Hundreds of lobbyists for banks and Wall Street, working with Republicans, have been working to block the reform bill currently winding its way through congress.
If ever bank reform is needed it’s now!
But Wall Street has not come to grips with the possibility that if a bill could pass in its current form, Wall Street will be restrained form gambling with our money! So far the banks that were provided Taxpayer assistance to prevent their filing bankruptcy have accumulatively invested more than $9 million to “bribe” congress to fight this bill.
A recent Fox report says, "About 25 Wall Street executives, many of them hedge fund managers, sat down for a private meeting with two of the most powerful Republican lawmakers in Congress: Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and John Cornyn, the senior senator from Texas who runs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, one of the primary fundraising arms of the Republican Party." (View the broadcast) http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/government/street-execs-pols-earful-financial-reform/
The Banks and their lobbyists are aligning themselves with the republican constituent in congress. Believing they are their best hope of watering down a bill that seeks to place them under control.
Under attack appears to be several important areas of concern that the Republicans, under the Banks influence will fight to their death. Those areas are (i) a 50 Billion dollar fund to break up “too big to fail banks” (ii) visibility for the lucrative derivatives market, and (iii) on how to protect consumers and (iv) how to set limits on previously unregulated exotic instruments such as derivatives.
Lobbying spending to block the bill by some of the biggest firms:
JP Morgan Chase & Co.; First quarter, 2010: $1,510,000 First quarter, 2009: $1,310,000 Citigroup: First quarter, 2010: $1,310,000, First quarter, 2009: $1,250,000;
Credit Suisse. First quarter, 2010: $1,190,000, First quarter, 2009: $470,000;
Goldman Sachs First quarter, 2010: $1,150,000, First quarter, 2009: $670,000
Wells Fargo; First quarter, 2010: $1,020,000, First quarter, 2009: $700,000;
Bank of America, First quarter, 2010: $940,000, First quarter, 2009: $820,000,
Morgan Stanley, First quarter, 2010: $810,000, First quarter, 2009: $540,000;
State Street First quarter, 2010: $380,000, First quarter, 2009: $210,000
CNN during a recent panel discussion described the lobbying process on Capitol Hill as the "Blob." Congressional staffers and lobbyists are the ones hashing out the final details of the financial reform bill. These same Congressional staffers and their bosses are indebted to the lobbyists, having accepted tens of millions in campaign contributions. There is absolutely no adversarial relationship on capital hill - everybody is on the same side of the page - and rarely is anybody at the table even an elected official.
Think about this, if the banks and those beholden to them in congress don’t want this bill passed, we do!!!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Legal chicanery and pitch darkness are the banker's stoutest allies.
Its show time again on Capital Hill, but this second round of show and tell won’t cut the muster! It will end as it always has, back to business as usual. Wall Street has gained to large a footprint in congress to be chastised in any meaningful manner. And there is no Ferdinand Pecora to take on the banks.
The hearings, like their counter part in the UK were and are for appearances, to placate rather than prosecute.
This show lacks the credibility of its famous counter part Ferdinand Pecora, and “sadly” there appears to be no real intent to prosecute anyone for anything, and there are a lot of good reasons to bring criminal charges.
What we are witnessing on Capital Hill is a fusillade to give the uneducated observer the appearance that something is going to be done about the banks and their reprehensible behavior. But don’t be misled! It will be back to business as usual as it has since the founding of the banking system. Banks tend to be corrupt, it is in their nature.
This is not the first time the Banks have produced chaos within our economy, and it will no doubt not be the last!
The bankers are involved in every aspect of their business even the agencies that oversee and control them, and from political office and its revolving door. Its always been the fox guarding the chickens, and over seeing other foxes. One has only to look back to the last fiasco the banks engineered to see where we are today.
Pecora launched a real investigation and interviewed such high-profile luminaries as Wall Street personalities Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange, his brother, George Whitney (a partner in J.P. Morgan & Co.) and investment bankers Thomas W. Lamont, Otto H. Kahn, Albert H. Wiggin of Chase National Bank, and Charles E. Mitchell of National City Bank (now Citibank).
Even then Congress was on the payroll of the Morgan interests. But public outrage brought congress to its knees and meaningful regulation was passed. Glass Steagall held the banks in check until Greenspan watered it down on behalf of his real bosses, JP Morgan, and Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. another JP Morgan Company.
In his role at the FED, his primary function was to water down and rescind the Glass Steagall act, which he successfully accomplished.
Pecora's investigation unearthed evidence of irregular practices in the financial markets that benefited the rich at the expense of ordinary investors, (sound familiar?) including exposure of Morgan’s “preferred list” by which the bank’s influential friends (including Calvin Coolidge, the former president, and Owen J. Roberts, a justice of Supreme Court of the United States) participated in stock offerings at steeply discounted rates.
Pecora also revealed that National City sold off bad loans to Latin American countries by packing them into securities and selling them to unsuspecting investors, (as Goldman Sachs now stands accused) that Wiggin had shorted Chase shares during the crash, profiting from falling prices, and that Mitchell and top officers at National City had helped themselves to $2.4 million in interest-free loans from the bank’s coffers.
Pecora's investigations highlighted the contrast between the lives of millions of Americans living in abject poverty and the high-rolling lives of such financiers as J.P. Morgan, Jr.
Under Pecora's insistent questioning, Morgan and many of his partners admitted that they had paid no income tax in 1931 and 1932;
And there were bombshells! New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia’s revelations that a corporate publicist had over a ten-year period stuffed nearly $300,000 in the pocket of various journalists to ensure flattering coverage of certain companies. Today it’s members of Congress that accept money from the powerful Banking contingent.
Ferdinand Pecora, meticulously exposed Wall Street’s role in the crash. His famous inquisition of J.P. ‘Jack’ Morgan Jr., son of the financial titan, revealed the House of Morgan’s control over other financial institutions. There is no difference today, just different faces but the same mindset, and the same exertion of control by the same players. It will never end, until the American people stand up in numbers and say STOP.
The hearings, like their counter part in the UK were and are for appearances, to placate rather than prosecute.
This show lacks the credibility of its famous counter part Ferdinand Pecora, and “sadly” there appears to be no real intent to prosecute anyone for anything, and there are a lot of good reasons to bring criminal charges.
What we are witnessing on Capital Hill is a fusillade to give the uneducated observer the appearance that something is going to be done about the banks and their reprehensible behavior. But don’t be misled! It will be back to business as usual as it has since the founding of the banking system. Banks tend to be corrupt, it is in their nature.
This is not the first time the Banks have produced chaos within our economy, and it will no doubt not be the last!
The bankers are involved in every aspect of their business even the agencies that oversee and control them, and from political office and its revolving door. Its always been the fox guarding the chickens, and over seeing other foxes. One has only to look back to the last fiasco the banks engineered to see where we are today.
Pecora launched a real investigation and interviewed such high-profile luminaries as Wall Street personalities Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange, his brother, George Whitney (a partner in J.P. Morgan & Co.) and investment bankers Thomas W. Lamont, Otto H. Kahn, Albert H. Wiggin of Chase National Bank, and Charles E. Mitchell of National City Bank (now Citibank).
Even then Congress was on the payroll of the Morgan interests. But public outrage brought congress to its knees and meaningful regulation was passed. Glass Steagall held the banks in check until Greenspan watered it down on behalf of his real bosses, JP Morgan, and Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. another JP Morgan Company.
In his role at the FED, his primary function was to water down and rescind the Glass Steagall act, which he successfully accomplished.
Pecora's investigation unearthed evidence of irregular practices in the financial markets that benefited the rich at the expense of ordinary investors, (sound familiar?) including exposure of Morgan’s “preferred list” by which the bank’s influential friends (including Calvin Coolidge, the former president, and Owen J. Roberts, a justice of Supreme Court of the United States) participated in stock offerings at steeply discounted rates.
Pecora also revealed that National City sold off bad loans to Latin American countries by packing them into securities and selling them to unsuspecting investors, (as Goldman Sachs now stands accused) that Wiggin had shorted Chase shares during the crash, profiting from falling prices, and that Mitchell and top officers at National City had helped themselves to $2.4 million in interest-free loans from the bank’s coffers.
Pecora's investigations highlighted the contrast between the lives of millions of Americans living in abject poverty and the high-rolling lives of such financiers as J.P. Morgan, Jr.
Under Pecora's insistent questioning, Morgan and many of his partners admitted that they had paid no income tax in 1931 and 1932;
And there were bombshells! New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia’s revelations that a corporate publicist had over a ten-year period stuffed nearly $300,000 in the pocket of various journalists to ensure flattering coverage of certain companies. Today it’s members of Congress that accept money from the powerful Banking contingent.
Ferdinand Pecora, meticulously exposed Wall Street’s role in the crash. His famous inquisition of J.P. ‘Jack’ Morgan Jr., son of the financial titan, revealed the House of Morgan’s control over other financial institutions. There is no difference today, just different faces but the same mindset, and the same exertion of control by the same players. It will never end, until the American people stand up in numbers and say STOP.
Economic Activity
All indications are that the recession is alive and well, but unfortunately the economy of 49 states and the US isn’t!
While Wall Street, which America now views, in a real life tragedy, as their nemeses, appears to have recovered from their implicit collapse, America is still wallowing in a quagmire of deception.
If we look beyond the plethora of media hyperbole, and go to the source, we find that based on February 2010 economic indicators provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia , which appears to be very reliable. 49 out of the 50 U.S. states are still showing less economic activity than a year ago, That means in short and plain language, that there is “NO” recovery occurring. The Economy is in fact getting worse!
The only state to show an increase of economic activity was North Dakota which with its vestige of a population stands at 633,837. Its February 2010 economic activity was 1.1% higher than February 2009, yet North Dakota is not a prime example of economic growth.
On the plateau cattle graze, and large ranges are an economic necessity. In the northwestern area of the state oil was discovered in 1951, and petroleum is now North Dakota's leading mineral product, ahead of sand and gravel, lime, and salt. There are also natural-gas fields. Underlying the western counties are lignite reserves; close to the lignite beds are deposits of clay of such varied types that they serve as both construction and pottery materials.
Despite mineral production and some manufacturing, agriculture continues to be North Dakota 's principal pursuit, and the processing of grain, meat, and dairy products is vital. North Dakota also has casinos on the Native American Reservations, and their take is still above $577 million annually. In short a small population and a lot of items of value.
The report also states that 28 out of the 50 states exhibited less economic activity in February 2010 than just three months earlier. This means they are still hemorrhaging jobs, and financial resources.
Economic activity is the production and distribution of goods and services. Economic Activity is also correlated with Employment. If unemployment increases than the demand for goods and services decrease, however, if it decreases than on the other hand we have a higher demand for goods and services. This also benefits the triad nations as international business increases between members ( USA , EU & JAPAN).
But the evidence shows that we are still in the midst of a deep and still spiraling recession that has the appearance of getting even worse before it gets any better.
Real economic activity can’t improve without putting America back to work, and we have a long way before that will happen. Estimates are that it may take a decade or two if ever.
While Wall Street, which America now views, in a real life tragedy, as their nemeses, appears to have recovered from their implicit collapse, America is still wallowing in a quagmire of deception.
If we look beyond the plethora of media hyperbole, and go to the source, we find that based on February 2010 economic indicators provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia , which appears to be very reliable. 49 out of the 50 U.S. states are still showing less economic activity than a year ago, That means in short and plain language, that there is “NO” recovery occurring. The Economy is in fact getting worse!
The only state to show an increase of economic activity was North Dakota which with its vestige of a population stands at 633,837. Its February 2010 economic activity was 1.1% higher than February 2009, yet North Dakota is not a prime example of economic growth.
On the plateau cattle graze, and large ranges are an economic necessity. In the northwestern area of the state oil was discovered in 1951, and petroleum is now North Dakota's leading mineral product, ahead of sand and gravel, lime, and salt. There are also natural-gas fields. Underlying the western counties are lignite reserves; close to the lignite beds are deposits of clay of such varied types that they serve as both construction and pottery materials.
Despite mineral production and some manufacturing, agriculture continues to be North Dakota 's principal pursuit, and the processing of grain, meat, and dairy products is vital. North Dakota also has casinos on the Native American Reservations, and their take is still above $577 million annually. In short a small population and a lot of items of value.
The report also states that 28 out of the 50 states exhibited less economic activity in February 2010 than just three months earlier. This means they are still hemorrhaging jobs, and financial resources.
Economic activity is the production and distribution of goods and services. Economic Activity is also correlated with Employment. If unemployment increases than the demand for goods and services decrease, however, if it decreases than on the other hand we have a higher demand for goods and services. This also benefits the triad nations as international business increases between members ( USA , EU & JAPAN).
But the evidence shows that we are still in the midst of a deep and still spiraling recession that has the appearance of getting even worse before it gets any better.
Real economic activity can’t improve without putting America back to work, and we have a long way before that will happen. Estimates are that it may take a decade or two if ever.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Wall Street’s culture of Deception (Part 1)
The unwary investor is made to believe - by a press owned by the very people who are part of the Wall Street scam that they can make a killing in the stock market if they get lucky. Over the years’ “outsiders”, small-time investors have lost billions of dollars to the “insiders” who control and manipulate the stock market.
The small time investor believes that the stock market goes up and down according to what he or she reads in the Wall Street Journal or hears about on their evening NEWS program: interest rates, inflation rates, wholesale prices, gross national product, public fears about foreign and domestic events, and the ranting of the head of the "Federal" Reserve Board.
This is all a game, a con to make the hapless investor believe that the rise and fall in stock prices is not being manipulated by the specialists. The fact is that specialists, working at the largest firms and hedge funds are creating the ups and downs of the market to bring them profits at the expense of the rest of us. In reality it’s the bankers and investment houses against the working class of America, and Congress and the While House allow this SCAM to continue.
This is how the Stock SCAM works
The insider buys stocks at the lowest possible price, using one of the magic tricks of the market called short selling (selling stocks you don't yet own in the hopes that the price will drop, so that you can purchase it back at a lower price; the difference between what you sold it for and what you purchased it back at is your profit): This parable was made famous by John D Rockefeller
That $20 million has to come from somewhere – and it does, it comes from the small investors who didn't have a clue about what was going on.
As an example, the Panamanian-registered Pilgrim Investment Trust, controlled by the Bush family, in April 2000 was about 78% long. By the end of 2000, they were 78% short, and, by the end of 2001, that trust was 98% short. In essentially the same short position was the Houston Energy Trust, another deep offshore Republican trust whose investors include Henry Kissinger, Paul Bremer, James Baker, and George Schultz.
Get the picture.
The small time investor believes that the stock market goes up and down according to what he or she reads in the Wall Street Journal or hears about on their evening NEWS program: interest rates, inflation rates, wholesale prices, gross national product, public fears about foreign and domestic events, and the ranting of the head of the "Federal" Reserve Board.
This is all a game, a con to make the hapless investor believe that the rise and fall in stock prices is not being manipulated by the specialists. The fact is that specialists, working at the largest firms and hedge funds are creating the ups and downs of the market to bring them profits at the expense of the rest of us. In reality it’s the bankers and investment houses against the working class of America, and Congress and the While House allow this SCAM to continue.
This is how the Stock SCAM works
The insider buys stocks at the lowest possible price, using one of the magic tricks of the market called short selling (selling stocks you don't yet own in the hopes that the price will drop, so that you can purchase it back at a lower price; the difference between what you sold it for and what you purchased it back at is your profit): This parable was made famous by John D Rockefeller
- Since they control the stock prices, they simply begin lowering the prices
- They "borrow" the stock from their or another brokerage firm's pool, with the understanding that at a later date they will return the shares
- The Wall Street Con Game News will announce that stock prices dropped sharply on light trading, which is a cover for the insiders' actual manipulation of the decrease in stock prices. The Insiders don't want heavy trading and straight-line lowering of stock prices, else they might have to buy a lot of stock at a higher price than desired. So they usually lower prices through a series of ups and downs of the market, dealing with small investors' shares as they go.
- The SEC rules prohibit NYSE members from "demoralizing the market by effecting short sales at or below a price lower than that of the last sale." But insiders have an “insider loophole” allowing them to sell short on downticks (drops in stock prices) without having to report these transactions as short sales. Those same SEC rules force the unsuspecting, small-time investor to sell short only on upticks - when stock prices are higher than the last preceding price. This is a very neat scam, and small time investors aren’t even aware that they have been had.
- They will wait until the stock prices reach a top price where they can realize windfall profits - let's say the stock reaches the price of $40 a share.
- At this point the insiders sell their million shares at $40 a share and receive $40,000,000. A profit of $20 million is easy if the con game is fixed in your favor.
That $20 million has to come from somewhere – and it does, it comes from the small investors who didn't have a clue about what was going on.
As an example, the Panamanian-registered Pilgrim Investment Trust, controlled by the Bush family, in April 2000 was about 78% long. By the end of 2000, they were 78% short, and, by the end of 2001, that trust was 98% short. In essentially the same short position was the Houston Energy Trust, another deep offshore Republican trust whose investors include Henry Kissinger, Paul Bremer, James Baker, and George Schultz.
Get the picture.
Wall Street’s culture of Deception (Part 2)
Bank Stock Value Manipulation:
We are now aware of Lehman Bros SCAM, where they would hide billions of dollars of bad debts by selling them prior to a required reporting period and buy them back directly after the report was filed. This is known now as end-of-quarter balance sheet manipulation, the purpose was to trick investors into thinking the Bank or investment house was less leveraged than it was.
This was a form of stock value manipulation, which is illegal! It also constitutes FRAUD on the investors, who would have sold their stock had they known the truth. It is concealing the true nature and value of the company and of its stock value.
Now as it turns out, almost of all of Wall Street is based on this same phony perception, having been caught using this same Ploy, Bank of America now claims there is nothing wrong with concealing in this manner its bad assets. We respectfully disagree!
Comparing Bank of America's "average quarterly assets" and "end of quarter assets" found that, in each quarter, billions of dollars of assets conveniently disappeared briefly at the end of the quarter, only to return again at the start of the next one.
Like Lehman, Bank of America found some legal loophole in some country somewhere that allowed them to momentarily hide tens of billions of dollars of assets somewhere where Wall Street wouldn't see them. And, naturally, Bank of America thinks it's perfectly acceptable: We believe this has been a common practice on Wall Street for sometime
For those that don’t know Repo 105, Lehman Bros asset disappearance program, it was a sale and repurchase agreement by which Lehman parked about 50 billion in assets (presumably assets they did not want to discuss) overnight via a repo transaction so they would not appear on the balance sheet. Who the counter party was has still not been disclosed.
But unfortunately the Lehman executives do have one point. Repo 105 type balance sheet faking was “an old trick” and well known to anyone who cared to read balance sheets (very) carefully.
With BoA they did the very same thing, the end period assets were always lower than the average assets. Moreover it was not obvious unless you really looked because the quarterly earnings releases did not include average assets (but you could work it out because they stated return on average assets.
Bank of America was parking its assets off balance sheet at the end of every quarter for some time and had been obscuring the fact.
There must be a Counterparty
If Bank of America wanted to shove the assets off balance sheet someone (credit worthy) needed to be found to house the assets overnight. There are not that many parties credit worthy for $50 billion or more of overnight repos.
Well BoA found such a willing participant the counterparty was MUFJ. If you look you can see – the same way that MUFJ had end period assets higher than average assets and that the differences and timing roughly match. Someone had to assist BofA in its financial manipulation and that was MUFJ. MUFJ stands for (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group)
About MUFJ
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFJ), incorporated on April 2, 2001, they are a holding company for The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU), Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB), Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co., Ltd. (MUS), Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS Co., Ltd. (Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS), and other subsidiaries.
Through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, MUFG engages in a range of financial operations, including commercial banking, investment banking, trust banking and asset management services, securities businesses, and credit card businesses, and provides related services to individual and corporate customers. In July 2008, BTMU acquired 49.375% interest in JALCARD, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. In November 2008, BTMU completed the acquisition of all the interest in UnionBanCal Corporation (UNBC), and as a result, UNBC became a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of MUFG.
The Company manages the underwriting of debt and equity instruments for large corporations. It also provides arrangement services relating to private placements primarily for medium-sized enterprise issuers and institutional investors. The Company advises on financing methods to meet various financing needs, including loans with derivatives, corporate bonds, commercial paper, asset-backed securities, securitization programs and syndicated loans. It also offers a range of products to meet fund management needs, such as deposits with derivatives, government bonds, debenture notes and investment funds. It also offers swaps, options and other risk-hedge programs to customers.
Well this is just the second Scam uncovered in the series, stay tuned.
We are now aware of Lehman Bros SCAM, where they would hide billions of dollars of bad debts by selling them prior to a required reporting period and buy them back directly after the report was filed. This is known now as end-of-quarter balance sheet manipulation, the purpose was to trick investors into thinking the Bank or investment house was less leveraged than it was.
This was a form of stock value manipulation, which is illegal! It also constitutes FRAUD on the investors, who would have sold their stock had they known the truth. It is concealing the true nature and value of the company and of its stock value.
Now as it turns out, almost of all of Wall Street is based on this same phony perception, having been caught using this same Ploy, Bank of America now claims there is nothing wrong with concealing in this manner its bad assets. We respectfully disagree!
Comparing Bank of America's "average quarterly assets" and "end of quarter assets" found that, in each quarter, billions of dollars of assets conveniently disappeared briefly at the end of the quarter, only to return again at the start of the next one.
Like Lehman, Bank of America found some legal loophole in some country somewhere that allowed them to momentarily hide tens of billions of dollars of assets somewhere where Wall Street wouldn't see them. And, naturally, Bank of America thinks it's perfectly acceptable: We believe this has been a common practice on Wall Street for sometime
For those that don’t know Repo 105, Lehman Bros asset disappearance program, it was a sale and repurchase agreement by which Lehman parked about 50 billion in assets (presumably assets they did not want to discuss) overnight via a repo transaction so they would not appear on the balance sheet. Who the counter party was has still not been disclosed.
But unfortunately the Lehman executives do have one point. Repo 105 type balance sheet faking was “an old trick” and well known to anyone who cared to read balance sheets (very) carefully.
With BoA they did the very same thing, the end period assets were always lower than the average assets. Moreover it was not obvious unless you really looked because the quarterly earnings releases did not include average assets (but you could work it out because they stated return on average assets.
Bank of America was parking its assets off balance sheet at the end of every quarter for some time and had been obscuring the fact.
There must be a Counterparty
If Bank of America wanted to shove the assets off balance sheet someone (credit worthy) needed to be found to house the assets overnight. There are not that many parties credit worthy for $50 billion or more of overnight repos.
Well BoA found such a willing participant the counterparty was MUFJ. If you look you can see – the same way that MUFJ had end period assets higher than average assets and that the differences and timing roughly match. Someone had to assist BofA in its financial manipulation and that was MUFJ. MUFJ stands for (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group)
About MUFJ
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFJ), incorporated on April 2, 2001, they are a holding company for The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU), Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB), Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co., Ltd. (MUS), Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS Co., Ltd. (Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS), and other subsidiaries.
Through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, MUFG engages in a range of financial operations, including commercial banking, investment banking, trust banking and asset management services, securities businesses, and credit card businesses, and provides related services to individual and corporate customers. In July 2008, BTMU acquired 49.375% interest in JALCARD, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. In November 2008, BTMU completed the acquisition of all the interest in UnionBanCal Corporation (UNBC), and as a result, UNBC became a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of MUFG.
The Company manages the underwriting of debt and equity instruments for large corporations. It also provides arrangement services relating to private placements primarily for medium-sized enterprise issuers and institutional investors. The Company advises on financing methods to meet various financing needs, including loans with derivatives, corporate bonds, commercial paper, asset-backed securities, securitization programs and syndicated loans. It also offers a range of products to meet fund management needs, such as deposits with derivatives, government bonds, debenture notes and investment funds. It also offers swaps, options and other risk-hedge programs to customers.
Well this is just the second Scam uncovered in the series, stay tuned.
The Gods of Finance speak softly but carry a big “Carpet Bag”
Wall Street appears primed to surpass even the carpetbaggers of the 1860”s and 70’s with the number of foreclosures actually occurring and yet in the works.
During the civil war Reconstruction Period (1865-1870) many people from the Northern States went south because it was so pitiable that there were many opportunities for a person with even a little money.
For example you could own a farm with hundreds of acres by paying the past due taxes, often as little as $25. The carpet bags these men carried were laden with money.
Those Opportunities attracted all sorts of people, from honest hard working farmers, to crooks, charlatans, con artist and of course crooked politicians, and bankers. All these outsiders were (identified by their Carpetbag) and were called “Carpetbaggers”, then and still, in many parts of the south.
Probably the worst Carpetbaggers were the politicians who used their positions in the corrupt Reconstruction Government to enrich themselves through bribes, graft and other contemptible acts at the expense of native Southerners.
Today the dictionary defines a Carpetbagger as “an outsider involved in politics”. And appropriate describes the Wall Street Titans, who no longer carrying their identifiable carpet bag still lavish their money on politicians and control the US Congress and even the White House!
These new Carpet baggers now control every facet of the US Economy, they own more than 7 million private residences, which they have foreclosed, and they are in the process of foreclosing on another 8 million and there are still some 15 million directly behind these.
Through their corruption they have divested the states of their ability to support government by reducing the tax roles and the numbers of employed, and have driven the US government to the verge of bankruptcy, yet these same carpet baggers provide themselves a life of luxury with grandeur and bonuses that are surreal in a lifestyle that most of us could only live in a dream.
The carpet baggers were evil in the 1860’s and they are more evil today!
Yet in the midst of this evil the American people want and deserve to reform a system that has always been corrupt. A movement is afoot in congress but as always the carpet baggers will prevail and no meaningful legislation will pass. To insure this failure according to the Center for Responsive Politics, JP Morgan Chase spent $1.5 million on lobbying during the first quarter of the year, Citigroup spent $1.4 million and Goldman Sachs spent $1.15 million –
Lobbying is a legal form of bribery!
Reasonable people might ask: Why all the worry?
Today most Americans are inclined to see Wall Street as they are a predatory and all-devouring reprobate. That is all but those who are on the banks payroll as are a substantial part of Congress.
During the civil war Reconstruction Period (1865-1870) many people from the Northern States went south because it was so pitiable that there were many opportunities for a person with even a little money.
For example you could own a farm with hundreds of acres by paying the past due taxes, often as little as $25. The carpet bags these men carried were laden with money.
Those Opportunities attracted all sorts of people, from honest hard working farmers, to crooks, charlatans, con artist and of course crooked politicians, and bankers. All these outsiders were (identified by their Carpetbag) and were called “Carpetbaggers”, then and still, in many parts of the south.
Probably the worst Carpetbaggers were the politicians who used their positions in the corrupt Reconstruction Government to enrich themselves through bribes, graft and other contemptible acts at the expense of native Southerners.
Today the dictionary defines a Carpetbagger as “an outsider involved in politics”. And appropriate describes the Wall Street Titans, who no longer carrying their identifiable carpet bag still lavish their money on politicians and control the US Congress and even the White House!
These new Carpet baggers now control every facet of the US Economy, they own more than 7 million private residences, which they have foreclosed, and they are in the process of foreclosing on another 8 million and there are still some 15 million directly behind these.
Through their corruption they have divested the states of their ability to support government by reducing the tax roles and the numbers of employed, and have driven the US government to the verge of bankruptcy, yet these same carpet baggers provide themselves a life of luxury with grandeur and bonuses that are surreal in a lifestyle that most of us could only live in a dream.
The carpet baggers were evil in the 1860’s and they are more evil today!
Yet in the midst of this evil the American people want and deserve to reform a system that has always been corrupt. A movement is afoot in congress but as always the carpet baggers will prevail and no meaningful legislation will pass. To insure this failure according to the Center for Responsive Politics, JP Morgan Chase spent $1.5 million on lobbying during the first quarter of the year, Citigroup spent $1.4 million and Goldman Sachs spent $1.15 million –
Lobbying is a legal form of bribery!
Reasonable people might ask: Why all the worry?
Today most Americans are inclined to see Wall Street as they are a predatory and all-devouring reprobate. That is all but those who are on the banks payroll as are a substantial part of Congress.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
An illusion of recovery, is still an illusion
The illusion of recovery has stimulated a false sense of confidence in a segment of our society, that group of us who renounce common sense in favor of mob rule. They are being led to the slaughter just as surely as cattle, and they just as often don’t realize it.
The stock market is out of whack with earnings and real value, it is being played with a hope and prayer, and as such, it is primed to take down thousands of small investors when those minions on Wall Street, who control it, reverse their play and begin to short sell.
The market is a bubble set to implode just as surely as the real estate bubble imploded only a short while ago.
Yes consumers are spending, but it is only a temporary binge, 7.8 million Americans have stopped making their mortgage payments in lieu of buying what they have foregone over the past two years. They will inevitably stop.
There will be NO real recovery until Americans find work, and that is not expected for at least a generation, yet to be born.
The stock market has become a remnant of a past time in America when fortunes were made, it is now a relic of an era that no longer exists, except in hope and prayers of those who have no connection and remain on the outside looking in.
The stock market is out of whack with earnings and real value, it is being played with a hope and prayer, and as such, it is primed to take down thousands of small investors when those minions on Wall Street, who control it, reverse their play and begin to short sell.
The market is a bubble set to implode just as surely as the real estate bubble imploded only a short while ago.
Yes consumers are spending, but it is only a temporary binge, 7.8 million Americans have stopped making their mortgage payments in lieu of buying what they have foregone over the past two years. They will inevitably stop.
There will be NO real recovery until Americans find work, and that is not expected for at least a generation, yet to be born.
The stock market has become a remnant of a past time in America when fortunes were made, it is now a relic of an era that no longer exists, except in hope and prayers of those who have no connection and remain on the outside looking in.
Time out for common sense
The Fed and their economists and the media are reporting that we are in a recovery mode, merchants are selling products and consumers are spending money, and overall we are up 1%. Based on this information a stock market bubble has expanded, potentially ruining thousands of investors when this new bubble deflates abruptly.
And it will!
Common sense dictates that while we are given positive information, and especially where the government is concerned, there is always a flip side to analyze. That is unless you enjoy being led once again to the slaughter.
The Flip Side
The FED also reports that the job market hasn’t improved and remains at 9.7 percent, which equates to more than 17.3 million people still looking for a job. Yes we hear about the 162 thousands jobs created, such hyperbole has not gone unchallenged, the flip side was that another 430,000 new filings for unemployment also occurred at the same time.
Additionally the government acknowledges that there are 8.9 million borrowers currently in default, and facing foreclosure.
Economist further estimate that a percent of these 8.9 million homeowners that are in default are spending money in aid of the economy because they aren’t making their mortgage payments, and the figure, they believe represents 1% increase in consumer spending, coincidence?
Ok, time to use common sense, that sound judgment we were all born with.
Given the real facts, it is obvious there is NO recovery, but the illusion of a recovery which is based of a false assumption. When we see real jobs being created, and that number MUST exceed 300,000 net jobs a month then we can say a real recovery has begun.
And it will!
Common sense dictates that while we are given positive information, and especially where the government is concerned, there is always a flip side to analyze. That is unless you enjoy being led once again to the slaughter.
The Flip Side
The FED also reports that the job market hasn’t improved and remains at 9.7 percent, which equates to more than 17.3 million people still looking for a job. Yes we hear about the 162 thousands jobs created, such hyperbole has not gone unchallenged, the flip side was that another 430,000 new filings for unemployment also occurred at the same time.
Additionally the government acknowledges that there are 8.9 million borrowers currently in default, and facing foreclosure.
Economist further estimate that a percent of these 8.9 million homeowners that are in default are spending money in aid of the economy because they aren’t making their mortgage payments, and the figure, they believe represents 1% increase in consumer spending, coincidence?
Ok, time to use common sense, that sound judgment we were all born with.
Given the real facts, it is obvious there is NO recovery, but the illusion of a recovery which is based of a false assumption. When we see real jobs being created, and that number MUST exceed 300,000 net jobs a month then we can say a real recovery has begun.
FDIC accused of seizing Washington Mutual to enhance JP Morgan
Washing Mutual former executive Kerry Killinger has accuses the FDIC of seizing the company to enhance JP Morgan, and not because the savings and loan was insolvent.
Killinger appearing before a congressional committee investigating the financial crisis (the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations) charged regulators unfairly seized the thrift in September 2008.
Killinger stated that, while the company had suffered from rising loan losses, Wamu was working its way through the financial crisis, even as Morgan and many other banks were doing.
On September 25, 2008, JPMorgan Chase & Co bought WaMu's banking operations from regulators for $1.9 billion. Everyone has prompted that the sale was grossly undervalued in Morgan’s favor, even as Washington Mutual was solvent.
If this is true, JP Morgan Chase got the "steal" of a lifetime while WaMu shareholders and bondholders were wiped out.
Reports that have surfaced after the seizure and sale provoke an image of FDIC collusion in the seizure of WaMu.. The largest S and L has since been proven to have been solvent at the time of its seizure, and had plenty of cash on hand, even more than the FDIC requires.
An interesting side note:
Just six business days after the seizure of WaMu, the government initiated a $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, (TARP) and an increase in bank deposit insurance limits to $250,000 from $100,000, a move that helped stop panic withdrawals at all banks.
The government also refused, despite pleas from WaMu executives, to put WaMu on a list of banks in which short-selling of stock was prohibited. That decision contributed to a downward spiral of the stock price, which mirrored dwindling confidence in the bank. Other banks were placed on the list, why not the largest?
It appears that the seizure and sale of WaMu to Morgan, was a gift or payoff or? We just don’t know what for, yet! Stay tuned for the next episode!
Killinger appearing before a congressional committee investigating the financial crisis (the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations) charged regulators unfairly seized the thrift in September 2008.
Killinger stated that, while the company had suffered from rising loan losses, Wamu was working its way through the financial crisis, even as Morgan and many other banks were doing.
On September 25, 2008, JPMorgan Chase & Co bought WaMu's banking operations from regulators for $1.9 billion. Everyone has prompted that the sale was grossly undervalued in Morgan’s favor, even as Washington Mutual was solvent.
If this is true, JP Morgan Chase got the "steal" of a lifetime while WaMu shareholders and bondholders were wiped out.
Reports that have surfaced after the seizure and sale provoke an image of FDIC collusion in the seizure of WaMu.. The largest S and L has since been proven to have been solvent at the time of its seizure, and had plenty of cash on hand, even more than the FDIC requires.
An interesting side note:
Just six business days after the seizure of WaMu, the government initiated a $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, (TARP) and an increase in bank deposit insurance limits to $250,000 from $100,000, a move that helped stop panic withdrawals at all banks.
The government also refused, despite pleas from WaMu executives, to put WaMu on a list of banks in which short-selling of stock was prohibited. That decision contributed to a downward spiral of the stock price, which mirrored dwindling confidence in the bank. Other banks were placed on the list, why not the largest?
It appears that the seizure and sale of WaMu to Morgan, was a gift or payoff or? We just don’t know what for, yet! Stay tuned for the next episode!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Banks have made every excuse not to help borrowers stay in their home
Four major banks have made every excuse not to help borrowers stay in their home, but this excuse will make your day.
First we need to understand the real problem!
Beginning around 2003 every bank began to make creative loans. Loans that they knew would never be repaid. They created ARM and option ARM loans, no doc loans and like the military, don’t ask and don’t tell loans, these were also no qualifying loans, stated loans, and if you were breathing you got a loan.
In fact one potential borrower actually had a heart attack while signing his mortgage papers, and the first question from the borrower when they were advised of the incident, “did he sign the loan docs”
In short it didn’t matter whether the borrower was even alive as long as the docs were signed the deal would be funded.
Washington Mutual even loaned money to an unlawful immigrant making $900.00 a month, he was financed for a $616,000 mortgage in southern California
But even better, New Century Mortgage actually loaned several million to a prison inmate in Colorado based on a no qualifying loan
All of these loans were sold up line to companies like JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Deutsch Bank. The loans were then securitized as mortgage backed securities and packaged into trusts where they were sold to anxious investors. However, since all these banks knew the loans were in reality NO good they opted to take out insurance. These policies came in two different formats, one was a derivative now known as a Credit Default Swap, the other was a standard form of default insurance.
Most borrowers were placed in ARM type of loans, ARM is an acronym for Adjustable Rate Mortgage.
By 2007 when these rates began to adjust upward, borrowers began a systematic default. That was when the banks began their ferocious bout of foreclosures.
Between 2007 and 2010 we can only speculate on the number of properties the banks have taken back. Why, because sufficient information to make a tally is being withheld. However we can approximate that number to have been realistically more than 7million. We do know that currently 7.9 million homes are seriously behind with their payments. And from information released recently another 15 million are right behind this group.
Ok now you have the picture.
The banks created the problem, and just about every bank was on the verge of collapse, they borrowed from the FED and they borrowed from us, the US taxpayer to stay afloat.
The Federal government came to the banks rescue, providing $787bn in funds, to bail out the entire financial community and the Federal Government failed to attach, as they usually do, any strings to these funds.
Who is suffering? All of America!
The banks used their own appraisers to establish the then current home Value, those appraisals were inflated because the banks wanted to loan as much as they could, the more they loaned the more they made.
The true value of the property was obscured by the appraisal, and without doubt most all properties were at least 30% to 40% over appraised.
As borrowers sought help from the banks, they found themselves speaking to deaf ears. No one was listening, and no one at the banks even cared, instead the Banks, began a systemic liquidation of the property through the foreclosure process. In short, the banks foreclosed on so many homes in such a short time that they actually ran down the values of these properties below their norm.
All the borrowers were asking for was some help and some decency and integrity, they found none. Instead borrowers were foreclosed, many were then sued for a deficiency and if there was a second mortgage, which there was in most cases, they sued for breach of contract. These punitive acts on the part of the banks forced hundreds of thousands of borrowers into bankruptcy, currently there are some 6,000 filings a day.
Now we understand what happened, we understand who created this financial disaster, and we would expect that after bailing out the major banks, that\ they would reciprocate. But alas, that is not their agenda.
Obama has come up with several plans, yet none have been a success. The banks don’t want to keep borrowers in their homes, they want those homes. Apparently it is more profitable for the bank to foreclose than to help the borrower. Evidence of this has become apparent when we look at the FDIC sales agreement with these banks that are now deemed “too big to fail”
Now for the part that you have been waiting for!
JP Morgan, Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America feel that to reduce the mortgage amount on home loans for borrowers currently behind, or in fact to offer any help to borrowers, is not in the best interest of those who are making their payments. Consumers they say, who are paying their mortgages on time, are likely to see such reductions as unfair. In short, these illustrious banks would continue to take the homes away from the very people they defrauded. And they will continue to come up with excuse after excuse for not offering any real help. That is unless forced to help, and sadly the likelihood of that in this administration is a far fetched illusion.
First we need to understand the real problem!
Beginning around 2003 every bank began to make creative loans. Loans that they knew would never be repaid. They created ARM and option ARM loans, no doc loans and like the military, don’t ask and don’t tell loans, these were also no qualifying loans, stated loans, and if you were breathing you got a loan.
In fact one potential borrower actually had a heart attack while signing his mortgage papers, and the first question from the borrower when they were advised of the incident, “did he sign the loan docs”
In short it didn’t matter whether the borrower was even alive as long as the docs were signed the deal would be funded.
Washington Mutual even loaned money to an unlawful immigrant making $900.00 a month, he was financed for a $616,000 mortgage in southern California
But even better, New Century Mortgage actually loaned several million to a prison inmate in Colorado based on a no qualifying loan
All of these loans were sold up line to companies like JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Deutsch Bank. The loans were then securitized as mortgage backed securities and packaged into trusts where they were sold to anxious investors. However, since all these banks knew the loans were in reality NO good they opted to take out insurance. These policies came in two different formats, one was a derivative now known as a Credit Default Swap, the other was a standard form of default insurance.
Most borrowers were placed in ARM type of loans, ARM is an acronym for Adjustable Rate Mortgage.
By 2007 when these rates began to adjust upward, borrowers began a systematic default. That was when the banks began their ferocious bout of foreclosures.
Between 2007 and 2010 we can only speculate on the number of properties the banks have taken back. Why, because sufficient information to make a tally is being withheld. However we can approximate that number to have been realistically more than 7million. We do know that currently 7.9 million homes are seriously behind with their payments. And from information released recently another 15 million are right behind this group.
Ok now you have the picture.
The banks created the problem, and just about every bank was on the verge of collapse, they borrowed from the FED and they borrowed from us, the US taxpayer to stay afloat.
The Federal government came to the banks rescue, providing $787bn in funds, to bail out the entire financial community and the Federal Government failed to attach, as they usually do, any strings to these funds.
Who is suffering? All of America!
The banks used their own appraisers to establish the then current home Value, those appraisals were inflated because the banks wanted to loan as much as they could, the more they loaned the more they made.
The true value of the property was obscured by the appraisal, and without doubt most all properties were at least 30% to 40% over appraised.
As borrowers sought help from the banks, they found themselves speaking to deaf ears. No one was listening, and no one at the banks even cared, instead the Banks, began a systemic liquidation of the property through the foreclosure process. In short, the banks foreclosed on so many homes in such a short time that they actually ran down the values of these properties below their norm.
All the borrowers were asking for was some help and some decency and integrity, they found none. Instead borrowers were foreclosed, many were then sued for a deficiency and if there was a second mortgage, which there was in most cases, they sued for breach of contract. These punitive acts on the part of the banks forced hundreds of thousands of borrowers into bankruptcy, currently there are some 6,000 filings a day.
Now we understand what happened, we understand who created this financial disaster, and we would expect that after bailing out the major banks, that\ they would reciprocate. But alas, that is not their agenda.
Obama has come up with several plans, yet none have been a success. The banks don’t want to keep borrowers in their homes, they want those homes. Apparently it is more profitable for the bank to foreclose than to help the borrower. Evidence of this has become apparent when we look at the FDIC sales agreement with these banks that are now deemed “too big to fail”
Now for the part that you have been waiting for!
JP Morgan, Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America feel that to reduce the mortgage amount on home loans for borrowers currently behind, or in fact to offer any help to borrowers, is not in the best interest of those who are making their payments. Consumers they say, who are paying their mortgages on time, are likely to see such reductions as unfair. In short, these illustrious banks would continue to take the homes away from the very people they defrauded. And they will continue to come up with excuse after excuse for not offering any real help. That is unless forced to help, and sadly the likelihood of that in this administration is a far fetched illusion.
Monday, April 12, 2010
7.9 Million Americans have stopped making Mortgage payments!
In the wake of this unprecedented epidemic, the government has no concept how to help the homeowner, instead the Obama administration comes up with one empty program after another, and none have worked!
Why? Because they were not intended to!
This administration has gone out of its way to help the banks foreclose on America. Providing a bailout for the financial sector, without the taxpayers or the borrowers in mind, as such we have already witnessed over 7 million properties taken over by bankers, and now we see the possibility that another 7.9 million are about to go, and right behind them is anticipated to be another 15 million homes.
The rate of foreclosure is currently accelerating faster than lenders are capable of going through the process to take them back. It currently takes well over a year, in some cases nearly two years, to go from missing a payment to being foreclosed and evicted.
As this article is written, 7.9 almost 8 million borrowers have stopped making payments to their lender, instead they are spending what they perceive to otherwise be dead money, paying in essence for what many believe to be a dead horse.
In most areas of the country borrowers are figuratively speaking, under water with their loans, in Las Vegas alone, the most severely damaged city in America more than 81% of borrowers are upside down. On any given street there are between 2 and 4 homes already foreclosed, and “vacant”
This 2 year period gives the borrower ample time to purchase items that their mortgage payments had otherwise prevented. Accordingly we are witnessing a new thinking process as borrowers are retiring other forms of debt, and acquire things they otherwise could not afford.
On the bright side, this could help to generate a sort of financial recovery on the back of the banks who created the problem -- they may inadvertently be helping to solve it.
Why? Because they were not intended to!
This administration has gone out of its way to help the banks foreclose on America. Providing a bailout for the financial sector, without the taxpayers or the borrowers in mind, as such we have already witnessed over 7 million properties taken over by bankers, and now we see the possibility that another 7.9 million are about to go, and right behind them is anticipated to be another 15 million homes.
The rate of foreclosure is currently accelerating faster than lenders are capable of going through the process to take them back. It currently takes well over a year, in some cases nearly two years, to go from missing a payment to being foreclosed and evicted.
As this article is written, 7.9 almost 8 million borrowers have stopped making payments to their lender, instead they are spending what they perceive to otherwise be dead money, paying in essence for what many believe to be a dead horse.
In most areas of the country borrowers are figuratively speaking, under water with their loans, in Las Vegas alone, the most severely damaged city in America more than 81% of borrowers are upside down. On any given street there are between 2 and 4 homes already foreclosed, and “vacant”
This 2 year period gives the borrower ample time to purchase items that their mortgage payments had otherwise prevented. Accordingly we are witnessing a new thinking process as borrowers are retiring other forms of debt, and acquire things they otherwise could not afford.
On the bright side, this could help to generate a sort of financial recovery on the back of the banks who created the problem -- they may inadvertently be helping to solve it.
Friday, April 9, 2010
It’s time to look in the mirror and witness what we have become
The moment of truth has arrived from a perspective we would never have imagined, an Apache helicopter over Iraq. Recent revelations in the form of Video footage, provides a dismal and stark reality of what America now stands for, we kill the innocent without provocation, children, women, and even news reporters, and there appears to be no one big enough or strong enough or with the resolve to stand against us. So we march to ourselves in a melodrama of our own creation.
We have become a nation insensitive to death and killing, whether hunting deer, or wolves, from a helicopter and now humans! This has become the reality of war and a blemish on the soul of humankind.
In July 2007 soldiers aboard an Apache helicopter shot and killed 12 people, among the dead were two reporters from Reuters News Agency and two children. They were no threat! But this was not uncommon. Reports of random killings of civilians are boundless, and had almost risen to a level of sport.
It was an unprovoked slaughter!
It was a defining moment for us, and we failed that test. On Monday, April 5, Wikileaks.org posted video of this haunting footage from Iraq. The footage has been authenticated by our own Military
War is not a game; it is also not a time for the opportunistic slaughter of the innocents. Surely we are responsible for crimes that are equated to those against humanity, and surely we must answer to them before some forum.
Iraq was a war of choice, and based on the grandest of frauds we have bought a nation by design.
We have become a nation insensitive to death and killing, whether hunting deer, or wolves, from a helicopter and now humans! This has become the reality of war and a blemish on the soul of humankind.
In July 2007 soldiers aboard an Apache helicopter shot and killed 12 people, among the dead were two reporters from Reuters News Agency and two children. They were no threat! But this was not uncommon. Reports of random killings of civilians are boundless, and had almost risen to a level of sport.
It was an unprovoked slaughter!
It was a defining moment for us, and we failed that test. On Monday, April 5, Wikileaks.org posted video of this haunting footage from Iraq. The footage has been authenticated by our own Military
War is not a game; it is also not a time for the opportunistic slaughter of the innocents. Surely we are responsible for crimes that are equated to those against humanity, and surely we must answer to them before some forum.
Iraq was a war of choice, and based on the grandest of frauds we have bought a nation by design.
Obama Gives Due Process a New Meaning
Since the founding of our republic due process has meant an established course for judicial proceedings or other governmental activities designed to safeguard the legal rights of the individual. These safeguards comport with our constitutional provisions regarding criminal procedure and are found in Amendments IV, V, VI, and VIII.
When an official of government becomes a judge, a jury and an executioner, there has been no justice, and therefore No Due Process. This has now become the state of our law.
President Obama, who is himself an attorney, has authorized our CIA to assassinate an American citizen without providing this individual his day in court, indeed this is a very dangerous precedent.
Anwar al-Awlaki, is a Muslim cleric, born in New Mexico US, he is an American Citizen by birth. He stands accused of having ties to al-Qaeda in Yemen and links to two attacks inside the United States last year.
Awlaki may stand accused of these crimes but has not been convicted in any court of law, indeed he has not even been tried in absentia. The CIA has added Awlaki to a growing list of about two dozen people targeted for assassination. Several are Americans.
Both Bush and Obama have justified these lethal policies under what they perceive to be “the laws of war” which they premise allows them to use lethal force against enemy combatants. However, Enemy combatant is a term historically referring to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. But Awlaki has not been personally involved in attacks against either American’s or our interests, neither has he been involved in armed confrontations with US or NATO forces. So to apply this term against Awlaki may be an abuse of a political discretion and policy.
Of concern is that these death lists may be used to kill individuals far from any battlefield or when they are not presenting an immediate threat.
As for Awlaki, it is also unclear what intelligence exists that would justify CIA and military forces to hunt him down and kill him without any judicial review.
In February, constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley, who has become a champion of Civil rights, offered his opinion, “American citizens have the same protections whether on US soil or not”, pointing to Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1 (1957),
This round of assassinations is yet another thorn prodding the American psyche. It is a dangerous precedent and should not be employed except as a last resort, and then only in an unusual circumstance with undisputed, verified and collaborated evidence.
The danger that emanates from this policy is that any American may be placed on this list even while living in the US, merely because he speaks out against government policy, this is not China or Russia, this is the United States, and so far we retain that right to descent.
As far as political expediency this is truly a step back through that portal leading to a medieval time, and the end result will be the creation of another Martyr eliciting more anger toward the US.
When an official of government becomes a judge, a jury and an executioner, there has been no justice, and therefore No Due Process. This has now become the state of our law.
President Obama, who is himself an attorney, has authorized our CIA to assassinate an American citizen without providing this individual his day in court, indeed this is a very dangerous precedent.
Anwar al-Awlaki, is a Muslim cleric, born in New Mexico US, he is an American Citizen by birth. He stands accused of having ties to al-Qaeda in Yemen and links to two attacks inside the United States last year.
Awlaki may stand accused of these crimes but has not been convicted in any court of law, indeed he has not even been tried in absentia. The CIA has added Awlaki to a growing list of about two dozen people targeted for assassination. Several are Americans.
Both Bush and Obama have justified these lethal policies under what they perceive to be “the laws of war” which they premise allows them to use lethal force against enemy combatants. However, Enemy combatant is a term historically referring to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. But Awlaki has not been personally involved in attacks against either American’s or our interests, neither has he been involved in armed confrontations with US or NATO forces. So to apply this term against Awlaki may be an abuse of a political discretion and policy.
Of concern is that these death lists may be used to kill individuals far from any battlefield or when they are not presenting an immediate threat.
As for Awlaki, it is also unclear what intelligence exists that would justify CIA and military forces to hunt him down and kill him without any judicial review.
In February, constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley, who has become a champion of Civil rights, offered his opinion, “American citizens have the same protections whether on US soil or not”, pointing to Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1 (1957),
This round of assassinations is yet another thorn prodding the American psyche. It is a dangerous precedent and should not be employed except as a last resort, and then only in an unusual circumstance with undisputed, verified and collaborated evidence.
The danger that emanates from this policy is that any American may be placed on this list even while living in the US, merely because he speaks out against government policy, this is not China or Russia, this is the United States, and so far we retain that right to descent.
As far as political expediency this is truly a step back through that portal leading to a medieval time, and the end result will be the creation of another Martyr eliciting more anger toward the US.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
How do we get America moving again?
17.3 million Americans need jobs.
Vacant storefronts abandoned and often shuttered homes and schools tell the story of the economy in real life 3rd dimension.
Wherever we go from one coast to another, this is the reality for many towns and cities across America , a nation no longer reminiscent of its better days, a nation of shrinking tax rolls and migration.
For many and for generations yet to come, there will be a different face peering out from the murky windows, staring as in a translucent state of amnesia
We as a nation have been in a decline since the 1980’s but is was so gradual a decline that we didn’t notice until the fan turned brown from our splattered remnants.
And now that we see the picture that has so assiduously unfolded, how do we as a people get out from under this elegantly conceived effrontery to not only us, but to a lifestyle that made us a great people?
Yes America was forced to transition, to pick up roots planted while the nation appeared to be on a forward momentum, but that roll wasn’t a boom and prosper roll, at least not for us.
We were used, we had become, somehow in the darkness and shadows, the mere pawns of those who consider themselves the elite of our society, and we as a people now at the hands of a government that has joined in league with them, have found ourselves without recourse to recover the government we had believed was ours.
Instead we find ourselves at the mercy of a street in New York , where the enterprises of capitalism have abandoned American principles and churned from democracies ashes a new form of governance, and it is not one with our assent.
However, there is something that remains more pressing to our society; can we yet emerge from this creative captivity unscathed?
In common parlance, what America needs is jobs, and there is one concept that may work, a return to a form of isolationism, but in trade only.
It is suggested that for America to recover, drastic measures are required, and are offered for consideration in this article:
First; no imports would be allowed unless we as a society require them, as such oil would be allowed, while all manufactured items would not. Whether it would be autos or clothing or appliances, they would be disallowed.
Second; our large corporations will be required to open plants in America and to hire Americans or their products would be denied sales in the US .
Third; these multinational corporations would be taxed 90 percent on all goods manufactured and sold abroad, giving them incentive to reverse the trend begun under the Reagan/Bush administration which promoted the exit of jobs and businesses in America in favor of a service oriented society.
And finally: there will be no additional bailouts for the financial sector, if they lose our money again they will like any other criminal be dealt with in a similar fashion.
Vacant storefronts abandoned and often shuttered homes and schools tell the story of the economy in real life 3rd dimension.
Wherever we go from one coast to another, this is the reality for many towns and cities across America , a nation no longer reminiscent of its better days, a nation of shrinking tax rolls and migration.
For many and for generations yet to come, there will be a different face peering out from the murky windows, staring as in a translucent state of amnesia
We as a nation have been in a decline since the 1980’s but is was so gradual a decline that we didn’t notice until the fan turned brown from our splattered remnants.
And now that we see the picture that has so assiduously unfolded, how do we as a people get out from under this elegantly conceived effrontery to not only us, but to a lifestyle that made us a great people?
Yes America was forced to transition, to pick up roots planted while the nation appeared to be on a forward momentum, but that roll wasn’t a boom and prosper roll, at least not for us.
We were used, we had become, somehow in the darkness and shadows, the mere pawns of those who consider themselves the elite of our society, and we as a people now at the hands of a government that has joined in league with them, have found ourselves without recourse to recover the government we had believed was ours.
Instead we find ourselves at the mercy of a street in New York , where the enterprises of capitalism have abandoned American principles and churned from democracies ashes a new form of governance, and it is not one with our assent.
However, there is something that remains more pressing to our society; can we yet emerge from this creative captivity unscathed?
In common parlance, what America needs is jobs, and there is one concept that may work, a return to a form of isolationism, but in trade only.
It is suggested that for America to recover, drastic measures are required, and are offered for consideration in this article:
First; no imports would be allowed unless we as a society require them, as such oil would be allowed, while all manufactured items would not. Whether it would be autos or clothing or appliances, they would be disallowed.
Second; our large corporations will be required to open plants in America and to hire Americans or their products would be denied sales in the US .
Third; these multinational corporations would be taxed 90 percent on all goods manufactured and sold abroad, giving them incentive to reverse the trend begun under the Reagan/Bush administration which promoted the exit of jobs and businesses in America in favor of a service oriented society.
And finally: there will be no additional bailouts for the financial sector, if they lose our money again they will like any other criminal be dealt with in a similar fashion.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Report for March 2010 is flawed.
March 2010: the facts; 17.3 million Americans remain out of work
In March The Government reports that Nonfarm payroll employment increase by 162,000, (and we will discuss this below), yet the number of unemployed persons was little changed at 15.0 million, while the unemployment rate remained constant at 9.7 percent.
However there are another 2.3 Million Americans that are not counted as they are classified as “marginally attached to the labor force” bringing the real unemployment total to 17.3 million, and over 10%.
Marginally attached means: These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
Temporary help services and health care did add jobs over the month. Employment in federal government also rose, reflecting the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010, some 48,000. Employment however declined in the financial and the information sector.
The picture is not as colossal as one would like to see, when we consider that 40,000 jobs that were added were part time, and another 48,000 were also part time government jobs, and two sectors shed a total of 33,000 jobs. If there was a gain it was a very small gain of only 41,000, but even that is disputed by a more reliable report from the ADP Employer Services report which is unbiased, gives a different picture, it showed today that employers actually shed another 23,000 jobs in March, who do you believe?
The Labor department states: Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (10.0 percent), adult women (8.0 percent), teenagers (26.1 percent), whites (8.8 per-cent), blacks (16.5 percent), and Hispanics (12.6 percent) showed little or no change in March. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) increased by 414,000 over the month to 6.5 million. In March, 44.1 percent of unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.
The civilian labor force participation rate (64.9 percent) and the employment-population ratio (58.6 percent) continued to edge up in March.
The number of persons working part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) increased to 9.1 million in March. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.
About 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in March, compared with 2.1 million a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
Among the marginally attached, there were 1.0 million discouraged workers in March, up by 309,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.
Labor Department Survey Data
Temporary help services added 40,000 jobs in March. Since September 2009, temporary help services employment has risen by 313,000.
Employment in health care continued to increase in March (27,000), with the largest gains occurring in ambulatory health care services (16,000) and in nursing and residential care facilities (9,000).
In March, employment in mining increased by 8,000. Monthly job gains in mining have averaged 6,000 over the past 5 months.
Employment in federal government was up over the month, reflecting the hiring of 48,000 temporary workers for the decennial census, and additional employees for other government agencies.
Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in March (17,000); the industry has added 45,000 jobs in the first 3 months of 2010. Over the month, job gains were concentrated in fabricated metal products (9,000) and in machinery (6,000).
Employment in construction held steady (15,000) in March. The industry had lost an average of 72,000 jobs per month in the prior 12 months.
Over the month, employment changed little in transportation and warehousing, leisure and hospitality, retail trade, and wholesale trade, where the majority of job losses have occurred.
In March, financial activities shed 21,000 jobs, with the largest losses occurring in insurance carriers and related activities (-9,000). Employment in the information industry decreased by 12,000, as did retail.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was up by 0.1 hour to 34.0 hours in March. The manufacturing workweek for all employees increased by 0.2 hour to 39.9 hours, and factory overtime was up by 0.1 hour over the month. In March, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.2 hour to 33.3 hours.
In March, average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $22.47, following a 4-cent gain in February. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.8 percent. In March, average hourly earnings of private production and nonsupervisory employees fell by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $18.90.
American Jobs that have gone to China.
Between 2001 and 2008, 2.4 million jobs were lost or displaced with losses occurring in every Congressional district. (Note - This does not include service industry job losses, and does not include indirect job losses which would multiply the total by 5.)
Since 2001 we have lost (to China) more tech jobs than manufacturing jobs! -- We lost 628,000 tech jobs -26 percent of all jobs displaced by trade- between 2001 and 2008.
The main advantages China uses to its advantage are:
1) Currency manipulation. China "pegs" its currency at a very low, or "weak" rate, so goods from China cost up to 40% less than they otherwise should.
2) Labor-rights suppression has lowered manufacturing wages of Chinese workers by 47% to 86%.
3) There is massive direct government subsidization of export production in many key industries.
4) China allows environmental degradation that ends up affecting all of us.
5) Intellectual property theft and piracy mean that American products that could be sold are stolen instead.
6) China has a number of policies that block U.S. firms from market access
In March The Government reports that Nonfarm payroll employment increase by 162,000, (and we will discuss this below), yet the number of unemployed persons was little changed at 15.0 million, while the unemployment rate remained constant at 9.7 percent.
However there are another 2.3 Million Americans that are not counted as they are classified as “marginally attached to the labor force” bringing the real unemployment total to 17.3 million, and over 10%.
Marginally attached means: These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
Temporary help services and health care did add jobs over the month. Employment in federal government also rose, reflecting the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010, some 48,000. Employment however declined in the financial and the information sector.
The picture is not as colossal as one would like to see, when we consider that 40,000 jobs that were added were part time, and another 48,000 were also part time government jobs, and two sectors shed a total of 33,000 jobs. If there was a gain it was a very small gain of only 41,000, but even that is disputed by a more reliable report from the ADP Employer Services report which is unbiased, gives a different picture, it showed today that employers actually shed another 23,000 jobs in March, who do you believe?
The Labor department states: Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (10.0 percent), adult women (8.0 percent), teenagers (26.1 percent), whites (8.8 per-cent), blacks (16.5 percent), and Hispanics (12.6 percent) showed little or no change in March. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.5 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) increased by 414,000 over the month to 6.5 million. In March, 44.1 percent of unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.
The civilian labor force participation rate (64.9 percent) and the employment-population ratio (58.6 percent) continued to edge up in March.
The number of persons working part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) increased to 9.1 million in March. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.
About 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in March, compared with 2.1 million a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
Among the marginally attached, there were 1.0 million discouraged workers in March, up by 309,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.
Labor Department Survey Data
Temporary help services added 40,000 jobs in March. Since September 2009, temporary help services employment has risen by 313,000.
Employment in health care continued to increase in March (27,000), with the largest gains occurring in ambulatory health care services (16,000) and in nursing and residential care facilities (9,000).
In March, employment in mining increased by 8,000. Monthly job gains in mining have averaged 6,000 over the past 5 months.
Employment in federal government was up over the month, reflecting the hiring of 48,000 temporary workers for the decennial census, and additional employees for other government agencies.
Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in March (17,000); the industry has added 45,000 jobs in the first 3 months of 2010. Over the month, job gains were concentrated in fabricated metal products (9,000) and in machinery (6,000).
Employment in construction held steady (15,000) in March. The industry had lost an average of 72,000 jobs per month in the prior 12 months.
Over the month, employment changed little in transportation and warehousing, leisure and hospitality, retail trade, and wholesale trade, where the majority of job losses have occurred.
In March, financial activities shed 21,000 jobs, with the largest losses occurring in insurance carriers and related activities (-9,000). Employment in the information industry decreased by 12,000, as did retail.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was up by 0.1 hour to 34.0 hours in March. The manufacturing workweek for all employees increased by 0.2 hour to 39.9 hours, and factory overtime was up by 0.1 hour over the month. In March, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.2 hour to 33.3 hours.
In March, average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls fell by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $22.47, following a 4-cent gain in February. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.8 percent. In March, average hourly earnings of private production and nonsupervisory employees fell by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $18.90.
American Jobs that have gone to China.
Between 2001 and 2008, 2.4 million jobs were lost or displaced with losses occurring in every Congressional district. (Note - This does not include service industry job losses, and does not include indirect job losses which would multiply the total by 5.)
Since 2001 we have lost (to China) more tech jobs than manufacturing jobs! -- We lost 628,000 tech jobs -26 percent of all jobs displaced by trade- between 2001 and 2008.
The main advantages China uses to its advantage are:
1) Currency manipulation. China "pegs" its currency at a very low, or "weak" rate, so goods from China cost up to 40% less than they otherwise should.
2) Labor-rights suppression has lowered manufacturing wages of Chinese workers by 47% to 86%.
3) There is massive direct government subsidization of export production in many key industries.
4) China allows environmental degradation that ends up affecting all of us.
5) Intellectual property theft and piracy mean that American products that could be sold are stolen instead.
6) China has a number of policies that block U.S. firms from market access
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Obama and the Titanic
The current administration has hit an ice berg and placed Middle Class America in the steerage section of the Titanic
For most of America it feels like April 15, 1912, that’s the date the Titanic hit an ice berg in the Atlantic and within hours went down taking 1,517 people with it. But this time an entire nation could go down and when America sinks it will take practically the entire world with it. The question is no longer if, but when.
Regardless of the lucidity of the administration’s propaganda, we as a nation have been struck by an ice berg and we are sinking, audibly drowning in an abyss of debt.
While the Obama administration helped the large banks step into the life boats, our citizens were relegated to the lower lever steerage where lifeboats were not available.
Yes the banks have rebounded, and yes they will continue financing their cluster of relationships, rewarding those who have allowed the impenitent greed that surrounds Wall Street to go on, even while Middle Class America struggles to hold onto the remnants of a broken ship’s bowl.
We are told that everything is rosy and America is moving ahead, yet the unemployment figures (11 million unemployed) don’t reflect those sentiments. Neither does the current bankruptcy filings (6,000 a day).
The current US Debt is a staggering 12 .6 trillion and growing, at the rate of $4.02 billion per day
Inflation and depreciation of our currency is an inevitable as the looming debt crisis, even as the stock market is overvalued and an adjustment is also eminent.
It’s time to put on the life jacket!
For most of America it feels like April 15, 1912, that’s the date the Titanic hit an ice berg in the Atlantic and within hours went down taking 1,517 people with it. But this time an entire nation could go down and when America sinks it will take practically the entire world with it. The question is no longer if, but when.
Regardless of the lucidity of the administration’s propaganda, we as a nation have been struck by an ice berg and we are sinking, audibly drowning in an abyss of debt.
While the Obama administration helped the large banks step into the life boats, our citizens were relegated to the lower lever steerage where lifeboats were not available.
Yes the banks have rebounded, and yes they will continue financing their cluster of relationships, rewarding those who have allowed the impenitent greed that surrounds Wall Street to go on, even while Middle Class America struggles to hold onto the remnants of a broken ship’s bowl.
We are told that everything is rosy and America is moving ahead, yet the unemployment figures (11 million unemployed) don’t reflect those sentiments. Neither does the current bankruptcy filings (6,000 a day).
The current US Debt is a staggering 12 .6 trillion and growing, at the rate of $4.02 billion per day
Inflation and depreciation of our currency is an inevitable as the looming debt crisis, even as the stock market is overvalued and an adjustment is also eminent.
It’s time to put on the life jacket!
Nobody will bail out America
Regardless of the Stock Market bubble and the reports that “attempt” to paint the economy in a favorable light, financially we are close to the tipping point from where there is no return.
America's swelling long-term debt, which is increasing daily, is close to passing that point, the "tipping point" that could trigger soaring interest rates and a plummeting dollar, that could trigger a "global depression," and we are about there!
The U.S. is facing $50 trillion in unfunded liabilities and around $62 trillion in total long-term debt, how can we pull out of the maze this administration has created? Simply we can’t!
What's ultimately at stake, Americans' faith in government and our standard of living!
Both may collapse unless we can find some 12 million jobs immediately, and that likelihood of that is untenable.
America has reached its pinnacle. We cannot assuage this tremendous debt this administration has burdened us with unless we have a tax base, but a realistic tax base. That means getting America back to work.
Even more importantly, these extravagant wars of choice are draining the economy, and financed through deficits, but enhancing the large corporate structure that surrounds the military Industrial War Complex.
Since 2001, to date, the total cost of war that has been allocated by Congress is $1.05 trillion, with $747.3 to Iraq and $299 to Afghanistan. The numbers include both military and non-military spending such as reconstruction.
These expenditures include only incremental costs, those additional funds that are expended due to the war. For example, soldiers' regular pay is not included but combat pay is included. Potential future costs, such as future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war, are not included. These numbers do not account for the wars being deficit-financed or that taxpayers will need to make additional interest payments on the national debt due to these deficits.
But the war is a hands’ off topic, even aware that these wars of choice have made America and Americans and the World less safe.
When Obama took office he had a choice, a fork in the road, to the right were initiatives to put America to work, to end these wars, and make peach in the world, and to the left was health care, although both were a necessary goal the agenda should have involved each road, and not just the one to the left. While congress and the President invested a full year attempting to author a Health Care Bill, that has already met with challenges and surely will fail, America still requires jobs, and an end to foreign hostilities.
But even more, aside from needing jobs, Americans require help to retain their homes.
While the government bailed the Banks out, it left Main Street America to fall on its face.
30 million Americans are underemployed, another 9 million are unemployed, The Bank REO’S are estimated to be around 7 million, with another 7 million in default and another 15 million potentially ready to walk away. Bankruptcy’s are at 6,000 a day and business failures remain on the rise, and in the end we as a nation have lost faith in our own government, both in its integrity and its ability to solve the issues facing all of us.
In the final analysis, the entire globe is in a similar state, there is no nation that has the ability to bail out America when we fall.
America's swelling long-term debt, which is increasing daily, is close to passing that point, the "tipping point" that could trigger soaring interest rates and a plummeting dollar, that could trigger a "global depression," and we are about there!
The U.S. is facing $50 trillion in unfunded liabilities and around $62 trillion in total long-term debt, how can we pull out of the maze this administration has created? Simply we can’t!
What's ultimately at stake, Americans' faith in government and our standard of living!
Both may collapse unless we can find some 12 million jobs immediately, and that likelihood of that is untenable.
America has reached its pinnacle. We cannot assuage this tremendous debt this administration has burdened us with unless we have a tax base, but a realistic tax base. That means getting America back to work.
Even more importantly, these extravagant wars of choice are draining the economy, and financed through deficits, but enhancing the large corporate structure that surrounds the military Industrial War Complex.
Since 2001, to date, the total cost of war that has been allocated by Congress is $1.05 trillion, with $747.3 to Iraq and $299 to Afghanistan. The numbers include both military and non-military spending such as reconstruction.
These expenditures include only incremental costs, those additional funds that are expended due to the war. For example, soldiers' regular pay is not included but combat pay is included. Potential future costs, such as future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war, are not included. These numbers do not account for the wars being deficit-financed or that taxpayers will need to make additional interest payments on the national debt due to these deficits.
But the war is a hands’ off topic, even aware that these wars of choice have made America and Americans and the World less safe.
When Obama took office he had a choice, a fork in the road, to the right were initiatives to put America to work, to end these wars, and make peach in the world, and to the left was health care, although both were a necessary goal the agenda should have involved each road, and not just the one to the left. While congress and the President invested a full year attempting to author a Health Care Bill, that has already met with challenges and surely will fail, America still requires jobs, and an end to foreign hostilities.
But even more, aside from needing jobs, Americans require help to retain their homes.
While the government bailed the Banks out, it left Main Street America to fall on its face.
30 million Americans are underemployed, another 9 million are unemployed, The Bank REO’S are estimated to be around 7 million, with another 7 million in default and another 15 million potentially ready to walk away. Bankruptcy’s are at 6,000 a day and business failures remain on the rise, and in the end we as a nation have lost faith in our own government, both in its integrity and its ability to solve the issues facing all of us.
In the final analysis, the entire globe is in a similar state, there is no nation that has the ability to bail out America when we fall.
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