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Stimulating ‘Real’ Economy Is Not the Fed’s Goal

By Rick Ackerman Posted on December 4, 2012, 12:01 am EST Last Updated December 4, 2012, 1:45 am EST

[The following was posted to the Rick’s Picks forum a while back, but I’m republishing it here because it makes some interesting points that deserve a wider audience. The author goes by the handle ‘Buster,’ and his argument is directed at another forum regular, Gary, who reflexively plays the role of Mr. Sunshine no matter how ugly the news or bearish the facts. RA]

The government is not really trying to get the economy moving, at least not the real one. Government is trying to perpetuate a debt money system for the benefit of the relative few who gain from it long term. Since when has evicting millions of families after handing their creditors billions had a ‘real’ positive economic effect? I mean, what ‘real’ productive benefit have these people added to the economy other than the possible turnover of their homes to yet more sharks? Yes, this economic activity may add some numbers to GDP, but so would nuking NYC and rebuilding it again. Allowing millions of people to die from cancer needlessly is great for the drug business, too, for that matter, and their stock price, no doubt. Not so good for human beings and the real prosperity of society in reality, though.

If the aim was really to get the economy moving, I can come up with a better solution in around five seconds: The infrastructure’s falling to bits everywhere. Why didn’t government just spend the trillions on rebuilding it, thus providing millions of jobs and wages to spend, and preventing millions of bankruptcies, too, with the opportunity for ordinary people to keep their debt payments up? America is rich in natural resources, so nearly all the spending would have been internal, so no real problem there. Better still, why doesn’t government print its own debt-free money like it used to instead of having to pay interest to a non-federal central bank owned by foreign Bankster parasites, just like JFK tried to do just before some lone gunman shot him for no reason? It may not seem right nowadays but it’s actually how it used to be before the Banksters got to run the show. Government created currency for real things that benefit the country, and people didn’t go bankrupt through perpetual debt and having the money tap deliberately turned off all of a sudden. Look it up! And before anyone tells me that’s not very ‘Free Market’, neither is pouring money into the unproductive bank accounts of useless parasites. Yet, still it’s being done with gay abandon, now to the tune of $40+ billion a month. Next to none of that money ever sees the ‘real’ economy, which is instead being stifled with every new government rule and regulation.

Tell Me Why…

BTW, Gary, why did the 9/11 towers collapse in a controlled explosion including one which wasn’t even freaking hit? I mean, am I just missing something here or could there really be a conspiracy? I’ll continue just in case:  Why was Iraq invaded soon after Sadam declared a non-US$ oil exchange after having his country’s oil stolen by Kuwait using horizontal drilling technology supplied by western corporations? Why is Iran suddenly targeted as the world’s pariah after declaring its own non-US$ oil exchange? Why was Gaddafi wiped out soon after asking for Libya’s gold reserves to be repatriated? Why was Western manufacturing exported to cheap-labour countries under agreements signed by government for the sole benefit of corporations, when the eventual result would undoubtedly be economic ruin for the masses? Why is cheap immigrant labour allowed in when millions are unemployed and losing everything to their creditors?

If I wasn’t so sure of your correct prognosis, I’d almost believe that it’s all about the money instead of the real economy. Maybe even a conspiracy, if I dare use the word. You need to get your head out the numbers ‘cause a train wreck is surely coming your way.

***

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  • Marc Authier December 5, 2012, 11:49 pm

    I am pleased to learn that the FED is not there for Americans. Hope they destroy for a long time this country as Monsanto and Dupont will also destroy its health. You deserve it. Boy you deserve it specially when I think about your damn politicians and psychopathic banksters and your GMOs.

  • Andrew Gutterman December 4, 2012, 2:57 pm

    If anyone thinks the Fed is succeeding with its stimulus then read what the Fed has to say about consumer borrowing:

    http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/national_economy/householdcredit/DistrictReport_Q32012.pdf

    So who is fooling who?

    • Oregon December 5, 2012, 2:56 am

      What strikes me when I look at the report is, yes, foreclosures, delinquencies, etc. are down across all categories, except student loan delinquencies are climbing like a rocket, but I wonder how much of that is REAL. By ‘real’ I mean that if a creditor stops reporting because they stuffed the note in the Fannie/Freddie toxic shit can, and got par value in return, and Fannie/Freddie under conservatorship report to nobody, then of course those numbers are all looking better. But is that real? And because the FED is now buying those notes back does it really matter?

      Someone smart explain this to me.

  • Rick Ackerman December 3, 2012, 6:39 pm

    Gary, it was kind of you to have given the forum a rest by not weighing in on this topic. However, if you do choose to re-enter the fray, please start by answering the question that I posed of you earlier: What specific bets have you made to play the “big move” up that you confidently expect in stocks?

  • Jacques Redou December 3, 2012, 6:03 pm

    Much of this commentary focuses on Bankers Machinations to control the world.

    It’s not just bankers. It’s anybody and everybody who can profit by law rather than by merit. Doctors are doing it. Lawyers are doing it and Welfare queens are doing it.

    I side with the Libertarians.

    However, there is a QUESTION.

    Suppose all the Cheats were defeated tomorrow. Suppose everybody went back to work on a Truly Level Playing Field?

    Suppose a return to Sound Money, reasonable interest rates, and the rule of Law.

    Suppose prosperity returns and we have a REAL new American Century?

    That Leaves:

    1)world pop doubling in just a few years.

    2) fish stocks depleted

    3) fresh water supplies inadequate.

    4) pollution rampant

    5) more Nukes

    6) more biological weapons

    7) more fighting over resources

    8) more starvation

    9) more drugs

    10) more plagues

    11) more sickness

    12) more war

    The Free Market does not fix these ProblemS.

    Everybody talks about kicking the (financial) cAn down the road.

    We’ve been Kicking these ProblemS down the road For Much Longer.

    SO, fix the System all you want. New car in the driveway and a chicken in the Pot.

    Your children are still going to have a very bumpy ride.

    Who is speaking for them?

    • Robert December 3, 2012, 6:27 pm

      ” It’s not just bankers. It’s anybody and everybody who can profit by law rather than by merit. ”

      WOW…..

      What a powerful summation.

      I applaud you Jaques for encapsulating so much wisdom into a single sentence.

    • Andrew Gutterman December 4, 2012, 1:29 am

      This reminds me of an email conversation I’m having with a friend. He is a closet Republican, although he votes Independent. He wants government to cut spending before taxes are raised. Well we could do that, but in the end if we want to balance the budget taxes are going to have to soar.

      Since I don’t think either solution is going to happen I fall back on my preferred view which is that the private economy will perpetuate this mess until they don’t.

      It’s anybody’s guess what happens then.

    • mario cavolo December 4, 2012, 6:30 am

      “profit by law rather than by merit.”… Very nice Jacques. The doctors and lawyers are doing it and that entire system is another outrageous ponzi scheme. Doctors, knowing insurance companies are paying, are becoming millionaires charging outrageous fees, I’ve read several articles about this, and certainly, a similar problem with the law industry. People just gaming the system, has nothing to do with value and merit and it is getting far far down the line.

      Two years ago, my wife went to the hospital in LA for what ended up nothing more than a 15 minute consulation. The hospital sent us a bill for $1000. Here in China, its $3-5 to walk into a good hospital, register and see a doctor for whatever ails you.

      Cheers, Mario

    • Cam Fitzgerald December 4, 2012, 6:39 am

      You have a “Smiley Face” for more starvation, Jacques?

    • Buster December 4, 2012, 8:30 am

      Well said Jacques
      But this is very much the thinking of TPTB, & one that I believe comes from a sick psychological condition to start with, so I would be wary of believing it entirely. There are very real problems but there are very real solutions too. Much of the problem seems to stem from an inadequate & compromised governmental/judicial system, which rather than allow true prosperity, has fostered a system of scarcity,with a debt based monetary system being a good example & one that is fundamental to the process of the economy & life.
      Also, a study of suppressed technology looks to be an indictment of the real motives of those who clearly seek power & dominance over others, the ‘great men’ of our world. JP Morgan vs Teslar is just one such example.
      I recognize that there is a world of infinite abundance that has been buried for the sake of the twisted & sick mentality of these ‘great men’, the Rockefellers, Morgans, Rothschilds & many other playground bullies held in such high esteem.
      Even population levels can be shown to be related to poverty, & generally level off in developed lands.
      All our vision of our reality is seen through the twisted minds that rule us, manifested as the reality of our world order of things, & scarcity rather than abundance.

  • Buster December 3, 2012, 3:55 pm

    I figure that I should take this opportunity to expand on some of what I said in the comment by quoting from the excellent documentary, ‘The Money Masters’, by Bill Still:

    Quote:
    The American Revolution.
    By the mid 1700’s the British Empire was nearing it’s height of power around the world, but Britain had fought 4 costly wars in Europe since the creation of their privately owned central bank, the Bank of England. The cost had been high. To finance these wars the British parliament here had borrowed heavily from the Bank. By the mid 1700’s the governments debt here in Britain was £140 million, a staggering sum for those days. Consequently the British government embarked on a program of trying to raise revenues from their American colonies in order to make their interest payments To the Bank. But in America it was a different story. The scourge of a privately owned central bank had not yet hit. In the mid 1700’s pre-revolutionary America was still relatively poor. There was a severe shortage of precious metal coins to trade for goods. So the early colonists were forced to experiment with printing their own, home grown paper money, Some of these experiments were successful. Franklin was a big supporter of the colonies printing their own paper money.
    In 1757 Franklin was sent to London. He ended up staying for the next 18 years here, nearly to the start of the American Revolution. During this period the American colonies began to issue their own money. Called Colonial Script, the endeavour was very successful. It provided a reliable medium of exchange, and it also helped to provide a feeling of unity between the colonies. Remember, Colonial Script was just paper money. Debt free money, printed in the public interest & not backed by Gold or Silver coin. In other words, it was a totally fiat currency.
    One day, officials of the Bank of England asked Franklin how he would account for the new found prosperity of the colonies. Without hesitation he replied

    “That is simple. In the Colonies we issue our money. It is called Colonial Scrip. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry to make the products pass easily from the producers to the consumers. In this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power, and we have no interest to pay to no one.”-Benjamin Franklin.

    This was just common sense to Franklin, but you can imagine the impact it had on the Bank of England. America had learned the secret of money, and that genie had to be returned to its bottle as soon as possible. As a result, parliament hurriedly passed the Currency Act of 1764. This prohibited colonial officials from issuing their own money, and ordered them to pay all future taxes in Gold or Silver coins. In other words, it forced the colonies on a Gold or Silver standard. For those who still believe that a Gold standard is the answer for Americas current monetary problems, look what happened to America after that. Writing in his autobiography, Franklin said:

    “In one year, the conditions were so reversed that the era of prosperity ended, and a depression set in, to such an extent that the streets of the Colonies were filled with unemployed”- Benjamin Franklin

    Franklin claims that this was even the basic cause for the American Revolution.

    “ The colonies would gladly have borne a little tax on tea and other matters had it not been that England took away from the Colonies their money, which created unemployment and dissatisfaction. The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was a PRIME reason for the Revolutionary War”-Benjamin Franklin.

    End quote.

    So, the point to understand from all the financial & economic problems of the World today, is that the problem is the way money is created as debt. Debt free money is the servant of man, debt based money makes man the servant of money & of those who control it. ie the Banksters who own the central banks.

    It’s all about the money, honey!!

    • Buster December 3, 2012, 4:17 pm

      Sorry, Colonial ‘scrip’, not ‘script’.

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 4:34 pm

      True!

  • Andrew Gutterman December 3, 2012, 3:43 pm

    Tried to post this off topic posting in the previous commentary, but it got deleted when I did the posting on the real GNP, so I will do so here, knowing its going to set Rick off. It will be interesting to read his responses.

    For the record I joined the Republican party in the late 60’s and voted straight Republican ticket from Nixon to the first Bush term in 2000. After that the Republican platform made me want to vomit, so I became a right of center moderate Republican, which means I’m now a liberal when viewed in the context of the ultra-far right Republican party today.

    http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/revenge-of-the-reality-based-community/

    The key paragraph in this article is this:

    “The final line for me to cross in complete alienation from the right was my recognition that Obama is not a leftist. In fact, he’s barely a liberal—and only because the political spectrum has moved so far to the right that moderate Republicans from the past are now considered hardcore leftists by right-wing standards today. Viewed in historical context, I see Obama as actually being on the center-right.”

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 4:34 pm

      If this argument were a dart that you attempted to throw, I’d be calling 911 for you right now because you obviously missed the mark so completely to thus have injured yourself in the process…

    • Cam Fitzgerald December 3, 2012, 4:44 pm

      My off-topic posts get deleted too, Andrew. It is not personal. Rick just prefers us to respect the subject at hand (although I still try to slip one past him from time to time).

      &&&&

      Can’t recall having deleted any of your posts in a long while, Cam, although I do it routinely when Gary, Martin, Andrew or Jill stray off-topic or cast Obama in a favorable light. Several have cited a nausea factor, and I myself am not immune. RA

  • PhotoRadarScam December 3, 2012, 2:58 pm

    The reason why the spending didn’t help the ‘real’ economy is because that would have also contributed to inflation, and they are trying to keep that under control.

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 4:19 pm

      Huh?

      &&&&&&

      He’s correct, RWD. It is one thing to digitally credit the banks so that they can ‘buy’ Treasury debt, but quite another to put actual money into the actual economy for actual purchases. We’ll see whether the Feds are ready to take this potentially hyperinflationary step when it comes time to bail out public health care and pension benefits beneath the Federal level. RA

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 6:16 pm

      I don’t see how they are keeping it under control guys. As per John Williams last I read we were running at a 9% per annum clip on the old (read true) standard measure. Over the course of history this has been the banksters preferred method used to “steal” from the sheople… Maybe we’re focusing on 2 different aspects…

    • Carol December 3, 2012, 6:49 pm

      True Red also who creates the inflation in the first place? The Fed so how can they be “trying to keep that under control” when it is they who create it???

      Pure silliness, to say the least. What the Fed is trying to do is keep their creation – INFLATION – out of the hands of the people – ie “wage inflation”.

    • mario cavolo December 4, 2012, 6:25 am

      It seems to me relative inflation will never stop and it seems to me that eventually it will have to hit U.S. middle class wages and that would be when inflation really starts humming, yields start climbing and there is another risk off sell off. Until then, perhaps for the next year or so, it looks like stocks will hold up, bonds will decline back down but all within the range that the elite cronies are trying to “manage”. Yet, alot of other things can happen between now and then to impact these scenarios.

      Cheers, Mario

    • Cam Fitzgerald December 4, 2012, 6:36 am

      Yes, good point, Rick. Official inflation needs to managed at a low level to avoid the doomsday event of rising interest rates that would accompany all that real money circulating around the economy. If anything, this is what keeps Ben awake at night. The debt cannot be repaidd. How much worse might it be at 6% rates?

  • mario cavolo December 3, 2012, 12:26 pm

    Thanks Buster.

    In a nutshell, how does the FED giving billions to the banks to cover their garbage debt “stimulate” the economy? This wanton, grossly in our face welfare for the rich makes me want to vomit.

    Here is Buster correctly arguing that the FED may as well also start allocating billions to other specific “projects” outside of the banking industry’s problems, which actually WOULD help the citizens of the country as a whole. The very fact that they are not puts a finger on how outrageous the current state of affairs is in American politics, banking, etc.

    China has employed many and grown well on meaningful infrastructure build out, just as was done in the U.S. post war. The U.S. needs its infrastructure rebuilt and that will provide jobs and put the money back IN the economy where it belongs. But they argue that it would be “too” expensive or something? Relatively speaking then, how expensive is pouring billions into the banker’s coffers to produce NOTHING?! except to secure the ability of the wealthy to keep playing their wealthy games.

    Meanwhile, taxing HFT transactions is the best idea I’ve heard in a long while. There are taxes on cigarettes, liquor, sales tax, gas and much more, all of which are a tax on a transaction by a consumer with a job. Yet here are brokerage houses setting up machines to replace humans, making this HFT transaction solely and only at a profit as a whore machine milking the system.

    Cheers, Mario

    • Cam Fitzgerald December 3, 2012, 3:34 pm

      Yes, I have a similar worry Mario in that too much emphasis was placed on monetary solutions when perhaps it was fiscal intervention that would have served us better. Like you suggest, an infrastructure program and public works are much needed yet the debt hole is so deep now it is almost too late unless the economy starts moving again. I wonder too if and when Fiscal alternatives are proposed and approved they will not be similar to a final last bet on one big race. Our own last chance cafe perhaps?

    • mario cavolo December 4, 2012, 6:18 am

      Hi Cam, as my response to Gary above, this scenario is no less than an outrage right in our faces. The elites have taken complete control and with the complicit media masterfully spinning that they haven’t. Even my own father, an intelligent man doesn’t get it. I told him, the top 1% have accumulated all the wealth, the middle class are doing worse than ever, he doesn’t see it, and for one reason only, he watches too much TV, all those F&^%$ing news shows spinning their nonsensical BS on both sides of the political line, all completely ignorning the root issues that its simply about money and power.

      I am currently reading The Penguin Book of World History by J.M. Roberts, and on the two chapters on Rome. The story is the same, absolutely the same.

      However, I caution anyone to think this situation is going to come to a head even possibly not in our lifetimes. Historically boys and girls, such situations go on for in fact, centuries before a true crumblin really occurs. I feel like at this point, the U.S. govt is just getting started in moving the country into more and more inevitable and unavoidable socialist policies needed to support the massacred masses, continued concentration and control by the govt and corporate elites, along with continued inflation and decline of currency purchasing power. That IS today and that IS the future clear as day to see.

      Actually, all such governance could actually be done well! if it was the will of leaders to do their F^%$ng jobs they are voted in to do “of the people, by the people, for the people.”

      THAT is the key difference between China and the U.S. in today’s world. Much of the same systemic issues also exist in China, however there is a huge difference in that governance is also deeply committed to “harmonious society” and improvement of the domestic economy for its citizens; it is integral to what they are doing here and laid out crystal clear in the implementation of their series of Five Year Plans, the results are plain to see with the rise of the middle class here. What the F&^% has the U.S. govt leaders across America done for the middle class for the past twenty years to improve and support and build up their lives? Little, instead in fact, they have been more and more burdened. This is old news, it is the factual state of affairs.

      Now there is hope on the horizon, as I’ve recently read in an article by John Thomas of the population demographic impacts which also underpin such troubles and the future picture seems pretty clear. The next twenty years for the U.S. will continue to be rough as the 85 million boomers retire, followed by the 65 million Gen “X’ers. But that’s when the good news finally kicks in; the current generation of twenty somethings will hit their prime spending years, there will be a labor shortage driving up wages and there will be a housing shortage supporting real estate, so a new cycle of growth will begin again from whatever bottom the society is at.

      Settle in as best you can for the next two decades in America, which, in the history of such societal and economic developments, is a blink of an eye. If you do have any ability to expatriate, do it and enjoy the change. The worse that can happen to you if you choose, and you ARE free to choose, is that you teach English on a college campus somewhere in Asia for twenty bucks an hour plus housing and a return ticket home once a year. You’ll sock away $12k in a year and have a new experience. Beats Walmart, eh?

      Cheers, Mario

  • Buster December 3, 2012, 10:15 am

    I feel I should, dare I say it, say a word in Gary’s defense.
    Gary has actually said that he doesn’t necessarily disagree with the issues raised, & on many occasions has himself stated that he understands that things are much as most here see them. I think where he differs is in not believing that the system is actually malevolent, seeing it as benevolent failure & accidentally destructive of the common good.
    Based on the insurmountable evidence in many fields, both historical & current, I can only conclude as I & others here do, that we are in the jaws of a beast & in an almost unbelievably dire situation on a global scale due to this malevolence coupled with the blindness & irresponsible attitude of the masses.
    As far as Gary’s bullishness on stock price levels based on digital units of debt based money id concerned, he could be right, as I believe that it is not unprecedented for economic collapses to go hand in hand with papering over the cracks leading to much higher prices of favored items or instruments.
    For me, though, it’s not really the ‘point’, but I’m really only concerned with the greater good.

    • gary leibowitz December 3, 2012, 7:03 pm

      Thanks Buster, you pretty much covered my rational regarding my optimistic slant. As for the atrocities that might, or might not have happened thru possible government conspiracies, I leave that up to good fact checking reporting. I don’t claim to know what happened in each instance, and in some cases it would seem logical that our government played a role. I just don’t always look for nefarious reasons at first glance. There is a notion on this board that everything is done by crazed people out to control us. A person that has the propensity to deceive for his or her gain will naturally think everyone behaves the same. I am sure that most of the governments motives fall into two camps. Pleasing the party’s objectives, as well as making decisions for personal reasons, such as re-election. Sometimes they conflict, but most of the time they don’t.

      I find it amusing that as each here rail against this government, we see that our freedoms are still better than most around the world. Our ability to choose a job path, as well as influence our fellow man has not been hindered by Big Brother. We still can choose our life’s course, for good or evil. We debate, hold inquiries, allow independent analysis, and allow all news and the interpretation of events to be presented to the public. I call that free speech and public checks and balances against government wrong doings. This hasn’t changed some horrific and sometimes evil events from happening, but it usually gets to be self examined and understood. Not a perfect world, but one that seems to work better than most.

      I prefer to view government as individual people that try to balance the needs of others with their party and themselves. If greed and corruption slants that goal in favor of personal gains than I would obviously be disappointed.

      If you think about the debt crisis it only happened because governments tried to please everyone. To give tax cuts to the wealthy and balance that with middle class subsidies and social programs is a win-win for political gain, but a destructive path economically.

      I do conclude that the final outcome will not be fixable. I just prefer to lessen the destructive blow on its citizens with government intervention. The free enterprise notion that people and corporations can police themselves has allowed the mortgage implosion to happen. I do believe government has a role to restrict human nature from falling victim to his darker side.

      I can’t bring myself to view the world as victim or prey. I also don’t conclude every event that turned bad was a result of a massive government conspiracy. I am not totally naïve in thinking that governments, for the perceived good of its nation, don’t do horrendous things. I know we have. I prefer to believe it is more the exception.

      My point has always been to stop greed from occurring at the source. A sense of servitude should be placed on politicians. Unfortunately to do so requires strict transparency and restrictions. The Saint Francis model of austerity should be enacted in government posts. An unrealistic outcome, but one where we should be stiving to get as close to that as possible.

      &&&&&&

      541 more bloviating words, and still no mention of the specific bets you made to leverage the big rally you’ve been predicting. How about it, Gary?       RA

    • fallingman December 3, 2012, 8:09 pm

      Gary, I think your reply is more thoughtful than usual, so let me respectfully address one of your points.

      “…our freedoms are still better than most around the world.”

      This reminds me of an encounter I had almost 30 years ago with a guy who’d been sent out on the road by some Rockefeller non-profit to promote the idea of one world government, which was to be structured on a federal model. I asked him what would make him believe such a system would work any better worldwide than it was working in this country.

      The man was clearly no starry-eyed dreamer type. Thoroughly trained in the art of rhetoric, he tried to trap me by asking, “Don’t you think we have the best government in the world?”

      I replied, “That’s like trying to identify the most honest man in a roomful of thieves..” BAM. My best shot…the stiffest uppercut I could throw.

      He then turned away from me as if we had not said a word to each other and starting talking about something else as if I hadn’t touched him. Very slick. Slick and sinister. And very scary. These bastards people mean business.

      YES, we are one of the freer countries on earth, but that’s owing to what remains of our libertarian legacy, not because we’re actively protecting that legacy.

      Saying we’re not so bad off is like saying that a wastrel trust fund baby isn’t so bad off, because he still has as few million in assets left after blowing through $100 million.

      And the trend is in exactly the wrong direction. We’re headed for the abyss in terms of civil rights.

      I wouldn’t celebrate what we have left. We need to get busy protecting and reclaiming, but as JJ says, I’m afraid that horse is dead, dead, dead.

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 8:19 pm

      Gary, why don’t you answer something, anything directly for a change?

      Answer the 911 WTC question directed at you in the essay or the issue Rick asked you to address below.

      Your response to Buster was weak.

      As far as the crimes and atrocities, the initial event may be the “exception” but the path that the fallout from the event puts us on is the “rule”. And thus all of the scams that follow from it are just that.

      Good fact checking and reporting no longer exist in the outlets you seem to take your news from.

      History tells us we should look for nefarious reasons first.

      The parties are facades.

      Most of the key political tools are installed.

      If love how you elected to use the current tense. They’re closing off our freedoms if you care to look you will see this. You may as well be back at Little Bighorn saying “This really isn’t too bad so far…” right before the war cries were heard.

      Greed and corruption always slant those people with the exception of a few, maybe Ron Paul et al. but some even question his authenticity so now resolve yourself to be greatly disappointed.

      No, the debt crisis happened because the government and other power structures are full of corruption and they know that they can always bill the sheople for the “cleanup”. No Gary, it was a con from day one and your pals Carter, Clintoon and many other tools played they employed played a large role in bringing it about. Where are the clawbacks Gary?

      The government is a syndicate Gary. It is the dark side. Maybe the con is that government being used to convince hundreds of millions not to be wary? Has that ever occurred to you? Maybe people would naturally be more skeptical if the cons didn’t have the government’s blessings…

      You conclude that you have to change the nature of the modern politician. I will let that speak for itself.

      Why do want to continue to entrust something that has failed so miserably in every way? Absolute insanity or propaganda or both…

      Answer this for me, I have yet to have a taker…

      I’m hoping someone can help me to solve a problem that I have. I cannot figure out what a “fair share” is. My brother and I both live in Simple Land which taxes income at 10%. My brother earned 100,000 unconstitutionally printed fiats last year and I earned 10,000 unconstitutionally printed fiats in comparison. At the end of the year, through payroll deduction, my brother had paid 10,000 fiats
      to the Ministry of Confiscation while I paid 1,000 fiats to the very same department of the legalized mafia in Simple Land. My brother, the good soul that he is, paid 10x the amount of fiats that I paid because we are taxed at the same rate. Yes, it’s a simple percentage calculation but I still can’t figure out which one of us didn’t pay our fair share. Please help!

    • fallingman December 3, 2012, 8:53 pm

      Red,

      This is such an important issue you raise. “Tax fairness” would be if we all paid the same damn amount regardless of income. Forget a flat percentage. Give me a one size fits all tab. Why should anyone be asked to pay more than anyone else? That’s assuming, of course, that any tax on income is legitimate, which it isn’t.

      The so-called flat tax, as illustrated by your example, is still a “progressive” tax. It’s like mooching off a relative who’s done well.

      The current approach and any finely tinkered version they come up with by January 1 still boils down to this, as my father used to say…”Find out where the money is and take it.”

      Has nothing to do with fairness. The thief doesn’t contemplate the fairness of his various plunderings. He just wants the damn money.

    • Carol December 3, 2012, 8:57 pm

      “Fair share” is just propaganda to get neighbors to convict those who don’t want to be stolen from any longer.

      ALL TAXATION is THEFT period.

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 8:59 pm

      Exactly fm! That is the answer I have been hoping for! I have felt exactly as you for a quarter century!

      I am just dying to hear from say a “gary” for example on this one. I can’t wait to read how that side of this argument isn’t even happy with the unfair percentage approach and that’s why they need even more. No one has ever dared respond to this little exampled from say “gary’s” side. They know that it is unwinnable.

      “I’ve come to the conclusion that your percentage system sucks!” – to paraphrase and bastardize the General from WarGames

    • Erin December 3, 2012, 10:01 pm

      Gary,
      Let me just touch on a few points that you say… and then please read the important stuff at the end of this post as we are in very dangerous times to any freedom loving American….

      You say…
      I prefer to view government as individual people that try to balance the needs of others with their party and themselves. If greed and corruption slants that goal in favor of personal gains than I would obviously be disappointed.
      (There is no “If” anymore, we are completely taken over by greed and corruption)

      We debate, hold inquiries, allow independent analysis, and allow all news and the interpretation of events to be presented to the public
      (In no way, shape or form does the public get the news presented to us without bias and true facts which is one of the most dangerous things that this nation has to deal with)

      If you think about the debt crisis it only happened because governments tried to please everyone. To give tax cuts to the wealthy and balance that with middle class subsidies and social programs is a win-win for political gain, but a destructive path economically.
      (The debt crises and the coming debt crises are because capitalism is not allowed to finish the job. In true capitalism, every entity that was involved in the debt crises should have gone bankrupt, which would have flushed the filth from the system and let the real businesses come in and buy the assets for pennies on the dollar and that includes that F-ing hypocrite Warren “oh goly shucks” Buffet and all his businesses.

      Here is what everyone is missing and I will tell you why this nation is one short tax hike from it’s demise….It is not the fiscal cliff in the article that is the danger. It continues to be the threats and rhetoric coming from the pissant. He continues to wage a war on the classes and the races. He knows that he has the majority of takers on his side which is growing on a daily basis. This is not about our country fixing any problems, instead , this is what I see as the final power grab to tip the country into the communist state.by brainwashing the masses. If and when the republicans in the house cave in on these types of threats and rhetoric, you can say goodbye to our way of life for good because it will only foster more takers who believe that the pissant is the great and powerful one to take them to the promised land and put the rest of us in boxcars to you know where. Mark my words…Term limits will be going soon after and the takeover will be complete.
      http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/03/obama-willing-to-go-over-fiscal-cliff-according-to-white-house-leaks/

    • redwilldanaher December 4, 2012, 1:09 am

      More stuff falling into place Gary:

      U.S. manufacturing declined in November to its weakest level since July 2009, the Institute for Supply Management reported. The ISM’s index fell to 49.5 from 51.7 a month earlier, below the 51.2 reading forecast by analysts.

    • Oregon December 4, 2012, 2:31 am

      Wow people! Great discussion. Only problem is that if we manage to find a way to fix all these things we would all be assassinated.

      Red, I like your points about flat taxes being disproportionate and I think part of the problem lies with gov’ts role in our economy and the corporate/personal tax structures.

      And Erin, your points about pure capitalism and letting those involved in the crisis go bankrupt and letting solvent entities clean up are well taken.

      The problem I see with both arguments is the role that gov’t plays in our economy and the corporate/personal tax structure. I am not sure what is meant by ‘pure’ capitalism, but I am sure we have not had it in a very long time, and in the case of free markets, I just don’t think they exist when you get to a large scale economy.

      The free market is fabulous until someone steps in with big guns. Any market ‘should’ be allowed to function without being steered by aggression or force, but that is not reality, so we need the gov’t to step in with a judicial system to sort it out. And in order for our gov’t to have bigger guns than another entity who wants to steer our markets, we have to have a budget for our gov’t.

      So the question is, who should pay for the protection of our ‘free’ market? And by the way of course, this includes our interstate transportation system and our air traffic systems, and inter-coastal transport systems, etc…

      In my mind the burden should rest very heavily on corporate taxes. If I understand correctly this country didn’t have personal income tax until the 20th century. So corporate taxes would have filled the budget, which seems reasonable since so much of what gov’t does, or did, actually should do, is in response to business activities. Protection of the environment, consumers, and markets is all in response to corporate aggression. And even security abroad is almost entirely in response to corporate interests, at least in the last 60+ years.

      But life on this planet is survival of the fittest, like it or not, and just as businesses survive this way, the gov’t must help to facilitate this competitive edge against other entities and therefore must gamble a bit by borrowing today to invest in infrastructure to support domestic business and it’s interests overseas. And as long as production is efficient, the business cycle is favorable, and administrative/gov’t costs are reasonable it should all work out, and businesses can pay their ‘fair share’ of the burden to help the gov’t be civil servants and keep the ‘free’ market working…

      …Until some people start noticing just how much money is sloshing around to keep this thing going and decide they want a bigger piece. And members of the gov’t decide they should meddle in the affairs of the citizenry to further their own interests. And corporate (fascist) greed pervades.

      Our gov’t is a cancer. Our media is a disgrace. And our society is an undisciplined mob.

      The only way to rebuild this wreck is one person at a time. Let those that want abortions have them freely. Let those that don’t want to work suffer. Shine a light on greed and allow it to fail. Shine a light on decency and allow it to flourish.

    • Erin December 4, 2012, 3:44 am

      Oregon,
      Great lines…Our gov’t is a cancer. Our media is a disgrace. And our society is an undisciplined mob.

      and…Let those that don’t want to work suffer.

      Ding, Ding, Ding…Winner!

      How about real capitalism that is allowed to operate from start to finish and not be bailed out. Capitalism works beautifully when unencumbered by government crooks and allowed to fail.

      As far as that second line..How long would these parasites sit on their ass if no more freebies were coming their way? Does anybody think they would just sit there and starve themselves and their families? Hell no! Kick them in the ass and send them on their way. There are plenty of places in this country to go for work. People just don’t want to go where the work is and upset their way of life. It is so much easier taking a free ride off the back of hard working citizens in society. And if they did starve? Who’s fault is that? Not Mine. Lesson learned and maybe the next parasite will think twice about sitting on their ass!

      I have worked for government in this country for the last 27 years now and all I will tell you without getting into specifics is the arrogance of everyone involved has been utterly astonishing since we have been under a certain regime. You have no idea what your dealing with.

    • mario cavolo December 4, 2012, 5:58 am

      Gary, even I, who often appreciate and defend you have to wonder what you are thinking.

      I am not suggesting anything nefarious, but am I not sane and intelligent to notice that an outrageous “welfare for the wealthy” program has been initiated by our govt to the tune of TRILLIONS of dollars which are being solely and only given to WHO?

      WEALTHY BANKER EXECUTIVES making tens of millions of dollars per year…oh your books look bad, we’ll cover them for you with debt issued on the backs of citizen taxpayers and oh by the way , we love you so much we also are going to allow you to continue making your multi-million dollar annual incomes. We expect you the banks to LEND OUT THE MONEY, but in fact you DIDN”T yet here we are STILL going to, for the THIRD phase enter into an open-ended $50 billion covering of the shit loans on your books due to your mismanagement and greed, and we STILL are not giving any such gracious handouts to cover other struggling businesses in America and we STILL are allowing you to continue the accumulation of your wealth.

      They did this for the auto companies, remember? Thankfully, it worked, loans were paid back, the auto companies are now doing quite well. Gary, that is how it is supposed to work. That is NOT happening in this outrageous scam the entire country is paying for to give bailouts to wealthy people.

      How could you possibly be missing this? Do we want to call it nefarious? Perhaps not nefarious, but wanton outrageous in your face egregious misuse of funds to the detriment of the U.S. and even the world’s economy might be at the very least, accurate.

      Cheers, Mario

    • mario cavolo December 4, 2012, 6:38 am

      Carol, “all taxation is theft” ? Oh come on, that’s an outrageous extreme. I’m not saying that taxation has not gotten out of control, but you live in a society which has public stuff that underpins your life that needs to somehow be paid for. You think the entire society can work with only private business making decision? That has never happened in the course of human history. The problem isn’t the need for basic taxation, the problem is when people in and out of the govt game the system and/or get greedy.

      Cheers, Mario

    • DK December 4, 2012, 6:40 am

      Gary,
      It seems to me that you don’t understand the difference between a “politician” and a “statesman.”
      We recently had a “statesman” retire from Texas’s 14th congressional district, what we are left with are mostly politicians.

    • mario cavolo December 4, 2012, 7:31 am

      Gary,

      “Our ability to choose a job path, as well as influence our fellow man has not been hindered by Big Brother.”

      Have you completely lost your mind? My twenty something cousins who are all lovely, intelligent people back in America are GRATEFUL when they can find a minimum wage part time job in a restaurant at $10/hr. The “ability” to improve your life, to choose a job path is there, but the opportunities at the end of that path have withered to dried tumbleweeds DUE TO the choices of Big Brother, our govt leaders who make the choices which control and direct the policies and direction and capital of the country. The width of the canyon to get from where you are to where you hope to be has gotten wider and wider due to two factors 1. societal,demographic, technology developments, which are passive factors, and 2. Governance, which in America has reached heights of poor governance for the good society that are a disgrace.

      Another point, you and others talk about supposed “freedom” in the United States. Check Naomi Wolf’s Give Me Liberty to understand how the political system as willfully BLOCKED the ability of a citizen to actually make any impact at all. They say, oh yes you are FREE to protest, you’re not free to protest in China. See, you’re free! What a bunch of BS, you’re free to protest on THIS location only and after you get a permit from the city, blah, blah, blah. Yes you are free to complain and piss and whine all you want about specifics of the govt, which you are not in China, but in fact you have been rendered powerless to actually do anything about it. This is not my opinion, check out the book I mentioned.

      Cheers, Mario

    • mario cavolo December 4, 2012, 7:42 am

      Here in China, people work on the street selling whatever they can to survive and take care of their families; it is classic mercantile market thinking. I walk down the street, a man is sitting there with a box and some shoe polish, he shines my shoes I give him a $1. Next a guy on a motorcycle gives me one mile ride to my office, I give another $1. We’re all doing what we do and it works and its normal.

      BUT: In America, and yes even here in China, they don’t have legal license to do what they are doing; the police often come to chase them away because they are making money without having purchased the required permit and not paying their taxes. Ok, so I understand it.

      Back in America, in fact, the level of rules and regulations are even worse. They have all your hands tied behind your back if you do need to make a living. You can’t sneeze without getting fined or needing a permit. So, on top of screwing you over, they stop you from doing what you need to do to survive, to take care of your family. Try sitting on the street to polish shoes or selling an item from a cart attached to the back of your bicycle and you know.

      Cheers, Mario

    • Buster December 4, 2012, 9:06 am

      “You can have any color you want,…..just as long as it’s black!” springs to mind, Mario. Just an illusion of free will & choice that’s becoming less of an illusion the further things ‘progress’.
      I often hear people complain about the feckless unemployed. It’s usually pretty condemning of them, and I can understand that. However, I believe we need to see what’s really going on at a deeper level. From what I can see the system has deliberately stifled creativity, productivity & work for the majority.
      Many years ago I decided to demonstrate the illusion of laziness by employing the laziest man on our firm to help me do a private job. This man had been tied to working for an hourly rate with no incentive other than watching the clock tick by. My terms were that of a fixed price for him doing the job to a certain standard, no matter how quickly he got it done. I can tell you that he worked his butt off & was a different person entirely.
      Where free commerce can be inspiring of work ethic, our rulers have seen to it that this natural tendency of man is stifled. All for the apparent purpose of centralizes power & control, that then enables the money interests to mop up the economy for itself. So we blame the unemployed for their feckless attitude instead of blaming the two predator tag team of Government dancing hand in hand with the Global Corporatists.

    • Buster December 4, 2012, 9:15 am

      Gary. I’ll give a couple of quotes to ponder over when considering that the problems are all just an accident, the failures of good intentions & a benevolent order of things:

      “Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry & commerce…And when you realise that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation & depression originate.” – President James Garfield, 1881. (assassinated a few weeks later).

      “On September 1st, 1894, we will not renew our loans under any consideration. On September 1st we will demand our money. We will foreclose & become mortgagees in possession. We can take two-thirds of the farms West of the Mississippi, and thousands of them East of the Mississippi as well, at our own price…Then the farmers will become tenants as in England…” 1891 American Bankers Association memo to all its members a full three years in advance of the date. -as recorded in the Congressional record of April 29th, 1913.

    • mario cavolo December 4, 2012, 1:43 pm

      Hi Buster,

      Interesting, I was recently having a chat with a local Chinese neighbor. I had said “Well Spain has big problems, there’s 25% unemployment there.”

      His emphatic emotional dismissive response? “Lan!” which in Chinese means “lazy”.

      I really understood the guy’s point, half the people who are supposedly unemployed are able to get a job, they choose not to because its not to their liking, they can get handouts, etc. And yes, as you said, the system that leans more toward communism/socialism will encourage them to behave that way. The broken system is indeed, feeding these growing problems…

    • Carol December 4, 2012, 4:37 pm

      Mario -> Carol, “all taxation is theft” ? Oh come on, that’s an outrageous extreme. I’m not saying that taxation has not gotten out of control, but you live in a society which has public stuff that underpins your life that needs to somehow be paid for.

      First I want to clarify what I meant was All DIRECT Taxation is theft. Indirect taxation can be avoided by either not undertaking that avoidable activity or by passing the tax on to your customers. For instance, a direct taxable – excise – activity would be manufacturing alcohol. As a manufacturer of alcohol if I didn’t like paying the tax I could either not manufacture alcohol or I could pass the tax onto my customers.

      But DIRECT taxation by definition cannot be avoided. For example if everyone’s “wages” (defined in the irc as pay received for working for the government and is not direct as you could chose to not work for the government if you didn’t like paying the “excise tax”) were really taxable as “income” (defined in the irc as “corporate gain”) then that would be direct taxation. Also quite astonishing is that W2/W4 tax forms are defined by the irc as GIFT Tax forms because you aren’t legally obligated to pay them. That is also why the individuals representing satin have to put codes in your files that say that you are involved in an excise taxable activity like manufacturing guns or like me, running a timber farm in Puerto Rico (one of the territories that congress has exclusive jurisdiction over). I know this for a fact as I have received copies of my irs files and have used the irs code books to “decoded” these files and they state that I own and run a timber farm in Puerto Rico – lol I never even been to Puerto Rico, hey but what is a few lies (fraud) between friends!!!

      But you say the 16th amendment allowed congress to institute a direct tax on your “wages”. Ha ya the Supremes have stated repeatedly that the 16th gave congress no new taxation power AND more importantly the constitution can’t be self conflicting so if the 16th added new taxing powers then the clause (I forget which one) that states the ALL direct taxes need to be apportioned (and the “wage” taxes are not apportioned) would be conflicting with the 16th so that apportionment statement would have had to been removed/repealed and it was not.

      OK so now onto your most illiterate statement that I need to pay for all those “perks” and bennies that I receive (at the point of a gun). What Mario pray tell are these ‘services” that I receive that I want that I could NOT pay for if I wanted to use them instead of being forced to pay for them whether I want them or not.

      Also study history until the passage of the 16th (coincidently passed at the exact same time as the Federal Reserve Act – no not nefarious at all) this country ran just fine with the legally allowed taxes collected on – Duties, Imposts, and Excise taxes. So Mario tell me what the wonderful services are that I should have to be “extorted” to pay them that could not be paid for if I CHOOSE TO USE THEM????

  • BMac December 3, 2012, 10:01 am

    Sure, many people got the picture now.
    “Ladies and Gentlemen” – there has been a “Gang” seizure of power in the USA. Sorry to say it, but this gang, GS and the rest, r now attempting to “take” Europe. too. Financial terrorism at work.
    You have choice: stay or leave.

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 4:31 pm

      Yep, it is finally sinking in a little here and there in the Magic Kingdom, er, the USSA. “Captured”…

  • DK December 3, 2012, 8:17 am

    When will people grow up?

    You admitted so much yourself, Jill, he is an evil, yet you cast your support for him without any hesitation. But, hey, that’s your problem, you live with it. So much for his rhetoric about rebuilding the country by giving him another 4 years, as he is currently seeking to establish unchecked power to raise the debt ceiling as he pleases. This was parlayed by his appointment, Mr. Tax Cheat Secretary of the Treasury Geithner.

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/270373-cornyn-obama-crazy-to-claim-unilateral-debt-ceiling-power

    What’s next, no term limits?

    Nobody cares how you decide distinguish between the 2, both “front runners” would march us down the road to ruin.
    Your partisan bickering is absolutely gross and it comes at the disgusting expense of your fellow citizens.
    When you really want to face facts, or truth, send a letter to your POTUS and ask him where the “transparency” has been this whole time.

    • John Jay December 3, 2012, 4:38 pm

      DK,
      Regarding Obama, I read a comment alledgedly made by Vlad Putin that perfectly sums up the political situation here in the USA.
      The comment: “Obama was elected by illiterates.””
      Then consider that Romney was definitely no prize package and you have the matching bookends of a rock and a hard place for us!

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 4:39 pm

      Nice work DK in slapping her Jilly… When I read Jill stuff or Gary stuff or Martin stuff I honestly wonder if they are part of the Ministry of Information. Just shows the power of the inculcational, er, educational system and State Media that otherwise intelligent people are so hopelessly chained to the theater view of things…

      • Rick Ackerman December 3, 2012, 6:04 pm

        Their guy may have won, but I’m not going to allow this forum to become a place where they come to rub our faces in it.

      • Oregon December 3, 2012, 7:39 pm

        I wouldn’t worry about it Rick. Time will prove, and for some it has already, where peoples heads were and what their faces were rubbing during these current times. Besides, those mentioned make for excellent satire.

        As long as we have Robert, Buster, and Jacques, et al, continue to write great pieces the rest will take care of itself, and you continue to host an amazing blog.

      • Buster December 4, 2012, 9:56 am

        Rick, by strange coincidence MaxKaiser.com’s show starts with talking about the main subject of today’s essay; the Central Banks & debt as money.

      • Chuck December 4, 2012, 8:58 pm

        does anyone have any opinions on this guy’s outlook?

        http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/12/04/bill-gross-pimco-investments/?iid=Lead

      • Oregon December 5, 2012, 3:12 am

        His outlook… I’m not sure. He oversees BIG money, but can his public statements be trusted? I don’t know.

        I can comment on his looks, however. I am pretty sure he is a Hyperdine model similar to this one… http://alienanthology.wikia.com/wiki/Bishop_(341-B)

  • DK December 3, 2012, 7:04 am

    Blankfein getting Secret Service treatment.

    http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/white-house-deploys-secret-service-to-stop-press-f

    Practically threw up in my mouth reading the subtitle, “Wall Street pays its respects to the president it tried to defeat.”

  • kara December 3, 2012, 6:13 am

    Why are the peaches rotting on Calif trees? Migrant workers not allowed in – California kids too good?

  • Jill December 3, 2012, 2:59 am

    Obama tried to spend on infrastructure but was blocked by Congress.

    &&&&&

    Jill: You furnished a link, but it was to a ‘Washington Post’ story, for Pete’s sake. That’s like citing ‘Huffington Post’ to buttress an opinion about George Bush. Can’t you do any better? Surely there’s a more respectable source for whatever silly point you’re trying to make. RA

    • Buster December 3, 2012, 9:37 am

      Jill, I prefer to stick to the big picture rather than get sidetracked by the details, which appears to be mostly just a puppet show to keep the kids entertained. I’m sure there are many well-intentioned people within all the structures which appear to be so badly corrupted. On Obama, I tend to agree with the prognosis presented in ‘The Obama Deception’, but don’t doubt that even if he was pro the real economy, the actual rulers of the world order would only allow their own agenda to progress on the whole, as seems to be abundantly clear.
      Just as I have found that all current religions are the religions of men, even the same ones who control the rest of things maybe?, I find that all political parties are certainly controlled by the Money Masters, TPTB. To choose to follow any of these religions to fill a void means accepting the doctrines of that religion, with its hit or miss interpretations of men accepted as truth, Choosing to follow any of the political parties also leads to the risk of getting bogged down in the agendas of men, & in this instance at least, the most divisive of men with malevolent objectives, who live in the shadows of our world political arena.
      I don’t doubt that the world of humanity needs a bloody good lesson in the rights & wrongs of our ways, but my only hope is that an escape out of this mess may be allowed for all who have accepted that things are irredeemably wrong & would like to live in a world of justice, responsibility & compassion.
      I may be pessimistic but I do still hope, as that is all that my conclusions leave me with.

    • DK December 3, 2012, 10:41 am

      Buster, I’m right there with you. My hope erodes with every passing day though.

    • Cam Fitzgerald December 3, 2012, 3:24 pm

      Mine too DK. The value of people diminishes as our numbers increase. The future is dismal in my opinion. Why would we expect more justice and compassion as our sense of community evaporates with the growing numbers and millions upon millions call out with competing demands and agendas. Everyone will not be satisified. Governance in the future is sure to simplify everything by ignoring every single viewpoint other than the one single prescribed version. Sort of like Mao’s management of China. There is very little room for discord and alternate opinion.

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 4:30 pm

      Whom was he blocked by, Jill? Reid and Pelosi? Or the people that were writing the bills so that those two idiots could help get them passed only to then read what was in them?

      Even treating the surface level as if it were reality, do you honestly think that his community organizing prepared him to bring through a huge infrastructure oriented bill? Or his perpetual campaigning once he was installed as a Senator for all of two years? Even on that level fools like you voted for a nothing to hold what is nominally the most powerful position in the government and you’re surprised that he got nothing done after turning responsibilities for the “stimulus” bill over two other nothings?

      At what point do you admit that you were taken for a ride?

    • fallingman December 3, 2012, 7:44 pm

      HUH? The Democrats controlled both the Senate and the House. And, there was quite a bit of support in the Republican party for legitimate infrastructure projects…not so much for the oinky pork and outright gifts to political supporters we actually got.

      You have no idea what you’re talking about…as usual.

    • Sofa King December 4, 2012, 6:03 am

      He was not blocked, 800 Billion dollars is a lot of money. Money that was distributed and much of it squandered, actually lets call a spade a spade for once, the money was stolen. Here’s an example from Staten Island:

      http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/cement_to_arrive_by_boat_-_but.html

      …please note, the lot is still empty and 2013 is one month away. Slated for operation in 2012, my hairy bean bag.

      If you don’t believe me, go for the google satellite view of the lot:
      Staten Island Terminal LLC
      2541 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY

  • John Jay December 3, 2012, 2:29 am

    Right on Buster.
    As far as I am concerned, it is over, and the New Feudalism has commenced. I have spent enough time and accumulated enough evidence to know I need not do anymore research on the matter.

    That horse is dead, dead, dead.

    The welfare class, from Obama phone users to F-35 contract holders is in the process of consolidating their grip on the government largesse. Here in, California Proposition 13 will probably be voted out soon, and the welfare class will be demanding more, more, more tax money, just for breathing.

    It is an inverted pyramid with more and more people taking, piling on fewer and fewer people producing. As you are all likely tied of hearing from me, I only hope the whole rotten system can delay the ultimate collapse until I shuffle off this mortal coil.

    As for the younger generation, I have an anecdote that illustrates something of their mindset.
    While back in Connecticut for Thanksgiving I sat in my brothers kitchen while my niece and nephew were discussing with their friends the pressing issue of how to walk flat footed so as to avoid putting any creases in their designer sneakers.

    I doubt they would know the Federal Reserve, ZIRP, or the rest of it from a Pop Tart, and I did not bring it up.

    And these are all bright folks in their late twenties with good jobs.
    They just don’t see any problems.

    • redwilldanaher December 3, 2012, 4:24 pm

      Great job Buster! I enjoy pieces that take shill Gary to task for his lunacy. Gary is a great example of a seemingly intelligent person racked with cognitive dissonance overload.

      Thanks for the depressing anecdote JJ. Cleary the “eduKation establishment” has done what it was set up to do to those 20somethings…

    • Chuck December 3, 2012, 6:08 pm

      20 somethings with good jobs…..they must either have degrees in the sciences or connections. I know that the young following Ron Paul were really on to something, but they obviously don’t have the pull to amount to much. I am not sure how these people will ever come to understand financial reality…..if even the older citizens can’t.

    • fallingman December 3, 2012, 7:41 pm

      The new feudalism indeed.

      Never tire of hearing from you JJ, because you say what’s there to be said in a crisp and artful manner. Much appreciated.

      And thank you Buster.


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