This chart is in fact much worse than it first appears – that break has now taken out critical support from 2008 before everything fell apart!
It’s not alone either:
I have warned of the potential risk in these funds and municipal bonds as an asset class before.
The fact that no realistic action has been taken to address these issues, and that they may rotate into United States credit – that is, Treasuries, forcing big reductions in spending, is a serious problem.
Folks, the States are absolute pikers when it comes to this – The Federal Government is literally borrowing 40% of every dollar it’s spending at the present time. This cannot continue indefinitely, and yet if it is pulled back GDP is going to instantaneous collapse by a double-digit percentage and the stock market will implode as profits go down the toilet immediately.
Is this a “sure things, short the farm” play? No. As we’ve seen the goofballs in our government are hellbent for leather on continuing to play Ponzi, borrowing ever-more in a furious (although ultimately futile) attempt to prevent recognition of the fact that we simply do not have the final demand and cannot manufacture it via borrowing on a durable basis to support our claimed “output” and “profits.”
Bernanke, Obama and Congress think they’re Khan – and invincible.
They’re all wrong – The Market is in fact Captain Kirk.
We’ve been told a lot of things since the global economic crisis first became apparent in 2007. In March of that year Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said, “the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the sub-prime markets seems likely to be contained.” Clearly, Mr. Bernanke’s assessment was incorrect and the sub-prime real estate issues were only part of a broader, systemic issue.
The fundamental problems within our economy became mainstream news in the latter part of 2008 when stock markets around the world were in free fall and most major financial institutions were on the cusp of insolvency. In response, our government, with the full support and confidence of Congress, took unprecedented steps to save the system by injecting, first billions, and then trillions of dollars to bailout failed companies, stabilize deflationary price collapses and stimulate the economy.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson eventually wrote a book about the crisis, aptly titled On the Brink. But how close to the brink were we? If Representative Brad Sherman is to be believed, we were close. So close, in fact, that according to Sherman, Congressional members were told that if the bailout was not authorized by Congress the collapse would be so severe that martial law may have to be declared – basically, tanks in the streets. The following short video is Brad Sherman discussing the situation on the House floor:
This morning, in an unspeakable tragedy, a number of Americans were shot in Tucson, Arizona, at a constituent meeting with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. And while we are continuing to receive information, we know that some have passed away, and that Representative Giffords is gravely wounded.
We do not yet have all the answers. What we do know is that such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society. I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle in keeping Representative Giffords, the victims of this tragedy, and their families in our prayers.
The thing that the government would most like you to forget…~jude #justsaying
The NY labor department warned on Friday that 200,000 unemployed New York state residents will have their unemployment benefits cut off by the end of the year if Congress fails to continue the extensions that are currently in place.
“These are the facts: Without federal legislation to extend Unemployment Insurance benefits past November 28, some 200,000 New Yorkers will prematurely exhaust their extended UI benefits by the end of the year,” the department said in a statement.
Unemployment insurance extension programs currently total 93 weeks in New York State. They are set to expire on November 28th, 2010. If Congress does not act before then, those who have not yet reached the current maximum will be unable to move to the next “tier.”
“To our nation’s lawmakers: now is the time for decisive action on behalf of our nation’s unemployed. There is not a moment to lose,” State Labor Commissioner Colleen Gardner said. The labor department appears to be urging Congress to both continue the extensions that are currently in place, and to enact legislation adding an additional 20 weeks for those who have exhausted the current maximum.
Let’s face it: Most Americans don’t have much use for either of the major political parties and think it would be better to dump the entire Congress on Election Day.
A new Rasmussen Reportsnational telephone survey finds that 65% of Likely U.S. Voters say if they had the option next week, they would vote to get rid of the entire Congress and start all over again. Only 20% would opt to keep the entire Congress instead. Fifteen percent (15%) aren’t sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Of course, the Political Class strongly disagrees. While 84% of Mainstream voters would opt to get rid of the entire Congress, 64% of the Political Class would vote instead to keep them all.
Not surprisingly, 82% of Republicans and 78% of unaffiliateds say dump them all. Despite their party’s control of both the House and Senate, Democratic voters are fairly evenly divided: 44% say it’s better to keep the entire Congress, but 38% would prefer to give all the national legislators the heave-ho.
Let me get this straight.We’re going to be “gifted” with a health care plan we are forced to purchaseand finedif we don’t, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it,passedby a Congress that hasn’t read it butexemptsthemselves from it, signed by a president who alsosmokes,withfundingadministered by a treasury chief whodidn’t pay his taxes, to be overseen by a surgeon general who isobese, andfinancedby a country that’sbroke. [can't be politically correct about everything...me thinks smoking and alcohol has something to do with his largess...]
‘We the people” are the familiar opening words of the Constitution of the United States — the framework for a self-governing people, free from the arbitrary edicts of rulers. It was the blueprint for America, and the success of America made that blueprint something that other nations sought to follow.
At the time when it was written, however, the Constitution was a radical departure from the autocratic governments of the 18th century. Since it was something so new and different, the reasons for the Constitution’s provisions were spelled out in the Federalist, a collection of essays written by three of the writers of the Constitution, as a sort of instruction guide to a new product.
The Constitution was not only a challenge to the despotic governments of its time, but has been a continuing challenge — to this day — to all those who think that ordinary people should be ruled by their betters, whether an elite of blood, or of books, or of whatever else gives people a puffed-up sense of importance.
1.) The law expands entitlement spending by over $1 TRILLION in order to “cover” $30 Million more people. What will that do to State Budgets? We only need to look at history to find out. Cases in point?
2.) It adds $500 Billion in new tax increases at a time in our nation’s history when a RECORD number of American’s pay NO INCOME TAXES! And if you believe the lie told by President Obama that your taxes will NOT increase if you make less than $200,000 as an Individual or $250,000 as a Married couple, you need to know the TRUTH!
Speaking of NEW taxes, if you are a Small Business owner. Here’s what’s coming for you thanks to Obamacare:
For those who want to know why hardly anybody in the financial industry has been called to account (or fired or locked up) for the role they played in bringing about the worst financial crisis this century, or why the meltdown we experienced in 2007-2008 hasn’t spawned the kinds of reforms that past crises have, look no further than the following Washington Post article, “Report: More than 1,400 Former Lawmakers, Hill Staffers Are Financial Lobbyists”:
Even for Washington, the revolving door between government and Wall Street spins at a dizzying pace.
More than 1,400 former members of Congress, Capitol Hill staffers or federal employees registered as lobbyists on behalf of the financial services sector since the start of 2009, according to an exhaustive new study issued Thursday.
The analysis by two nonpartisan groups, Public Citizen and the Center for Responsive Politics, found that the “small army” of financial lobbyists included at least 73 former lawmakers and 148 former congressional staffers connected to the House or Senate banking committees. More than 40 former Treasury Departmentemployees also ply their trade as lobbyists for Wall Street firms, the study found.
Some of the biggest names highlighted in the study include former Senate majority leaders Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.); former House majority leaders Richard K. Armey (R-Texas) and Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.); and former House speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Ex-Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) has the largest number of financial-services clients of any former lawmaker, representing 13 companies and groups, including Deloitte, Ernst & Young and the Real Estate Roundtable, the report shows.
The revolving door is evident in almost every major issue that comes before Congress, from regulation of the coal industry to the auto industry to the health-care sector.
But the sheer scale of the overlap within the financial sector is remarkable: For every sitting member of Congress, the new study shows, there are three former colleagues or government staffers lobbying on behalf of the banks.
United States Congressional Record, March 17, 1933 Vol. 33, page H-1303 THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!!
Speaker-Rep. James Traficant, Jr. (Ohio) addressing the House:
“Mr. Speaker, we are here now in chapter 11.. Members of Congress are
official trustees presiding over the greatest reorganization of any Bankrupt
entity in world history, the U.S. Government. We are setting forth
hopefully, a blueprint for our future. There are some who say it is a
coroner’s report that will lead to our demise.
It is an established fact that the United States Federal Government has
been dissolved by the Emergency Banking Act, March 9, 1933, 48 Stat. 1,
Public Law 89-719; declared by President Roosevelt, being bankrupt and
insolvent. H.J.R. 192, 73rd Congress m session June 5, 1933 – Joint
Resolution To Suspend The Gold Standard and Abrogate The Gold Clause
dissolved the Sovereign Authority of the United States and the official
capacities of all United States Governmental Offices, Officers, and
Departments and is further evidence that the United States Federal
Government exists today in name only.
The receivers of the United States Bankruptcy are the International
Bankers, via the United Nations, the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund. All United States Offices, Officials, and Departments are now
operating within a de facto status in name only under Emergency War Powers.
With the Constitutional Republican form of Government now dissolved, the
receivers of the Bankruptcy have adopted a new form of government for the
United States. This new form of government is known as a Democracy, being an
established Socialist/Communist order under a new governor for America. This
act was instituted and established by transferring and/or placing the Office
of the Secretary of Treasury to that of the Governor of the International
Monetary Fund. Public Law 94-564, page 8, Section H.R. 13955 reads in part:
“The U.S. Secretary of Treasury receives no compensation for representing
the United States.”
