Category: Economy

David Morgan and Chris Vermeulen talk about Metals Trading

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I do these posts here to help with the financial situation around here, or in my case; a lack of it. As it does say, up in that top left hand corner box on here; I have no had a “real job” since 2005.  So, if you would please click on the links and sign up for the newsletters. I get a nice referral fee, if you do. This is for those who do not like or do not trust Paypal. Every little bit helps! So, if you want to help a unemployed “right of center” type of guy, who has a blog, this is the time to do it. Thanks so much!

-Pat

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The Audio:

[podcast]http://www.netcastdaily.com/broadcast/fsn2011-0520-1.mp3[/podcast]

More info Here

You can also see Chris Vermeulen’s last forecast, where he nailed the prediction on what Silver would do in the markets.

 

Change: Obama Says “Drill baby Drill”!

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The Video:

Flashback!:

So much for that, eh?

Reality sets in:

WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Obama laid out his strategy to continue to expand responsible and safe domestic oil production, leveraging existing authorities as part of his long-term plan to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. He is directing the Department of the Interior to conduct annual lease sales in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve – while respecting sensitive areas, to speed up the evaluation of oil and gas resources in the mid and south Atlantic, and to create new incentives for industry to develop their unused leases both on and offshore. Also, to give companies more time to meet higher safety standard for exploration and drilling, the administration is extending drilling leases in areas of the Gulf of Mexico that were impacted by the temporary moratorium, as well as certain leases off the coast of Alaska. And, he is establishing a new interagency working group to ensure that Arctic development projects meet health, safety and environmental standards. The past few months, rising gas prices have put an added strain on American families. While there are no quick fixes to the problem, these are steps, along with eliminating taxpayer subsidies for oil companies and rooting out fraud and manipulation in the markets, that are worth taking.

via Weekly Address: President Obama Announces New Plans to Increase Responsible Domestic Oil Production | The White House.

$4.00 a gallon gas and people are getting ticked; including his base. So, he quits with the cute silly liberal answers and starts back to drilling. Ed Morrissey says, “Nice try, but no.”

Quoting Ed Morrissey:

In fact, most of this action deals with extensions for existing leases, rather than new drilling. Instead of approving extension requests individually, Obama will issue blanket one-year extensions in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. The lease sales for the Gulf that Obama announced were supposed to take place last year. They’re not new leases. Obama did pledge to hold annual lease sales in Alaska’s North Slope area, where they had been ad hoc in the past, which is the only hint of new expansion in his remarks.

This isn’t leadership. It’s a threadbare attempt at triangulation that doesn’t add much new capacity at all, nor does it speed up the process of exploration and extraction. The White House will drag its heels on expansion of American production as long as possible; this announcement just buys Obama some time and a respite from the political fallout of high gas prices. Still, the fact that Obama had to protect himself in this manner shows how politically damaging his refusal to expand American production has become, and how damaging it will continue to be.

So, basically, Barry is trying to cover his backside and make it look like he is doing something about the high gas prices. When in all reality, the President and his Administration are simply giving political cover and lip-service to the American people. Which is what President Obama is actually pretty good at —- as long as he has his teleprompter.

Which proves what we Blogs on the right have known for three years now. That this President, who was elected more as a Black Novelty, than anything else; has no plan for this Nation’s future. Nor does have, nor does he care, about this Nation’s energy policy and its future. All he truly cares about, is his idiotic vision of progressive utopia; which is in reality, nothing but a pipe dream. Hopefully, the voters in 2012 will see this and vote accordingly.

Memeorandum Thread

Video: GUEST VOICE: Jack Hunter Asks “Have We Forgotten 9/11?”

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Transcript at Jack Hunter’s HQ

Video: Jack Hunter Asks “Does John McCain Support Al-Qaeda?”

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Transcript Here

Jack Hunter’s Website.

U.S. Military talks with Iraq faltering

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I have some very mixed feelings on this story….

Via WSJ:

WASHINGTON—Senior U.S. and Iraqi military officials have been in negotiations about keeping some 10,000 American troops in Iraq beyond the scheduled withdrawal of all U.S. forces at year’s end, according to officials familiar with the talks.

But the discussions face political obstacles in both countries, and have faltered in recent weeks because of Iraqi worries that a continued U.S. military presence could fuel sectarian tension and lead to protests similar to those sweeping other Arab countries, U.S. officials say.

A separate drawdown deadline is looming in Afghanistan, where President Barack Obama wants to see a substantial U.S. troop reduction starting in July. Some U.S. commanders have cautioned against making reductions too quickly.

Underlining Obama administration concerns that U.S. forces have been stretched too thin, the White House has put strict constraints on American military involvement in Libya. On Thursday, the U.S. said it was sending armed drones to support operations in Libya, but the administration has stood firm against sending any ground troops.

In Iraq, top U.S. military officials believe that leaving a sizeable force beyond this year could bolster Iraqi stability and serve as a check on Iran, the major American nemesis in the region, officials said. U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Israel have echoed the concern that if the U.S. pulls out completely, Iran could extend its influence.

Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Baghdad Thursday, urging Iraqi leaders to step up discussions soon if they want U.S. forces to stay beyond the end of 2011.

The timing is critical because the U.S. is scheduled to start drawing down remaining forces in late summer or early fall, and the military would have to assign new units months in advance to take their place.

While American defense officials have made clear they want to leave troops in Iraq, such a decision would require presidential approval. President Obama has yet to indicate publicly whether he would sign off on such a deal.

Mr. Obama could face a political backlash at home if he doesn’t meet his campaign pledge to bring troops home from Iraq. If the U.S. pulls out of Iraq and violence there surges, the president could face tough questions, particularly from Republicans in Congress, about whether the U.S. misjudged Iraq’s capabilities.

As a Conservative, A Paleo-Conservative, as opposed to a Neo-Conservative — but I digress; I have some very mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I would hate to see the United States withdraw from Iraq, it fall into chaos and Iran or some other surrounding Country invade the Country and mount attacks against Israel or even worse, even the United States. On the other hand, I feel that the invasion of Iraq was based on bad intelligence, largely based upon lies told by a man they called curve-ball.

Because of this, I believe we should really get out of there. Because, quite frankly, we have done our jobs. We got rid of Saddam, who was, admittedly hurting his own people and was corrupt as hell.  We have trained the Iraqi army to protect themselves from attack or foreign invasion and uprising from within its own Country. Which it appears they are using to hurt dissidents. So, I really do not understand why we are still there. It appears that the Iraqi Government is most likely worried about our interests there — such as oil.

Either way, this is a very sticky situation; no matter what we do, we are going to be the bad guys. If we stay, we will be blamed for any and all uprisings in the Country. If we leave and that Country falls into chaos; we will be blamed for that too and some idiot with a grudge will try to attack us for allowing his Country to invaded. So, either way, it is going to be a mess for us for a long time to come. 

This is why, that as a Paleo-Conservative, who rejects the foreign policy stance of the Neo-Conservative right; that we as Conservatives and Republicans should rethink our entire foreign policy status. The very idea of exporting freedom to other Nations is foolish on its face. Even David Horowitz, much to his credit, said this:

The Obama Administration, in my view, is the most dangerous administration in American history, and conservatives need to be very clear about the limits and objectives of American power so that they can lead the battle to restore our government to health. To accomplish this, neo-conservatives need to admit they were wrong, and return to the drawing board. They should give up the “neo” and become conservatives again.

Let me go on the record as saying, I wholeheartedly agree. Not so much about the Obama administration; I have yet to see anything that they have done that is overly dangerous to the Country. I do not agree with Obama’s whole, “Spread the Wealth around” nonsense; but Bush was not exactly my idea of a “perfect” President either. So, that whole argument is basically mute with me.  However, I will say that Conservatives do need to get back to their pre-George W. Bush Neo-Conservative lead foreign policy stance. Because quite frankly, our Nation cannot continue on this idiotic path and survive. I mean, tomorrow China could cut us off and we as a Nation would be done. They basically own us and could decide to collect on their debt — Militarily.   If you think about it, that would be quite scary; because what would we fight them with? They own our money and if they decided to defund us, where would we get the money to fight them with?  Again, something to think about.

As for the “other” war in Afghanistan; we need to define that mission and if we cannot do, what we set out to do there — which was to capture or kill Osama Bin Ladin, then we need to get out of that Country. Period. End of Story. Nation Building does not work. It was tried there by the Russians and it failed horribly and almost bankrupted the Russian Government. Establishing Governments and Nations should not be the responsibility of the United States armed forces; it should be the job of NATO and the U.N. — let them deal with that idiotic backward Nation — not us.

Sadly though, the United States Government will not listen to the voice of people like me or you. Who feel that this road to ruin that we are on, is not sustainable. That my friends, is the true crime of this Country.

 

 

Democrats have no love for Obama, Part Two

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Continuing with this theme…

Coming from The Nation:

President Obama cut a budget deal with congressional Republican leaders that outlined draconian cuts to needed programs while doing little if anything to address a supposed fiscal crisis. As such, it was a classic austerity agreement that served the special interests that dominate the upper ranks of both parties while ill-serving the great mass of Americans.

Congress has approved the deal that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says “moves America in exactly the wrong direction. It cuts programs for struggling working families, the elderly, children and the poor while preserving tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.” But Sanders and a majority of House Democrats opposed it.

That represents a significant break with Obama and his attempt to get congressional Democrats to buy into the austerity agenda — and the false premise that America has the resources for wars and bank bailouts but not for health care, education and meaningful investments in community renewal and job creation.

The House vote was especially telling.

Poor man can’t do nothing right. Continuing:

Sanders captured the sentiment of progressives in Congress and across the country when he said, “There is no question that we must reduce soaring deficits, but it must be done in a way that is fair, which protects the most vulnerable people in our country, and which requires shared sacrifice.”

Roughly translated: “But it must be done in a way that is fair, that protects my special interests; like those old fools who voted me into office.” It must be kept in mind, that Sanders is a socialist. I mean, this guy left the Democratic Party, because it was not liberal enough. 

However, I will say this; like I told Karl Rove on twitter, all of this talk about cuts; without making any Military Cuts and ending the wars, especially Iraq and also end the war and more importantly, end the nation building in Afghanistan — is nothing more than a well-planned ruse on the American people. Heck, even Lew Rockwell agrees that making cuts on the back of the poor is just damned immoral. I have to agree, my parents are in their sixties; why should they have to suffer, because a bunch of idiots want to defend an empire?

Further more, why should my parents suffer, because a group of beltway thugs, of both parties, got drunk on spending? It makes no sense to me at all. End these wars, The Afghanistan War has outlived it’s mission, we’re simply nation building there, to make Bush happy. Iraq is done, let’s get the heck out of there! Libya is another mess. We should have never gotten involved with that, at all.  

So, as I said, when Democrats and Republicans both want to get real on spending, then I will commend them and vote for a Republican President; until then, it is just all Hot Air.

 

Democrats on the Hill have zero love for President Obama

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First there is this from The Hill:

President Obama needs to start acting like a Democrat by not caving for a second time and allowing the George W. Bush-era tax rates on the wealthy to expire, according to a founding member of the House Progressive Caucus.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said on MSNBC Monday night that he and other liberal Democrats are hoping to apply enough pressure on Obama to make him “act like a Democrat.”

He also said the last Democratic-controlled Congress made a mistake in not pushing Obama more.

“Well, in my opinion that’s what the House did wrong in the last Congress, and in part why we lost is we never pushed back no matter how wrong he was or how off-base he was; we never pushed back,” DeFazio said.

Obama caved in December by breaking a campaign promise to let the Bush-era tax rates on the wealthy expire, DeFazio said.

“Remember, the president did run on that, and he did cave on it in December,” DeFazio said.

As a result, if Obama calls for an end to the Bush tax rates on the wealthy in a Wednesday speech on the deficit, DeFazio said it would be a small step.

To really bring down the deficit, “it’s got to be more — honestly — than just the top-bracket tax cuts,” DeFazio said.

The 13-term Democrat said all of the Bush tax rates should be allowed to expire, including those on the middle class. He said this would mean a significant tax hike for wealthier people and a more moderate tax increase for the middle class that would return the nation to Clinton-era tax rates, when he said the government balanced the budget.

Obama supports ending Bush tax rates on families with income above $250,000, but would extend the lower tax rates on people under that threshold. The White House has said Obama will lay out new plans for tackling the deficit in a Wednesday speech.

Funny how Democrats acts like spoiled rotten children, when they are not holding the ball anymore.

Then there is this via New York Daily News:

New York’s congressional delegation trashed President Obama’s budget compromise Monday, calling it “irresponsible,” “dangerous” and “immoral.”

“What [Obama has] done politically does not fit what I think should be done morally,” said Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem), who signaled plans to vote against the budget this week. “My community got a lousy deal in view of the resources that this great nation has.”

Obama reached an 11th-hour compromise late Friday that narrowly averted a government shutdown by slashing $38.5 billion in federal spending over the next six months.

It’s not clear how much of that cut will affect New York – but local pols say the city will suffer more than most.

“The budget…will hurt New York City terribly,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan). “Many of the things hurt like mass transit and public housing funds are particularly New York oriented.”

The MTA is likely to get slammed, which could mean even more fare hikes or service cuts, Nadler warned.

Money also getting slashed: Economic development, help feeding the poor, elderly in nursing homes, child care and Pell grants for college students.

The cuts “would be an outright disaster for our communities,” Nadler said.

The whacks come as the city struggles to absorb the impact of state budget cuts – and as congressional Dems brace for even deeper cuts as talks start this week on the 2012 federal budget.

Hey Charlie, I got one thing to say bud…..:

Cue the Music!

Cry me a freakin’ river dude. 🙄

It is so funny how when Democrats hold the majority; they are civilized people. But the minute they lose the majority, due to overreach; they turn into spoiled rotten children. The hard truth is this; the President’s policies have failed this asinine idea of “tax and spend” utterly failed and the economy is still stalled and now President Obama has lost the “great majority” that he once had and now he has to play by the Republicans rules and also has to do something “Grown Up” to salvage our economy and get the United States out of debt. Now that this is happening, cookie jar robbers like Rangel are acting like the President is a crook or something. It is all quite humorous to watch.

Cross-posted Here

Could the DOW Could Fall 6,000 Points??!?!

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Someone thinks so… (H/T GoldSilver.com)

Video:

The Story via Business Insider:

There’s a distinct possibility the U.S. stock market could plunge as much as 6,000 points if the U.S. continues to rack up record amounts of debt, causing the dollar to lose its reserve currency status, says Daily Ticker favorite Howard Davidowitz. (See video below)

“The dollar has never been at greater risk,” he tells Henry in the accompanying clip. Davidowitz is confident that if Washington doesn’t cool its spending habits, interest rates will spike and inflation will soar. Look at the value of the dollar, and the crisis is already brewing, with foreigners and sovereign nations diversifying away from dollar-denominated assets, he says.

What’s an investor to do in this scenario?

Buy hard assets, he suggests. Davidowitz says investors should own physical gold, silver and diamonds. He also thinks land is a winning bet, even suggesting young adults buy and work farmland. “I think investment in farmland with water on it is a great investment. Finance will be less important,” in the future, he says.

Sounds like a good time to buy gold to me!

It all goes back to the Federal Reserve

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I thought I would share this one with you all.

It seems that food prices are going up. I spotted this blog posting over at HotAir.com; which is, a Neo-Conservative Blog. Anyhow, Ed Morrissey points out that food prices are going up. Ed points to this story by the AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February — double the 0.8 percent rise in the previous month. Outside of food and energy costs, the core index ticked up 0.2 percent, less than January’s 0.5 percent rise.

Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in vegetable costs, which increased nearly 50 percent. That was the most in almost a year. Meat and dairy products also rose.

Energy prices rose 3.3 percent last month, led by a 3.7 percent increase in gasoline costs.

Separately, the Commerce Department said home construction plunged to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 homes last month, down 22.5 percent from the previous month. It was lowest level since April 2009, and the second-lowest on records dating back more than a half-century.

The building pace is far below the 1.2 million units a year that economists consider healthy.

There was little sign of inflationary pressures outside of food and energy. Core prices have increased 1.8 percent in the past 12 months.

Still consumers are paying more for the basic necessities.

Why is it that prices are going up? Well, I can tell you why…. It’s called inflation. Something this guy here has been talking about for years:

Of course, Ed Morrissey, tries to credit the shrieking harpy and two bit phony Sarah Palin for this; but we thinking Americans know better. Sarah Palin most likely cannot even program her own VCR, much less understand the workings of the Federal Reserve. Ron Paul was saying this sort of stuff, when Sarah Palin was still playing with dolls and dreaming of being someone in politics as a child.

Scott Johnson over at Powerline, smartly and very accurately points to the federal reserve bank for this rise in food costs, he also points to a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed that warned of this sort of a thing happening. Yes, I know, Powerline Blog is decidedly Neo-Conservative; but when it comes to this sort of stuff, those guys are in the right frame of mind. I just wish I could convince them that imperialism is a sad mistake —- As are unconstitutionally declared wars.

It also turns out, that the Federal Reserve Bank is not the only part of the Federal Government that is a danger to it’s citizens. There is also other things that we should be, as citizens, worried about; like the ill-conceived and improperly named “Patriot Act.” As this video shows, that act is being used against citizens in a very bad way: (H/T RTR.Org)

The part about the raid on Walter Reddy, the founder of the modern Committees of Safety is in this video. I do encourage you all to watch it. If this man’s story is true. If someone does not like you; they can go to your local police department and makes up actual lies about you and cause the police to conduct a raid on your home. That my friends, is insanity.

As you might expect, I post this video with a disclaimer; Just because I post this, does not mean that endorse the products being sold or the overall conspiratorial tone of the video. I simply post this for informational purposes only.

Update: Mark this on your calendars; this one of the rare times, when I actually agree with Lew Rockwell.

Video: Jack Hunter on Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano

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Here is Jack Hunter and the judge discussing the G.O.P’s pathetic attempt at a budget proposal.

Jack Hunter’s website

Excellent Job Jack! 😀

Video: Las Vegas Boom & Bust – A Preview for Singapore & China?

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This comes via GoldSiver.com:

Wouldn’t it be a good time to invest in Gold and Silver and beat the rush?

Interesting Information on the economic meltdown

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(H/T to HotAir, who I railed on earlier… hey, just because I holler at ’em, does not mean that I do not like ’em! 😀 )

Okay to set this properly. I will simply say this. We cannot prove for sure that something like this did happen. However, we cannot really prove that it did not happen either.  That is the crazy part.

The PJ Tatler has the highlights from a very long document:

Evidence outlined in a Pentagon contractor report suggests that financial subversion carried out by unknown parties, such as terrorists or hostile nations, contributed to the 2008 economic crash by covertly using vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system.

The unclassified 2009 report “Economic Warfare: Risks and Responses” by financial analyst Kevin D. Freeman, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, states that “a three-phased attack was planned and is in the process against the United States economy.”

While economic analysts and a final report from the federal government’s Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission blame the crash on such economic factors as high-risk mortgage lending practices and poor federal regulation and supervision, the Pentagon contractor adds a new element: “outside forces,” a factor the commission did not examine.

“There is sufficient justification to question whether outside forces triggered, capitalized upon or magnified the economic difficulties of 2008,” the report says, explaining that those domestic economic factors would have caused a “normal downturn” but not the “near collapse” of the global economic system that took place.

Suspects include financial enemies in Middle Eastern states, Islamic terrorists, hostile members of the Chinese military, or government and organized crime groups in Russia, Venezuela or Iran. Chinese military officials publicly have suggested using economic warfare against the U.S.

In an interview with The Times, Mr. Freeman said his report provided enough theoretical evidence for an economic warfare attack that further forensic study was warranted.

“The new battle space is the economy,” he said. “We spend hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons systems each year. But a relatively small amount of money focused against our financial markets through leveraged derivatives or cyber efforts can result in trillions of dollars in losses. And, the perpetrators can remain undiscovered.”

If you would like to dive in and look at 111 pages of this document, feel free.

Economic Warfare: Risks and Responses by Kevin D. Freeman

Now Ed Morrissey. is a good guy, when he is not writing bogus headlines, like me; is not so convinced — I’ll quite just a snippet here of his response:

The report is very useful in underscoring the potential vulnerabilities in our system, especially in relation to sovereign-wealth funds, and should get attention from policymakers in protecting the US from financial wars.  However, just because something is possible doesn’t mean it happened.

Which is true; but I think we need to look at this much closer and maybe even look at this report and consider the info in it.

 

Gulp: Unemployed finding it harder to find jobs

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This just sucks wet socks man…. 🙁

Via Yahoo’s “The Lookout”:

In 2008, Michelle, a 53-year-old Illinois resident with 19 years experience in information technology, became another casualty of the Great Recession. More than a year later, after a long and fruitless job search, she finally heard from a headhunter who thought she sounded like a great fit for a post he was looking to fill.

But when Michelle told him how long she had been out of work, the headhunter turned apologetic: His client, he said, wouldn’t accept people who had been unemployed for more than six months. Michelle would go on to stay jobless for so long that she ultimately exhausted all her unemployment benefits, and, for the first time in her life, was forced to apply for food stamps and welfare.

Michelle’s tale was recounted at a recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) meeting devoted to the issue of hiring discrimination against the unemployed. As the commission found, Michelle’s experience is far from unique. No one officially tracks how many job openings explicitly bar the unemployed, but several news reports since last summer have uncovered numerous online job postings that require candidates be employed during the application process. One such listing was posted by the cellphone giant Sony Ericsson–a move the company later called a “mistake.”

Job-placement professionals say that over the last year, more and more employers have made it clear they won’t consider job candidates who aren’t working. “A lot of our recruiters have had clients who have come across this,” Matt Deutsch of TopEchelon.com, which brings recruiters together to collaborate in finding jobs for candidates, told The Lookout, calling the practice “unfortunate.”

With the number of Americans who have been out of work for six months or longer at a whopping 6.2 million, and with 4.7 unemployed workers for every job opening, advocates for the jobless say this growing form of hiring discrimination creates another hurdle for the increasingly desperate ranks of the unemployed. “At a moment when we all should be doing whatever we can to open up job opportunities to the unemployed, it is profoundly disturbing that the trend of deliberately excluding the jobless from work opportunities is on the rise,” Christine Owens, who runs the National Employment Law Center, told the EEOC.

Some experts say that discrimination against the jobless, as currently practiced, may violate civil rights laws–a question the commission is now considering. In itself, such discrimination isn’t illegal. (New Jersey is exploring legislation that would prohibit job ads telling the unemployed not to apply.) But it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of race or age. And African-Americans and older workers are disproportionately represented among the long-term unemployed–meaning they may be bearing the brunt of discrimination against the jobless.

The EEOC declined to say whether it’s investigating specific cases of potential violations.

Go read the rest of that; it is enough to make a grown man cry. I am now so damned screwed. 🙁  Thank You Democrats, and do nothing Republicans for screwing our economy into the ground! Grrr... 😡

I have not had a job since 2005. I’m screwed. A pauper for damned life. 🙁

If I did not have the hope of Christ in my heart; I would put a gun to my temple and pull the damned trigger. This sucks. I think I am just going to take the rest of the day off. I need to get away from this; too damned depressing. 🙁

(H/T HotAir Headlines)

Here is a another good reason why you do not spend yourself out of a recession

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This is crazy, but it is liberals in action….

Via the Washington Post Business Section:

Interest payments on the national debt will quadruple in the next decade and every man, woman and child in the United States will be paying more than $2,500 a year to cover for the nation’s past profligacy, according to figures in President Obama’s new budget plan.

Starting in 2014, net interest payments will surpass the amount spent on education, transportation, energy and all other discretionary programs outside defense. In 2018, they will outstrip Medicare spending. Only the amounts spent on defense and Social Security would remain bigger under the president’s plan.

The soaring bill for interest payments is one of the biggest obstacles to balancing the federal budget, pushing the White House and Congress to come up with cuts deeper than previously imagined. Unlike with discretionary spending or even entitlement programs, the line item for interest payments cannot be altered except through other budget cuts.

The phenomenon is a bit like running up the down escalator. Without interest payments, the president’s plan would balance the budget by 2017. But net interest payments that year are expected to reach $627 billion, up from $207 billion in the current fiscal year.

“This goes to the heart of why we have to address our fiscal problems,” said Mark Zandi, co-founder and chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “If we don’t, we’re going to get swamped by our interest payments.”

Here is the part that worries me:

As bad as the outlook is in the Obama budget proposal for fiscal year 2012, it could get worse. So far, interest payments have been relatively low because of the willingness of global investors to lend the U.S. government money at abnormally low interest rates. But that could change.

“The scary scenario – which I am not predicting but is a real possibility – is an incident of capital flight, where investors lose confidence in the U.S., causing interest rates to rise precipitously and pushing the budget deficit even further into the red,” said N. Gregory Mankiw, a Harvard economics professor and former chairman of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers.

The Obama budget’s assumptions include a substantial increase in rates. It predicts that the interest rate on 10-year Treasury notes will climb from 3 percent this year to 3.6 percent next year. It forecasts rates of 5 percent by 2015 and 5.3 percent at the end of the decade.

Short-term rates will rise even more sharply, from nearly zero now to 4 percent by 2015 in the Office of Management and Budget assumptions.

Rogoff calls the administration’s forecast “reasonable,” but he warns that the actual number is hard to know with any certainty.

“The basic issue is that when you hold a lot of debt you’re vulnerable to shifts in sentiment and sharp rises in the interest rates,” Rogoff said.

He said that combined federal, state and municipal debt in the United States is at a record high, beyond the famous post-World War II levels. Unlike interest payments made then, however, a huge portion of interest payments are flowing to investors in other countries, draining funds out of the U.S. economy. (There are other interest payments made to the Social Security fund, but because they shift money from one pocket of the government to another, they are not counted in the net interest numbers.)

Some positive developments could ease the interest payment crisis, including faster-than-expected economic recovery, higher-than-expected tax receipts and lower-than-expected government borrowing rates.

Ultimately, Rogoff said, the federal government should aim to reduce the amount of debt as a percentage of GDP. But for now, the U.S. government is still borrowing just to meet the interest payments on earlier borrowing.

“We are in a self-reinforcing, vicious cycle,” Zandi said

I am not trying to scare anyone at all; but no matter how you slice this, it does not look good for America in the next coming years. This is why; and I know I have said this on this blog a million times; well, a million and one now. This is why you do NOT spend yourself out of a recession. Keynesian economics just does not work. The only reason it ever even remotely appeared to work, was because of World War 2 and all of the industry that surrounded that era. In fact, some of the things that Roosevelt did, were overturned by the supreme court and after that, and only after that the did the economy begin to grow.

This is not to say that this is all President Obama’s fault. There was spending under Bush; just not quite as much. Here are some charts for you to look at:

Spending under Bush and Obama

But many Liberal Democrats will say, “What about the Iraqi war?”  I simply say to them, “what about it?”

See this graph:

Spending with and without the war, under Bush.

The truth is that the total cost of the eight-year war was less than the stimulus bill passed by the Democratic-led Congress in 2009, a fact confirmed by FOX News:

As President Obama prepares to tie a bow on U.S. combat operations in Iraq, Congressional Budget Office numbers show that the total cost of the eight-year war was less than the stimulus bill passed by the Democratic-led Congress in 2009.

According to CBO numbers in its Budget and Economic Outlook published this month, the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom was $709 billion for military and related activities, including training of Iraqi forces and diplomatic operations.

The projected cost of the stimulus, which passed in February 2009, and is expected to have a shelf life of two years, was $862 billion.

The U.S. deficit for fiscal year 2010 is expected to be $1.3 trillion, according to CBO. That compares to a 2007 deficit of $160.7 billion and a 2008 deficit of $458.6 billion, according to data provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

My friends, this is why you do not spend your way out of a recession. This is what happens. America has lived well beyond its means for much too long. We must act, and we must act quickly. Before it is too late. So far, Republicans have NOT shown any backbone.  2012 is coming, it will be time to vote the rest of them out. Speaker Bonher; yes, I am talking about you! You piece of Neo-Conservative excrement! 😡

There is another thing that most up on Capital Hill are not discussing; and that is cutting Military spending. We need to end the war in Iraq NOW! They have their Country now, we defeated the insurgency.  We need to get out there ASAP! As for Afghanistan, who knows about that anymore, that is another Neo-Conservative boondoggle that the Democrats are trying to continue; good luck with that — Osama Bin Ladin is in Pakistan and that Country is not too keen on us being there. Again, I say — Good luck with that!

Not only this, but we have way too many of our Military stationed around the world. Why tell those people, either you pay us to be here or we are going home? It makes no sense, this is where Ron Paul has a point.

Gas prices jump to 28 month high

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An alternative title to this could have been, “Another good reason why I am glad that I do not own a car.”

Anyhow, in addition to clothes and everything else, gas prices are rising:

Gasoline pump prices reached a 28-month high today even though oil and gas supplies in the U.S. continue to grow and demand for gas is weak.

The national average for regular gasoline rose to $3.133 a gallon. That’s about $1.20 more than the price at the pump two years ago, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service.

Just eight states have average prices less than $3 a gallon. The cheapest is $2.94 a gallon is in Missouri. Hawaii has the highest average of $3.746 a gallon.

Tom Kloza, OPIS chief oil analyst, predicted gas prices will range from $3.50 to $3.75 a gallon this spring and then drift lower, to between $3 and $3.40 a gallon.

“I do believe that this year is front-end loaded,” Kloza said. “I think that perhaps the first third of the year sees higher retail prices for gasoline and diesel than the middle or final thirds.”

Average gas prices have climbed steadily from about $2.80 a gallon in November even though consumer demand has been weak and inventory levels remain high. The Energy Department said today that supplies of crude and gasoline both rose again last week while distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, declined. All three products are at or above the average range for the past five years.

Demand for gasoline remains weak and may be getting weaker. In its weekly survey Mastercard SpendingPulse said gasoline consumption across the country fell 3 percent last week compared to the week before and suggested that higher prices may be discouraging driving and trips to the gas station.

via Gas pump prices hit 28-month high | detnews.com | The Detroit News.

Not one word in that article mentions inflation of our currency. That is why gas prices are going up; plus too, there is a bit of instability in the Arab World right now.  Put that all together and you are paying a nice price at the pump.

To be quite honest, I do not own a car, at the moment. I had to junk mine, it had just too many issues. Honestly? I am kind of glad, that I do not own a car. To me, that means less money spent at the pump. 😀

Wow: The New York Times proves that Glenn Beck and Ron Paul are not crazy

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It is not everyday that the paper of record comes out and basically vindicates Ron Paul and Glenn Beck. But it has happened.

This a bit of a follow up to a previous blog posting that I wrote earlier; it turns out, that not only are clothes going up, but everything is going up. 😮

From the “Business Day” section of the New York Times:

A package of Oscar Mayer cold cuts. A pair of Nine West boots. A Whirlpool washing machine.

By the fall, people will most likely be paying more for each of them, as rising prices hit most consumer goods, say retailers, food companies and manufacturers of consumer products.

Cotton prices are near their highest level in more than a decade, after adjusting for inflation, and leather and polyester costs are jumping as well. Copper recently hit its highest level in about 40 years, and iron ore, used for steel, is fetching extremely high prices. Prices for corn, sugar, wheat, beef, pork and coffee are soaring. Labor overseas is becoming more expensive, meanwhile, and so are the utility bills to keep a factory running.

“There are cost pressures from virtually everywhere,” said Wesley R. Card, the chief executive of the Jones Group, whose brands include Nine West and Anne Klein. After trying to keep retail prices flat or even lower during the recession, Jones says prices for its brands will climb 15 to 20 percent by autumn.

When commodity prices started to rise last summer, many manufacturers and retailers absorbed the costs, worried that shoppers would not pay higher prices during the competitive holiday season or while the economy was still fragile.

Many big companies, including Kraft, Polo Ralph Lauren and Hanes, say they cannot hold off any longer and must raise prices to protect some profits.

Whether shoppers will pay is unclear. “Consumers are not exactly in the frame of mind or economic circumstances to say ‘Oh, pay whatever they ask,’ ” said Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist at MFR Inc. “There’s going to be pushback.”

As to why this is all happening? Buried, oh so very far down into the story, there’s this:

Economists say the increases may eventually show up as inflation, though they are not yet projecting rates that would set off alarms. Despite some fears, inflation has been extremely low, at a rate of just 1.4 percent annually in December. Data for January will be released Thursday, but economists expect inflation will run about 2.5 percent this year.

Some do see the creeping signs of higher inflation, and warn that the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates or at least stop pumping more money into the economy. Others argue that such moves would choke off economic growth sorely needed to get companies hiring again.

For consumers, higher prices in stores means there will be a little less extra cash to spend. For companies, profits may be squeezed, making them a little less likely to invest in equipment or to hire aggressively.

“Despite some fears?” Wow. That is about the biggest amount of liberal spin that I have ever seen, I am reminded of this cartoon; where the man is surrounded by a barbed wire fence and he’s say, “we must rise up against this tyranny” or something to that effect and a hand comes down and slaps a record player on his head and it’s repeating, “Everything is fine….Everything is fine…” over and over.

I suggest you go read that entire article and if you happen to watch Glenn Beck’s show; think of everything he has said in the past in regards to the Economy, the bailouts and inflation. Think also of what Ron Paul has said here for the last 30 years about what our Government has done to explode our economy. Turns out, maybe, just maybe; that Ron Paul is not not so crazy after all.

Oh Great: Cost of clothing going up

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We were warned that this sort of a thing was going to happen, Glenn Beck said it long ago…:

NEW YORK — Clothing prices have dropped for a decade as tame inflation and cheap overseas labor helped hold down costs. Retailers and clothing makers cut frills and experimented with fabric blends to cut prices during the recession.

But as the world economy recovers and demand for goods rises, a surge in labor and raw materials costs is squeezing retailers and manufacturers who have run out of ways to pare costs.

Cotton has more than doubled in price over the last year, hitting all-time highs. The price of synthetic fabrics has jumped roughly 50% as demand for alternatives and blends has risen.

Clothing prices are expected to rise about 10% in coming months, with the biggest increases coming in the second half of the year, said Burt Flickinger III, president of Strategic Resource Group.

via Cost of clothing going up | Detroit Free Press | freep.com.

I think now would be a good time to go out and get a few good pairs of pants and a few shirts. There’s nothing wrong with stocking up on needed stuff.

This is just the beginning. Wait till food prices skyrocket.

You can thank your feckless Government for this.

Clinton to announce new envoy for the “AfPak” Theater

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This looks like it could be a big mess.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has chosen a new special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, after months of delay and disagreements between the White House and the State Department over the parameters of the job that became vacant with the December death of Richard C. Holbrooke, senior officials said.

Retired diplomat Marc Grossman is expected to take over as the administration is facing a crucial year for its war strategy in Afghanistan, where it plans to begin U.S. troop withdrawals this summer and to move toward a political settlement including negotiations with the Taliban before the end of 2011.

In Pakistan, a key partner in the strategy, the situation has become even more fraught with peril, as U.S.-Pakistani relations have plummeted to their lowest point in years over Pakistan’s rejection of U.S. demands to grant diplomatic immunity to a U.S. official accused of murder there.

The administration has suspended high-level official contacts with the Pakistanis, and senior members of Congress have warned Islamabad that it risks a cutoff of U.S. aid.

via Washington Post:  Clinton to announce new ‘AfPak’ envoy.

Wow, I was not aware of all these problems. Looks like Hillary Clinton has her work cut out for her. Two things that stand out here:

  1. Why do we keep sending over retired people to handle these situations? Cannot Hillary Clinton or President Obama find anyone who is not at retirement age to handle this problem? Just a thought there, not trying to criticize it; because I doubt John McCain would be able to handle this any better.
  2. This situation with the murder charge just looks bad all around and will most likely hamper our efforts to combat the war on terror and will hinder us from capturing or killing Osama Bin Ladin. Because you cannot capture the bad guys; if you cannot get along with the people where they are hiding.

Again, I have said this a million times here, and I will say it again. Bush handled this whole thing wrong after 9/11. Bush should have went after the Countries that financed the attacks on 9/11. Instead he went after their training grounds, with the assumption that it would be a cakewalk to catch them; and then he went into Iraq, on what we now now to be bad intelligence and also assumed that would be cake walk too — and Afghanistan was left to neglect.  As of a result that poor leadership, we now have this mess to contend with. I pity Hillary and even President Obama to a point, they inherited this awful mess and now, they have to make gold, out of a steaming bag of crap. What a mess! I would not want to be in their shoes at all. 🙁

But, that is what happens, when you elect Neo-Conservatives who are on a so-called “Mission from God.” Let this be a lesson to America and to the Republican Party and all who supported and voted for the man. Say what you want, but between the bailouts and his poorly planned war on terror — we find ourselves in a awful mess; both with debt and with foriegn diplomacy.

President Barack Obama loses Andrew Sullivan??!?!?!?!?

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He might as well have lost Walter Cronkite!

The Thrill is Gone for Sully!

But the core challenge of this time is not the cost of discretionary spending. Obama knows this; everyone knows this. The crisis is the cost of future entitlements and defense, about which Obama proposes nothing. Yes, there’s some blather. But Obama will not risk in any way any vulnerability on taxes to his right or entitlement spending to his left. He convened a deficit commission in order to throw it in the trash. If I were Alan Simpson or Erskine Bowles, I’d feel duped. And they were duped. All of us who took Obama’s pitch as fiscally responsible were duped.

The cynical political calculation is obvious and it is well put by Yglesias and Sprung. If Obama backs Bowles-Simpson, the GOP will savage him for the tax hikes, while also scaring the wits out of the elderly on Medicare. The Democratic left – just look at HuffPo today – will have a cow. Indeed, if Obama backs anything, the GOP will automatically oppose him. He has to wait for a bipartisan agreement which he can then gently push ahead. But that’s exactly why we are in this situation today. Because no president has had the balls to deal with it, and George W. Bush made it all insanely worse. Sprung says the proposal on corporate taxes is a trial balloon

via Obama To The Next Generation: Screw You, Suckers – The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan.

I will not really get into all this; all I know is, we are in a crap load of debt, which is more then out entire Gross Domestic Product.  Now, like some Right-Wing blogs, I am not going to sit here, like a chump and tell you it is all the Democrats fault. The truth is both parties are guilty of this nonsense of spending money we do not have; and now both parties are acting like total buffoons, instead actually trying to get it down. Which is not totally surprising.

However, I do find it mildly amusing that the same blogger, who was essentially Barack Obama’s poodle dog during the 2008 election cycle is now the first blogger to come out swinging against him.  Which proves my theory entirely of the fact that liberals, which is what Sully is, not a Conservative; are just not much loyal to the one’s that they elect. My opinion? Sure, that is what I do here. However, based upon what I have been seeing in the left wing media in this day and age; my opinion not that very far off.

Having said all of that….. CUE THE MUSIC! HIT IT B.B.!

Others: The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, xpostfactoid, Outside the Beltway, Ballot Box, The New Republic, National Review, Doug Ross, AmSpecBlog, Wall Street Journal, Washington Wire and Chicago Boyz via Memeorandum

Stock and Trading Advice: Yen and Dollar…rally ahead?

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This is a sponsored posting….

Please click here to read about Yen and Dollar rally.

Click here to get more great trading advice.

Gold and Silver rise after Bernanke says Government will continue path to ruin

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This is not very shocking…but, it’s news:

Gold and silver prices rose Thursday after the chairman of the Federal Reserve said the economy won’t recover fully until more jobs are created.

The economy likely will grow more quickly this year as companies and consumers spend more, but it will take several years for unemployment to fall to more normal levels, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in prepared remarks to the National Press Club.

His speech suggested the Fed will continue its $600 billion Treasury bond-buying program aimed at bolstering the economy.

Earlier Thursday, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said inflationary pressures in the 17 nations that use the euro are in check despite rising prices due to higher energy and commodity costs. The bank’s governing council decided unanimously to leave the main interest rate unchanged at 1 percent.

CPM Group analyst Carlos Sanchez said the combination of Bernanke and Trichet comments prompted more investors to buy gold and silver, which often are seen as safer assets to hold during uncertain economic times.

Sanchez said he expects gold prices to continue to rise in the next several months as global economic issues are addressed.

via News from The Associated Press.

You can expect prices on Gold and Silver to rise, as long as this Government continues to buy it’s own debit. As I have said before, this is a good time to get into Gold.

Please, check out GoldSilver.com and protect your nest egg today!

There is a reason why America is declining

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I saw this over at the New York Times and I thought it warranted a comment:

MY grandmother, who was born in 1905, spoke often about the immense changes she had seen, including the widespread adoption of electricity, the automobile, flush toilets, antibiotics and convenient household appliances. Since my birth in 1962, it seems to me, there have not been comparable improvements.

Of course, the personal computer and its cousin, the smartphone, have brought about some big changes. And many goods and services are now more plentiful and of better quality. But compared with what my grandmother witnessed, the basic accouterments of life have remained broadly the same.

The income numbers for Americans reflect this slowdown in growth. From 1947 to 1973 — a period of just 26 years — inflation-adjusted median income in the United States more than doubled. But in the 31 years from 1973 to 2004, it rose only 22 percent. And, over the last decade, it actually declined.

via Incomes Are Stuck on Technology’s Plateau – NYTimes.com.

This article goes on to lament about how America’s standing in the world has fallen and how America’s level of income has fallen, in comparison to the rest of the world.

There is a simple reason for that; and that is Globalism. We have sacrificed America’s standing in the World and our financial superiority in the world at the altar of globalism. Free trade has killed America’s standing. Do not misunderstand me here; I am not for outright protectionism, however, I believe ALL of these so-called “free trade agreements”  are unfairly slanted against America. We need to renegotiate this silly agreements with these foriegn countries and if those countries do not agree to the new terms; we should simply revoke the agreements. The we should go back to the old system of strict tariffs on those who wish to import their goods into this Country.

Until we do this; we are simply spinning our wheels.

The sick and sad part is that President Obama, when he was campaigning promised to do this very thing. Now that he is elected, he has done nothing.  Which speaks volumes for the man and the Party that he represents. Perhaps now populists will that Democratic Party, for that which it has become; the part of parasites and socialism — instead of the party of the common man — of which it was founded.

Others: Marginal Revolution, The Reality-Based Community and Economist’s View

Trading Advice: What Most People Don’t Realize About The Fed’s Superpowers

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Bob Prechter’s Conquer The Crash reveals whether the Fed really can rescue the US economy
January 27, 2011

By Elliott Wave International

Since its creation in 1913, the primary intended role of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank has been that of protector. In theory, the central bank was bestowed with the power to shape monetary policy in a way that would keep both booms and busts in check. The two main tools at its disposal — interest rates and money creation — would provide a “ceiling of normalcy” above expansions AND a “net of safety” below contractions.

To this day, the financial mainstream holds great faith in the Fed’s ability to fulfill its save-the-day duties — as these recent news items make plain:

  • “Why Raising Fed Funds Rate Is Positive For Equities.” (Seeking Alpha)
  • “Fed’s Moves Lift All Asset Classes.” (Associated Press)
  • “US Stocks Erasing Losses: The aggressive moves of the Fed have been an important driver for the stabilization of stock prices.” (Bloomberg)

But of all the variables the Fed creators took into account, there’s one glaring factor they neglected to consider: Namely, it cannot force consumers to spend, creditors to lend, or businesses to borrow. The events of 2007-2009 “credit crunch” and the subsequent “Great Recession” made that obvious. Remember how the government was upset at banks for sitting on the bailout funds instead of lending them out to consumers? And consumers weren’t exactly lining up on the street to get a loan, either.

The Fed’s inability to change social mood is the central theme in Chapter 13 of EWI President Bob Prechter’s NY Times business bestseller book Conquer the Crash. There, Bob describes the Fed’s strategy of lowering the federal funds rate to stimulate spending to be as effective as “pushing on a string.” Writes Bob:

“The primary basis for today’s belief in perpetual prosperity and inflation with an occasional recession is what I call the ‘Potent Directors Fallacy.’ It is nearly impossible to find a treatise on macroeconomics today that does not assert or assume that the Federal Reserve Board has learned to control both our money and our economy. Many believe that it also possesses the immense power to manipulate the stock market. The very idea that it can do these things is false.”

And so begins one of the most groundbreaking studies into the very real INABILITY of the Fed to fell the great bears of economic declines, or to feed the great bulls of economic vigor.

The best part is, you can read Chapter 13 of Conquer the Crash in its entirety FREE via a Club EWI resource “You Can Survive And Prosper In A Deflationary Depression.” The free report also includes SEVEN other chapters of Conquer the Crash that shed equal light on some of the most misleading notions of mainstream economic wisdom.

Don’t stay in the dark. Read all 8 chapters today by joining the rapidly expanding free Club EWI community today. Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • Chapter 10: Money, Credit and the Federal Reserve Banking System
  • Chapter 13: Can the Fed Stop Deflation?
  • Chapter 23: What To Do With Your Pension Plan
  • Chapter 28: How to Identify a Safe Haven
  • Chapter 29: Calling in Loans and Paying off Debt
  • Chapter 30: What You Should Do If You Run a Business
  • Chapter 32: Should You Rely on Government to Protect You?
  • Chapter 33: A Short List of Imperative “Do’s” and Crucial “Don’ts”

Keep reading this free report now — all you need to do is create a free Club EWI profile.

Video: The Reality Report #78: The Homeland becomes the Fatherland

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Please note: The posting on this video does NOT constitute support for all of the views therein. It is posted for your education and information.

—–

Synopsis: In the 78th edition of the Reality Report, Gary Franchi draws the direct parallels America shares with Hitler’s Germany and provides the solution to avoiding their terrible fate. We take a look at Ron Paul’s Texas Straight Talk where he discusses what a new found interest in the Constitution could mean for America. CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, Peter Schiff tells us why the Chinese modeled their currency after the U.S. dollar. We also hear from the former U.S. military analyst who is responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg. He explains the recent war on whistle-blowers. Chris Mathews latest hypocrisy is revealed and Angie breaks down the news. As always we take a dip into the mailbag, reveal the results from last weeks viewer poll and brand a new Enemy of the State.

The Video:

http://RTR.org | http://RealityReport.TV

RTR Group:
http://rtr.org/group/745

Facebook Page:
http://facebook.com/realityreport

Youtube channel
http://bit.ly/sub-2-rr

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Video: Ron Paul talks with John Stossel on the SOTU address

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This comes via The Daily Paul:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Comments are Welcome!