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| johnpaulca 12,036 posts msg #94715 - Ignore johnpaulca |
7/12/2010 8:58:46 AM Saving Our Financial System I read an interesting piece on the financial crisis and what it could lead to on ZeroHedge. The whole article can be found here Sometimes, when chasing the bouncing ball of fraud and corruption on a daily basis, it is easy to lose sight of the forest for the millions of trees (all of which have a 150% LTV fourth-lien on them, underwritten by Goldman Sachs, which is short the shrubbery tranche). Luckily, Charles Hugh Smith, of oftwominds.com has taken the time to put it all into such simple and compelling terms, even corrupt North Carolina congressmen will not have the chance to plead stupidity after reading this. Of course, to those familiar with the work of Austrian economists, none of this will come as a surprise. 1. Enable trillions of dollars in mortgages guaranteed to default by packaging unlimited quantities of them into mortgage-backed securities (MBS), creating umlimited demand for fraudulently originated loans. 2. Sell these MBS as "safe" to credulous investors, institutions, town councils in Norway, etc., i.e. "the bezzle" on a global scale. 3. Make huge "side bets" against these doomed mortgages so when they default then the short-side bets generate billions in profits. 4. Leverage each $1 of actual capital into $100 of high-risk bets. 5. Hide the utterly fraudulent bets offshore and/or off-balance sheet (not that the regulators you had muzzled would have noticed anyway). 6. When the longside bets go bad, transfer hundreds of billions of dollars in Federal guarantees, bailouts and backstops into the private hands which made the risky bets, either via direct payments or via proxies like AIG. Enable these private Power Elites to borrow hundreds of billions more from the Treasury/Fed at zero interest. 7. Deposit these funds at the Federal Reserve, where they earn 3-4%. Reap billions in guaranteed income by borrowing Federal money for free and getting paid interest by the Fed. 8. As profits pile up, start buying boatloads of short-term U.S. Treasuries. Now the taxpayers who absorbed the trillions in private losses and who transferred trillions in subsidies, backstops, guarantees, bailouts and loans to private banks and corporations, are now paying interest on the Treasuries their own money purchased for the banks/corporations. 9. Slowly acquire trillions of dollars in Treasuries--not difficult to do as the Federal government is borrowing $1.5 trillion a year. 10. Stop buying Treasuries and dump a boatload onto the market, forcing interest rates to rise as supply of new T-Bills exceeds demand (at least temporarily). Repeat as necessary to double and then triple interest rates paid on Treasuries. 11. Buy hundreds of billions in long-term Treasuries at high rates of interest. As interest rates rise, interest payments dwarf all other Federal spending, forcing extreme cuts in all other government spending. 12. Enjoy the hundreds of billions of dollars in interest payments being paid by taxpayers on Treasuries that were purchased with their money but which are safely in private hands. Charles' conclusion does not need further commentary as it is absolutely spot on: Since the Federal government could potentially inflate away these trillions in Treasuries, buy enough elected officials to force austerity so inflation remains tame. In essence, these private banks and corporations now own the revenue stream of the Federal government and its taxpayers. Neat con, and the marks will never understand how "saving our financial system" led to their servitude to the very interests they bailed out. The circle is now complete: in "saving our financial system," the public borrowed trillions and transferred the money to private Power Elites, who then buy the public debt with the money swindled out of the taxpayer. Then the taxpayers transfer more wealth every year to the Power Elites/Plutocracy in the form of interest on the Treasury debt. The Power Elites will own the debt that was taken on to bail them out of bad private bets: this is the culmination of privatized gains, socialized risk. In effect, it's a Third World/colonial scam on a gigantic scale: plunder the public treasury, then buy the debt which was borrowed and transferred to your pockets. You are buying the country with money you borrowed from its taxpayers. No despot could do better. |
| crunkle 54 posts msg #94717 - Ignore crunkle |
7/12/2010 9:57:58 AM The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published 110 years ago. The movie is 70 years old Today, if Dorothy were to encounter men with no brains, no hearts and no courage, she wouldn't be in Oz. She'd be in Congress. |
| TheRumpledOne 6,411 posts msg #94977 - Ignore TheRumpledOne |
7/22/2010 10:11:32 AM We really need a revolution... http://www.youtube.com/user/fiercefreeleancer That is the ONLY way we can stop this mess. |
| TheRumpledOne 6,411 posts msg #94987 - Ignore TheRumpledOne |
7/22/2010 2:16:05 PM Obama's Teleprompter Depression By Wayne Allen Root As a common-sense small businessman, I have a front-row seat to a slow-motion economic Armageddon that will be written about, discussed, and debated for decades to come. But big-shot economists don't listen to guys like me. They scoff as I keep predicting in commentary after commentary that small business is suffering a catastrophe of epic proportions and leading this nation toward levels of unemployment and economic crisis that will rival or surpass the Great Depression. Barack Obama is literally taxing small business to death. I do not believe the tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes is a mistake, a coincidence, or due to incompetence. I believe my old college classmate Obama (Columbia University class of '83) is a Marxist who is purposefully trying to destroy capitalism by overwhelming the system, thereby creating a distraction that gives him cover to redistribute America's wealth to his voters (i.e., those who create no jobs, pay few taxes, depend on government handouts for survival, or work for government or unions). As a bonus, he gets to bankrupt the group (small business) that contributes virtually all the money to his political opposition. This is truly a "Marxist Triple Play." Consider a few highlights of Obama's reign of destruction: The biggest income tax increase in America's history will take effect on January 1. The new tax increase falls almost 100 percent on small business owners and high-income taxpayers (whose contributions happen to fund Obama's political opposition). As a result, many more jobs will be lost and more businesses will be closed. A dramatic 60 percent capital gains tax increase (from 15 percent to 23.8 percent effective rate, including new universal health-care taxes) will accompany the big income tax increase. More jobs will be lost, more businesses closed. Taxes on dividends will increase from 15 percent to 39.6 percent, and then another 3.8 percent by 2013 for Obama's new health-care taxes. Stocks will be crushed and older Americans will be devastated (because they live off dividends, investments and bank interest). More lives ruined, more jobs lost. New taxes on income, investments, and even tanning-bed users soon take effect to pay for ObamaCare. Worse,18,000 new IRS agents will be hired to enforce these taxes (at a cost of billions annually in new government employee salaries, pensions, and benefits). More jobs lost. The pending cap-and-trade legislation threatens dramatic new taxes on anyone who owns a business, a home, an auto, or buys products manufactured or delivered through the use of energy. Once again, the more you own, the more you'll be taxed. More jobs will be lost, more manufacturing jobs sent overseas, more homes foreclosed. The pending financial reform bill threatens onerous new rules, regulations, and taxes on banks and Wall Street. More jobs will be lost and more banking and financial jobs sent overseas. The pending new jobs bill threatens gigantic new taxes on every Sub Chapter S corporation in America. More jobs will be lost and more small businesses ruined. The threat of a gigantic new national sales tax (VAT) on everything manufactured, bought, and sold in America looms large. Fewer jobs, reduced consumer spending, more businesses closed forever. Obama is pushing for the reduction or elimination of tax deductions (such as mortgages and charitable contributions) for high-income earners (mostly small business owners). More jobs lost, reduced charitable contributions, and the real estate industry damaged beyond repair. The threat of bans or restrictions on offshore oil drilling are being put permanently into place. More jobs lost and more jobs sent overseas where drilling is welcomed. As a bonus for Obama, he gets to ruin the Texas economy. All signs indicate that Obama will soon propose to take the income cap off FICA (Social Security) taxes. If this happens, a successful small business owner (if there are any left) could see his or her FICA taxes go from an already bloated and burdensome $15,000 per year to an unimaginable $150,000 or more. In U.S. history, no taxpayer has ever seen a ten-times tax increase in one year. This devastating nightmare will wipe out small business and cause people whom Obama calls "rich" to lose their homes and businesses. A new IRS law (with the passage of ObamaCare) requires business owners to file thousands of new forms each year documenting virtually every expenditures made by their businesses. As a result of this blizzard of new paperwork, small businesses face ruin. Let's not forget the gigantic tax hikes on the state and local level for income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and new taxes disguised as "user fees." Local taxes are already at levels that taxpayers and small businesses can no longer afford to pay. Finally, Obama refuses to consider lowering the second highest corporate tax rate (40 percent) in the industrialized world. As a result, more businesses will choose to leave the United States and more jobs will be sent overseas. Each of these taxes and proposed taxes is a job killer. Taken together, the Obama regime's policies are the equivalent of General Sherman's march to the sea - leaving a tragic path of destruction in its wake. Obama has launched an unprecedented, overwhelming, death-by-tax assault on the groups that fund fiscally conservative causes and candidates: taxpayers and business owners. And you wonder why there are no jobs? You wonder why there is no recovery? This is the "Teleprompter Depression." Every time Obama steps in front of a teleprompter, another thousand businesses die. |
| TheRumpledOne 6,411 posts msg #95109 - Ignore TheRumpledOne |
7/26/2010 4:17:29 PM http://www.infowars.com/steve-wynn-takes-on-washington/ |
| Eman93 4,750 posts msg #95115 - Ignore Eman93 |
7/26/2010 10:04:47 PM FYI........ cap and trade is dead for the year |
| petrolpeter 439 posts msg #95170 - Ignore petrolpeter |
7/28/2010 1:47:12 PM Federal judge cuts out parts of AZ immigration law,the part that says police can not check a persons immigration status on a criminal stop,c'mon.Maybe AZ should charter 50 Greyhounds a day and ship illegals to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and drop em off with a Mickey D's bag for lunch and say here ya go. |
| johnpaulca 12,036 posts msg #95187 - Ignore johnpaulca |
7/28/2010 11:41:46 PM My great grandfather watched as his friends died in WW1, my father watched as his friends died in WW II, and I watched as my friends died in Afghanistan. None of them died for a Foreign Flag. Everyone died for the Canadian flag. We removed Christian prayer from our schools as it might offend a minority of students not of the Christian faith. It is politically incorrect for Public and Civil Servants to wear anything of a religious nature while serving the public, despite the fact that civil servants are allowed to wear turbans on the job as public or Civil servants. Why? – Because it is against their religion not to wear it. In fact, our Prime Minister forbade the use of any Christian reference when a memorial service was held on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean near Halifax. The memorial was in remembrance of the 229 people that lost their lives in the September 2, 1998 Swiss Air Flight 111 that crashed. Almost all of the crash victims were Christian. We have removed any reference to Christianity in our Courts of Law, despite the fact that our laws are based on Christian principles and values. Bike laws in almost all Canadian Jurisdictions require bike riders to wear safety helmets. You guessed it. – people who are required to wear turbans are exempt because a helmet is not designed to be worn over a turban. Some ten years ago a Commission was assembled in Ontario (lobbied for by Muslims) to investigate the practicality of allowing Canadians of the Muslim faith to practice Sharia law. The Commission head (a former Attorney General in the Bob Rae NDP Government) presented the Commission findings to the succeeding Provincial Government to allow limited use of Sharia Law for Canadians of the Muslim faith. The recommendation was rejected. – It should never have gone that far and in fact the issue should never have reached a discussion stage, let alone the formation of a commission. It is politically incorrect to wish our fellow Canadians Merry Christmas. And the list goes on and on. Enough is enough. The below e-mail message needs to be viewed by every Canadian; and every Canadian needs to stand up for Canada. We've bent over to appease the new Canadian immigrants long enough. I'm taking a stand. I'm standing up because the tens of thousands who died fighting in wars for this country, and for the Canadian flag can't stand up. If you agree, stand up with me. If you disagree, then just delete it. And shame on anyone who tries to make this a racist message. A Map Of My Country: 
THIS IS MY COUNTRY! And, because I make This statement DOES NOT Mean I'm against immigration!!! YOU ARE WELCOME HERE, IN MY COUNTRY! Welcome! To come through legally: 1. Get a sponsor! 2. Get a place to lay your head! 3. Get a job! 4. Live By OUR Rules! 5. Pay YOUR Taxes! And 6. Learn the LANGUAGE like immigrants have in the past!!! AND 7. Please don't demand that we hand over our lifetime savings of Social Security Funds to you. If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone, Then YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM! When will Canadians STOP giving away THEIR RIGHTS??? We've gone so far the other way... bent over backwards not to offend anyone. But it seems no one cares about the Canadian CITIZEN that's being offended! WAKE UP Canada !!! |
| petrolpeter 439 posts msg #95194 - Ignore petrolpeter |
7/29/2010 4:26:11 AM Hear ya JP.We just returned from vacation in St Augustine,FL.This is the oldest city in the US and when Pedro Menendez founded it in 1565 he and his men held the first Catholic mass in the US at that time.Go see this wonderful place. |
| johnpaulca 12,036 posts msg #95196 - Ignore johnpaulca |
7/29/2010 8:56:39 AM Will do petrolpeter....thanks. |
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