Sunday, March 27, 2011
Mark Levin Wrong on War Powers | Tom Woods - New York Times Bestselling Author
Tom Woods is a brilliant Constitutional historian, enjoy! Mark Levin Wrong on War Powers Tom Woods - New York Times Bestselling Author
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Obama's Brown Shirts
I remember looking at the protests in Greece and wondering how long before that comes here. Little did I know that it would happen so fast, but here we are. A Governor stands up for freedom and liberty and the Organizer in Chief sends his "troops" into Madison Wisconsin to send a message....
http://biggovernment.com/jjmnolte/2011/03/17/20-days-of-left-wing-thuggery-in-wisconsin-when-will-obama-democrats-and-msm-call-for-civility/
http://biggovernment.com/jjmnolte/2011/03/17/20-days-of-left-wing-thuggery-in-wisconsin-when-will-obama-democrats-and-msm-call-for-civility/
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Union Money in Politics
An FYI.... Just in case anyone wonders why Pres Obama and his friends are so hot to support labor unions particularly government employee unions, check out Union contributions. Sadly, many members of the Union do not realize that their leadership has been taken over by Socialists who are using the money to elect politicians that are bent on destroying the capitalist system that they now benefit from.
Leading Union Political Campaign Contributors
1990-2010
Democrats
Republicans
American Fed. of State, County, & Municipal Employees
$40,281,900
$547,700
Intel Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
29,705,600
679,000
National Education Association
27,679,300
2,005,200
Service Employees International Union
26,368,470
98,700
Communication Workers of America
26,305,500
125,300
Service Employees International Union
26,252,000
1,086,200
Laborers Union
25,734,000
138,000
American Federation of Teachers
25,682,800
200,000
United Auto Workers
25,082,200
182,700
Teamsters Union
24,926,400
1,822,000
Carpenters and Joiners Union
24,094,100
658,000
Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union
23,875,600
226,300
United Food and Commercial Workers Union
23,182,000
334,200
AFL-CIO
17,124,300
713,500
Sheet Metal Workers Union
16,347,200
342,800
Plumbers & Pipefitters Union
14,790,000
818,500
Operating Engineers Union
13,840,000
2,309,500
Airline Pilots Association
12,806,600
2,398,300
International Association of Firefighters
12,421,700
2,685,400
United Transportation Workers
11,807,000
1,459,300
Ironworkers Union
11,638,900
936,000
American Postal Workers Union
11,633,100
544,300
Nat'l Active & Retired Fed. Employees Association
8,135,400
2,294,600
Seafarers International Union
6,726,800
1,281,300
Source: Center for Responsive Politics, Washington, D.C.
Leading Union Political Campaign Contributors
1990-2010
Democrats
Republicans
American Fed. of State, County, & Municipal Employees
$40,281,900
$547,700
Intel Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
29,705,600
679,000
National Education Association
27,679,300
2,005,200
Service Employees International Union
26,368,470
98,700
Communication Workers of America
26,305,500
125,300
Service Employees International Union
26,252,000
1,086,200
Laborers Union
25,734,000
138,000
American Federation of Teachers
25,682,800
200,000
United Auto Workers
25,082,200
182,700
Teamsters Union
24,926,400
1,822,000
Carpenters and Joiners Union
24,094,100
658,000
Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union
23,875,600
226,300
United Food and Commercial Workers Union
23,182,000
334,200
AFL-CIO
17,124,300
713,500
Sheet Metal Workers Union
16,347,200
342,800
Plumbers & Pipefitters Union
14,790,000
818,500
Operating Engineers Union
13,840,000
2,309,500
Airline Pilots Association
12,806,600
2,398,300
International Association of Firefighters
12,421,700
2,685,400
United Transportation Workers
11,807,000
1,459,300
Ironworkers Union
11,638,900
936,000
American Postal Workers Union
11,633,100
544,300
Nat'l Active & Retired Fed. Employees Association
8,135,400
2,294,600
Seafarers International Union
6,726,800
1,281,300
Source: Center for Responsive Politics, Washington, D.C.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
March of the Damned
For a party whose leader spent a year increasing the size and scope of government because "the status quo is not an option", the Democrats in Wisconsin along with financial support from the President are determined to maintain the status quo in when it comes to keeping the boot of our public employee unions on the throat of the Wisconsin tax payer.
And while we keep hearing about the 300,000 "middle class working families" (average income $75,000 plus benefits) that are getting "screwed", nobody wants to report on the 4.7 million other people in the state (average wage $25,000 - many with no benefits) who have to foot the bill for these poor unfortunate souls.
Politics aside, the math is simple, Wisconsin is broke. We have a projected budget deficit of over $3.0 Billion over the next two years, which comes out to around $6000.00 in additional taxes required per citizen.
If one simply understands that public employees do not pay taxes but only return a portion of the tax-payers money that the government gave to them in the first place, then you might understand why those of us in the private sector are a little tired of the "status quo". If you wish to give your child a chance of a decent education, you have to send them to a private school at a cost of $8000 - $12000 per year on top of the taxes confiscated from you under the threat of having your property taken from you. Imagine if everyone had to send a portion of their money to WalMart even if they wanted to buy the food from Whole Foods.....no one on the Left would stand for it.
Over the last 12 years, Wisconsin has become a tax hell, people and businesses have been leaving the state, just like Michigan. The people in the state have watched the prior administration launder their money through the labor unions and right back into their own campaign funds. In November, they decided that they'd had enough and swept out the corrupt administration and their allies in the state congress.
The idea that we should now recall people who won the election for fulfilling their campaign promises is wishful at best. No one outside of the "ten's of thousands" marching in Madison (many of whom are from Illinois) seems to be upset about the Governor's actions and it is very likely that after all the recall activity, Wisconsin ends up with even more Republican Senators.
Wis. labor protesters say next fight at the polls - Yahoo! News
And while we keep hearing about the 300,000 "middle class working families" (average income $75,000 plus benefits) that are getting "screwed", nobody wants to report on the 4.7 million other people in the state (average wage $25,000 - many with no benefits) who have to foot the bill for these poor unfortunate souls.
Politics aside, the math is simple, Wisconsin is broke. We have a projected budget deficit of over $3.0 Billion over the next two years, which comes out to around $6000.00 in additional taxes required per citizen.
If one simply understands that public employees do not pay taxes but only return a portion of the tax-payers money that the government gave to them in the first place, then you might understand why those of us in the private sector are a little tired of the "status quo". If you wish to give your child a chance of a decent education, you have to send them to a private school at a cost of $8000 - $12000 per year on top of the taxes confiscated from you under the threat of having your property taken from you. Imagine if everyone had to send a portion of their money to WalMart even if they wanted to buy the food from Whole Foods.....no one on the Left would stand for it.
Over the last 12 years, Wisconsin has become a tax hell, people and businesses have been leaving the state, just like Michigan. The people in the state have watched the prior administration launder their money through the labor unions and right back into their own campaign funds. In November, they decided that they'd had enough and swept out the corrupt administration and their allies in the state congress.
The idea that we should now recall people who won the election for fulfilling their campaign promises is wishful at best. No one outside of the "ten's of thousands" marching in Madison (many of whom are from Illinois) seems to be upset about the Governor's actions and it is very likely that after all the recall activity, Wisconsin ends up with even more Republican Senators.
Wis. labor protesters say next fight at the polls - Yahoo! News
Friday, March 11, 2011
How to Stop The End of America
The time has come! The Constitution is dead, the new deal is dead, the great society is dead, the idea that central planning can bring prosperity for all is DEAD. America is waking up to what's been going on in both DC as well as our state and local governments and we've had enough.
Please join the movement to really turn us in a new direction of economic prosperity. Read the essay below for more detail on how to restore America...
From the S&A Digest:
Here I go again… By now, almost everyone reading the Digest knows we set aside Friday's for me (Porter) to write personally. And though I've rejected the idea that people can teach anything (there is no teaching, only learning) – I can't seem to help myself. If you're tired of suffering through these lessons, you'll be happy to know my impulse to empower our subscribers by showing them a few of the more unpleasant truths about finance has cost me a lot of money.
As I knew they would, my essays about the importance of cash and the one last week about asset allocation (when you buy what) resulted in a torrent of refund demands – about $1 million worth in the last two weeks. So if you got something out of those essays, do me a favor: Buy something. Anything. Preferably something expensive.
It is a quirk of human nature that most people don't want to learn anything new and react negatively to anyone who challenges their deeply held views (even when they're obviously wrong). You'll know I'm truly a glutton for punishment when you realize the subject of this week's Friday Digest: Our country's severe financial crisis.
Writing about this topic has led to far greater problems than cancellations. I've gotten threatening letters and angry e-mails from folks who seem to believe that pointing out these dangers is tantamount to causing them.
More than two years ago (December 2008), I first warned in my newsletter that America would eventually lose its world reserve currency status and our debt crisis would lead to a massive inflation. I call this complex series of issues the "End of America." Not because I believe it will lead to the end of our political union (though it might), but because I believe we're heading into a crisis that will be far worse than anyone has yet realized. The crisis will result in a significant decline in our standard of living. These are deadly serious issues and I meant every word I wrote.
Even so, two years ago, lots of folks actually laughed at me – including a few in my own office. Not anymore. If you saw the Wall Street Journal headline yesterday (the "Why the Dollar's Reign is Near an End") or if you saw Sam Zell (the most successful real estate investor of all time) yesterday on CNBC, you know many of the smartest folks in our country take my warning seriously. Said Zell:
My single biggest financial concern is the loss of the dollar as the reserve currency. I can't imagine anything more disastrous to our country… you're already seeing things in the markets that are suggesting that confidence in the dollar is waning… I think you could see a 25% reduction in the standard of living in this country if the U.S. dollar was no longer the world's reserve currency. That's how valuable it is.
So today, I want to update some key figures of my End of America report. I want you to know where we stand. This is important enough to risk the inevitable criticisms (and refunds). But I want to take one criticism out of play right now. Don't bother writing to complain about my "politics."
This has absolutely nothing to do with politics. This matter is purely about economics. The facts, as you'll see, are completely clear to anyone who bothers to learn them. We are spending way beyond our means – both publicly and privately. Worse, this spending has warped the incentives in our economy, resulting in not only debts we can't afford, but outcomes we don't seek. At the heart of this crisis, there's a knowledge problem. Most Americans don't understand even the most basic facts about our country's financial position, nor do they take the time to consider the likely outcome of poorly structured government programs.
So please, don't write to me about politics. I don't care about the Democrats, Republicans, or even the Tea Partiers. I don't care whose "fault" it is, because these debts belong to all of us. I care about the people who live in America… people who are going to be wiped out because of feckless leadership and genuine ignorance. I can't do anything about our leadership – that's up to you. I can try to do something about the ignorance.
In our search for facts and solid financial thinking, let's start with Warren Buffett, who is neither feckless nor stupid. Buffett is the world's best investor. He got that way primarily by figuring out how to correctly value equities and allocate assets… and because he learned one of the most valuable financial secrets in modern finance: why insurance companies are so valuable. (Hint: It's the float. But that's a discussion for another day.)
Buffett has become a sort of "rich uncle" to America, giving helpful advice about financial matters. And he recently said something that struck me as profound – something I'd wager almost everyone else ignored. Buffett explained why the buyers of his mobile homes (Clayton Homes) default at rates (1.86%) much lower than the national average for homebuilders (more than 25%). That's true, even though the buyers of his mobile homes typically have low incomes, less job stability, and lower credit scores than the buyers of conventional housing. If you read nothing else in today's Digest, please pay attention to what Buffett says here:
Our borrowers get in trouble when they lose their jobs, have health problems, get divorced, etc. The recession has hit them hard. But they want to stay in their homes, and generally they borrowed sensible amounts in relation to their income.
In addition, we were keeping the originated mortgages for our own account, which means we were not securitizing or otherwise reselling them. If we were stupid in our lending, we were going to pay the price. That concentrates the mind. If homebuyers throughout the country had behaved like our buyers, America would not have had the crisis that it did. Our approach was simply to get a meaningful down payment and gear fixed monthly payments to a sensible percentage of income. This policy kept Clayton solvent and also kept buyers in their homes…
… A house can be a nightmare if the buyer's eyes are bigger than his wallet and if a lender – often protected by a government guarantee – facilitates his fantasy. Our country's social goal should not be to put families into the house of their dreams, but rather to put them into a house they can afford.
Pretty simple, eh? Don't sell houses to folks who can't afford them. And make sure both the lender (who kept the note) and the borrower (who made a down payment – equity) have plenty of "skin in the game."
You don't want to create any incentive for the deal to go bad. You want both parties to have a powerful incentive to do what they've promised. After ignorance, almost all our country's core problems come back to these same issues: a lack of equity and poorly designed incentives. Remember these concepts. You'll see them again: skin in the game (equity) and properly designed incentives.
Let me take on the toughest problem first: Medicare/Medicaid. Since the government established this program in 1965, it has amassed a $5.6 trillion deficit. This program alone accounts for 40% of our government's total debt. If you could erase these debts, our most recent two foreign wars (Iraq/Afghanistan), and the losses associated with the recent financial crisis, you could eliminate more than half our entire federal debt – a debt threatening to destroy our way of life.
Whether you'd choose to eliminate these debts by eliminating these programs is a political question. I'm not going to discuss politics here. The point I'm trying to make is, regardless of what you'd choose, we have to make a choice. We can't afford to do all of these things.
Like the subprime buyers in the housing bubble, we've bought a government we cannot afford. That's a simple fact. It should be obvious to any thinking person that when government spending makes up 45% of GDP (as it does today) and there's one government employee for every six households, something has gone terribly wrong with America.
When my parents were born, America was still the land of the free. The incentives people faced were different. Before World War II, the federal government made up only 3% of GDP. It didn't provide health care. People had to maintain their health, as best they could. People didn't depend on Ponzi finance (Social Security) for their old age – they had to save. They had to take care of their families and help take care of the unfortunate in their communities.
We didn't spend a lot on the military, either… which gave us an incentive to mind our own business. In fact, back then, our presidents promised to keep us out of foreign wars. Both Wilson and Roosevelt came to power promising to keep us out of the war in Europe. They lied. Almost every other president since has sent our boys to die for others wherever they could. War is good for business… and good for the government.
Lots of people reading this e-mail will say, "I don't want to live in a country like that, where the government doesn't provide a social safety net." Other readers might say, "I don't want America to be 'isolationist.' We need more troops overseas to fight terrorism." OK… So maybe 3% of GDP is not enough for the government we will choose. But 45% of GDP is much too large – again that's not a political choice; we simply cannot afford it.
So how then will we decide? My suggestion: Pay more attention to incentives. And demand much more equity from the voters.
Here are some interesting facts:
In 1965 – when Congress created Medicare/Medicaid and greatly expanded the federal government's role in health care – about 13% of Americans were obese. Today, 32% of Americans are obese.
Before the government enacted Social Security, Americans typically saved between 15% and 20% of their incomes. Today? Almost nothing. In fact, for many years, the savings rate in America was actually negative.
Before the Great Depression, there wasn't any government unemployment insurance. Not surprisingly, there was almost zero long-term unemployment.
One more interesting fact… the U.S. didn't experience a Great Depression until the Federal Reserve was created. The main purpose of the Federal Reserve is to ensure that banks don't fail. Sounds good. But it provides a perverse incentive for banks to act recklessly, which causes bigger booms and busts – just like the one we're experiencing right now.
I'm not arguing government spending is the primary cause of any of these problems. But I am saying you'd have to be a fool to believe incentives don't play a big role in human action. Think about why all politicians try to spend more than they collect in taxes. They have a huge incentive to promise more than they can deliver – and to make up the difference by borrowing against future taxes or printing more money.
The problems created by the perverse incentives of collectivist actions are well known. They are as old as the ideas themselves. They explain why socialism and communism always lead to failure. And yet… we seem eager to pursue these policies in an almost mindless pursuit of bankruptcy. Why? That's not hard to figure out either.
What's the No. 1 reason people make bad decisions? They don't have to suffer the consequences. Which investors made worse decisions during the mortgage bubble? Was it the private hedge-fund managers, whose entire net worth was made up of the assets in their own funds and whose friends and families had invested alongside them? Or was it the senior managers of publicly owned banks, whose creditors were protected by the federal government and who owned little of their own company's equity?
That's easy to answer, even if you knew nothing about the financial crisis. Unless people have a stake in the outcome of an event, they are very likely to choose poorly or recklessly.
The most difficult problem we face today is, far too few Americans have any equity in our government. Less than half of all Americans pay any federal taxes. Don't listen to the nonsense about how almost everyone pays payroll taxes. It's true, but it's irrelevant. Payroll taxes don't come close to covering the costs of the entitlement programs they support.
Cutting government spending will be easy compared to trying to increase the average citizen's equity in government. But we must. People will always demand more from the government until they realize how expensive government solutions really are. And the only way to show them is to share the burdens of government more equally.
Now, I know what you're thinking… I'm making a political argument to reduce the progressive nature of our tax system. I'm not. I'm pointing out a simple fact: When half the voters don't pay for any of the true costs of the government, your society is going to suffer terrible governance.
A democracy that concentrates the overwhelming burden of government on a tiny minority of the population is no different than an investment bank making bad loans and then selling them to someone else. You can't separate the people making the decisions from the costs and the risks of those decisions. And yet, that's what we've done.
We've reached a point where we can longer continue on our current path. America spends 800% more than its nearest rival on its military. We spend 200%-300% more per capita on health care than any other similarly wealthy country. Are we safer? Are we healthier? I honestly don't think so.
And even if you believe we are, can we afford it? Here are the simple numbers. Americans now owe $56 trillion in total debt, much of it held by foreign investors. We must spend $3.5 trillion each year on interest. That is already more than the federal government spends, in total. I do not exaggerate when I tell you we cannot afford these debts. We will never be able to repay these debts – already equal to roughly four times our country's GDP. The largest components of the debts we owe are government debts… and they are growing rapidly and show no signs of stopping.
The only way to stop the debt crisis we face is to reduce the total level of government spending – immediately and permanently. We have to stop giving our citizens improper incentives. We have to increase the "skin" voters have in the game by spreading the burden of government more equally. And most important, we must take away the politicians' ability to debase our currency.
You see… politicians believe, as Dick Cheney famously said, deficits don't matter. They believe these debts can be safely printed away – which is what the Federal Reserve is doing right now.
How can we accomplish these goals? I believe we need three simple amendments to our Constitution. First, we should have a balanced budget amendment. It's hard to imagine why anyone would object to this, regardless of his politics. Politicians ought not have the right to burden future Americans with debt. It's disgusting that we would leave a burden like this for our children and grandchildren.
Next, we need a constitutional amendment that ensures sound money. If you tell the politicians they're not allowed to borrow, they'll inflate instead. There is no reason Americans shouldn't enjoy the stability and safety of sound money.
Every argument you'll hear against backing our currency with gold comes from bankers and swindlers who need the ability to be bailed out so they can make risky bets with enormous amounts of borrowed money. Let's put a stop to this, once and for all.
The American government is the world's largest holder of gold. Let's put it to work for us, right away, in the form of sound money.
Finally… we need a logical way to put a stop to the narrowing of the tax base. Everyone who votes should share in the burdens of government – otherwise the incentive will always exist to vote for more government spending.
I suggest a constitutional amendment limiting tax rates and abolishing all taxes except for income tax. Tax every adult over the age of 65 20% of his income – whatever the source. Give everyone a $24,000 annual personal exemption. Above that, everyone pays. No other deductions. We could get rid of the IRS. You could do your taxes on a post card. How much did you make? Send the government 20% of it.
Why do I think 20% is the right rate? The church has always asked for 10%. Surely the government can survive on twice what God needs. And… we should word the constitutional amendment to make clear our intentions: Every U.S. citizen has the right to keep 80% of his income. Let the feds and the states fight over your tax dollars. Remember, your assets and income are part and parcel of your freedom. A man cannot have his liberty without his property and the right to his wages.
By the way, the U.S. Constitution already decrees all citizens should be equal under the law. Making the tax code truly equal will merely be living up to the obligations our Constitution is already placing on the government. Likewise, the Constitution says Congress shall have the right to coin money. It says nothing about printing or the Federal Reserve.
And finally… the founding fathers of our country once rebelled over a 2% tax on sugar, and they expressly forbid income taxes in their Constitution. Can you imagine what they would think of marginal income tax rates in excess of 50% on people in certain states? These new amendments I'm suggesting aren't really new at all: They're simply a return, a restoration, of the real America – the greatest country in history.
If you like these ideas… please share this Digest. I'm sure it would be difficult to get these amendments passed. But if things in America get as bad as I think they're going to, maybe people would be willing to rethink our government's structure.
Sooner or later we have to learn to live within our means. Sooner or later, a preference for sound money will appear because inflation will have destroyed our currency. And sooner or later, the idea that you can live at the expense of your neighbor (through progressive taxation) will lead to a collapse. My preference would be to learn these lessons sooner, so the pain of this transition can be minimized.
I'm interested in organizing a conference about these ideas… maybe call it The Project to Restore America. I'd host it personally (and invest heavily in this effort). I don't know where yet… but I know when – sometime later this year. My goal will be to get as many well-known people as I can to endorse these ideas and speak about them in public at the conference. I'll try to lure my friends in the media (I have a few) to join with us… plus business leaders… plus regular folks across America.
If we want the government to listen to us… we have to start talking with one, unified and loud voice. I've got a pretty loud microphone here with my publishing company, but I can't do it alone. I need your help. Please pass this Digest around to folks who you think will be willing to read it. And if you want to get involved, please get in touch and tell me how you can help.
If you're interested in these ideas and want to keep up with my efforts, just sign up for a dedicated e-mail list. I'll keep you up to date on what's happening with The Project. And please, get in touch with me if you want to be an active supporter. Again, please pass this e-mail around to folks who you believe would be interested in these ideas and interested in backing The Project to Restore America. Click on the link to have your e-mail address automatically added to the list.
(Just to be clear, I will not sell or rent your name to anyone else. And I will only use this list to promote The Project to Restore America.)
Please join the movement to really turn us in a new direction of economic prosperity. Read the essay below for more detail on how to restore America...
From the S&A Digest:
Here I go again… By now, almost everyone reading the Digest knows we set aside Friday's for me (Porter) to write personally. And though I've rejected the idea that people can teach anything (there is no teaching, only learning) – I can't seem to help myself. If you're tired of suffering through these lessons, you'll be happy to know my impulse to empower our subscribers by showing them a few of the more unpleasant truths about finance has cost me a lot of money.
As I knew they would, my essays about the importance of cash and the one last week about asset allocation (when you buy what) resulted in a torrent of refund demands – about $1 million worth in the last two weeks. So if you got something out of those essays, do me a favor: Buy something. Anything. Preferably something expensive.
It is a quirk of human nature that most people don't want to learn anything new and react negatively to anyone who challenges their deeply held views (even when they're obviously wrong). You'll know I'm truly a glutton for punishment when you realize the subject of this week's Friday Digest: Our country's severe financial crisis.
Writing about this topic has led to far greater problems than cancellations. I've gotten threatening letters and angry e-mails from folks who seem to believe that pointing out these dangers is tantamount to causing them.
More than two years ago (December 2008), I first warned in my newsletter that America would eventually lose its world reserve currency status and our debt crisis would lead to a massive inflation. I call this complex series of issues the "End of America." Not because I believe it will lead to the end of our political union (though it might), but because I believe we're heading into a crisis that will be far worse than anyone has yet realized. The crisis will result in a significant decline in our standard of living. These are deadly serious issues and I meant every word I wrote.
Even so, two years ago, lots of folks actually laughed at me – including a few in my own office. Not anymore. If you saw the Wall Street Journal headline yesterday (the "Why the Dollar's Reign is Near an End") or if you saw Sam Zell (the most successful real estate investor of all time) yesterday on CNBC, you know many of the smartest folks in our country take my warning seriously. Said Zell:
My single biggest financial concern is the loss of the dollar as the reserve currency. I can't imagine anything more disastrous to our country… you're already seeing things in the markets that are suggesting that confidence in the dollar is waning… I think you could see a 25% reduction in the standard of living in this country if the U.S. dollar was no longer the world's reserve currency. That's how valuable it is.
So today, I want to update some key figures of my End of America report. I want you to know where we stand. This is important enough to risk the inevitable criticisms (and refunds). But I want to take one criticism out of play right now. Don't bother writing to complain about my "politics."
This has absolutely nothing to do with politics. This matter is purely about economics. The facts, as you'll see, are completely clear to anyone who bothers to learn them. We are spending way beyond our means – both publicly and privately. Worse, this spending has warped the incentives in our economy, resulting in not only debts we can't afford, but outcomes we don't seek. At the heart of this crisis, there's a knowledge problem. Most Americans don't understand even the most basic facts about our country's financial position, nor do they take the time to consider the likely outcome of poorly structured government programs.
So please, don't write to me about politics. I don't care about the Democrats, Republicans, or even the Tea Partiers. I don't care whose "fault" it is, because these debts belong to all of us. I care about the people who live in America… people who are going to be wiped out because of feckless leadership and genuine ignorance. I can't do anything about our leadership – that's up to you. I can try to do something about the ignorance.
In our search for facts and solid financial thinking, let's start with Warren Buffett, who is neither feckless nor stupid. Buffett is the world's best investor. He got that way primarily by figuring out how to correctly value equities and allocate assets… and because he learned one of the most valuable financial secrets in modern finance: why insurance companies are so valuable. (Hint: It's the float. But that's a discussion for another day.)
Buffett has become a sort of "rich uncle" to America, giving helpful advice about financial matters. And he recently said something that struck me as profound – something I'd wager almost everyone else ignored. Buffett explained why the buyers of his mobile homes (Clayton Homes) default at rates (1.86%) much lower than the national average for homebuilders (more than 25%). That's true, even though the buyers of his mobile homes typically have low incomes, less job stability, and lower credit scores than the buyers of conventional housing. If you read nothing else in today's Digest, please pay attention to what Buffett says here:
Our borrowers get in trouble when they lose their jobs, have health problems, get divorced, etc. The recession has hit them hard. But they want to stay in their homes, and generally they borrowed sensible amounts in relation to their income.
In addition, we were keeping the originated mortgages for our own account, which means we were not securitizing or otherwise reselling them. If we were stupid in our lending, we were going to pay the price. That concentrates the mind. If homebuyers throughout the country had behaved like our buyers, America would not have had the crisis that it did. Our approach was simply to get a meaningful down payment and gear fixed monthly payments to a sensible percentage of income. This policy kept Clayton solvent and also kept buyers in their homes…
… A house can be a nightmare if the buyer's eyes are bigger than his wallet and if a lender – often protected by a government guarantee – facilitates his fantasy. Our country's social goal should not be to put families into the house of their dreams, but rather to put them into a house they can afford.
Pretty simple, eh? Don't sell houses to folks who can't afford them. And make sure both the lender (who kept the note) and the borrower (who made a down payment – equity) have plenty of "skin in the game."
You don't want to create any incentive for the deal to go bad. You want both parties to have a powerful incentive to do what they've promised. After ignorance, almost all our country's core problems come back to these same issues: a lack of equity and poorly designed incentives. Remember these concepts. You'll see them again: skin in the game (equity) and properly designed incentives.
Let me take on the toughest problem first: Medicare/Medicaid. Since the government established this program in 1965, it has amassed a $5.6 trillion deficit. This program alone accounts for 40% of our government's total debt. If you could erase these debts, our most recent two foreign wars (Iraq/Afghanistan), and the losses associated with the recent financial crisis, you could eliminate more than half our entire federal debt – a debt threatening to destroy our way of life.
Whether you'd choose to eliminate these debts by eliminating these programs is a political question. I'm not going to discuss politics here. The point I'm trying to make is, regardless of what you'd choose, we have to make a choice. We can't afford to do all of these things.
Like the subprime buyers in the housing bubble, we've bought a government we cannot afford. That's a simple fact. It should be obvious to any thinking person that when government spending makes up 45% of GDP (as it does today) and there's one government employee for every six households, something has gone terribly wrong with America.
When my parents were born, America was still the land of the free. The incentives people faced were different. Before World War II, the federal government made up only 3% of GDP. It didn't provide health care. People had to maintain their health, as best they could. People didn't depend on Ponzi finance (Social Security) for their old age – they had to save. They had to take care of their families and help take care of the unfortunate in their communities.
We didn't spend a lot on the military, either… which gave us an incentive to mind our own business. In fact, back then, our presidents promised to keep us out of foreign wars. Both Wilson and Roosevelt came to power promising to keep us out of the war in Europe. They lied. Almost every other president since has sent our boys to die for others wherever they could. War is good for business… and good for the government.
Lots of people reading this e-mail will say, "I don't want to live in a country like that, where the government doesn't provide a social safety net." Other readers might say, "I don't want America to be 'isolationist.' We need more troops overseas to fight terrorism." OK… So maybe 3% of GDP is not enough for the government we will choose. But 45% of GDP is much too large – again that's not a political choice; we simply cannot afford it.
So how then will we decide? My suggestion: Pay more attention to incentives. And demand much more equity from the voters.
Here are some interesting facts:
In 1965 – when Congress created Medicare/Medicaid and greatly expanded the federal government's role in health care – about 13% of Americans were obese. Today, 32% of Americans are obese.
Before the government enacted Social Security, Americans typically saved between 15% and 20% of their incomes. Today? Almost nothing. In fact, for many years, the savings rate in America was actually negative.
Before the Great Depression, there wasn't any government unemployment insurance. Not surprisingly, there was almost zero long-term unemployment.
One more interesting fact… the U.S. didn't experience a Great Depression until the Federal Reserve was created. The main purpose of the Federal Reserve is to ensure that banks don't fail. Sounds good. But it provides a perverse incentive for banks to act recklessly, which causes bigger booms and busts – just like the one we're experiencing right now.
I'm not arguing government spending is the primary cause of any of these problems. But I am saying you'd have to be a fool to believe incentives don't play a big role in human action. Think about why all politicians try to spend more than they collect in taxes. They have a huge incentive to promise more than they can deliver – and to make up the difference by borrowing against future taxes or printing more money.
The problems created by the perverse incentives of collectivist actions are well known. They are as old as the ideas themselves. They explain why socialism and communism always lead to failure. And yet… we seem eager to pursue these policies in an almost mindless pursuit of bankruptcy. Why? That's not hard to figure out either.
What's the No. 1 reason people make bad decisions? They don't have to suffer the consequences. Which investors made worse decisions during the mortgage bubble? Was it the private hedge-fund managers, whose entire net worth was made up of the assets in their own funds and whose friends and families had invested alongside them? Or was it the senior managers of publicly owned banks, whose creditors were protected by the federal government and who owned little of their own company's equity?
That's easy to answer, even if you knew nothing about the financial crisis. Unless people have a stake in the outcome of an event, they are very likely to choose poorly or recklessly.
The most difficult problem we face today is, far too few Americans have any equity in our government. Less than half of all Americans pay any federal taxes. Don't listen to the nonsense about how almost everyone pays payroll taxes. It's true, but it's irrelevant. Payroll taxes don't come close to covering the costs of the entitlement programs they support.
Cutting government spending will be easy compared to trying to increase the average citizen's equity in government. But we must. People will always demand more from the government until they realize how expensive government solutions really are. And the only way to show them is to share the burdens of government more equally.
Now, I know what you're thinking… I'm making a political argument to reduce the progressive nature of our tax system. I'm not. I'm pointing out a simple fact: When half the voters don't pay for any of the true costs of the government, your society is going to suffer terrible governance.
A democracy that concentrates the overwhelming burden of government on a tiny minority of the population is no different than an investment bank making bad loans and then selling them to someone else. You can't separate the people making the decisions from the costs and the risks of those decisions. And yet, that's what we've done.
We've reached a point where we can longer continue on our current path. America spends 800% more than its nearest rival on its military. We spend 200%-300% more per capita on health care than any other similarly wealthy country. Are we safer? Are we healthier? I honestly don't think so.
And even if you believe we are, can we afford it? Here are the simple numbers. Americans now owe $56 trillion in total debt, much of it held by foreign investors. We must spend $3.5 trillion each year on interest. That is already more than the federal government spends, in total. I do not exaggerate when I tell you we cannot afford these debts. We will never be able to repay these debts – already equal to roughly four times our country's GDP. The largest components of the debts we owe are government debts… and they are growing rapidly and show no signs of stopping.
The only way to stop the debt crisis we face is to reduce the total level of government spending – immediately and permanently. We have to stop giving our citizens improper incentives. We have to increase the "skin" voters have in the game by spreading the burden of government more equally. And most important, we must take away the politicians' ability to debase our currency.
You see… politicians believe, as Dick Cheney famously said, deficits don't matter. They believe these debts can be safely printed away – which is what the Federal Reserve is doing right now.
How can we accomplish these goals? I believe we need three simple amendments to our Constitution. First, we should have a balanced budget amendment. It's hard to imagine why anyone would object to this, regardless of his politics. Politicians ought not have the right to burden future Americans with debt. It's disgusting that we would leave a burden like this for our children and grandchildren.
Next, we need a constitutional amendment that ensures sound money. If you tell the politicians they're not allowed to borrow, they'll inflate instead. There is no reason Americans shouldn't enjoy the stability and safety of sound money.
Every argument you'll hear against backing our currency with gold comes from bankers and swindlers who need the ability to be bailed out so they can make risky bets with enormous amounts of borrowed money. Let's put a stop to this, once and for all.
The American government is the world's largest holder of gold. Let's put it to work for us, right away, in the form of sound money.
Finally… we need a logical way to put a stop to the narrowing of the tax base. Everyone who votes should share in the burdens of government – otherwise the incentive will always exist to vote for more government spending.
I suggest a constitutional amendment limiting tax rates and abolishing all taxes except for income tax. Tax every adult over the age of 65 20% of his income – whatever the source. Give everyone a $24,000 annual personal exemption. Above that, everyone pays. No other deductions. We could get rid of the IRS. You could do your taxes on a post card. How much did you make? Send the government 20% of it.
Why do I think 20% is the right rate? The church has always asked for 10%. Surely the government can survive on twice what God needs. And… we should word the constitutional amendment to make clear our intentions: Every U.S. citizen has the right to keep 80% of his income. Let the feds and the states fight over your tax dollars. Remember, your assets and income are part and parcel of your freedom. A man cannot have his liberty without his property and the right to his wages.
By the way, the U.S. Constitution already decrees all citizens should be equal under the law. Making the tax code truly equal will merely be living up to the obligations our Constitution is already placing on the government. Likewise, the Constitution says Congress shall have the right to coin money. It says nothing about printing or the Federal Reserve.
And finally… the founding fathers of our country once rebelled over a 2% tax on sugar, and they expressly forbid income taxes in their Constitution. Can you imagine what they would think of marginal income tax rates in excess of 50% on people in certain states? These new amendments I'm suggesting aren't really new at all: They're simply a return, a restoration, of the real America – the greatest country in history.
If you like these ideas… please share this Digest. I'm sure it would be difficult to get these amendments passed. But if things in America get as bad as I think they're going to, maybe people would be willing to rethink our government's structure.
Sooner or later we have to learn to live within our means. Sooner or later, a preference for sound money will appear because inflation will have destroyed our currency. And sooner or later, the idea that you can live at the expense of your neighbor (through progressive taxation) will lead to a collapse. My preference would be to learn these lessons sooner, so the pain of this transition can be minimized.
I'm interested in organizing a conference about these ideas… maybe call it The Project to Restore America. I'd host it personally (and invest heavily in this effort). I don't know where yet… but I know when – sometime later this year. My goal will be to get as many well-known people as I can to endorse these ideas and speak about them in public at the conference. I'll try to lure my friends in the media (I have a few) to join with us… plus business leaders… plus regular folks across America.
If we want the government to listen to us… we have to start talking with one, unified and loud voice. I've got a pretty loud microphone here with my publishing company, but I can't do it alone. I need your help. Please pass this Digest around to folks who you think will be willing to read it. And if you want to get involved, please get in touch and tell me how you can help.
If you're interested in these ideas and want to keep up with my efforts, just sign up for a dedicated e-mail list. I'll keep you up to date on what's happening with The Project. And please, get in touch with me if you want to be an active supporter. Again, please pass this e-mail around to folks who you believe would be interested in these ideas and interested in backing The Project to Restore America. Click on the link to have your e-mail address automatically added to the list.
(Just to be clear, I will not sell or rent your name to anyone else. And I will only use this list to promote The Project to Restore America.)
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Union Waste: Retiring Wisc. Teachers Given a Year’s Salary for 30 Day’s Work | Right Wing News
If there was any doubt that big labor has been sucking the life out of our economy for years, read this......remember public employees pay no taxes, they only give back a portion of your tax dollars distributed to them in the first place!
Union Waste: Retiring Wisc. Teachers Given a Year’s Salary for 30 Day’s Work Right Wing News
Union Waste: Retiring Wisc. Teachers Given a Year’s Salary for 30 Day’s Work Right Wing News
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Biggest Myths About Republicans
Nothing new, just another affirmation that nothing has changed.....
The Biggest Myths About Republicans
The Biggest Myths About Republicans
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Detroit - What is and What Should Never Be........
I grew up in Detroit and lived and worked there until 2004. The City today stands as a pure indictment of Central Planning in general and the Euro-Socialist Welfare State in particular. Run by no one but liberal Democrats for over 50 years, the city is and will forever be a grim reminder of what happens when liberty and freedom is traded for the "security" of a government check.....
Frosty Wooldridge (born 1947) is a US journalist, writer, environmentalist, and traveler.
By Frosty Wooldridge
For 15 years, from the mid 1970's to 1990, I worked in Detroit, Michigan. I watched it descend into the abyss of crime, debauchery, gunplay, drugs, school truancy, car jacking, gangs, and human depravity. I watched entire city blocks burned out. I watched graffiti explode on buildings, cars, trucks, buses, and schoolyards. Trash everywhere!
Detroiters walked through it, tossed more into it, and ignored it. Tens of thousands, and then hundreds of thousands today exist on federal welfare, free housing, and food stamps!
With Aid to Dependent Children, minority women birthed eight to 10, and in one case, one woman birthed 24 children as reported by the Detroit Free Press, all on American taxpayer dollars.
A new child meant… a new car payment, a new TV, or whatever mom wanted. I saw Lyndon Baines Johnson's 'Great Society' flourish in Detroit. If you give money for doing nothing, you will get more hands out taking money for doing nothing.
Mayor Coleman Young, perhaps the most corrupt mayor in America, outside of Richard Daley in Chicago, rode Detroit down to its knees... He set the benchmark for cronyism, incompetence, and arrogance. As a black man, he said, "I am the MFIC." The IC meant "in charge".
You can figure out the rest. Detroit became a majority black city with 67 percent African-Americans.
As a United Van Lines truck driver for my summer job from teaching math and science, I loaded hundreds of American families into my van for a new life in another city or state.
Detroit plummeted from 1.8 million citizens to less than 912,000 in 2009 (probably closer to 600,000 in 2010). At the same time, legal and illegal immigrants converged on the city, so much so, that Muslims number over 300,000. Mexicans number 400,000 throughout Michigan, but most work in Detroit. As the whites moved out, the Muslims moved in. As the crimes became more violent, the whites fled. Finally, unlawful Mexicans moved in at a torrid pace. Detroit suffers so much shoplifting that grocery stores no longer operate in many inner city locations. You could cut the racial tension in the air with a knife!
Detroit may be one of our best examples of multiculturalism: pure dislike, and total separation from America.
Today, you hear Muslim calls to worship over the city like a new American Baghdad with hundreds of Islamic mosques in Michigan, paid for by Saudi Arabia oil money. High school flunk out rates reached 76 percent last June, according to NBC's Brian Williams. Classrooms resemble more foreign countries than America. English? Few speak it! The city features a 50 percent illiteracy rate and growing.
Unemployment hit 28.9 percent in 2009 as the auto industry vacated the city. In Time Magazine's October 4, 2009, "The Tragedy of Detroit: How a great city fell, and how it can rise again," I choked on the writer's description of what happened. "If Detroit had been ravaged by a hurricane, and submerged by a ravenous flood, we'd know a lot more about it," said Daniel Okrent. "If drought, and carelessness had spread brush fires across the city, we'd see it on the evening news every night."
Earthquake, tornadoes, you name it, if natural disaster had devastated the city that was once the living proof of American prosperity, the rest of the country might take notice. But Detroit, once our fourth largest city, now 11th, and slipping rapidly, has had no such luck. Its disaster has long been a slow unwinding that seemed to remove it from the rest of the country. Even the death rattle that in the past year emanated from its signature industry brought more attention to the auto executives than to the people of the city, who had for so long been victimized by their dreadful decision making."
As Coleman Young's corruption brought the city to its knees, no amount of federal dollars could save the incredible payoffs, kickbacks, and illegality permeating his administration. I witnessed the city's death from the seat of my 18-wheeler tractor-trailer because I moved people out of every sector of decaying Detroit.
"By any quantifiable standard, the city is on life support. Detroit’s treasury is $300 million short of the funds needed to provide the barest municipal services," Okrent said. "The school system, which six years ago was compelled by the teachers' union to reject a philanthropist's offer of $200 million to build 15 small, independent charter high schools is in receivership. The murder rate is soaring, and 7 out of 10 remain unsolved. Three years after Katrina devastated New Orleans, unemployment in that city hit a peak of 11%. In Detroit, the unemployment rate is 28.9%.
That's worth spelling out: twenty-eight point nine percent." At the end of Okrent's report, and he will write a dozen more about Detroit, he said, "That's because the story of Detroit is not simply one of a great city's collapse, it's also about the erosion of the industries that helped build the country we know today. The ultimate fate of Detroit will reveal much about the character of America in the 21st century. If what was once the most prosperous manufacturing city in the nation has been brought to its knees, what does that say about our recent past? And if it can't find a way to get up, what does that say about our future?"
Sad isn't it?
Frosty Wooldridge (born 1947) is a US journalist, writer, environmentalist, and traveler.
By Frosty Wooldridge
For 15 years, from the mid 1970's to 1990, I worked in Detroit, Michigan. I watched it descend into the abyss of crime, debauchery, gunplay, drugs, school truancy, car jacking, gangs, and human depravity. I watched entire city blocks burned out. I watched graffiti explode on buildings, cars, trucks, buses, and schoolyards. Trash everywhere!
Detroiters walked through it, tossed more into it, and ignored it. Tens of thousands, and then hundreds of thousands today exist on federal welfare, free housing, and food stamps!
With Aid to Dependent Children, minority women birthed eight to 10, and in one case, one woman birthed 24 children as reported by the Detroit Free Press, all on American taxpayer dollars.
A new child meant… a new car payment, a new TV, or whatever mom wanted. I saw Lyndon Baines Johnson's 'Great Society' flourish in Detroit. If you give money for doing nothing, you will get more hands out taking money for doing nothing.
Mayor Coleman Young, perhaps the most corrupt mayor in America, outside of Richard Daley in Chicago, rode Detroit down to its knees... He set the benchmark for cronyism, incompetence, and arrogance. As a black man, he said, "I am the MFIC." The IC meant "in charge".
You can figure out the rest. Detroit became a majority black city with 67 percent African-Americans.
As a United Van Lines truck driver for my summer job from teaching math and science, I loaded hundreds of American families into my van for a new life in another city or state.
Detroit plummeted from 1.8 million citizens to less than 912,000 in 2009 (probably closer to 600,000 in 2010). At the same time, legal and illegal immigrants converged on the city, so much so, that Muslims number over 300,000. Mexicans number 400,000 throughout Michigan, but most work in Detroit. As the whites moved out, the Muslims moved in. As the crimes became more violent, the whites fled. Finally, unlawful Mexicans moved in at a torrid pace. Detroit suffers so much shoplifting that grocery stores no longer operate in many inner city locations. You could cut the racial tension in the air with a knife!
Detroit may be one of our best examples of multiculturalism: pure dislike, and total separation from America.
Today, you hear Muslim calls to worship over the city like a new American Baghdad with hundreds of Islamic mosques in Michigan, paid for by Saudi Arabia oil money. High school flunk out rates reached 76 percent last June, according to NBC's Brian Williams. Classrooms resemble more foreign countries than America. English? Few speak it! The city features a 50 percent illiteracy rate and growing.
Unemployment hit 28.9 percent in 2009 as the auto industry vacated the city. In Time Magazine's October 4, 2009, "The Tragedy of Detroit: How a great city fell, and how it can rise again," I choked on the writer's description of what happened. "If Detroit had been ravaged by a hurricane, and submerged by a ravenous flood, we'd know a lot more about it," said Daniel Okrent. "If drought, and carelessness had spread brush fires across the city, we'd see it on the evening news every night."
Earthquake, tornadoes, you name it, if natural disaster had devastated the city that was once the living proof of American prosperity, the rest of the country might take notice. But Detroit, once our fourth largest city, now 11th, and slipping rapidly, has had no such luck. Its disaster has long been a slow unwinding that seemed to remove it from the rest of the country. Even the death rattle that in the past year emanated from its signature industry brought more attention to the auto executives than to the people of the city, who had for so long been victimized by their dreadful decision making."
As Coleman Young's corruption brought the city to its knees, no amount of federal dollars could save the incredible payoffs, kickbacks, and illegality permeating his administration. I witnessed the city's death from the seat of my 18-wheeler tractor-trailer because I moved people out of every sector of decaying Detroit.
"By any quantifiable standard, the city is on life support. Detroit’s treasury is $300 million short of the funds needed to provide the barest municipal services," Okrent said. "The school system, which six years ago was compelled by the teachers' union to reject a philanthropist's offer of $200 million to build 15 small, independent charter high schools is in receivership. The murder rate is soaring, and 7 out of 10 remain unsolved. Three years after Katrina devastated New Orleans, unemployment in that city hit a peak of 11%. In Detroit, the unemployment rate is 28.9%.
That's worth spelling out: twenty-eight point nine percent." At the end of Okrent's report, and he will write a dozen more about Detroit, he said, "That's because the story of Detroit is not simply one of a great city's collapse, it's also about the erosion of the industries that helped build the country we know today. The ultimate fate of Detroit will reveal much about the character of America in the 21st century. If what was once the most prosperous manufacturing city in the nation has been brought to its knees, what does that say about our recent past? And if it can't find a way to get up, what does that say about our future?"
Sad isn't it?
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: 40% of Madison Teachers call in Sick, Schools Shut; Video of Massive Protest in Wisconsin Capitol Building; If Jackasses Could Think
My own thoughts on this issue are in line with the following from Mish......
Imagine that the government forced you to buy my products from me at the price that I dictate. Then suppose then that my product was so bad that you had to purchase the same type of product from someone else in addition to the one you buy from me to ensure that your family is getting the quality of that product that you seek.
Well, that's the Wisconsin education system. Through the tax code, we are forced to pay for the public education system which is so bad, that my neighbor who's wife is a teachers advises us to spend an additional $10K per year so that our child can get a great education.....
Does that make sense to anyone?
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: 40% of Madison Teachers call in Sick, Schools Shut; Video of Massive Protest in Wisconsin Capitol Building; If Jackasses Could Think
Imagine that the government forced you to buy my products from me at the price that I dictate. Then suppose then that my product was so bad that you had to purchase the same type of product from someone else in addition to the one you buy from me to ensure that your family is getting the quality of that product that you seek.
Well, that's the Wisconsin education system. Through the tax code, we are forced to pay for the public education system which is so bad, that my neighbor who's wife is a teachers advises us to spend an additional $10K per year so that our child can get a great education.....
Does that make sense to anyone?
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: 40% of Madison Teachers call in Sick, Schools Shut; Video of Massive Protest in Wisconsin Capitol Building; If Jackasses Could Think
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The End of America is Not a Joke
I have been a True Wealth subscriber for over 10 years. Their investment research is very sound and their principles are founded in austrian economic teachings. They predicted the fall of GM, Fannie and Freddie well before the MSM picked it up.
While we don't know what the true impact will be on our lives, the scenes we are seeing in Madison Wi. this week is further evidence of the impending collapse of America as we knew her. Ignore this video at your own risk.
While we don't know what the true impact will be on our lives, the scenes we are seeing in Madison Wi. this week is further evidence of the impending collapse of America as we knew her. Ignore this video at your own risk.
US Government not Enforcing Immigration Laws
Just like the past two years, it is time to give the Obama Administration a taste of their own medicine. The congress should be hauling each and every one of his cabinet in front of the country and hold them accountable for every unconstitutional act whether it be ommission or commision. By keeping the White House on defense and hitting them with something new every day, we will be able to keep the lies and distortions from taking hold. It is time to send a message to this current and all future Presidents that they are in charge of the government, not the Republic.....
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Dear Mr. Reid
A great piece by Addison Wiggin:
The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Mr. Leader,
I'm writing in response to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's appeal to you to raise the debt ceiling.
I understand that you didn't ask for my opinion. And with no political positions on my curriculum vitae, you may not even recognize my name. But I have co-authored two books warning about the United States' fiscal situation, starting with Financial Reckoning Day in 2003 and followed by Empire of Debt in 2005. I mailed copies of the latter to you and the other members of Congress free of charge. While it may not be sitting on your nightstand, I trust that you’re at least aware of the book.
After we published the book, I wrote and produced a documentary, I.O.U.S.A., which was screened in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, nominated for a Critics Choice award and shortlisted for an Academy Award. The film attempts to present the fiscal crisis facing the United States in a way that the average American could understand. The film took two years to produce and premiered on Aug. 22, 2008 — almost a month before Lehman Bros. declared bankruptcy, kicking off the Panic of '08.
So after a decade of attempting to bring the root causes of our economic woes to light, I humbly suggest that the shortsighted tone of Mr. Geithner's appeal is itself part of the problem. It is, in fact, no different than Secretary of Treasury Hank Paulson’s frantic three-page proposal that kicked off the bailouts in September 2008.
Sir, in short, by raising the debt ceiling, we're delaying the day of reckoning yet again. Instead of paying for our excessive spending today, we'll pass that burden on to our children and grandchildren. I have three young children. And I, like many Americans, already find it a challenge to educate them and provide for their health care. Now I must also worry about what their future is going to look like... what opportunities will they find when it's their turn to join the work force or start businesses?
Mr. Geithner shares his fears of a default in his letter to you. But his request simply means my children — everyone’s children — will have to deal with that default on their own.
Do we really want our children burdened by higher taxes, excessive government regulation, higher mortgage rates, reduced incentives to start their own businesses and, as things are going, the end of the freedoms that you, Mr. Geithner, the rest of the American public and I cherish?
Freedom is the very promise that America bestows on history. But now, through our own malfeasance, we are in a position of telling the world, "We cannot afford to offer you the opportunity to enjoy that freedom anymore."
How did it come to this? And why perpetuate the very malfeasance that threatens our future prosperity?
For most of America, understanding the fiscal condition of the nation is no easy task. For that, they place their trust in you. No doubt, it’s easier to do exactly what our Treasury secretary is asking you to do — ignore the problem and continue to kick the can down the road. But I’m asking you, on behalf of future generations, to think deeper about the problem and begin addressing it today.
To help you with your decision, here are some images you can use to illustrate the magnitude of the national burden.
As Mr. Geithner stated in his letter to you, “In February of 2010, Congress passed legislation to increase the debt limit to $14.29 trillion.” To grasp that staggering figure, imagine stacking $100 bills on top of one another. To reach $14.29 trillion, your stack would soar 9,721 miles into the sky!
Said a different way, that’s like 1,767 mountains of $100 bills the size of Mount Everest piled on top of each other.
Of course, the current debt wouldn’t be a problem if tax revenue were exceeding our spending and therefore reducing the debt. But we both know that is not happening. Even if we taxed all Americans 100% of their income for an entire year, we still wouldn’t be able to pay off our $14.29 trillion hole
What's more, the interest we’re paying on the current debt is forcing us deeper and deeper into the hole. According to the TreasuryDirect.gov website, the interest payment on our debt was a massive $1.13 billion per day — for a total of $413 billion — in 2010.
The interest payment alone amounts to record-breaking deficits hit during the Bush administration just a few short years ago. If you agree to raise the ceiling, you effectively agree to drive up the interest payments until they exceed tax revenue — creating a situation in which we’ll be forced to default, eventually. And the longer it takes to happen, the worse it will be for our children.
The Treasury secretary outlines how catastrophic a default would be for the financial system and the integrity of the United States:
Default would effectively impose a significant and long-lasting tax on all Americans and all American businesses and could lead to the loss of millions of American jobs.
When, I ask you, do we begin addressing the root problem? When do we admit that we're spending beyond our means and begin to address the problem in earnest? "We can live beyond our means for a very long time," to paraphrase a leading financier from I.O.U.S.A., "and we can do it on a very large scale — but we cannot do it forever."
The United States is like a private company suffering from a pension burden it did not plan for and that is losing market share because its products are no longer competitive. And it is as if the management has decided to take an extended vacation, rather than hold a meeting to find a way out of the hole.
In Congress, you don't address the real problems. You talk around them, play politics with them and then make frantic appeals at the 11th hour to borrow more money to paper over the problems again for yet another year.
At this pace, how do you honestly believe the government will ever balance its books again? In the era of uncertainty created by mayhem in Washington and ever-increasing global competition, how do you expect the economy to get back on track?
Let's put the numbers aside for a second. I'd like to ask you a simple question:
Imagine for a moment that you’ve chosen to smoke cigarettes all your life. You’ve ignored the warnings about them that appear all around you. Then, eventually, and unfortunately, you get diagnosed with lung cancer.
Luckily, you’ve caught the disease in its very early stages. The doctor presents you with two choices.
First, you can enter chemotherapy. The road to recovery, the doctor tells you, will be harsh. You’ll suffer extreme nausea. You’ll hardly be able to swallow from the ulcers you develop in your mouth. In short, you’ll go through hell in an attempt to beat the disease. But because you caught the disease after the first symptoms appeared, you have a high chance at a full recovery.
The doctor also offers a second alternative. He’s worked out a deal that allows you to rid yourself of the disease instantly. No pain. No suffering. No hell. All you have to do is agree to give the disease to your 2-year-old grandson.
Would you make that deal, Mr. Leader?
I trust you'll make the right decision about our nation’s fiscal health. At the very least, there needs to be an honest debate over raising the debt ceiling. If you provide the rubber stamp Mr. Geithner is asking for, you will be as guilty as he of passing the buck. Each time the buck gets passed, the stakes get higher. The default Mr. Geithner fears only looms more ominous in our future.
The newly elected speaker of the House, John Boehner, has gone on record saying he'll agree to increase the debt limit because we have to be "adults" about addressing the fiscal crisis the nation faces.
What, may I ask, is "adult" about failing to address this issue altogether?
Sincerely,
Addison Wiggin
Executive publisher, Agora Financial
Co-author, Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt
Executive producer, writer, I.O.U.S.A.
The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Mr. Leader,
I'm writing in response to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's appeal to you to raise the debt ceiling.
I understand that you didn't ask for my opinion. And with no political positions on my curriculum vitae, you may not even recognize my name. But I have co-authored two books warning about the United States' fiscal situation, starting with Financial Reckoning Day in 2003 and followed by Empire of Debt in 2005. I mailed copies of the latter to you and the other members of Congress free of charge. While it may not be sitting on your nightstand, I trust that you’re at least aware of the book.
After we published the book, I wrote and produced a documentary, I.O.U.S.A., which was screened in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, nominated for a Critics Choice award and shortlisted for an Academy Award. The film attempts to present the fiscal crisis facing the United States in a way that the average American could understand. The film took two years to produce and premiered on Aug. 22, 2008 — almost a month before Lehman Bros. declared bankruptcy, kicking off the Panic of '08.
So after a decade of attempting to bring the root causes of our economic woes to light, I humbly suggest that the shortsighted tone of Mr. Geithner's appeal is itself part of the problem. It is, in fact, no different than Secretary of Treasury Hank Paulson’s frantic three-page proposal that kicked off the bailouts in September 2008.
Sir, in short, by raising the debt ceiling, we're delaying the day of reckoning yet again. Instead of paying for our excessive spending today, we'll pass that burden on to our children and grandchildren. I have three young children. And I, like many Americans, already find it a challenge to educate them and provide for their health care. Now I must also worry about what their future is going to look like... what opportunities will they find when it's their turn to join the work force or start businesses?
Mr. Geithner shares his fears of a default in his letter to you. But his request simply means my children — everyone’s children — will have to deal with that default on their own.
Do we really want our children burdened by higher taxes, excessive government regulation, higher mortgage rates, reduced incentives to start their own businesses and, as things are going, the end of the freedoms that you, Mr. Geithner, the rest of the American public and I cherish?
Freedom is the very promise that America bestows on history. But now, through our own malfeasance, we are in a position of telling the world, "We cannot afford to offer you the opportunity to enjoy that freedom anymore."
How did it come to this? And why perpetuate the very malfeasance that threatens our future prosperity?
For most of America, understanding the fiscal condition of the nation is no easy task. For that, they place their trust in you. No doubt, it’s easier to do exactly what our Treasury secretary is asking you to do — ignore the problem and continue to kick the can down the road. But I’m asking you, on behalf of future generations, to think deeper about the problem and begin addressing it today.
To help you with your decision, here are some images you can use to illustrate the magnitude of the national burden.
As Mr. Geithner stated in his letter to you, “In February of 2010, Congress passed legislation to increase the debt limit to $14.29 trillion.” To grasp that staggering figure, imagine stacking $100 bills on top of one another. To reach $14.29 trillion, your stack would soar 9,721 miles into the sky!
Said a different way, that’s like 1,767 mountains of $100 bills the size of Mount Everest piled on top of each other.
Of course, the current debt wouldn’t be a problem if tax revenue were exceeding our spending and therefore reducing the debt. But we both know that is not happening. Even if we taxed all Americans 100% of their income for an entire year, we still wouldn’t be able to pay off our $14.29 trillion hole
What's more, the interest we’re paying on the current debt is forcing us deeper and deeper into the hole. According to the TreasuryDirect.gov website, the interest payment on our debt was a massive $1.13 billion per day — for a total of $413 billion — in 2010.
The interest payment alone amounts to record-breaking deficits hit during the Bush administration just a few short years ago. If you agree to raise the ceiling, you effectively agree to drive up the interest payments until they exceed tax revenue — creating a situation in which we’ll be forced to default, eventually. And the longer it takes to happen, the worse it will be for our children.
The Treasury secretary outlines how catastrophic a default would be for the financial system and the integrity of the United States:
Default would effectively impose a significant and long-lasting tax on all Americans and all American businesses and could lead to the loss of millions of American jobs.
When, I ask you, do we begin addressing the root problem? When do we admit that we're spending beyond our means and begin to address the problem in earnest? "We can live beyond our means for a very long time," to paraphrase a leading financier from I.O.U.S.A., "and we can do it on a very large scale — but we cannot do it forever."
The United States is like a private company suffering from a pension burden it did not plan for and that is losing market share because its products are no longer competitive. And it is as if the management has decided to take an extended vacation, rather than hold a meeting to find a way out of the hole.
In Congress, you don't address the real problems. You talk around them, play politics with them and then make frantic appeals at the 11th hour to borrow more money to paper over the problems again for yet another year.
At this pace, how do you honestly believe the government will ever balance its books again? In the era of uncertainty created by mayhem in Washington and ever-increasing global competition, how do you expect the economy to get back on track?
Let's put the numbers aside for a second. I'd like to ask you a simple question:
Imagine for a moment that you’ve chosen to smoke cigarettes all your life. You’ve ignored the warnings about them that appear all around you. Then, eventually, and unfortunately, you get diagnosed with lung cancer.
Luckily, you’ve caught the disease in its very early stages. The doctor presents you with two choices.
First, you can enter chemotherapy. The road to recovery, the doctor tells you, will be harsh. You’ll suffer extreme nausea. You’ll hardly be able to swallow from the ulcers you develop in your mouth. In short, you’ll go through hell in an attempt to beat the disease. But because you caught the disease after the first symptoms appeared, you have a high chance at a full recovery.
The doctor also offers a second alternative. He’s worked out a deal that allows you to rid yourself of the disease instantly. No pain. No suffering. No hell. All you have to do is agree to give the disease to your 2-year-old grandson.
Would you make that deal, Mr. Leader?
I trust you'll make the right decision about our nation’s fiscal health. At the very least, there needs to be an honest debate over raising the debt ceiling. If you provide the rubber stamp Mr. Geithner is asking for, you will be as guilty as he of passing the buck. Each time the buck gets passed, the stakes get higher. The default Mr. Geithner fears only looms more ominous in our future.
The newly elected speaker of the House, John Boehner, has gone on record saying he'll agree to increase the debt limit because we have to be "adults" about addressing the fiscal crisis the nation faces.
What, may I ask, is "adult" about failing to address this issue altogether?
Sincerely,
Addison Wiggin
Executive publisher, Agora Financial
Co-author, Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt
Executive producer, writer, I.O.U.S.A.
Beware the "GM Option"
From the 5 Minute Forecast:
Recall that the bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler two years ago was no ordinary bankruptcy proceeding. Hypothetically, bondholders were first in line among the automakers’ creditors trying to recover their investments.
After all, they lent money to the automakers at a relatively low rate… so if the worst happened, they stood the best chance of getting all their money back.
Then the politicians got their mitts on the deal… and handed out favors like Halloween candy to the unions and other favored constituencies. Bondholders were left holding the bag.
Now we have news that the State of California is in a fiscal state of emergency and that can only mean trouble for holders of municipal bonds.
See, unlike cities and counties, states can’t declare bankruptcy in federal court. So unnamed “policymakers,” The New York Times reports, “are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts.
“Proponents say some states are so burdened that the only feasible way out may be bankruptcy, giving Illinois, for example, the opportunity to do what General Motors did with the federal government’s aid.”
Just imagine the feeding frenzy that would result -- pitting holders of municipal bonds against the public employee unions seeking every last dime of their pensions and health benefits.
“They are readying a massive assault on us,” says Charles Loveless, legislative director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “We’re taking this very seriously.”
You don’t want to be around to see how this turns out.
“We expect muni funds will find a bottom at some point,” says Jim. “And then, just as quickly as they stabilize, they’ll fall again on actual news of defaults. It won’t take much in the way of a real scare to truly collapse these investments.
“Regardless of their future, the point is we’re entering into panic mode on some of the best-performing and hottest assets for pension plans, 401(k)s and IRAs. Pensioners are no doubt beginning to reel again.”
Recall that the bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler two years ago was no ordinary bankruptcy proceeding. Hypothetically, bondholders were first in line among the automakers’ creditors trying to recover their investments.
After all, they lent money to the automakers at a relatively low rate… so if the worst happened, they stood the best chance of getting all their money back.
Then the politicians got their mitts on the deal… and handed out favors like Halloween candy to the unions and other favored constituencies. Bondholders were left holding the bag.
Now we have news that the State of California is in a fiscal state of emergency and that can only mean trouble for holders of municipal bonds.
See, unlike cities and counties, states can’t declare bankruptcy in federal court. So unnamed “policymakers,” The New York Times reports, “are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts.
“Proponents say some states are so burdened that the only feasible way out may be bankruptcy, giving Illinois, for example, the opportunity to do what General Motors did with the federal government’s aid.”
Just imagine the feeding frenzy that would result -- pitting holders of municipal bonds against the public employee unions seeking every last dime of their pensions and health benefits.
“They are readying a massive assault on us,” says Charles Loveless, legislative director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “We’re taking this very seriously.”
You don’t want to be around to see how this turns out.
“We expect muni funds will find a bottom at some point,” says Jim. “And then, just as quickly as they stabilize, they’ll fall again on actual news of defaults. It won’t take much in the way of a real scare to truly collapse these investments.
“Regardless of their future, the point is we’re entering into panic mode on some of the best-performing and hottest assets for pension plans, 401(k)s and IRAs. Pensioners are no doubt beginning to reel again.”
Friday, December 24, 2010
The EPA Declares War on Human Beings
The EPA has just declared war on the American citizen. They are now claiming that they have the right to regulate CO2 as a green-house gas. For those of you who attend public schools, CO2 is what comes out every time you exhale. It is naturally occurring and is not a pollutant, yet the EPA claims authority based on the threat of global warming even though they cannot cite ONE verifiable piece of data that supports the theory of Global Warming or CO2 as a contributor to it.
Since there is more proof that Christ rose from the dead than there is about Carbon-based global warming, the EPA is in fact violating the First Amendment by establishing a national religion. It is time to de-fund this insane bureaucracy.
EPA moving unilaterally to limit greenhouse gases - Yahoo! News
Since there is more proof that Christ rose from the dead than there is about Carbon-based global warming, the EPA is in fact violating the First Amendment by establishing a national religion. It is time to de-fund this insane bureaucracy.
EPA moving unilaterally to limit greenhouse gases - Yahoo! News
Thursday, December 09, 2010
The Left Calls for Censorship of News
The fact is that Americans are waking up to what's going on around them and they don't like it. That's why the great purging of our government is only just beginning....
MRC Action Home Page
MRC Action Home Page
Monday, November 22, 2010
Full Spectrum Dominance: 8 Examples Of How The Government Is Attempting To Take Total Control Of Our Food, Our Health, Our Money And Even Our Dignity
This needs to be shared with everyone, well thought out and presented....
Full Spectrum Dominance: 8 Examples Of How The Government Is Attempting To Take Total Control Of Our Food, Our Health, Our Money And Even Our Dignity
Full Spectrum Dominance: 8 Examples Of How The Government Is Attempting To Take Total Control Of Our Food, Our Health, Our Money And Even Our Dignity
Power-Mad Bureaucrats and the Men Who Encourage Them
It's amazing, in order not to offend a suspected terrorist, the American people must be punished for trying to live the good life that they've worked so hard to attain. Are we reaching a breaking point with political correctness?
Power-Mad Bureaucrats and the Men Who Encourage Them
Power-Mad Bureaucrats and the Men Who Encourage Them
Limousine Liberals
Last week, Warren Buffett wrote his typical folksy "thank you big government" letter in an attempt to play the "capitalist loves big government" role that he has come to embrace and prop up his buddy Obama. On CNBC I challenged his quote that people who work for him pay more in taxes than he does by suggesting that if Mr Buffett is so concerned about paying enough in taxes, that he should promote a tax on wealth instead of income since he only pays himself $100,000 per year in salary. Unfortunately, my comments never made the broadcast (hmmm.....wonder why?).
Porter Stansberry, who has been linked on this blog several times before has started quoting the phrase "Limousine Liberal" to identify scum bags like Buffett, Soro's, John Kerry, Herb Kohl, Jay Rockefeller and others who have no issue with taxing your income while they sit on billions of their own wealth. Here is an update from an earlier post regarding Obama'a former "car czar"...
Porter Stansberry: "You're the joke"
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Back in May, I made Reuters and Barron's headlines when I booed financier turned Obama "car czar" Steve Rattner during Ira Sohn's annual investment conference in New York.
Listening to him tell one lie after another about the bankruptcy of General Motors was bad enough. (And believe me… I know a little bit about GM's balance sheet, having been the first analyst anywhere to predict the carmaker's bankruptcy as early as 2005.) But having to listen to this scumbag lecture me about the evils of "income inequality" was more than I could bear.
This man was personally implicated in bribing New York state pension officials. He made close to $500 million via his private-equity fund (Quadrangle), while his investors underperformed municipal bonds. This guy lives in a $15 million home on Martha's Vineyard and in the same Fifth Avenue apartment building as George Soros.
This is a guy who flies his own plane… whose wife is the leading fundraiser for the Democratic Party. This is Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Michael Bloomberg's best friend. And Barry Diller's. This guy spent his entire life in the rarified world of Ivy League colleges, investment banks, and New York City's most elite social circles.
And yet… even with all these advantages, he ended up accused of bribing New York State pension officials to get them to invest with his private-equity firm. (By the way… I have to hand it to Obama on appointing Rattner as the "car czar." Obama knew about the corruption charges, and appointed Rattner to restructure General Motors anyway. After all, who better to steal from bondholders than a crook?) And now, Rattner was going to lecture us, the great unwashed, about "income inequality." It was simply unbearable…
After spending about 20 minutes congratulating himself on the bailout of GM (which cost taxpayers roughly $80 billion and bondholders roughly $27 billion), Rattner put up a chart he seemed to believe indicated rich people in America were making far too much money. I let out a loud "Boooo…."
Really, it was more of a moan of agony. I just couldn't take anymore. How could such a person ever have been allowed to reach such levels of power and influence? How could an idea as obviously repelling as government-directed income redistribution ever be discussed at an investment conference filled with thousands of capitalists?
Rattner's response to my loud "boo" was remarkable. In his most condescending, the-government-knows-best tone, he said, "I hope you're joking." As if to even question the role of government in redistributing the wealth of our society made me some kind of a mental invalid or moral outrage. I replied, in a much, much louder and more hostile tone, "YOU'RE THE JOKE."
When I write about not recognizing my fellow Americans… and feeling like I live in a country called Amerika, I'm talking about the Rattnerization of our country. This guy is the very embodiment of the term "limousine liberal." He wants to raise your taxes because his income is now all sheltered. And he thinks he knows how to use your money far better than you do. In his mind, he's doing you a big favor when he raises your taxes.
As the whole global warming thing falls apart (hard to believe it's lasted this long), guys like Rattner need a new slogan. They need a new calling – a new, better, and simpler reason to motivate voters. Their cry will be "income inequality." The free market has failed, they say, because some people are getting very, very rich.
And Rattner knows the 50% or so of the people who no longer pay federal income taxes will believe income inequality is a problem (instead of the result of a wonderful technological revolution). And they will support every possible measure to correct "the problem." This will keep people like Rattner in power for a long, long time.
Look for Al Gore's next movie to be about income inequality. You think I'm kidding. But I'm not. Rattner even has a hockey stick chart, just like Gore did, showing that income inequity is soaring… and threatening to destroy us all.
Well, our buddy Rattner is back in the headlines this week… And it's not because of General Motors' initial public offering. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed two lawsuits this week accusing Rattner of bribing folks to invest in his private-equity firm, Quadrangle.
Cuomo wants at least $26 million from Rattner and a lifetime ban from the securities industry. Separately, the SEC announced Rattner agreed to pay $6.2 million to settle similar charges. Rattner issued the following statement:
While settling with the SEC begins the process of putting this matter behind me, I will not be bullied simply because the Attorney General's office prefers political considerations instead of a reasoned assessment of the facts.
This episode is the first time during 35 years in business that anyone has questioned my ethics or integrity – and I certainly did not violate the Martin Act. That's why I intend to clear my name by defending myself vigorously against this politically motivated lawsuit.
The suit alleges Rattner secured investments for Quadrangle by arranging for a firm to distribute a movie produced by David Loglisci, the New York retirement fund's chief investment officer, and his brothers. Rattner also allegedly contributed $50,000 to the reelection campaign for former New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
So far, Hevesi pleaded guilty to a corruption charge and agreed to cooperate in Cuomo's investigation. In total, seven people – including Hevesi and Loglisci – have pleaded guilty. Rattner hasn't, though he exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions under oath 68 times.
Regards,
Porter Stansberry
Porter Stansberry, who has been linked on this blog several times before has started quoting the phrase "Limousine Liberal" to identify scum bags like Buffett, Soro's, John Kerry, Herb Kohl, Jay Rockefeller and others who have no issue with taxing your income while they sit on billions of their own wealth. Here is an update from an earlier post regarding Obama'a former "car czar"...
Porter Stansberry: "You're the joke"
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Back in May, I made Reuters and Barron's headlines when I booed financier turned Obama "car czar" Steve Rattner during Ira Sohn's annual investment conference in New York.
Listening to him tell one lie after another about the bankruptcy of General Motors was bad enough. (And believe me… I know a little bit about GM's balance sheet, having been the first analyst anywhere to predict the carmaker's bankruptcy as early as 2005.) But having to listen to this scumbag lecture me about the evils of "income inequality" was more than I could bear.
This man was personally implicated in bribing New York state pension officials. He made close to $500 million via his private-equity fund (Quadrangle), while his investors underperformed municipal bonds. This guy lives in a $15 million home on Martha's Vineyard and in the same Fifth Avenue apartment building as George Soros.
This is a guy who flies his own plane… whose wife is the leading fundraiser for the Democratic Party. This is Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Michael Bloomberg's best friend. And Barry Diller's. This guy spent his entire life in the rarified world of Ivy League colleges, investment banks, and New York City's most elite social circles.
And yet… even with all these advantages, he ended up accused of bribing New York State pension officials to get them to invest with his private-equity firm. (By the way… I have to hand it to Obama on appointing Rattner as the "car czar." Obama knew about the corruption charges, and appointed Rattner to restructure General Motors anyway. After all, who better to steal from bondholders than a crook?) And now, Rattner was going to lecture us, the great unwashed, about "income inequality." It was simply unbearable…
After spending about 20 minutes congratulating himself on the bailout of GM (which cost taxpayers roughly $80 billion and bondholders roughly $27 billion), Rattner put up a chart he seemed to believe indicated rich people in America were making far too much money. I let out a loud "Boooo…."
Really, it was more of a moan of agony. I just couldn't take anymore. How could such a person ever have been allowed to reach such levels of power and influence? How could an idea as obviously repelling as government-directed income redistribution ever be discussed at an investment conference filled with thousands of capitalists?
Rattner's response to my loud "boo" was remarkable. In his most condescending, the-government-knows-best tone, he said, "I hope you're joking." As if to even question the role of government in redistributing the wealth of our society made me some kind of a mental invalid or moral outrage. I replied, in a much, much louder and more hostile tone, "YOU'RE THE JOKE."
When I write about not recognizing my fellow Americans… and feeling like I live in a country called Amerika, I'm talking about the Rattnerization of our country. This guy is the very embodiment of the term "limousine liberal." He wants to raise your taxes because his income is now all sheltered. And he thinks he knows how to use your money far better than you do. In his mind, he's doing you a big favor when he raises your taxes.
As the whole global warming thing falls apart (hard to believe it's lasted this long), guys like Rattner need a new slogan. They need a new calling – a new, better, and simpler reason to motivate voters. Their cry will be "income inequality." The free market has failed, they say, because some people are getting very, very rich.
And Rattner knows the 50% or so of the people who no longer pay federal income taxes will believe income inequality is a problem (instead of the result of a wonderful technological revolution). And they will support every possible measure to correct "the problem." This will keep people like Rattner in power for a long, long time.
Look for Al Gore's next movie to be about income inequality. You think I'm kidding. But I'm not. Rattner even has a hockey stick chart, just like Gore did, showing that income inequity is soaring… and threatening to destroy us all.
Well, our buddy Rattner is back in the headlines this week… And it's not because of General Motors' initial public offering. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed two lawsuits this week accusing Rattner of bribing folks to invest in his private-equity firm, Quadrangle.
Cuomo wants at least $26 million from Rattner and a lifetime ban from the securities industry. Separately, the SEC announced Rattner agreed to pay $6.2 million to settle similar charges. Rattner issued the following statement:
While settling with the SEC begins the process of putting this matter behind me, I will not be bullied simply because the Attorney General's office prefers political considerations instead of a reasoned assessment of the facts.
This episode is the first time during 35 years in business that anyone has questioned my ethics or integrity – and I certainly did not violate the Martin Act. That's why I intend to clear my name by defending myself vigorously against this politically motivated lawsuit.
The suit alleges Rattner secured investments for Quadrangle by arranging for a firm to distribute a movie produced by David Loglisci, the New York retirement fund's chief investment officer, and his brothers. Rattner also allegedly contributed $50,000 to the reelection campaign for former New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
So far, Hevesi pleaded guilty to a corruption charge and agreed to cooperate in Cuomo's investigation. In total, seven people – including Hevesi and Loglisci – have pleaded guilty. Rattner hasn't, though he exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions under oath 68 times.
Regards,
Porter Stansberry
Sunday, November 21, 2010
O Deflation, Where is Thy Sting? - Thoughts From The Frontline - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
The government is creating runaway inflation in food and energy while shoring up the Wall Street Investment Banks for the next mortgage crisis......
O Deflation, Where is Thy Sting? - Thoughts From The Frontline - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
O Deflation, Where is Thy Sting? - Thoughts From The Frontline - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Report: Would-be plane bombers post attack details - Yahoo! News
Has anyone ever considered that these people are not going to go away or that anything short of "fighting fire with fire" is a worthless endeavor? Babies are patted down by the TSA while terrorists go about their business with little or no resistance.........
Report: Would-be plane bombers post attack details - Yahoo! News
Report: Would-be plane bombers post attack details - Yahoo! News
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Michigan Engineering | Making Oil at Warp Speed
This type of research and not Cap and Trade or Batteries made of scarce raw materials or Corn is the answer to our future energy needs. Real science can create what junk science seeks to impair...
Michigan Engineering Making Oil at Warp Speed
Michigan Engineering Making Oil at Warp Speed
Friday, November 12, 2010
Setbacks aside, Obama claims stronger global hand - Yahoo! News
The man is delusional....prior to being elected and shortly thereafter we went around the world telling our enemies and allies alike that he was going to reduce our influence in the world. Well Mr. President, you succeeded and now the new economic leaders are treating you like the rest of the 3rd world dictators.....
Setbacks aside, Obama claims stronger global hand - Yahoo! News
Setbacks aside, Obama claims stronger global hand - Yahoo! News
End of Liberty Video
This is produced by a group calling itself the National Inflation Association. The video is long and a bit chilling...do not watch it alone or in the dark!
Independent Voters Pushed GOP Wave Further Right « Wisconsin GOP Blog
Note to Republicans...Ignore AP, ABC, CBS and NBC. You were sent to Washington to unwind this massive parasite that is sucking the life out of the American people.
We don't want Big Government compromise
We don't want Euro-socialist institutions and handout programs
We don't want any new stimulus unless it is in the form of tax cuts
We don't want more debt
We don't want to be beholden to foreign oil nor government - subsidized "clean energy" projects that are not economically sustainable
There is no such thing as CO2-based global warming only liberal hot air
Tha American people have made it pretty clear...
Independent Voters Pushed GOP Wave Further Right « Wisconsin GOP Blog
We don't want Big Government compromise
We don't want Euro-socialist institutions and handout programs
We don't want any new stimulus unless it is in the form of tax cuts
We don't want more debt
We don't want to be beholden to foreign oil nor government - subsidized "clean energy" projects that are not economically sustainable
There is no such thing as CO2-based global warming only liberal hot air
Tha American people have made it pretty clear...
Independent Voters Pushed GOP Wave Further Right « Wisconsin GOP Blog
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Perfect Cover for the Republicans
Unwittingly, President Obama handed the Republicans a huge Christmas present when he created his own Deficit Reduction Commission. Although I sure he assumed he'd see a proposal full of Big Government solutions such as cap and trade, a Value Added Tax and Payroll tax increases for Social Security and Medicare, what he got was a well thought out and realistic plan to address the real problems with the deficit.
Think about this, with mortgage interest rates at ridiculously low levels, who wouldn't give up the interest rate deduction in exchange for a top income tax rate of 23%? Where do I sign up?
Hopefully the new Republican leadership will pound the tables over this for the next 2 years and continuously cite "Obama's own Commission" as they roll out positive changes in fiscal policy.
Can you hear us John Boehner?
Commission leaders say cutting deficit will hurt - Yahoo! News
Think about this, with mortgage interest rates at ridiculously low levels, who wouldn't give up the interest rate deduction in exchange for a top income tax rate of 23%? Where do I sign up?
Hopefully the new Republican leadership will pound the tables over this for the next 2 years and continuously cite "Obama's own Commission" as they roll out positive changes in fiscal policy.
Can you hear us John Boehner?
Commission leaders say cutting deficit will hurt - Yahoo! News
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
CURE | Race and the 2010 elections
I cannot believe that Star Parker did not win the congressional seat, she is so much more eloquent and her story is so much more compelling that Sarah Palin.
CURE Race and the 2010 elections
CURE Race and the 2010 elections
OMG! Obama Reveals He Doesn't Know What the Fed's Job Is, Supports Bernanke Anyway | Jr Deputy Accountant
Should politicians be required to pass a civic's exam before taking office?
OMG! Obama Reveals He Doesn't Know What the Fed's Job Is, Supports Bernanke Anyway Jr Deputy Accountant
OMG! Obama Reveals He Doesn't Know What the Fed's Job Is, Supports Bernanke Anyway Jr Deputy Accountant
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Why Soaking the Rich Doesn't Work
I'm still waiting for the day when 1 Republican challenges the notion of taxing the wealthy through an income tax versus a wealth tax. Many on the left would just sit there dumbfounded if we proposed taking away 50% of a persons net worth above say....$10 million since I don't know anyone who can't live on $10 million...
Why Soaking the Rich Doesn't Work
Why Soaking the Rich Doesn't Work
Friday, November 05, 2010
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Quote of the Day
"Society is full of busybody do-gooders and navel-gazing morons who are happily eating up a larger and larger share of the nation’s once- productive capital. And, as this group grows and grows, they eventually shift from a disheartened minority down on their luck to taking full control of Congress. That’s when the taxpayer checkbooks really come out. Initiatives that begin as “state services” invariably end up making us servants to the state. And, in the end, voters only have themselves to blame."
- Joel Bowman, Whiskey and Gunpowder
- Joel Bowman, Whiskey and Gunpowder
Did Barack Obama Save America?
From an email I received this AM, author unkonwn...
"One 82-year-old lady loves Obama and she may have a very good point.� She says that Obama is amazing, and is rebuilding the American dream! She gives us an entirely new slant on the "amazing" job Obama is doing,� and she says that she will thank God for the President.� Keep reading for her additional comments and an explanation. When discussing Obama, she says:
1. Obama destroyed the Clinton Political Machine, driving a stake through the heart of Hillary's presidential aspirations - something no Republican was ever able to do.
2. Obama killed off the Kennedy Dynasty - no more Kennedys trolling Washington looking for booze and women wanting rides home.
3. Obama is destroying the Democratic Party before our eyes! Dennis Moore had never lost a race. Evan Bayh had never lost a race. Byron Dorgan had never lost a race. Harry Reid - soon to be GONE!(well..almost...) These are just a handful of the Democrats whose political careers Obama has destroyed. By the end of 2010, dozens more will be gone. Just think, in December of 2008 the Democrats were on the rise. In the last two election cycles, they had picked up 14 Senate seats and 52 House seats. The press was touting the death of the Conservative Movement and the Republican Party. However, in just one year, Obama put a stop to all of this and will probably give the House - if not the Senate - back to the Republicans.
4. Obama has completely exposed liberals and progressives for what they are. Sadly, every generation seems to need to re-learn the lesson on why they should never actually put liberals in charge. Obama is bringing home the lesson very well:
Liberals tax, borrow and spend.
Liberals won't bring themselves to protect America .
Liberals want to take over the economy.
Liberals think they know what is best for everyone.
Liberals are not happy until they are running YOUR life.
5. Obama has brought more Americans back to conservatism than anyone since Reagan. In one year, he has rejuvenated the Conservative Movement and brought out to the streets millions of freedom loving Americans. Name one other time when you saw your friends and neighbors this interested in taking back America !
6. Obama, with his "amazing leadership," has sparked the greatest period of sales of firearms and ammunition this country has seen. Law abiding citizens have rallied and have provided a "stimulus" to the sporting goods field while other industries have failed, faded, or moved off-shore.
7. In all honesty, one year ago I was more afraid than I have been in my life. Not afraid of the economy, but afraid of the direction our country was going. I thought,Americans have forgotten what this country is all about.My neighbors and friends, even strangers, have proved to me that my lack of confidence in the greatness and wisdom of the American people has been flat wrong.
8. When the American people wake up, no smooth talking teleprompter reader can fool them!� Barack Obama has served to wake up these great Americans!
Again, I want to say: "Thank you, Barack Obama!" After all, this is exactly the kind of hope and change we desperately needed!!"
"One 82-year-old lady loves Obama and she may have a very good point.� She says that Obama is amazing, and is rebuilding the American dream! She gives us an entirely new slant on the "amazing" job Obama is doing,� and she says that she will thank God for the President.� Keep reading for her additional comments and an explanation. When discussing Obama, she says:
1. Obama destroyed the Clinton Political Machine, driving a stake through the heart of Hillary's presidential aspirations - something no Republican was ever able to do.
2. Obama killed off the Kennedy Dynasty - no more Kennedys trolling Washington looking for booze and women wanting rides home.
3. Obama is destroying the Democratic Party before our eyes! Dennis Moore had never lost a race. Evan Bayh had never lost a race. Byron Dorgan had never lost a race. Harry Reid - soon to be GONE!(well..almost...) These are just a handful of the Democrats whose political careers Obama has destroyed. By the end of 2010, dozens more will be gone. Just think, in December of 2008 the Democrats were on the rise. In the last two election cycles, they had picked up 14 Senate seats and 52 House seats. The press was touting the death of the Conservative Movement and the Republican Party. However, in just one year, Obama put a stop to all of this and will probably give the House - if not the Senate - back to the Republicans.
4. Obama has completely exposed liberals and progressives for what they are. Sadly, every generation seems to need to re-learn the lesson on why they should never actually put liberals in charge. Obama is bringing home the lesson very well:
Liberals tax, borrow and spend.
Liberals won't bring themselves to protect America .
Liberals want to take over the economy.
Liberals think they know what is best for everyone.
Liberals are not happy until they are running YOUR life.
5. Obama has brought more Americans back to conservatism than anyone since Reagan. In one year, he has rejuvenated the Conservative Movement and brought out to the streets millions of freedom loving Americans. Name one other time when you saw your friends and neighbors this interested in taking back America !
6. Obama, with his "amazing leadership," has sparked the greatest period of sales of firearms and ammunition this country has seen. Law abiding citizens have rallied and have provided a "stimulus" to the sporting goods field while other industries have failed, faded, or moved off-shore.
7. In all honesty, one year ago I was more afraid than I have been in my life. Not afraid of the economy, but afraid of the direction our country was going. I thought,Americans have forgotten what this country is all about.My neighbors and friends, even strangers, have proved to me that my lack of confidence in the greatness and wisdom of the American people has been flat wrong.
8. When the American people wake up, no smooth talking teleprompter reader can fool them!� Barack Obama has served to wake up these great Americans!
Again, I want to say: "Thank you, Barack Obama!" After all, this is exactly the kind of hope and change we desperately needed!!"
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Keynesian Confusion - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
A great piece about why things aren't "working as planned"...
Keynesian Confusion - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Keynesian Confusion - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
A Market-Based HealthCare Solution
From Heritage, I believe that if every working American was signed up for a Health Savings Account (HSA) starting with their first job (in other words, they would have to opt out if they didn't want it or were covered by their spouse's job), the debate over providing Health Care to our citizens would end in 10 years.......
The Entitlement Crisis | The Heritage Foundation
Common sense staring points for fixing our financial woes..
The Entitlement Crisis The Heritage Foundation
The Entitlement Crisis The Heritage Foundation
Monday, November 01, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Another Low for the US Government
From the 5 Minute Forecast Blog....
"...the group Transparency International just released its annual ranking of nations based on how corrupt their governments are. For the first time, the United States has fallen out of the list of 20 least-corrupt nations, coming in at No. 22.
New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore rank as the cleanest. Iraq, Burma, Afghanistan and Somalia come in at the bottom.
Coincidence? Except for Burma, each of the four most-corrupt governments in the world owes its very existence to U.S. intervention: Your tax dollars at work.
"...the group Transparency International just released its annual ranking of nations based on how corrupt their governments are. For the first time, the United States has fallen out of the list of 20 least-corrupt nations, coming in at No. 22.
New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore rank as the cleanest. Iraq, Burma, Afghanistan and Somalia come in at the bottom.
Coincidence? Except for Burma, each of the four most-corrupt governments in the world owes its very existence to U.S. intervention: Your tax dollars at work.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
How This Economy Recovery Stacks Up - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Not only does this article point out the moronic approach that this administration and it's congressional lapdogs have taken, it also shows what a great period of growth and prosperity was ignited during the Reagan revolution. Numbers do lie but the apple to apple relative comparisons between the 1980's recovery and this one are stunning!
Hopefully some GOP candidates will take note of this....
How This Economy Recovery Stacks Up - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Hopefully some GOP candidates will take note of this....
How This Economy Recovery Stacks Up - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Inflation in the Real World
If you sometimes feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter, this chart won't make you feel any better...
Chart of the Week: Inflation in the Real World - Casey Research
Chart of the Week: Inflation in the Real World - Casey Research
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America--and Spawned a Global Crisis
An excerpt from the book "The Monster" by Michael W Hudson
How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America--and Spawned a Global Crisis - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America--and Spawned a Global Crisis - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
What is the Proper Role of Government in our Economy?
Last weekend I had an exchange on LinkedIn with a connection over what our government should be doing. His argument was that the government should be focused on creating jobs, my point was that they:
This piece by Joel Bowman showed up today in my inbox which add's fuel to the discussion....
Joel Bowman, from Punta del Este, Uruguay...
In his 1958 interview with Ayn Rand, a young Mike Wallace asked the following question:
"Suppose, under your system of self-sufficiency, one single corporation were to get a stranglehold on a vital product or a raw material, uranium for instance, which might be vital for the national defense, and then would refuse to sell it to the government, then what?"
To which the original objectivist responded:
"Under a free system, no one could acquire a monopoly on anything. If you look at economics and economic history, you will discover that all monopolies have been established with government help, with the help of franchises, subsidies or any kind of government privileges. In free competition, no one could corner the market on a needed product. History will support me."
The above exchange is pertinent today for multiple reasons.
First and foremost, it calls each and every one of us to ask some very important questions of the society in which we live today...and about where it is heading tomorrow and beyond. What is the proper role of government in economics? Should, as Rand argued, there be separation of economy and state, just as there is of church and state? Should the government be able to use force and compulsion against the will of free men and women, to supersede or suspend the rights of the very individuals it affects to represent? And in what special case, if any, would this be permissible?
- Couldn't
- Shouldn't try, and;
- Should be focused on eliminating the barriers they have constructed that are now hindering economic growth
This piece by Joel Bowman showed up today in my inbox which add's fuel to the discussion....
Joel Bowman, from Punta del Este, Uruguay...
In his 1958 interview with Ayn Rand, a young Mike Wallace asked the following question:
"Under a free system, no one could acquire a monopoly on anything. If you look at economics and economic history, you will discover that all monopolies have been established with government help, with the help of franchises, subsidies or any kind of government privileges. In free competition, no one could corner the market on a needed product. History will support me."
First and foremost, it calls each and every one of us to ask some very important questions of the society in which we live today...and about where it is heading tomorrow and beyond. What is the proper role of government in economics? Should, as Rand argued, there be separation of economy and state, just as there is of church and state? Should the government be able to use force and compulsion against the will of free men and women, to supersede or suspend the rights of the very individuals it affects to represent? And in what special case, if any, would this be permissible?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
O Canada! - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
This article shows proof that a liberal who truly cares about their country can find a balance and get things moving in the right direction. This is even more damning evidence that the people in power either don't have our best interests in mind or that they are totally inept......
O Canada! - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
O Canada! - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Failing to Learn From History
From Stansberry & Associates, The S&A Digest:
At the beginning of the American War of Independence, the Continental Congress decided to print money, the Continental. The value was supposed to be based on the Spanish dollar, the famous "pieces of eight," which equaled eight silver Spanish reales.
The Continental Congress intended on printing 2 million Continentals. It soon realized it didn't have enough to pay its debts (sound familiar?). So by 1779, the congress had printed more than 242 million Continentals. The British waged a counterfeiting campaign, compounding the problem. By the time the Continental Congress stopped printing them in 1781, it took $168 worth of Continentals to buy a $1 silver coin. Hence the old saying, "Not worth a Continental."
The Spirit of the Continental lives on in today's U.S. dollar... The Federal Reserve came about in 1913, largely as a political response to the Panic of 1907. Among the Fed's stated goals today are "conducting monetary policy... in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates," and "maintaining the stability of the financial system."
I'll let you judge how stable the financial system is and how the Fed's doing at maintaining "maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates." But the monetary policy? The Fed has done quite a number on your money: What cost $1 in 1913 now costs more than $21. What cost $1 in 2009 would have cost about $0.05 in 1913. Hence, the Federal Reserve has reduced the value of the U.S. dollar by approximately 95% during its 97-year tenure.
And the Fed's not done yet! Not by a long shot. In fact, Tim Geithner told the whole world yesterday the devaluation of the U.S. dollar is an absolute certainty now. He didn't put it in so many words. They never do. But according to Reuters, he said, "It is very important for people to understand that the United States of America, and no country around the world, can devalue its way to prosperity, to [be] competitive. It is not a viable, feasible strategy and we will not engage in it."
Geither sounds a lot like a child denying the inevitable. I learned a lot about this sort of thing growing up: "We will not devalue the currency" lives in my mind next to, "I'm not getting in that bathtub," "I'm not eating those vegetables," and perhaps most memorable of all for me, "I'm not going to bed now, because I'm not tired." Every time I uttered that last one, I was sawing logs within minutes.
Maybe after its rapid rise, the gold price is in for some type of correction. I don't know, and I don't care. The U.S. Treasury Secretary has virtually guaranteed gold will increase in value in the coming years, how can you afford not to own it? The government is manipulating the gold price; and it's determined to shove it straight up.
At the beginning of the American War of Independence, the Continental Congress decided to print money, the Continental. The value was supposed to be based on the Spanish dollar, the famous "pieces of eight," which equaled eight silver Spanish reales.
The Continental Congress intended on printing 2 million Continentals. It soon realized it didn't have enough to pay its debts (sound familiar?). So by 1779, the congress had printed more than 242 million Continentals. The British waged a counterfeiting campaign, compounding the problem. By the time the Continental Congress stopped printing them in 1781, it took $168 worth of Continentals to buy a $1 silver coin. Hence the old saying, "Not worth a Continental."
The Spirit of the Continental lives on in today's U.S. dollar... The Federal Reserve came about in 1913, largely as a political response to the Panic of 1907. Among the Fed's stated goals today are "conducting monetary policy... in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates," and "maintaining the stability of the financial system."
I'll let you judge how stable the financial system is and how the Fed's doing at maintaining "maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates." But the monetary policy? The Fed has done quite a number on your money: What cost $1 in 1913 now costs more than $21. What cost $1 in 2009 would have cost about $0.05 in 1913. Hence, the Federal Reserve has reduced the value of the U.S. dollar by approximately 95% during its 97-year tenure.
And the Fed's not done yet! Not by a long shot. In fact, Tim Geithner told the whole world yesterday the devaluation of the U.S. dollar is an absolute certainty now. He didn't put it in so many words. They never do. But according to Reuters, he said, "It is very important for people to understand that the United States of America, and no country around the world, can devalue its way to prosperity, to [be] competitive. It is not a viable, feasible strategy and we will not engage in it."
Geither sounds a lot like a child denying the inevitable. I learned a lot about this sort of thing growing up: "We will not devalue the currency" lives in my mind next to, "I'm not getting in that bathtub," "I'm not eating those vegetables," and perhaps most memorable of all for me, "I'm not going to bed now, because I'm not tired." Every time I uttered that last one, I was sawing logs within minutes.
Maybe after its rapid rise, the gold price is in for some type of correction. I don't know, and I don't care. The U.S. Treasury Secretary has virtually guaranteed gold will increase in value in the coming years, how can you afford not to own it? The government is manipulating the gold price; and it's determined to shove it straight up.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Glenn Beck Calls for ‘Largest Day of Fundraising’ for Chamber of Commerce | The Blaze
Support the people who support private enterprise...
Glenn Beck Calls for ‘Largest Day of Fundraising’ for Chamber of Commerce The Blaze
Glenn Beck Calls for ‘Largest Day of Fundraising’ for Chamber of Commerce The Blaze
China and the Future of Rare Earth Elements - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Take note as the current "leadership" in Washington Huff's and Puff's about the Chinese currencies. The Big Bad Wolf eventually got his ass burned......
China and the Future of Rare Earth Elements - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
China and the Future of Rare Earth Elements - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
What You Don't Know about "Mortgagegate" Could Crush the U.S. Banking System
This needs to be taken very seriously, the Obama networks won't start reporting it until it's too late.
What You Don't Know about "Mortgagegate" Could Crush the U.S. Banking System
What You Don't Know about "Mortgagegate" Could Crush the U.S. Banking System
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Audit of UN Climate Change Panel cites lack of Scientific Evidence
In the past, the American press would have been all over this scandal. It just shows how the left has infiltrated so many of our institutions and corrpupted our society for their own twisted cause.........
Sadly, most of these people are nothing more than useful idiots.....
GetLiberty.org Home
Sadly, most of these people are nothing more than useful idiots.....
GetLiberty.org Home
The View From the Big Money Guys
There is no doubt in my mind that the current activity by the Federal Reserve is unsustainable and will end badly, that is why it is important to learn how to trade a bear market...
From Porter Stansberry
"My friend at the Value Investing Congress was impressed by hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass' speech. So much so, he's giving him $5 million to manage. Bass, with Hayman Advisors, gained notoriety after making a fortune shorting subprime mortgages. Now, he's short the entire world (the host of the conference agreed with my view that Porter could have given the same speech).
Kyle started his talk by mentioning the recently awarded Nobel Prize for economics. The folks who won the prize found increasing unemployment benefits raises unemployment. Despite this revelation, the government is still preparing to spend $1 trillion on increasing unemployment benefits.
The rest of Kyle's speech was divided into three topics – the U.S, Europe, and Japan. In short, we're all in trouble. Everyone knows the problems in the U.S... We've got too much debt. We're losing an ever-increasing amount of money each year, and we're preparing to print more money. Europe is worse. I'll get to Japan in a minute...
The world is trying to paper this problem over, but it's too late. Eventually, we'll see serial defaults across the globe. Kyle argues the central banks know it's inevitable. They're just trying to get the global economy to a point where it can handle this crisis.
On to the Federal Reserve... Kyle says the Fed is "a mental crutch for depositors." The Fed's opacity is by design. The International Monetary Fund is the same way. By charter, a European has to run the IMF, but it's in Washington, D.C. Kyle said he recently visited congressman Barney Frank and asked him why the U.S. was giving the IMF $100 billion. Frank's response: "You and I both know it's not real money. It's just a journal entry." In other words, this money will never be drawn. It's just a backstop. Kyle said the IMF granted Greece 3,000% of the money it's allowed to draw from the fund... Again, it doesn't expect this money to be repaid.
Now onto Japan... Japan has 2.5 quadrillion yen in debt. Its debt service will surpass total government revenue soon. Currently, retirement obligations and debt service costs Japan 44 trillion yen annually. The government only brings in 41 trillion yen. Japan has more people exiting the workforce every year than entering. The country can no longer fund itself internally. If Japan has to access the credit markets, its costs will increase. Kyle says it's not "if," but "when," Japan defaults. Japan's last move is to force banks to buy its debt. That will likely happen, prolonging the default. But that is Japan's last move.
Kyle is playing the Japanese default through interest-rate call options. It's like a credit default swap... He's paying a small amount of money every year to bet against Japan. When Japan starts failing, he'll make 50 to 100 times his money. Unfortunately, individual investors can't make this trade (unless your net worth is more than $100 million... then it may be possible). "
From Porter Stansberry
"My friend at the Value Investing Congress was impressed by hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass' speech. So much so, he's giving him $5 million to manage. Bass, with Hayman Advisors, gained notoriety after making a fortune shorting subprime mortgages. Now, he's short the entire world (the host of the conference agreed with my view that Porter could have given the same speech).
Kyle started his talk by mentioning the recently awarded Nobel Prize for economics. The folks who won the prize found increasing unemployment benefits raises unemployment. Despite this revelation, the government is still preparing to spend $1 trillion on increasing unemployment benefits.
The rest of Kyle's speech was divided into three topics – the U.S, Europe, and Japan. In short, we're all in trouble. Everyone knows the problems in the U.S... We've got too much debt. We're losing an ever-increasing amount of money each year, and we're preparing to print more money. Europe is worse. I'll get to Japan in a minute...
The world is trying to paper this problem over, but it's too late. Eventually, we'll see serial defaults across the globe. Kyle argues the central banks know it's inevitable. They're just trying to get the global economy to a point where it can handle this crisis.
On to the Federal Reserve... Kyle says the Fed is "a mental crutch for depositors." The Fed's opacity is by design. The International Monetary Fund is the same way. By charter, a European has to run the IMF, but it's in Washington, D.C. Kyle said he recently visited congressman Barney Frank and asked him why the U.S. was giving the IMF $100 billion. Frank's response: "You and I both know it's not real money. It's just a journal entry." In other words, this money will never be drawn. It's just a backstop. Kyle said the IMF granted Greece 3,000% of the money it's allowed to draw from the fund... Again, it doesn't expect this money to be repaid.
Now onto Japan... Japan has 2.5 quadrillion yen in debt. Its debt service will surpass total government revenue soon. Currently, retirement obligations and debt service costs Japan 44 trillion yen annually. The government only brings in 41 trillion yen. Japan has more people exiting the workforce every year than entering. The country can no longer fund itself internally. If Japan has to access the credit markets, its costs will increase. Kyle says it's not "if," but "when," Japan defaults. Japan's last move is to force banks to buy its debt. That will likely happen, prolonging the default. But that is Japan's last move.
Kyle is playing the Japanese default through interest-rate call options. It's like a credit default swap... He's paying a small amount of money every year to bet against Japan. When Japan starts failing, he'll make 50 to 100 times his money. Unfortunately, individual investors can't make this trade (unless your net worth is more than $100 million... then it may be possible). "
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The American Housing Market Is Headed for Total Destruction
This is a must read for anyone concerned about their future savings......
The American Housing Market Is Headed for Total Destruction
The American Housing Market Is Headed for Total Destruction
Monday, October 11, 2010
Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure by Murray N. Rothbard
Remember that Recession is a recent economic term, likely created to ensure that we don't suffer another "depression" again.
Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure by Murray N. Rothbard
Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure by Murray N. Rothbard
The Federal Reserve is Deaf, Dumb and Blind
It is easy to be a liberal when you are wealthy or live within the sheltered confines of tenured academia where you are never accountable for your own stupid ideas.
The danger comes when they are given the power to apply their ideas on the population.....
Taipan Daily - Opportunities Behind the Headlines
The danger comes when they are given the power to apply their ideas on the population.....
Taipan Daily - Opportunities Behind the Headlines
IMF Warns Western Economies Mired in 'Near Depression'
Once again Obama believes that he knows how to spend our money better than we do.
IMF Warns Western Economies Mired in 'Near Depression'
IMF Warns Western Economies Mired in 'Near Depression'
Do You Recognize This Marxist Country?
One note worth pointing out, "Dear Leader" does not actually advocate spreading Wealth around, that would mean that he and the other millionaires in Congress would have a bite taken out of their own net worth. They simply want to keep the rest of us out of the club by confiscation of income which they can then spread around to the poor unfortunate souls that keep voting for them.....
Do You Recognize This Marxist Country?
Do You Recognize This Marxist Country?
Turning Back Obamacare
A great discussion on the weakness of the bill and various strategies that could be employed to over-turn this abomination without the President's cooperation.
Just as he has had his czars try to end-around the Constitution, an informed congress could turn the tables on him and deconstruct the bill as he watches helplessly.....
Turning Back Obamacare
Just as he has had his czars try to end-around the Constitution, an informed congress could turn the tables on him and deconstruct the bill as he watches helplessly.....
Turning Back Obamacare
Europe is Headed for an Austerity Brick Wall
We are not being informed about what is really going on in the "more progressive" countries in the west. Socialized economies are collapsing under their own weight and it will get far worse before it gets better. The masses have been trained to expect "free handouts" from the government and were never educated about where those handouts came from. Someday we will see a scene out of Soilent Green when people finally figure out what they have been fed by the progressive movement.
Taipan Daily - Opportunities Behind the Headlines
Taipan Daily - Opportunities Behind the Headlines
What's Really in the Social Security Trust Fund?
Part 3 of a series analyzing the Social Security mess.
What's Really in the Social Security Trust Fund?
What's Really in the Social Security Trust Fund?
The End of Social Security as We Know It
Social Security is well on its way to becoming just another welfare program. The idea, though loosely framed as a government sponsored annuity was never a good idea to begin with and; of course, all that money under the control of the politicians, it was doomed to eventually become what it is today no matter what we did.
The End of Social Security as We Know It
The End of Social Security as We Know It
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Obama and Wall Street an Unholy Alliance says charlie gasparino: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance
Charlie Gasparino is a great investigative reporter and his last book was spot on.
obama and wall street an unholy alliance says charlie gasparino: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance
obama and wall street an unholy alliance says charlie gasparino: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance
Obama Use of Foe's Tax Records Reviewed
Remember when Bush was in the news every day for a year regarding "illegal" wire taps of US citizens.....?
Where is the press now?
Obama Use of Foe's Tax Records Reviewed
Where is the press now?
Obama Use of Foe's Tax Records Reviewed
Asiatic Adventurism, Part I
The idea that unfair currency rates, not over-regulation, over taxation over meddling by a government that has become the lap-dog of big labor and the radical environmental movement is simply folly. This is nothing but a stunt that will do more damage to this already weak economy.....
Asiatic Adventurism, Part I
Asiatic Adventurism, Part I
O‘Reilly Slams ABC About Cleric’s ‘Flag of Islam’ Over the White House Vow | The Blaze
If the goal of Islam is "one world guided by Sharia", then at what point do they lose protection under the 1st amendment? I don't think Hitler would have been welcomed here as he was off invading Europe......
O‘Reilly Slams ABC About Cleric’s ‘Flag of Islam’ Over the White House Vow The Blaze
O‘Reilly Slams ABC About Cleric’s ‘Flag of Islam’ Over the White House Vow The Blaze
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
ObamaCare Kicks In - Taxes Sure to Rise - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
As predicted in my wake up America series before the elections of 2008. These people have put us on a path of economic destruction starting with 3rd-world -quality healthcare.
ObamaCare Kicks In - Taxes Sure to Rise - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
ObamaCare Kicks In - Taxes Sure to Rise - Forecasts & Trends - InvestorsInsight.com Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Government Workers: The New Upper Crust?
This of course is the best reason for limited government. Yhe more power and influence a government can wield, the more corrupt it will become by virtue of the people running it.
Government Workers: The New Upper Crust?
Government Workers: The New Upper Crust?
Friday, October 01, 2010
Pakistan and the U.S. Exit From Afghanistan - John Mauldin's Outside the Box - InvestorsInsight.com | Financial Intelligence, Advice & Research / Investment Strategies & Planning for Individual Investors.
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