“The total potential federal government support could reach up to $23.7 trillion,” said Neil Barofsky this week. He’s the special inspector general for the TARP -- one of the government’s many bailout programs dumping billions upon billions. Say again… this whole mess could put U.S. taxpayers on the hook for just under $24 trillion.
Barosfky’s report was self-admittedly an overblown worst-case scenario… for example, it assumes that every mortgage loan on Fannie and Freddie’s books will go bad and that every government-aided bank will go bust. (Heh, we like this guy).
But we see why he bothered crunching all the numbers for a scenario that will never happen (or if it were to happen, no one would really care what the exact cost would be). This is what your government is willing to do in order to maintain the status quo. Votes for this year’s election are worth $24 trillion for tomorrow’s generation.
So when Congress asked, hey Neil, what’s your real guess? $3 trillion, he responded. Phew, what a relief!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Global Warming...55 million years ago?
Another little nugget of information for you: SUV's (allegedly) did not exist 55 million years ago BUT, according to scientists, they've found that there was indeed massive global warming 55 million years ago here on Earth. This little revelation prompted one scientist to wonder if all the current climate models are completely wrong. Time for Al Gore to fire up the propaganda machine and discredit another scientist!
Universal Health helps kill UK man
Just a little nugget of information for you to noodle as Universal Healthcare is being rammed down our throats. In the UK, where they have Universal Health, a 22 year old man was denied a request for liver treatment and died soon after. The reason he was denied? Because he couldn't prove he could stay sober (he had a drinking problem). Despite having checked into AA and wanting to get better -- he couldn't prove it, so -- let him die! Let the rationing begin here in the US!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Redefining Wealth
In what came as no shock to me....
“An income tax surcharge on highly paid Americans emerged as the leading option Wednesday night as House Democrats sought ways to pay for health care legislation that President Barack Obama favors, several officials said. As discussed in the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, the surtax would apply to individuals with adjusted gross income of more than $200,000 and couples over $250,000, (since changed to $350,000) they added.” AP July 8, 2009
While there are plenty of discussions going on about the pros and cons of nationalized health care, I want to comment on this notion of taxing the wealthy.
Ever since his first day on the campaign, Obama has defined wealth using the same numbers cited above, usually in making the argument that he intended to take more money from them because “they really don’t need it”; and while I will not argue that someone making $200,000 per year is making a lot of money, I do not believe that it automatically defines them as wealthy.
Every year, Forbes magazine lists the 400 richest people in America, however they define wealth by net worth which is the value of everything that they own, minus their debt. By Forbes definition, Warren Buffett is wealthy with a net worth of $50 Billion, however in the latest information we have, Buffet’s annual salary in 2006 was only $100,000, placing him way below the standard set by Obama (I do want to point out here that Mr. Buffet is a big supporter of Obama and has helped him in numerous ways).
Further more, the latest public information about our elected officials shows that Speaker Pelosi has a net worth of about $62 Million, yet her congressional salary of $165,200 puts her way below the wealth standard as well. In fact, if you start looking at the net worth of all of our elected officials, you would see that the latest reports show a median net worth of $746,000. The Senate especially is truly a millionaires club with a median net worth of $1.7 million.
Said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which conducted the latest study on congressional wealth:
"In the House of Representatives, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., ranks No. 1, with $397 million, followed by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., with $343 million. Rep Robin Hayes, R-N.C., ranks third, with $173.4 million. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ranks sixth, with $62 million.
"In the Senate, the two Democrats from Massachusetts claimed two of the top three spots.
"Sen. John Kerry led the pack, with $336 million, while Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ranked third, with $104 million. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., ranked second, with $241.5 million”.
Senator Kohl is one of my Senators and in a recent exchange, said in no uncertain terms that there would be no need to include government employees and elected officials in the new Health Care system meaning that they were going to keep their current health care system, while forcing the rest of us into their newly created model.
So not only are they not going to participate in the program they’re quickly shoving down our throats, they also are making sure that they won’t be using their money to help fund it. So our taxes will be used to fund both.
If after this year, you still think that we have any semblance of a representative government of the people, then I have some carbon credits that I’d like to sell you. This new ruling class has positioned themselves to dictate just about every aspect of our lives from what we will drive, how much energy we will use, what kind of food we eat and how much of our money “we need” to keep, while exempting themselves from the life they demand that we lead.
In 1913, Woodrow Wilson started chipping away at the Constitution, in the 1930’s FDR took a sledgehammer to it and in 2009, this Government has brought in the steamroller. I can’t wait to hear the rationalization for all this!
“An income tax surcharge on highly paid Americans emerged as the leading option Wednesday night as House Democrats sought ways to pay for health care legislation that President Barack Obama favors, several officials said. As discussed in the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, the surtax would apply to individuals with adjusted gross income of more than $200,000 and couples over $250,000, (since changed to $350,000) they added.” AP July 8, 2009
While there are plenty of discussions going on about the pros and cons of nationalized health care, I want to comment on this notion of taxing the wealthy.
Ever since his first day on the campaign, Obama has defined wealth using the same numbers cited above, usually in making the argument that he intended to take more money from them because “they really don’t need it”; and while I will not argue that someone making $200,000 per year is making a lot of money, I do not believe that it automatically defines them as wealthy.
Every year, Forbes magazine lists the 400 richest people in America, however they define wealth by net worth which is the value of everything that they own, minus their debt. By Forbes definition, Warren Buffett is wealthy with a net worth of $50 Billion, however in the latest information we have, Buffet’s annual salary in 2006 was only $100,000, placing him way below the standard set by Obama (I do want to point out here that Mr. Buffet is a big supporter of Obama and has helped him in numerous ways).
Further more, the latest public information about our elected officials shows that Speaker Pelosi has a net worth of about $62 Million, yet her congressional salary of $165,200 puts her way below the wealth standard as well. In fact, if you start looking at the net worth of all of our elected officials, you would see that the latest reports show a median net worth of $746,000. The Senate especially is truly a millionaires club with a median net worth of $1.7 million.
Said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which conducted the latest study on congressional wealth:
"In the House of Representatives, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., ranks No. 1, with $397 million, followed by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., with $343 million. Rep Robin Hayes, R-N.C., ranks third, with $173.4 million. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ranks sixth, with $62 million.
"In the Senate, the two Democrats from Massachusetts claimed two of the top three spots.
"Sen. John Kerry led the pack, with $336 million, while Sen. Edward M. Kennedy ranked third, with $104 million. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., ranked second, with $241.5 million”.
Senator Kohl is one of my Senators and in a recent exchange, said in no uncertain terms that there would be no need to include government employees and elected officials in the new Health Care system meaning that they were going to keep their current health care system, while forcing the rest of us into their newly created model.
So not only are they not going to participate in the program they’re quickly shoving down our throats, they also are making sure that they won’t be using their money to help fund it. So our taxes will be used to fund both.
If after this year, you still think that we have any semblance of a representative government of the people, then I have some carbon credits that I’d like to sell you. This new ruling class has positioned themselves to dictate just about every aspect of our lives from what we will drive, how much energy we will use, what kind of food we eat and how much of our money “we need” to keep, while exempting themselves from the life they demand that we lead.
In 1913, Woodrow Wilson started chipping away at the Constitution, in the 1930’s FDR took a sledgehammer to it and in 2009, this Government has brought in the steamroller. I can’t wait to hear the rationalization for all this!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The Company we keep....
When the people of Iran stood up against an oppressive Government, President Obama chose “not to meddle” in another country’s affairs.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124520170103721579.html
That is fine. Iran is a very touchy situation and President Obama probably did not want to inflame the world on the eve of his historic speech on his plan to makeover US healthcare.
But something is deeply concerning when he joins Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega in calling for reinstatement of a the President of Honduras who was removed from office by order the Honduran Supreme Court after trying to trample over the country’s Constitution and set himself up the same way that Chavez has.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090630/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup_39
The President went to so far to call the ouster a coup even though members of his own party were in favor of his removal after he refused to honor the country’s rule of law.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529326,00.html
The constitution of Honduras limits the president to a single four-year term. Having been elected in 2006, Zelaya’s term was set to end in 2010. So Zelaya, embracing the spirit of his buddy and role model, Chávez, decided to try and get the rules changed. Zelaya’s plan was to amend the Honduran constitution, no doubt with an eye for becoming leader for life... or at least for a very long time.
Zelaya wanted a referendum to gage popular support for his plan. The Honduran Supreme Court resisted this, citing the constitutional ban on such votes within six months of an election. When the military refused to distribute ballots (as was the custom), Zelaya sacked the army chief and pressed ahead anyway. He used ballots shipped from Venezuela and had them passed out by supporters in open defiance of the Supreme Court.
On the surface of things, calling in the military looks extreme. "If holding a poll provokes a coup, the abduction of the president and expulsion from his country, then what kind of democracy are we living in?" Zelaya asked.
It’s a fair question. But it’s also true that Zelaya’s motives and methods were thuggish from the start... that he directly defied both the Honduran Supreme Court and Honduran constitutional law... and that his military arrest and removal is defensible under these grounds.
Why is it okay to not speak out against a tyrannical administration in Iran, but essential for him to stand shoulder to shoulder with leftist dictators to support a tyrannical thug in Latin America?
How many times can this man reveal himself and his ideology before Americans wake up and figure out who they put in the White House and what he really means by change?
Unfortunately, everything I predicted in my Wake up America series on U Tube is coming true. If our own government won’t defend freedom and liberty, then what is left?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124520170103721579.html
That is fine. Iran is a very touchy situation and President Obama probably did not want to inflame the world on the eve of his historic speech on his plan to makeover US healthcare.
But something is deeply concerning when he joins Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega in calling for reinstatement of a the President of Honduras who was removed from office by order the Honduran Supreme Court after trying to trample over the country’s Constitution and set himself up the same way that Chavez has.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090630/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_coup_39
The President went to so far to call the ouster a coup even though members of his own party were in favor of his removal after he refused to honor the country’s rule of law.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529326,00.html
The constitution of Honduras limits the president to a single four-year term. Having been elected in 2006, Zelaya’s term was set to end in 2010. So Zelaya, embracing the spirit of his buddy and role model, Chávez, decided to try and get the rules changed. Zelaya’s plan was to amend the Honduran constitution, no doubt with an eye for becoming leader for life... or at least for a very long time.
Zelaya wanted a referendum to gage popular support for his plan. The Honduran Supreme Court resisted this, citing the constitutional ban on such votes within six months of an election. When the military refused to distribute ballots (as was the custom), Zelaya sacked the army chief and pressed ahead anyway. He used ballots shipped from Venezuela and had them passed out by supporters in open defiance of the Supreme Court.
On the surface of things, calling in the military looks extreme. "If holding a poll provokes a coup, the abduction of the president and expulsion from his country, then what kind of democracy are we living in?" Zelaya asked.
It’s a fair question. But it’s also true that Zelaya’s motives and methods were thuggish from the start... that he directly defied both the Honduran Supreme Court and Honduran constitutional law... and that his military arrest and removal is defensible under these grounds.
Why is it okay to not speak out against a tyrannical administration in Iran, but essential for him to stand shoulder to shoulder with leftist dictators to support a tyrannical thug in Latin America?
How many times can this man reveal himself and his ideology before Americans wake up and figure out who they put in the White House and what he really means by change?
Unfortunately, everything I predicted in my Wake up America series on U Tube is coming true. If our own government won’t defend freedom and liberty, then what is left?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Government-Mandated Poverty
From Byron King - Whiskey and Gunpowder
Ultimate control over our lives will come when they tax our breath. At what point will Americans stand up and say "PROVE IT!" to this whole Global Ice Age, I mean Warming, oh no,now it's Climate Change movement? It's all a lie and it's about to become the driving force behind the collapse of the United States.
Gold and the Cap-and-Trade Revolution
Last week, I spent a full day in a seminar on climate change. It was a totally sober and professional seminar, sponsored by a group that specializes in continuing legal education for attorneys. I heard talks by a variety of lawyers, academics and regulators, mostly about how “the train has left the station” on climate change and carbon regulation. And wow…has that train ever steamed out. But did you ever hear the conductor call, “All Aboard?”
This is a critical matter and here’s the takeaway point: We’re about to see an UTTER TRANSFORMATION of the U.S. economy.
Your life will be regulated — directly and surely indirectly — by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), mostly through its powers under the Clean Air Act (CAA). And the parts of your life not regulated by EPA will fall under the jurisdiction of your friendly state or provincial environmental authorities. Many of the policy details will be rounded out via litigation in state and federal courts, mostly initiated by the likes of the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations.
You should expect to see STRICT controls on carbon emissions, via taxes, regulation and outright bans on many energy-using systems. And since 40% of North America’s electricity comes from burning coal, you can plan on having less electric power and on paying much higher electric rates. The utility companies will just pay the fees and costs for cap and trade and pass the bill on to you in your monthly statement, for example.
But it goes beyond just the utility companies writing checks to the government. We’re talking about BIG money, from every nook and cranny of the economy. One panelist compared the amount of money in play with cap and trade to completely rewriting the U.S. tax code. “Just tear up the tax code. Abolish it. Pulverize it so it goes away completely,” he said. “Now, rewrite it to raise even MORE money than before, and do it by taxing energy usage.”
United States of Clean Air Act?
So the CAA — which came about in the early 1970s as a way of fighting smog — is now morphing into the new constitution for the U.S. Really, I’m not exaggerating. I know some of you think I overstate my points every now and then. But I’M NOT KIDDING!
We’re seeing a new “American Revolution.” Except the key players are not exactly Ben Franklin and George Washington and James Madison. In the name of fighting climate change, there is a new class of bureaucrats, regulators and judges who will control your life down to what time you plug in your coffeepot. And with “smart metering,” they’ll know if you leave your water heater on for too long. (“Well,” is the reply, “just get a solar heater for your roof.”)
One university professor who spoke at the seminar said that if the U.S. adopts a per capita approach to sustainable worldwide energy usage — a serious proposal that’s in front of several powerful international bodies — we’ll have to reduce carbon-based energy demand in the U.S. by 97%. Basically, if that happens, the environmental true believers will take the U.S. back to an energy state that existed in the 1850s. No typo. The 1850s.
Heck, the energy future of the U.S. might make the scenes in James Kunstler’s 2008 book World Made By Hand look like a day at the beach.
So you can see why I’m saying you should accumulate gold and silver. And while you’re at it, own those geothermal power producers. They’ll be the gold mines of the future.
The “Axis of Overspending,” Inflation and the Rush to Precious Metals
Why am I banging the drum so hard for precious metals? Well, you must know the drill by now. Government spending is out of control. We have a big-spending Congress in Washington that can’t say no to anything (except the token defense cut, or taking away school vouchers from inner-city kids in the District of Columbia). It’s been going on for way too many years, under both previous and current party management.
Everybody who’s anybody in this country, it seems, gets a permanent, pet government program, if not a large bailout. (Huh? You didn’t get your program or bailout?) How long can it last? I think we’re about to find out.
As Bernie Madoff might say, “Bailout, schmailout.” Still, the axis of overspending leads to inflation. It’s the 1970s redux. And inflation will soon rear its head and roar so loud that even the wizards of Washington will have to admit the obvious.
Washington Is Awakening! But Clueless!
Actually, our betters in Washington are waking up to the issue of inflation and the decline of the dollar. Just yesterday, I received an inquiry asking if I want to appear on a nationally syndicated show that originates from Washington, D.C. (well, Alexandria, Va., to be exact). The audience is Washington people — you know the type — and their intellectual and spiritual kin in “blue spots” across the country.
Here’s the exact inquiry:
“We’re doing a story on hoarding behavior and I am looking for people who have taken some (or all) of their savings out of traditional investments and are now storing money as cash or in the form of physical gold or some other precious metal in a safe or secret place. I am having trouble finding anyone like this. Do any of you know of someone who fits this description, who might be willing to talk to me about it? I am looking for someone in Boston; Washington, D.C.; New York; or maybe Chicago. If anyone has any leads, please let me know!”
Oh, man! That’s rich! Verbatim! Honest to God, I have not edited this inquiry by EVEN ONE WORD! These people are clueless!
The producer wants to interview gold bugs for the show. In an anthropological fashion that would do Margaret Mead proud, the subject of the story is “hoarding behavior.” But the poor producer says, “I am having trouble finding anyone like this.”
(Like looking for a registered Republican at the Harvard Faculty Club?) And how about that request to find somebody in Boston, Washington, New York or Chicago? If you’re from, say, the silver mining town of Wallace, Idaho, you need not apply.
Here was my reply: “People who’ve taken their savings out to buy gold and store it or hide it probably don't want to brag about it on NPR.”
“Houston, We Have a Problem”
Remember that line from the movie Apollo 13? “Houston, we have a problem.”
Wow. Do we have a problem in this country, or WHAT? It’s WORSE than Apollo 13. We should be so lucky as to be in a small capsule in the cold of space heading away from Earth toward the moon with almost no oxygen or electrical power. Instead, we’re watching the national currency declining and dying right before our eyes. And the opinion makers of the nation don’t know anybody who owns gold. Amazing!
Meanwhile, Over in Dubai…
Well, the producer could always go find somebody in Dubai. Because from that distant desert kingdom comes word that the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has finished building a state-of-the-art precious metals vault, with world-class tracking and security systems. Think Fort Knox, but in the desert and without the trees and pretty landscaping we see in the hills of Kentucky.
You want “hoarding behavior”? The new vault will become the home for the exchange-traded fund (ETF) of Dubai Gold Securities. Also, “It’s a natural home for the central banks in the region to store their gold in Dubai, rather than in London, where they have typically held their gold,” said a Dubai-based gold dealer INTL Commodities DMCC’s CEO Jeffrey Rhodes. Yep. “Natural home.” (Margaret Mead, call your office!)
A DMCC official stated that the new vault will be used to store precious metals associated with precious metal-based ETFs that are on the drawing boards and scheduled for launch later in 2009. This can only add to worldwide demand for gold and silver, especially from the traditionally gold-friendly Middle East.
Here’s the Bottom Line…
OK, so here’s the bottom line. When the American people realize that the dollar is in for another round of inflation, they’re going to look for a way out. When people envision the future decline in their purchasing power, we’ll see a rush for the monetary exits. It’ll be the “Gold Panic” of 2009, or 2010 or 2011… Whichever year gets the naming rights.
When the reality sinks in, people will flock in droves to physical precious metals (yeah, try to get some!), as well as mining shares. I’m old enough to remember the last time it happened, in the 1970s and early 1980s. And I’ve studied enough history to know it won’t be pretty.
So beat the gold rush! Hoard now!
Until we meet again,
Byron King
Feel free to send your comments to gary@whiskeyandgunpowder.com.
Ultimate control over our lives will come when they tax our breath. At what point will Americans stand up and say "PROVE IT!" to this whole Global Ice Age, I mean Warming, oh no,now it's Climate Change movement? It's all a lie and it's about to become the driving force behind the collapse of the United States.
Gold and the Cap-and-Trade Revolution
Last week, I spent a full day in a seminar on climate change. It was a totally sober and professional seminar, sponsored by a group that specializes in continuing legal education for attorneys. I heard talks by a variety of lawyers, academics and regulators, mostly about how “the train has left the station” on climate change and carbon regulation. And wow…has that train ever steamed out. But did you ever hear the conductor call, “All Aboard?”
This is a critical matter and here’s the takeaway point: We’re about to see an UTTER TRANSFORMATION of the U.S. economy.
Your life will be regulated — directly and surely indirectly — by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), mostly through its powers under the Clean Air Act (CAA). And the parts of your life not regulated by EPA will fall under the jurisdiction of your friendly state or provincial environmental authorities. Many of the policy details will be rounded out via litigation in state and federal courts, mostly initiated by the likes of the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations.
You should expect to see STRICT controls on carbon emissions, via taxes, regulation and outright bans on many energy-using systems. And since 40% of North America’s electricity comes from burning coal, you can plan on having less electric power and on paying much higher electric rates. The utility companies will just pay the fees and costs for cap and trade and pass the bill on to you in your monthly statement, for example.
But it goes beyond just the utility companies writing checks to the government. We’re talking about BIG money, from every nook and cranny of the economy. One panelist compared the amount of money in play with cap and trade to completely rewriting the U.S. tax code. “Just tear up the tax code. Abolish it. Pulverize it so it goes away completely,” he said. “Now, rewrite it to raise even MORE money than before, and do it by taxing energy usage.”
United States of Clean Air Act?
So the CAA — which came about in the early 1970s as a way of fighting smog — is now morphing into the new constitution for the U.S. Really, I’m not exaggerating. I know some of you think I overstate my points every now and then. But I’M NOT KIDDING!
We’re seeing a new “American Revolution.” Except the key players are not exactly Ben Franklin and George Washington and James Madison. In the name of fighting climate change, there is a new class of bureaucrats, regulators and judges who will control your life down to what time you plug in your coffeepot. And with “smart metering,” they’ll know if you leave your water heater on for too long. (“Well,” is the reply, “just get a solar heater for your roof.”)
One university professor who spoke at the seminar said that if the U.S. adopts a per capita approach to sustainable worldwide energy usage — a serious proposal that’s in front of several powerful international bodies — we’ll have to reduce carbon-based energy demand in the U.S. by 97%. Basically, if that happens, the environmental true believers will take the U.S. back to an energy state that existed in the 1850s. No typo. The 1850s.
Heck, the energy future of the U.S. might make the scenes in James Kunstler’s 2008 book World Made By Hand look like a day at the beach.
So you can see why I’m saying you should accumulate gold and silver. And while you’re at it, own those geothermal power producers. They’ll be the gold mines of the future.
The “Axis of Overspending,” Inflation and the Rush to Precious Metals
Why am I banging the drum so hard for precious metals? Well, you must know the drill by now. Government spending is out of control. We have a big-spending Congress in Washington that can’t say no to anything (except the token defense cut, or taking away school vouchers from inner-city kids in the District of Columbia). It’s been going on for way too many years, under both previous and current party management.
Everybody who’s anybody in this country, it seems, gets a permanent, pet government program, if not a large bailout. (Huh? You didn’t get your program or bailout?) How long can it last? I think we’re about to find out.
As Bernie Madoff might say, “Bailout, schmailout.” Still, the axis of overspending leads to inflation. It’s the 1970s redux. And inflation will soon rear its head and roar so loud that even the wizards of Washington will have to admit the obvious.
Washington Is Awakening! But Clueless!
Actually, our betters in Washington are waking up to the issue of inflation and the decline of the dollar. Just yesterday, I received an inquiry asking if I want to appear on a nationally syndicated show that originates from Washington, D.C. (well, Alexandria, Va., to be exact). The audience is Washington people — you know the type — and their intellectual and spiritual kin in “blue spots” across the country.
Here’s the exact inquiry:
“We’re doing a story on hoarding behavior and I am looking for people who have taken some (or all) of their savings out of traditional investments and are now storing money as cash or in the form of physical gold or some other precious metal in a safe or secret place. I am having trouble finding anyone like this. Do any of you know of someone who fits this description, who might be willing to talk to me about it? I am looking for someone in Boston; Washington, D.C.; New York; or maybe Chicago. If anyone has any leads, please let me know!”
Oh, man! That’s rich! Verbatim! Honest to God, I have not edited this inquiry by EVEN ONE WORD! These people are clueless!
The producer wants to interview gold bugs for the show. In an anthropological fashion that would do Margaret Mead proud, the subject of the story is “hoarding behavior.” But the poor producer says, “I am having trouble finding anyone like this.”
(Like looking for a registered Republican at the Harvard Faculty Club?) And how about that request to find somebody in Boston, Washington, New York or Chicago? If you’re from, say, the silver mining town of Wallace, Idaho, you need not apply.
Here was my reply: “People who’ve taken their savings out to buy gold and store it or hide it probably don't want to brag about it on NPR.”
“Houston, We Have a Problem”
Remember that line from the movie Apollo 13? “Houston, we have a problem.”
Wow. Do we have a problem in this country, or WHAT? It’s WORSE than Apollo 13. We should be so lucky as to be in a small capsule in the cold of space heading away from Earth toward the moon with almost no oxygen or electrical power. Instead, we’re watching the national currency declining and dying right before our eyes. And the opinion makers of the nation don’t know anybody who owns gold. Amazing!
Meanwhile, Over in Dubai…
Well, the producer could always go find somebody in Dubai. Because from that distant desert kingdom comes word that the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has finished building a state-of-the-art precious metals vault, with world-class tracking and security systems. Think Fort Knox, but in the desert and without the trees and pretty landscaping we see in the hills of Kentucky.
You want “hoarding behavior”? The new vault will become the home for the exchange-traded fund (ETF) of Dubai Gold Securities. Also, “It’s a natural home for the central banks in the region to store their gold in Dubai, rather than in London, where they have typically held their gold,” said a Dubai-based gold dealer INTL Commodities DMCC’s CEO Jeffrey Rhodes. Yep. “Natural home.” (Margaret Mead, call your office!)
A DMCC official stated that the new vault will be used to store precious metals associated with precious metal-based ETFs that are on the drawing boards and scheduled for launch later in 2009. This can only add to worldwide demand for gold and silver, especially from the traditionally gold-friendly Middle East.
Here’s the Bottom Line…
OK, so here’s the bottom line. When the American people realize that the dollar is in for another round of inflation, they’re going to look for a way out. When people envision the future decline in their purchasing power, we’ll see a rush for the monetary exits. It’ll be the “Gold Panic” of 2009, or 2010 or 2011… Whichever year gets the naming rights.
When the reality sinks in, people will flock in droves to physical precious metals (yeah, try to get some!), as well as mining shares. I’m old enough to remember the last time it happened, in the 1970s and early 1980s. And I’ve studied enough history to know it won’t be pretty.
So beat the gold rush! Hoard now!
Until we meet again,
Byron King
Feel free to send your comments to gary@whiskeyandgunpowder.com.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Can You Find the Stimulus?
Here is a list of the spending package just passed by House Democrats in the name of "stimulus". Keep in mind that this "stimulus" package is intended to supplement the current $3 Trillion budget in order to "jump start" the economic recovery.
So here's the game, go down the list and identify which of the spending items will actually stimulate any economic growth:
So what is in the bill? Umm… what isn’t?
- $275 billion in tax reductions, much of which would be dolled out in the form of tax credits.
- $140 billion to the Education Dept.
- $87 billion to Medicaid.
- $43 billion to increase unemployment benefits.
- Another $43 billion will head over to the Dept. of Energy
- $40 billion for states to do as they please
- $20 billion to food stamp programs
- $30 billion for highway construction.
- Tens of billions more to water infrastructure, parks, housing projects and “military construction.”
- Billions more for sexually transmitted disease prevention, broadband Internet access in rural areas, community-oriented policing services and VA cemetery repair.
True, we haven’t yet arrived at the “toy wooden arrows” level, but the Senate has yet to lay its greasy hands on this bill. Look for them to vote on the matter as early as next week.
Even before the Senate mucks with it, the bill passed by the House yesterday will already cost American taxpayers more than $1.2 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. Why? Because the government doesn’t have any money!
They’ll have to borrow to fund the plan, and interest payments alone will likely exceed $347 billion by the time it’s paid back.
So here's the game, go down the list and identify which of the spending items will actually stimulate any economic growth:
So what is in the bill? Umm… what isn’t?
- $275 billion in tax reductions, much of which would be dolled out in the form of tax credits.
- $140 billion to the Education Dept.
- $87 billion to Medicaid.
- $43 billion to increase unemployment benefits.
- Another $43 billion will head over to the Dept. of Energy
- $40 billion for states to do as they please
- $20 billion to food stamp programs
- $30 billion for highway construction.
- Tens of billions more to water infrastructure, parks, housing projects and “military construction.”
- Billions more for sexually transmitted disease prevention, broadband Internet access in rural areas, community-oriented policing services and VA cemetery repair.
True, we haven’t yet arrived at the “toy wooden arrows” level, but the Senate has yet to lay its greasy hands on this bill. Look for them to vote on the matter as early as next week.
Even before the Senate mucks with it, the bill passed by the House yesterday will already cost American taxpayers more than $1.2 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. Why? Because the government doesn’t have any money!
They’ll have to borrow to fund the plan, and interest payments alone will likely exceed $347 billion by the time it’s paid back.
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