Why not steal every penny the rich have and get it over with?....

Yeah, right.

These people have too much time on their hands and nothing between their ears. The fiscal cliff is a political  problem not economic. Promising to balance budgets after giving everybody a check has got the Dems and Republicans in a corner. How do you rob someone you just promised the money to. (GET IT?)

Can't raise taxes, can't cut the defense budget, can't steal my mothers SS check, can't rob my dying wife's Medicare, can't keep robbing school teachers, cops, fireman and every government pension (where do these state governments get matching funds from, hmm!)

Can't steal more from highways and bridges. Can't take welfare, food stamps, unemployment, housing subsidies, can't rob all those foreign governments we own and we have to keep every broke dick's cell phone so what's can we cut? ZIP!! SO:

Gridlock, baby!!!

So, what will they do? Same as last time and the time before that. Plan on slowing the growth 10 years in the future so they can win reelection because the God Damn Republicans won't raise taxes and the God damn Democrats won't cut handouts, right? (Most of these guys are awaren that we can print, borrow, tax or just steal all the money we ever need. Who's going to stop us?)

Now they worry about it.

We allowed the government to own us and now we pay. Not that budget deficits are an economic problem (Proof? We've always had huge budget deficits, right Reaganites? Anyone ever hear of WWII? It used to be we have a Commie under every bed and they wanted us dead because ......!! Now it's fiscal cliffs) but we are creating and perpetuating the right-left civil war because that the path to a cushy job in Washington.. 

As a concerned citizen I've watched America sell it's soul to liars and con artists and like most can't stomach the gang in Washington any longer. So I predict that it ain't going to get any better for either side of the argument as both sides are paid and rewarded to ignore the other and keep the battle going.

Solutions? Kill each other off, separate into two different countries or take the honey pot away.

Killing each other  off sounds good right after a losing election but doesn't address the problem of keeping our empire strong enough to fight off the assholes who want us dead, so, separating into two different countries is not going to happen because the people who own the empire wont even consider it and so that leaves the owners favorite tool: the income tax.

The income tax with special favors for special groups has to go. Nothing gives us more vitriol, favoritism, bribary, corruption and fear than the police state we have created with it. 

But dream on.

A sales tax means budget deficits disappear because it's so easy to adjust the sales tax rate and "soak the rich" and pay for these guys protection (from us, since they own the various governments, they have to worry about being murdered or having their shit stolen by us.)

Then, why vote for these clowns to fight over or protect our paychecks?

Anyways, prepare for "fiscal cliff" terrorism nonsense out of Washington as they play us like a fiddle again because we are all going to move to China if we don't balance the budget by stealing someone's check or assets because the greedy old people wont give up their ill gotten Social Security and dying people will not surrender one penny of their Medicare.

And let's not forget, the greedy rich won't let us steal their shit so we can have free cell phones, Damn it! (You think I'm kidding? Well which part?) 

Now read Santelli and remember his rant on CNBC founded the Tea party. Scared these poor bastards silly over imaginary government deficits. (Hey, I know of people who believe killing non believers in  Allah will get you into heaven so, yes, people will believe just about anything if important people they respect tell them it's true often enough!)

P.S, the last comment on the election the Republican establishment lost. Quit running left wing liars. Give us a Reagan, Bush, Hell even Nixon! (I consider myself the average voter. We don't trust, let alone like,  any of you fuckers!!!)

f | ZeroHedge

With the varied interests of constituents very much in mind, finding a compromise over taxation will be worse than Sisyphean in nature we suspect. CNBC's Rick Santelli offers a strawman, that gets around Norquist's 'pledge' and perhaps provides cover for both parties. The Chicagoan recognizes that what seems like a high-salary to some is very much not to others and suggests instead of focusing on the income, we should focus on the wealth. This is not the first time such a proposition was suggested (as we noted 14 months ago that 'muddle-through' was over and "we are confident, that one way or another, sooner or later, it will be implemented. Namely a one-time wealth tax: in other words, instead of stealth inflation, the government will be forced to proceed with over transfer of wealth") Strawman or not, the fact that Santelli is discussing it (and demurs on whether he has been contacted) means it is on the table...

Bad for Republicans.......

They don't have any muscle now. They blew the elections by nominating a left wing Republican trying to compete with Obama for handouts. They should have beat him badly. Another thing being more like Dems will cost even more jobs in Congress because excluding defense, raising taxes on the rich and not lowering taxes they are screwed. 

The Republicans jumped on the balance the budget movement and are about to become a whig party as everyone wants something for nothing or we don't want any fat cats in  Washington taking our ss INSURANCE or Medicare INSURANCE away from us because we paid for it and they have been robbing it for decades.

The other place to steal the money from is our military benefits that members of  my family gave 20 years to earn. And let's not forget all the teachers, firemen, cops etc. who put their asses on the line for a pension and the people who own our government are trying to eviserate these programs.

Makes you wonder what the working stiff ever did to deserve these people in charge. And no, Oba mama is also part of the gang and gets no slack from me. 

Trust nothing these people say as they reach for your money!

P.S the fiscal cliff is a political problem do to scare mongering and propaganda as all we have to do is pass a sales tax and get rid of the income tax and most of these problems disappear.

Just don't hold your breath!!!

Fiscal cliff forecast: Bad now, worse later - Washington Times

“Even if all of the fiscal tightening was eliminated, the economy would remain below its potential and the unemployment rate would remain higher than usual for some time,” the CBO said. However, the nonpartisan agency went on to say that canceling the looming tax increases and spending cuts due in January would deepen deficits and leave the country less able to handle a major crisis in the future. “If the fiscal tightening was removed, and the policies that are currently in effect were kept in place indefinitely, a continued surge in federal debt during the rest of this decade and beyond would raise the risk of a fiscal crisis … and would eventually reduce the nation’s output and income below what would occur,” the agency analysts said. Enlarge Photo The reports were released as both sides gingerly begin to talk about a way forward on budget matters after this week’s elections.

Told you so.......

The Republicans are worse at picking candidates than the Dems. Talk about losers! At least, as I have been saying, liberalism won.

This is the plan.....

Screwing us out of our money.

P.s Obama wins.

Bill Black: Wall Street Urges Obama to Commit the Great Betrayal « naked capitalism

Wall Street salivates at the prospect of any privatization of social security. This would lead to them being able to charge tens of billions of dollars in fees annually and the banks that administered the privatized program would be systemically dangerous institutions (SDIs) because the consequences of allowing bank failures to cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their retirement savings would require either that all such deposits be federally insured or that the failing banks be bailed out by the federal government. Privatization, therefore, is a convenient fiction. The banks’ profits will be private; any catastrophic losses will be borne by the public. The SDIs’ already massive political power, often exerted through front groups like Third Way,” will burgeon. This article is the first of a two piece series. It shows how Third Way lobbies for Wall Street and is used to discredit Democratic polices. The other piece discusses some of the key flaws in Third Way’s studies. The Wall Street response (via Third Way) to our warning of the Great Betrayal repeats its central assertion that there is no alternative – the safety net must be cut. The Wall Street Wing of the Democratic Party alleges that if Obama wields the knife he will do less damage to the safety net than would Romney. That, of course, does not respond to our point. Once Obama endorses Wall Street’s false claim that the safety net is unsustainable and a grave danger to our economy he legitimizes future Republican assaults on the safety net. Third Way admits that these assaults would wield a chainsaw. Indeed, if Wall Street (via Third Way) is correct that the safety net is destroying our nation’s ability to make productive investments then Republicans should take a chainsaw to the safety net. Third Way, therefore, has implicitly admitted and even supported our analysis.

The rot will not end by any foreseeable election.....

Why even follow the results Tuesday? Oba mama has Wall Street money because he hired and covered their crooked asses.

Bet on Wall Street!

Oba mama should win the electoral college vote no matter what. The only surprise I have is that Romney, a Mormon is doing so well in the south. I'll blame it on Ryan, a deficit hawk, who would shut down the economy just to score political points. (NO budget cuts are ever mentioned because no cuts are coming. Even the idiots in Congress are afraid of the geezers. Remember Catastrophic health care? Google it.)

Or is it because he's a fanatic and believes the nonsense spewed out about budget deficits bankrupting us? (we should live so long!!) 

f | Decline of the Empire

This is just not an America that any of us should want to live in. It is a country whose economic basis is oligarchy, whose political system is authoritarianism, and whose political culture is murderous toward the rest of the world and suicidal in our aggressive lack of attention to climate change. Many will claim that Obama was stymied by a Republican Congress. But the primary policy framework Obama put in place — the bailouts — took place during the transition and the immediate months after the election, when Obama had enormous leverage over the Bush administration and then a dominant Democratic Party in Congress. In fact, during the transition itself, Bush’s Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson offered a deal to Barney Frank, to force banks to write down mortgages and stem foreclosures if Barney would speed up the release of TARP money. Paulson demanded, as a condition of the deal, that Obama sign off on it. Barney said fine, but to his surprise, the incoming president vetoed the deal. Yup, you heard that right...........

Moved back into the mobile.....

I'm moving Patti to Florida the 14th of Nov. for good. I still plan on selling out and joing her as soon as possible. I get a Social Security check in June and can work part time with Walmart if I have to but would perfer starting another business.

We'll see. At least we won't be broke like the last time I moved out of state. And I have a roof over my head which will make a big difference.

Keep you posted.

What part of "we are broke" don't you understand...

Consumers went bust 4 or 5 years ago and haven't fully recovered. Housing is improving and credit card debt has fallen back to much better levels in our households.

Of course, I posted on this several years ago and I'm still right.

BROKE DICKS CAN'T BUY SHIT!!!!

But slowly over the next 6 months to a year, BOOM. The next president will of course get credit for it but it has nothing to do with the politicians other than they propped up the gangsters On Wall Street and the banks that got us into this mess.

Guess what? The next boom will be bigger than last and the next bust will be really ugly. How do I know? Ask yourself, why would anyone change their ways if the last time they committed these crimes you paid the bill and they kept the billions?

Let's not forget who owns our politicians. It ain't me, baby!

f | Decline of the Empire

Credit Donkey carried out a survey of Americans in September, finding that nearly half have no emergency savings. Close to half have no cash savings and are living on the edge of financial disaster, according to a recent CreditDonkey.com survey. While 59% of respondents reported having more than $500 in savings, the other 41% do not have a cash safety net. Well, no surprise there, although there is a definitely possibility that many of these Americans do indeed have over $500 available in case of an emergency—they have 573 dollars and 49 cents. Of course, if you lose your job, or your car breaks down in a serious way, or you have a medical emergency, and you don't have insurance or you've got a high deductible, you are still screwed. $573.49 doesn't go quite as far as it used to But Credit Donkey emphasizes that it's not what you may think. It’s not what you may think: this 41% is made up not only of people living at or below the poverty line. They are also dual-income earners with nice homes, nice cars, nice toys, a 401K retirement savings plan, big mortgages. and big credit card bills. But if they ever get into a bind and need some quick cash — say, because of a car breakdown or an unexpected doctor visit — they don’t have it.

Just when you thought it was safe to vote.....

Don't worry, you won't need your Social Security check, VA check, food stamps, unemployment check, disability check etc. because these guys are going to take them away from you.

Think Oba mama would save you? Jesus, you got to be kidding. Wall Street wants more and more. Even though SS and Medicare are funded by taxes and have surplusesused to hide the true defict amount.

Read that again and figure how cutting these programs running surpluses can lower deficits. No, you can't believe a word these crimi9nals tell you.

You probably heard it hear first, but deficits are always spent on us and are used to finance state expenditures. So, cut them and the states go bankrupt. Just where do these states get the education, highway, medical etc. matching funds?

DUH!!!

Prepare to work underground to make a living because unemployment is here for many years and no one is safe and your total tax bill will be rediculous.

.

Before the Election was Over, Wall Street Won | NationofChange

Before the campaign contributors lavished billions of dollars on their favorite candidate; and long after they toast their winner or drink to forget their loser, Wall Street was already primed to continue its reign over the economy. For, after three debates (well, four), when it comes to banking, finance, and the ongoing subsidization of Wall Street, both presidential candidates and their parties’ attitudes toward the banking sector is similar  – i.e. it must be preserved – as is – at all costs, rhetoric to the contrary, aside. Obama hasn’t brought ‘sweeping reform’ upon the Establishment Banks, nor does Romney need to exude deregulatory babble, because nothing structurally substantive has been done to harness the biggest banks of the financial sector, enabled, as they are, by entities from the SEC to the Fed to the Treasury Department to the White House.

Waste of time is the answer...

The politicians lie and kiss the asses of the people who give them the money. Period. Why vote for rot? Besides, why would anypone want to be a sucker anyways?

Doug Casey's Top Five Reasons Not To Vote | ZeroHedge

Doug: Well, a rational man, which is to say, an ethical man, would almost certainly not vote in this election, or in any other – at least above a local level, where you personally know most of both your neighbors and the candidates. L: Why? Might not an ethical person want to vote the bums out? Doug: He might feel that way, but he'd better get his emotions under control. I've thought about this. So let me give you at least five reasons why no one should vote. The first reason is that voting is an unethical act, in and of itself. That's because the state is pure, institutionalized coercion. If you believe that coercion is an improper way for people to relate to one another, then you shouldn't engage in a process that formalizes and guarantees the use of coercion. L: It's probably worth defining coercion in this context. I know you agree with me that force is ethical in self-defense. A murderer I shoot might feel coerced into accepting a certain amount of hot lead that he did not consent to, but he intended the same, or worse, for me, so the scales are balanced. What you are talking about is forcing innocent, non-consenting others to do things against their wills, like paying taxes that go to pay for military adventures they believe are wrong, etc. Doug: Right. The modern state not only routinely coerces people into doing all sorts of things they don't want to do – often very clearly against their own interests – but it necessarily does so, by its nature. People who want to know more about that should read our conversation on anarchy. This distinction is very important in a society with a government that is no longer limited by a constitution that restrains it from violating individual rights. And when you vote, you participate in, and endorse, this unethical system.

Broke dicks need time or money.....

Depression over as soon as the consumer comes back. Eliminate the debt, give a humongous tax break or send everybody a check.

Done!

PRAGMATIC CAPITALISM – Krugman: Household Debt is the Problem, not the Banking System

Richard Koo’s work where he formally called this idea the “Balance Sheet Recession” and long before we ever came up with Monetary Realism and the importance of understanding why “inside money” rules the monetary roost: “So, the government has a partially correct solution. Not the BEST solution, but it gets to the core of the credit issues. They will essentially trade the bad paper for good paper and it will alleviate many of the pressures on the banks. As I have written here many times the banks are the lifeblood of the system.  I like to think of the banks as the oil in the engine.  If you run out oil the system begins to break down and eventually the engine stops running.  You can’t have a healthy functioning economy if the banks aren’t lending.  Unfortunately, because this won’t fix any problems at the household level it won’t induce any borrowing.  So, it’s a clever way to resolve the banking crisis, however, it doesn’t fix the root of the problem which is at the household level.  So, again I ask – is this a “bailout”?   You bet your ass it is.   Unfortunately, it’s not a bailout of the entire system.  It’s just a bailout of the banking system.  And their problems are merely a symptom of much bigger problems at the household level.”

If only those old bastards would die...

Wouldn't have to cut their checks if they did, right? Isn't that the [lan? After all these rich assholes need our money flowing into their pockets to keep all their standard of living up.

So rob the old and the sick to pay for imaginary deficits, right!

Bill Black: Robert J. Samuelson tries to create a moral panic about deficits « naked capitalism

Samuelson demands the candidates implore the American people to urgently adopt austerity and attack Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. We have known for over 75 years that the key to recovering from a recession is to follow a counter-cyclical fiscal policy that will reduce unemployment. We have long exhibited the wisdom to adopt automatic stabilizers that increase government services and decrease taxes when a recession strikes. What would have happened if Obama had adopted austerity as Berlin imposed austerity on the European periphery?  It would have prevented any recovery, throwing the U.S. into an even more severe recession.  Berlin’s austerity demands have thrown the Eurozone back into a gratuitous recession, increasing the budget deficit in many nations and plunging Greece and Spain into depressions.  Europe has followed Samuelson’s and Ryan’s policy advice and the results have been disastrous.  Samuelson’s and Ryan’s austerity policies violate economic theory, economic history, and a natural experiment in Europe with austerity that has proved catastrophic.  Samuelson, however, makes bizarre odes to Irish austerity, emphasizing the necessity of “persuading ordinary citizens to tolerate austerity (higher unemployment, lower social benefits, [and] heavier taxes) without resorting to paralyzing street protests or

I remember Reagan getting his ass kicked in a debate or two.....

Look where it got him. Beating Obama will take more than pretty talk especially when Social Security and the Defense budget are about to be gutted to satisfy the gang on Wall Street who own our government , but you already knew that didn't you. 

And no, voting wont mount to shit!

So why watch?

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Romney Wins Debate #1 Hands Down; Style Over Substance; Tweedledum vs. Tweedledee

I watched the entire debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney tonight. As an independent voter, I have to say this was not even close. Romney won the debate easily. He was confident, poised, respectful of Obama, and was willing to look at the president instead of the floor. In contrast, president Obama kept looking down, kept shaking his head, and posture-wise seemed as if he was ashamed to be on the stage with Romney. Style Over Substance I still have to ask: Did either candidate really say anything we did not already know? The answer is "not really". Obama kowtowed to unions and teachers. Romney kowtowed to the military. Did anyone expect otherwise?

Huh......No way!!!!......

Hmm. Justice is not blind. One less in the old gene pool, right?

Man dies after live roach-eating contest in Florida | Fox News

MIAMI –  The winner of a roach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms, authorities said Monday. About 30 contestants ate the insects during Friday night's contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles north of Miami. The grand prize was a python. Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach became ill shortly after the contest ended and collapsed in front of the store, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office statement released Monday. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities were waiting for results of an autopsy to determine a cause of death. "Unless the roaches were contaminated with some bacteria or other pathogens, I don't think that cockroaches would be unsafe to eat," said Michael Adams, professor of entomology at the University of California at Riverside, who added that he has never heard of someone dying after consuming roaches. "Some people do have allergies to roaches,"

Which one, if any, of the clowns in Washington will vote for this?

Haven't we heard this nonsense before? The deficits are coming the deficits are coming, global warming will starve the polar bears, the commies are going to take over Hollywood and give us the clap, etc. etc. etc.

Amid anxiety about defense cuts, states brace for the other $500B hit | Fox News

Deadlocked lawmakers and defense contractors alike have been raising alarm about the more than half-trillion dollars in defense cuts poised to take effect starting in January because of Congress' failure to reach a more balanced deficit-reduction deal.  But there's another side to that budget ax that rarely gets mentioned -- another $500 billion in non-defense cuts that could do serious damage to education, research, safety net and other programs.  All those areas would be cut by nearly 8 percent over the next 10 years. Washington has already signaled drastic consequences for the automatic, across-the-board cuts known as sequestration, including the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office which says the cuts could stunt economic growth, increase unemployment and send the country into another recession. But state officials are also living in a state of uncertainty and anxiety over the non-defense cuts, as they consider where to find the money to cover the planned reduction in federal support. “There is a lot of uncertainty,” said Scott B. Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers. “States are waiting to see. And in some cases they might just have to say ‘Sorry, we no longer have any money'” for that program

The scaring the nitwits continues.....

In 50 years the Arctic ice will be gone and the fucking Penguins will take over Miami!!!!!

Only one thing we can do about it....Shoot the little bastards!

P.s polar bears don't live on ice bergs and the Arctic ice has been growing and melting for millions of years and I'll be deader than Hell if fifty years, dumbshit!!

Just think of all the careers invoved with this scare mongering. I remember decent intelligent people arguing with me that if we didn't stop the Commies in 'Nam the little brown fuckers would invade with their Sampans and take over my shitty factory job.

I'm still waiting.

Issues that Obama and Romney Avoid | NationofChange

With the quadrennial presidential election extravaganza reaching its peak, it’s useful to ask how the political campaigns are dealing with the most crucial issues we face. The simple answer is: badly, or not at all. If so, some important questions arise: why, and what can we do about it? There are two issues of overwhelming significance, because the fate of the species is at stake: environmental disaster, and nuclear war. The former is regularly on the front pages. On Sept. 19, for example, Justin Gillis reported in The New York Times that the melting of Arctic sea ice had ended for the year, “but not before demolishing the previous record – and setting off new warnings about the rapid pace of change in the region.” The melting is much faster than predicted by sophisticated computer models and the most recent U.N. report on global warming. New data indicate that summer ice might be gone by 2020, with severe consequences. Previous estimates had summer ice disappearing by 2050.

Don't let the door hit you in the ass....

Yes, there are some real weirdos here and if we can get them to leave I'm all for it. Maybe Nigeria will take them!

Airline to help upset voters leave the U.S. - Washington Times

An airline says it will help voters distraught over backing the losing candidate in next month's presidential contest flee the country — for free. JetBlue Airways' new "Election Protection" promotion allows voters the chance to win a free round-trip ticket to one of the airline's 21 international destinations if the election doesn't go their way. Contestants first must preregister at jetblue.com/electionprotection. After the Nov. 6 results are in, the airline will give away 1,006 roundtrip certificates — that's 2012 seats — to participants whose candidate lost. "We've all heard it said before: if my candidate does not win, I'm leaving the country," said Marty St. George, senior vice president of marketing and commercial strategy for JetBlue. "Fun is one of our five founding values, and in this spirit, we decided to give people a chance to recover from the political noise and follow through on their claim to skip town if their candidate comes up short."

Hey, did you know that Romney and Obama are having a debate?

Yawn!!!!

Another buyer for the Mobile...

Sounds pretty positive that the mobile is sold but "show me the money!" Should know by Thursday.

Though a little early.... I told you so.....

It will be much closer than this poll but Romney is nor setting the woods on fire with his own base, as I  oredicted. He still needs a lot help as the economy is pickinmg up.

But as far as policies go, not much will get done until Congress becomes an issue of  single party control. You can't get anything done without 60 votes in the Senate.

Like gun control or ripping off our Social Security so aty least 2 and probably more like 6 years before anything changes in Wahington.

Obama widens lead, confidence against Romney - Washington Times

DENVER — President Obama has opened a sizable lead over Mitt Romney in polling ahead of the election as both Democrats and Republicans are increasingly convinced that he is going to win re-election, according to The Washington Times/Zogby Poll released Sunday. In the latest poll, Mr. Obama drew 49.7 percent support while the Republican nominee garnered 41.1 percent. The previous Times/Zogby polls showed the race a dead heat — including just before the national party conventions, when they were tied with 45.7 percent of the vote each. Even with third-party candidates added to the mix, the results barely changed.

Got another promotion today...

First Wally World offers me overnight cashier for a hundred bucks more a week then they offer me back up cashier manager for another raise.

Must be my my good looks and pleasing personality, right? LOL.......

Patti's on short term disability and will get her first Social Security check in March. I really don't want her to go to Florida but she can't handle the cold damp weather here and I can't work and take care of her properly by myself. Which puts me in a tough spot. Lonely if I can't sell out and go to Florida in the next few months.

We plan on driving the van to California after stopping at her sister Maggies in Vegas and then head for  Mary's place in Southern Cal for Turkey day. I guess my son-in-law, Miguel wants to fly out and drive Patti to Florida because our van is equipt with Patti's power chair and ramp and she is practically helpless without it I'll fly home, I guess.

At least her back is better after all that suffering last winter. So, I'll stay in the trailer or back in the mobile this winter and get everything taken care of as money is tight and no one is buying much. I still have a few bills to take care of and can't afford to leave Walmart and lose our insurance until Patti get Medicare in February.

Let alone I have a heart condition and still might beat her to the grave. Of course, if that happens she hits the jackpot in insurance to pay for her hospice care she's doomed to need.

keep you posted. 

Buyer crapped out....

That's two flakes so far.....

Have a buyer for the Mobile....

She comes up tomorrow to look at it. I think I have a sale but we'll see. She already cleared it with my landlord so all she has to do is come up with 5000 down and we are hjomeless again, LOL.

The numbers don't lie.....

Politicians and government suck holes, yes, numbers no. Until the consumer is made whole the economy is in DEPRESSION!!!

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: ECRI's Lakshman Achuthan Says US in Recession Now; That Makes Three of Us

Ironically, two consecutive horrendous household surveys following months of weak regional Fed manufacturing surveys was enough for me to say on September 7, 2012 Yes, Virginia, It's a Recession. Quick Notes About the Unemployment Rate US Unemployment Rate -.2 to 8.1% This month the number of people employed fell by 119,000. In the last two months, the number of people employed fell by 314,000! In the last year, the civilian population rose by 3,695,000. Yet the labor force only rose by 971,000. This month the Civilian Labor Force fell by 368,000. Last month, those "not" in the labor force increased by 348,000 to 88,340,000, another record high. This month we set another record high with a whopping 581,000 dropping out of the labor force. If you are not in the labor force, you are not counted as unemployed. In the last year, those "not" in the labor force rose by 2,723,000 Over the course of the last year, the number of people employed rose by 2,347,000. Participation Rate fell .02 to 63.5%; There are 8,031,000 workers who are working part-time but want full-time work, a decrease of 215,00. This one the only bright spot in the report. Long-Term unemployment (27 weeks and over) was 5.033 million a decline of 152,000 (likely an artifact of the decline in the labor force). Were it not for people dropping out of the labor force, the unemployment rate would be well over 11%. Over the past several years people have dropped out of the labor force at an astounding, almost unbelievable rate, holding the unemployment rate artificially low. Some of this was due to major revisions last month on account of the 2010 census finally factored in. However, most of it is simply economic weakness. In response to that weakness the Fed responded with P

This would help us all....

Remember that most oil drilling is on PUBLIC LAND and the people supposidly own it. Where's our check???

Alaskans to get $878 each in yearly oil wealth payout - Washington Times

Buy an iPhone 5 or replace the leaky rain gutters? Splurge or save? Ah, the tough choices that befall Alaskans every year when they get their dividend checks from the state’s oil savings account just for living here. State officials said Tuesday that eligible Alaskans will receive $878 this year. That’s significantly less than last year’s dividend of $1,174, which was the smallest since 2006. The payout will be distributed Oct. 4. Like others surveyed in rural parts of the state, Sina Takafua, from the northernmost town of Barrow, plans to use her first-ever AlaskaPermanent Fund dividend to pay bills. That way, she said, she can free up paychecks from her job at the local fur shop and get her Christmas shopping done early. Some of her customers, on the other hand, are going for some warmth — and style. They’re already pre-ordering parkas made of caribou, wolverine and other furs. “They’re waiting for their PFD to pay for them,” said Ms. Takafua, who moved to Alaska from Maui, Hawaii, with her two sons in 2010. Her husband joined the family later, so he’s not yet eligible for a dividend, as they are. New residents must live in Alaska for one c

Makes my point, doesn't he?.......

The consumer is broke. Too many bad loans he has to pay and pay and can't buy or borrow more. Either we have a debt jubilee or a big check to all consumers instead of bombing little brown people and supporting the leeches in Washington and on Wall Street the mess continues.

Guest Post: If You Want to Help the Poor and the Middle Class, Encourage Deflation | ZeroHedge

What the banks and their neofeudal enforcer the Federal Reserve want is for households to become poorer but more heavily indebted. They don’t want households to be able to afford more goods and services--they want households to have to borrow more money to buy more goods and services because issuing more loans is how banks make huge profits. Politicians love bank profits as much as the banks because they collect tens of millions of dollars in contributions (in more honest terms, bribes) from the banks. Politicians don’t care if 90% of American households get poorer every year thanks to inflation created by the Federal Reserve: the 1/10th of 1% live in a completely separate world than the 99.9%. The banks and their politician partners love inflation because it lines their pockets with tens of billions of dollars in profit. They have worked very hard to convince the 99.9% that inflation is good and deflation is bad, but it’s simply not true. Inflation is a slow, continual theft that robs the hard-working productive members of society and transfers the wealth to the banks and their crony lapdogs, the politicians and lobbyists. Banks and the Federal Reserve hate deflation because people can buy more goods and services without borrowing money to do so. If the Federal Reserve’s nightmare comes true and deflation occurs, something else happens that the banks fear and loathe: marginal borrowers default on all their debts. Rather than being easier to pay, the debts become more difficult to pay as money gains value. Marginal borrowers no longer get the “boost” of inflation, so they increasingly default on their loans. How is it bad for hopelessly over-indebted, overleveraged households to default on all their debt and get a fresh start? Exactly why is that bad? What is the over-indebted household losing other than a lifetime of debt-serfdom, stress and poverty?

Someone else who agrees with me...

The rot is deep and no one can do anything about it.

The Next Crisis Will Be Ten Times Bigger « Stop the Lying

If we don’t come to understand the underlying reasons for the current crisis and enact real reform of Wall Street and the banks and get big corporate money out of our elections we face a future that is truly frightening. (Yes, corporate money — total revenues of the 500 largest American corporations are 1,000 times larger than all our unions’ resources combined). There is still time to act, but we must realize that our congress on its own is not going to enact meaningful regulation of Wall Street and the banks, their biggest campaign contributor and lobbying force. Pressure for reform must come from our citizens working together outside of our traditional political parties and governmental representatives. There is no question that big banks working closely with and paying off our elected representatives to remove regulations on the books caused the current crisis and much of the current government operating deficit. It is unfair to ask American workers to stay on the job past 70 years of age to solve this financial problem as they didn’t cause it. Similarly, it makes no sense to ask average American taxpayers to step up and bail out bank creditors at 100 cents on the dollar as it was these creditors who agreed to take this repayment risk and received the rewards over time in increased interest payments from financing these corrupt banks. Americans cannot just ignore this problem and hope it goes away. Luckily, there are things we can do like cutting the defense budget (over a trillion dollars annually once you add in the costs of our intelligence services and the Department of Homeland Security) back to its level of just fifteen years ago which will save close to $700 billion a year. But first we must limit the lobbying power of the defense industry.

Pretty obvious what's going on at the Fed...

Desperate.

The banks have millions of bad loans. As I've posted several years ago, until these loans "disappear" from the books the banks are toast. And since they are owned pretty much by the people who own or governemnt they have priority.

What puts the screws to this is that the consumer is still bankrupt and can't borrow. Those of us who can are tapped out and are paying off old loans.  And since our economy revolves around borrowing and few are taking up the slack who needs banks? 

Is this rocket science? 

So what happens? We collectively pay off the debts and resume our middle class lifestyles. We then can borrow. When we borrow we create jobs. Leading to more borrowing. Leading to more job creating.

And that leads to full employment.

Why hasn't it happened? Too many people are bust and can't find a job that will pay the bills and leave enough left over,, called discretionary income, to buy and borrow to create these jobs.

For instance, firing cops, teachers, fireman, or not hiring them in the first place means that my Wamart's sales go down and the store cuts my hours and can't hire new people. What the Hell's wrong with this picture?

But it's the fraud that isn't being addressed. The gang in Washington will continue to bail out the banks because that's where the money is coming from. The same gang for the last 30 years  has got us in this mess and we will stay in this mess until the jails are full of big shots.

In the meantime, our politicians will argue over whether little rich princess' get free birth control, Romney has too many legal tax breaks, Oba mama is a closet Muslim, paying poor people enough to eat this week is bad for morale, the fast food restaurants are fattening our kids because we are to stupid to feed them nutritious food, oil companies are the enemy because they give us all the gas we need, balancing the budget by stealing geezers SS, VA and Medicare so we can keep killing little brown fuckers who can't find Jesus, and so on and so on!

Is QE3 Yet Another Stealth Bank Bailout? « naked capitalism

The Federal Reserve’s experimental effort to spur a recovery by purchasing vast quantities of federal debt has pumped up the stock market, reduced the cost of American exports and allowed companies to borrow money at lower interest rates. But most Americans are not feeling the difference, in part because those benefits have been surprisingly small. The latest estimates from economists, in fact, suggest that the pace of recovery from the global financial crisis has flagged since November, when the Fed started buying $600 billion in Treasury securities to push private dollars into investments that create jobs…. A study published in February found that interest rates decreased, but only for companies with top credit ratings. “Rates that are highly relevant for households and many corporations — mortgage rates and rates on lower-grade corporate bonds — were largely unaffected by the policy,” wrote Arvind Krishnamurthy and Annette Vissing-Jorgensen, both finance professors at Northwestern University

QE3, Deflation and the Money Illusion | ZeroHedge

The first reason for sadness was the idea that people here in New York and elsewhere in the global financial community were actually surprised by the Fed’s move.  The FOMC is fighting deflation.  Credit continues to contract globally as much of the western world goes on a pure cash budget.  So while I would like to see the Fed raise short term rates, the fact is that the central bank has little choice but to support the markets.  But buying RMBS will neither help housing nor reverse the current deflationary spiral on which we all ride.  The second reason to be circumspect is the fact that the Fed’s leaders continue to pretend that driving down yields in the RMBS markets will have any impact on the housing sector or the economy.  The two thirds of the mortgage market that cannot refinance their homes will be unaffected by QE3.  In fact, the latest Fed purchases are a gift to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the TBTF banks and the hedge fund community.  A fund on the floor of our offices in New York actually started dancing around like little children shouting “QE3” after the Bernanke press conference. “The entire move in MBS prices will go into profit margins,” one mortgage market veteran told the Berlin-New York-Los Angeles mortgage study group last week.  “FHFA has made sure that the mortgage market has oligopoly pricing and zero competition for the existing servicers.  QE3 is risk free profits for the unworthy.  And we wasted 40 years and Trillions of dollars fighting the USSR over the need for a free enterprise system?  Mussolini would be proud.”

Paid for a RV parking spot...

Got to watch football, you know. Some kind of religeous thing here in lala land, right? I thought Dallas would be able to stand up to the Seahawks....So much for that.

I really like Pete Carrol and was a big fan of USC when he was there.  Now I remember why.

Patti's hanging in there but she'll be helpless in a few more months. I'm sending here to Florida because she can't handle the cold and Tracy wants to help. Probably around Thanksgiving. Maybe sooner.

I've got everything up for sale but no one has any money let alone a real job. Unless housing begins the boom and soon it will if the nitwits in Congress can quit selling out to Wall Street and give the taxpayers and voters an infusion of cash. If not  we are screwed.

First, though, is getting them to put off cutting the budget until the economy starts to boom. Then you can balance all they want.

Of course,  defense will have plenty as they screw the retirees out of their SS and Medicare.

And the geezers will vote for it so their "grandchildren wont be burdened with the debt". If ever there was a bigger lie that's it!

But propaganda works where ever it's tried. Imagine cutting your own throat so the rich bastards that got us into this mess can eat caviar and send their kids to the Ivy Leagues and our children have to stand in line to get enough food stamps to make it through the day.

But that's what they get for voting for either party and there is nothing we can do but watch. 

And I'll be at Walmart taking their money at 15 bucks an hour 40 hours a week and voting against anyone cutting my Social Security or my brothers VA benefits, Republican or Democrat!

Why can't they just come out and say it?.....

Send us a big check and we'll cure the economy, stupid!!!!

Richard Koo Explains It's Not The Fed, Stupid; It's The Fiscal Cliff! | ZeroHedge

RICHARD KOO, CHIEF ECONOMIST, NOMURA RESEARCH INSTITUTE: Well, it is beginning to look more like Japan. The amount of house price declines, the commercial real estate price declines there, all following the Japanese pattern very precisely and very slow GDP growth, even with all this monetary easing, QE2, possibly QE3. So yes, to me, the United States is going through the same process of what I call balance sheet recession, that Japan went through 15 years earlier. BOLTON: You mentioned the possibility of QE3. What should Ben Bernanke do today in his speech and then what should he do as a follow-up action? KOO: Well, actually, the Japanese experience told us that when private sector is minimizing debt or deleveraging with very low interest rates, there's very little monetary policy can do. In fact, Chairman Bernanke has been saying, since the middle of last year that this is no time to cut budget deficit. The fiscal stimulus should be in place because I think he also understands that under the circumstances, there's so little that monetary policy can do. But there's a lot the fiscal policy can do to keep the U.S. economy from losing its bottom. BOLTON: Richard, how. KOO: And so I think he should continue to push that line. Yes? BOLTON: Continue to push that line and maybe try to subtly encourage Washington to take a little bit more control. Sounds like you think that Congress should do something. KOO: Yes, because when people are deleveraging even with zero interest rates, that means they are very sick. The private sector is very sick and in need of help because their balance sheets are under water. And then that's t

The economy is moving here....

But could be better. THe Canadians will be staying home so we could use a little boom. Need Washington to get off their asses and fix the budget. Expect a lot of talk but no real action on "cuts." If they cut they destroy the military or the geezers and of course, we tar and feather them LOL!

So, they talk, talk, talk, promise, threaten and whine. What else is knew? They know we can't vote for any alternative so they vie amoungst themselves for power, fame  and the cushy jobs that comes with the office. And let's not forget they get their whole families on the payroll.

I believe this guy is on to something about oil....

Even with millions of years to collect the oil in the ground it would still take trillions of creatures. Even harder to prove than we evolved from monkeys without  help.

By the way,I have keep telling everyone to watch the price of oil as the Fed is going to give more money to the gang that got us into this depression and they use it to buy oil, gold and food commodities.

Watch the price of gas and you'll see Obama go down in flames if he can't cut a deal with these bastards. But not to worry. Romney will if he doesn't. Even though Oba mama gave them everything all ready he can't get Congress to do anything to save his ass.

So, right now the election is a toss up. Oba mama does have a large lead in the electoral college but that could disappear by November.

Results? Gridlock and the mess continues unless one party gets control of Congress and spends and cuts taxes big time the boom will be off a few more years. Somebody has to take charge and make it right or we invade some more oil producing country.

Or is that the plan?

Oil Secrets/ Creativity - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

In the first half, author Dr. Jerome Corsi discussed how Nazi chemists developed a series of equations during WWII which demonstrated that oil can be formed synthetically. Known as the Fischer-Tropsch equations, they indicated that the mixture of hydrogen and carbon with various catalysts under intense pressure and heat, produced hydrocarbons-- such as what is made in the mantle of the Earth on an ongoing basis, he explained. It doesn't take dead plants or animals, dinosaurs, plankton, algae or former living matter to produce oil, and the Nazis understood this, he continued, adding that some of their scientists were brought over to the US during Operation Paperclip to continue their research after the war. However, d

What the Hell....Is this the only working cop we have?...

The guy does his job, gets reelected bigtime, then has to fight off the Feds because they don't want him to enforce the law? 

Only in America, right? Next thing you know Oba mama will simply order the border patrol to stand down. He can, youknow, making the Dems the dominate party for at least a generation.

» Witch Hunt Against Arpaio Finally Ends » Fresh Ink -- GOPUSA

The Justice Department had been investigating Arpaio for abuse-of-power claims, but now they say no charges will be filed: Authorities were investigating Arpaio for his part in failed public corruption cases against officials who were odds with him. The sheriff brought cases against a judge and two county officials in 2009. Federal authorities also said Friday that they have decided to not prosecute matters tied to alleged misuse of county credit cards by sheriff's officials, alleged misspending of jail-enhancement funds and other matters. "They did their investigation, they didn't find enough probable cause and they didn't bring an indictment," Arpaio said at a hastily called news conference after returning from the Republican National Convention in Florida. "We don't go around framing anybody. My people are not crooks."

OK, I'm psychic.....

A while ago I posted that sucking sound of our jobs leaving and here's the rest of the story. Even the Dems have sold us out!

NAFTA Renegotiation Must Wait, Obama Says - washingtonpost.com

OTTAWA, Feb. 19 -- President Obama warned on Thursday against a "strong impulse" toward protectionism while the world suffers a global economic recession and said his election-year promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement on behalf of unions and environmentalists will have to wait.

If your candidate needs a felon to win you in deep do do....

Amazing that Oba mama makes Clinton look presidential. The guy couldn't, and still can't, stop lying.

However, I'm financially doing a little better than 4 years ago and I know that none of the clowns running for office are responsible nor can they change my situation much.

I'm the one who saves and borrows and goes to work everyday and would simply find another job or another weekend business to make ends meet. Been there done that!

Any idiot that thinks some politician is their saviour is beyond hope anyways.

As far as the economy goes, sending middle class jobs abroad and expecting everyone to be hunky dory about it is nuts. You just have to adjust and clean up your act because there is no solution for you other than every man for himself.

I have people telling me they couldn't save 5 bucks a week for their Christmas but can drink and smoke with abandon. Of course, it's their business, but the government didn't by my drinks or smokes so I had to work 45 years to get the little I have.

Is this rocket science?

Maybe we need a good housecleaning in Washington and on Wall Street to settle this question, hmm? Offer everybody some kind of job and feed their kids at school or take them away if they wont work. (Walmart is hiring, Mickey D's is hiring, all the department stores are hiring for Christmas, etc etc.)

But voting for the gang we got now and expecting them to save our economy is really nuts. Remember, every boom has a bust and every bust has led to a boom!

The Real Importance of Bill Clinton’s Wonderfully Long Speech | NationofChange

Therein lies the importance of what Bill Clinton accomplished tonight. But, just as importantly, it wasn’t a wonky talk. He packaged the facts in a way people could hear. This is the highest calling of a public educator.The question is not how many undecided voters saw the speech (I doubt many did) but whether it galvanizes Democrats — giving them the clarity of conviction and argument they need over the next nine weeks to explain why Obama must be re-elected, and why a Romney-Ryan administration would be a disaster for this country.

Makes my point....

Not a nickles difference between the parties. Just a bunch of rich guys divvying up the loot in Washington and making life a bitch for us. What will happen next year? BOOM! Why? Either that or we sink into oblivion as our economy completely tanks because the consumer is bankrupt.

Solution will be making the consumer whole. Big tax cuts and lot of free money. (No one will mention budget deficits)

And yes, Oba mama is in deep shit right now because the gang that owns us are putting their money on magic underwear, LOL.

The Fake Election: 10 Arguments The Republicans Aren’t Making « naked capitalism

Even authoritarian systems require legitimacy to retain the support of the governed, and the new authoritarian America is no exception. Since 2004, the brilliant public journalism advocate Jay Rosen has been asking, what is the point of a political convention? No news is made, yet over 15,000 journalists show up, ostensibly to cover the pomp. But everyone knows that coverage isn’t so much the point; these conventions trade shows for the political class, where party insiders, journalists, politicians, celebrities, corporate types, and lobbyists mingle to organize political hierarchies. The public is simply irrelevant, a mass of jeering and cheering message imbibers or apathetic and cynical former citizens, people who are unseen behind their TV screens. The only fresh elements are protesters, and they are met by a police state, lest they disrupt the insider deal-making. In fact, elections, over the past few years, have become mechanisms for sustaining the legitimacy of this political class, not contests designed to be won by either side. Neither side would ever admit to not trying to win, at least publicly. Privately, political consultants will count their winnings happily after each election, regardless of the outcome. So the way to see the lack of competitiveness now is to examine the moves that both parties are not making. The Republicans have a clear strategy to win, which they are not using. Obama is liked but unpopular, seen as a pseudo-honest lightweight who can’t govern, even as the GOP are considered more competent but downright evil. In politics, you have to get more votes than the other guy; you don’t have to prove you’re an angel. You can even change the voting universe, rather than persuading people of your merits. And indeed, a small but significant minority of Obama voters don’t really want to vote for Obama, they are unenthusiastic but feel they have to pick the lesser evil.  They can be pushed into apathy....

These arguments, if put into widespread play, could keep voters at home, or even shift some groups away from Obama.  And because of outside SuperPACs, none of these arguments have to be made by Romney himself, there are a host of groups that could make them. Though you might think it would be appallingly hypocritical if the Republicans made these arguments, when has that ever stopped them before? It isn’t honesty and integrity preventing the GOP from going there. Or if it is, then one would have to concede that the Republicans are running a principled campaign, on plutocracy. More likely, the answer is that winning the race isn’t as important as ensuring that the political class is protected from democracy.

Read more at http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/09/10-arguments-the-republicans-arent-making-or-why-the-gop-doesnt-mind-losing-in-2012.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+(naked+capitalism)#2D60BKhXMJkUSt0R.99

One definition of Fascism.....

They own us. So sit back and shut up and we will send you a check!

EDITORIAL: You belong to Barack - Washington Times

The Obama campaign has disavowed a Democratic National Convention video that said, “Government is the only thing we all belong to.” It’s odd President Obama would try to distance himself from that idea since in his heart he knows it’s right. Of course, in our guts, we know it’s nuts. The video, entitled “Welcome to Charlotte,” aired Tuesday. It was produced by the convention host committee, not the Obama campaign or Democratic National Committee, though presumably representatives from both organizations vetted and approved it before it ran. The clip sent exactly the wrong message at the wrong time for the Democrats because it echoes “you didn’t build that” and the general belief that government, not individual initiative, is America’s motive force. There are two ways to read the sentence. One is that a citizen’s relationship to government is like belonging to a great big club. Of course, this club will send you to jail for nonpayment of dues. The other, more chilling way to read it is that people are creatures of government. That the government, by right, can exercise almost unlimited control over peoples’ lives. That the proper relationship between the state and the individual is that between master and servant.

Patti's disability approved...

She gets about $720 a month until Social Security gets here in February. That will be a whopping $774. Of course, the gang in Washington can't wait to steal it back so they can balance something they invented called the budget. (Where else they going to get the money?) Oh yeah Social Security and VA benefits, and let's not forget, all those teachers we can fire. And we can do away with cancer, aids, ALS,MS research, right?

How about stealing kids breakfasts at the schools while we are at it? The little bastards could afford to lose a little weight. Oh yeah, why not pull our troops away from the oil fields so even our illustrious leaders kids would have to park the limos?

Or just stop giving government transportation to Pelosy?

Woops, my bad!!!

You ever notice these assholes never admit that we were right, Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan and their supporters, about the great sucking sound of our middle class jobs been "out sourced". Do you think China made that economy boom by Commie fiat?

Did they make you forget with their budget deficit and National Debt Clocks bull shit? Ever wonder what an extra couple of trillion in revenue every year from these lost jobs and a few million non aborted taxpayers could have accomplished?

Fooled you, did they?

140$ BONUS NEXT PAYDAY....

Best bonus on sales since 2008. I always pay attention to gas prices and Walmart sales for real info on the economy. We will boom in a another 6 months or so. Barring a real big surge in gas prices. The bump in prices this summer are simply the oil companies ripping us off because the oil gang knows we have the money now as reflected in improving sales.

Besides, Oba mama increased the use of gasahol and someone has to pay for the loss of gas sales, right? It's the little things, like that and making war on the Middle East that causes most of this but we have to work and so we need our gas, no matter the price.

Are gas prices exploding justified in a depression? Ask MacCain. That time the Republicans got blasted and the Dems took complete power in Washington and proceeded to piss everybody off because they're not too bright.

Even a Walmart stocking clerk knows that not putting everyone on Medicare and fixing the system when they had complete control and voter support was STUPID! 

Who knew.......

I tried. I voted for Pat Buchanan and we were right. Not that it matters because the people who own our government got what they wanted....SERFS!!! 

Mean And Stupid Politics As Usual - Decline of the Empire

Throw in gutting the payroll tax to fund Social Security and cutting funding to Medicare and we will finally win the war on poverty....we simply kill off the poor. Of course, as usual when cutting programs for the poor (cutting government employment makes more poor let's not forget) you devastate most retailers bottom line and throw poor people out of work.

Except for the Chinese and Mexicans who have all those poor people's jobs supplying the rest of us because the morons in Washington and Wall Street believe that the average high school grad in this country will become rocket scientists and wont need those middle class wages. 

The poor will always be with us because it's good politics. You voted for it or your parents did as old Ross Perot and Pat Buchanan prophesied. 

Same old nonsense to get elected.....

The US government can never go bankrupt or run out of money. The Feds can borrow, tax, steal, or print all they need. Period!

They have been doing it for our whole history why should they stop now. Because we want Republicans to win? Does anyone seriously believe there will be any substantive change made when they get in power? 

Don't hold your breath. Cutting Social Security, medicare, VA benefits, government employment put millions of us into the streets with hang man nooses and guns. 

So what will happen? Just like it always happens: Here's the excuse "the damn opposition party wont let pass these budget savings us so give us more money and your vote so we can win in November and take our government back!

The voters have done this about 50 times in our history and our politicians still suck!!!

Want my vote? Send me a big big check! I'll pay off a few bills and borrow twice as much and so will you. End of depression! 

Read the following all the way through and you'll see...We've been fed a load of horseshit.

A Disturbing Trend in Republican Convention Speeches | PRAGMATIC CAPITALISM

I’ve been watching a number of the Republican National Convention speeches and while I like a lot of what I’ve heard I have to say that there seems to be one overarching and rather disturbing trend in the rhetoric.   There is an endless discussion about the USA going bankrupt.  Even worse, there have been endless comparisons to Greece and other European nations.  This is an egregious misunderstanding of the way our monetary system works.  I won’t regurgitate all of what I just recently wrote in this piece, but this is really rather simple so I’ll pull a snippet: “The USA has an institutional arrangement in which it is a currency issuer. That is, while the Treasury is an operational currency user (meaning it must always have funds in its account at the Fed before it can spend those funds) it is always able to harness the banks to procure funds. This is achieved through bond auctions in which the dealers are required to bid. The NY Fed explains: Primary dealers ar

Insurance company denies Patti's disability....

A real screw up but should be able to win just might take awhile. Some days it don't pay to get out of bed. Still, we get Social Security and Medicare starting in February. I have to pay for her insurance until January as I can put her on my insurance at Walmart.

We're only talking four grand or so over 6 months but I don't need the aggravation . I don't want to use her 401k money if I can help it because I get taxed pretty heavy on it and we'll need the money next year.

We, when we buy something, pay all taxes on the manufacture....

Raise taxes on the "rich" and they take it out of our hides. Lower your hours, reduce your benefits, raise the prices you pay, or simply not hire or fire you in the first place.

Taxes don't fund the Federal government but make us do what the gang in Washington thinks is necessary for a better society. They reward their campaign contributors, punish their enemies and socially engineer you life. PERIOD.

Removing the income tax and replacing it with a sales tax would bring in much more money and you and I wouldn't be able to tell much difference. But if they want to control people's lives and the income tax does it..

Just think IRS audit or mention it in public and you will see what's what!

Yes! They own your ass!!!

» Sowell: The Paul Ryan Choice » Commentary -- GOPUSA

But, if what they want is emotionally satisfying rhetoric and a promise to give them something for nothing, to be paid for by taxing somebody else, then Obama is their man. This is not to say that the public will in fact get something for nothing or that rich people will just pay higher taxes, when it is easy for them to escape taxation by investing overseas -- creating jobs overseas. Even if most Americans do not have their own taxes raised, that means little, if they end up paying other people's taxes in the higher prices of goods and services that pass along the higher taxes imposed on businesses.

MADE A COUPLE OF THOUSAND THIS WEEKEND....

My brother Jake and his wife, Judy stopped over to help us sell our treasures. Unfortunately, had to sell the utility trailer. At least I made enough to pay off a credit card and almost half another. Won't be long if the mobile sells before we can move south for our retirement.

I'll probably stick with Walmart for awhile as Im accumulating 41k money, $ 50 every payday from them. Could transfer to Florida but might not get a full time job there and would loose my insurance.

We'll see whar happens this winter with Patti's health as I plan to send her to my daughter Tracy's for the winter.

One of the good guys.....

The banks are up to their necks in drugs. Illegal drugs wouldn't exist as a problem if the money in it wasn't so big. That''s why we'll never solve the problem....Except we no longer participate in using them.

Of course, the banks pretty much own most of the government big shots in much of the world and if the " government leaders" don't play along they end up like Noriega, Husein, Osama, and a dozen or so more in the last 50 years.

And no, there's nothing we can do about it except report and bitch about it as long as millions of our citizens prefer to use this shit. Of course, most are hopeless addicts and your elected government is on the take to keep them that way.

You only have to look at cigarettes and alcohol legally killing millions. The only difference is the victims in these cases can get treatment without going to prison.

It took pretty much a revolution in our country  to make booze legal and treat drunks as victims of a disease after a generation of murder, crime and especially political corruption.

So' light at the end of the tunnel? Yeah, right! 

The Infiltrator - by Robert Mazur

ROBERT MAZUR spent five years undercover infiltrating the criminal hierarchy of Colombia’s drug cartels. The dirty bankers and businessmen he befriended—some of whom still shape power across the globe—knew him as Bob Musella, a wealthy, mob-connected big shot living the good life. Together they partied in $1,000-per-night hotel suites, drank bottles of the world’s finest champagne, drove Rolls-Royce convertibles, and flew in private jets. But under Mazur’s Armani suits and in his Renwick briefcase, recorders whirred quietly, capturing the damning evidence of their crimes. Then, at a staged wedding, he led a dramatic takedown that shook the underworld. In the end, more than eighty men and women were charged worldwide. Operation C-Chase became one of the most successful undercover operations in the history of U.S. law enforcement, and evidence gathered during the bust proved critical to the conviction of General Manuel Noriega.

Think there is a nickles difference between the candidates?...

Here's a lefty who agrees with me. The right-left dialogue for the most part is a scam. Nothing will change as far as the gang who owns our government is concerned. 

Representative Ryan’s Far-Right Agenda: The Media Can’t Take the Truth | NationofChange

First, in spite of all the name-calling about President Obama being a Kenyan socialist, he has pushed an agenda that most Republicans would have been comfortable with 20 years ago. His health care plan was put forward by the conservative Heritage Foundation in 1992, before Governor Romney put it in place in Massachusetts. His Wall Street reform leaves the too-big-to-fail banks bigger than ever, even after they helped to inflate a housing bubble, the collapse of which brought the economy to its knees. And, running large deficits in a downturn was a practice that Obama could tie to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and both Bushes. It would be difficult to find a policy pushed by our Kenyan socialist president that would make a Nixon Republican unhappy.   By contrast, Representative Ryan has an extreme right-wing agenda that predates both Great Society and the New Deal. He has put forward plans that would cut and privatize both Social Security and Medicare. He has also called for essentially zeroing out most categories of federal spending.

Signed Patti up for disability and Social Security.....

She no longer works and will get $774 a month from the government. Not a lot but we'll survive. At least she got 2 weeks sick pay coming and can retire and keep her 2 weeks vacation pay sometime next year.

Everything at the mobile in Bonners is for sale and should get enough to cover my debts.

If not, the banks can eat shit and die!!!!

This is news...

A big shot in Washington not prosecuted?  Wow what next, the president keepinfg his job after committing a felony? (Right Bill?)

Not in our government, right? 

Guest Post: Assange Or Corzine? | ZeroHedge

Priorities are a bitch. The United States won’t prosecute Corzine for raiding segregated customer accounts, but will happily convene a Grand Jury in preparation for prosecuting Julian Assange for exposing the truth about war crimes. From the New York Times: A criminal investigation into the collapse of the brokerage firm MF Global and the disappearance of about $1 billion in customer money is now heading into its final stage without charges expected against any top executives. After 10 months of stitching together evidence on the firm’s demise, criminal investigators are concluding that chaos and porous risk controls at the firm, rather than fraud, allowed the money to disappear, according to people involved in the case. 

More scare mongering from people with too much free time......

Should we tell him? We geezers will just have to spend every dime and not bury the money in the back yard. DUH!!! 
 You'll hear a lot of this bullshit because it makes people vote and spend their money on these silly people.

We have to remember that all money spent creates jobs, At Walmart, Micky D's, RV parks, gas stations, real estate offices, Dr's offices, political parties,etc etc.

These people will say anything to get your check? (Somebody should remind them that it's our money and we have a vote and guns.)

There is no problem with SS if the politicians would just leave the taxes alone! If the so called fund gets short add a couple of bucks to it and leave our money alone.

Bottom line? We need to get our jobs back the assholes in Washington sent to China and Mexico and this chicken little shit goes away with a revival of the middle class.

But that wouldn't be good for votes, would it? And who would give them money to scare the fuck out of us because Washington wants your retirement sitting on Wall Street greasing the gang's palms who are screwing over us and our so democratic called government.

Read this guy's article and you will see. About as silly as the Viet Cong invading Manhattan in their sampans!!!

America's Demographic Cliff: The Real Issue In The Coming, And All Future Presidential Elections | ZeroHedge

The stronger turnout of these voters, and their sheer numbers, are also likely to have an important impact on US political races in the years to come. They’re going to be the biggest voting bloc in American history, if patterns hold: 68% of them is almost 52 million, larger than the entire Black/African American voter population, for example. And like other older generations, according to a study by the Pew Research Center done in late 2011, Boomers have become slightly more conservative as they’ve aged, and slightly more of them (45% vs. 51%) intend to vote for Governor Romney in the upcoming election. However, given that one of their main concerns is the maintenance of entitlement spending, it seems unlikely that Boomers will continue to support a party that recommends reducing the deficit by cutting entitlements. All candidates, then, and especially the GOP, will need to take a hard look at the wants and needs of the Boomers. The 2012

What happens when you run out of these stupid guys?.....

Does the gang in D.C. really believe this shit? Unarmed guards acting as bullet absorbers? HELLO anybody in there? And how much do you pay these nitwits? 

You can't make this shit up? Trust me.

Ready? The shooter had Chick Filet sandwichs in his back pack!!!!

No wonder! The screw ball was looking to waste homosexuals and the stupid guard got in his way. Of course, now the taxpayers have got to feed, clothe, and medicate this asshole for 30 or 40 years so I suppose not having a gun handy to blow the dip shit to Hell was good for the unemployment situation in town, right?

Did I not tell you you can't make this shit up? Read the whole article and go out and buy a gun because these dumb asses are headed for you.  

MILLER: Body blocking bullets - Washington Times

An unarmed security guard thwarted a gunman in Washington on Wednesday using nothing but his body - and that’s just what D.C. officials want. Mayor Vincent C. Gray cited Leonardo Johnson’s being shot in the arm while protecting coworkers at the Family Research Council (FRC) as proof the capital city’s restrictive gun laws are effective. It’s dangerous to think unarmed guards are always going to be able to protect the innocent from determined criminals. On Thursday, the mayor told NewsChannel 8’s Bruce DePuyt that he is “proud of the gun laws we have here in the District of Columbia,” which he called “the most stringent, restrictive” in the country.

Jesus...What can we blame for all the climate change?....

Going to have to blame the Chinese or the boogy man. At least we can bomb the Chinese, right? Next thing you know the "climate" scientists will be predicting a new ice age.......Wait been there done that!!!!

Use of natural gas credited for drop in CO2 emissions - Washington Times

In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically, to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power-plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal. Many of the world’s leading climate scientists didn’t see the drop coming, in large part because it happened as a result of market forces rather than direct government action against carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere.

And we pay for it......

The Coming American Dictatorship revisited by John Silveira Issue #77

“It’s been that way throughout all of history. The biggest enemy of mankind has not been foreign invaders, or terrorists, or serial killers, or muggers on the street. The most dangerous threat to humanity is almost always our own governments. Hitler killed million of Germans including German Jews. Stalin oversaw the deaths of 20 to 80 million Soviet citizens, Mao another 60 million in China. The Khmer Rouge of Cambodia killed 3 million Cambodians, and who knows how many people Idi Amin killed in Uganda? These aren’t isolated cases. All throughout history the primary killer of people has always been their own kind. Governments have been responsible for more deaths to the governed than war or plague. And the people who are most likely to deprive you of your rights and freedoms are your own government. Terrorists aren’t going to suspend your rights to free speech, the press, the right to bear arms, or jury trials. Neither are Colombian drug lords nor muggers. It’s John Ashcroft, Charles Schumer, George Bush, Tom Daschle, and their kind who will do it.

Patti signs up for Social Security a week from Thursday...

Disability takes about three months to get so we will sign her up at Walmart's private insurance. It's only a matter of time befor she can't do anything by herself and she's tired all the time. 

Time is catching up with us all, I guess.

As I've been saying....

The world is awash in American money and eventually it will all come home. When it does we boom until the next bust. But with the Dems threatening to take it the money away through taxation it ain't gonna happen aytime too soon.

Troubles Abroad Keep Cash Flowing to U.S. - WSJ.com

Fears the U.S. will go over the "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year suggest not much has changed in Washington since the debt-ceiling battle hit the struggling economy a year ago. Also unchanged: Investors still appear convinced that the U.S. is the safest of borrowers, despite rising angst about government debt around the world. Why is Treasury debt still seen as one of the world's safest assets? The U.S. "effectively got a pass," said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets. "If you needed to fly into the safety of a country, the U.S. was the best of the worst." How long this will last depends how long it takes the global backdrop to improve. Enlarge Image The U.S., despite losing its coveted triple-A debt rating from Standard & Poor's last August, remains a magnet for money fleeing the globe's trouble spots. As Europe's debt crisis rages, turmoil in Greece, Spain or Italy sends investors rushing into the safe arms of the U.S. government.

And it was ugly, let me tell you......

Friday Humor: Olympics Edition | ZeroHedge

Sometimes, some things are best left unsaid: Weightlifting commentator: "This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing."

Dressage commentator: "This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother."

Boxing Analyst: "Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious."

Softball announcer: "If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again."

Basketball analyst: "He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces."

At the rowing medal ceremony: "Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew."

Soccer commentator: "Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field."

Tennis commentator: "One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them . . . Oh my God, what have I just said?"

And finally, Obama calls Phelps: "Congratulations Michael, but remember you didn't win all those medals, someone else did. After all, you swam in public pools, built by state employees using tax dollars. You got training from the USOC, and ate food grown by the Department of Agriculture. You should play fair and share your medals with the people who can barely keep their head above water, let alone swim." 

Where's the IRS?

Oh yeah, they don't investigate the elite. Forgot. Just ask Oba mama's cheats, right?

The ‘Missing Evidence’ in Romney’s Tax Records | NationofChange

Harry Reid has provoked outrage among liberals as well as conservatives, who seem to believe he has violated propriety by repeating gossip about Mitt Romney's taxes. The Senate leader says someone connected with Romney told him that the Republican candidate paid no income taxes for a period of 10 years. Offended by Reid's audacity, commentators on the right have indicted him for "McCarthyism," while others on the left have accused him of inventing the whole story. Evidently the chief complaint against Reid — aside from aggressiveness unbecoming a Democrat — is that he cited "an extremely credible source" who he has so far declined to name. Some journalists have gone so far as to suggest that Reid must be lying because he won't identify the source.

Thank the Gods for the nuke, baby....

I love the sound of the crazy left whinning in the morning. Boo hoo the Japs had to surrender because we cheated and killed too many all at once and saved thousands of Americans.

Makes you kind of wonder whar planet these cowards came from, doesn't it?

The Science of Genocide | NationofChange

On this day in 1945 the United States demonstrated that it was as morally bankrupt as the Nazi machine it had recently vanquished and the Soviet regime with which it was allied. Over Hiroshima, and three days later over Nagasaki, it exploded an atomic device that was the most efficient weapon of genocide in human history. The blast killed tens of thousands of men, women and children. It was an act of mass annihilation that was strategically and militarily indefensible. The Japanese had been on the verge of surrender. Hiroshima and Nagasaki had no military significance. It was a war crime for which no one was ever tried. The explosions, which marked the culmination of three centuries of physics, signaled the ascendancy of the technician and scientist as our most potent agents of death.

 

This is news?....

The ruling elites are like two peas in a pod? They marry each other, their children go to the same schools, join the same clubs,m wwatch the same TV news shows, read the same books and magazines and anything else together. They know nothing of how you live, work or die and could just about give a shit.

Make sure you keep voting for them and giving them your money, O.K.?

Now you know: Obama and Bush are cousins | Times 247

What do Barack Obama, Thomas Jefferson, George W. Bush and the other past U.S. presidents have in common? Besides holding the coveted title of commander-in-chief, it appears that all of them but one are cousins.  The remarkable discovery was made by 12-year-old BridgeAnne d’Avignon, of Salinas, California, who created a ground-breaking family tree that connected 42 of 43 U.S. presidents to one common, and rather unexpected, ancestor: King John of England. ‘They all have the trait of wanting power,’ d’Avignon told the station WFMY.

You would think the IRS would be on it, right?

Not with the Oba mama gang. Income taxes are for the working stiff! Not for the ruling elite.

NUGENT: Whacky Harry Reid talks trash about Romney - Washington Times

You have to know that times are desperate in the Obama campaign when Sen. Harry Reid is trotted out to contend that Mitt Romney didn’t pay taxes for a decade. Never one to let facts get in the way, the Democratic Senate majority leader offered no damning public statement regarding his views on Mr. Obama’s tax cheat czar Timothy Geithner a few years ago or good old leftist buddy Tom Daschle’s failure to pay his taxes. Then there is my favorite, Rep. Charles Rangel of “what me worry, who me, what taxes?” fame. Where has Mr. Reid been on the subject of dozens of staff members of the Obama administration who are delinquent in paying almost $1 million in taxes

Got to take care of the people who own our government....

Oba mama will hit the jackpot when he leaves office. Just like broke dick Clinton, remember? But they're after our SS and VA checks, trust me.

I have to agree with this guy because it's obvious theirs little difference in the two parties. They call each other names and make a lot of promises but nothing changes. The gang hangs together.

Not to say they don't squable snd bitch but little happens that will change the way the Empire is falling.

Obama’s Second Term Agenda: Cutting Social Security, Medicare, and/or Medicaid « naked capitalism

This is probably the least important Presidential election since the 1950s. As an experienced political hand told me, the two candidates are speaking not to the voters, but to the big money. They hold the same views, pursue the same policies, and are backed by similar interests. Mitt Romney implemented Obamacare in Massachusetts, or Obama implemented Romneycare nationally. Both are pro-choice or anti-choice as political needs change, both tend to be hawkish on foreign policy, both favor tax cuts for businesses, and both believe deeply in a corrupt technocratic establishment. So while the election lumbers on like the death rattles of the wounded animal known American democracy, no one on either side is asking what the plan is for the next term. For Obama, his team is going into rooms of donors and shouting “Supreme Court”, while mumbling something about bipartisanship and $4 trillion, or Simpson-Bowles. What this means is that term two of the Obama White House will be organized around cutting entitlements.

Are we sure the jails are big enough.....

Like anyone is going to prosecute, right? (Don't tell him the law has been bought, ok?)

Corrupt Government Officials Should Be In Jail … Alongside Corrupt Banksters | ZeroHedge

Wall Street fraud caused the Great Depression and the current financial crisis. Top economists and financial experts agree that our economy will never recover unless Wall Street fraud is prosecuted. Yet the government has more or less made it official policy not to prosecute fraud, and instead to do everything necessary to cover up for Wall Street.  For example, the Obama administration is prosecuting fewer financial crimes  than under Reagan or either Bush. For example, we pointed out in 2010: The government’s entire strategy now – as during the S&L crisis – is to cover up how bad things are.   But it is not only a matter of covering up fraud that has already happened. The government also created an environment which greatly encouraged fraud.   Here are just a few of many potential examples: The government-sponsored rating agencies committed massive fraud (and see this) The Treasury department allowed banks to “cook their books” Regulators knew of and allowed the use of debt-hiding accounting tricks by the big banks Tim Geithner was complicit in Lehman’s accounting fraud, (and see this), and pushed to pay AIG’s CDS counterparties at full value, and then to keep the deal secret. And as Robert Reich notes, Geithner was “very much in the center of the action” regarding the secret bail out of Bear Stearns without Congressional approval. William Black points out: “Mr. Geithner, as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since October 2003, was one of those senior regulators who failed to take any effective regulatory action to prevent the crisis, but instead covered up its depth” The former chief accountant for the SEC says that Bernanke and Paulson broke the law and should be prosecuted Freddie and Fannie helped to create the epidemic of mortgage fraud The government knew about mortgage fraud a long time ago. For example, the FBI warned of an “epidemic” of mortgage fraud in 2004. However, the FBI, DOJ and other government agencies then stood down and did nothing. See this and this. For example, the Federal Reserve turned its cheek and allowed massive fraud, and the SEC has repeatedly ignored accounting fraud. Indeed, Alan Greenspan took the position that fraud could never happen Paulson and Bernanke falsely stated that the big banks receiving Tarp money were healthy, when they were not Arguably, both the Bush and Obama administrations broke the law by refusing to close insolvent banks Congress may have covered up illegal tax breaks for the big banks Economist James K. Galbraith wrote in the introduction to his father, John Kenneth Galbraith’s, definitive study of the Great Depression, The Great Crash, 1929: The main relevance of The Great Crash, 1929 to the great crisis of 2008 is surely here. In both cases, the government knew what it should do. Both times, it declined to do it. In the summer of 1929 a few stern words from on high, a rise in the discount rate, a tough investigation into the pyramid schemes of the day, and the house of cards on Wall Street would have tumbled before its fall destroyed the whole economy. In 2004, the FBI warned publicly of “an epidemic of mortgage fraud.” But the government did nothing, and less than nothing, delivering instead low interest rates, deregulation and clear signals that laws would not be enforced.

Simple solution here.....

Politically impossible at this time but a national sales tax on all transactions eliminate tax shelters, oversea banking scams, and especially, government snooping into people private lives. 

Of course, that's the reason we have all these tax laws, to screw with people and control them.

Super Rich Stash At Least $21 Trillion In Secret Tax Havens | Finance

At least $21 trillion of unreported private financial wealth was owned by wealthy individuals via tax havens at the end of 2010. This sum is equivalent to the size of the United States and Japanese economies combined. There may be as much as $32 trillion of hidden financial assets held offshore by high net worth individuals (HNWIs), according to our report The Price of Offshore Revisited, which is thought to be the most detailed and rigorous study ever made of financial assets held in offshore financial centres and secrecy structures. We consider these numbers to be conservative. This is only financial wealth and excludes a welter of real estate, yachts and other non-financial assets owned via offshore structures. The research for the Tax Justice Network (TJN) by former McKinsey & Co Chief Economist James Henry comes amid growing concerns about an enormous and growing gulf between rich and poor in countries around the globe. Accompanying this research is another study by TJN, entitled "Inequality:You Don’t Know the Half of It, which demonstrates that all studies of economic inequality to date have failed to account properly for this missing wealth. It concludes that inequality is far worse than we think. Other main findings of this wide-ranging research include: • Our analysis finds that at the end of 2010 the Top 50 private banks alone collectively managed more than $12.1 trillion in cross-border invested assets for private clients, including their trusts and foundations. This is up from $5.4 trillion in 2005, representing an average annual growth rate of more than 16%. • The three private banks handling the most assets offshore on behalf of the global super-rich are UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs. The top ten banks alone commanded over half the top fifty’s asset total – an increased share since 2005. • The number of the global super-rich who have amassed a $21 trillion offshore fortune is fewer than 10 million people. Of these, less than 100,000 people worldwide own $9.8 trillion of wealth held offshore. • If this unreported $21-32 trillion, conservatively estimated, earned a modest rate of return of just 3%, and that income was taxed at just 30%, this would have generated income tax revenues of between $190-280 bn – roughly twice the amount OECD countries spend on all overseas development assistance around the world. Inheritance, capital gains and other taxes would boost this figure considerably. • For our focus subgroup of 139 mostly low-middle income countries, traditional data shows aggregate external debts of $4.1 trillion at the end of 2010. But take their foreign reserves and unrecorded offshore private wealth into account, and the picture reverses: they had aggregate net debts of minus $10.1-13.1 trillion. In other words, these countries are big net creditors, not debtors. Unfortunately, their assets are held by a few wealthy individuals, while their debts are shouldered by their ordinary people through their governments. Read more here:

Absolute nonsense in a our fiat system....

A sovereign government can borrow all it needs of it's own currency and there is no "crowding out of private borrowers". Private borrowers can't borrow today because they are broke or have enough borrowed money and or are afraid to borrow more.

Europe is not in a sovereign system but is a group of states without a central independant bank. 

Abandoning Ship | Peak Prosperity

A further concern is that government borrowing is crowding out the private sector.  Private sector borrowers are being badly squeezed, not only for capital investment funding but also for their working capital requirements. The consequence is that governments with large budget deficits are not going to get the future tax revenues assumed in economic forecasts. This is why the only solution to the Eurozone’s problems is a round of massive and immediate cuts in public spending. Without these cuts, the destruction of real savings, vital to the economic wellbeing of society itself, continues. In the past, this destruction was a relatively slow process, but the speed at which it is now happening has accelerated exponentially. The importance of cutting public spending has become more urgent; unfortunately, the election of President Hollande in France has delayed this process. Help from outsiders only delays the inevitable and increases their exposure to the Eurozone’s problems. Lending to Eurozone countries by US banks has expanded in all the cases shown in the chart below, though lending totals have fluctuated widely. But total lending (the heavy black line) is still up 67% from December 2007. A cynic might say that the Fed has encouraged US banks to increase their lending to the Eurozone, on the basis that no banker in his right mind would have otherwise done so. But if this is true, the Fed has little flexibility to continue with this support, given that commercial bankers will be increasingly reluctant to commit further funds. It explains President Obama’s interest in the current state of the Eurozone, because if it goes down, there will have to be a major capital injection into US banks to keep them solvent. We get used to trillions being thrown around, but that is government spending and money-printing; in the context of the Wall Street banks, the quantities are not small, with the lending total at end-December 2011 being $347bn.