Bad News: Dollar value is now in full swing decline

Ron Paul knew it, I knew it, and every Conservative and Libertarian Blogger knew it.

The U.S. dollar’s thrashing on Thursday after a last-minute European deal to contain the debt crisis may have sealed the currency’s fate.

And it is all downhill from here.

The European agreement, which involves a 50 percent write-down of Greek debt and boosting the euro zone’s bailout fund to as much as 1 trillion euros, has averted a collapse in Europe and spurred a rush to risky currencies and assets once again at the expense of the dollar.

Add in to the mix: a suddenly revitalized U.S. economy that a few weeks ago was teetering on the verge of recession and had fueled speculation about another round of quantitative easing. Almost overnight it leaves a whole new global outlook that appears a little more encouraging.

via Dollar Decline in Full Swing in Risk-On Environment – CNBC.

This is what happens when the Federal Reserve prints money for Countries to bail out their debt crises.  Ron Paul has said this for years and he is right —- about that anyway.  This in turn devalues our currency and causes the prices of everything to go up.  This also causes everyone to run to go Gold, which drives the prices through the roof, causing a bubble.  The problem is, when the inflation goes back down, and Gold collapses, people lose money — unless of course, they have other investments to transfer that wealthy into, so they do not lose their money.  If we could at least get control of the fed, this sort of stuff would not happen.

Another thing too, this right here ought to be the prime example of why Keynesian Economics does not work at all.  Taxing and spending a way out of recession is just not the way to do it.  Printing money out of thin air does not solve the problem; it only makes that problem worse.  It does that by devaluing the currency that is being mass printed.  I know, I am repeating myself; this is why I do not talk about the sort of stuff often, which is because I detest repeating myself repeatedly.  I figure my little blog is not going to stop the world from plunging into madness, so why bother.

 

Obama supported company gets U.S. Loan and builds cars…. In Finland

This ought to be a lesson to every last Democrat who voted for Obama and Biden.

The Video:

The Story:

With the approval of the Obama administration, an electric car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work.

Vice President Joseph Biden heralded the Energy Department’s $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company called Fisker as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma sports car has been outsourced to Finland.

“There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle,” the car company’s founder and namesake told ABC News. “They don’t exist here.”

Henrik Fisker said the U.S. money so far has been spent on engineering and design work that stayed in the U.S., not on the 500 manufacturing jobs that went to a rural Finnish firm, Valmet Automotive.

“We’re not in the business of failing; we’re in the business of winning. So we make the right decision for the business,” Fisker said. “That’s why we went to Finland.”

via Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland – ABC News.

Here is the real-world translation to that last line in that story; we did not want to have to deal with the labor unions in this United States, so we moved our manufacturing overseas.

Take note my Democratic Party friends who happen to read this blog, all two of you.  This is what happens to the Democrats and their union counterparts, when they elect internationalist Democrats, who really do not give a care about what happens to American workers.  Internationalist Democrats and their Republican counterparts, the globalists — like Richard Nixon, who do not care about American workers, they are corporatists, who support crony capitalism.

This right here is a perfect example of why the relations between the Democratic Party and the labor unions are frosty at best.  That is because the Democratic Party for the last few instances that they have won elections, have been putting internationalist Democrats into the White House.  This type of a Democrat talks a nice game, and puts out platitudes to the American autoworkers and their representatives in the unions; but when the “Rubber hits the road” so to speak, things change.  They begin showing their true colors and start doing things to kick dirt in the face of the American worker.

I do not write this as a Conservative mocking the left, goodness no.  I write this as someone who has a father, who is a retired General Motors worker, who is a member of the UAW.  If anyone would know how the Democratic Party has treated the American autoworker in the last 30 years, it would be me.  There was a time in this Country, when the Democratic Party used to respect the American autoworker and would literally step in front a train to defend them.  Sadly, that time has passed, as the unions have lost their influence amongst the Democratic Party.

The loss of that influence in the Democratic Party is partially due to the actions of the internationalist Democrats, like Bill Clinton, who signed into law NAFTA and TAFTA.  Some of that loss of influence is also due to the declining membership roles within the UAW and other said unions.  Either way, it is sad transition in America, when our politicians in Washington D.C. put interests abroad before interests here at home.

Some of my readers, all three of you, might be shocked to see that I do not take a more mocking tone on stories like this and here is why I do not; Pat Buchanan said it best once, on one issue that I actually agree with him on — the American worker.  Pat once said, “As goes Detroit, goes the Nation,” and you know what?  Pat Buchanan is right about that, the United States of America used to be a manufacturing marvel.  We produced everything ourselves, and other Countries used to come here to see how we did it all.  Sadly, those times have come and gone, due to many reasons, a list of which is longer than the length of this blog entry will permit.

What is solution you ask, I know what it is; but most of the people who will come here to read, will not agree with it.  However, I will give the solution.  Firstly, the solution is NOT to bust up the unions, as they have as much right to proper representation, as the company owners have a right to make a profit.  The solution to the problem is to get rid of these idiotic so-called “Free Trade” agreements.  Secondly, the solution is to impose strict tariffs on EVERYTHING and I do mean everything that is manufactured overseas and imported into our Country.

These actions would do a couple of things; firstly it would protect the American workers from the globalists who want to undercut the American worker to make a quick dollar on the backs of cheap sweatshop labor in foreign countries like China.  Secondly, it would solve our Nation’s revenue problem by creating a reliable source of income; one of which we did have in this Country for a very long time, before the globalists ripped it out, in favor of trade agreements.

Further, the solution is in whom we elect; Republicans and Democrats alike need to elect those who put America’s interests first, and not the interests who those abroad.  To be fair, Republicans have done this too in this past and we as Americans need to watch what these new crop of Republicans really represent; do they represent the interests of the crony capitalists or do they have the American people’s interests in mind?  Supposedly, the Tea Party movement brought some of this “America First” type of populism to the Conservative movement, but as of late, it seems that the Tea Party was nothing more than a passing fad.  I just hope the people, who went to these protests, use the principles that were promoted at the Tea Party rallies, at the ballot box come November 2012.

Others: Michelle Malkin, New York Times, New York Magazine, The Heritage Foundation, Questions and Observations, Fantastical Andrew Fox, RedState, The Strata-Sphere, Hot Air, Sky Dancing, Conservatives4Palin, americanthinker.com, Big Government, Weasel Zippers, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, JammieWearingFool and Betsy’s Page

Interesting Reading: Explaining the Federal Reserve Bank — Part 1

The world’s foremost Elliott wave expert goes “behind the scenes” on the Federal Reserve

October 13, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

The ongoing economic problems have made the central bank’s decisions — interest rates, quantitative easing, monetary stimulus, etc. — a permanent fixture on six-o’clock news.

Yet many of us don’t truly understand the role of the Federal Reserve.

For answers, let’s turn to someone who has spent a considerable amount of time studying the Fed and its functions: EWI president Robert Prechter.

Today we begin a 3-part series that, we believe, will help you understand the Fed as well as Prechter does. (Excerpted from Prechter’s Conquer the Crash and the free Club EWI report, “Understanding the Federal Reserve System.”)

Here is Part I; come back next week for Part II.


Money, Credit and the Federal Reserve Banking System
By Robert Prechter

An argument for deflation is not to be offered lightly because, given the nature of today’s money, certain aspects of money and credit creation cannot be forecast, only surmised. Before we can discuss these issues, we have to understand how money and credit come into being. This is a difficult chapter, but if you can assimilate what it says, you will have knowledge of the banking system that not one person in 10,000 has.

The Origin of Intangible Money

Originally, money was a tangible good freely chosen by society. For millennia, gold or silver provided this function, although sometimes other tangible goods (such as copper, brass and seashells) did. Originally, credit was the right to access that tangible money, whether by an ownership certificate or by borrowing.

Today, almost all money is intangible. It is not, nor does it even represent, a physical good. How it got that way is a long, complicated, disturbing story, which would take a full book to relate properly. It began about 300 years ago, when an English financier conceived the idea of a national central bank. Governments have often outlawed free-market determinations of what constitutes money and imposed their own versions upon society by law, but earlier schemes usually involved coinage. Under central banking, a government forces its citizens to accept its debt as the only form of legal tender. The Federal Reserve System assumed this monopoly role in the United States in 1913.

What Is a Dollar?

Originally, a dollar was defined as a certain amount of gold. Dollar bills and notes were promises to pay lawful money, which was gold. Anyone could present dollars to a bank and receive gold in exchange, and banks could get gold from the U.S. Treasury for dollar bills.

In 1933, President Roosevelt and Congress outlawed U.S. gold ownership and nullified and prohibited all domestic contracts denoted in gold, making Federal Reserve notes the legal tender of the land. In 1971, President Nixon halted gold payments from the U.S. Treasury to foreigners in exchange for dollars. Today, the Treasury will not give anyone anything tangible in exchange for a dollar. Even though Federal Reserve notes are defined as “obligations of the United States,” they are not obligations to do anything. Although a dollar is labeled a “note,” which means a debt contract, it is not a note for anything.

Congress claims that the dollar is “legally” 1/42.22 of an ounce of gold. Can you buy gold for $42.22 an ounce? No. This definition is bogus, and everyone knows it. If you bring a dollar to the U.S. Treasury, you will not collect any tangible good, much less 1/42.22 of an ounce of gold. You will be sent home.

Some authorities were quietly amazed that when the government progressively removed the tangible backing for the dollar, the currency continued to function. If you bring a dollar to the marketplace, you can still buy goods with it because the government says (by “fiat”) that it is money and because its long history of use has lulled people into accepting it as such. The volume of goods you can buy with it fluctuates according to the total volume of dollars — in both cash and credit — and their holders’ level of confidence that those values will remain intact.

Exactly what a dollar is and what backs it are difficult questions to answer because no official entity will provide a satisfying answer. It has no simultaneous actuality and definition. It may be defined as 1/42.22 of an ounce of gold, but it is not actually that. Whatever it actually is (if anything) may not be definable. To the extent that its physical backing, if any, may be officially definable in actuality, no one is talking.


Read the rest of this eye-opening report online now, free!

Understanding the Fed: How to protect yourself from the common and misleading myths about the U.S. Federal Reserve

It’s time to pull back the curtain on the Federal Reserve system. In this revealing 34-page ebook, you’ll learn how the Federal Reserve controls the money supply, you’ll pin-point a few critical points in Federal Reserve history, and you’ll uncover several important myths and misconceptions, like who owns the Federal Reserve Bank.

Representing more than 10 years of research by financial analyst Robert Prechter, this free report goes beyond Federal Reserve history and it’s government mandate and digs into the Fed’s real motivations for being the United States’ “lender of last resort.”

Take this important step toward understanding the Federal Reserve system — Download this FREE 34-page ebook now >>

UPDATED: Video: Lawrence O’Donnell’s racist and condescending interview of Herman Cain

I do not know where to begin with this video.

First, Lawrence O’Donnell tries to accuse Herman Cain of draft dodging. Then, he accuses him of various idiot things. Not to mention the “Citizen Cain” in the Chyron at the bottom of the screen.  Not to mention the whole condescending tone of the entire video.

There is only one thing that comes to my mind, when watching these videos — Racism. 😡

I mean, could you just imagine, if a Fox News Channel anchor had handled an interview like this, with a black man? There would be protests outside of the News Corp. Building, Fox News Channels studios in New York, and Al Sharpton would be calling for Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch’s head!

Here are the videos, all three parts. You watch these video and you tell me, if they are not racist or not.

Via Mediaite:

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

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

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

Again, watch the videos and think about if Fox News or any other Conservative outlet sounded this condescending or used “Citizen Cain” as a Chyron. What could the reaction be? I think we all know the answer.

Nothing pisses me off worse, than to watch a privileged white man, who happens to be a liberal; berate a black man, all because he happens to disagree with his politics. That is an outrage and if the Conservative media, including Fox News Channel, ever pulled a stunt like that, there would be riots in the streets. But because Mr. Herman Cain is a Conservative black man — it is perfectly fine. Hell, even this self-hating black man thinks its fine. What an asshole, what a traitor to the back race — sort of like this Murdering, race-hustling, jack ass, who is now dead.

This is another fine reason why I stopped voting for the Democrats, because it is like LBJ said himself:

I’ll have them niggers voting for democrats for 300 years!

…and you know what? The Democrats are keeping ’em voting Democratic Party; with hand outs and yes, with Brainwashing.

Update: Even the liberals at DailyKos are not happy with the interview: (H/T Flopping Aces)

1) When you think of Herman Cain, do you ever find yourself thinking, “gee, he was a black teen in the early-1960s. Why didn’t he participate in civil rights movement?” I’m not an African-American and wasn’t alive in the ’60s, but so what if he didn’t? I am not sure what the implication is there, but was it incumbent upon ever African-American to march? And does not participating in the civil rights movement imply … what? I suppose it might be a fairer question to ask a white person who was around in that era, but only slightly.

I’m going to go out on a limb and presume that Herman Cain was opposed to segregation.

2) Out of nowhere, O’Donnell asked Cain, who worked (but did not serve) in the Navy, whether he was qualified to be Commander-in-Chief after not serving in Vietnam. Really?! Is this still a thing? I have a hard time believing that O’Donnell genuinely cares about Cain’s lack of military service (Clinton and Obama never served), but was possibly trying to posit him as a hypocrite. But that’s kind of hard to do when, while not exactly serving, he was working in ballistics for the Navy.

Seemed like a completely disingenuous line of questioning on O’Donnell’s part, and made me cringe.

Stupid NYT article of the week

Would you like to see a perfect example of the disconnect between reality and the democrats?

Then, go, please and read here.

I have been at this blogging since 2006 and this is one of the more “interesting” ones I have read yet. See if you can spot the lies and spin and comment about them here.

Your out of control Government at work again….

This time it is the EPA that is out of control.

WorldNetDaily has the story:

Just imagine. You want to build a home, so you buy a $23,000 piece of land in a residential subdivision in your hometown and get started. The government then tells you to stop, threatens you with $40 million in fines and is not kidding.

That’s the case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, with briefs being filed today by the Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of a Priest Lake, Idaho, family, Chantell and Mike Sackett.

Attorney Damien Schiff, who will be arguing before the high court in the case, said it’s simply a case of a government run amok, and it poses a potential threat to perhaps not every landowner across the nation, but untold millions.

The Sacketts, Schiff said, “bought property, and the government in effect has ordered them to treat the property like a public park.”

“The EPA has not paid them a dime for that privilege,” he said. “The regime we have operating now allows the EPA to take property without having to pay for it, or giving the owners the right to their day in court.

Read the rest at WorldNetDaily.com

Here is the video of the couple explaining their plight:

Allow me to simply say this, to add to this story; this, my friends, is what happens when you elect Democrats. They expand the size of Government and Government begins to overreach. Some would say that Neoconservatives, like Bush do the same thing and it is true. As Michelle Bachmann said here recently; we should not settle for second best, when it comes to a truly constitutionally Conservative candidate. We need someone as the Republican candidate for President that would SHRINK, NOT GROW the size of Government. Why, you ask? Because of ignorant stupidity like this right here.

Because the truth is this; big, overreaching Government not only hurts the small business owner and also the bigger business owners — but it also hurts the average American too. Not only in taxes; but in cases like this one here. Since when does the Government just come in and tell you that you cannot build your own house? Since Americans started electing big Government socialists.  Which is the whole crux of the problem; when Americans elect Democratic Party socialists, like the current one in the White House — it is not the poor and disadvantaged that suffer or more accurately the lazy people who do not want to work and want a free check from the Government. The people who suffer are the hard working people of this Country, who simply want to enjoy the American dream without fear of oppression of the Government. This is why the Republican Party had better choose wisely this time; because I simply do not know, if America can stand another four years of this sort of Governmental overreach. Republicans have done played the Big Government game too, That I do know. However, I also know that we cannot take another four years of Big Government — from either Party.

 

 

Welcome to my World: 6 Million people age 25-34 live with parents, up 25%

I’m 39 and I still live at home and yes, it sucks. You know, I’ve been called a leech, a shit stain and alot of other names. But honestly? Is it my fault? No, it’s the economy around here and leaders in Washington D.C. that have screwed the Country into the ground.

I saw this via Drudge:

WASHINGTON — Call it the recession’s lost generation.

In record-setting numbers, young adults struggling to find work are shunning long-distance moves to live with Mom and Dad, delaying marriage and buying fewer homes, often raising kids out of wedlock. They suffer from the highest unemployment since World War II and risk living in poverty more than others — nearly 1 in 5.

New 2010 census data released Thursday show the wrenching impact of a recession that officially ended in mid-2009. It highlights the missed opportunities and dim prospects for a generation of mostly 20-somethings and 30-somethings coming of age in a prolonged slump with high unemployment.

“We have a monster jobs problem, and young people are the biggest losers,” said Andrew Sum, an economist and director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. He noted that for recent college grads now getting by with waitressing, bartending and odd jobs, they will have to compete with new graduates for entry-level career positions when the job market eventually does improve.

“Their really high levels of underemployment and unemployment will haunt young people for at least another decade,” Sum said.

via Recession yields a lost generation of workers – Business – Stocks & economy – msnbc.com.

Honestly though, my folks do not mind me living here; they like the help and I am an only child; so, there is not another brother or anything, who can help. So, I live here, until this economy recovers. Another thing too, in 2004, I filed for bankruptcy and I did start over. I made the stupid mistake of getting into a lot of debt, when I was younger with a credit card. Needless to say, I learned my lesson there. I have a debit card now, and if I zap that back account, I am screwed. So, I have the motivation to not screw that up!

On a related note, on the economy; the man who came to fix our A/C here, told me that he is lucky if he gets like 25 hours a week with the company he is with. Now keep in mind, this is not a trainee or anything that, this dude was certified in A/C and Heating. He has the license and everything; and he is not even getting 40 hours a week of work. That, my friends, is how screwed up our economy truly is. 🙁

Those who have a job are lucky to get enough money to put food on the table, and those of us, who cannot find a job are basically left out in the cold. This is why I have such a big problem with all this union protectionism crap that the left is touting. I respect the Unions at all and what they fought for, many years ago. But, we are living in a different would and the prosperity of that era; which the unions took advantage of, is gone for good.

So, that is why, when I see stuff like this here; my heart breaks, because it is not the wealthy people who are going to suffer. It is going to be the working class people and the poor; who are going to suffer the most. The thing to remember is this; it all trickles down, sooner or later. The wealthy lose, the jobs dry up and people suffer. The bad part is, Government cannot fix it. it has to fix itself. The sad part is, it usually takes a LONG time for it to fix itself.

This, is the folly of Progressivism; the belief that Government can fix something that it did not break, in the first place.

 

President Obama just will not accept the fact that his polices failed

This guy is unbelievable!

At a town hall meeting on his campaign-style tour of the Midwest, President Obama claimed that his economic program “reversed the recession” until recovery was frustrated by events overseas. And then, Obama said, with the economy in an increasingly precarious position, the recovery suffered another blow when Republicans pressed the White House for federal spending cuts in exchange for an increase in the national debt limit, resulting in a deal Obama called a “debacle.”

“We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, gotten the economy moving again,” Obama told a crowd in Decorah, Iowa. “But over the last six months we’ve had a run of bad luck.” Obama listed three events overseas — the Arab Spring uprisings, the tsunami in Japan, and the European debt crises — which set the economy back.

“All those things have been headwinds for our economy,” Obama said. “Now, those are things that we can’t completely control. The question is, how do we manage these challenging times and do the right things when it comes to those things that we can control?”

“The problem,” Obama continued, “is that we’ve got the kind of partisan brinksmanship that is willing to put party ahead of country, that is more interested in seeing their political opponents lose than seeing the country win. Nowhere was that more evident than in this recent debt ceiling debacle.”

via Obama: I reversed recession until ‘bad luck’ hit | Campaign 2012.

The man is a typical politician; when things fail, “It wasn’t my fault!” Um, yes, Obama, it was…. Let’s review shall we? –:

The charts don’t lie! (H/T to Gateway Pundit)

Charts don't lie Mr. President...

Unemployment was high under Bush, it has gotten HIGHER under Obama!

Charts don't lie Obama!

So, Yes, President Obama; it is YOUR fault, your spending debacle to try to grow the economy FAILED and now we’re saddled with debt, our economy is still damned broke and yet, you refuse to take responsibility for it!

Just to show how much of a damned blowhard this big eared bastard piece of shit really is; instead of staying at the White House and doing his damned job, like he is supposed to, this big eared piece of shit is going around traveling, trying to make people still like him, in a damned bus that costs 1.1 million TAXPAYER dollars! That’s right, bought and paid for with YOUR money!

Enough is enough! This man has got to go! Vote different in 2012. I know that I will be.

Others: ower Line, RedState, Weasel Zippers, The POH Diaries, Wizbang and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

LIVE BLOGGING THE MARKET: Post-Downgrade Market

Markets to open at 9:30, 30 minutes. I will be living blogging the event, watching the Dow.

News stories at Drudge: (some are left over from the weekend…)

CHINA: Dollar to Be ‘Discarded’ by World…
Lectures How ‘Good Old Days’ of Borrowing Have Ended…
Tel Aviv stocks fall 7% after USA debt downgrade…
Nikkei drops 2%…
Wall St braces…
US Futures tumble…
European leaders scramble to calm investors…
S&P: 1 in 3 chance USA will fall ANOTHER notch!
Moody’s threatens…
Recession without shock absorbers…
Gold soars above $1,700…
PRE-MARKETS… DEVELOPING…

 Fox Business Reports: Futures, Global Shares Sink After Downgrade:

U.S. Stock futures followed global shares sharply lower on Monday morning, extending the worst weekly rout since 2008, on the heels of Standard & Poor’s downgrade of American debt. 

Today’s Markets

As of 7:45 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 250 points to 11,151, S&P 500 futures tumbled 29.8 points to 1,168 and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 54.3 points to 2,134.

For the first time in history, S&P cut America’s top-notch credit rating one notch to AA-plus from AAA after the close of trading on Friday.  The ratings company also said it may slice the ratings another notch over the next two years.  

Global markets sold off on the news on Sunday and into Monday morning. Indeed, the Japanese Nikkei 225 tumbled 2.2%, while European markets fell by more than 1% in mid-day trading there. 

S&P’s move came as a result of concerns over the country’s substantial public debt burden and deep divides within Congress that almost sparked an unprecedented default on U.S. sovereign debt.  Moody’s Investor Service, another ratings company, affirmed American’s AAA rating, while Fitch is still performing a review. 

WSJ Reports: US Stock Futures Down After S&P Downgrade; Gold Higher, Oil Slides:

Wall Street was set for a sharply lower opening Monday after the unprecedented downgrade of U.S. debt by Standard & Poor’s, while gold futures soared nearly $60 as investors sought a safe haven.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 221 points to 11181. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 25 points to 1172.75 and those on the Nasdaq 100 sank 46.25 points to 2140.75.

After the close of Wall Street trading on Friday, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. government’s AAA debt rating to AA+, and assigned it a negative outlook. The agency said the U.S. political system had become less stable and the deficit-reduction deal reached by lawmakers last week was not extensive enough.

“The downgrade was expected,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. “As the first-ever [U.S. debt downgrade] announcement, it was taken as a shock, but I think it was pretty much priced into the marketplace.”

“Whether or not investors continue to choose to lower the risk, I think that’s yet to be seen and I think the real basis for this huge decline has a lot to do with hedge-fund selling, which feeds on itself,” said Cardillo.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.8% last week, its worst weekly performance since March 6, 2009, while the S&P 500 index fell 7.2% on the week, its worst since late 2008. The Nasdaq finished the week down 8%, its worst since late 2008 as well.

Markets Open: (via Seeking Alpha)

Monday, August 8, 9:31 AM At the open: Dow -1.57% to 11265. S&P -1.48% to 1182. Nasdaq -3.34% to 2448.
Treasurys: 30-year +0.73%. 10-yr +0.61%. 5-yr +0.41%.
Commodities: Crude -3.88% to $83.51. Gold +2.96% to $1700.70.
Currencies: Euro -0.89% vs. dollar. Yen +0.78%. Pound -0.34%.

AP Reports:

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock futures tumbled Monday amid a rout in global stocks after Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating for the first time.

S&P cut the long-term debt rating for the U.S. by one notch to AA+ from AAA late Friday. The move wasn’t unexpected, but it comes when investors are already feeling nervous about a weak U.S. economy, European debt problems and Japan’s recovery from its March earthquake.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial futures fell 200 points, or 1.8 percent, to 11,202. S&P 500 futures fell 24, or 2.percent, to 1,173. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 44, or 2 percent, to 2,143.

In Europe, the German DAX index fell 2.3 percent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 2.2 percent.

Prices for U.S. government debt, though, rose. That’s because Treasurys are still seen as one of the world’s few safe investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.5 percent from 2.57 percent late Friday. It fell as low as 2.46 percent earlier Monday. A bond’s yield drops when its price rises.

Via Seeking Alpha:

Monday, August 8, 9:39 AM China’s Dagong rating agency takes a victory lap for its Aug. 2 downgrade of U.S. debt, and adds a new warning that S&P’s cut could upset already-volatile stock and bond markets – not just today. “This is a downward trend,” Dagong’s Guan Jianzhong says, and the U.S. could face a full-scale meltdown if its debt crisis can’t be solved.

Needless to say; we’re in a new Market era. We need new political leadership and quickly.

Markets at 10:00am: (via Seeking Alpha)

Monday, August 8, 10:00 AM On the hour: Dow -1.69%. 10-yr +0.79%. Euro -0.67% vs. dollar. Crude -2.88% to $84.38. Gold +2.66% to $1695.70.

End live Blog. 

Update: Where’s the President, while this is all going on? Hiding in his Bunker. 🙄

Proving that Alan Greenspan is a farking dolt

It isn’t everyday that I agree with Lew Rockwell… But this time, I do.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Sunday ruled out the chance of a US default following S&P’s decision to downgrade America’s credit rating.

“The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default” said Greenspan on NBC’s Meet the Press

“What I think the S&P thing did was to hit a nerve that there’s something basically bad going on, and it’s hit the self-esteem of the United States, the psyche” said Greenspan.

via No Chance of Default, US Can Print Money: Greenspan – CNBC.

😯

Wow….Just wow... 🙄

Bill Anderson writing over at Lew’s Blog says:

Granted, because I am in the Austrian camp, I don’t know anything about economics and money, but I still think my question should be asked: Is not the very act of paying a debt using newly-printed money in itself an act of default? Or, maybe I should be asking a more pertinent question: What has Greenspan been smoking?

I dunno, but between and that guy and the current idiot that is running the Federal Reserve, I do believe we are seriously screwed, tattooed and boo boo’ed. 😯

….and yes, I do know his ethnic background and the current Fed chairman’s background too. It means nothing; stupid is not restricted to we rednecks, that is for sure! 😀

Others: NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers

BREAKING NEWS: The United States of America loses its AAA Credit Rating

Wow, when Obama’s people are not trying to beat we White people to death. His political people and he himself are trying to destroy the county. I mean, the debt ceiling deal? A waste of time!

The Story Via Reuters: (H/T AllahPundit)

S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about the government’s budget deficits and rising debt burden. The move is likely to raise borrowing costs eventually for the American government, companies and consumers.

“The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics,” S&P said in a statement.

The decision follows a bitter political battle in Congress over cutting spending and raising taxes to reduce the government’s debt burden and allow its statutory borrowing limit to be raised.

Zero Hedge has the S & P Statement:

We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and will remain a contentious and fitful process. We also believe that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration agreed to this week falls short of the amount that we believe is necessary to stabilize the general government debt burden by the middle of the decade…

The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. Despite this year’s wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently. Republicans and Democrats have only been able to agree to relatively modest savings on discretionary spending while delegating to the Select Committee decisions on more comprehensive measures. It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options. In addition, the plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements, the containment of which we and most other independent observers regard as key to long-term fiscal sustainability…

When comparing the U.S. to sovereigns with ‘AAA’ long-term ratings that we view as relevant peers–Canada, France, Germany, and the U.K.–we also observe, based on our base case scenarios for each, that the trajectory of the U.S.’s net public debt is diverging from the others. Including the U.S., we estimate that these five sovereigns will have net general government debt to GDP ratios this year ranging from 34% (Canada) to 80% (the U.K.), with the U.S. debt burden at 74%. By 2015, we project that their net public debt to GDP ratios will range between 30% (lowest, Canada) and 83% (highest, France), with the U.S. debt burden at 79%. However, in contrast with the U.S., we project that the net public debt burdens of these other sovereigns will begin to decline, either before or by 2015.

Needless to say, the White House….is not happy! Also it appears that there was an accounting error.  No, scratch that… A BIG FRREAKING, HONKING, HOLY SHIT BATMAN WE SCREWED THE POOCH 😯  😯  😯  — accounting error

Amateur Hour? You think??! Oh brother….

Update: Now a HUGE Memeorandum topic.

 

UPDATED: Black Mob Attacks Whites at State Fair in Wisconsin Police now denying that race was even involved!

Update #2: When I originally wrote this, I wrote it in an sarcastic manner. A few people emailed me concerned that my tone was overly hateful and even glorifying of a mass murderer.  To them and to anyone who might have gotten the wrong idea, I do apologize. I no more would praise Charles Manson than I would Madeline Murray O’hair.

My intention was never to stoke hatred; but merely to inform those of the liberal bias and to encourage people to arm themselves.

—-

Video: (Via JSOnline)

 

The Story via TMJ 4 News:

WEST ALLIS – Witnesses tell Newsradio 620 WTMJ and TODAY’S TMJ4 of a mob of young people attacking innocent fair-goers at the end of the opening night of State Fair, with some callers claiming a racially-charged scene.

Milwaukee Police confirmed there were assaults outside the fair.

Witnesses’ accounts claim everything from dozens to hundreds of young black people beating white people as they left State Fair Thursday night.

Authorities have not given official estimates of the number of people involved in the attacks.

“It looked like they were just going after white guys, white people,” said Norb Roffers of Wind Lake in an interview with Newsradio 620 WTMJ.  He left the State Fair Entrance near the corner of South 84th Street and West Schlinger Avenue in West Allis.

“They were attacking everybody for no reason whatsoever.”

“It was 100% racial,” claimed Eric, an Iraq war veteran from St. Francis who says young people beat on his car. 

“I had a black couple on my right side, and these black kids were running in between all the cars, and they were pounding on my doors and trying to open up doors on my car, and they didn’t do one thing to this black couple that was in this car next to us.  They just kept walking right past their car.  They were looking in everybody’s windshield as they were running by, seeing who was white and who was black.  Guarantee it.”

Eric, a war veteran, said that the scene he saw Thursday outside State Fair compares to what he saw in combat.

“That rated right up there with it.  When I saw the amount of kids coming down the road, all I kept thinking was, ‘There’s not enough cops to handle this.’  There’s no way.  It would have taken the National Guard to control the number of kids that were coming off the road.  They were knocking people off their motorcycles.”

There’s more coverage at WISN-TV.

I believe this would be a good opportunity to inform people that it is a good idea to arm themselves, within the law in your State of course; just the same, if someone had been armed — this likely would not have happened. I am, quite frankly, shocked that not more bloggers are not writing about this incident.  I guess fear and political correctness trump the truth anymore.

I believe this is only the beginning; as our economy begins to sour. Events like this will continue to happen. Arm yourselves; before it is too late.

Others: The Gateway Pundit, The Lonely Conservative, Moonbattery, The Greenroom, UrbanGrounds, Daily Pundit, Politics, Vox Popoli, nation.foxnews.com and Confederate Yankee (Via Memeorandum)

Update: JSonline now reports: State Patrol called in, youth policy imposed after violence at State Fair

Go give that a read, they are now actually denying that race was even involved! That is how it works, Whites can attack blacks and it is a national crisis. But when Blacks attack whites — nothing to see, move along. How it has been for years and is still that way.  That is what you call Liberal Bias. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

 

Great: The United States is now borrowing more than the GDP

This is unreal… 🙄

US debt shot up $238 billion to reach 100 percent of gross domestic project after the government’s debt ceiling was lifted, Treasury figures showed Wednesday.

Treasury borrowing jumped Tuesday, the data showed, immediately after President Barack Obama signed into law an increase in the debt ceiling as the country’s spending commitments reached a breaking point and it threatened to default on its debt.

The new borrowing took total public debt to $14.58 trillion, over end-2010 GDP of $14.53 trillion, and putting it in a league with highly indebted countries like Italy and Belgium.

Public debt subject to the official debt limit — a slightly tighter definition — was $14.53 trillion as of the end of Tuesday, rising from the previous official cap of $14.29 trillion a day earlier.

Treasury had used extraordinary measures to hold under the $14.29 trillion cap since reaching it on May 16, while politicians battled over it and over addressing the country’s bloating deficit.

The official limit was hiked $400 billion on Tuesday and will be increased in stages over the next 18 months.

via US borrowing tops 100% of GDP: Treasury – Yahoo! News.

Chew on that one for a few seconds or longer. The USA is borrowing more money from China, that the United States makes as a whole. For the reading up on the GDP, click here. I also recommend that you read up on the Gross National Product and Gross Domestic Income. All of that above, factors into our economy; and believe me when I tell you — we are circling the drain my friends.

There is a bunch more on this subject; and for what it is worth, I do not claim to be an expert on this stuff at all — So, I recommend you read following related articles:

U.S. debt shoots up $239 billion -- in one day!
Gov't will borrow $72B next week...
Obama, Bernanke out of ammo to boost jobs, growth...
Scary Market Chart Pattern Suggests More Selling on Way...
Economy struggles to find footing...
Gold at $2,000 by year-end...

Speaking of Gold, this would be a good time to get into investing in Gold, It would also be good to stock up on  Guns and Ammo!

What I will tell you is; because I am an honest blogger and not some partisan shill for a particular party – is this here.  Many on the right wing Blogosphere will be quick to put this entire situation on President Obama.  I cannot and will not do that; the truth is folks, we did have and still do have two wars that we are fighting; and those cost money too.  We also did have the bailout of the banks and tarp bailouts, the trap loans to the big three, being a fraction of the total cost.

Truth is my friends; we are here because of foolishness of our elected leaders — Republican and Democratic Party.  Both sides have steered this Nation over a cliff.  President Obama tried and ultimately failed to bring an economic revival to the Country.  Now we have to pay the proverbial piper.  It is going to be a painful process; the tap is turned off and we are now going to have embrace austerity.

It is a horrible thing to endure, but it is something that we are going to have to endure — if we are going to continue as a Country, as we know it now.

Update: This is now a Memeorandum Thread: Others covering: Washington Times, Scared Monkeys, Conservatives4Palin, Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, Fausta’s Blog, Power Line and The Lonely Conservative

Confirmed: Rep. Sheila Jackson is stupid race-baiting Negro

I’m with Robbie Cooper, this chick ain’t dealing with a full deck.

Video:

The Story via The Hill:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) on Friday strongly suggested that members of Congress are making it difficult for President Obama to raise the debt ceiling because of his race.

“I do not understand what I think is the maligning and maliciousness [toward] this president,” said Jackson Lee, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Why is he different? And in my community, that is the question that we raise. In the minority community that is question that is being raised. Why is this president being treated so disrespectfully? Why has the debt limit been raised 60 times? Why did the leader of the Senate continually talk about his job is to bring the president down to make sure he is unelected?”

Earlier in her speech, Jackson Lee said Obama has been targeted unlike any other president.

“I am particularly sensitive to the fact that only this president — only this one, only this one — has received the kind of attacks and disagreement and inability to work, only this one,” said Jackson Lee from the House floor.

“Read between the lines,” she continued. “What is different about this president that should put him in a position that he should not receive the same kind of respectful treatment of when it is necessary to raise the debt limit in order to pay our bills, something required by both statute and the 14th amendment?”

Jackson Lee concluded by saying that she hoped someone would step up and say that what appears obvious to her is not in fact true.

Two things here, one, this dumb bitch must have been in coma during the Bush era.

….and Ya know; people accuse me of being a “racist.” Which as a rule, I am not. But you know; this bitch tasks my feeling that all humans should be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. I have judged this woman’s character and I have reached a conclusion.

…and here it is:

She’s a race baiting Negro. I had a video saying that; but using a politically incorrect word. But I removed it. Don’t wanna give those damned crazies any more ammo than they need. 😡

Why I see it, you act like one; you get mocked like one. 😀

Others: The Note, UrbanGrounds, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Vox Popoli and CNSNews

In case you thought I was kidding about buying Gold

Here we go!

Remember when I said to buy Gold?

I was not kidding.

Check this out from the U.K. Telegraph:


As the twin pillars of international monetary system threaten to come tumbling down in unison, gold has reclaimed its ancient status as the anchor of stability. The spot price surged to an all-time high of $1,594 an ounce in London, lifting silver to $39 in its train.

On one side of the Atlantic, the eurozone debt crisis has spread to the countries that may be too big to save – Spain and Italy – though RBS thinks a €3.5 trillion rescue fund would ensure survival of Europe’s currency union.

On the other side, the recovery has sputtered out and the printing presses are being oiled again. Brinkmanship between the Congress and the White House over the US debt ceiling has compelled Moody’s to warn of a “very small but rising risk” that the world’s paramount power may default within two weeks. “The unthinkable is now thinkable,” said Ross Norman, director of thebulliondesk.com.

Fed chair Ben Bernanke confessed to Congress that growth has failed to gain traction. “Deflationary risks might re-emerge, implying a need for additional policy support,” he said.

The bar to QE3 – yet more bond purchases – is even lower than markets had thought. The new intake of hard-money men on the voting committee has not shifted Fed thinking, despite global anger at dollar debasement under QE2.

•snip•

“One of the big US banks texted me today to say that if QE3 actually happens, we could see gold at $5,000 and silver at $1,000. I feel terribly sorry for anybody on fixed incomes tied to a fiat currency because they are not going to be able to buy things with that paper money.”

•snip•

Step by step, the world is edging towards a revived Gold Standard as it becomes clearer that Japan and the West have reached debt saturation. World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said it was time to “consider employing gold as an international reference point.” The Swiss parliament is to hold hearings on a parallel “Gold Franc”. Utah has recognised gold as legal tender for tax payments.

A new Gold Standard would probably be based on a variant of the ‘Bancor’ proposed by Keynes in the late 1940s. This was a basket of 30 commodities intended to be less deflationary than pure gold, which had compounded in the Great Depression. The idea was revived by China’s central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan two years ago as a way of curbing the “credit-based” excess.

Mr Bernanke himself was grilled by Congress this week on the role of gold. Why do people by gold? “As protection against of what we call tail risks: really, really bad outcomes,” he replied.

Indeed.

 

My friends, if this is not the time to buy gold; I really do not know what is.

Click this link to find out how to get into gold today

Why is Rick Perry associating himself with dangerous religious extremists?

I hate having to write blog entries like this; mainly, because I happen to like Rick Perry. However, because I am a blogger of the truth — and because I do not want to see Rick Perry wounded in the election. I am bringing this point up.

Rick Perry has a religious wacko problem and I mean a big one!

The story comes via the Texas Observer: (H/T to Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs for pointing this out)

On September 28, 2009, at 1:40 p.m., God’s messengers visited Rick Perry.

On this day, the Lord’s messengers arrived in the form of two Texas pastors, Tom Schlueter of Arlington and Bob Long of San Marcos, who called on Perry in the governor’s office inside the state Capitol. Schlueter and Long both oversee small congregations, but they are more than just pastors. They consider themselves modern-day apostles and prophets, blessed with the same gifts as Old Testament prophets or New Testament apostles.

The pastors told Perry of God’s grand plan for Texas. A chain of powerful prophecies had proclaimed that Texas was “The Prophet State,” anointed by God to lead the United States into revival and Godly government. And the governor would have a special role.

The day before the meeting, Schlueter had received a prophetic message from Chuck Pierce, an influential prophet from Denton, Texas. God had apparently commanded Schlueter—through Pierce—to “pray by lifting the hand of the one I show you that is in the place of civil rule.”

Gov. Perry, it seemed.

Schlueter had prayed before his congregation: “Lord Jesus I bring to you today Gov. Perry. … I am just bringing you his hand and I pray Lord that he will grasp ahold of it. For if he does you will use him mightily.”

And grasp ahold the governor did. At the end of their meeting, Perry asked the two pastors to pray over him. As the pastors would later recount, the Lord spoke prophetically as Schlueter laid his hands on Perry, their heads bowed before a painting of the Battle of the Alamo. Schlueter “declared over [Perry] that there was a leadership role beyond Texas and that Texas had a role beyond what people understand,” Long later told his congregation.

Nothing wrong with that right? A couple of Ministers praying over someone right?

Well, it’s not the praying that is the problem; it’s the people doing the praying that is the problem.

This is the part of the story published that caught my eyes:

Some of the fiercest critics of the New Apostolic Reformation come from within the Pentecostal and charismatic world. The Assemblies of God Church, the largest organized Pentecostal denomination, specifically repudiated self-proclaimed prophets and apostles in 2000, calling their creed a “deviant teaching” that could rapidly “become dictatorial, presumptuous, and carnal.”

Assemblies authorities also rejected the notion that the church is supposed to assume dominion over earthly institutions, labeling it “unscriptural triumphalism.”

The New Apostles talk about taking dominion over American society in pastoral terms. They refer to the “Seven Mountains” of society: family, religion, arts and entertainment, media, government, education, and business. These are the nerve centers of society that God (or his people) must control.

Asked about the meaning of the Seven Mountains, Schlueter says, “God’s kingdom just can’t be expressed on Sunday morning for two hours. God’s kingdom has to be expressed in media and government and education. It’s not like our goal is to have a Bible on every child’s desk. That’s not the goal. The goal is to hopefully have everyone acknowledge that God’s in charge of us regardless.”

But climbing those mountains sounds a little more specific on Sunday mornings. Schlueter has bragged to his congregation of meetings with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, state Sen. Brian Birdwell, and the Arlington City Council. He recently told a church in Victoria that state Rep. Phil King, a conservative Republican from Weatherford, had allowed him to use King’s office at the Capitol to make calls and organize.

“We’re going to influence it,” Schlueter told his congregation. “We’re going to infiltrate it, not run from it. I know why God’s doing what he’s doing … He’s just simply saying, ‘Tom I’ve given you authority in a governmental authority, and I need you to infiltrate the governmental mountain. Just do it, it’s no big deal.’ I was talking with [a member of the congregation] the other day. She’s going to start infiltrating. A very simple process. She’s going to join the Republican Party, start going to all their meetings. Some [members] are already doing that.”

Okay, time to bust out with my Christian credentials here. As most of you know, who read this blog. I am a Born-Again Christian. but, I do not wear it on my sleeve really anymore. I have been “saved,” as the Christian World calls it, for 29 years. 21 of those years was spent in the Pentecost movement or type of Churches. I spent nine and a half years of that time in a Assembly of God Church in Southwest Detroit. So, believe me when I tell you; when it comes to this subject, I know full well, of what I speak.

When the Assembles of God denounces a group like this one here; believe me, it is for a very good reason. These people are kooks and I mean really, really, really bad kooks. The Assemblies of God in the spectrum of the Pentecostal movement are some of the most Conservative —- theologically speaking — Churches and people in the Pentecostal movement. These kooks that Rick Perry are hanging with, in that same spectrum, are the more progressive or radical kind.  These people make people like Benny Hinn, Rod Parsley and the many others look like boy scouts! 😯

What I am basically trying to say is this; and I hope like the dickens that someone sees this and advises Rick Perry on it — Rick Perry, if he wants to be elected President of the United States of America, needs to put as much daylight between these people and himself as he possibly can. These people are the Christian equivalent of say, the Muslim brotherhood; except maybe they do not try to kill people. What they do want to do is this; they want to rip out the United States Constitution and have a Government that dictates its laws from the Bible. The problem with that is this; the United States of America was not founded as a Christian dictatorship, it was founded as a Constitutional Republic.

This group of people who Rick Perry is hanging with are a part of the radical, extreme Christian Right. If Rick Perry thinks that the left and the liberal media will not savage him for this sort of association; he, with all due respect to the man and the office that he now holds — is crazy.

During the 2008 election, the right — including myself —- utterly brutalized then candidate Barack Obama for his radical and Anti-American Religious affiliations. I feel, that what is fair, is fair. Because I am not entrenched in partisanship, I believe that Rick Perry should either give an account of why he is associated with these people or disassociate himself from them.  As much as I know that the White House is now occupied by radical leftists — both former and current cabinet and staff members. I just do not believe that putting in a radical Christian Right President and cabinet is the answer to that problem.

We need a strong fiscal Conservative in the White House to bring this Nation back to its rightful place. We do not need some radical Religious nut-job in the White House. Lord knows, we had eight good years of that, and look what it got us. I say that as someone who suffered through those eight years. Also too, Do not think that I say this as a Fundamentalist Baptist with a “hard on” against Pentecostals. This is someone who has been around in the Christian world for a LONG TIME and I have seen what those people believe, and even as Pentecostals; they as nutty as they come.

In closing: Rick Perry needs to do the proper and right thing; or he should forget about running for President.

Cross-Posted at Alexandria

 

A Reminder: Go Gold

Just a follow up to yesterday’s posting; it would seem that this would be a good time to invest in gold, even if you cannot afford the expensive stuff, a small investment in the cheaper stuff would be smart.

As you know I am an affiliate for GoldSilver.com  and they offer some great coins and bullion for those who wish to invest in that sort of the thing.

GoldSilver.com offers

You can also check out their Silver Products Here

Want more proof? Check out this video from Russian TV:

I think it is time to invest in Gold. I mean, when the fed chairman says he does not believe that Gold is money; something is horribly wrong.

Obamaomics at work: US Dollar on the run

Once again, our feckless president cannot lead….and meanwhile, our Country is about to go into the toilet.

The story is via Reuters: (H/T to Insty)

The New Zealand dollar was a stand out performer, soaring to 30-year highs after data showed the economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter.

The kiwi flew to $0.8491, a rise of 3.7 percent in just two sessions, as the upbeat news revived the chance of a rate hike before year-end.

That stood in stark contrast to the United States, where Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had canvassed the idea of further quantitative easing should the economy stall

“Three months ago all the focus was on the exit from unconventional policy; now Bernanke mentions the conditional possibility of QE3,” said Paul Meggyesi at JPMorgan. “This is unambiguously bad for the dollar and good for risk.”

Investors seemed to agree, sending commodities and gold higher and lifting growth-leveraged currencies like the Australian dollar.

The U.S. dollar slid to a fresh record low against the Swiss franc around 0.8089 francs, while the euro leaped to $1.4253 having been as low as $1.3984. The dollar also deflated to 78.83 yen with only talk of semi-official bids preventing a break of major support around 78.40/50.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was down at 74.773 .DXY, having tumbled for a high of 76.053.

In a double whammy for the U.S. currency, Moody’s warned the country could lose its top-notch credit rating if lawmakers fail to increase the country’s debt ceiling.

In a statement, Moody’s said it sees a “rising possibility that the statutory debt limit will not be raised on a timely basis, leading to a default on U.S. Treasury debt obligations.”

Meanwhile, what does our President do, instead of actually trying to lead the Country? He walks out like a silly two year old:

President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of a stormy debt-limit meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday, a dramatic setback to the already shaky negotiations.

“He shoved back and said ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’ and walked out,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told reporters in the Capitol after the meeting.

On a day when the Moody’s rating agency warned that American debt could be downgraded, the White House talks blew up amid a new round of sniping between Obama and Cantor, who are fast becoming bitter enemies.

When Cantor said the two sides were too far apart to get a deal that could pass the House by the Treasury Department’s Aug. 2 deadline — and that he would consider moving a short-term debt-limit increase alongside smaller spending cuts — Obama began to lecture him.

“Eric, don’t call my bluff,” the president said, warning Cantor that he would take his case “to the American people.” He told Cantor that no other president — not Ronald Reagan, the president said — would sit through such negotiations.

Democratic sources dispute Cantor’s version of Obama’s walk out, but all sides agree that the two had a blow up. The sources described Obama as “impassioned” but said he didn’t exactly storm out of the room.

“Cantor’s account of tonight’s meeting is completely overblown. For someone who knows how to walk out of a meeting, you’d think he’d know it when he saw it,” a Democratic aide said. “Cantor rudely interrupted the president three times to advocate for short-term debt ceiling increases while the president was wrapping the meeting. This is just more juvenile behavior from him and Boehner needs to rein him in, and let the grown-ups get to work.”

On exiting the room, Obama said that “this confirms the totality of what the American people already believe” about Washington, according to a Democratic official familiar with the negotiations, and that officials are “too focused on positioning and political posturing” to make difficult choices.

Cantor insists he never interrupted the president, and was “deferential,” seeking permission to speak.

The latest and sharpest in a series of harsh exchanges between the two leaders heightened concern that markets could crash at any time amid fear of a reduction in the rating on once-ironclad U.S. debt.

Cantor, for his part, delivered the blow-by-blue of his interaction with Obama to a gaggle of Capitol Hill reporters in the Speaker’s Lobby, where lawmakers typically mingle with reporters during votes. It wasn’t through aides — it was Cantor taking on the president, directly.

Cantor accused the president and congressional Democrats of progressively low-balling, over the last several days, the savings that could be achieved from proposals discussed by Vice President Joe Biden’s working group on deficit reduction. Cantor warned that the group has not identified enough cuts to win House passage of a $2.5 trillion debt-limit increase — the size the president says is needed to get through the 2012 election, sources told POLITICO.

Obama told Cantor that he would either have to agree to tax increases or give up on his demand that the debt hike be matched dollar-to-dollar to the cuts — that is, $2.5 trillion in deficit-reduction over 10 years in exchange for a $2.5 trillion hike in the debt ceiling.

He said that the negotiators should return to the White House Thursday to discuss savings from health care programs, budget caps and options for raising revenue.

“Then he said we also ought to get in the mode here, because we’re going to have to decide by Friday which way we’re going,” Cantor said. “He said really we ought to all start to think about things we can do rather than things we can’t.”

That’s when Cantor said he would be willing to abandon his own insistence on having just one vote on the debt ceiling if they could agree to a smaller package of cuts in exchange for a shorter-term hike that would require another increase before the 2012 election.

But Obama said he wouldn’t do the debt-limit increase incrementally and that he would veto a short-term bill.

“That’s when he got very agitated,” Cantor told reporters.

“Obama lit him up. Cantor sat in stunned silence,” said an official in the meeting. “It was incredible. If the public saw Obama he would win in a landslide.

Yessir, America; that is your President, whining like a damned two-year-old, when he does not get his way. Meanwhile the Country and the World is going into the toilet. This is what Democrats do, they screw up things, and when the time comes to act like adults, this is what happens.

I mean, I hate having to repeat myself; but the Democrats, on top of the spending of Bush, spent more, like drunken Sailors and to what end? Nothing! I mean, we have all this debt and where are the damned jobs? There are none! Now that it is time to work to keep the US from defaulting on loans from places like China; what does the President do? Walks out on the Republicans! What an idiot!

Just a reminder, this is the result of the failed Obama-Pelosi stimulus plan.

Remember this come November 2012; if we even last that long.

Others: Michelle Malkin, And So it Goes in Shreveport, White House Dossier, Politics, , Gawker, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Nice Deb, The Lonely Conservative, Washington Examiner, Doug Ross, Pajamas Media, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Pirate’s Cove, Say Anything, Daily Pundit and The Page

 

Video: Jack Hunter on the GOP going tiger

Transcript here

Jobs report bleak, Democrats still clueless as ever

Now I see why Rick Santelli is ranting and raving!

First of all, here is the lovely report via the NYT:

For the second month in a row, employers added a dismally small number of jobs, showing that the United States economy is barely creaking along despite being two years into the official recovery.

With all levels of government laying off workers, the Labor Department reported that employers eked out just 18,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs in June. The already low number of jobs created in May was also revised downward to just 25,000, less than half what was originally reported last month.

Even as the government’s survey of employers showed that they were adding an anemic number of jobs, a survey of households showed that more people were out of work, causing the unemployment rate to rise to 9.2 percent.

Economists were stunned since they had been expecting June to show stronger job creation as oil prices eased and supply disruptions receded in the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami and earthquake. Instead, the government’s monthly snapshot of the labor market showed that several sectors, including construction, finance and temporary services, actually shed workers. At the same time, leading indicators like wages and the length of the average workweek, which tend to grow before employers begin adding more jobs, actually contracted.

“Even the wild-eyed optimists out there have nothing to grasp onto in this report except to say, ‘Ah, this too shall pass,’ ” said Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist at MFR Inc.

Meanwhile the stupidity continues on the left. A perfect example is found over at The Hill:

President Obama’s senior political adviser David Plouffe said Wednesday that people won’t vote in 2012 based on the unemployment rate.

Plouffe should probably hope that’s the case, since dismal job figures aren’t expected to get any better for Obama and the economy on Friday.

Most economists expect a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to show that the nation added about 100,000 jobs in June. That’s not enough to keep up with population growth, let alone lower the unemployment rate or make a dent in the 9 million jobs lost during the so called Great Recession.

[UPDATED: The jobs report released on Friday showed the economy added only 18,000 jobs, much less than anticipated. The unemployment rate creeped up to 9.2 percent.]

It’s looking more and more like Obama will have to do something no president has done since Franklin Roosevelt: Win reelection with unemployment around 8 percent.

I have a sinking feeling that Plouffe is making a seriously stupid miscalculation ; and one that the Republican Party is going to take full advantage of, come November 2012.

The stupidity continues over at the NYT, again with the stupidest Economist ever to be allowed to write for a paper:

Ugh. That was a seriously ugly jobs report. Almost no job creation, with slow private-sector growth offset by falling public-sector employment; a falling employment-population ratio; and (I don’t know how many people have picked this up), an actual decline in wages, albeit a small one.

Let me emphasize that last point. My bottom line on the inflation-deflation issue has always been to look at wages; you can’t have a wage-price spiral if wages ain’t spiraling. And they aren’t, to say the least.

It’s important to realize, by the way, that stagnant wages are NOT good for recovery; all they do is ensure that the burden of debt relative to income remains high, keeping demand and employment down.

The situation cries out for aggressively expansionary monetary and fiscal policy. Instead, however, all the political push is in the opposite direction.

The underlined part and the part above it; is where the stupidity really kicks in here. That stupidity above, is why this damned Nation is in the place that it is now. Because of stupid people like Krugman. These idiots, in a sane World, would be tossed out of this Country for causing one of the most horrible economic collapses in this Nation, since the great depression, which caused many Americans; Conservative and Liberal, to lose money that they rightly earned or invested in and profited from.

This is not to say that the Republican was not to blame; they too stood by and did nothing and for that they paid a price during the 2006 and 2008 election cycles. However, America was not fooled the Democrats proceeded to make some of, if not more, of the same mistakes that the Republican Party made, while in power. For this, they paid in 2010 and will pay again in 2012.

Further more, it was the DEMOCRATS, not the Republicans, who sought to game the housing market, with the Community Reinvestment act of 1973. Of which the Democrats added the sub-prime cause, which caused the Housing Market to become unstable; which essentially caused the markets to collapse. Yes, regulation was ripped out; but it was the adding of the sub-prime clause that caused the major problems that set the housing market up for a horrible downfall. I know, I watched it all happen here, in real-time, while blogging it all.

In fairness, I will say this; because I am not an overly partisan blogger. It also was the Neo-Conservatives, with their one war, that was totally unjustified in their idiotic visions of a Democratic middle east and the quagmire that it created, not to mention the millions spent and the lives lost; that also created this mess as well. If we would have fought the Afghanistan properly and not like we did Iraq; the war would have been much shorter and would have cost us much less money.

Others: The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Nation, Calculated Risk, New Deal 2.0, Booman Tribune, Freakonomics, Economix, Free exchange, Speaker, AmSpecBlog, JustOneMinute, Oliver Willis, Gothamist, Hugh Hewitt’s TownHall Blog, Economist’s View, Shakesville, Lynn Sweet, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Truthdig, Emptywheel, AMERICAblog News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, FrumForumThe Huffington Post, The Note, The Hill, And So it Goes in Shreveport, AMERICAblog News, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Pajamas Media, Scared Monkeys, Outside the Beltway, NetRight Daily, The Western Experience, GOP 12, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, National Review, The Lonely Conservative, americanthinker.com, msnbc.com and FrumForum and more via Memeorandum

Video: This is why I like Rick Santelli

No, he is not crazy……Just slightly animated.

(via Mediate)

Detroit’s budget woes

This first “adult” mayor that Detroit has had in over 30 years or more; and the city still cannot agree on a budget.

The Story via The Detroit Free Press:


Detroit Mayor Dave Bing abruptly ended budget negotiations Tuesday with the City Council, promising to move forward with the elimination of summer festivals, hundreds of police and firefighter layoffs, ending Sunday bus service and closing the People Mover and rec centers. 

Bing said he doesn’t believe the council is earnest about a compromise by the Thursday deadline.

“The time for talk is over,” he said. “It’s going to be painful.”

Earlier in the day, the council voted 7-2 to reject a compromise by the mayor that would have restored $30 million to the 2011-12 spending plan. Last month, the council cut $50 million to pay down the city’s deficit.

Council members expressed shock that Bing wouldn’t agree to a counter-compromise to restore $20 million in cuts to bus service and public safety.

“It’s irresponsible and immature,” Council President Charles Pugh said. “It’s like the mayor is mad and left the marbles at the playground. People in the city are going to be hurt because of these kinds of games. What is so important to the mayor that he can’t get this done?”

Unless the mayor budges or the council gives in to the Bing compromise, Bing will begin making cuts Friday that will affect thousands of Detroiters and many suburban residents.

Popular gatherings at Hart Plaza — the Downtown Hoedown, African World Festival, Ribs ‘n’ Soul and the techno bash Movement — would end. The city would lose homicide investigators and police patrolling the streets; swimming pools wouldn’t open, and park grass would stay uncut, Bing said.

The Detroit Free Press, which is a very liberally biased paper; gives a few son stories of people that will end up moving away, if the council does not get their way. To whom I say, you may as well move anyway, this town’s better days are behind it and it will not get better.

This story here, ought to be a textbook example of full on socialism does not work, at all. In times of economic prosperity, socialism and capitalism can co-exist, when the economy falters, the results are disastrous. In fairness to the City of Detroit, they went through this before; in the late 1970’s, when Coleman A. Young was Mayor of the city. Except, this time, things are much more bleak for the city and our Nation.

That being said even the Detroit Free Press Editors see that the writing is on the proverbial wall in Detroit:

For employees who have already taken pay cuts and seen the city’s workforce pared back, it must seem like the ultimate unfairness: Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says he needs deeper union concessions just to keep the state from imposing an emergency financial manager.

The reality is, both sides are right. Many employees can’t afford to pay more for their health care or contribute to their retirement. In a city (and region) already beaten down by the last decade of recession, these kinds of changes won’t help reverse economic trends.

But the city is also broke, and health care and pension costs are among the biggest drivers. Detroit has 22,000 retirees and 11,000 employees whose pension plans require no contribution. Those pension plans also carry steep requirements from taxpayers to maintain them — including unrealistic growth rates set by contract.

The city also pays more than 80% of health care costs for employees, and up to 90% in most cases.

It seems unlikely that the unions will even bargain, let alone give concessions by the Sept. 1 deadline Bing has set. What’s their incentive?

From their perspective, if Bing is telling the truth and the state will have to take over if concessions aren’t granted, it’s better to have an emergency manager impose the changes than to give them away at the bargaining table.

And if Bing isn’t being truthful, then calling his bluff counts as a union victory.

Union leadership can afford, in this case, to stand firm.

But that also underestimates the city’s dire financial situation. Cooperating with Bing, and negotiating around the margins of his proposal, could help put the city back on good economic footing.

Here is hoping that the city council and the city’s many unions leaders listen to this advice; which, by the way, I suggest you read the rest of that, as it is interesting reading.

This writer is old enough to remember the last major recession, which affected Detroit up till the late 1980’s. The last time this happened, Detroit had a “tough-as-nails” Mayor, who took no guff from people who got in his way and was able to pull Detroit out of a full scale nose dive. Here is hoping that bing has that same toughness in him. Because any way you look at this; it is going to be bad for ALL parties involved.

This Posting was crafted on my Apple iPod using WordPress Mobile Admin (Too Cool!)

Republicans say “No Mas!” to debt ceiling talks

Looks like the Republicans have had enough.

This comes via ABC’s The Note:

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., will also drop out of the debt talks, a source within his office confirms today. The Arizona Republican’s office will issue a formal statement shortly.

After House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) dropped out of the talks this morning, Senator Kyl was the lone Republican in the group left. And with his withdrawal late this morning, the group does not have a Republican negotiator left in the room.

The group was set to meet for the 11th time this afternoon with Vice President Biden, their third meeting of the week.

The group started as six – but is now down to four members from Congress. The remaining members are: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Assistant House Minority Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.), and House Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

This is nothing more, than the Republicans finally growing a pair and telling the Democrats, “you made this bed; now lay in it!!”

What I find amusing is this idiot spin by the Democrats:

UPDATE 12:00 p.m. – A Senior Democratic aide says, “Cantor and Kyl just threw Boehner and McConnell under the bus. This move is an admission that there will be a need for revenues and Cantor and Kyl don’t want to be the ones to make that deal.”

More liberal spin and bullcrap. The Republicans; unlike liberals, know that raising taxes on the Nation’s top earners is NOT a smart way to create jobs and generate revenue for the Country. The way to do this properly is to lower taxes for the top earners and remove regulation for the aspiring entrepreneur, who wants to follow the American dream and be his own boss.

But, no, the Democrats want to TAX the crap out of EVERYONE; not just the top earners, but everyone, to pay for their ill-conceived and hair-brained plans like so-called “economic stimulus” that did not work at all. This is why the Republicans walked out on these talks.

Allahpundit over at HotAir.com snarks:

Note to self: Buy gold.

…….and seeing that the Republicans and Democrats are not willing to come together to fix this problem. That is most likely not a very bad idea……

Video: Anthony’s Weiner by Jack Hunter

I do not always agree with Jack, but more often than not; he is right on point.

Transcript Here

This Posting was crafted on my Apple iPod using WordPress Mobile Admin (Too Cool!)

If this is not a recession, then what is?

Why can’t they just call this what it is?

The Commerce Department reports that Durable goods orders dropped 3.6% in April, some of the highlights: (H/T HotAir)

New orders for manufactured durable goods in April decreased $7.1 billion or 3.6 percent to $189.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today.  This decrease, down two of the last three months, followed a 4.4 percent March increase.  Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 1.5 percent.  Excluding defense, new orders decreased 3.6 percent.  Transportation equipment, also down two of the last three months, had the largest decrease, $4.9 billion or 9.5 percent to $46.7 billion.

Then there is this lovely bit of news:

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April, up sixteen consecutive months, increased $3.2 billion or 0.9 percent to $350.5 billion.  This was at the highest level since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 1.7 percent March increase.  Transportation equipment, also up sixteen consecutive months, had the largest increase, $1.0 billion or 1.0 percent to $106.1 billion.  This was also at the highest level since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 2.4 percent March increase.

The only thing I can say, without repeating myself; which cannot stand doing, is that Ron Paul might be crazy on Foreign Policy, but Ron Paul is absolutely right, when it comes to fiscal policy.

Here I go, repeating myself…..again!

The fact is, for the millionth time; Whenever excessive currency is injected into the money supply, that money supply becomes devalued, that is inflation. That causes the cost of everything to rise, which causes Businesses bottom line to rise, which causes them to either rid themselves of excess labor costs (read: JOBS) or not take on any new labor costs. That, in turn, causes what you see above. People buy stuff, when they have money; and right now, nobody has any money and the ones who do are hanging on to it for dear life. That is what happens when a bubble bursts and when an Economy collapses.

So, why not call it, for what it really is, a recession? It makes zero sense to continue to deceive the American people.