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Shame on You, Washington Politicians

My America is land of the free and home of the brave. But this is only in theory. The actual truth is that the bravest folk in our great nation are those who think, read, who are of the middle and lower classes have no insurance or jobs and tend to be in the military. Yes this is the back bone of our great nation and all of the rest seem to be holding on milking other for their ride.

Take for example our politicians. All I can say is “shame on you.” You cannot do the work of the people and tend to only do what is best for your wealthy associates regardless of party affiliation for the simple truth in policy, action, and money there is no distinction between any politicians in Washington. Last I heard Obama was just as bellicose as Dick Cheney and has dropped more bombs from drones than Donald Rumsfeld ever did.

What if any, additional evidence do we need to see that our political system is completely broken? These super committee fools couldn’t even come up with at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts over the next decade in a two month period. Meanwhile back at the ranch, the U.S. national debt has passed the $15 trillion dollar mark and we are facing trillion dollar deficits – can you say national financial disaster. Now we are going to have automatically triggered budget cuts of $1.2 trillion in starting in 2013. And we will have to wait and see because mathematically, we may not have even this many in cuts since they include almost $170 million in savings projected to occur as a function of reduced interest cost on our national debt.

Yep folks, shame on them, they are too weak, ductile and fleecy to roll up their sleeves and do some actual work. They are not brave enough to do what needs to be done and should be ashamed since our men and women fighting over seas in wars they did not ask for are the epitome of bravery.

But what can we expect, my America is a nation that gives a single mother more time in federal prison for lying on her food stamp application than anyone involved in the Wall Street mortgage fraud, sub-prime lending or complex paper schemes that help produce Americas and the worlds debt based conundrums. Last week, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate sentenced Anita McLemore, 47, the mother of two teenage children, to three years in prison. The mother of two pleaded guilty in July to one count of submitting a false claim to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Temporary Assistance and Food Stamps program.

Ms. McLemore, received $4,367 in benefits. This in comparison to six defendants in two related mortgage fraud cases involving fraudulent loans totaling about $5.8 million received sentences ranging from house arrest to 30 months in prison. In addition to the three-year sentence, Wingate fined McLemore $250 and placed her on supervised release for three years after serving her sentence.

These fools obviously do not get it, from Obama to the Congress, they do not have a clue; they cannot see that as a nation, there is a very good chance that we will suffer another major credit downgrade on U.S. debt. And if this happens, a large proportion of the financial transactions that occur worldwide would not be able to happen if that takes place. No one with the exception of Ron Paul (this is a must see video of Dr. Paul in 11/19/11). He would end the Federal Reserve and starts issuing debt-free money, and move to cut our budget deficits. All these folks on TV want to do is fix a broken system, without out acknowledging that it became broke in 1913, prior to the passage of the Federal Reserve Act, the national debt was only about $2.9 billion.

We are in the last days of the Euro and the Union possibly and we are no better as a nation. According to U.S. Representative Betty Sutton, America has lost an average of 15 manufacturing facilities a day over the last 10 years and last year alone, as a nation we lost an average of 23 manufacturing facilities a day . Data reported by the Economic Policy Institute, notes that our economy loses more than 9000 jobs for every $1 billion of goods that are imported from overseas.

And what do we have to show for it? A dysfunctional Supper Committee, a dysfunctional Congress and a dysfunction White House Administration. I am sorry but shame on all of you Washington, DC politicians. We are suffering, we see the problems, but you don’t and will not listen to us. But why should they? The average net worth for a member of Congress is now approximately 3.8 million dollars and more than 50 percent of the members of the U.S. Congress are millionaires.

Obama, Congress, Black Folk, the Debt Ceiling and Treasury Certificates

Let me preface this first by saying I am no economist, but I was blessed in the 10^th grade to learn economy from my teacher Dr. Moyer. He was my home room teacher also. Now I attempt to read anywhere from 20 to 30 newspapers around the world to stay somewhat informed on what is going on around me. The reason for so many is due to the fact I trust no single source and have a penchant to form my own conclusion. Although these include top shelf African American outlets including but not limited to Theroot.com, thegriot.com, and even one I write for, Rollinout, they seem to , if at all, write topically about the current debt and deficit debates in a sensational form that lacks a fundamental understanding of economics regardless if Keynesian or Austrian in orientation.

The last I read, the 14^th amendment made it unconstitutional for the United States to default on its debt. Not to mention a statutory limit was put in place in 1917 when congress passed the second liberty Bond act. But one would not pick this mention up from reading most papers. Nor would objectivism ablaqueate factual distinctions often left out in an effort to cover the story.

Sure they mention Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s dropping the nation’s credit rating, yet do not provide any historical perspective. The way I see it, a market evaluation on this issue would have seen the rating on US Treasury Certificates (short term bills issued by the Treasury that are issued at regular intervals with various maturities). Should have happened at least six years ago, especially as we see now how bond ratings before the crash three years ago were not very helpful. I mean as a nation we have been basically insolvent for a long time.

Right now as it stands, democrats and republicans are an embarrassment to folk like me, bread and butter and salt and pepper on eggs in the morning Americans. China is already in the process of downgrading the US' sovereign credit rating regardless of what the Congress does. This because no matter what is done, the fundamental problem is the US' inability to generate wealth and borrowing more is not a solution. Plainly stated, we have no loot or at least limited resources left for economic development. And for our largest debt holders, China, raising the debt limit is good for investors, but bad for China,

Now for the typical American, in particular black folks, we don’t seem to have any interest on the issue other than we just want Obama to win and that the republicans are the bad guys. Other than that we don’t know what this all about, or how it affect us or may in the future, or what the Treasury note has to do with this.

It would help if we knew what a Treasury note or Bill or certificate or bond was, but for most of us – it has nothing to do with them, just as what is going on in Greece, Italy, or Spain. Sad thing is that our publications don’t seem to care or even know how to present or write about the issues in a manner that would motivate people to learn or understand they are definitely affected by all this.

Right now, American big banks like Citigroup and Bank of America are down about 7and it is even worse for banks across the pond. BNP Paribas, Barclays, and Banco Santander are all down 13% or more and Société Générale is down 16%. Just last week the downgrade of Portuguese sovereign debt and renewed concerns that Greece will need about $100 billion by year’s end to remain solvent. Which means Italy could take a hit which will expose all the big US banks due to their over extension via toxic mortgage debts, the value of which continues to fall as the housing market continues to sink. Add to this the fact that many of these American finical house have made massive profits by selling insurance derivatives known as credit default swaps to banks in Europe, we should be able to see the problem: for this is the same activity that dropped AIG to its knees in 2008.

Now all I am saying is that these talks and hardheadness on the side of both Obama and the Congress only hit us little folk. Most of them are millionaires and won’t suffer. We can be certain of fuel, water, and food shortages for no particular amount of time as well as Oil Exporters increasing their cost in an effort to deal with the losses resulting in reduced values of US Treasury Bonds. Not to mention that the value of your dollar will fall even lower and won’t be able to buy as much and that the housing market will take an even bigger hit.

All I am trying to say I guess t is ok to be oblivious and think that what goes on in Italy or anything to do with how politicians attempt to deal with this problem doesn’t impact you. But it does, whether we know it or not.

just run the offense

I am very frightened for the time being, especially when I think of how far K street loot can go to get lobbyist to do un-American things. And on the backside of that is that the administration, from my understanding, is talking to me as if I am stupid. More amazingly is the number of regular folk in my community who don’t know or understand and just reduce it to the event of having a black man in office who inherited the problems of a white man.

It is not that bland or myopic for me, for all I really see the President as is a job description. One that has on the first line, the ability to be deceitful and masterful in the art of double speak via lies, misinformation or silence. Obama and the rest of the folk on Capitol Hill and Wall Street are not being honest with us, the American populous. They tell us that things are ok, that the economy is improving but the reality is that it is not.

Both the Treasury and the Federal Reserve were and are well aware of the troubles which the nine big banks in America face yet feel obligated to tell us otherwise, that the banks are in good shape, improving and that the $125 Billion we gave them has proved successful – not. The reason why I suspect is because these banks and lenders can’t collect on more than 20 percent of their loans, most of which are (non current) 90 days overdue. We have had almost 100 Banks fail thus far this year (which I predicted last year) and a 41 percent increase in personal bankruptcies over the last 12 months. The FDIC even projects more than 400 banks may fall as well. And these are not the Wall street folk, but the folk who be putting cash into mainstream America mostly through investing in your local strip mall and other commercial real estate.

Moreover, when we loose 16K to 67K in jobs on a given day as some papers have documented, things are not getting any better soon (next 3 years). It’s not a good sign. For me, when I see companies cutting 20% of their work force, it tells me about the future, and a future that is one of reduced sales and profits. I also know that the number is paraded out in front of me as the national unemployment rate as if it was in the Rose bowl aint the true value (as we stay in statistics when we speak of error). The model used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics attempts to estimate new job formation caused by the birth and death of businesses and as a result added more than 900,000 jobs when the compute overall unemployment. Which tells me that the true figure may be 20 percent or more?

We lost 263,000 jobs in September making by government number, more than 15 million unemployed since last December. Now I won’t ride the President for trying to get the Olympics, albeit he should have known that there has never been one in South America, and figured up front our odds were reduced. However I will ride him on this focus on healthcare especially since the economy is way more important that that. To me his health plan is more of a mandate and tax. Telling me I have to have to purchase insurance is an economic issue more so than health one to me since it would become a part of the Internal Revenue Code and that failing to comply "could be criminal” - punishable by the $25,000 fine or jail time under Section 7203. I do not know about others, but it is hard for me to accept the prospect of the government mandating for me to pay for and to have a service I may or may not want. Tell me where is it written that in order to be a lawful citizen of this country that I have to buy any good or service? The dollar aint worth jack anyway, especially after the power move the Arab states just made. Mr. President and his flunkies, get your head back in the game, study your playbook and just stick to the offense, run the offense and stop diddle daddling around before we put yo but on the bench

no such thing as a jobless recovery

Ok, let me get this out the way, I am sick and tired of this wagging the dog health care debate. A few weeks ago, I pointed out that 80 banks had failed. As of yesterday 91 had fallen victim to poor fiscal responsibility and lack of federal and state over sight.

I still see no real change or attention focused on our economic quandary. Seems to me even the general public doesn’t care. I mean I suspect most folks are employed so really do not have a vested interest in the issue, unlike me who has to pay himself as a small business owner and one who sees business after business around me close and vacant retail space amass like bubbles in bath water. I have patiently been trying to give the current administration a chance to show some balls and actually take this bull by the horns and make some real structural reforms such to get our financial system stabilized and to squash this problem. How ever, Obama has done much to do about nothing from my objective prism. I mean, I’m tired of this “to big to fail argument” that is recanted like some type of witches spell without defining what to big to fail means or describing the process by which such a determination is made. We have had 9 big bail outs over the last score of years and yet our current president still replicates the stupidity of a man who said that he was “suspending the principals of free market to save free markets” – George Bush. Obama has made no structural changes with respect to what has gotten us in this position and even worse, has the same minds over the problem who contributed to this problem.

I know that health care reform is his baby, but who needs or can afford health care if one is broke? Not me, gimme some loot and the ability to make loot. All the money you gave to big banks cant be accounted for and isn’t doing what the present administration described it would – restore credit and lending and remove toxic assets off the books of banks who got our loot. This incessant focus on health care is not as essential as focusing on the economy and anyone who disagrees can kick boulders barefooted. Unemployment is at a 26 year high and all I am hearing is shit about a public option and illegal aliens. Teen unemployment is at 25 percent and speaking of toxic assets, we still don’t know what is on the books of these banks we gave our loot too. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I can speculate that toxic assets in the form of retail commercial real estate that has lost maybe half their value and credit card receivables that I am sure have declined due to folks loosing their jobs or houses, have decreased as well.

Folk, I was born here and this descendent of slaves cares more about me being able to feed my kids than getting a H1N1 vaccine. We cannot bail out folk with non performing assets yet over look us at the bottom of the food chain. I do not know if Obama really cares more about health care or the bank lobby is really that strong. What ever the case, I know that credit markets are still frozen and that the artificial bubble we see in the stock market may be a function of the poorly thought out “too big to bail” mantra. Please show me some or at least one new regulatory reform. Mr. Obama your administration aint done jack, nada. I want you to succeed but your inactivity and bush economic copy catting aint gone do nothing because we will see more bank failures due to commercial bank failures for the next few years. Ones, don’t give the FDIC more of my money if you do not take this seriously, for I firmly believe that I do not need health care if I cant pay my mortgage, feed my kids, and I am broke. Aint no such thing as a jobless recovery mane.

PS – will deal with them racist over the weekend

freeman or slave

Point of order: 1] was trying not to post in honor of the basketball gods, sorry couldnt help it 2] aint thera flu the best thang since hot sauce?

In 1996, while I was in Senegal, I caught word of something that was going on in America. It reminded me of Waco in a sense given that I was living in Nigeria when that federal siege and stand-off was conducted. It involved a group of patriots know and the Montana Freemen.
From what I can recall of the stand-off between the Freemen and the federal agents that surrounded their 960-acre farm lasted 81 days can be reduced to the concept of individual sovereignty. The Freemen believed in the doctrine of individual sovereignty as expounded by the Sovereign Citizen Movement, and rejected the authority of the U.S. Federal Government. As a consequence of these beliefs they implemented actions to set up their own parallel systems of government common-law court, banking, and credit. Now some would say they were just plane ole right wing zealots, extremist or racist, but in a country where we look at television more than we read; and know more about celebrities than the constitution, history or science, then it is not hard to be an extremist of one concerns himself with the latter.

Their belief ironically was an extension from what this nations was founded on. The Revolutionary War was fought for one purpose only SOVEREIGNTY. Fuck what you heard, it wasn’t about freedom or religion or the British. In fact expost facto to the end of the revolutionary war, the colonies were each separate and Independent countries and still are today for each FREEMAN 21 years of age or older who owned land and was able to vote was a king in his own home; was untaxable (land and his income included). The Freemen of Montana understood this and viewed the U.S. government as a Foreign Corporation when compared to the state. As such, a corporation cannot have citizens, and that people accept to become citizens of this corporation when they accept a social security number and register to vote.

These were not some average run of the mill, local-jocal country cats. In fact they were the opposite, well read, informed of their rights under the constitution and had the skills to implement what they thought. They used "Anderson on the Uniform Commercial Code", a "Bankers Handbook" and various materials regarding the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) to file notices of liens against public officials. These liens were supposedly sold to generate equity to fund efforts to pay of the US national debt. Since the liens they filed conformed to the UCC, and that their "Justus Township" court had an interest in a tort claim for damages created (national debt) by public officials for violations of their oaths of office. The Freeman viewed public officials' support and support of the credit system as a non-constitutional act that was "...depriving the people of their property until our posterity wakes up homeless...”

See the Freemen saw in 1996 what we are experiencing today - the perpetual national debt fiat credit system, and of the relationship of that system to inflation and price manipulations that were financially undermining and bankrupting the private individual class of individual Americans – especially farmers and ranchers.

Now I am bring up this lesson from history to assert one thing, and that is that in order to be free and have the ability to exercise one’s liberty, we must be aware and informed. What is going on now in the present with respect to our government is criminal and in many cases unconstitutional. It is as if we accept without query and believe what is told to us just because we like the messenger without any additional forethought what so ever. But such has always been the nature of serfs. Maybe the Freemen had it right after all? Maybe not. But one thing for certain, they did show a lucid example of what it means to be a free man as opposed to being a slave – that believes whatever is told to them and afraid to find out or answer questions on their on.

deposits and despots

In my short time on this Earth, I have to come to accept that ignorance is bliss for many. I have revisited this as of late with the current elections and the economic consternation that threatens the people who inhabit this dear planet. In particular as of late I have been reminded of the prophetic statement of Mayer Amschel Rothschild: “Give me control over a nation’s currency, and I care not who makes its laws.”

This was the man who I think, as well as others we can contribute the theory of economic inductance too. Like a fine mathematician, he figured out that by using currency (or depository loan accounts), he could get folk to give up real wealth (land for example) in exchange for the promise of greater wealth. He even gave governments these promissory notes for real collateral and then make the flow of loot tight so he could take other folks shit (collateral) and could even make governments go to war through the obligation of their contracts. Yes like a physicist even – inductance via the energy of the debtor.

We have only seen the start of this tumultuous period in America. I know I said that all great empires will eventually crumble as did Rome. I don’t know if is the decline of the united States of America, but I speculate if we don’t come out of this period with our heads turned to the front, it will be. In today’s world, the US government has privatized all profits while at the same time socialized all losses. If it were me, I would have been straight free enterprise jones and let bad economic occurrences related to business fail. But not this government, they would rather pick and choose the companies they want to live without any logic or rationale. None of this shit they doing going to do nothing for Profit to earning ratios. And as an investor, if you have short dated paper at the bank, watch your loot – cause if it goes bust folk can on a whim, pick and choose if they will freeze bonds and even worse, all associated interest income.

Yep it’s real in the field and foul. The truth is unlike other places where folks save, 80 to 85% of Americans are broke. Not to mention we aint even felt the impact of the recession yet for I feel that it will be a good 10 years plus before we even have a real good economy again. No this aint no depression, I don’t see no 10 % decline in GDP, but it is a sever repression; protectionism is on the rise and to play it safe, most countries are reducing imports. I will not even mention that the Euro has had its biggest gain against the dollar ever – that’s another story.

But do head my warning. I mean it aint like this aint ever happened before. It has, but this is the first time such has happened to America. In Thailand, following months of speculative attacks against the Thai baht, which was closely pegged to the U.S. dollar, the Bank of Thailand allowed the baht to float in July 1997. This led to a loss of export competitiveness which required the devaluation. At the time it was a constitutional monarchy.

In Argentina, in what has been called the Tequila Banking Crisis, we saw the same thing. It was called such because it was set in place by what occurred in Mexico in December 1994. The problem with the Mexican banking system lead to an accelerated the restructuring of the banking sector in Argentina – namely the privatization of provincial banks, consolidation of private banks, and selective bank liquidations. Banks, (as we see here to day) had limited bank deposits and were unable to provide credit. Not to mention the ratio of broad money to GDP had been declining for decades which resulted in hyperinflation, and the problem being - was a large volume of nonperforming loans that increased the fiscal burden (just like mortgage backed securities here).

Irony of it all, In all them places, Argentina, Thailand, Indonesia and Russia among others, after the banking system collapsed, in three the governments were deposed, over thrown by the people, in the case for Russia, a new and more autocratic (communist) leadership/government was installed. Them folk over there handled theirs, my query is what we gone do? Are we gone be proactive and make certain that liberty and justice is for all – or just the wealth and political class? Are we gonna inform ourselves and pay attention, or attend to whether or not we like Beyoncee’s new song or be in the habit of stunting for folks who don’t eat, live, die or shit for us? That’s all folk here asking jones mane. The writing is on the wall as well as in history books. But yawl don’t here me though.

For any person in power who acts tyrannically, or any ruler with absolute power, or a person who wields power oppressively, to me is a tyrant – a despot and no different from Maximillien Robespierre, the mastermind of the Reign of Terror (1793–1794) during the French Revolution. Strange aint it, how deposits and despots have the same root word.

Rearranging the furniture

Want to start out by saying, told you it wouldn’t work. The bail out that it is. Jobs still being loss, home values are still falling, and stocks too. Check the Hang Seng, the Nikkei, and the UK FTSE if you still more concerned about Jennifer Hudson New Album or Beverly Hill Chihuahua. France's economy, the second largest of the 15 countries sharing the euro, reported they were in an economic recession for the first time in 15 years. Germany's Hypo Real Estate may be the next major world bank to fail. The Munich-based bank is a conglomerate which contains DEPFA Bank, Hypo Pfandbrief Bank International and Hypo Public Finance Bank. Reports from Germany suggest that the bank needs 20 billion euros by the end of next week just to stay solvent. Even emerging markets, where it used to be safe are taking a hit. The two bills we just past are merely topical and shows how short sited our political leadership is in general. They seem to only see wall street, and not the world, let alone the street or the back road in this issue.

What the fuck does bicycle paths, tax breaks for race-track owners, for rum imported from Puerto Rico, or Hollywood film and television production companies have to do with the economy or bailing out Wall Street? The 451-page Senate bailout bill, called H.R. 1424 has dozens of tax breaks for companies. Some of the specific pork dollar values include: a $100 million tax break to benefit auto racetrack owners; $2 million tax benefit for makers of wooden arrows for children; and $192 million in rebates on excise taxes for the Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum industry.

I know its just me, but I never saw what these political bills, let alone 700 billion dollars (which will likely be 900 billion - a trillion) can do for the national or the global economy. Throwing money away has never been the solution for anything. They are still throwing them at bad assets. Banks all around the world are failing. These folk so myopic and ill-informed that they aint even see the chance that asset markets would possibly close one day, especially given that lenders were the one who distressed the value of the paper they held. Its cool if u got loot, or capital, but most folk now days have less than 5% capital, or liquidity on hand compared to back in the day when folks had at least one dollar for every dollar loaned.

Federal policies created this, no matter what folks say, for with out them, folk who could not afford to buy a house with zero down would have never got them – and the truth is the banks and financial institutions lobbied for these changes.

But yawl don’t hear me though. Lets look at the world around us. The Turkish government issued new Turkish lira banknotes and this past Friday. This recapitalized of its banking system included tighter regulation under a $10 billion IMF-backed lending. And we finna have a new currency standard in a few for I wont be surprised if the dollar will be 60 cents to the Euro by the endo of the year.

All I am saying is that stability of the dollar is paramount in any economic solution to this current mess; I see a secular decline in credit just as what happened in Japan. My consternation is that neither McCain nor Obama is addressing this.

We really have not had a loss in capital across this great nation, that is not the issue, but we have not had any gain in capital - that is the problem. To solve this conundrum means we have to gain more capital. Tell me how we do this Jones, fuck the dumb shit, we are thinking and breathing Americans and I say we at least deserve that. You cant take money from the private sector (as the government is doing when they take over and bail out banks) and give it back to the same said private sector. To me that is just like rearanging the furniture in your house. The 700 billion wont do jack, businesses on wall street or in the stock market dont make money unless people spend money or have money. Shold have gave it to the common person. Add to that we only have fiat money, no money of real value, in the 1930s we had real money which was on the Gold standard, and after the early 70s, no longer is our money based on the gold standard. We just print money and throw money at the problem as if it is the answer. All our politicians are doing is stopping the bleeding so the patient don’t die, or worse, just re-arranging the furniture in the house. vote

take it on the chin

I am a firm believer that Ignorance and freedom is incompatible. Likewise I accept that my folk, including the members of the House and Senate are just as ignorant as well. Last night in a unique move the Senate grandstanded and passed their version of a financial market stabilization act – this time, 450 pages of feces. Fuck bailing out banks, although I do feel that Paulson messed up when he did not attempt to save Lehman, the truth is that market fundamentalism – the idea that the market can do no wrong, will exist no more jones.

I don’t want to scare nobody nor second guess (to steal a phrase from Sarah Palin - can’t name a single Supreme Court case she disagrees with other than Roe v. Wade LMBAO) nobody on this, but I would like to provide a terse commentary on saying that something is better than nothing, when no one has really thought about this from a pragmatic perspective and just seems to me giving Paulson what ever he needs with out review and thorough examination, is some of the dumbest shit I done ever heard. I figure 200 billion invested in schools, bridges, and even securing our ports will go a lot father than dumping loot in the hands of folks who have a history of looting that has placed us in the mess in the first place. By doing the aforementioned, albeit common sense, I think it would proffer job creation at the grass root level for we know politicians will never be or desire to do any real labor like us common folk. Not to mention it would not take 700 billion if one spent the money on helping folks who own homes like me to keep them, and the steady stream of mortgage payments going to said banks.

Too much credit got us into this problem but now we trying to make folks get more credit. It is nothing more than the banks controlling the government. I mean the standard is obvious is that its cool for folk to make millions while those that don’t, it is cool for them to suffer.

Maybe I am wrong, but I say let them mutha fucas fail, let them take it on the chin. I mean, if I mess up, for bad business judgment, are they gone help me? Where my bail out papers? I don’t even know where the 700 billion dollars went in the first place, I aint get none of that loot did you? When I do my books I do the regular old school accounting, you know traditional accounting methods that match cost and revenues. But Paulson, and HIS bill want me to bail out, excuse me rescue folks that employ the Enron” economically satisfying” approach of accounting for valuing assets and liabilities. Robert G. Haldeman, Jr. wrote: “Fair value derives from “a hypothetical transaction at the measurement date … A fair value measurement assumes that the transaction to sell the asset or transfer the liability occurs in the principal market for the asset or liability or, in the absence of a principal market, the most advantageous market for the asset or liability. The principal market is the market in which the reporting entity would sell the asset or transfer the liability with the greatest volume and level of activity for the asset or liability.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if Paulson folks from the house he used to run Goldman Sachs laced his pockets to get this shit passed. All I am saying is that I want some to. Bail me out jones, I mean this shit, I aint even no crook.

And yawl talk about Obama, tonight was his first vote since June (i think) in the Senate, and McCain’s, first vote since April. They say this is needed, and all we can do at the moment, but it may or may not be a quick fix and what we need is a well thought out and permanent solution. I just think that this talk of something is better than nothing is feculent, and makes me think they are saying if I had the choice to think something well out versus panicking, I would do the latter. That’s all these two pieces of legislation show me, that these folks would rather panic than think on solving the problem. Shoot, I think DeFazio’s plan is better thought-out than Paulson’s and really like is suggestion regarding banning short selling of stocks - selling'' stock at a lower price before actually taking ownership.

But this is just me, and as I said it ticks me off when the average citizen complains or approves of something, like these bills when they don’t take the time to read them. Ignorance and freedom is incompatible folks; and I will never side with panic over thinking something out thoroughly, why should you? I say let them folk on Wall street take it on the chin, cause it don't impact Main street as they say - newspeak is all it is. vote

That’s makes 10

Things are not as rosy and the democrats and republicans are painting them. Unfortunately the outlook proffered by them economically is not presented as serious as thing are on the really real. Down here in the dirty, in Georgia in particular, we got wind that another bank/lending institution failed. Yep, Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, Georgia.

This is the 10^th US bank to fail this year. Many of these are in my mind a result of what I wrote about before as well as dumb ass Federal Reserve policies proffered by Alan “the green hornet” Greenspan, Bill Clinton and Both the Bush’s. Oh and Ronald Regan too. And specifically, from this savants purview, of how Glass-Stegall removed the barriers between Wall Street and Banking Institutions. Throw in a floundering real estate market, foreclosures up the azz and the worst decline in housing since the Depression, I figure we are only seeing the start of this avalanche.

This year alone, the following banks closed/failed: Columbian Bank and Trust of Topeka, Kansas, First Priority Bank of Bradenton, Florida, Reno-based First National Bank of Nevada and Newport Beach, California-based First Heritage Bank; Staples, Minnesota-based First Integrity Bank and ANB Financial in Bentonville, Arkansas; Hume Bank in Hume, Missouri; and Douglass National Bank in Kansas City, Missouri. Add to this that I think the first bank to fail when the housing market started to slump was Net bBank, also headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Then since the FDIC don’t do nothing to protect or warn the general public outside of insuring depositors up to a certain dollar point, they just reported that the have classified another 117 banks as being a problem for the second quarter alone (30% more than the previous quarter).

Since 2000, the FDIC had closed 36 banks since October 2000. In 2002 alone there were 11 banks that closed and before, in 1994 12 banks closed. The very fact that these institutions are failing is a major concern for me because such is deflationary in essence. By deflation I am referring to a reduction in general price levels that are due to a reduction in the supply of money. This is often due to reduced spending at the government and individual level as well as a drop in the level of investments. The consequence of such mainly seen in increased levels of unemployment.

Like I said, the current presidential candidates don’t seem to talk about the economy in tangible terms but more in chic rhetoric and sound bites. Correct me if I am wrong, but I have yet to read any economic statements that even talk about the threat of deflation or the state of the banking and lending institutions in our great country, have you? This is number 10, any bets on how many more will be gone by the end of the year? Maybe there will eventually be one big super bank – like in old school China or Russia. vote

THIS IS FUN_NY

My 2 cents (really $11,071.27)

Kelso, to a recent post in which I wrote regarding male sartorial splendor, made a comment supporting not only the necessity of having a passport, but also an off shore account. Now I do have both and won’t tell you what country mine s located in, but I will say Seychelles (in picture) is a great place to have one being a few hours flight from Durban, South Africa (Yawl need to go there its beautiful).

Now Jones, your folk here aint the richest man in the world, in fact I am one of the poorest. With that said, over the past two months i done lost a lot of loot. I kind of hoard loot and try to stay away from spending it if I do not have to, especially if I aint got it.

The current credit crunch is hitting everybody nowadays and I am not just talking about the financial institutions. I mean the common man, the banks, Wall Street, Japan, and even Europe. I know people are doing all they can to ameliorate these problems, but suffice it to say, it will be hard to fix when the average person doesn’t have, and has a desire to spend, even when the do not have the money on hand. I feel I have the right to complain about the government practicing deficit spending, but those that do such themselves do not.

What I anticipate next is that Banks and Brokerage houses (one in the same since Clinton abrogated Glass-Stegall), which have already been hit hard by the sub prime lending practice and home mortgage losses, are not going to being seeing the good times any time soon. Since August of last year, the U.S. government has given financial institutions nearly a trillion dollars and things have yet to improve. Now the Federal Reserve Bank is getting into the act and is talking bout allowing banks/brokerage houses to exchange mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) for about 200 billion in Treasury bonds. Talking about shooting dice, I mean, the have never accepted MBSs as collateral before – not to my knowledge. This will make the FR a holder of long-term credit risk. I figure the FR doesn’t need t do this for it is the financial and lending institutions that need to make corrections on their practices and get their shit tight.

We already see our trade deficit increasing. Especially as it relates to exports as a function of being offset by higher oil prices. It increased almost $60 billion last month alone, and the increase specifically with China seems to grow more and more each day.

So in summary, it is the value of the dollar that is essential to a strong economy in the US. I do not like losing money, not even in the washing machine, and over the last 60 days I have lost $11,071.27. My problem is if I can see this, not as an economists, why can’t our government? vote