. We should know that they are going to look out for our best interests.
I am sorry that there are many of us in this community who are made to feel that we are less worthy than others and don't deserve to expect better or aspire to climb the ladder towards a better way of life. Who are we to desire a better standard of living, just because we work hard; after all we are supposed to be here for the people who have established themselves as the best individuals who come from the best families. The members of these families can't help they came from wealth and their grandparents and great grandparents and so on provided for them. It is just natural that they are better than we common folk. They are the Better People. They are Special. We commoners should just learn to understand our role in life and move on to and accept how life is and is supposed to be. We are not here to question. We are here to provide our obligation.
I apologize for not accepting my role. I am saddened that I have not been worthy enough to be able to establish myself in such a wonderful community where everyone looks out for one another and has everyone's best interests at heart. If I get in trouble with the law it should be looked at differently than if a member of the Better People runs afoul of the law. They deserve that margin of error, because one of their parents or grandparents afforded them that luxury. It's alright if one of them robs somebody or drinks and drives or snorts cocaine, because they can afford it. We commoners should know better, because we have no business doing things such as that. Why? Because that's just the way it is.
I truly appreciate what my family has done for me and the principles and values that they provided as my foundation. I regret that I have not been able to do them proud and rise higher than I have on the ladder of success.
In the end, I know it has to all be my fault, because I constantly have heard such thoughts expressed in the community. I guess I'm just lazy and really not all that smart. Although I have always kept in good financial stead, I am sure that those who haven't have willfully chosen to not meet their financial obligations. I am sure there are plenty of good reasons to explain why so many people can't find jobs in this community and are having difficulty making ends meet. It has to be their fault.
The numbers don't lie. Those numbers reflect how lazy a lot of people are in this community. If people are struggling, then they need to learn to do with less, that is the lesson that I have been learning over the last several years. Who needs a house, a car, a significant other? I mean, in the end, why do you even need electricity or food or water? Everything in life is a luxury meant only for those who deserve it. Why do any of we commoners desire to have goals or pleasures in life? We are here to work and provide for those who are better than us. That is our role. We are here to be the worker bees.
We should be happy, because some of us still have jobs. We should be thankful that it is taking so long for the robotics to be developed that will do our work and not grouse or expect anything in return. At that point in time there will be no use for us at all. All we are is vermin, who are sucking up oxygen and stealing from the Better People by utilizing their resources and they are forced to endure us. Be glad, for time is running out for people like us. Get on you knees and beg for forgiveness, because we are not worthy. Praise be to the Better People.
I am sorry that I have pointed to areas of disagreement that I have with various members of the government. They are smarter than me or they would not hold the positions they do. Who am I to provide an opinion. I understand that they have feelings and that some of what I have said has harmed their ego or self-esteem. It hasn't been my goal to hurt people's feelings. It isn't my goal to harm them. My goal has been to show where I feel that the government is not representing the best interests of the people, but who am I to question motives? We should trust that these people have all of the answers and we really have no right to question them, because we are the ones who empower them and give them their authority. We should know that they are going to look out for our best interests.
I am sorry that there are many of us in this community who are made to feel that we are less worthy than others and don't deserve to expect better or aspire to climb the ladder towards a better way of life. Who are we to desire a better standard of living, just because we work hard; after all we are supposed to be here for the people who have established themselves as the best individuals who come from the best families. The members of these families can't help they came from wealth and their grandparents and great grandparents and so on provided for them. It is just natural that they are better than we common folk. They are the Better People. They are Special. We commoners should just learn to understand our role in life and move on to and accept how life is and is supposed to be. We are not here to question. We are here to provide our obligation.
I apologize for not accepting my role. I am saddened that I have not been worthy enough to be able to establish myself in such a wonderful community where everyone looks out for one another and has everyone's best interests at heart. If I get in trouble with the law it should be looked at differently than if a member of the Better People runs afoul of the law. They deserve that margin of error, because one of their parents or grandparents afforded them that luxury. It's alright if one of them robs somebody or drinks and drives or snorts cocaine, because they can afford it. We commoners should know better, because we have no business doing things such as that. Why? Because that's just the way it is.
I truly appreciate what my family has done for me and the principles and values that they provided as my foundation. I regret that I have not been able to do them proud and rise higher than I have on the ladder of success.
In the end, I know it has to all be my fault, because I constantly have heard such thoughts expressed in the community. I guess I'm just lazy and really not all that smart. Although I have always kept in good financial stead, I am sure that those who haven't have willfully chosen to not meet their financial obligations. I am sure there are plenty of good reasons to explain why so many people can't find jobs in this community and are having difficulty making ends meet. It has to be their fault.
The numbers don't lie. Those numbers reflect how lazy a lot of people are in this community. If people are struggling, then they need to learn to do with less, that is the lesson that I have been learning over the last several years. Who needs a house, a car, a significant other? I mean, in the end, why do you even need electricity or food or water? Everything in life is a luxury meant only for those who deserve it. Why do any of we commoners desire to have goals or pleasures in life? We are here to work and provide for those who are better than us. That is our role. We are here to be the worker bees.
We should be happy, because some of us still have jobs. We should be thankful that it is taking so long for the robotics to be developed that will do our work and not grouse or expect anything in return. At that point in time there will be no use for us at all. All we are is vermin, who are sucking up oxygen and stealing from the Better People by utilizing their resources and they are forced to endure us. Be glad, for time is running out for people like us. Get on you knees and beg for forgiveness, because we are not worthy. Praise be to the Better People.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Morganton Shenanigans - Wide Ranging & Far Reaching Implications
From WSOC-TV: Burke County Takes Over Morganton Elections (Dave Faherty surprised Burke County Board of Elections Director Debbie Mace on Tuesday and posted the story to WSOC TV's website.)
"It's so nonpolitical. We don't get wrapped up in other governments like school board races,” said Mayor Mel Cohen. “Fortunately we don't have that political atmosphere in our city. We appoint people by who they are not what political party they are." Many voters said they had no idea why the city held its elections early. Betty Carson has been voting in Morganton for five decades and wasn’t aware of the reason, but she said cost should be factor. "As the way we are in financial difficulty right now, it would be better to do it all together to save money,” she said. The Board of Elections hopes to revisit the timing of the elections some time after all the votes are counted.
(The Hound): The reason why Morganton holds this election separate from other elections is because they want to reduce the turnout, which helps the local elected officials better control the outcome. In Hickory, there was a 6+ fold increase in voter participation in the 2008 Presidential election compared to the 2009 city election and the 2010 Federal Election saw several times the turnout of the 2009 election. I believe that local officials don't want Federal and State elections to hold influence over voter decisions regarding City officials. A public that is likely to sweep out incumbents at the State and Federal level would be just as likely to sweep out local officials and in my opinion justifiably so.
To me the money issue is a non-issue. The City (government) is the body that has chosen to hold these separate elections for years. The City officials have chosen to do it this way. Here in Hickory, we have a Mayor that is trying to keep a referendum about the confusing and befuddling "Modified At-Large" system of city voting from garnering enough signatures by expressly telling people that it will cost money -- ( probably $800,000 like the city owned pools that he wanted torn up last year - haha!!!). What he fails to tell people is that we already spend extra money on elections that aren't necessary, because of the way this modified election system works with Ward Primaries in October and a General the first week in November. It is all about trying to control who sits on the Council, as best as they can, just like in Morganton.
As Mayor Wright has stated, they don't want people on the Council who don't focus on City Wide Issues. What does this mean? They don't want people who might bring ward specific concerns to the table. They want people who are willing to go along to get along with the Power's That Shouldn't Be's agenda, which might just (and probably) have negative consequences towards your own ward. If ward constituents don't like specific policies, then tough, they are going to shove it down your throat anyway and they don't want a "Trouble Maker" sitting on the Council giving official credence to those concerns.
The Governor is feeling the heat of corruption in the Democrat party. This is the reason for her "shake-up." Juliegh Sitton, an attorney from Morganton and until late last week was the Director of the Governor's Western Office, is accused of campaign "issue" involving a local millionaire in Morganton who is a Fast Food magnate. This Fast Food magnate has been implicated in several scandals including with the former Governor Mike Easley, Governor Bev Perdue, and from what I have read and heard the Football Scandal at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Juleigh Sitton is the daughter of former Superior court Judge Claude Sitton.
Connect the Dots:
SBI investigates contributions for Perdue's campaign flights - Morganton News Herald - Mike Baker - October 8, 2010
Why Did Perdue Campaign Not Use Cheaper State Plane? - Carolina Journal - Don Carrington - September 30, 2010
Dozens Involved in Aircraft Provider Program for Perdue, Easley - Carolina Journal - Don Carrington - October 28, 2010
"It's so nonpolitical. We don't get wrapped up in other governments like school board races,” said Mayor Mel Cohen. “Fortunately we don't have that political atmosphere in our city. We appoint people by who they are not what political party they are." Many voters said they had no idea why the city held its elections early. Betty Carson has been voting in Morganton for five decades and wasn’t aware of the reason, but she said cost should be factor. "As the way we are in financial difficulty right now, it would be better to do it all together to save money,” she said. The Board of Elections hopes to revisit the timing of the elections some time after all the votes are counted.
(The Hound): The reason why Morganton holds this election separate from other elections is because they want to reduce the turnout, which helps the local elected officials better control the outcome. In Hickory, there was a 6+ fold increase in voter participation in the 2008 Presidential election compared to the 2009 city election and the 2010 Federal Election saw several times the turnout of the 2009 election. I believe that local officials don't want Federal and State elections to hold influence over voter decisions regarding City officials. A public that is likely to sweep out incumbents at the State and Federal level would be just as likely to sweep out local officials and in my opinion justifiably so.
To me the money issue is a non-issue. The City (government) is the body that has chosen to hold these separate elections for years. The City officials have chosen to do it this way. Here in Hickory, we have a Mayor that is trying to keep a referendum about the confusing and befuddling "Modified At-Large" system of city voting from garnering enough signatures by expressly telling people that it will cost money -- ( probably $800,000 like the city owned pools that he wanted torn up last year - haha!!!). What he fails to tell people is that we already spend extra money on elections that aren't necessary, because of the way this modified election system works with Ward Primaries in October and a General the first week in November. It is all about trying to control who sits on the Council, as best as they can, just like in Morganton.
As Mayor Wright has stated, they don't want people on the Council who don't focus on City Wide Issues. What does this mean? They don't want people who might bring ward specific concerns to the table. They want people who are willing to go along to get along with the Power's That Shouldn't Be's agenda, which might just (and probably) have negative consequences towards your own ward. If ward constituents don't like specific policies, then tough, they are going to shove it down your throat anyway and they don't want a "Trouble Maker" sitting on the Council giving official credence to those concerns.
The Governor is feeling the heat of corruption in the Democrat party. This is the reason for her "shake-up." Juliegh Sitton, an attorney from Morganton and until late last week was the Director of the Governor's Western Office, is accused of campaign "issue" involving a local millionaire in Morganton who is a Fast Food magnate. This Fast Food magnate has been implicated in several scandals including with the former Governor Mike Easley, Governor Bev Perdue, and from what I have read and heard the Football Scandal at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Juleigh Sitton is the daughter of former Superior court Judge Claude Sitton.
Connect the Dots:
SBI investigates contributions for Perdue's campaign flights - Morganton News Herald - Mike Baker - October 8, 2010
Why Did Perdue Campaign Not Use Cheaper State Plane? - Carolina Journal - Don Carrington - September 30, 2010
Dozens Involved in Aircraft Provider Program for Perdue, Easley - Carolina Journal - Don Carrington - October 28, 2010
Unnamed Source Paid for Perdue Campaign Flight - Lincoln Tribune - February 24, 2011
( The Hound ): Who can you trust in this area. Every time we see the light shined upon one of these issues it looks dirty. We always look to the eastern side of North Carolina and point a finger towards the corruption we see there. What about the corruption we see in our own backyard? It's the same thing!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Those that don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it - by Silence DoGood
I think it safe to say that we’ve all heard the phrase, “Those that don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” I’m talking about the upcoming election cycle, but probably not in the context in which you might be thinking. Does everyone remember how Adolph Hitler came to power? For those of you not alive during that time in history, Germany had been stripped of her wealth and ability coming out of World War I. Germany was forced to pay war reparations on the basis of, ‘to the victors go the spoils.’ Germany was in the middle of a great political struggle between a myriad of factions. And the world was heading into The Great Depression.
You may hold the opinion that there is nothing of that era that is even remotely close to things as they are today. I would like to differ with that view. An entire people had been stripped of their national identity and forced into abject poverty as a nation. There was no clear leadership and indeed, the numerous factions vying for political control of the nation were literally fighting in the streets for superiority. The people themselves had no hope and were forced into subservience. Adolph Hitler rose to power, a figurative phoenix rising from the ashes if you will, and was able to pull Germany together and give it a sense of purpose. A sense of purpose based on racial and ethnic superiority and a military economy to re-arm and re-equip the Army, Navy, and Air Force of Germany.
Today, the United States rests in the shadow of it’s former self, just like Germany prior to the arrival of Hitler. Individual and Corporate greed has stripped our ability and our status as leader in the free world, just like the Allied powers stripped Germany immediately after World War I. We are incapable of sustaining ourselves as an industrial nation.
But the coup d’tat that was to become the greatest horror of the 20th Century began as a political rallying cry from a political extremist with well orchestrated moves. The rhetoric that propelled Hitler into power was based on nationalism and fervent pride in the German people and Nation. There was no political discourse after Hitler assumed power. The only detail to be concerned with was the Nazi detail and whatever Hitler said was the way it was, in essence, might makes right. Today, rather than finding ourselves in discourse over political direction, which ideally would be slightly left or slightly right of the middle, we find ourselves locked in mortal combat as political adversaries with each other, not to accomplish the most good for the most people, but as a game of one upping each other in order to win. Just like that period of time in Germany, each faction is trying to gain political control. And as if that weren’t enough, there are factions in both mainstream parties that want to splinter and faction themselves off. Yes, the Tea Party is an example of that concept. It pays to bear in mind that America and Americans atypically gravitate toward the political middle or moderate view/stance. Few take radical or extreme stances in politics. Yet, we have this radicalization of politics and as may be elucidated in a broad and general sense, when these factions fail to succeed in one aspect, they often are willing to try another. What that means is, if they are unable to win their objectives politically, they are oft times willing to try to gain their objectives with force and violence. Take a look at how most terrorist groups grow and evolve. Born out of social strife and struggle, they fail to win or garner influence through traditional means so they turn to violence as a means to an end. Am I implying that your local tea partier will resort to violence? No, but there is that potential. To provide levity, look at groups such the Animal and Earth Liberation Fronts (ALF and ELF) that resort to criminal acts and violence in order to perpetuate their ideas on others. Who dares wins? No one seems concerned about the whole, unless it involves waving a flag and the sphere of interest encompasses that pinpoint ideology that each adheres to.
Don’t take the next few statements out of context. The only reason I use the political right is because they are currently at the forefront of the national spotlight and easy to view and assess. If it were turned around, I would do the same with the left. The political frontrunners of the right tell us that all it takes is for America to stand strong. Well, I’m all for that. It’s time we started making our own cars, televisions, furniture, appliances, machinery, and food again. But it seems the only thing that we can build is bombs, tanks, and planes. It’s time we rejuvenated our steel industry, our electronics and oil industries. It’s time we made it so expensive for those criminal corporations to off shore themselves and try to do business here that it is cheaper to hire, reside, and produce here. Now you can call that a tax, tariff, or protectionism it matters not. What it does is take away the advantage of going off shore in the first place. It protects our people, our workers, and our industries. Those that clamor for a free market economy are often the ones that stand to benefit the most. They want free markets, but they likewise want tax shelters, breaks, and subsidies paid to them. They want it all. And again the corollary shows between the US and Germany during the rise of Hitler. Hitler watched the corporations grow fat on war profits and stripped the people of the means to live, subsist, and make a decent life for themselves. And he turned the focus of the people on those corporations and demonized them. Look at the insane profits being generated at present by the corporations in the United States and held off shore. I’m not talking small business. Small business is hurting right along with the middle class.
The right or conservative factions scream that it is the fault of the current sitting president. Deficit spending, huge debt, printing money devaluing the currency, all equate to a backslide of the United States from hegemon. We have stood by and watched the protections of the Constitution erode on the basis of personal safety. We aren’t any safer than we were 10 years ago, as we approach the anniversary of the bombing really, of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. There is an illusion that we’re safer. But what happens when you feel safe, regardless of whether you are or not? You relax, you let your guard down, and bam. Sure there have been reports every now and then about this, that, or the other terrorist threat or attempt successfully abated. That is to keep the masses pacified and prevent words such as these. If these words challenging the voracity of such action do arise, then it provides ‘proof’ that the Patriot Act is working.
“Freedom isn’t Free” is another one of those terms that we’ve all heard before. And it’s true. The structure of our society is such that we have the greatest personal liberty, or did, of any sovereign nation on the planet. There are risks inherent to that concept and living that way, including the occasional loss of life. Be it through a criminal act like armed robbery or a terrorist attack, domestic or international. But the fact that our system succeeds is the testament to greatness. That the people are resolute in their will to exercise the freedoms they have, despite being bombed, slashed, or repressed. Where we fail is that we barter away our liberties a bit at a time for the benefit of feeling safe, or want of a job, or a million and one other things that are of little consequence to survival.
Because that is where we are at present folks. We teeter on the brink. The middle class of this nation has been reduced to the point that it is simply getting by. The elites of this nation and world are increasing their wealth in leaps and bounds and we are admonished that we merely have to work hard in order to succeed. That day has past I’m afraid. We must work hard now just to survive. To provide food, shelter, and basic needs, we are forced to settle for less than what we are deserving of, simply because we are in a moment of weakness and accept what is offered rather than hold out and demand what is ours by right. And you know something? We have quite literally done it to ourselves. We take what we are told at face value and give control to those who would make a mockery of our freedoms and processes. So while I brought the Presidential aspirants of the right side of the line into focus earlier, it cuts hard across both sides and all political ideologies, and that brings me back to the original premise of this piece. This nation is rife for the assent to power of a person such as Adolph Hitler. This nation is at a political low tide and feelings of desperation are pervading the population. As more and more people figure out how we’ve been duped and how they’ve been taken advantage of by those who take advantage of rules and laws they’ve had passed for the express purpose of running rough shod over a vast majority of the population, all in the name of making a buck, class conflict moves closer and a person of the ilk of Hitler taking power comes closer to being a reality.
I’ve covered quite a bit and if you’re still reading, thank you. The reason I hit so many topics is because those are general topics of the talking points we all hear on what is now a regular basis. I haven’t covered them to great depth, since to do so would increase this to something of a thesis. But look at the time and number of words used to briefly bring each into context. Now look at what the politicians are wanting you to decide on a 30 second blurb of tilted logic. We are going to hear quite a bit in this election cycle, locally as we move closer to November and nationally as primary season approaches mid 2012. I would urge and encourage you to dig deep on your selections and then choose wisely. And lastly, be careful what it is you ask for. You just might get it.
You may hold the opinion that there is nothing of that era that is even remotely close to things as they are today. I would like to differ with that view. An entire people had been stripped of their national identity and forced into abject poverty as a nation. There was no clear leadership and indeed, the numerous factions vying for political control of the nation were literally fighting in the streets for superiority. The people themselves had no hope and were forced into subservience. Adolph Hitler rose to power, a figurative phoenix rising from the ashes if you will, and was able to pull Germany together and give it a sense of purpose. A sense of purpose based on racial and ethnic superiority and a military economy to re-arm and re-equip the Army, Navy, and Air Force of Germany.
Today, the United States rests in the shadow of it’s former self, just like Germany prior to the arrival of Hitler. Individual and Corporate greed has stripped our ability and our status as leader in the free world, just like the Allied powers stripped Germany immediately after World War I. We are incapable of sustaining ourselves as an industrial nation.
But the coup d’tat that was to become the greatest horror of the 20th Century began as a political rallying cry from a political extremist with well orchestrated moves. The rhetoric that propelled Hitler into power was based on nationalism and fervent pride in the German people and Nation. There was no political discourse after Hitler assumed power. The only detail to be concerned with was the Nazi detail and whatever Hitler said was the way it was, in essence, might makes right. Today, rather than finding ourselves in discourse over political direction, which ideally would be slightly left or slightly right of the middle, we find ourselves locked in mortal combat as political adversaries with each other, not to accomplish the most good for the most people, but as a game of one upping each other in order to win. Just like that period of time in Germany, each faction is trying to gain political control. And as if that weren’t enough, there are factions in both mainstream parties that want to splinter and faction themselves off. Yes, the Tea Party is an example of that concept. It pays to bear in mind that America and Americans atypically gravitate toward the political middle or moderate view/stance. Few take radical or extreme stances in politics. Yet, we have this radicalization of politics and as may be elucidated in a broad and general sense, when these factions fail to succeed in one aspect, they often are willing to try another. What that means is, if they are unable to win their objectives politically, they are oft times willing to try to gain their objectives with force and violence. Take a look at how most terrorist groups grow and evolve. Born out of social strife and struggle, they fail to win or garner influence through traditional means so they turn to violence as a means to an end. Am I implying that your local tea partier will resort to violence? No, but there is that potential. To provide levity, look at groups such the Animal and Earth Liberation Fronts (ALF and ELF) that resort to criminal acts and violence in order to perpetuate their ideas on others. Who dares wins? No one seems concerned about the whole, unless it involves waving a flag and the sphere of interest encompasses that pinpoint ideology that each adheres to.
Don’t take the next few statements out of context. The only reason I use the political right is because they are currently at the forefront of the national spotlight and easy to view and assess. If it were turned around, I would do the same with the left. The political frontrunners of the right tell us that all it takes is for America to stand strong. Well, I’m all for that. It’s time we started making our own cars, televisions, furniture, appliances, machinery, and food again. But it seems the only thing that we can build is bombs, tanks, and planes. It’s time we rejuvenated our steel industry, our electronics and oil industries. It’s time we made it so expensive for those criminal corporations to off shore themselves and try to do business here that it is cheaper to hire, reside, and produce here. Now you can call that a tax, tariff, or protectionism it matters not. What it does is take away the advantage of going off shore in the first place. It protects our people, our workers, and our industries. Those that clamor for a free market economy are often the ones that stand to benefit the most. They want free markets, but they likewise want tax shelters, breaks, and subsidies paid to them. They want it all. And again the corollary shows between the US and Germany during the rise of Hitler. Hitler watched the corporations grow fat on war profits and stripped the people of the means to live, subsist, and make a decent life for themselves. And he turned the focus of the people on those corporations and demonized them. Look at the insane profits being generated at present by the corporations in the United States and held off shore. I’m not talking small business. Small business is hurting right along with the middle class.
The right or conservative factions scream that it is the fault of the current sitting president. Deficit spending, huge debt, printing money devaluing the currency, all equate to a backslide of the United States from hegemon. We have stood by and watched the protections of the Constitution erode on the basis of personal safety. We aren’t any safer than we were 10 years ago, as we approach the anniversary of the bombing really, of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. There is an illusion that we’re safer. But what happens when you feel safe, regardless of whether you are or not? You relax, you let your guard down, and bam. Sure there have been reports every now and then about this, that, or the other terrorist threat or attempt successfully abated. That is to keep the masses pacified and prevent words such as these. If these words challenging the voracity of such action do arise, then it provides ‘proof’ that the Patriot Act is working.
“Freedom isn’t Free” is another one of those terms that we’ve all heard before. And it’s true. The structure of our society is such that we have the greatest personal liberty, or did, of any sovereign nation on the planet. There are risks inherent to that concept and living that way, including the occasional loss of life. Be it through a criminal act like armed robbery or a terrorist attack, domestic or international. But the fact that our system succeeds is the testament to greatness. That the people are resolute in their will to exercise the freedoms they have, despite being bombed, slashed, or repressed. Where we fail is that we barter away our liberties a bit at a time for the benefit of feeling safe, or want of a job, or a million and one other things that are of little consequence to survival.
Because that is where we are at present folks. We teeter on the brink. The middle class of this nation has been reduced to the point that it is simply getting by. The elites of this nation and world are increasing their wealth in leaps and bounds and we are admonished that we merely have to work hard in order to succeed. That day has past I’m afraid. We must work hard now just to survive. To provide food, shelter, and basic needs, we are forced to settle for less than what we are deserving of, simply because we are in a moment of weakness and accept what is offered rather than hold out and demand what is ours by right. And you know something? We have quite literally done it to ourselves. We take what we are told at face value and give control to those who would make a mockery of our freedoms and processes. So while I brought the Presidential aspirants of the right side of the line into focus earlier, it cuts hard across both sides and all political ideologies, and that brings me back to the original premise of this piece. This nation is rife for the assent to power of a person such as Adolph Hitler. This nation is at a political low tide and feelings of desperation are pervading the population. As more and more people figure out how we’ve been duped and how they’ve been taken advantage of by those who take advantage of rules and laws they’ve had passed for the express purpose of running rough shod over a vast majority of the population, all in the name of making a buck, class conflict moves closer and a person of the ilk of Hitler taking power comes closer to being a reality.
I’ve covered quite a bit and if you’re still reading, thank you. The reason I hit so many topics is because those are general topics of the talking points we all hear on what is now a regular basis. I haven’t covered them to great depth, since to do so would increase this to something of a thesis. But look at the time and number of words used to briefly bring each into context. Now look at what the politicians are wanting you to decide on a 30 second blurb of tilted logic. We are going to hear quite a bit in this election cycle, locally as we move closer to November and nationally as primary season approaches mid 2012. I would urge and encourage you to dig deep on your selections and then choose wisely. And lastly, be careful what it is you ask for. You just might get it.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Money Creation - Michael E. Badgett
August 30, 2011
Preface:
Wall Street Aristocracy Got $1.2 Trillion in Secret Fed Loans (Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/Gerald Celente ~ $1.2 Trillion Secret Fed Loans to Wall St Aristocracy:
Money Creation
“Give me control of a nation’s currency and I care not who makes its laws.”
---Murray Rothschild, Banker"
It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”
— Henry Ford, Car Maker
---Murray Rothschild, Banker"
It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”
— Henry Ford, Car Maker
The Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve is not Federal and it doesn't have any reserves. The Federal Reserve is owned by private banks and is not under the control of our Congress.One of the jobs of The Federal Reserve is to supply money to the U.S. However, for every dollar The Federal Reserve supplies, a debt to the people is created. Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. constitution states that our Congress has the power to coin money and regulate the value there of. Our Constitution does not say anything about a private bank controlling our money.
Recently, a partial audit of the Federal Reserve demanded by members of congress including Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders showed that the Federal Reserve had given or lent $16 trillion to both U.S. and foreign banks.
Many people believe that The Federal Reserve System is not the way to move us into the future.
Who Controls the Federal Reserve?
The Federal Reserve has a chairman. The Federal Reserve Chairman is appointed by the President of the United States. Alan Greenspan was the Federal Reserve Chairman From 1987-2006. During those years we saw the deregulation of the banks, the boom in derivatives trading, the tech bubble and the beginning stages of the housing bubble. Now, since 2006 we have Ben Bernanke. He is slated to be in office until 2014. So far under his guidance, we have seen the trillions and trillions of dollars lent at no or very low interest rates to mega banks both in the U.S. and overseas. We have also seen lending to small businesses slow and the pop of the housing bubble which has left millions of Americans unemployed and foreclosed upon.These powerful individuals in control of our money system are not elected by us and don't seem to be in the business of helping us.
The Federal Reserve Supplies Money to the U.S.
There are two basic ways the Federal Reserve, the government and the member banks work together to get money into our system.
1) Treasury Bills, Notes and Bonds
One way we get money into the system is by selling bills, notes and bonds. Countries, states, counties and cities sell bonds in order to raise money to spend.
The difference between bills, notes and bonds are their length until maturity:
* Treasury bills are issued for terms less than a year.
* T-notes are issued in terms of 2, 3, 5, and 10 years.
* Treasury bonds are issued in terms of 30 years.
* T-notes are issued in terms of 2, 3, 5, and 10 years.
* Treasury bonds are issued in terms of 30 years.
Who Buys Bonds?
Anyone can buy a bond. Some people buy bonds as a traditionally safe way to invest their money. Investment firms often invest retirement funds in bonds. When you buy a bond, you get paid back with interest.
Interest Paid to Bondholders
We all know the costs associated with borrowing money from the banks, whether via our credit cards, our mortgages or car loans. However, There is a hidden cost of money that we don't often think. The money our tax dollars go to to pay interest to bondholders.
Interest Paid to U.S. Treasury Bondholders
When treasury bonds are sold, the U.S. government gets the money and uses it to pay for things in its budget like national defense, social security and Medicare. When we pay our federal taxes some of it goes to paying the bondholders. Most of this interest the Federal Reserve earns from its bond holdings is returned to the treasury, but not all of it. In fact, when you pay U.S. taxes, your money goes to paying off the bondholders!
In FY 2010 the interest on the debt, incurred largely by the sale of bonds, was $414 billion. The interest on the debt is the fifth largest Federal budget item, after Defense and Security spending ($890 billion), Social Security ($730 billion) and Medicare ($490 billion). (Source: U.S. Treasury, Interest)
2) Money enters our Economy When Banks Make Loans.In FY 2010 the interest on the debt, incurred largely by the sale of bonds, was $414 billion. The interest on the debt is the fifth largest Federal budget item, after Defense and Security spending ($890 billion), Social Security ($730 billion) and Medicare ($490 billion). (Source: U.S. Treasury, Interest)
Besides the sale of treasuries, another way money enters are system is through loans. Essentially, there is no money until it is borrowed from a bank. Here is a typical sequence of events:
1) The Federal Reserve lends money to one of its member banks, such as The Bank of America, Wells Fargo, or U.S. Bank. If a bank borrows $1,000 it is entered as a credit on the Federal Reserve balance sheet. There is no actual money. Money is just a bookkeeping entry on a screen. (Member banks borrow money from the Federal Reserve at a low interest rate, 0.2% to 1.27%.)
2) The member bank now has $1,000 and can leverage this $1,000, which means it can multiply it. The bank can loan out $9000 to someone. (The bank just has to keep 10% of its money on its balance sheet in reserves.)
3) Someone comes in to borrow money $9,000 to buy a car. The banker types "$9,000" into his computer. The money didn’t exist until the loan was made. It is typed in as a credit to the bank. The bank might loan out this money at 12%.
4) Now the person who borrowed the $9,000 has to pay off the $9,000 with interest. Over the life of that loan, the person might end up paying back the bank $12,000.
A: Those banks can make a lot of money just by virtue of being banks! Here in North Dakota, credit is flowing, interest rates are low and my business is booming.
B: Here in Washington, things aren't quite like that yet. But we are on our way. More people are realizing that public money should be seen as a public resource rather than as a money making mechanism for banks
B: Here in Washington, things aren't quite like that yet. But we are on our way. More people are realizing that public money should be seen as a public resource rather than as a money making mechanism for banks
Bottom LIne: A chunk of our U.S. debt and state debt is because of having to pay interest to bond holders. Another part of our state debt is having to pay interest on money our state borrows from big banks.
Bonds, Debt to Banks----How would a Public Bank Differ?
Once a public bank gets started, (capitalized), it holds the tax payer revenue. A public bank is mandated to invest in the people and projects in their region or state. It makes low interest loans to small businesses. More credit to businesses increases employment and increases state tax revenue. Also there is less need to sell bonds for projects because the state has it's own credit creation machine using the principle of leverage that all banks use.
Public banks help end the debt cycle. They tilt us toward a growth cycle.
Private people profit from the money creation process?
A: I'm a little bit confused, upset and shocked by this.
B: I was too. But public banking is a solution! We should be able to supply our own money debt free as the U.S. Constitution instructed us, or at least at very low interest and we shouldn't have to pay interest to private people for the use of our national currency!
The Economic Future --- North Carolina
If North Carolina had a public bank, like the one in North Dakota, we would be able to control the interest rate and decide to whom the money was lent.
The interest earned from the loans would be returned to Washington state to be used to benefit North Carolinians. Less of our money would go to paying off bondholders.
The interest earned from the loans would be returned to Washington state to be used to benefit North Carolinians. Less of our money would go to paying off bondholders.
Join the Push for Public Banking!
http://publicbanking.
My suggestion is that we start printing pink slips for Democrat & Republican politicians instead of more dollars!
Dump Democrats & Republicans 2012
The Future Is Now!
Michael E. Badgett
217 W. Church St.
Mount Airy, NC 27030
336-755-3487
mebadgett@roadrunner.com
http://www.facebook.com/
Dump Democrats & Republicans 2012
The Future Is Now!
Michael E. Badgett
217 W. Church St.
Mount Airy, NC 27030
336-755-3487
mebadgett@roadrunner.com
http://www.facebook.com/
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- August 28, 2011
(The Hickory Hound) - In a comment related to the article from this past week entitled Hal Row doesn't want us rocking Hickory's boat, Silence GoGood wrote a comment in which he goes into specific details related to the "It takes a Retirement Village" paradigm that community leaders are attempting to shove down out throats by hook or by crook. What we need to see is balance, but the authoritarians who run this community, along with those who go along to get along, and the ostriches want to continue along the path towards the trainwreck that most of us are foretelling. The local PTBs are in hot pursuit of people who they call halfbacks, who have moved from the Northeast to Florida and the PTBs anecdotally tell are going to move to our area, because they don't like Florida's climate. What the Geniuses don't look at is how Orlando, Miami, and the Tampa area's real estate markets are completely decimated. These markets have lost half of their value from the peak. The local PTBs, who's vast majority are in this age bracket and also are several times better off than we the working class, can afford this mistake. Those of us who have to work every day can not. I have met Silence DoGood and he is a person who has been in a position to know what is going on around here. Band Aid solutions are not the answer to our problems. This retirement area idea is a waste of time and energy and is just a way to push the problem down the road just like the politicians in Washington do. The younger generations are going to be the ones who have to deal with the fallout.
Silence DoGood commented...
Homeowner Associations in Need of Cash Sue to Force Foreclosures - Bloomberg - John Gittelsohn - Aug 23, 2011 - Members of the Vintage East Condominium Association in Miami Beach got tired of waiting for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) to foreclose on unit 9, so they sued the bank in February to take control of the property... In June, more than four years after the owner stopped making payments, a judge ruled that JPMorgan lost its claim to the $144,000 mortgage. The apartment is now on the market for $87,500, and the association may stave off insolvency with proceeds from the sale and a new owner who pays monthly dues, said Jane Losson, a board member at the complex. Four of the 11 other owners at the property are also behind on dues... “I find it an outrage that the bank had decided to do nothing and the other owners got stuck,” Losson, who’s had her Vintage East condo since 2004, said in a telephone interview. “If we get this unit sold, we’ll have a little money.”... Financially troubled condo associations are taking banks to court as foreclosure delays enable delinquent homeowners to stay in their buildings for years, often without paying dues that keep boards running. The groups start by pressuring lenders to speed up home seizures and take over payment of the monthly fees. In extreme situations, like the Vintage East case, associations may force banks to give up rights to the property.
‘MERS morass’ is hanging up negotiations on foreclosure settlement - Washington Post with Bloomberg - Brady Dennis - August 24, 2011 - The pending multibillion-dollar settlement with banks centers on “robosigned” documents and court filings and other problems related to mortgage servicing that caused a national uproar last fall. Much of that flawed paperwork flowed through MERS... Meanwhile, the same system helped make possible the boom in mortgage-backed securities that fueled the housing crisis by allowing banks to quickly and cheaply transfer the ownership of loans. Questionable securitization practices have sparked other state and federal investigations, but they are not the focus of the current settlement talks.. Given the broad reach that MERS has into every aspect of the mortgage and foreclosure process, officials have been grappling with whether they can address one element of the MERS business model in the current settlement while leaving other aspects open to future investigation. In part, they say, the patchwork of conflicting laws and court decisions in different states makes a one-size-fits-all solution difficult. In addition, they are facing pressure from banks that already stand to pay billions of dollars in penalties and would prefer to steer clear of the MERS problem altogether in the current negotiations... Several people familiar with the negotiations said that officials leading the talks have no intention of releasing MERSCORP, the parent company of MERS, from liability claims. The trickier question is how to address MERS-related foreclosure cases that involve the banks under scrutiny.
Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal - Rolling Stone - Matt Taibbi - August 24, 2011 - On the one side is Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General, who is conducting his own investigation into the era of securitizations – the practice of chopping up assets like mortgages and converting them into saleable securities – that led up to the financial crisis of 2007-2008... On the other side is the Obama administration, the banks, and all the other state attorneys general... This second camp has cooked up a deal that would allow the banks to walk away with just a seriously discounted fine from a generation of fraud that led to millions of people losing their homes... The idea behind this federally-guided “settlement” is to concentrate and centralize all the legal exposure accrued by this generation of grotesque banker corruption in one place, put one single price tag on it that everyone can live with, and then stuff the details into a titanium canister before shooting it into deep space... This is all about protecting the banks from future enforcement actions on both the civil and criminal sides. The plan is to provide year-after-year, repeat-offending banks like Bank of America with cost certainty, so that they know exactly how much they’ll have to pay in fines (trust me, it will end up being a tiny fraction of what they made off the fraudulent practices) and will also get to know for sure that there are no more criminal investigations in the pipeline.
Wake Up America! 10 Very Obvious Reasons Why The Devastating U.S. Jobs Famine Is Going To Suck The Hope Right Out Of America - The Economic Collapse Blog -
#1 Our politicians simply do not care that America is bleeding jobs. Amazingly, even with rampant unemployment plaguing this nation, Obama administration officials continue to declare that it is okay that we are losing manufacturing jobs because a lot of cheaper products are things that "we don't want to make in America" anyway. The following is what U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told Tim Robertson of the Huffington Post the other day....
#2 The Obama administration has now instituted a policy of "backdoor amnesty" for illegal immigrants by executive fiat. Janet Napolitano has announced that from now on there will be a case-by-case review of all deportation cases. Cases involving criminals will be prioritized and most others will be thrown out. A list of 19 factors that will allow government officials to use "prosecutorial discretion" in immigration cases has been distributed. Recently, I listed a few of those "factors" on The American Dream website....
#3 State and local governments all over the country are dead broke, and an atmosphere of austerity is sweeping the nation. Right now state and local governments are slashing jobs at an unprecedented rate.
#4 U.S. businesses are being absolutely crushed by mountains of nightmarish regulations, and yet the federal government, the state governments and local governments just continue to pile them on. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is projecting that the food service industry will have to spend an additional 14 million hours every single year just to comply with new federal regulations that mandate that all vending machine operators and chain restaurants must label all products that they sell with a calorie count in a location visible to the consumer. Due to these kinds of ridiculous regulations, many business owners have simply given up and many other potential business owners figure that owning a business is just not worth the hassle.
#5 As I have written about so many times before, the "global economy" is really bad for American workers. When we merged our economy with the economies of nations where it is legal to pay slave labor wages, we made it inevitable that we would start losing massive amounts of jobs.
#6 Unfair trade is absolutely killing our economy. It would be one thing if the U.S. was running a massive trade deficit solely because we were incompetent. But the truth is that a big factor is that a number of our "trade partners" are economic predators that are purposely trying to prey on us.
#7 Small businesses are traditionally one of the primary engines of job growth in this country. But right now, small businesses all over America are having a really hard time getting anyone to loan them money. A big reason for this is that the Federal Reserve is actually paying banks not to make loans. Unfortunately, if small businesses can't get the money that they need, then they can't hire people.
#8 A lot of people may not want to hear this, but businesses in the United States are being absolutely taxed into oblivion. The U.S. now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world, but that is only a very small part of the story.
#9 The national debt is like a giant albatross around the neck of the economy. The U.S. national debt has increased by more than 4 trillion dollars since Barack Obama took office. The rampant government spending that has been going on has not done much to create new jobs, but it will be a massive burden that will weigh down economic growth for many years to come.
#10 Right now America is very deeply divided and a tremendous sense of pessimism has set in. One recent survey found that 48 percent of Americans believe that it is likely that another great Depression will begin within the next 12 months. With such a negative feeling in the air, it is going to make it even less likely that business owners will be in the mood to hire people.
Silence DoGood commented...
Interestingly enough, some may not know of the existence of a feasibility study and committee from different government and private agencies to assess the viability of needs for seniors and their impact. That committee met across late 2009 and 2010 as a first stage study and analysis. But here’s the deal. To make Catawba County and Hickory viable in the vision of Senioropolis, it is going to take major investment in infrastructure, most notably, public transportation. The current grids and major connectors just aren’t viable for low speed vehicles and there isn’t available right of way to make low speed vehicle only lanes. The only way to do that with what you have would be to cut the number of lanes currently in use. Think of that nightmare. Now, you could adopt local ordinances authorizing low speed vehicles in the regular traffic stream. But that would only suffice on local streets. State maintained roads would limit those vehicles to being used on 35mph speed zones and under. Think of the number of state maintained roads in Hickory. Most of your major cross-town arteries are included in that group. Now think about Ma and Pa in a revved up golf kart playing in the traffic. Light rail would be an excellent alternative, but just an off the top of my head figure would be somewhere around $15 billion to minimally cover Catawba County and each of the municipalities with light rail and a single spur line. No one is going to cough up that kind of cash and the Federal Government is strapped to the point that grant money isn’t going to be available. Yes, there is a bus line and vans. Available county-wide at a price to other municipalities. So complete coverage doesn't exist because people don’t want to pay for any number of reasons. Likewise, those buses don't run out into Vale or the nether reaches of Eastern Catawba. Private investment wouldn’t realize a profit for so long because of the low fare pricing to make it utilized it’s not worth it. So despite the hype, talk, and rhetoric, the reality of making it possible just isn’t there.
That isn’t to say that the plan won’t still be implemented. By that, I mean sell the homes, the senior living centers, the healthcare availability, and once they’re here, let them worry about how to get around and get to the places they need to go. The real estate proles have made their bucks, likewise the contractors, and the investment has been minimal… at first. You now have an entire and substantial population of people that are completely or wholly dependent on public services for their needs. That will in turn stretch those tax dollars even tighter and the ability to provide services thinner. And this population is known for their participation in the electoral process.
So while it is important to listen to what is being said, it is likewise important to know the background and what isn’t being said. The later is usually more informative.
But the entire nuts and bolts issue here is planning. Just like you, Harry and Thom, have eluded to in any number of posts in the past. Those in charge, now and in generations past, failed to see the future. These people failed because they planned for now. They look at what they needed for ‘the now’ as opposed to what they needed for ‘then’. The rationale there being, “In 30 years, it will be someone else’s problem.” They fail to take into account factors such as population trends, needs, and where they want to be for the future, from point A to point Z. It’s all neat, packaged and slurped down by the masses like a hungry seal slurps down a fish. Just like now, a knee jerk deal changer with a $20 million investment is going to turn Hickory around again. You can’t do it with $20 or $200 million. Where it needs to start is a change in leadership with politicians that grasp a concept of the future and at least a vague idea of how to get there, recusing themselves and their own personal benefit from the equation. The only thing you garner looking back is a glimpse of what was.
Homeowner Associations in Need of Cash Sue to Force Foreclosures - Bloomberg - John Gittelsohn - Aug 23, 2011 - Members of the Vintage East Condominium Association in Miami Beach got tired of waiting for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) to foreclose on unit 9, so they sued the bank in February to take control of the property... In June, more than four years after the owner stopped making payments, a judge ruled that JPMorgan lost its claim to the $144,000 mortgage. The apartment is now on the market for $87,500, and the association may stave off insolvency with proceeds from the sale and a new owner who pays monthly dues, said Jane Losson, a board member at the complex. Four of the 11 other owners at the property are also behind on dues... “I find it an outrage that the bank had decided to do nothing and the other owners got stuck,” Losson, who’s had her Vintage East condo since 2004, said in a telephone interview. “If we get this unit sold, we’ll have a little money.”... Financially troubled condo associations are taking banks to court as foreclosure delays enable delinquent homeowners to stay in their buildings for years, often without paying dues that keep boards running. The groups start by pressuring lenders to speed up home seizures and take over payment of the monthly fees. In extreme situations, like the Vintage East case, associations may force banks to give up rights to the property.
‘MERS morass’ is hanging up negotiations on foreclosure settlement - Washington Post with Bloomberg - Brady Dennis - August 24, 2011 - The pending multibillion-dollar settlement with banks centers on “robosigned” documents and court filings and other problems related to mortgage servicing that caused a national uproar last fall. Much of that flawed paperwork flowed through MERS... Meanwhile, the same system helped make possible the boom in mortgage-backed securities that fueled the housing crisis by allowing banks to quickly and cheaply transfer the ownership of loans. Questionable securitization practices have sparked other state and federal investigations, but they are not the focus of the current settlement talks.. Given the broad reach that MERS has into every aspect of the mortgage and foreclosure process, officials have been grappling with whether they can address one element of the MERS business model in the current settlement while leaving other aspects open to future investigation. In part, they say, the patchwork of conflicting laws and court decisions in different states makes a one-size-fits-all solution difficult. In addition, they are facing pressure from banks that already stand to pay billions of dollars in penalties and would prefer to steer clear of the MERS problem altogether in the current negotiations... Several people familiar with the negotiations said that officials leading the talks have no intention of releasing MERSCORP, the parent company of MERS, from liability claims. The trickier question is how to address MERS-related foreclosure cases that involve the banks under scrutiny.
Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal - Rolling Stone - Matt Taibbi - August 24, 2011 - On the one side is Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General, who is conducting his own investigation into the era of securitizations – the practice of chopping up assets like mortgages and converting them into saleable securities – that led up to the financial crisis of 2007-2008... On the other side is the Obama administration, the banks, and all the other state attorneys general... This second camp has cooked up a deal that would allow the banks to walk away with just a seriously discounted fine from a generation of fraud that led to millions of people losing their homes... The idea behind this federally-guided “settlement” is to concentrate and centralize all the legal exposure accrued by this generation of grotesque banker corruption in one place, put one single price tag on it that everyone can live with, and then stuff the details into a titanium canister before shooting it into deep space... This is all about protecting the banks from future enforcement actions on both the civil and criminal sides. The plan is to provide year-after-year, repeat-offending banks like Bank of America with cost certainty, so that they know exactly how much they’ll have to pay in fines (trust me, it will end up being a tiny fraction of what they made off the fraudulent practices) and will also get to know for sure that there are no more criminal investigations in the pipeline.
Wake Up America! 10 Very Obvious Reasons Why The Devastating U.S. Jobs Famine Is Going To Suck The Hope Right Out Of America - The Economic Collapse Blog -
#1 Our politicians simply do not care that America is bleeding jobs. Amazingly, even with rampant unemployment plaguing this nation, Obama administration officials continue to declare that it is okay that we are losing manufacturing jobs because a lot of cheaper products are things that "we don't want to make in America" anyway. The following is what U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told Tim Robertson of the Huffington Post the other day....
#2 The Obama administration has now instituted a policy of "backdoor amnesty" for illegal immigrants by executive fiat. Janet Napolitano has announced that from now on there will be a case-by-case review of all deportation cases. Cases involving criminals will be prioritized and most others will be thrown out. A list of 19 factors that will allow government officials to use "prosecutorial discretion" in immigration cases has been distributed. Recently, I listed a few of those "factors" on The American Dream website....
#3 State and local governments all over the country are dead broke, and an atmosphere of austerity is sweeping the nation. Right now state and local governments are slashing jobs at an unprecedented rate.
#4 U.S. businesses are being absolutely crushed by mountains of nightmarish regulations, and yet the federal government, the state governments and local governments just continue to pile them on. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is projecting that the food service industry will have to spend an additional 14 million hours every single year just to comply with new federal regulations that mandate that all vending machine operators and chain restaurants must label all products that they sell with a calorie count in a location visible to the consumer. Due to these kinds of ridiculous regulations, many business owners have simply given up and many other potential business owners figure that owning a business is just not worth the hassle.
#5 As I have written about so many times before, the "global economy" is really bad for American workers. When we merged our economy with the economies of nations where it is legal to pay slave labor wages, we made it inevitable that we would start losing massive amounts of jobs.
#6 Unfair trade is absolutely killing our economy. It would be one thing if the U.S. was running a massive trade deficit solely because we were incompetent. But the truth is that a big factor is that a number of our "trade partners" are economic predators that are purposely trying to prey on us.
#7 Small businesses are traditionally one of the primary engines of job growth in this country. But right now, small businesses all over America are having a really hard time getting anyone to loan them money. A big reason for this is that the Federal Reserve is actually paying banks not to make loans. Unfortunately, if small businesses can't get the money that they need, then they can't hire people.
#8 A lot of people may not want to hear this, but businesses in the United States are being absolutely taxed into oblivion. The U.S. now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world, but that is only a very small part of the story.
#9 The national debt is like a giant albatross around the neck of the economy. The U.S. national debt has increased by more than 4 trillion dollars since Barack Obama took office. The rampant government spending that has been going on has not done much to create new jobs, but it will be a massive burden that will weigh down economic growth for many years to come.
#10 Right now America is very deeply divided and a tremendous sense of pessimism has set in. One recent survey found that 48 percent of Americans believe that it is likely that another great Depression will begin within the next 12 months. With such a negative feeling in the air, it is going to make it even less likely that business owners will be in the mood to hire people.
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