im sorry i said you looked like elomo

THE MOB IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE USA. Once again I would like the whole truth to be known to the american public concerning the auto bail out. Not just the media's typical selective truth. As important as this bail out is I would have hoped that the media would have done their job and dug allot deeper into the inter-workings of the UAW and the big three auto makers. Please, please take a look not even a close look at the existing UAW's contract with the big three auto makers. The american public would be outraged at what they would be potentially bailing out.

There has been and continues to be bitter disputes between the UAW and the management at the big three auto makers. Unlike their foreign competitors who work together in manufacturing autos, the UAW and management at the big three work against each other. This has been their mode of operation almost forever.

Currently there are thousands and thousands of top of the line cars (Hondas, Toyotas) sitting in parking lots because they are not able to sell these cars. So let me get this straight, we are going to bail out the big three auto makers to save the jobs of millions of americans.
And what are these people going to be doing at the jobs that we have saved? I hope not manufacturing more inferior cars that few people want and can afford. My guess is that they would continue manufacturing and adding to the surplus of unsold cars. I really don't think that is what we need right now. Nothing like planning your own failure.

William Landers' Americanism Economics advisement to congress, December 9, 2008

Honorable Members of Congress,

The big three auto manufactures (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) have come to congress asking for monies from the United States citizens to help them out of hard times.

Their failing business structure and excessive spending has lead them to a collapses with-in their market. They are now asking for monies to be leant to them from the United States citizens. If they fail, "which is highly probable", they will be back for more or will still collapse. The funds given will most likely be wasted and a failure still will occur.

There is no guarantee that the auto makers will keep United States citizens employed. The likelihood of massive layoffs will still occur and manufacturing moved to either Mexico or Canada. The move to produce in another nation, would then be paid for by the loans congress is proposing.

I respectfully would like to introduce a better plan.

The plan would not lend monies directly to the three auto makers, but rather loan monies directly to consumers for purchase of the three auto makers vehicles.

The Americanism Economics Auto Loan Program.

..
..The Americanism Economics Auto Loan Program will provide guarantee purchases of a new vehicle by qualified borrowers.
..
..The program will assists purchase of new vehicles that should get at least thirty miles to the gallon.
..
..The new cars produced have to be made at least ninety percent with-in the borders of the United States of America.
..
..The monies lent directly to the consumer through the auto markers loan department.
..
..To qualify for a new car or truck purchase, the consumers have to be a United States Citizen.
..
..There will be a fixed interest rate of one percent to the consumer.
..
..
In theory, this will boost auto production of fuel savings vehicles, while guarantying United States citizens jobs and future jobs. This shall prevent auto manufactures from moving operations into other countries at the expense of the United States taxpayer.

The protections found in this proposal, will be found deeply rooted in the Constitution of the United States of America.

One such protectionist was Abraham Lincoln.

In closing, please let me further state that it is unconstitutional to create monopolies. I would suggest highly you do not allow the three auto manufactures to form into one corporation.

The creation of monopolies are like your electric company or cable company. Once they have control they can do as they like and inflation is always a direct result.

Sincerely

Americanism Economics

Businessman William Landers..
P.S. Please contact your congressman with this proposal.

http://www.house.gov/

once again, who cares how they got there, no one cared how AIG got there when they wanted more money? or why in the world are thier exec's going on retreat and asking for more money? i believe they got more money. i don't hear about AIG exec's taking a paycut (let's say $1 a year). i don't care about giving them money or not, but as we can see, the Big 3 are not that welcomed on the senate floor, maybe because some of them have special interest in AIG? i don' t know, i just know what i hear, and what i hear is not fair.

Statement of Congressman Ron Paul

United States House of Representatives

The Austrians Were Right

November 20, 2008

Madame Speaker, many Americans are hoping the new administration will solve the economic problems we face. That’s not likely to happen, because the economic advisors to the new President have no more understanding of how to get us out of this mess than previous administrations and Congresses understood how the crisis was brought about in the first place.

Except for a rare few, Members of Congress are unaware of Austrian Free Market economics. For the last 80 years, the legislative, judiciary and executive branches of our government have been totally influenced by Keynesian economics. If they had had any understanding of the Austrian economic explanation of the business cycle, they would have never permitted the dangerous bubbles that always lead to painful corrections.

Today, a major economic crisis is unfolding. New government programs are started daily, and future plans are being made for even more. All are based on the belief that we’re in this mess because free-market capitalism and sound money failed. The obsession is with more spending, bailouts of bad investments, more debt, and further dollar debasement. Many are saying we need an international answer to our problems with the establishment of a world central bank and a single fiat reserve currency. These suggestions are merely more of the same policies that created our mess and are doomed to fail.

At least 90% of the cause for the financial crisis can be laid at the doorstep of the Federal Reserve. It is the manipulation of credit, the money supply, and interest rates that caused the various bubbles to form. Congress added fuel to the fire by various programs and institutions like the Community Reinvestment Act, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FDIC, and HUD mandates, which were all backed up by aggressive court rulings.

The Fed has now doled out close to $2 trillion in subsidized loans to troubled banks and other financial institutions. The Federal Reserve and Treasury constantly brag about the need for “transparency” and “oversight,” but it’s all just talk — they want none of it. They want secrecy while the privileged are rescued at the expense of the middle class.

It is unimaginable that Congress could be so derelict in its duty. It does nothing but condone the arrogance of the Fed in its refusal to tell us where the $2 trillion has gone. All Members of Congress and all Americans should be outraged that conditions could deteriorate to this degree. It’s no wonder that a large and growing number of Americans are now demanding an end to the Fed.

The Federal Reserve created our problem, yet it manages to gain even more power in the socialization of the entire financial system. The whole bailout process this past year was characterized by no oversight, no limits, no concerns, no understanding, and no common sense.

Similar mistakes were made in the 1930s and ushered in the age of the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the Great Society and the supply-siders who convinced conservatives that deficits didn’t really matter after all, since they were anxious to finance a very expensive deficit-financed American empire.

All the programs since the Depression were meant to prevent recessions and depressions. Yet all that was done was to plant the seeds of the greatest financial bubble in all history. Because of this lack of understanding, the stage is now set for massive nationalization of the financial system and quite likely the means of production.

Although it is obvious that the Keynesians were all wrong and interventionism and central economic planning don’t work, whom are we listening to for advice on getting us out of this mess? Unfortunately, it’s the Keynesians, the socialists, and big-government proponents.

Who’s being ignored? The Austrian free-market economists—the very ones who predicted not only the Great Depression, but the calamity we’re dealing with today. If the crisis was predictable and is explainable, why did no one listen? It’s because too many politicians believed that a free lunch was possible and a new economic paradigm had arrived. But we’ve heard that one before--like the philosopher’s stone that could turn lead into gold. Prosperity without work is a dream of the ages.

Over and above this are those who understand that political power is controlled by those who control the money supply. Liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats came to believe, as they were taught in our universities, that deficits don’t matter and that Federal Reserve accommodation by monetizing debt is legitimate and never harmful. The truth is otherwise. Central economic planning is always harmful. Inflating the money supply and purposely devaluing the dollar is always painful and dangerous.

The policies of big-government proponents are running out of steam. Their policies have failed and will continue to fail. Merely doing more of what caused the crisis can hardly provide a solution.

The good news is that Austrian economists are gaining more acceptance every day and have a greater chance of influencing our future than they’ve had for a long time.

The basic problem is that proponents of big government require a central bank in order to surreptitiously pay bills without direct taxation. Printing needed money delays the payment. Raising taxes would reveal the true cost of big government, and the people would revolt. But the piper will be paid, and that’s what this crisis is all about.

There are limits. A country cannot forever depend on a central bank to keep the economy afloat and the currency functionable through constant acceleration of money supply growth. Eventually the laws of economics will overrule the politicians, the bureaucrats and the central bankers. The system will fail to respond unless the excess debt and mal-investment is liquidated. If it goes too far and the wild extravagance is not arrested, runaway inflation will result, and an entirely new currency will be required to restore growth and reasonable political stability.

The choice we face is ominous: We either accept world-wide authoritarian government holding together a flawed system, OR we restore the principles of the Constitution, limit government power, restore commodity money without a Federal Reserve system, reject world government, and promote the cause of peace by protecting liberty equally for all persons. Freedom is the answer.

Jason

Here is something I'm positive on and if you apply it yourself it will save you money.. Get yourself off the grid..

How to DOUBLE the POWER of Any SOLAR PANELS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DI98aZj9V8

Jason

I already have..

You have no idea of who i am.....

wadada

My goodness Jared, I don't think I've ever met a more depressing, negative, "glass is half EMPTY, pessimistic person as the likes of you!

My God, for this one holiday, can you at least be thankful for one thing that God has blessed you with?

I don't even read any of your blog comments any more that have more than one line in them.

If you would just start looking at things more positively, the majority of us would read your posts.

Since you like to read, may I suggest a book by Eckhart Tolle called "A New Earth". Pick up a copy and sit down and read it with an open mind. You just might become more optimistic about life in general!

PLM

With regard to Gates even if it is for a short period of time he can still do a lot...

look at this..

Gates Announces Plan to Make National Guard a Homeland “Operational Force”

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
November 25, 2008

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered the Pentagon to conduct a “broad review” to determine if the military and the National Guard and Reserve can “adequately deal with domestic disasters,” including “a catastrophic attack on the country,” according to the Associated Press. Gates’ order falls on the heels of an earlier report released by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves urging the Pentagon to “use the nation’s citizen soldiers to create an operational force that would be fully trained, equipped and ready to defend the nation.”

Gates plan for a review of the National Guard’s role is especially troublesome in the wake of the Pentagon’s announcement in September that the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team would be deployed domestically by Northcom beginning October 1.

Gates and the Pentagon are obviously in the process of implementing the John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007. The act changed federal law so that the Governor of a state is no longer the sole commander in chief of their state’s National Guard during emergencies within the state, a direct violation of Article I, Section 10 and Clause 3 of the Constitution. As original envisioned by the founders, who rightfully feared standing armies, active and reserve military organizations were to be limited in size and scope and complemented by citizen-soldiers. The the John Warner Defense Authorization Act has finally put to rest the idea that these citizen-soldiers will not be federalized.

It can be argued that the Warner bill is simply a culmination of earlier piecemeal violations, including the Militia Act of 1792, the Insurrection Act of 1807, and in particular the Militia Act of 1903, the latter allowing for the creation of the National Guard of the United States as the primary organized reserve force for the U.S. armed forces. Gates is simply announcing a fiat accompli – the merging of the Department of Defense and the National Guard into one cohesive force that will be deployed domestically in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act which substantially limited the powers of the federal government to use the military for law enforcement. In the past, maintaining order during domestic disasters was the responsibility of local and state law enforcement, although the National Guard was on occasion called in cases of civil unrest.

Gates plan for a review of the National Guard’s role is especially troublesome in the wake of the Pentagon’s announcement in September that the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team would be deployed domestically by Northcom beginning October 1.

“Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks,” the Army Times reported on September 30. The battle-hardened brigade, straight out combat duty in Iraq, will engage in “specialty tasks” usually reserved for local law enforcement. In addition, the brigade will use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded… designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them,” an especially chilling prospect in light of growing predictions of civil unrest as the economy worsens.

If the Pentagon plan is realized, the National Guard will receive training for “homeland defense and civil support missions, as opposed to the warfighting now consuming them.” The Associated Press admits Gates’ effort is designed to “integrate reservists into the modern day military and consider treating them on a more equal basis to the active duty troops.”

Arnold L. Punaro, former chairman of the commission, welcomed Gates’ recommendations and declared that improving the military’s role in homeland defense and enhancing the clout of the reserves “represent a historic break with the past.” It also represents a “historic break ” with the Constitution of the United States.

Gates and the Pentagon realize the United States does not face a serious external terrorist threat. Instead, it faces in the not too distant future a reaction on the part of the citizenry to the banker engineered deconstruction of the economy and the social and political chaos that will undoubtedly follow. The National Guard, along with the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team and other military troops, will use the “nonlethal package… designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals” mentioned by the Army Times.

Gates’ “operational force that would be fully trained, equipped and ready to defend the nation” has nothing to do with Osama bin Laden and his cave-dwelling terrorists — or another Hurricane Katrina for that matter — but it has everything to do with preventing the people from rising up and taking back their country.

Obama's Pick of Eric Holder Smacks of Another Alberto Gonzalez

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VomTTl6PUI&eurl=http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&authorID=63558531&messageID=6225268731&MyTokeniurl=http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/8VomTTl6PUI/hqdefault.jpg&feature=player_embedded

PLM you are most welcome. I thought if awfully clever of whoever originated it!

Hey Frank - I have to agree with Dan, what's with moving your blog down 2 notches?

At least put them in alphabetical order or most popular order....either way that should be the BUCKLEY BLOG!!!!

Come on KTLA....don't revert back to the ways of Black Monday, March 17th!

Thank you Jason for the amusing and clever post! I will past it along to my political buds as well!

Jared I hope you enjoyed your birthday!

Okay, in regard to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates...at first I too said what is Obama thinking to keep this war guy from the Bush’s “I dare you to knock this chip off my shoulder” war monger era!

However after debating the point with my husband (a fairly smart guy), It does make sense for Obama to keep Gates. Why? Obama wants to end this war, and he has agreed to keep Gates on for just one year. Why bring in a new person to end something that he/she knows nothing about? That person who does not have knowledge of any of the factors that needs to be systematically shut down in a short period of time. A new person would just be getting past his learning curve at the end of the year...where Gates can begin the phase out process day one of the new administration. And besides Obama is in the driving seat now... not Bush, and Gates will have do what he is told, when he is told to do it!

Then Obama can bring in a new fresh and intelligent individual with like mind in defense as Obama has, to work with his administration on new directions, and not spend their time focusing on old business or ending Bush’s numerous mistakes. Instead the new person can concentrate on where to take our country from here.

Everyday Barrack shows excellent leadership skills! And his daily news conferences are an inspiration to behold! Not to mention they stimulate the stock market to boot! What’s not to love?

Uuhh...on second thought ....don’t answer that Jared! ^-^

Peace out!

I just received the following email, and it's interesting!

Dear World:

The United States of America, your quality supplier of ideals of liberty
and democracy, would like to apologize for its 2001-2008 service outage.
The technical fault that led to this eight-year service interruption has
been located, and the software responsible was replaced Tuesday night,
November 4. Early tests of the newly-installed program indicate that we
are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional by
mid-January.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage, and we look
forward to resuming full service --- and hopefully even to improve it in
years to come.

Thank you for your patience and understanding,

The USA

Hey Frank,

What's with them making your blog "Third Billing" on the main page and giving Sam Rubin "Top Billing"?

Your blog always gets the most responses and reactions!

This is unfair! It must be the person who changed the format at 9 AM back in March!

I'm PROTESTING! Boo KTLA Boo!

And this is change?

Gates is a war hawk!

Defense Secretary Said to Be Staying On
25 Nov 2008 President-elect Barack Obama has decided to keep Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in a show of bipartisan continuity supplication and sellout in a time of war, the first time a Pentagon chief has been carried over from a president of a different party, Democrats close to the transition said Tuesday.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/defense-secretary-said-to-be-staying-on/

Gates 'to stay as Pentagon chief'
26 Nov 2008 US Defence Secretary [war criminal] Robert Gates is to stay on in charge of the Pentagon when Barack Obama takes office as president, according to US media reports. Mr Gates was nominated to the role by President [sic] George W Bush in 2006 and has overseen a change of 'strategy' in Iraq.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7749237.stm

What will change really look like?

We’ll know when we see those faces around the table at that first cabinet meeting.

I’m sure you’ve heard the rumor mills churning: There are exciting names being floated alongside some downright disturbing rumors. Bush’s Defense Secretary Robert Gates, an Iraq war loyalist and a hawk on nuclear weapons, is being talked about as a possible Obama Defense Secretary. In the last two weeks, this rumor has morphed from a trial balloon to something more likely.

The peace movement helped elect Obama president, and we need your help now to see this chance for change through. Tell Obama’s transition team that it’s too risky to put Obama’s Iraq withdrawal plan in Gates’s hands by clicking here and leaving your personal message for Obama on his Change.gov transition site. Then, tell 5 of your friends about this action.

During the campaign, Obama drove home that this era’s signature test of foreign policy judgment was whether or not you supported the invasion of Iraq. Gates failed that test. Gates has also been vocally opposed to Obama’s withdrawal plan. It takes a vivid imagination to picture Gates implementing and successfully defending a timeline for troop withdrawal.

I’m also very concerned about Gates’ positions on arms control - especially nuclear weapons. At a time when people like Henry Kissinger and George Shultz are calling for steps towards a nuclear weapons free world, Gates been calling for a new generation of nuclear weapons.

As I told the LA Times, we can be sure that the Obama team is under pressure to dial back plans to withdraw from Iraq it is our job to hold him to his campaign promises to withdraw. That is why your voice, right now, is so important. The best time for you and I to impact the appointments process is now, not after the President-elect makes his nominations public, so please send the Obama team your message right now.

I am truly hopeful about the potential for change that a new president embodies. And at Peace Action we will do our part to make sure the momentum for a better, wiser and more just foreign policy keeps going. Please send a message today to the President-elect’s transition team, and remind them that voters want fresh leadership at the Pentagon here.

Sincerely,

Kevin M. Martin
Executive Director
Peace Action

My personal comments

You got played....

And if you believed in McCain and voted for him. You also would have gotten played also...

Who went back and voted for the bailout both McCain and Obama.

Both McCain's and Obama's plans of fixing the economy was more credit and debt.

Obama's current plan will be more credit and debt.

Who issues our currency ALL based on debt? And is making money from these bailouts because they are the one's issuing the more debt/credit?

Who made money during our wars by financing them?

Is it not the privately owned banking cartel of the central bank the FED?

hmmmm... I say let's...

End the FED!!!

Support H.R. 2755!!

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2755

In Debt We Trust (Full film)

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-9016886482738598023&hl=en

In America's earliest days, there were barn-raising parties in which neighbors helped each other build up their farms. Today, in some churches, there are debt liquidation revivals in which parishioners chip in to free each other from growing credit card debts that are driving American families to bankruptcy and desperation. IN DEBT WE TRUST is the latest film from Danny Schechter, "The News Dissector," director of the internationally distributed and award-winning WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception), an expose of the media's role in the Iraq War. The Emmy-winning former ABC News and CNN producer's new hard-hitting documentary investigates why so many Americans are being strangled by debt. It is a journalistic confrontation with what former Reagan advisor Kevin Phillips calls "Financialization"--the "powerful emergence of a debt-and-credit industrial complex." While many Americans may be "maxing out" on credit cards, there is a deeper story: power is shifting into fewer hands.....with frightening consequences. IN DEBT WE TRUST shows how the mall replaced the factory as America's dominant economic engine and how big banks and credit card companies buy our Congress and drive us into what a former major bank economist calls modern serfdom. Americans and our government owe trillions in consumer debt and the national debt, a large amount of it to big banks and billions to Communist China.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our bloggers!

And Happy 55th Birthday to you Jared!

Today my vegetarian daughter wore a tee shirt to school that read " Save a turkey - Eat Tofu"!

We'll be having both turkey and vegetarian dinner.

I'm thankful we live in this great country and have the right to freedom of speech!

Thank you Frank Buckley and all the great people at KTLA that makes this Blog possible. I truly enjoy the timely discussions, the debates, and the camaraderie, that we had cultivated here on this blog.

Hopefully the season of giving will get us all through the end of this difficult year and onward to our new year of hope come Jan 20.

Gobble- Gobble!

If Ben Franklin had his way we would be eating the national symbol of the United States of America on Thursday..

In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin wrote:

For my own part I wish the Eagle had not been chosen the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead tree near the river, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.
With all this injustice, he is never in good case but like those among men who live by sharping & robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our country...
"I am on this account not displeased that the figure is not known as a Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the truth the Turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.

Hahaha, Jared, same to you. We don't ignore all your posts. You're just massively prolific and I don't read that fast.

We just watched an examination of the turkey (fowl not Bush) on the History Channel's "Modern Marvels." Repeats Wednesday.

Made me very thankful I'm not cooking the bird on Thursday, and engendered sympathy for the many turkeys I watched taking their final ride in grocery carts earlier today.

In all seriousness, I look forward to meeting up with all of you here almost daily. What a blessing you all are. You make me pay attention and analyze what's happening in the world around me.

It's a new world, and we all made it happen by voting our conscience. We have a new president (whether you voted Democrat or another party). We have a new economy - good or bad - we'll work it out together. And we have a good life, under clear blue skies 90% of the year, here in southern California. We are blessed, and it's nice to know we don't take it for granted.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

THE TURKEY
http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=373214

Thanks Craig and Mike;

May you each and the rest on the KTLA blogs here have a wonderful Thanksgiving and may you all have prosperity in the coming years....

I do always look on the bright side of life, family and such..

I just may not look at the bright side of government or economics..

Some of the things that i'm thankful for is my health(i turned 55 today), my extended family, being 100% debt free(outside of the federal debt of FRN's), as a business owner who employs over 2200 people in 3 countries in the natural health industry, I'm thankful that the company is 100% debt free also, I'm thankful for all the wonderful testimonies i receive from the many of the users of our products..

I am also thankful that each of you here will allow me to be who i am here, even if some do ignore what i post...

I hope you all have an unhappy turkey day..(the turkey is the unhappy one)

Blessing to ALL!!!

Thanks, Mike - and I want to wish all the regular bloggers to this site and their families a Happy Thanksgiving and hopes for better days ahead - yes that even means you, Jared the Pessimistic One! :)
Once in awhile, try to be like Eric Idle's character in "Life of Brian" and "Always look on the Bright Side of Life"! I have not blogged here as much lately because I felt like I needed a vacation from the negative news - it was getting me really depressed. I've gone back to listening to CD's of my favorite music on my drive home to relax me on the tough drive on the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass instead of talk radio reminding me of how bad off we are! I didn't have the time in my first year of work to get a week off for vacation-so I've given myself a mental vacation for a few days and only commented regarding Jozie posting a link on Eric's blog to some videos of music I like! So take time this Thansgiving and count your blessings, health, family that loves you, shelter, employment, freedom to speak our minds, some of those things we take for granted! Meditate or pray (depending on your religious or non-religious beliefs) on these freedoms and material possessions we have, and most of all the "irreplaceable treasures", Our loved ones
wives, husbands, children, siblings, parents, extended family members and pets that make life worth living every day! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Hope everyone out there has a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, food, football, or just some time off.

Thank you to KTLA for promoting the wonderful Season of Sharing in which many of my Southern California neighbors are helping with.

I am thankful that I live in a city that is so generous and giving to others who may be in need.

I just wish and hope the generosity continues past the holiday season. As the need will still be there well after the warm fuzzies of giving during the holidays has passed.

HAPPY Thanksgiving fellow bloggers!!!

-m

Unless Obama and his economics people(the same people who caused the problem) deal with the fact that ALL Federal Reserve Notes including the money for the bailouts are loaned into circulation plus interest which we the people will have to pay back.

Until they deal with the issue of our nation currency We the People will be a nation of debt slaves to a privately owned banking cartel..

As long as our currency is all based on debt we and the Nation will be debtors...

Followed the link to Michael Moore's website that -mike posted. Excellent list of mandates. Thanks for the lead, -mike.

REPOST FROM -mike's comment
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=237

Keeping the faith . . .

Yes Mike You're right the auto industry should tighten their belts in many different capacities. If they are to stay afloat there should be concessions made throughout.

Point well taken.

For that matter, not just the big 3, but all the recipients of the BOM should have strict requirements on cutting back immensely on how they all conduct their business- period.

Where are the safeguards to make sure they don't miss use this money?

Where is the watchdog committee?

Obama is obviously aware that this whole BOM thing is being severely mishandled.

These companies have obviously done a poor job running these companies and now they are allowed to receive money and to be free to spend the new BOM as recklessly as they ran their companies in the ground!

Where are the pink slips???? Heck Paulsen and Greenspan should both share some of this responsibility as well!

Obama announced his economic team let's hope he is hard at work and comes out of the gate with a jolt on Jan 20th.

plm -

darn you, I was just getting ready to leave and saw your post. : )

So, a quick reply from me...

It looks like we agree on the management side of the problem, however I also think that a BIG problem is the UAW and the many over-paid work force. $70/ hour to screw in some bolts? Ok i'm minimalizing the tasks, but still the employee perks and benefits that have to be met are just as outrageous for these companies to run to be profitable as well.

Hey, when you want to run a profitable company, costs need to be cut everywhere.

ok, g'night, i'll leave you with that and hear from you later.

bye,

-m

Now that is "change" I can believe in!

-m

Mike,

Yes I agree with Jozie on this. Michael Moore made the best suggestion. As with most companies, traditionally when management fails to produce... it is usually the top of food chain, the executives, that gets cut in corporate America.

My guess is at the next annual meeting the shareholders will vote this management out simply because that's what they do when the stocks prices drop drastically.

Obama was right the big 3 should have brought a plan and showed us that they would at least try to reduce costs. The auto industry isn't as smart as they want the world to think they are. If they were, they would have taken advantage of the opportunities they had to correct this problem prior to it imploding on them!!

Yes, one blogger said it right Honda & Toyota do have plants here as well. As in any industry the strong survive the weak perish.

If GM, Ford, & Chrysler can't keep up with the world, then maybe they deserve to fail. The executives should have to sell those corporate jets, take reductions in their gigantic salaries, and eliminate their golden parachutes. If they make money again then they can grow and reward themselves again.

As with regular small business owners there is no reward when business is down..same should be the case with all those mega companies seeking a bail out!

I say no Bail out with out Big Brother making darn sure that no one is abusing the monies they have received as (BOM) bailout money. If they are... it's not to late to correct those that have already received bailouts... And they should be tightly scrutinize any additional recipients of forthcoming BOM.

And let them all know before they abuse this gift of a reprieve from failure, that ....If the government “giveth” the government can “taketh” away...as well!!!

Obama's tax hike for the rich may be delayed
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 22 mins ago

WASHINGTON – An economic crisis, rising joblessness and a credit squeeze can make a president-elect refine his words. Today's word is "repeal." During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to repeal President George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy ahead of their scheduled expiration in 2011.

It was part of how Obama would pay for an overall net tax cut aimed at low- and middle-income taxpayers, and an effort to bring what he called "fairness" to the tax system.

No one is talking tax hikes now.

Over the weekend, Obama said he has charged his new economic team with devising a plan that would create or preserve 2.5 million jobs over two years. He said the plan would include broad spending plans as well as the middle- and low-income tax cuts he described during the campaign.

Aides later said the plan would not include any of the tax increases Obama, as a candidate, had said he would impose on taxpayers who make more than $250,000.

Asked Monday when those hikes might go into effect, Obama said, "Whether that's done through repeal, or whether that's done because the Bush tax cuts are not renewed, is something that my economic team will be providing me a recommendation on."

If repealed early, Obama's tax increase on the rich would have generated significant revenue, but not enough to compensate for the cost of his tax cuts. An analysis by the Tax Policy Center, based on January 2008 income projections, estimated that the increases would result in about $43 billion in revenue in 2009 and $45 billion in 2010. Those numbers would be smaller now, as the economy has lowered expected incomes.

Obama's economic advisers say he will not propose any tax increases in the economic plan he unveils in January. It is to be focused entirely on job creation and economic recovery.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/fact_check_obama_taxes/print;_ylt=At75SomOBVJgtolzMPh6ZK0Gw_IE

I know this is off topic but this is important to the voice of the public on TV.

L A CITY COUNCIL TO SEIZE PUBLIC CABLE CHANNELS
Internet exclusive: On Full Disclosure® Video News Blog
Video Blog Time: 12:00 min.
Release Date: Nov 22, 2008

http://fulldisclosure.net/Blogs/61.php

Los Angeles, CA. The Full Disclosure Network® presents an exclusive video report on how the L. A. City Council is prepared to seize control of the public access cable channels. Having conducted almost invisible public input and debate on 2007 state legislation that revised the City's franchising powers regarding public access requirements, this video reveals the City is going to take over control of the public channel operations and content.

Under the City plan, Time Warner will apparently go unchallenged regarding the closing of all fourteen public access cable studios and channels previously required under cable franchise agreements. Instead, the city is opting for only four government controlled channels. Local public cable television producers who oppose the city's seizure of the channels are looking into to legal action to restore the 14 public channels.

Appearing in this 12 minute Video News Blog are:

Councilman Tony Cardenas, Chairman Council Committee on ITA
David R. Hernandez, Civic Activist & Producer (www.savepublicaccess.wordpress.com)
Morris Griffen, Community Activist & Producer
Devon Shane, Independent Producer
Leslie Dutton, Full Disclosure Network Producer & Host
ITA Staff members and Representative from the City Attorney’s office

The City plan makes no requirement for a dedicated channel for public use. The recommendation was approved the Council Committee on Information Technology Agency & General Services (ITAGS) on Tuesday, November 11, 2008. With the apparent backing of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and after the proposal sat "in committee" for almost two years, an ITA staff member finally and publicly presented a report to Council Committee members Bernard Parks and Chairman Tony Cardenas, who appeared , in the video, to be surprised about the impending death of the public access cable channels.

The Council Committee’s action is expected to be ratified at a meeting of the full Council on Tuesday, November 25 (agenda item 16).

At the end of the video viewers are asked to click on the link below where they can send an automated letter to each and every one of the City Council members, City Attorney, City Controller and the Mayor.

Jozielee -

Yes, I have always been against a bailout of any kind - especially the original $700 billion that has since been modified and increased. I've stated that in a free market, which I believe in, that certain businesses should be allowed to fail. Sometimes businesses gain by capitalizing on the competition's weaknesses or shortcomings. So, I am not advocating anything different than my original concerns with the bailout monies.

Yes, I do believe in less government and as I've stated before, that is one of my biggest complaints about the Bush administration is that he went against "traditional" republican/conservative values and he increased the size of government. As a conservative, I do believe in less government and more individual accountability.

With regards to Paulson, that guy needs to be held accountable for going against the original request of the uses of the bailout monies. We all need to be made aware of the uses of the monies that are being sought, it is fascinating how a few miliion here and there can easily get mis-placed or mis-used by BOTH sides in Washington.

I do disagree with your comment about this being an issue of mis-use by only the republican leadership as it involves all of the Washington players that includes the democratic Congress as well.

And, with regards to Michael Moore... well, it is rare that I agree with this (couldn't resist sorry) socialists' views... however, (big heavy sigh here)... I do agree with many of his points listed that pertain to holding those responsible accountable for their actions. I do not agree with his proposal for a Nationalized Bank #10, but he does raise several key points that I can agree with:

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=237

Bottomline: I do not feel this is a partisan issue. I feel most in Washington are responsible for this crises. Democrats and republicans alike have mis-used, mis-allocated, and mis-managed finances for several years.

I do think that if president-elect obama was to come out soon and say that his administration will re-consider his proposed tax re-structuring that it would help create stability in the markets and thus stop this current freefall. This would stop the need for more bailout monies. I feel that if obama went on to say that when things stabilize economically he will re-examine the proposed tax issues. Wall Street likes stability and the old adage applies "buy on the rumor and sell on the news", because proposed increases in capital gains taxes will effect many. There is still much uncertainty in the proposed increases, which I think is one reason why there is no sight in end for the current collapse.

But... But, I do think obama is playing things wisely by surrounding himself with knowlegdable players around him. I do believe, he will consider all recommendations before acting.This crises as several in the past, so too will pass. Government needs to tighten its belt to help get through these lean times.

-m

Fed Pledges Top $7.4 Trillion to Ease Frozen Credit (Correct)
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=arEE1iClqDrk&refer=home

By Mark Pittman and Bob Ivry
Enlarge Image/Details

(Corrects Issa’s committee assignment in 10th paragraph)

Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government is prepared to lend more than $7.4 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers, or half the value of everything produced in the nation last year, to rescue the financial system since the credit markets seized up 15 months ago.

The unprecedented pledge of funds includes $2.8 trillion already tapped by financial institutions in the biggest response to an economic emergency since the New Deal of the 1930s, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The commitment dwarfs the only plan approved by lawmakers, the Treasury Department’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Federal Reserve lending last week was 1,900 times the weekly average for the three years before the crisis.

When Congress approved the TARP on Oct. 3, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson acknowledged the need for transparency and oversight. Now, as regulators commit far more money while refusing to disclose loan recipients or reveal the collateral they are taking in return, some Congress members are calling for the Fed to be reined in.

“Whether it’s lending or spending, it’s tax dollars that are going out the window and we end up holding collateral we don’t know anything about,” said Representative Scott Garrett, a New Jersey Republican who serves on the House Financial Services Committee. “The time has come that we consider what sort of limitations we should be placing on the Fed so that authority returns to elected officials as opposed to appointed ones.”

Commercial Paper, FDIC

Bloomberg News tabulated data from the Fed, Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and interviewed regulatory officials, economists and academic researchers to gauge the full extent of the government’s rescue effort.

The bailout includes a Fed program to buy as much as $2.4 trillion in short-term notes, called commercial paper, that companies use to pay bills, begun Oct. 27, and $1.4 trillion from the FDIC to guarantee bank-to-bank loans, started Oct. 14.

William Poole, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said the two programs are unlikely to lose money. The bigger risk comes from rescuing companies perceived as “too big to fail,” he said.

The government committed $29 billion to help engineer the takeover in March of Bear Stearns Cos. by New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. and $122.8 billion in addition to TARP allocations to bail out New York-based American International Group Inc., once the world’s largest insurer. Yesterday, Citigroup Inc. received $306 billion of government guarantees for troubled mortgages and toxic assets. The Treasury Department also will inject $20 billion into the bank after its stock fell 60 percent last week.

“No question there is some credit risk there,” Poole said.

‘No Transparency’

Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said risk is lurking in the programs that Poole thinks are safe.

“The thing that people don’t understand is it’s not how likely that the exposure becomes a reality, but what if it does?” Issa said. “There’s no transparency to it, so who’s to say they’re right?”

The worst financial crisis in two generations has erased $23 trillion, or 38 percent, of the value of the world’s companies and brought down three of the biggest Wall Street firms.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average through Friday is down 38 percent since the beginning of the year and 43 percent from its peak on Oct. 9, 2007. The S&P 500 fell 45 percent from the beginning of the year through Friday and 49 percent from its peak on Oct. 9, 2007. The Nikkei 225 Index has fallen 46 percent from the beginning of the year through Friday and 57 percent from its most recent peak of 18,261.98 on July 9, 2007. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is down 78 percent, to $53.31, on Friday from its peak of $247.92 on Oct. 31, 2007, and 75 percent this year.

‘They Got Snookered’

Regulators say they hope the rescue will contain the damage and keep banks providing the credit that is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy.

Most of the spending programs are run out of the New York Fed, whose president, Timothy Geithner, is said to be President- elect Barack Obama’s choice for Treasury Secretary.

The money that’s been pledged is equivalent to $24,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. It’s nine times what the U.S. has spent so far on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Congressional Budget Office figures. It could pay off more than half the country’s mortgages.

“It’s unprecedented,” said Bob Eisenbeis, chief monetary economist at Vineland, New Jersey-based Cumberland Advisors Inc. and an economist for the Atlanta Fed for 10 years until January. “The backlash has begun already. Congress is taking a lot of hits from their constituents because they got snookered on the TARP big time. There’s a lot of supposedly smart people who look to be totally incompetent, and it’s all going to fall on the taxpayer.”

New Deal

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal of the 1930s, when almost 10,000 banks failed and there was no mechanism to bolster them with cash, is the only rival to the government’s current response. The savings and loan bailout of the 1990s cost $209.5 billion adjusted for inflation, of which $173 billion came from taxpayers, according to a July 1996 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office, since renamed the Government Accountability Office.

The 1979 U.S. government bailout of Chrysler consisted of bond guarantees, adjusted for inflation, of $4.2 billion, according to a Heritage Foundation report.

The commitment of public money is appropriate to the peril, said Ethan Harris, co-head of U.S. economic research at Barclays Capital Inc. and a former economist at the New York Fed. U.S. financial firms have taken writedowns and losses of $666.1 billion since the beginning of 2007, according to Bloomberg data.

“This is the worst capital markets crisis in modern history,” Harris said. “So you have the biggest intervention in modern history.”

Federal Lawsuit

Bloomberg has requested details of Fed lending under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and filed a federal lawsuit against the central bank Nov. 7 seeking to force disclosure of borrower banks and their collateral.

Collateral is an asset pledged to a lender in the event a loan payment isn’t made.

“Some have asked us to reveal the names of the banks that are borrowing, how much they are borrowing, what collateral they are posting,” Bernanke said Nov. 18 to the House Financial Services Committee. “We think that’s counterproductive.”

The Fed should account for the collateral it takes in exchange for loans to banks, said Paul Kasriel, chief economist at Chicago-based Northern Trust Co. and a former research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

“There is a lack of transparency here and, given that the Fed is taking on a huge amount of credit risk now, it would seem to me as a taxpayer there should be more transparency,” Kasriel said.

$4.4 Trillion

Bernanke’s Fed is responsible for $4.4 trillion of pledges, or 60 percent of the total commitment of $7.4 trillion, based on data compiled by Bloomberg concerning U.S. bailout steps started a year ago.

“Too often the public is focused on the wrong piece of that number, the $700 billion that Congress approved,” said J.D. Foster, a former staff member of the Council of Economic Advisers who is now a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. “The other areas are quite a bit larger.”

The Fed’s rescue attempts began last December with the creation of the Term Auction Facility to allow lending to dealers for collateral. After Bear Stearns’s collapse in March, the central bank started making direct loans to securities firms at the same discount rate it charges commercial banks, which take customer deposits.

In the three years before the crisis, such average weekly borrowing by banks was $48 million, according to the central bank. Last week it was $91.5 billion.

Lehman Failure

The failure of a second securities firm, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., in September, led to the creation of the Commercial Paper Funding Facility and the Money Market Investor Funding Facility, or MMIFF. The two programs, which have pledged $2.3 trillion, are designed to restore calm in the money markets, which deal in certificates of deposit, commercial paper and Treasury bills.

“Money markets seized up after Lehman failed,” said Neal Soss, chief economist at Credit Suisse Group in New York and a former aide to Fed chief Paul Volcker. “Lehman failing made a lot of subsequent actions necessary.”

The FDIC, chaired by Sheila Bair, is contributing 20 percent of total rescue commitments. The FDIC’s $1.4 trillion in guarantees will amount to a bank subsidy of as much as $54 billion over three years, or $18 billion a year, because borrowers will pay a lower interest rate than they would on the open market, according to Raghu Sundurum and Viral Acharya of New York University and the London Business School.

Bank Subsidy

Congress and the Treasury have ponied up $892 billion in TARP and other funding, or 12 percent.

The Federal Housing Administration, overseen by Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steven Preston, was given the authority to guarantee $300 billion of mortgages, or about 4 percent of the total commitment, with its Hope for Homeowners program, designed to keep distressed borrowers from foreclosure.

Most of the federal guarantees reduce interest rates on loans to banks and securities firms, which would create a subsidy of at least $6.6 billion annually for the financial industry, according to data compiled by Bloomberg comparing rates charged by the Fed against market interest currently paid by banks.

Not included in the calculation of pledged funds is an FDIC proposal to prevent foreclosures by guaranteeing modifications on $444 billion in mortgages at an expected cost of $24.4 billion to be paid from the TARP, according to FDIC spokesman David Barr. The Treasury Department hasn’t approved the program.

Automakers Excluded

Bernanke and Paulson, former chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, have also promised as much as $200 billion to shore up nationalized mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The FDIC arranged for $139 billion in loan guarantees for General Electric Co.’s finance unit.

The tally doesn’t include money to General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. Obama has said he favors financial assistance to keep them from collapse.

Paulson told the House Financial Services Committee Nov. 18 that the $250 billion already allocated to banks through the TARP is an investment, not an expenditure.

“I think it would be extraordinarily unusual if the government did not get that money back and more,” Paulson said.

‘We Haircut It’

In his Nov. 18 testimony, Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee that the central bank wouldn’t lose money.

“We take collateral, we haircut it, it is a short-term loan, it is very safe, we have never lost a penny in these various lending programs,” he said.

A haircut refers to the practice of lending less money than the collateral’s current market value.

Requiring the Fed to disclose loan recipients might set off panic, said David Tobin, principal of New York-based loan-sale consultants and investment bank Mission Capital Advisors LLC.

“If you mark to market today, the banking system is bankrupt,” Tobin said. “So what do you do? You try to keep it going as best you can.”

“Mark to market” means adjusting the value of an asset, such as a mortgage-backed security, to reflect current prices.

Some of the bailout assistance could come from tax breaks in the future. The Treasury Department changed the tax code on Sept. 30 to allow banks to expand the deductions on the losses banks they were buying, according to Robert Willens, a former Lehman Brothers tax and accounting analyst who teaches at Columbia University Business School in New York.

‘Wells Fargo Notice’

Wells Fargo & Co., which is buying Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia Corp., will be able to deduct $22 billion, Willens said. Adding in other banks, the code change will cost $29 billion, he said.

“The rule is now popularly known among tax lawyers as the ‘Wells Fargo Notice,’” Willens said.

The regulation was changed to make it easier for healthy banks to buy troubled ones, said Treasury Department spokesman Andrew DeSouza.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said he was angry that banks used the money for acquisitions.

“The only purpose for this money is to lend,” said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat. “It’s not for dividends, it’s not for purchases of new banks, it’s not for bonuses. There better be a showing of increased lending roughly in the amount of the capital infusions” or Congress may not approve the second half of the TARP money.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Pittman in New York at mpittman@bloomberg.net; Bob Ivry in New York at bivry@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: November 24, 2008 12:28 EST

Enough of the bail-outs. Who is going to bail out the small businesses that are struggling???? It looks like we are only bailing out the big money making CEO's and their friends. We try to teach our children to live and learn, if you make a bad decision, fix it and go on..... I think we should let that happen to the automakers, big companies etc.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

People of Lakota Launch Private Bank for Only Silver and Gold Currencies

Hill City, Lakota - November 24, 2008 - In a stunning development, the Free & Independent People of Lakota announced today the introduction of the world's first non-reserve, non-fractional bank that accepts only silver and gold currencies for deposit.

"Today is a great day for us, a day that we begin to exercise our rights as a sovereign people with strength and pride," comments Canupa Gluha Mani, Tetuwan Council Judicial Member of the Cante Tenza "Strong Heart" Warrior Society. Mani's 2500 member warrior society has contracted to provide private security services for the Free Lakota Bank.

"We invite people of any creed, faith or heritage to unite in an effort to reclaim control of wealth. It is our hope that other tribal nations and American citizens recognize the importance of silver and gold as currency and decide to mirror our system of honest trade." Mani, also known as Duane Martin Sr, is a member of the delegation that declared Lakota independence on December 17th, 2007.

The launch of the Free Lakota Bank is also an incredible victory for StrikeForce Technologies, the access control experts providing depositor Out-of-Band Authentication. As the Free Lakota Bank does not require a name, photo identification or social security number to transact, StrikeForce's technology met the challenge of limiting fraud without requiring controversial biometric technology.

The People of Lakota invite depositors to establish accounts and invest in the Free Lakota Bank's General Investment Fund, the fund it uses to develop profitable free-market enterprise inside Lakota territory. Mani comments that the nation despises donations and charity, and instead insists instead on "earning our wealth by creating value for those that place their faith and trust in our system."

The Free Lakota Bank issues an American Open Currency Standard Approved currency, making it readily accepted for trade by over 10,000 merchants and businesses across the continent.

For more information, visit the Free Lakota Bank website at http://press.freelakotabank.com

Contact:
Canupa Gluha Mani
service@freelakotabank.com
P.O. Box 512
Hill City, LK 57745
888.784.9996

Why Washington Cannot Prevent Depression

by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. 11-10-08
Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D.

Fear of depression is sweeping the nation.

Millions of Americans are consumed with anxiety, abandoning their old shop-till-they-drop habits, slashing their spending, trying desperately to pinch pennies for the coming hard times.

Thousands of bankers are snapping shut their coffers, tightening their lending standards, hunkering down in anticipation of a massive economic downturn.

Sophisticated investors also see the handwriting on the wall. They’re pulling out of hedge funds, selling their mutual funds, rushing their money to the safety of Treasury bills.

Even the established media, often late to see the dangers, is beginning to speak out more loudly …

CNN Money: “The rapid deterioration of labor markets points to a sharp decline in hours worked and output in the fourth quarter. This is likely to lead to a decline in personal consumption to the tune of 5% or so for that period. Since that makes up about 70% of the economy, the stage has already been set for real GDP to shrink at a more than 4% rate in the fourth quarter.”

New York Times: “As dozens of countries slip deeper into financial distress, a new threat may be gathering force within the American economy — the prospect that goods will pile up waiting for buyers and prices will fall, suffocating fresh investment and worsening joblessness for months or even years. The word for this is deflation, or declining prices, a term that gives economists chills. Deflation accompanied the Depression of the 1930s. Persistently falling prices also were at the heart of Japan’s so-called lost decade after the catastrophic collapse of its real estate bubble at the end of the 1980s.”

The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and hundreds of other newspapers around the world are all asking essentially the same question: Are we sinking into a depression? How bad will it be?

The answer, they say with unanimity, lies with Washington. That’s why General Motors has suddenly switched PR tactics, now admitting it will run out of the cash it needs to stay in business. It wants a Washington handout.

For more of the Article: http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/why-washington-cannot-prevent-depression-27968

- mike:

Remember when you tried to convince the Democrats who blog here that we needed to re-elect the Republicans because they believe in less government? Doesn’t Paulson represent the Republican Party? Wasn’t Paulson asking for a government hand out so the economy wouldn’t crater? Then he flipped the game by using the money to save Wall Street, not Main Street.

I seem to also recall he assured Congress the money wouldn’t pay golden parachutes. Yet last week, during Congressional hearings, we learned huge incentives were paid to bank execs so they wouldn't quit their jobs. Money siphoned off the $850billion earmarked to save the economy. Tell me, if the bankers quit, where were they going to find another job when so many banks are going bankrupt? Why did they need incentives?

You’re right, we need less government . . . money . . . being misused by Republican leadership.

Now you’re advocating not bailing out the auto industry.

You know who makes the most sense to me? Michael Moore (a Barack Obama supporter). Born and raised in Michigan, Moore grew up in communities supported by the auto industry. He says we have to throw out the execs and keep the workers. Why must employees suffer for mistakes made by their leaders? Michael Moore may be right.

Keeping the faith . . .

Craig;

It isn't just the $700 billion + another 150 billion that was added by the Senate..

There is another $2 trillion in loans by the FED of taxpayer $'s who we can't find out who that loans were given to.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aatlky_cH.tY&refer=worldwide

Fed Hides Destination Of $2 Trillion In Bailout Money
http://nationalexpositor.com/News/1484.html

Mike - On this issue and with your argument I agree with you whole heartedly.

Why wouldn't Citibank just be lumped into that $700 billion (BOM) that is already proven to not work? Why do we have to throw more money at inept bad management just so another CEO can ride out on another "golden parachute"? What's that old term from the Bible, "You don't throw pearls after swine"! You don't keep throwing good money at something terribly run and expect the money to change the circumstances. Mike - This bailout should have been thought out better and considered a short term loan to be paid back with massive strings attached! Mainly NO CEO's compensation packages get paid out until the Loans are repaid in full. This is horsepuckey!!

Economist Max Keiser calls Paulson a financial terrorist..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwd2bVQZfBo

Today the Auto Industry's Big 3.... tomorrow Citibank?

When will that line in the sand be drawn? Enough with the bailouts already. I agree with the many who have stated, treat the money being given out as a loan that needs to be re-paid ... or lose the collateral i.e. the company. Sell it off at an auction that would repay its debts before the CEOS.

I heard a scary comparison over the weekend that two similar cars the Ford Taurus and the Toyota Avalon (I think it was those two) which are similar cars but differ in price by about $2000. because the Ford business model incorporates higher costs to build that incorporates many additional perks into the final price. I heard also (and as someone else posted) that pensions are often paid for several years MORE than employess have worked for the company. This is on top of the exorbitant CEO salaries.

We do not need a Nation that is dependant on the government. That includes business and industry as well.

If these greedy and inept CEOs can not run their company's with the business model they have, what makes us think throwing more money at the situation will solve the problem? If it ain't workin' - try another method!

Small businesses need a business plan to prove they can re-pay a loan. Let's see what the business model is to turn around these ailing companies.

Where is all this magic money supposed to come from? My great great grandchildren who are many many years away from being born won't be too happy with repaying this debt...

-m

Worst of financial crisis yet to come: IMF chief economist

Nov 22 07:04 PM US/Eastern
http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=081122230427.xqkurulg&show_article=1

The IMF's chief economist Olivier Blanchard, seen here in Ma...

The IMF's chief economist has warned that the global financial crisis is set to worsen and that the situation will not improve until 2010, a report said Saturday.

Olivier Blanchard also warned that the institution does not have the funds to solve every economic problem.

"The worst is yet to come," Blanchard said in an interview with the Finanz und Wirtschaft newspaper, adding that "a lot of time is needed before the situation becomes normal."

He said economic growth would not kick in until 2010 and it will take another year before the global financial situation became normal again.

The International Monetary Fund on Friday promised to help Latvia deal with its economic crisis after it assisted Iceland, Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia and Pakistan.

But Blanchard said the IMF was not able to solve all financial issues, in particular problems of liquidity.

Withdrawals of capital leading to problems of liquidity "can be so significant that the IMF alone cannot counter them," he said, adding that massive withdrawals of investments from emerging countries could represent "hundreds of billions of dollars.

"We do not have this money. We never had it," he said.

The IMF had spent a fifth of its 250 billion dollar (200 billion euro) fund in the last two weeks, Blanchard added.

He also urged central banks around the world to cut interest rates, after the Swiss National Bank made a surprise one percentage point rate cut Thursday.

The central banks "should lower interest rates to as close to zero as possible," he said.
---------------------------------------

See even the chief economist of the IMF says the worst is yet to come. See NO Conspiracy Theory here, just the facts...

Also you hear about the credit markets and how banks need to loan credit again.. Something by law they are not able to do..

"A national bank has no power to lend its credit." (Farmers & Miners Bank vs. Bluefield National Bank, 11 F2d 83, 271 US 669)

"Banking Associations from the very nature of their business are prohibited from lending credit." (St. Louis Savings Bank vs. Parmalee 95 U. S. 557)

"National Banks may lend their money but not their credit." (Norton Grocery vs. Peoples National Bank, 144 S.E. 501, 151 Va. 195)

"Neither, as to include in its powers not incidental to them, is it a part of a bank's business to lend its credit. If a bank could lend its credit as well as its money, it might, if it received compensation and was not careful to put its name only to solid paper, make a great deal more than any lawful interest on its money would amount to. If not careful, the power would be the mother of panics . . . Indeed, lending credit is the exact opposite of lending money, which is the real business of banking, for while the latter creates a liability in favor of the bank, the former gives rise to a liability of the bank to another." (American Express Co. vs. Citizens State Bank, 194 NW 429)

"A bank can lend its money but not its credit." (First National Bank of Tallapoosa vs. Monroe, 135 Ga 614, 69 SE 1123, 32 LRA)

"It is not within the statutory powers for a national bank, even though solvent, to lend its credit . . ." (First Intermediate Credit Bank vs. Herisson, 33 F 2nd 841)

"A national bank, under federal law being limited in its powers and capacity, cannot lend its credit." (Howard & Foster Co. vs. Citizens National Bank of Union, 133 SC 202, 130 SE 758)

"Banking corporations cannot lend credit." (First National Bank of Amarillo vs. Slaton Independent School District, Tex Civ App 1933, 58 SW 2d 870)

"There is no doubt but what the law is that a national bank cannot lend its credit or become an accommodation endorser." (National Bank of Commerce vs. Atkinson, 55 Fed Rep 465)

population blog

I see that you are one of those individuals who have to label people "Mr. Conspiracy Theory!" so you can vilify them..

I'm maybe not optimistic because i can see the handwriting on the wall of the Federal Reserve Banking system..

But i am optimistic about life, my company and that we can End the FED..

I can see that KTLA missed the ball again on the news.

In every city that there is a branch of the Federal Reserve Bank there were protests and speakers telling the truth about the unconstitutional, privately owned banking cartel..

In 39 cities there were protest across the country..

I am optimistic that the American people will wake up and remember the words of Thomas Jefferson..

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

One thing i'm not to optimistic on is the nations health freedom dealing with natural health.

The natural health industry will be outlawed on Dec. 31, 2009.. Yep Health foods stores will be outlawed, vitamins will be reclassified as meds and you will only be able to get them with a prescription from a doctor..

The law and trade commission is Codex Alimentarius.

You can find out more about it at: http://www,healthfreedomusa.org

SO you believe in censorship of those you don't agree with by by asking if i would GO away..

A funny thing about truth it is sharper then a 2 edged sword and it cuts right to the bone..

Seems you just can't handle the truth or you could ignore it..

wadada

General Motors to Invest $1 Billion in Brazil Operations

So let me get this straight; our taxpayer dollars are expected to pay for an expansion of the GM plant in Brazil, if the auto maker bailout happens??

Forgive me; I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

Article Below
General Motors to Invest $1 Billion in Brazil Operations -- Money to Come from U.S.
Rescue Program

By Russ Dallen
Latin American Herald Tribune staff

General Motors plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market, said the beleaguered car maker.

According to the president of GM Brazil-Mercosur, Jaime Ardila, the funding will come from the package of financial aid that the manufacturer will receive from the U.S. government and will be used to "complete the renovation of the line of products up to 2012.
"

"It wouldn't be logical to withdraw the investment from where we're growing, and our goal is to protect investments in emerging markets," he said in a statement published by the business daily Gazeta Mercantil.

Meanwhile, he cut the company's revenue forecast for this year by 14% to $9.5 billion from $11 billion, as the economic crisis began to cause rapid slowdowns in sales.

GM already announced three programs of paid leave, and Ardila added that GM Brazil "is going to wait and see how the market behaves in order to know what decision to take" with regard to possible layoffs.

For Ardila, the injection in Brazil's automobile sector of 8 billion reais ($3.51 billion) recently announced by the federal and state governments of Sao Paulo "has already begun to revive sales," which fell by 12% in October.

The executive said that the company will operate a "conservative" scenario in 2009 with an estimated production of 2.6 million units, and another more "optimistic" that contemplates sales of 2.9 million.

This year sales will reach 2.85 million vehicles, which represents a growth of 15% over last year.
so please explain why they are going bankrupt again???

Deficit ? We Don't Care About No Stinking Deficit

Obama promises Afghanistan more aid

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/23/afghanistan.karzai.obama/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Obama Vows Swift Action on Vast Economic Stimulus Plan

New York Times, United States - 17 hours ago
By JEFF ZELENY and JACKIE CALMES WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday signaled that he would pursue a far more ambitious plan of spending ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/us/politics/23obama.html?bl&ex=1227502800&en=fa4bc3774ee8c553&ei=5087%0A

Federal deficit could top $1 trillion

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/11/23/federal_deficit_could_top_1_trillion/

Jared,

There's nothing wrong with staying optimistic- through the lessons that life teaches us.

But we would not expect you to understand that!

Mr. Conspiracy Theory!

Why don't you try to look at a glass as half full sometime, instead of half empty with a hidden agenda, at the bottom!

Just this time however Maybe we should take your advice.

If we stick our heads in the ground for the rest of the day

Will YOU go away?

Maybe if we bury our head in the sand maybe the economy will go away...

President-elect Barack Obama is developing a economic recovery plan, which he announces in his weekly YouTube address at change.gov

http://www.youtube.com/user/ChangeDotGov

God bless you right back!! My dear friend Dan!!

I've missed hearing from you! I hope you are feeling better. I'm glad you like the recipe for life it inspires me also!

If you are going to keep it as a screensaver.. M ay i suggest you make it pretty!! Change the font's and colors that what I did when I put it on my bulletin board right next to my desk!

I hope it helps you to stay optimistic when things get you down like it does me!

Just know that you may have lost a battle but the war isn't over yet! I know that equal rights for everyone is in all of our future!! You will win the next prop 8. It maybe called prop 9 next time but whatever it is called it will happen!

I hope you go out and have some fun this weekend Dan!

Take care my friend, and remember what a great man said who never gave up....

"Keep Hope Alive" Martin Luther King

Big HUGS back to you PLM! That was wonderful! I had to copy and paste that and I think I'm going to save it as .jpg so I can use it as a screen saver on my PC. Thank you for that - it's wonderful! God Love you PLM!

Okay the messed up economy made me post this...just think of it as a great big hug!

A GREAT RECIPE FOR LIFE...

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It
is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about
what is going on in your life. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My
purpose is to __________ today. I am thankful for______________'

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that
is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan
salmon, broccoli , almonds &walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues
of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead
invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a
college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument.
agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years,
will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything - but you have to ask Him.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends
will. Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I
am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings.
you'll be smiling before you know it.

Changing our prospective sometimes is a good thing!!