Texas Fucks Its Residents and Then Makes Them Pay

The coming "Water War"s may be starting in Texas:  great article here on how business interests trump citizens' rights in Texas.  I wonder how long people can see 70% increase in water charges before they take up all their guns.  And I hear, Texas has a lot of guns!  Watch out you raping and pillaging private water companies!!

Was Bradley Manning Keeping His Oath to the Constitution?

Let's face it:  the prosecution of Bradley Manning is a crime in itself.  Those perpetrating this crime should be prosecuted for an affront to the U.S. constitution, an oath they would have taken themselves, as Mr. Manning did.  Bradley Manning exposed crimes committed by the U.S. military—exposing crimes, whistle-blowing, should be celebrated and recognized for what it is: an act of patriotism. Instead, what we get is a distorted perception and a criminalization of an act that would be celebrated by the founding fathers of the U.S.  What is left when this occurs in a society?  Well, we can look at the middle-east for the answer.  The U.S.'s days of credibility are numbered.  It's just a matter of time before the general population stops buying the spoon-fed propaganda that has been force fed down its throat.  The "occupy" movement has not even started yet.  Watch...

U.S. Fucked Up, Is There Really Any Doubt?

The U.S. committed a war crime when it "preemptively" attacked Iraq.  There is no doubt that American sheep were fed propaganda and lied to in a planned and systematic way.  Remember the talk of "mushroom clouds?"  How it was just a matter of time before Saddam Hussein would attack the U.S. with "weapons of mass destruction?"  How the whole world was at risk?  It was all lie!  There was no accountability and we know it at  some level even though the perpetrators seem to have gotten away with it.  History will catch up to the criminals Bush and Cheney, but in the mean time they, or their mouthpieces, should not be allowed to revise this history and the incontrovertible evidence that the Iraq war was based on falsehoods.  History will prove it.  I just hope not too late!

Republican Congress is Just Stupid

Let's face it:  these Republicans—Cantor and Boehner—are just idiots.  When the U.S. is experiencing the most serious economic situation in generations, what are they doing?  Concealed carry legislation!  Can you believe it?  With 9.1% unemployment these idiot Republicans are talking about making it easier for gun nuts to carry their guns from state to state.  Obama just needs to run against this congress and he'll be in for another 4 years. 

Another Criminal Republican

Rep. Phil Gingrey Mugshot

Reuters brings us another example of a corrupt hypocritical Republican.  His name is Rep. Phil Gingrey from Georgia and he has a good scam going—borrow money, never repay it and then try to legislate without disclosing that the legislation would benefit yourself!  Read it yourself here.

If This Happened in China, The U.S. Would be Screaming!

I'm amazed at the U.S. government:  Of course, this is another failed, or successful if you are a right-wing nut, policy brought to us by tough-on-immigration Republican Nazis.  If it was any other country the U.S. would be screaming "human right's abuse" and be looking to score political points depending on what country committed the same atrocities that the U.S. government is doing everyday.  The number of deportations and the shocking treatment of these families and kids is deplorable and would be condemned if they weren't done by the U.S. itself!  Here's a chart of the number of deportations:

   

In these rising numbers is an increasing number of families that are being ripped apart needlessly.  You'd think that when someone was being deported it would be required to send their kids with them, but instead the government chooses to place the kids in foster care.  Read it for yourself here and here.  Also check this Frontline documentary here for more info

Another Retort to Republican Lies

The rewriting of history by Republicans continues unchecked.  They want us to believe that government caused the 2008 financial crisis and not bankers or other financial players.  It's a ruse to continue with their harmful deregulation that ended in with the worst financial crisis we have seen since the Great Depression!  We can't really blame these lying Republicans like Boehner or Cantor as they are just mouth pieces for their financial backers—the financial industry that profits from deregulation but makes the public pay when their bets move against them. 


http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-caused-the-financial-crisis-the-big-lie-goes-viral/2011/10/31/gIQAXlSOqM_story_1.html?sub=AR

When Republicans Blame Government

I'm so tired of Republicans blaming government for everything without any facts while the press just accepts it without question.  We keep hearing, more and more, that government is the root of all problems. Of course it's nonsense but it's often difficult to stand up for government, but there's some great ideas here.

Hugh Hendry

Hugh Hendry, Eclectica Asset Management and Steven Drobny, Drobny Global Advisors from LSE SU AIC on Vimeo.

Howard Zinn from 2001

Ran across this insightful interview with Howard Zinn at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMt7cFFKPeM

Boycott Paypal

Paypal has got to be one of the most fucked up organizations on the web.  If you haven't already, I would suggest just closing your account and sending a big "fuck you" to them.  Fuck Paypal and  help speed up their eventual bankruptcy—it's just a matter of time before they just shoot themselves again!

Reuters on Goldman Sachs

Great write-up on Goldman Sachs by Reuters here.

Tuning Out of the Political Absurdity

The total disconnect between reality and Republican politics has reach the pinnacle of absurdity.  Their call for less regulation as a way to tackle the jobs problem is laughable.  We tried every one of their ideas under bush, less taxes for the wealthy, less regulation for financial firms and others, lower environmental standards,
ad nauseam!  The only thing it got us was a financial crisis that the Republicans blame on the President that just inherited the result of these inane policies.  I'll vote and send money and hope that the U.S. will see through this bullshit.  I'm not that hopeful as these would be the same Americans that gave war-criminal Bush a second term.

Republicans Attempt to Sabotage U.S. Economy!

Our good old Republicans are at it again.  See their letter to Mr. Bernanke here.  You have to give them great credit to so openly attempt to stop any progress with this difficult economic situation, but that is what they are doing with this latest warning.  If it wasn't for the Fed's recent actions we would be a catastrophic depression right now.  What would Republicans like?  I guess they would like congress to do nothing except lower taxes on the wealthy and for the Federal Reserve to do nothing. Well, if the politics of it all weren't so obvious I guess it would be amusing.  I think the Republicans are starting to over-reach and it will hurt them come the election.  Their plan: do nothing to improve the economy, block all attempts to improve it, sit back and win the White House in 2012.  I think enough will see through their cynical politics to vote their asses right out of office.

More Republican Lies Exposed

It's truly remarkable that the main-stream press doesn't refute the lie and lie spewed from Republican talking points.  Over and over we have heard how Obama's stimulus package made things worse and caused more job losses.  It's another Republican lie and the fact that they can just repeat it over and over without any accountability is appalling.  Anyway, this chart from the Congressional Budget Office says it all.  It clearly portrays the CRISIS that Obama inherited from that war-criminal Bush.  Without the stimulus package we would probably be looking at a much higher unemployment rate.  The stimulus package that was enacted in early 2009 clearly stemmed the tide and turned the situation around.   How Republicans can get away with their lies while the press stays silent is beyond belief!

The Banks Have Been Corrupt for Longer Than Anyone Thought

As U.S. Housing, So Goes the Economy

The U.S. economy will not see any significant change until these housing numbers rebound. The number of housing starts has never seen such a slump as it's seen since 2007.  In July 2011 there were 604,000 new starts and in January 2006 it was at 2,273,000—a 73% dive!  Of course, that 2 million plus was over-building, represents the great American bubble and was completely unsustainable, but it could be 5-10 years before it bounces back to half that number!  What does that mean?  Expect dismal growth and a dismal job market as the new norm for the foreseeable future, the U.S.'s loss decade.  I just hope it's as good as Japan's lost decade where unemployment really never got worse than 5 or 6%—if only the U.S. could be so lucky!

More Veiled Republican Racism!

As usual Republicans display their racism:  Recently Tom Coburn—extremist right-winger from Oklahoma—committed the usual Republican trick of subtly playing off Southern American's racist tendencies and hints that the African American President Obama is a product of affirmative action and perhaps welfare.  Republicans are rarely overtly racist, but usually play off of generational racist tendencies that have plagued the U.S. for centuries.  Rick Perry—right-winger extremist presidential candidate from Texas—recently said there's a black cloud hanging over America.  Of course, at the last second he added a reference to the debt, but the mission was accomplished as he reminded his racist Republican audience that he's white, like them, and that other guy is black.  Rick Perry and Tom Coburn should be publicly flogged (figuratively speaking) for the lowest-common-denominator politics they practice, but not before they are voted out or down by the progressive electorate.  I believe this sort of Republican bullshit is a dying form of politics but they will use it as long as they can and as long as it helps them win elections—which it still does, unfortunately.

Loony Michele Bachmann Proves She's an Idiot!

This headline says it all.  I just hope she keeps on leading the Republicans!  This is even better than McCain! (see UPI story here)

Teapublicans Are Repeating Historical Failures

There's hardly anything that economists can agree on , but one thing that many econmists can agree on is that now is not the time to reduce spending.  The U.S. economy is teetering on the brink of disaster and all Republicans and their Tea Party extremists can talk about is how we should cut spending.  That, and that alone should be enough to banish all of them from public office yet thanks to subtle racism, (which we know is always veiled by right wingers) a constant distortion of the facts and fear mongering  the Republicans hold on to continue fighting for their special interests.  Here's a bit of background from an International Business Times article:

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, despite the fact that the first four years of massive New Deal fiscal stimulus had lowered U.S. unemployment from a staggering 20.6 percent during the Hoover Administration at the start of the Great Depression, to 9.1 percent, felt pressure from Congressional Republicans, and he -- as current President Barack Obama did with the Tea Party-led House GOP in 2011 -- gave-in to conservatives and cut government spending in 1937. The result? U.S. unemployment started rising again, and hit 12.5% in 1938.

Sound familiar?  It's as if we are re-living a completely failed past.  That saying that history is doomed to repeat itself seems to be our living horror at this time.  Republicans and their Tea Party cohorts would like nothing else than to kill this weak recovery to enhance their chances to steal the Presidency again.  I think a more appropriate solution would be public executions (figuratively speaking, in case any nutters are reading) for these traitors to the American people.

More Evidence of Government Collusion & Corruption

SEC destroys records to cover up its inaction when financial fraud came to its attention.  No surprise here!  As I've been writing for months, the U.S. is fundamentally corrupt and it will continue on this path until it breaks.  See Matt Taibbi's article at RollingStone (or here if the link is dead).

Roubini Warns of Global Recession Risk

Commodity ETFs Will Kill You!

As anyone who looked at commodity ETFs can attest, esspecially USO and UNG, they make for terrible investments as they don't track the prices of the physicals.  Oil goes up but the oil ETF, USO, goes down.  Same thing for UNG—surprise surprise the system was all but rigged for Wall Street.  No shocker there for an industry that preys on the public and looks for ways to use it's clout to game systems and take advantage of market participants.  Check this article or more. 

Fraudulent System Yet No Reprisals

Only in banana republics and the good old U.S. of A can corporations get away with fraud without any accountability.  The system was gamed, abused and the government picked up the tab without even a perfunctory "thanks" by the con artists that devised a system where they win whatever way it ended up and the public would lose.  It was criminal yet no one is a criminal or deemed to be criminal.  Only in an utterly corrupt system can this occur—guess what?  We are in that totally corrupt system now and don't even know it.  Merrill Lynch's from CEO John Thain summed it up nicely with this comment in 2010: 

[W]hen you have a system where you pay someone for originating mortgages simply on volume and nothing happens to them if the credit quality is bad, and nothing happens to them if the borrower is fraudulent on his loan application, and nothing happens to him if the appraisal’s fraudulent, then that’s probably not a very smart system.

No shit!  Well it's not a bad system for all those who collected their fat bonuses and then left others to clean up the mess.  Civil cases are popping up faster than wack-a-mole and yet we don't hear a peep from the government regarding prosecutions for all the fraud that was taking place.  Why is that you might ask yourself:  and the answer appears to be that the U.S. government is fundamentally corrupt at its very core. The proof:  the absolute inaction to hold anyone accountable.  It's just that simple.  They are above the law.  Their lobbyists get their cronies elected to do their bidding in congress—and it is very effective as we can see!

In an AIG lawsuit against Bank of America, AIG said that BOA's "representations regarding the underwriting processes, underwriting quality, loan selection, credit enhancements, use of exceptions and alternative documentation programs, and ratings were all untrue.  The mortgage loans underlying AIG’s certificates did not comply with the underwriting standards the Offering Materials described because those standards were systemically ignored.  In their roles as both originators and as acquirers of the loans, Defendants ignored borrowers’ actual repayment ability and the value and adequacy of
mortgaged property used as collateral.  Systematic, bulk exceptions to underwriting standards were granted without consideration of any compensating factors."  These lawsuits will likely get settled but where is the government?  Where are the regulators?  Utter silence or some superficial jaw-boning would be the only way to characterize our government's response.  That response, or lack of, is criminal itself.

And worst of all, the fraudsters have proven that they can get a away with this criminal behavior.  It will happen again and again until there is real reform—something like what ended the last gilded age—real substantial regulation that worked for 70 years until the anti-government Republican gutted all regulations as out-dated.  Well those "out-dated" regulations prevented the very things that they allowed to happen.  Surprised?  That's corruption and it's at the core of the U.S. government and it will probably only get worse until the divide between the top and the rest is too much and must be stopped before the whole system just implodes on itself.  I'm betting implosion, 15-20 years out. Hope I'm wrong, but this level of corruption seems to just perpetuate itself to absurdity.  Watch Fox news for a bit for example after example of this absurdity!

Warren Buffett Refutes Republican Nonsense!

Warren Buffett recently said:

I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone - not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 - shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain.

 How many times have we heard Republicans say that higher taxes will hurt the job creators?  It's all Republican talking points and complete  nonsense, but it's nice to see one of these job creators debunk their bullshit.  Nice job Warren Buffett!

Youth Unemployment Will Kill This Generation

Unemployment has huge costs and I guess rioting is just one of them.  I guess it's easier to throw them in jail rather then educate and pursue policies that might employ them.  Congratulations right wing deregulatory zealouts.  Your policies of the last 20 or 30 years have failed miserably for the masses but were an amazing success for you and your wealth.  Well done.  Let's hope these masses catch up with you before you've absconded with all that booty.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/07/youth-unemployment

They Looted Our Banks and the Government Let Them!

Unfortunately, firms covered by government guarantees are not the
only ones that face severely distorted incentives. Looting can spread
symbiotically to other markets, bringing to life a whole economic under-
world with perverse incentives. The looters in the sector covered by the
government guarantees will make trades with unaffiliated firms outside
this sector, causing them to produce in a way that helps maximize the
looters' current extractions with no regard for future losses. Rather than
looking for business partners who will honor their contracts, the looters
look for partners who will sign contracts that appear to have high current
value if fulfilled but that will not-and could not-be honored.

This is from an old paper from 1993, but it could have been written just the other day.  From real estate agents, bank loan officers, rating firms to investment bankers, they are all guilty of fraud and looting!  There is no doubt that banks knew what they were doing—no doc loans, loan fabrications, securitizations of known worthless shit, AAA ratings on complete garbage, etc, etc!  If we listened and believed  all their lies about how it was the perfect storm and there was no chance to foresee the collapse of the financial industry, we are the fools!  The shocking thing from the crisis that continues to this day, for the past 3 years, is that no one is being held accountable.  At least when the savings and loan scandals took place in the 80's people were held accountable and went to jail.   In this latest case of institutional fraud and looting the government bailed them out, made many of the perpetrators whole and just moved on.  I think we are getting the government that they paid for, through lobbyists, and that we all literally pay for in the end.

Will Americans Ever Riot?

Very interesting blog here on why the riots are taking place in England.  I wonder what will be the breaking point in the U.S.  I'm sure riots are on the way, and it's a matter of when they will take place and not if.  Between a government that largely serves corporate interests and leaves large swaths of the population to fend for themselves to a supreme court that has all but given it's full stamp of approval, it's just a matter of time before Americans will say enough is enough and demand drastic change.  Of course, being a semi-police state that the U.S. has become any riots or uprising will be doomed to failure and violently squashed faster than you can say, "unlimited campaign contributions by corporations."  Thank you Justice Scalia and you other right wing Supreme Court ideologues!  I hope someday the people recognize you for what you are and catch up to you.  Changing "Justice" Scalia to "prisoner" Scalia would be a welcome and righteous outcome to it all! 

Crazy Woman Michele Bachmann Wants to Be President! Oh my God!

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.  Well, surprise surprise, Michele Bachmann not only sounds like a lunatic she actually truly looks like one too!  Not one iota of surprise for anyone who has listened to her for more than a few seconds.

Bush Administration War Criminal May Pay

Finally one of the Bush Administration war criminals may be held accountable.  Still holding out hope that Bush will end up behind bars one of these days.  Poor Bush can't even travel in Europe without possibly ending up in the Hague as a war criminal charged with crimes against humanity.  I'm betting they will get him or a future administration will turn him over, but in the mean time Rumsfeld can do a warm up act and be held accountable.  Getting closer!

What Happened to the U.S.?

Republicans Are NOT Childish, Screwing Us is the Agenda!

It seems recently we keep hearing the word "childish" over and over again in the press—from Apple, Microsoft, the Chinese to Republicans the word keeps getting spewed as though it explains all of their behavior.  This is nonsense and and makes it more difficult to hold perpetrators truly accountable.

The Republicans weren't being childish when they chose to screw the American middle class and the American working poor while committing domestic political terrorism over raising the debt ceiling:  they were advocating for the very people that sent them to Washington to pursue a policy against the majority and for the special interests.  To say that that's childish completely absolves them of a much deeper wrong, obfuscates their true intentions and allows them to just continue on without any accountability.  It gives these treasonous hypocrites a pass without the public to get a chance to truly pass judgment on their policies and actions.  These treasonous Republicans will lose in the end but not until we call the policies what they are and not pretend it's child's play!

Republican Kill the Economy and Claim Victory

Intentionally or unintentionally the Republicans have managed do duplicate the policies of the 1930's—cutting spending in an extremely weak economy.  It didn't work then and won't work this time.  Actually, there's a strong case that these cuts will hurt the economy much more than closing tax loop holes or raising taxes on the wealthier among us since the wealthy are awash in cash already and aren't spending it and a lot of these cuts will come from the most vulnerable of us that tend to spend every penny they get their hands on.  Congratulations Republicans!  I hope this deed catches up to you by the next election when the general population figures out what you have done!

What Republicans Won't Say!

Watch Idiot Republican Senator Mike Lee Lie and Get Called On It

Chris Matthews actually got a chance to call a Republican, Senator Mike Lee (R) Utah, on his distortion of the facts regarding the debt ceiling debate. It's another pathetic example how Republicans lie and distort the facts and a rarity in that  the lying Senator Mike Lee was challenged on his lie!  You almost feel sorry for the lying and spinning Senator Mike Lee from Utah!  Great job Chris Matthews in dicing up this Republican idiot.  You'd never see that on the right-wing propaganda news station called Fox News!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Idiot Bachmann's Hypocrisy Catching Up to Her

Hypocritical Bachmann consistently attacks government and believes it never does any good.  Amazing for someone who has benefited greatly from government and its program, from farm subsidies to Medicare idiot Bachmann has been there to collect the money from Uncle Sam!  And at the same time she collects the government benefits she decries all government—the pinnacle of hypocrisy!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Senator John McCain Speaking a Little Truth

Nice to see Senator McCain having a cogent moment or two.  He seems a bit off his rocker quite often, but he definitely sees this one as it is.

Speaker Boehner Takes the Money and Screws the American People

I wish Speaker Boehner would quit the charade that he is doing good for the sake of the U.S., more nonsense and more lies from another tainted politician.  The facts are his agenda is clear: protect special interests and dismantle President Johnson's Great Society contributions to the American people.  Boehner keeps repeating, ad nauseum, that his approach is "reasonable" and "common sense."  Bullshit!  It's only reasonable to extremist Republicans and Tea Party traitors and is greatly opposed by main-stream Americans.  Boehner is playing Russian roulette with the American economy for special interests that pay his campaign bills and his threats of going along with his minority views or he will default on our already incurred debt is abhorrent and should lead to his immediate demotion, impeachment, hanging, whatever.  I predict he will fail and end up losing his House Speaker position or even better lose his seat in the Congress.  And good riddance to his failed minority extremist hypocritical policies.

Manufacture a Crisis and Destroy Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security

The Republican party is going through unprecedented steps to dismantle programs they have long disagreed with—Mediare, Medicaid and Social Security.  Their playbook is simple and audacious:

1. Starve the beast—spend like crazy for wars and tax breaks for the rich.
2. Create a crisis, perceived or actual, related to budgetary concerns (see Shock Doctrine).
3. Implement mandatory cuts in programs they have long wanted to destroy.
4. Leave tax cuts and loop holes for the rich in place.
5. Cement it all with a biased constitutional amendment.
6. Sit back and let the automatic carnage, spending caps, decimate the middle class.
7. Collect their donations from the special interests.
8. Blame the backlash on automatic provisions in their bills and amendments.

They have gotten to step two and they might be able to pull it off if they can actually create the crisis.  Republicans are acting in their own self interests and not in the country's interests.  For the country's sake, let's hope they fail miserably and Americans can really see where Republicans stand and what they don't stand for.

Why Eric Cantor is Dangerous to the U.S.

Eric "walk-out" Cantor stands against middle class Americans and for special interests even when some of those special interests don't want his special tax breaks for the wealthy.  At least Warren Buffett has stood up and said that it's nuts his secretary is taxed at a higher rate than the 3rd richest person on the planet.  Well, at least, we can see why Eric Cantor stands against ordinary Americans—money, contributions from those he protects!  Simple as that!  See here. 

Just Another Average Killing Spree in the U.S.

I'm starting to think the whole American myth  is and was a fake and nothing more than a sophisticated propaganda machine.  All that crap about the "greatest country on earth," "home of the brave," "land of the free," "envy of the world."  It's all bullshit!  There's not much to envy in the U.S. anymore.  Higher rates of poverty than much of the developed world, no health care for millions, shrinking middle class, government controlled by lobbyists and corporations and to top it all off guns, violence and crime.

Just a few headlines from this weekend:

"Man shoots 9 at US skating rink"
"11 wounded as gunfire erupts at Kent car show"
"Gunman kills 5, himself in Texas"
"3 dead, 1 hurt in Ariz. motorcycle rally shooting"
"9 teens hurt in Apopka house party shooting"

I wonder if Americans even notice the carnage in the streets and I wonder if they have any idea that most developed countries and many developing countries in the world don't suffer from that sort of violence and mayhem.  It's a joke that the U.S. pretends to be a role model throughout the world—nation building, a ridiculous number of military sites, judging other countries—the the whole country is crumbling under their noses and they can't even see it!  Good luck U.S.A!  I think your glory days are long gone!  I just hope you don't take down the rest of the world with you!  R.I.P.

Sensible Regulations that Republican Nazis Would Hate

I haven't heard any Republicans claim it's bad regulation, but based on how they are against ALL regulation I'm sure they would oppose informing consumers if their meat is not all meat!  Leave it to Republicans to abandon consumers for any special interest that will pay their bills!

We Need Bob Dole!

"Poor Boehner has enough of Cantor’s knives in his back to open a steakhouse."
That's a quote from this Newsweek article that spells it out quite clearly why the Republican party is dangerous for America.  There is no doubt that Republicans play by and rule for a very narrow constituency of big corporations, fringe puritanical religious fundamentalists and Tea Party zealots.  I can't imagine a worse situation for the U.S.  There's a very real chance the whole system will implode under the fanaticism of this fringe Republican party while the majority of moderates can only watch and wonder at the extremism.  If there was any doubt that Republicans are a narrow self-interested party, that should be laid to rest once and forever now!

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Debuts

Is Goldman Sachs Manipulating Results for Political Gain

The worst thing that Goldman Sachs could do right now is report huge profits.  With a little accounting sleight of hand these large banks can easily recognize gains or losses when it suits them, especially quarter to quarter.  I think the more important number is how they are doing for the year.  And clearly they are not hurting with net earnings of $8,354,000,000 for the quarter ending December 31, 2010, $2,735,000,000 for the quarter ending March 31, 2011 and $1,087,000,000 for the latest quarter ending June 30, 2011!   I would not put it past this PR beaten down firm to do anything it can to make itself appear a victim—food for thought!  I think we would all be naive if we thought these big banks wouldn't manipulate results to score political points!  Let's look at the annual numbers to see where they really stand before shedding tears.  Soon Goldman will be crying that Dodd-Frank is killing them.  It's bullshit!  See here and here for more.

Talking Head Hannity Spews More Shit

Here's another idiot Republican trying to shame Bill Maher into apologizing for "sexist comments."  It's actually Bill Maher—a comedian—being comedic.  You can judge for yourself below.  This is such phony typical Fox "News" bullshit—they try to use an entertainer's show as proof of media bias or some nonsense of a double standard.  Notice Bill Maher is not pretending to be an unbiased reporter like these Fox assholes.  Also, Fox pulled the video of this idiot Hannity so you can't actually watch his drivel.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1064367320001/did-bill-maher-finally-cross-the-line/?playlist_id=87937&intcmp=obinsite

Bill Clinton Always Gets it Right

Former president Clinton has an idea to just bypass the whole charade and just ignore the debt ceiling and use the 14th amendment to pay already incurred expenses. Makes sense to me, but then we couldn't watch hypocritical Republicans make asses out of themselves! If it wasn't for Republicans and their Tea Party friends we wouldn't have such an absurd entertaining show!

Chris Matthews Talks Drug Policy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Senator Carl Levin Tries to Make Sensible Tax Policy

Republicans would love to only cut the little social safety net offered to Americans to reduce the deficit, but fortunately there are a few politicians that will actually stand up to these Republicans and their corporate masters:

Pharmaceutical

 http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/20117313948379987.html

For children, the rise is even more startling - a thirty-five-fold increase in the same two decades. Mental illness is now the leading cause of disability in children." Under the tutelage of Big Pharma, we are "simply expanding the criteria for mental illness so that nearly everyone has one." Fugh-Berman agrees: In the age of aggressive drug marketing, she says, "Psychiatric diagnoses have expanded to include many perfectly normal people."

Republicans Oppose Consumer Rights and Protections

I'm not really sure what Republicans object to regarding consumer protections, but I guess we can surmise it must be their corporate backers' campaign contributions.  Another example of a bankrupt Republican party!



Some unknown idiot Republican gets unprofessional and rude at about 1 hour and 6 minutes in this hearing on May 24, 2011.

Idiot Congressman Makes Ass Out of Himself

Notice this idiot, Republican Congressman Joe Walsh, doesn't have any facts and just has a belief that he just keeps repeating and repeating. The Republican party is bankrupt without a clue!

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Lying Republican Orrin Hatch Spews Shit from His Mouth!

Watch Senator Orrin Hatch lie through his teeth and blame Democrats and Obama for all the spending and deficit.  His shrillness gives him away as a demagogue and his words spell phony piece of shit.  This is the same Orrin Hatch that voted for the Iraq War, Afghanistan War, the Bush tax cuts and the 2008 Tarp bank bail outs that ran up the debt to begin with!  I guess these lying Republican's just think no one noticed all their spending under Reagan, Bush Senior and Bush Junior for decades.  What a joke!! 

Tea Party Idiot Spews and Spins!

If you're dismayed by Republican politicking lately the answer may lie with this idiot Tea Party founder.  The Republicans, apparently, are actually listening to people that haven't a single clue!  Just be happy these idiots don't control the entire government!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

JPMorgan Steals and Gets a Slap on the Wrist

 It crazy!  Again and again these big banks rip off individuals, companies and the government—everyone!  The latest one is bid rigging in the municipal bond market and it cost taxpayers millions of dollars.  So what's the punishment for JPMorgan?  A very small fine of $200 million and a promise to not do it again.  And of course, no criminal prosecution and no corporate accountability for JPMorgan!  It just keeps happening again and again!

Great Summary of U.S. Debt and World Economy

See the whole post here.

U.S. Debt Crisis

On May 16, 2011, the U.S. debt exceeded $14.3 trillion, the legal debt limit. This burden originates from the 1980s, the Reagan administration, low interest rates and the laissez-faire mantra of deregulation, privatization and liberalization.

With the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, private sector losses were shifted to the public sector, and U.S. debt soared again. When Barack Obama arrived in the White House, it was already 84% of GDP. By the end of the year, it is expected to exceed 100% of U.S. GDP.

In 2009-2019, the U.S. debt will amount to some $20 trillion. The Bush tax cuts and the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya account for almost 50% of the total. As the costs of the medical services are soaring, the retirement of the large boomer cohorts in the mid-2010s will make the situation much worse.

Through “extraordinary measures,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has been able to extend the technical debt limit until August 2. So far deep political polarization has made it difficult for the two dominant parties to agree on a new debt limit.

And even when the two will agree on the new limit, they must urgently develop, launch and execute a credible long-term fiscal adjustment program.

Winston Churchill once said that “you can always count on Americans to do the right thing – but only after they have tried everything else.” That, however, was amidst World War II, when the U.S. still spearheaded the world economy and the public debate in Washington was led by the likes of Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower.

Extreme political polarization between and within the two leading parties will complicate any potential for actionable compromises.

Great Interview on Investing

Republican Demogogues + Texans = Idiocy!

Those Texan Republicans have got some serious issues.  The federal government would like to phase out energy burning incandescent bulbs and replace them with LED bulbs to save energy.  These LEDs pay for themselves over time and it's really a no brainer that we would switch, but leave it to Texan Republicans to oppose something as sensical as saving energy.

Republicans Hope for U.S.'s Failure

The last thing Republican's want is a recovering economy or real headway on the deficit before the 2012 election.  Never before has the debt ceiling been used in the extortionist way it's being used now.  President Obama called their bluff and offered even more deficit reducing spending cuts, but that is not what the Republicans actually want—what they really want is a bankrupt U.S. until the election thinking that that will enhance their chances of recapturing the White House.  Well they are wrong.  People are seeing through their ruse and it will come back to kill them in 2012!  I just wish democrats wouldn't stop playing politics of old and start swinging with the same cynicism that the GOP has honed over the last 20 or 30 years.

Welcome to Nazi U.S.A.

The U.S. has totally lost it since 9/11.  You couldn't imagine a better outcome if you are Al-Qaeda when looking at the fiascoes in Iraq, Afghanistan and when you enter the country with Homeland Security (nice Soviet ring to that name!) grabbing your crotch, asking for your papers, searching your computer and just keeping it for days.  It's seems like a bad joke that the U.S. even actually still has the constitution and the 4th amendment.  Fortunately, someone is challenging this self-defeating policy and standing up to wave the constitution in the face of the Homeland Security Nazis!  See here.

Big Banks Are Fundementally Corrupt

These big banks are like parasitic leeches that should just be cut out and discarded from society.  Banks like JP Morgan should be boycotted.  It just doesn't make sense any longer to support institutions that look for any way possible to leech off society.   JP Morgan doesn't offer anything of value that can't be found  at a local credit union.  Boycott JP Morgan and support your local credit union or local bank.  We'll all be better off without JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs!  The government should let these banks fail next time as their greed will destroy them and they will come to the tax payers again in the future.

Facebook's Overhyped Bubble is the New AOL

I'm not buying the hype that is  being fed to us by parties, Facebook itself and investors like Goldman Sachs, that have an interest in perpetuating the myth that Facebook will change the world forever and it's worth north of $50 billion.  It will wear off and fade just as AOL did in the 90's.  Also, those inflated numbers are as phony as phony can get.  I myself would account for 7-10 users and I just signed up to see what the buzz was about—it wasn't much!  Wall Street can't get away with pumping up every business with a flaky business plan like it did 10-12 years ago, but I guess they're thinking they can get a away with pumping up a few here and there like Facebook, Linkedin and Groupon before everyone catches on, but by that time they'll be long gone having cashed out leaving an empty bag for their usual victims.

China's Bubble Coming to an End

The whole Chinese expansion feels so much like the Japanese experience from the 80's and early 90's.  Week after week we hear another revelation that it's not as rosy as it's been portrayed.  The latest revelation is Chinese local government debt has been understated by U.S. $540,000,000,000.  This is just the latest one; the whole bubble has been financed and orchestrated by the government through the banks—massive credit expansion.  It will come to an end and it won't look pretty!

Missing $18 Billion in Iraq!

If this doesn't warrant an investigation, I don't know what would.  Apparently the Bush administration flew in $20 billion into Iraq without a system to keep track of it.  That by itself should land someone behind bars, but the press is just silent on the issue except for here and there.

Financial Repression

It's mostly those guys at PIMCO, Bill Gross and Scott Mather, talking about financial repression.  Japan has been at this for years and it probably won't end any time soon.  Now it's the U.S.'s turn: with  QE1/2 and maybe 3 it's already there and will probably be with us for a long time to so get used to it.  According to Mr. Mather's recent letter governments use financial repression:

...  to improve a country’s ability to finance government debt without resorting to painful fiscal adjustment. By artificially lowering the cost of debt financing below what would be demanded by free market forces, governments are able to reduce borrowing costs and slow down debt accumulation rates. One can think of financial repression as a form of “stealthy default”: a gentlemanly way for modern countries with fiat currencies to stiff their creditors while still ostensibly paying interest and principal in full. 

He calls it a "stealthy default," but we can also look at it as a tax if you happen to have savings.  I guess for most Americans that wouldn't be a factor, but those fat cats probably don't like the idea of low returns for years to come.  Here's the chart from Mr. Mather's letter showing real interest rates adjusted for inflation.

U.S. Government Lies, No Consequences!

This is not new, but just as a reminder at how criminal and debased of humanity the U.S. military can be I have posted this awful and disturbing video again.  Is it even legal to shoot the enemy after they are wounded?  Turns out these poor people weren't the enemy but journalists and other civilians. The complete lack of humanity should remind all at just what the government is capable of doing.  It's even worse when you watch this and then you hear Robert Gibbs (Obama's press secretary) say:

Our military will take every precaution necessary to ensure the safety and security of civilians and particularly those that report in those dangerous places on behalf of news organizations.

The total disconnect between Gibb's words and the video is enough to turn thousands of moderates against the U.S.  How Gibbs could say those words is beyond me after seeing what happened!

25% of U.S. Kids Live in Poverty

One of the richest countries in the world leaves behind its kids and families at an appalling rate.  The contrast between the U.S. and other advanced economies is striking and tells a story of a country that will sacrifice huge numbers of its population to Darwinism.  

More Republican Lies from Michele Bachmann

It's only going to get worse as the campaign heats up but it's nice to see NPR try to shed a little light on the lies and exaggerations of Michele Bachmann.  Also see here for more lies.

When Will the Banks and Mortgage Servicers be Prosecuted?

Check out this video for a very cogent explanation of the whole mortgage mess. Someone needs to hold these companies accountable, but rather we have the whole system just turning a blind eye.  It's appalling and please watch for yourself:

U.S. Kills Its Youth for Afghan Graft

Check out this New Yorker article for info on one of the greatest bank heists ever:

Graft infests nearly every interaction between the Afghan state and its citizens, from the police officers who demand Afghani notes to let cars pass through checkpoints to the members of Karzai’s government who were given land in Kabul’s once empty quarter of Sherpur, now a neighborhood of huge rococo-style buildings, where homes sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Afghan graft is one thing, but when it's financed by billions in U.S. tax money and  its citizen's blood it's shocking that the U.S. is still in the country.  To top it off and to make matters worse, it will likely take a decade to wind down the whole shameless failure while they tell us it was a success!

U.S. Debts and Lying Republicans

I think this chart says it all when lying hypocritical Republicans say they are so concerned about the amount of debt and the debt ceiling.

The Obama administration took over in 2009; the debt was already a staggering $10 trillion.  Then the financial crisis struck, tax receipts plummeted and the government needed to step in to prevent a depression.  Without this spending the whole situation would have been much worse.

The real point of this graph is to point out that a Republican—George Bush, Junior—ran up the bulk of the debt during his presidency, kicking the can down the road, to President Obama.  An even bigger question was where were all these 'debt hawks' like Senator McConnell or Congressman Cantor during this great debt increase in the 2000's?  Well, they were in congress voting for those massive increases in spending from 2000 to 2008.  There you have it: the great lie!  All of a sudden these 'debt hawks' want to slash spending, not when the war criminal George Bush, Junior was in office, but now when the Democrat Obama is in office.  That says it all and simply exposes the fraud that Republicans represent.

I don't think I could sum it up any better than this blog describing the Republican leadership's (Boehner, Cantor, McConnell and Kyl) recent debt limit votes:

June 2002: Congress approves a $450 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $6.4 trillion. McConnell, Boehner, and Cantor vote “yea”, Kyl votes “nay.”

May 2003: Congress approves a $900 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $7.384 trillion. All four approve.

November 2004: Congress approves an $800 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $8.1 trillion. All four approve.

March 2006: Congress approves a $781 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $8.965 trillion. All four approve.

September 2007: Congress approves an $850 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $9.815 trillion. All four approve.

Are Republicans Stupid or Evil?

I'm guessing evil, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and just go with stupid or grand standing.    The latest Republican geniuses would like to pass a balanced budget amendment.  For years, while Republicans ran up the deficits with wasteful spending and tax cuts, these Republicans were silent and now they see the deficit as a great tool to score political points.  One way or another, these stupid, evil or grand standing Republicans would like to dismantle the little social safety net that actually exists in the U.S. and a balanced budget would be an effective tool to achieve their ends.  I think there should be a special vote to just throw them in Guantanamo or some newly constructed Gulag!  Most people would be better off without Republicans and big corporations are the only ones that would suffer—meaning that we might be able to end corporate welfare and subsidies without morally bankrupt Republicans to defend the indefensible.

Economic Models and How We Fail

Very interesting discussion here by John Kay, Financial Times columnist and professor at London School of Economics.  His book is called “Obliquity: Why our Goals are Best Achieved Indirectly” and the premise is: "Complex goals are best achieved by not pursuing them directly." He points out that all of our models, economic or whatever, are simplifications of complexity and choosing the right model is extremely difficult.  See for yourself here:

Out of Touch Republican Chris Christie

Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, received a call from a woman questioning Christie's decision to cut public school funding.  His response was basically: shut up!

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Stop the Insane "War of Drugs"

Finally a little sense is coming through:  Jimmy Carter recommends stopping the ridiculous and counter-productive 'war on drugs.'  See President Carter's NYT Opinion piece here.  It's been 40 years since some crummy politician, Nixon, declared this self-serving policy.  It's shocking that it has actually continued this long and destroyed so many lives.  Back in the eighties Carter said that the punishment for doing drugs shouldn't be worse than the harm from actually doing the drugs, but then one of the worst U.S. presidents, Reagan, enacted, pursued and escalated one of the most costly failures in American history. 

Groupon Should Have Taken the Money

Groupon—the online coupon, voucher, deal-of-the-day company—turned down a $6 billion offer from Google.  For a business model that has very low barriers to entry (no fortress or moat as Buffett would say) and questionable value in good economic times, it appears they may regret turning down Google's big fat offer.  That's not to say they won't get out making a killing, but it'll have to come by unloading their dubious business model onto the public when they go public.  The dot com bubble redux seems to be alive and well with a $15 billion valuation of Groupon (still losing money!) and a maybe a $100 billion valuation for Facebook.  It's absurd, but I guess the whole dot-com thing has been forgotten so Wall Street can begin the fleecing again—package it, hype it, sell it and forget it!

See here for more info on its business model and here for a sense of funky accounting since the real accounting would hurt that sky high valuation.

'Fracking' is Good for Us?

The oil and gas companies will tell us 'frackin' is just fine for us, but actually the shocking part is that these companies wouldn't disclose what chemicals they were pumping into the ground.  Chemicals have been found in drinking water, but still the oil and companies deny it's from 'fracking.'  Sound familiar?  Seems the oil and gas companies have taken a page out the tobacco industry's playbook: deny, deny, obfuscate and then deny some more!  We can bet they will continue that until the government does something—fat chance as long as those republicans keep telling us we have too many regulations.  I wonder if they might regulate if it comes to health?  Probably not!

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

California Unemployment 22%

That's a shocking statistic—22% unemployment when you count people that want work but gave up actively looking.  If you don't count those people California's unemployment still stands at 12.1%.  I think we are finally seeing the effects of administration after administration, from Reagan to Obama, pushing the American middle class under the bus.  From free trade (one-way, the U.S. is open but many other countries put up barriers) to tax policies that reward U.S. companies for closing factories and moving jobs overseas, the U.S. is in no position to be policing the world and spending billions in aid to other countries.  Instead of focusing on these issues seems that all congress is interested in is talking about Rep. Weiner's mental issues.

Andrew Ross Sorkin Suckles to Goldman

In a rather lame defense of Goldman Mr. Sorkin goes through the Levin Report and highlights some typos and mistakes—but more importantly Mr. Sorkin doesn't refute the main points that Goldman might have engaged in criminal behavior including non-disclosure of material information, misleading clients and possibly lying to Congress.  Goldman has a lot of money and lots of influence so be on the lookout for more to suckle up to Goldman.  Hopefully the government won't suckle up this time!

High Frequency Trading

Remember the "flash crash" back in May, 2010?  Thousands of stocks suffered unbelievable drops and recoveries in a matter of minutes.  No one knew what happened.  How could thousands of stocks completely disconnect from fundamentals?  The SEC looked at that question with this report and it seems to largely boil down to a lack of liquidity.  high frequency traders keep telling us that they serve the market by providing liquidity—well, guess what?  It wasn't true; not only didn't they provide liquidity, they exacerbated the situation by reversing long positions they were temporarily holding and pulling back their bids and offers.  The SEC has taken steps to prevent another "flash crash," but high frequency traders are trading more and more, up to 60% of trading in some stocks.  It's not so clear that this trading is helping or hurting the market overall.  Please see Thompson Reuters here, a WSJ article here or this opinion piece here for a lot more information.

Republicans Causing More Market Uncertainty

Being hypocritical must be a prerequisite for joining the Republican party.  They claim President Obama is causing market uncertainty yet this is a party that is trying to use extortion to get its priorities—dismantling the little social safety net that exists in the U.S.—by refusing to increase the debt ceiling.  These are the same Republicans that voted to increase the Federal debt ceiling in the past.  The same Republicans that cut taxes for the rich to create the problem in the first place!  The very same Republicans that ran up the deficit with massive increases in defense spending and started two unnecessary and very costly wars!  The same Republicans that want to repeal healthcare legislation that actually helps struggling families.  The same Republicans that put politics before country.  The hypocrisy is mind-boggling and yet there seems to be a recognition by Americans of the changes Republicans are trying to make.  In some ways, the Republican extremism is a gift that will hopefully will be fully recognized and acted upon by the next election.

Banks Will Do Anything to Go Back to the Old Ways!

Right on cue, Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan is complaining about too much regulation and actually blaming the slow economic recovery on bank regulations.  Talk about spin!  JPMorgan will rake in more than $20 billion this year and he's complaining?  These guys are trying so hard to twist the facts to serve their own purpose—fat bonuses with no regulatory oversight!  And they have the money and lobbyists to make it happen.

Government Documentary On a Building

Here's a very well done, short, documentary done by the GSA (General Services Administration) on the renovation of the McCormack building in Boston.  At first, I was going to post it to question the value of the government spending money on such things, but after watching it I thought "who else would fund and make such an informative documentary?"  I thought it was too good to criticize and the quality of it changed my mind!

Global Investment Outlook - Russian Forum 2011

With speakers like Hugh Hendry, Nouriel Roubini and Marc Faber this video is definitely worth a look for insights into the world economy.

Global Investment Outlook: Where is the Money & What are the Risks? from Troika Dialog on Vimeo.

Goldman Sachs Loses 1.3 Billion Dollars for Gadhafi

I guess given Goldman Sachs questionable, and possible criminal, past dealings it's not really surprising it would do business with the terrorist Gadhafi.  I wonder if Goldman was concerned that Ghadhafi was responsible for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.  I guess dealing with a terrorist that killed 270 people wouldn't be a concern as long as there was money to be made.  I guess someone made money but it wasn't Ghadafi—somehow Goldman manged to lose 98% of Gadhafi's investment!  See WSJ article here.

Japan's Economic Comeback is Quickening

It's been going on 3 months since Japan was struck by a horrific earthquake and tsunami.  The country is still trying to figure out how to deal with the power shortage, but things are largely back to normal for most people.  According to this nightly business report the Bank of Japan is optimistic that the economy is on a path to recovery that should commence in the autumn.  

Watch the full episode. See more Nightly Business Report.

Shocking Ignorance by Republican Marsha Blackburn

At a recent hearing by The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Ms. Blackburn blamed high unemployment on too much regulation. Maybe she wasn't paying attention or she was too busy to realize that the cause was the lack of regulatory action, instead of too much.  I don't know how anyone with a TV, radio or internet connection could have missed the multiple failures in regulating too little, but somehow Representative Blackburn manged to do just that.  She might appreciate this video of Greenspan admitting a mistake or two:

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Goldman Sach's Days Are Numbered?

It's been a long time coming but finally it seems some sort of action will be taken regarding the possible criminal behavior of Goldman Sachs leading up to the 2008 financial crisis and American taxpayer fleecing.  It seems Lloyd Blankfein may be trading in his Armani suits for something more like this.

Big Banks Will Do Anything to Avoid Dodd-Frank

It's not really surprising that big banks want to continue the status quo—it is lucrative after all.  The swaps industry is huge at 600 trillion U.S. dollars and it's largely unregulated.  Although most of the press and interested parties say it is used for hedging, it is also used for speculating.This is the same swap market that brought AIG to it's knees and ended up pushing the U.S. to the brink of a depression.  Although AIG wasn't speculating, the buyers of the swaps were—like Goldman Sachs!  Dodd-Frank would regulate and open the doors to this opaque market, hopefully preventing another financial meltdown.