Life the Universe and ....: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

America the Tarnished

These days America is looking like the Bernie Madoff of economies: for many years it was held in respect, even awe, but it turns out to have been a fraud all along.

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Barney Frank Writes A Bill to let Government Set Your Salary

The House Financial Services Committee, led by Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies.

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Legislation Would Curtail Warrantless Information Demands

The legislation would "restore vital Constitutional protections that were stripped away when Congress rushed the Patriot Act into law" following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., Representative Ron Paul, a Texas Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.

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Ron Paul on Fox Business 03/31/09

Ron Paul is not surprised at GM firing...

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Fannie & Freddie to steal banks crutches?

With mortgage rates at historic lows, housing prices plummeting and Washington throwing billions at housing-market recovery efforts, why is it still so damn hard to get a loan?And while the easy answer is that banks are flat-out broke, the real answer may lie in an esoteric corner of mortgage finance that's all but disappeared: warehouse lending

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Russia, China cooperate on new currency proposals

Russia and China are coordinating proposals on a new global currency that could replace the US dollar as a reserve currency to prevent a repeat of the global economic crisis, the Kremlin said on Monday.

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Gov't OCC Data: Gov't Aided Massive Fraud ala Bernie Madoff?

THE STING -Theodore Butler: Stunning new evidence of manipulation in Silver & Gold has just been published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. The OCC, established in 1863, charters, regulates & supervises all national banks. Their new data proves the manipulation in unambiguous terms...

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AIG's "Powerful" Financial Products Group

Check out this funny depiction of AIG business practices. “All of our structured investments adhere to a thorough and disciplined approach to security selection…”–AIG website

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Auto Fears Grip Wall Street; Dow Falls 300

Fears about the future of the U.S. auto industry and more concerns about banks blanketed Wall Street on Monday as the Dow plunged 300 points, giving back a chunk of last week's huge gains

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Jerk Store, Texas Gov. Perry Screws Unemployed, Small Biz.

Yep, another Republican Governor would rather play partisan politics than help the folks of his state. The funny thing is, he is hurting small business in the process!

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Obama's bluffing on GM and Chrysler

The US car companies still have an ace in the hole. The Administration cannot take Chrysler and GM into bankruptcy without the probability that it will severely undermine stimulus plans meant to save or create 3.5 million jobs over the next year-and-a-half to two years.

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Chris Dodd REFUSES to give AIG cash back

The Washington Times reports that Sen. Chris Dodd collected more than $160,000 from American International Group employees and their spouses after a top executive urged employees to give.

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GM's Ousted CEO Eligible for $20Million Retirement Package.

General Motors' outgoing chief executive Rick Wagoner is eligible to receive more than $20 million in his retirement package, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission......

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Kent Kresa announced as interim chairman of GM

Kent Kresa, GM board member and a former chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman Corp., was named interim chairman GM after Rick Wagoner was forced out as part of the Obama administration's sweeping last-ditch effort to save the century-old auto giant.

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U.S. Lays Down Terms for Auto Bailout

The White House on Sunday pushed out the chairman of General Motors and instructed Chrysler to form a partnership with the Italian automaker Fiat within 30 days as conditions for receiving another much-needed round of government aid.

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Community Banks Are Fed Up — Awakening a Sleeping Giant

Article from the President of the Independent Community Banks of America - Why are thousands of Main Street community banks being crippled by a handful of Wall Street firms? Doesn’t our government “get it”? Do public officials get that they are punishing the only financial institutions that can pull them out of this hole?

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Russia backs return to Gold Standard to solve financial cris

Russia has become the first major country to call for a partial restoration of the Gold Standard to uphold discipline in the world financial system.

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Auto bailout demands 'tech leadership' from GM

Following a review of the ailing U.S. automakers, the Obama administration has ousted General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner and has withheld more loans to Chrysler, according to reports.

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Ron Paul draws students to Liberty Campaign event

“Liberty is alive and free this weekend,” said Missouri state Rep. Jim Guest as hundreds packed into the Mississippi Ballroom at the Millennium Hotel in downtown St. Louis Friday to get a glimpse of Congressman Ron Paul.

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Chrysler forced into alliance with Fiat by the US Government

Chrysler, owned by private equity Cerberus Capital Management, was deemed by the task force to be not viable as a stand-alone company and was given 30 days to complete an alliance with Fiat or be cut off from U.S. government funding. So how is this not socialism?

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Ron Paul's HR 1207 now has 46 Co-sponsers

f you too would like to see Ben Bernanke squirm and finally discover what the Fed has been up to behind the scenes, call and write your representative and ask that they support the “Federal Reserve Transparency Act H.R. 1207″.Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 or 1-877-851-6437

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For Liberty: The Ron Paul Revolution Documentary Trailer

Congressman Ron Paul's run for the 2008 GOP Presidential nomination sparked a unique grassroots brush fire not seen in recent history. Ron Paul's integrity inspired and ended the apathy of many, which showed a large remnant of a belief in American liberty lives on.

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Want to Destroy the U.S.A.? Then Let the Bailouts Continue

The financial bailout scheme released by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner this week is an unmitigated disaster, one which will bring down the Obama Administration—if not reversed. It is the financial equivalent of giving more crack to junkies, when what they really need is to be forced to go "cold turkey."

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GOP Says Obama Budget Threatens Future Prosperity - ABC News

The GOP senator who almost joined the Cabinet attacked President Barack Obama's grand spending plans, saying the U.S. must live within its means or risk its tradition of passing a more prosperous country from one generation to the next.

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Kucinich to probe $3.6 billion in bonuses at Merrill Lynch

Even as Merrill Lynch & Co. bled money and warily eyed a merger with Bank of America, company executives were preparing for a windfall. Following the federal government's promise of $10 billion in TARP funds to buoy the ailing firm, Merrill paid out $3.6 billion in bonuses: a package 22 times larger than compensation given by AIG.

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More economic issues

Workers say Obama treated autos worse than Wall St...GM: GOVERNMENT MOTORS... Obama Favors Bankruptcy for autos... 'Starting today, the United States government will stand behind your warrantee'... Video: Laid off workers brawl over lost jobs...Russia, China cooperate on new currency proposals... Russia backs return to Gold Standard...

It's a bird...It's a plane...No, it's Spitzer to the Rescue

By Mike Whitney

If Obama is serious about restoring confidence in the markets, he should replace current SEC chief Mary Schapiro with Eliot Spitzer. That would send a message to the world that the president is through messing around. Schapiro is another Wall Street toady who believes that the markets can regulate themselves. Continue

Noam Chomsky on the Economy and Democracy

Video & Transcript

Chomsky: Plan is recycled Bush/Paulson. We need nationalization and steps towards democratization. Continue

Obama’s Attack on the Middle Class

By Paul Craig Roberts

If the tax rate on a multi-million dollar annual income goes up by 5 percentage points, the cutbacks won’t really affect the lifestyle. Continue

The Absurdity of Spending US Tax Dollars on Israel

By PAUL J. BALLES

Paul J. Balles argues that if enough ordinary Americans “feel the pinch and connect the dots between their own financial losses and America’s continued unbridled support of Israel’s devastating war machine, Israel could be forced to make peace with the Palestinians”. Continue

Brown - Thinking Positively About Monetary Policy

GM CEO Gets $23M Estimated Pension

Peering Into The Abyss - Peter Schiff

Alarming News - Bank Losses Spreading

GM And Chrysler Failing To Recover

Farmers To Cut Back On US Planting

Russia Backs Return To Gold Standard

UK May Launch Criminal Probe Into RBS

Obama Calls On Banksters To Sacrifice On Pay

UK Bank, Finance Firms To Axe 30,000 Jobs

Greenspan - 'Equities Show Us Way To Recovery' (huh?)

Fresh Flight >From Risk Hits Global Equities

Shares Slide As Global Bull Run Fades

GM Needs More Radical Surgery Than GM Loss

Car Industry Fears Send Markets Into Reverse

GM CEO Resigns Under Obama's Pressure

The Anger Building As G20 Meets In London

Only United G20 Can Save World From Ruin

Hedge Funds Vow To Fight As G20 Gathers

35,000 Pack G20 March

Germans Wreck Global 'New Deal'

The Problem Is Not Bankers - It's Society

Tax Havens Batten Down - Hurricane Looms

Geithner - Regulation Of Hedge Funds, Derivatives

Global Currency Gains Ground

Recession Slays East European Tigers

UK Supermarket To Open Bank Branches

The Federal Reserve - Jewish Private Bankers

G20 Activists - Why We Are Protesting

Fears Cop Tactics Will Cause G20 Violence

G20 Protesters Expect Agent Provocateurs

G20 - Seven Hours To Save The World

Merkel Warns Against Further Stimulus

The Dance Of The Trillions

The Day The Dollar Falls - Vid

Liquidator Finds $2.6 Billion For Madoff Claimants

Cook - Credit As A Public Utility

Monday, March 30, 2009

Sources: GM has 2 months to restructure, Chrysler Has 1

The Obama administration plans to give General Motors Corp. enough government aid to restructure over the next 60 days, while Chrysler LLC will get up to $6 billion and 30 days to complete an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA.

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More economic issues

'Starting today, the United States government will stand behind your warrantee'... GM: GOVERNMENT MOTORSStocks Plummet... Developing...GET OUT! TODAY'S TARGET: DETROIT... White House questions viability of GM, CHRYSLER... Mich. gov. says Wagoner was 'sacrificial lamb'...

Auto bailout demands 'tech leadership' from GM

The Infamous Double Slit Experiment

Wall Street executives rationalizing their entitlements

"We made money. We deserve to be paid since it was the other function that failed." Sorry, fellow. That’s not the way capitalism works. Ask the guy who just lost his job installing seat belts in GM cars. He was really good at that, but since the sales guy failed, he’s out of a job. Being really good at what you do doesn’t matter if your firm is

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Obama's Fuel Economy Standards Worse Than Bush's: WTF?

Last week, President Barack Obama’s administration released its corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for 2011 model year vehicles, and surprisingly, they’re lower than those proposed by Bush in 2008. It leaves me wondering, “What the hell are they thinking in DC?”

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GM CEO Wagoner to step down immediately

A person with knowledge of General Motors' plans says Rick Wagoner will step down immediately as chairman and chief executive of the struggling Detroit automaker.

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The decade for global banks (graph interactive)

A decade ago, a list of the world’s largest financial institutions was dominated by banks from the US and UK. Today, just a handful of the top 20 have their headquarters in the US. HSBC, at heart an emerging markets bank, is Britain’s sole representative...

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Obama Demands GM Execs Resign

The Obama administration asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to step down and he agreed, a White House official said. The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government's behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason.

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More economic issues

GET OUT!HIT THE HIGHWAY: GM CEO Wagoner to step down... Developing... Stipulation for feds to lend billions more to GM? ...Automaker Awaits Bailout News
MERKEL STOPS THE 'GLOBAL NEW DEAL'...

SABOTAGE: Blow for Gordon Brown as his spending blueprint leaks... OBAMA WILL FACE DEFIANT WORLD ON FOREIGN VISIT... Stirs anxiety... G20 marches begin week of protests... Biden: 'Give us a chance'...Bank bailout fund down to $135B... Geithner Says Some Banks to Need 'Large Amounts' of Aid...

The Free Market, Financial Style

How the Scam Works

By MICHAEL HUDSON

Here’s the rip-off as I see it. For an outlay of $750,000, the bank rids its books of a mortgage worth $2 million, for which it receives $4,250,000. It gets twice as much as the junk is worth. Continue

Stocks Will Drop; Banks Will Go Belly Up - Roubini

By Charting Stocks

U.S. stocks will fall and the government will nationalize more banks as the economy contracts through the end of 2009, said Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted last year’s economic crisis. Continue

US Backing for World Currency Stuns Markets

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is "quite open" to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund. Continue

U.S. Vows To Sustain Dollar's Dominance

By Tomoeh Murakami Tse

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Wednesday that the United States would do whatever it takes to make sure the dollar would remain the world's dominant reserve currency, clarifying comments he had made earlier in the day that had caused the greenback to fall against major currencies. Continue

In Case You Missed It

Worst Case: The Day The Dollar Falls

Must Watch Video

This is a Dutch (Netherlands) documentary from 2005. It is about a 'Worst Case' scenario where speculation on the currency exchange market plus a substantial sell-off of dollars from a hedge fund cause a chain reaction in the market, the economy and the political system. Continue

Irish economy in sharp contraction: Ireland, the first eurozone country to fall into an official recession, has released more gloomy financial data, with official statistics revealing that its gross domestic product shrank by 7.5 per cent in the three months to December, compared with the fourth quarter of 2007.

UK recession: 'It's even worse than we thought,' says ONS: It is the worst performance since the second quarter of 1980 and confirms Britain is in the middle of a deep downturn following a contraction of 0.7% in the third quarter of last year and zero growth in the second.

Ford ready to get rid of Volvo at huge loss: Ford is believed to be preparing to take a knockdown price for Volvo to get the loss-making Swedish division off its hands.

SC unemployment reaches 11 percent for February: South Carolina's jobless rate surged to 11 percent in February, edging closer to the 14 percent peak a state advisory board expects as the recession throttles the state with the nation's second-highest unemployment rate.

Jobless Rate Exceeds 10% in Three More U.S. States: The number of U.S. states with a jobless rate exceeding 10 percent almost doubled in February as the worst employment slump in the postwar era spread.

US tent cities highlight new realities as recession wears on: Tent cities reminiscent of the "Hoovervilles" of the Great Depression have been springing up in cities across the United States - from Reno in Nevada to Tampa in Florida - as foreclosures and redundancies force middle-class families from their homes.

One Small Problem With Geithner's Plan:

It Will Bankrupt The Banks

By Henry Blodget

When a bank says an asset is worth 60 cents and the market says it's worth 30 cents, someone has to cover that spread. The genius of Geithner's plan is that it pawns most of the cost (and most of the risk) off on the taxpayer without the taxpayer noticing. Continue

Is the Bailout Plan Breeding a Greater Crisis?

By Paul Craig Roberts

The US finances its trade deficit by turning over to foreigners ownership of existing US assets and their future income streams, which, of course, increases the flow of income away from Americans. Continue

"We're All In This Together"

No we are not, that's the point.

By Cindy Sheehan

President Obama basically said that we can't demonize every investor who earns a profit, because "we are all in this together." Sorry, but I am going to have to call a big fat "bull-shit" on this one. Continue

Is the U.S.A. the World's Greatest Nation Now?

By Bob Kendall

According to the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Coalition, 3.5 million people in a given year will experience homelessness with 1.5 million of them children. The current national jobless figure stands at over 8 percent and is rising while there are 37 million Americans on food stamps. Continue

Harvard economist: Prohibition creates violence, legalize all drugs: Miron's proposed solution to ending the cartel war along the US-Mexico border is both simple and enormously complex.

E.U. President Calls U.S. Stimulus the ‘Way to Hell’: Transatlantic tension over the handling of the global economic crisis intensified Wednesday when the prime minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the European Union presidency, described the President Obama’s stimulus measures as the “way to hell.”

Should USA still be AAA?: Despite soaring budget deficits, investors are still buying U.S. Treasurys. Still, some critics say the government debt isn't nearly as safe as widely assumed.

GM CEO Resigns Under Obama's Pressure

The Anger Building As G20 Meets In London

Only United G20 Can Save World From Ruin

Hedge Funds Vow To Fight As G20 Gathers

35,000 Pack G20 March

Germans Wreck Global 'New Deal'

The Problem Is Not Bankers - It's Society

Tax Havens Batten Down - Hurricane Looms

Geithner - Regulation Of Hedge Funds, Derivatives

Global Currency Gains Ground

Recession Slays East European Tigers

UK Supermarket To Open Bank Branches

The Federal Reserve - Jewish Private Bankers

G20 Activists - Why We Are Protesting

Fears Cop Tactics Will Cause G20 Violence

G20 Protesters Expect Agent Provocateurs

G20 - Seven Hours To Save The World

Merkel Warns Against Further Stimulus

The Dance Of The Trillions

The Day The Dollar Falls - Vid

Liquidator Finds $2.6 Billion For Madoff Claimants

Cook - Credit As A Public Utility

Saturday, March 28, 2009

The Real Crime in the Bailout

The size of our national economy this year is roughly $15 trillion. The size of the Credit Default Swaps (CDS) market is $64 trillion. The whole world GDP is about $56 trillion. How could the CDS market be larger than the world GDP combined? That doesn't make any sense.

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Friday, March 27, 2009

More economic troubles.

Zeal for battle over bonuses waning in Washington...

PELOSI: Health-Care Bill in House Will Include Government-Run Option...Brazil president blames white people for economic crisis...Rep. to Geithner: Your Plan Is 'Radical'...

UN PANEL TOUTS NEW GLOBAL CURRENCY... Congresswoman introduces bill to ban...Roubini Says Stocks Will Drop, Government Will Nationalize More Banks...

Gregg: U.S. couldn't even join EU due to debt levels...

SOROS: 'I'M HAVING A VERY GOOD CRISIS'... Says 30% Drop in Commercial Real Estate Values 'Inevitable'...

One Small Problem With Geithner's Plan:

Russia seeks to weaken US, West: NATO general: - Russia seems intent on weakening Western institutions and its relations with NATO will likely be more strained in the coming years than at any time since the Cold War ended, NATO's top commander said on Tuesday.

UK: 60,000 civilian spies to get three-hour lesson in how to spot terrorists: The Home Office plans are likely to raise questions over the effectiveness of an army of amateur 'terrorist-watchers'.

Guantánamo: The Definitive Prisoner List : The following list is the culmination of a three-year project to record the stories of all the prisoners held at the US prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Harvard economist: Prohibition creates violence, legalize all drugs: Miron's proposed solution to ending the cartel war along the US-Mexico border is both simple and enormously complex.

Should USA still be AAA?: Despite soaring budget deficits, investors are still buying U.S. Treasurys. Still, some critics say the government debt isn't nearly as safe as widely assumed.

Roubini - Stocks Will Drop, Banks Go Belly Up

BoE Chief's First Shot In Wider War

Relief as new UK debt sale succeeds

Geithner Wants Power Over Hedge Funds, Derivatives

Geithner Power Grab Worries Editors

Dollar Dips On Geithner's Loose Talk

Ford To Dump Volvo At Huge Loss

New US Home Sales Spike In February

Daddy, What Exactly Is A Derivative?

US Backing For World Currency Stuns Markets

Russia Calls For Currency Reform

IMF Rescues Romania And Serbia

Chavez To Spearhead Regional Bank Launch

UN Urges $1 Trillion For Developing World

Chase Bank Turned Blind Eye To Madoff

Bjerknes - Obama And The Bankers - Vid

CDS 'Godfather' Says Blow 'Em All Up'

AIG Bonus Issue Deflates As Execs Return Pay

Brown Pushing Rothschild Vision Of Global Economy

US/UK Recovery Plans Are A 'Way To Hell'

Brown Put 'Millions Of Jobs At Risk'

The Trillion Dollar Question

Treasury Wants New Powers To Intervene

Barky Declares 'Progress' For US Economy

Goldman Sachs To Return $10B Bailout

Deflation? Not If You're Buying Food

Average Weekly Pay Falls 2.2%

Vandals Target Goodwin's House And Car

HSBC Axes 1,200 UK Jobs

First UK Bond Auction Fails Since 1995

Japanese Exports Down 50% From 2008

Freeze $1.5 Quadrillion Derivs As First Step To Recovery

National Service Bill Clears Senate Hurdle

IMF - Economic Crisis Will Engulf The World

China Calls For New Reserve Currency

China Considers Paper Gold Instead Of Dollar

Fears Of Record Hedge Fund Withdrawals

Savers Pull Money As Returns Deteriorate

Ellen Brown - Captured By The Debt Spider

Thursday, March 26, 2009

More economic issues

Geithner 'open' to China proposal on currency... Developing... White House economic adviser Goolsbee won't rule out... Dollar drops on Geithner's 'loose talk'...

Obama Plans to Name Task Force to Overhaul Tax Code; 'Rebalance'...EU leader condemns US 'road to hell'; Attack highlights growing rift... EU hustles to control damage after outburst...

Anti-capitalist group attacks home of British banking chief... Banks told to step up security after attack... AIG employees detail numerous, vile, outrageous death threats...

Mortgage fraud sting nets indictments...

**VIDEO** BRITISH PM SAVAGED AT EU MEET: 'YOU HAVE RUN OUT OF OUR MONEY!'... Bond Auction Falls Short...Postal chief says post office running out of money...

NYC transit agency adopts fare hikes, service cuts...BANK OF ENGLAND WARNS PRIME MINISTER: STOP THE SPENDING! We've run out of money, no more stimulus...

One Small Problem With Geithner's Plan:

Harvard economist: Prohibition creates violence, legalize all drugs: Miron's proposed solution to ending the cartel war along the US-Mexico border is both simple and enormously complex.

Should USA still be AAA?: Despite soaring budget deficits, investors are still buying U.S. Treasurys. Still, some critics say the government debt isn't nearly as safe as widely assumed.

Bjerknes - Obama And The Bankers - Vid

CDS 'Godfather' Says Blow 'Em All Up'

AIG Bonus Issue Deflates As Execs Return Pay

Brown Pushing Rothschild Vision Of Global Economy

US/UK Recovery Plans Are A 'Way To Hell'

Brown Put 'Millions Of Jobs At Risk'

The Trillion Dollar Question

Treasury Wants New Powers To Intervene

Barky Declares 'Progress' For US Economy

Goldman Sachs To Return $10B Bailout

Deflation? Not If You're Buying Food

Average Weekly Pay Falls 2.2%

Vandals Target Goodwin's House And Car

HSBC Axes 1,200 UK Jobs

First UK Bond Auction Fails Since 1995

Japanese Exports Down 50% From 2008

Freeze $1.5 Quadrillion Derivs As First Step To Recovery

National Service Bill Clears Senate Hurdle

IMF - Economic Crisis Will Engulf The World

China Calls For New Reserve Currency

China Considers Paper Gold Instead Of Dollar

Fears Of Record Hedge Fund Withdrawals

Savers Pull Money As Returns Deteriorate

Ellen Brown - Captured By The Debt Spider

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Ron Paul’s Bill To Audit The Fed Now Has 44 Co-Sponsors!

Ron Paul's bill to audit the Federal Reserve (HR 1207) now has 44 co-sponsors, and the numbers keep growing! Keep up the great work everyone!

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More economic issues

Geithner 'open' to China proposal on currency... Developing... White House economic adviser Goolsbee won't rule out... Dollar drops on Geithner comment... Foreign Exchange Markets Roiled...

Obama Plans to Name Task Force to Overhaul Tax Code; 'Rebalance'...

White House to Hunt for New Revenues... REBATE OFF TABLE? Dems in senate scrap... EU presidency: US economic plans 'a way to hell'...

Geithner's Bank Plan: Only a Partial Solution - TIME

Treasury Secretary Geithner's plan to help the banks offload toxic assets offers sweet financing, but doubts about a bank recovery remain

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UN Panel Says World Should Ditch Dollar

"A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar."

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House members grill Geithner, Bernanke on AIG bonuses

During a Tuesday hearing of the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner asked lawmakers to give him new regulatory powers to deal with the country's massive financial crisis. These powers would be similar to those of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

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U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers

Say hello to GOVERNMENT-CONTROLLED MEDIA! The U.S. is dead. Welcome to the U.S.S.A.

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U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers

By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax...

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More economic issues

TAX REBATE OFF TABLE? Dems in senate scrap...

Obama defends delay in response to AIG bonuses... Defends tax plan on charitable giving... 'Heartbroken' over homeless... Rejects China's call for new global currency... 'Super Currency' Call Shows Dollar Concern...Fed to Start Buying Treasuries in $300 Billion Plan to Cut Borrowing Costs... European Central Bank resists rush to print more money...BANK OF ENGLAND WARNS PRIME MINISTER: STOP THE SPENDING! We've run out of money, no more stimulus...

Officials seek new power over financial companies...

Geithner Plan Will Rob US Taxpayers

By Reuters

The U.S. government plan to rid banks of toxic assets will rob American taxpayers by exposing them to too much risk and is unlikely to work as long as the economy remains weak, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said on Tuesday. Continue

Geithner Update

Bend Over and Say, "Uncle Sam"

By Mike Whitney

Here's what everyone needs to know: The US government (you) will provide up to 94 percent of the financing (low interest, of course) for dodgy mortgage-backed assets that no one in their right mind would ever buy so that wealthy and politically-connected banksters can scrub up to $1 trillion of red ink from their balance sheets. Ugh! Continue

China to Keep Buying Treasuries, Top Official Says : China’s top foreign-exchange official said the nation will keep buying Treasuries and endorsed the dollar’s global role, supporting the U.S. as the Obama administration increases spending to revive growth

Geithner Asks Congress for Broad Power to Seize Firms: Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner today told Congress the administration will seek unprecedented power to seize non-bank financial companies whose collapse could jeopardize the economy, a move Geithner said would have allowed the government to bail out insurance giant American International Group at a far lower cost to taxpayers.

Freeze $1.5 Qaudrillion Derivs As First Step To Recovery

National Service Bill Clears Senate Hurdle

IMF - Economic Crisis Will Engulf The World

China Calls For New Reserve Currency

China Considers Paper Gold Instead Of Dollar

Fears Of Record Hedge Fund Withdrawals

Savers Pull Money As Returns Deteriorate

Markets Buoyed By Fed $1T Bank Bailout

Barky Bribes Investors To Buy $1T Toxic Debt

Obama, Geithner Gambling With US Reputation

9 AIG Top Bonus Earners To Repay In Full

Millions Face Pay Freeze - UK Into Deflation

Bailout Rewards Bank Corruption - Economist

China To Keep Buying US Treasuries

Geithner, Obama Bowing To 'Massively Corrupted' Banks

Geithner's Plan 'Extremely Dangerous' - Galbraith

Ellen Brown - Captured By The Debt Spider

Obamanomics - This Country Will Go Bankrupt

The Economy - Let It Die

MT Ponders Return To Gold, Silver Dollars

60 Minutes To Obama 'Are You Punch Drunk?'

China Proposes Global Monetary Overhaul

Chinese Stockpiling Spurs Copper Price Rally

Global Drought Won't End Until Banks Are Fixed

Daimler Saved By Middle Eastern Wealth Fund

Daily Mail Cuts 1,000 Jobs As Sales Dive

Barky Appeals To 'Good Guys' Of Wall St (huh?)

Zombie Tim's $1T Toxic Derivative State Bailout

Down The Memory Hole - Alan Greenspan Style

Cook - Barky's Program Increases Bondage To Wall St

Americans Enraged By New AIG Bonus Revelations

Obama Should Note Growing Anger In America

Geithner's Bank 'Rescue' Not Enough

London Braces For Mass G20 Protests

Hopes Fading For Salvation At G20

G20 Warned Rage Will Sweep Globe

RBS Traders (Traitors) Hid Toxic Debt

UK To Stay In Deflation At Least Until 2012

Thomas Jefferson's Warning

WTC Silverstein Wants MORE - 4.55B Is Not Enough!

WTC's Silverstein Wants Taxpayer Bailout!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The ABC's of an A.I.G. Failure

Economic Armageddon or just another pothole on the recession superhighway?

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Rep. Waters presses Geithner on connections to Goldman Sachs

Rep. Maxine Waters (DEM-CA) asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about his connections to Goldman Sachs at a House banking hearing Tuesday morning. Goldman Sachs is known to have received bailout money given to A.I.G. Goldman may have participated in the government decision to provide the original bailout money to A.I.G.

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Ron Paul questions Bernanke and Geithner 3/24

great video!

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Obama Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms

The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.

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Obama Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms

Plenty of Rahm at the AIG Table

[White House economics adviser Larry] Summers,” says a longtime Geithner colleague at the New York Fed. "You have Dodd, Geithner, Summers, but there were other, more senior political people involved in this mess, and their names aren't being mentioned. Why isn't anyone asking Rahm Emanuel, 'What meetings were you in?' 'What did you and the Presiden

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Plenty of Rahm at the AIG Table

More economic issues

FLASHBACK: Kremlin to Pitch New Currency... BEIJING TO PITCH NEW GLOBAL CURRENCY; DUMP DOLLAROBAMA TO THE RESCUE! PLAYS HIS $1 TRILLION CARD... S&P 500 Caps Biggest 10-Day Advance Since 1938... A lasting rescue rally?

Oil climbs above $54 on stock market rally...

IMF: Economic crisis dire, risk of unrest and war...

UPDATE: 15 of top 20 AIG execs have given back all bonus money...

China Urges New Money Reserve to Replace Dollar

By DAVID BARBOZA

In another indication that China is growing increasingly concerned about holding huge dollar reserves, the head of its central bank has called for the eventual creation of a new international currency reserve to replace the dollar. Continue

Judgment Day for Geithner

By Mike Whitney

Insolvent financial institutions have to be taken into receivership and liquidated. Shareholders and bondholders will have to take a haircut. And Geithner, Summers and the rest of the White House banking fraternity will have to resign or be fired. Obama should mull over Albert Einstein's sage advice when he said, "The problems we face today cannot be solved by the minds that created them." Continue

America Is in Need of a Moral Bailout

By Chris Hedges

In decaying societies, politics become theater. The elite, who have hollowed out the democratic system to serve the corporate state, rule through image and presentation. They express indignation at AIG bonuses and empathy with a working class they have spent the last few decades disenfranchising, and make promises to desperate families that they know will never be fulfilled. Continue

Five Reasons Why Americans Won't Resist

By Mickey Z.

With the stakes never higher than they are now, why aren't activists ramping up the pressure and looking beyond tactics that are allowed by those in power? Here are my five guesses: Continue

Obama Envoy Richard Holbrooke Served On AIG's Board: Obama administration special envoy Richard Holbooke was on the American International Group Inc. board of directors in early 2008 when the insurance company locked in the bonuses now stoking national outrage.

Gregg: 'This country will go bankrupt': Even though he was almost a member of the new Obama administration, New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg Sunday slammed President Obama’s approach to handling the country’s fiscal outlook.

China backs talks on dollar as reserve -Russian source: China and other emerging nations back Russia's call for a discussion on how to replace the dollar as the world's primary reserve currency, a senior Russian government source said on Thursday. Russia has proposed the creation of a new reserve currency, to be issued by international financial institutions, among other measures in the text of its proposals to the April G20 summit

How big a deal is the loss of the dollar's reserve status?: To answer this question, lets first calculate just how large are the dollar holdings of foreign governments. From the CIA’s world Factbook, below is a ranking of countries by reserves of foreign exchange.

Rescue Plan, With Some Fine Print, Dazzles Wall Street: This time President Obama directed some of the stagecraft. This time Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner fleshed out the substance of their long-anticipated program to remove banks’ toxic assets and revive the financial system. And this time the reaction was widely positive, giving the embattled Mr. Geithner a critically needed boost.

Geithner, Obama Kowtowing to "Massively Corrupted" Banks, Galbraith Says: Like it or not, many people seem to be resigned to the idea there's no alternative to the public-private investment fund scheme Treasury Secretary Geithner detailed this morning. That's hogwash, says University of Texas professor James Galbraith, author of The Predator State. Of course there's an alternative: FDIC receivership of insolvent banks.

Existing Home Sales Fall 4.6%: Home prices dropped 15% from the same period one year ago; Despite the price drop, sales fell 4.6%. How anyone can try to spin this as a positive is beyond my mathematical comprehension.

Real estate investors: ‘Tsunami’ still ahead: Unemployment will peak between 10 percent and 12 percent, according to professional real estate investors informally polled this week.

China To Keep Buying US Treasuries

Geithner, Obama Bowing To 'Massively Corrupted' Banks

Geithner's Plan 'Extremely Dangerous' - Galbraith

Ellen Brown - Captured By The Debt Spider

Obamanomics - This Country Will Go Bankrupt

The Economy - Let It Die

MT Ponders Return To Gold, Silver Dollars

60 Minutes To Obama 'Are You Punch Drunk?'

China Proposes Global Monetary Overhaul

Chinese Stockpiling Spurs Copper Price Rally

Global Drought Won't End Until Banks Are Fixed

Daimler Saved By Middle Eastern Wealth Fund