Swept into office two years ago with the overwhelming approval and unbridled hope of the American people along with a solidly Democratic congress, Barack Obama was given an opportunity few presidents have ever enjoyed. Now, two years later, how did Obama
manage to squander that opportunity and what can he do about it now?
Having inherited the worst financial calamity since the Great Depression and knowing next to nothing about economics, he surrounded himself with the very people who helped to create the crisis in the first place. Their advice was designed to help their buddies on Wall Street. Obama passively signed on.
A psychotherapist could have a field day with Barack Obama. But even to the layman
certain clues are self evident. Obama is without doubt intelligent, articulate, charming, polished, poised, smooth, professorial, cerebral, cool etc. Above all else his modus operandi is to bring people together. In fact, one could go so far as to see Obama thinking of himself as a sort of Jesus, always naively stating his willingness to turn the other cheek. In that respect he becomes more of a religious leader than a political leader. As such he lacks the desire for a good old fashioned fight with a Republican party whose only agenda, in the words of that idiot, Mitch McConnell, is to bring him down. To see Obama still offering an olive branch to those people in his speech following the devastating elections of November 2nd is to see a weak, seemingly lost president, who has apparently learned nothing from the never-ending barrage of upper cuts to the chin his bipartisan efforts have suffered during the past 22 months.
The people did not vote in the Republicans over the Democrats in order to cut the deficit. Boobus Americanus does not really care about deficits. To them the word is an abstraction. What they want is jobs.
Obama's only chance to avoid a failed presidency is to come right out of the gate immediately with a proactive jobs bill that addresses the country's stone age superstructure. This kind of legislation is how real jobs are created and how money is put squarely into the pockets of the American people instead of Wall Street. Then let the "party of no" say no to jobs and watch as they twist in the wind until 2012.
Finally, seizing the agenda right now must also include a thorough house cleaning. It is time to get rid of the old Cabinet and all of the other advisors, whose allegiance is to the "banksters" and the military establishment, and replace them with individuals who embrace the extremist idea of representing the American people. Obama has to stop preaching and instead put on the boxing gloves and bring the fight to his enemy. Unfortunately, Las Vegas odds makers place that eventuality near zero. Barack Obama is what he is: a teacher and not a strong leader who demonstrates decisive action even if that action must be adversarial in nature.
November 7, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
THE GREATEST FINANCIAL FRAUD IN HISTORY?
The mainstream press is not talking about an unbelievable foreclosure fraud crisis that could affect 60 million properties in the United States. The big banks have lost the documents for 60 million mortgages. That's right, you read what I wrote correctly. They have lost track of promissory notes signed by the homeowners. Apparently, after physical paperwork was filled out and signed by the borrowers, the banks electronically filed the paperwork into a computerized system called the “Mortgage Electronic Registry System” (MERS). The banks lost track of the original paperwork, the note signed by the borrowers. In other words, these are the documents that actually prove the bank owns the properties. This means that in almost all of the states they lack the legal right to foreclose. So they have simply created a system where servicers hire foreclosure mill law firms whose business is to forge documents showing or purporting to show they have a legal right to foreclose.
Try to come to grips with the enormity of the problem the banks face.
There are 60 million homes which banks loaned money on, and now they might not be able to legally get the properties back if the homeowners default. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Remember, the banks bundled these mortgages into trillions of dollars worth of securities otherwise known as over-the-counter derivatives. The bottom line is that there are now trillions of dollars in mortgage backed securities that could have NO backing!
This leaves a number of vital questions? Would you like to be the pension fund manager who bought that security? Do you think this just might cause an accounting problem for the banks? Do you think this could push some of the big banks into bankruptcy? Will there be another financial meltdown and government rescue?
While this "problem" could cause what might be the worst economic meltdown in history, it probably won't because the truth will be covered up. The banks are halting all foreclosures as they conduct a so-called "document review." I would call it by a different name. How about fraud, forgery and theft by deception. The Press won't be able to hide the crisis much longer, as two large class-action suits are pending.
October 7, 2010
Try to come to grips with the enormity of the problem the banks face.
There are 60 million homes which banks loaned money on, and now they might not be able to legally get the properties back if the homeowners default. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Remember, the banks bundled these mortgages into trillions of dollars worth of securities otherwise known as over-the-counter derivatives. The bottom line is that there are now trillions of dollars in mortgage backed securities that could have NO backing!
This leaves a number of vital questions? Would you like to be the pension fund manager who bought that security? Do you think this just might cause an accounting problem for the banks? Do you think this could push some of the big banks into bankruptcy? Will there be another financial meltdown and government rescue?
While this "problem" could cause what might be the worst economic meltdown in history, it probably won't because the truth will be covered up. The banks are halting all foreclosures as they conduct a so-called "document review." I would call it by a different name. How about fraud, forgery and theft by deception. The Press won't be able to hide the crisis much longer, as two large class-action suits are pending.
October 7, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
THE CURRENCY CRISIS BEGINS
Here in the Berkshires we're at least partially shielded from the financial desperation that people feel in other parts of the country. For example, Walmart's CEO just confirmed that
crowds of individuals, no longer employed and existing (as opposed to living) week to week, overwhelm Walmart stores throughout the country as midnight approaches in order to buy what they absolutely must have i.e. groceries, baby formula etc. The magic hour of midnight is when their "assistance cards" turn over and allow them to purchase the necessities of life for another week. The lines at Walmart's check out counters are the "bread lines" of what can only be called the Second Great Depression.
Suddenly, the endgame is becoming more transparent. With countries purposely weakening their currencies and threatening (legislation pending) to institute import duties, the always inevitable currency crisis appears to be underway. By attempting to gain export advantage while being able to repay their debts with cheaper currencies, the race to the bottom in fiat money is accelerating.
Just the hint that the Federal Reserve may shortly begin another round of quantitative easing (which is spinmanship for money printing), has sent wheat, corn, soybeans, coffee, sugar and cotton prices through the roof in the last few weeks. Soon those in the 2010 bread lines, along with the rest of us, will be paying a lot more for food and clothing while wages, if you're lucky enough to have any, remain flat. Can the cost of energy be far behind?
As the ongoing debasement of the U.S. dollar by our government and the Federal Reserve, a private consortium of bankers, gains speed, Americans, always the last to figure these things out, will finally notice that their dollars buy less and less. They will lose confidence in their currency. When that happens, the game will be over. Social unrest are polite words for what may follow.
This is serious stuff, folks. Look up from your reality shows and video games. Instead, focus on the barometer of economic chaos. Gold tells you all you have to know. The rest is up to you.
September 26, 2010
crowds of individuals, no longer employed and existing (as opposed to living) week to week, overwhelm Walmart stores throughout the country as midnight approaches in order to buy what they absolutely must have i.e. groceries, baby formula etc. The magic hour of midnight is when their "assistance cards" turn over and allow them to purchase the necessities of life for another week. The lines at Walmart's check out counters are the "bread lines" of what can only be called the Second Great Depression.
Suddenly, the endgame is becoming more transparent. With countries purposely weakening their currencies and threatening (legislation pending) to institute import duties, the always inevitable currency crisis appears to be underway. By attempting to gain export advantage while being able to repay their debts with cheaper currencies, the race to the bottom in fiat money is accelerating.
Just the hint that the Federal Reserve may shortly begin another round of quantitative easing (which is spinmanship for money printing), has sent wheat, corn, soybeans, coffee, sugar and cotton prices through the roof in the last few weeks. Soon those in the 2010 bread lines, along with the rest of us, will be paying a lot more for food and clothing while wages, if you're lucky enough to have any, remain flat. Can the cost of energy be far behind?
As the ongoing debasement of the U.S. dollar by our government and the Federal Reserve, a private consortium of bankers, gains speed, Americans, always the last to figure these things out, will finally notice that their dollars buy less and less. They will lose confidence in their currency. When that happens, the game will be over. Social unrest are polite words for what may follow.
This is serious stuff, folks. Look up from your reality shows and video games. Instead, focus on the barometer of economic chaos. Gold tells you all you have to know. The rest is up to you.
September 26, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
INFLATE OR DIE
Observing the economy over the last three years is like watching a slow motion train wreck. But to this writer the country is fast approaching an inflection point. The Federal Reserve, now more powerful than ever, is nonetheless being squeezed ever tighter between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Frightened to the point of psychosis at the prospect of deflation, yet worried to the core by the consequences of inflation, the Fed, propaganda aside, really doesn't know what to do.
Deflation and gold are the twin enemies of the Federal Reserve. The "D" word is unthinkable, as it brings back horrendous memories of the Great Depression. Gold, because it is real money, has been going up for ten straight years. That means the Federal Reserve's money and that of all the world's central banks have been going down. After all, they're just pieces of colored paper backed by absolutely nothing. So what's Gentle Ben (Bernanke) to do?
With the country and most of the states basically bankrupt, the nation turns to its politicians for wisdom. What they get is a Right Wing whose rhetoric has become so over-the-top that it approaches outright insanity. On the other side of the aisle is a president who still thinks he can do business with Republicans and has no stomach for a good old fashioned fight. He remains passionless, professorial, cerebral, above the fray. Yet, somehow, the American people still believe what the corporations and the government tell them. And they do as they're told. Other than the Tea Party lunatics, most everyone else remains firmly glued to their couches.
Finally, when the you know what hits the fan, both the Federal Reserve and the politicians will go the way they've always gone: print money and lots of it. So, if you had to place a bet, it would be inflate or die.
August 5, 2010
Deflation and gold are the twin enemies of the Federal Reserve. The "D" word is unthinkable, as it brings back horrendous memories of the Great Depression. Gold, because it is real money, has been going up for ten straight years. That means the Federal Reserve's money and that of all the world's central banks have been going down. After all, they're just pieces of colored paper backed by absolutely nothing. So what's Gentle Ben (Bernanke) to do?
With the country and most of the states basically bankrupt, the nation turns to its politicians for wisdom. What they get is a Right Wing whose rhetoric has become so over-the-top that it approaches outright insanity. On the other side of the aisle is a president who still thinks he can do business with Republicans and has no stomach for a good old fashioned fight. He remains passionless, professorial, cerebral, above the fray. Yet, somehow, the American people still believe what the corporations and the government tell them. And they do as they're told. Other than the Tea Party lunatics, most everyone else remains firmly glued to their couches.
Finally, when the you know what hits the fan, both the Federal Reserve and the politicians will go the way they've always gone: print money and lots of it. So, if you had to place a bet, it would be inflate or die.
August 5, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
WHERE HAVE ALL THE TROPHY DEER GONE IN MAINE?
To the Editor:
Has it occurred to anyone that the reason there are no more trophy deer in the state of Maine is because you've shot them all? As usual, the blame is placed squarely on the predators i.e. the hated coyote when the predator-in-chief is Boobus Americanus a.k.a. demented hunters.
Throughout the history of mankind, hunting was the means to obtain food to get families through the long cold winter. Pursued in this manner, hunting culled the weakest individuals amongst the deer just as the coyote has always done. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand Darwin. Survival of the fittest has always worked if only left alone to do so. But then enter the trophy hunter. Going against nature he/she culls the herd by shooting the fittest and letting the weaker specimens reproduce. So, if you're trying to figure out what happened to all those trophy deer, just look on your wall.
CHARLES STEINHACKER
P.S. Don't tell anyone, but there are a few magnificent specimens left. BUT THEY ARE ARMED WITH SHOTGUNS, RIFLES AND AK-47s. They are waiting in ambush to turn the tables on the mentally-challenged trophy hunters. And these deer have access to the very best taxidermists in the state.
July 22, 2010
Has it occurred to anyone that the reason there are no more trophy deer in the state of Maine is because you've shot them all? As usual, the blame is placed squarely on the predators i.e. the hated coyote when the predator-in-chief is Boobus Americanus a.k.a. demented hunters.
Throughout the history of mankind, hunting was the means to obtain food to get families through the long cold winter. Pursued in this manner, hunting culled the weakest individuals amongst the deer just as the coyote has always done. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand Darwin. Survival of the fittest has always worked if only left alone to do so. But then enter the trophy hunter. Going against nature he/she culls the herd by shooting the fittest and letting the weaker specimens reproduce. So, if you're trying to figure out what happened to all those trophy deer, just look on your wall.
CHARLES STEINHACKER
P.S. Don't tell anyone, but there are a few magnificent specimens left. BUT THEY ARE ARMED WITH SHOTGUNS, RIFLES AND AK-47s. They are waiting in ambush to turn the tables on the mentally-challenged trophy hunters. And these deer have access to the very best taxidermists in the state.
July 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
AMERICA'S FUNDAMENTAL EQUATION
What is the essential equation that every American citizen should memorize? It is the collusion between Big Business and Big Government. So long as this conspiracy is allowed to flourish, the ongoing bear market in America will continue to accelerate.
For example, anyone with a functioning brain cell knows that to have meaningful health care reform, there must be a public option in order to create competition. That we were even debating this issue made it crystal clear that the Administration and Congress were putting the desires of the health insurance companies ahead of the people they were supposed to represent.
When Wall Street went nuts and tried to emulate Las Vegas, the casino they created was protected by government regulators and rating agencies until the whole thing came crashing down on the perpetrators themselves. When they cried out that no one saw this coming, the fact is that here, once again, anyone with common sense knew how it was going to end. Having practically taken down the global financial system with their self-serving greed, they were rewarded with trillions of taxpayer dollars, all courtesy of their many friends in government. Now they're back in the saddle, so don't even entertain the thought that Congress will legislate any meaningful regulations that might materially change the game. By the time an embarrassment in the form of a bill reaches Obama's desk for signing, he will gladly put pen to paper in order to say he did something as opposed to nothing when we all know it won't make a bit of difference just as it didn't in health care.
When we can even bear to look at the horrific tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico, we can't help but focus in on the same bed that was shared, sometimes literally, by Big Oil and the Minerals Management Service, a division of the Department of the Interior. When BP presented its partner, I mean regulator, with a generic plan for dealing with a possible oil spill in the Gulf that included how to save the walruses and seals, the MMS obviously never even read the copied document that originated back in Alaska's Exxon Valdez days some 21 years ago. And when the same governmental service, charged with regulating offshore oil exploration, helicoptered out to Gulf Horizon and to the other various deepwater rigs, instead of inspecting what they found out there, they just accepted the so-called inspections that were done by the companies themselves. Deregulation had morphed into self regulation. BP and its cohorts, the real Axis of Evil on the planet, could care less about the environmental and economic damage their lust for profits have ravaged on the world at large. Their tunnel vision is squarely on the bottom line. And it's all done with a little help from their friends up on the Hill and in the Administration. 1000 lobbyists for 535 members of the Senate and House of Representatives, and a President who surrounded himself with a corporate Cabinet, have let the American people down. Instead of the eloquent rhetoric of change we heard on the campaign trail back in 2008, we got, instead, a reinvigorated Establishment.
To change a system so entrenched and powerful usually requires an out and out revolution. But since our military is currently in the act of training an entire army division down on a huge Texas base to be used, if necessary, against American citizens who get out of hand on their own soil, perhaps I can suggest three less drastic ideas that might help to make the aforementioned "relationship" a little less cozy without the shedding of blood. I should warn you in advance that none of these suggestions will ever see the light of day.
1. Establish white collar crime as a felony. In China, when a trader screws things up, they take him out in back and shoot him. If these crooks on Wall Street knew that they would be prosecuted with the same vigor that is applied to a teenager with half a joint in his car, things might actually change. Wall Street's greed still wouldn't produce anything, but its self interest might take on a different perspective.
2. Campaign Reform. If we accomplished only one thing in this country, it would be to inspire American citizens to demand campaign reform. Every candidate for office will receive the same amount of public money. All private donations by individuals, corporations, unions, non profits and lobbyists will be prohibited, and yes, considered a felony. By utilizing only a fixed amount of public money for election campaigns, politicians, who always congratulate themselves for all their years of "public service," will actually be able to serve the public. Public financing of campaigns, along with the elimination of private donations, is the only way to cut off the relationship between the "suits" and the "politicos."
3. End "Buyer Beware." We live in a system where for some reason it is the responsibility of the buyer to make sure he isn't being taken to the cleaners. Sellers of products and services seem to feel that they have almost an inalienable right to profits. I reread the Constitution the other day just to make sure I hadn't missed anything. And then I perused the Bill of Rights. No mention of this buyer beware philosophy in either document. To my way of thinking, a profit is a bonus available to the sellers only if they can provide their employees with safe working conditions and some degree of health and pension benefits, produce products that are safe for consumers and do so without harming the air, water or land, advertise said products or services without lying to the public, and, finally, pay their full share of taxes like the rest of us. If they can do all this in the manner just described, then they are eligible for a profit. We've tried it their way. It hasn't worked. Time for a little "Seller Beware."
In any case, do not forget for a moment what the basic equation is. Corporate America makes the rules, and our politicians are on their team, not ours. As long as this conspiracy lasts, America is on a slippery slope. Any other ideas, anyone? Anyone? Anyone?
June 21, 2010
For example, anyone with a functioning brain cell knows that to have meaningful health care reform, there must be a public option in order to create competition. That we were even debating this issue made it crystal clear that the Administration and Congress were putting the desires of the health insurance companies ahead of the people they were supposed to represent.
When Wall Street went nuts and tried to emulate Las Vegas, the casino they created was protected by government regulators and rating agencies until the whole thing came crashing down on the perpetrators themselves. When they cried out that no one saw this coming, the fact is that here, once again, anyone with common sense knew how it was going to end. Having practically taken down the global financial system with their self-serving greed, they were rewarded with trillions of taxpayer dollars, all courtesy of their many friends in government. Now they're back in the saddle, so don't even entertain the thought that Congress will legislate any meaningful regulations that might materially change the game. By the time an embarrassment in the form of a bill reaches Obama's desk for signing, he will gladly put pen to paper in order to say he did something as opposed to nothing when we all know it won't make a bit of difference just as it didn't in health care.
When we can even bear to look at the horrific tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico, we can't help but focus in on the same bed that was shared, sometimes literally, by Big Oil and the Minerals Management Service, a division of the Department of the Interior. When BP presented its partner, I mean regulator, with a generic plan for dealing with a possible oil spill in the Gulf that included how to save the walruses and seals, the MMS obviously never even read the copied document that originated back in Alaska's Exxon Valdez days some 21 years ago. And when the same governmental service, charged with regulating offshore oil exploration, helicoptered out to Gulf Horizon and to the other various deepwater rigs, instead of inspecting what they found out there, they just accepted the so-called inspections that were done by the companies themselves. Deregulation had morphed into self regulation. BP and its cohorts, the real Axis of Evil on the planet, could care less about the environmental and economic damage their lust for profits have ravaged on the world at large. Their tunnel vision is squarely on the bottom line. And it's all done with a little help from their friends up on the Hill and in the Administration. 1000 lobbyists for 535 members of the Senate and House of Representatives, and a President who surrounded himself with a corporate Cabinet, have let the American people down. Instead of the eloquent rhetoric of change we heard on the campaign trail back in 2008, we got, instead, a reinvigorated Establishment.
To change a system so entrenched and powerful usually requires an out and out revolution. But since our military is currently in the act of training an entire army division down on a huge Texas base to be used, if necessary, against American citizens who get out of hand on their own soil, perhaps I can suggest three less drastic ideas that might help to make the aforementioned "relationship" a little less cozy without the shedding of blood. I should warn you in advance that none of these suggestions will ever see the light of day.
1. Establish white collar crime as a felony. In China, when a trader screws things up, they take him out in back and shoot him. If these crooks on Wall Street knew that they would be prosecuted with the same vigor that is applied to a teenager with half a joint in his car, things might actually change. Wall Street's greed still wouldn't produce anything, but its self interest might take on a different perspective.
2. Campaign Reform. If we accomplished only one thing in this country, it would be to inspire American citizens to demand campaign reform. Every candidate for office will receive the same amount of public money. All private donations by individuals, corporations, unions, non profits and lobbyists will be prohibited, and yes, considered a felony. By utilizing only a fixed amount of public money for election campaigns, politicians, who always congratulate themselves for all their years of "public service," will actually be able to serve the public. Public financing of campaigns, along with the elimination of private donations, is the only way to cut off the relationship between the "suits" and the "politicos."
3. End "Buyer Beware." We live in a system where for some reason it is the responsibility of the buyer to make sure he isn't being taken to the cleaners. Sellers of products and services seem to feel that they have almost an inalienable right to profits. I reread the Constitution the other day just to make sure I hadn't missed anything. And then I perused the Bill of Rights. No mention of this buyer beware philosophy in either document. To my way of thinking, a profit is a bonus available to the sellers only if they can provide their employees with safe working conditions and some degree of health and pension benefits, produce products that are safe for consumers and do so without harming the air, water or land, advertise said products or services without lying to the public, and, finally, pay their full share of taxes like the rest of us. If they can do all this in the manner just described, then they are eligible for a profit. We've tried it their way. It hasn't worked. Time for a little "Seller Beware."
In any case, do not forget for a moment what the basic equation is. Corporate America makes the rules, and our politicians are on their team, not ours. As long as this conspiracy lasts, America is on a slippery slope. Any other ideas, anyone? Anyone? Anyone?
June 21, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
WALL STREET BACK ON THE ATTACK
The hedge funds and the proprietary traders of the banks too big to fail smell big money once again. They are back on the attack. Instead of the debt of mere companies, this time it is the debt of the countries themselves that they are going after.
This was made possible by government and central bank bailouts of private debt. Now that the debt has gone public, the countries have become ground zero for the bloodthirsty money shufflers from Wall Street.
The important thing to understand is that we're dealing with criminals vs. fools. And the criminals can put on the shorts faster than the fools can print money. Wall Street will pick off country by country, paper currency by paper currency.
This strategy has provided the pathetic U.S. dollar with a reprieve. In reality, it is an opportunity to get out of U.S. dollar investments while you still can. The debt dilemma of the United States is so drastic that it is merely a matter of when and not if. When the bad guys are through with Europe, Great Britain and Japan, they will come after the reserve currency of the world. When that happens, confidence will be lost in all paper currencies, and the financial system as we know it will cease to exist.
May 30, 2010
This was made possible by government and central bank bailouts of private debt. Now that the debt has gone public, the countries have become ground zero for the bloodthirsty money shufflers from Wall Street.
The important thing to understand is that we're dealing with criminals vs. fools. And the criminals can put on the shorts faster than the fools can print money. Wall Street will pick off country by country, paper currency by paper currency.
This strategy has provided the pathetic U.S. dollar with a reprieve. In reality, it is an opportunity to get out of U.S. dollar investments while you still can. The debt dilemma of the United States is so drastic that it is merely a matter of when and not if. When the bad guys are through with Europe, Great Britain and Japan, they will come after the reserve currency of the world. When that happens, confidence will be lost in all paper currencies, and the financial system as we know it will cease to exist.
May 30, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)