DAVID WALKER: WHY HIS OPINION COUNTS -- Walker served as Comptroller General of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 1998 to 2008. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, his tenure as the federal government's chief auditor spanned both Democratic and Republican administrations. While at the GAO, Walker embarked on a Fiscal Wake-up Tour, partnering with the Brookings Institution, the World Future Society, and the Heritage Foundation to alert Americans to wasteful government spending. Walker left the GAO to head the Peterson Foundation on March 12, 2008. Walker has compared the present-day United States with the Roman Empire in its decline, saying the U.S. government is on a "burning platform" of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, expensive overcommitments to government provided health care, swelling Medicare costs, the enormous expense of a prospective universal health care system, immigration, and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon.
AT LEAST READ THIS ONE!
The Collapse of America? The Dire Message of Mr. David Walker
Detroit sets record for unemployment--28.9% - Don't worry. The government will make sure your money takes care of them.
Arnold Holds Great California Garage Sale To Help Economy
How Goldman Sach's Problems are Hurting You
US Economy: Spending Climbed in July Due to Clunkers Program
Japanese Economy Hit by "Double Nightmare"
Bankers' Excesses...At Our Collective Expense
Tsunami of Broke and Desperate Americans
Fed urges secrecy on banks in bailout programs - The truth will hurt the economy.
Japan Unemployment Hits Record High
US Prisoners Get Cash To 'Boost Economy' - Their brilliance knows no end.
Summer 'Recovery' Will Turn to Cold, Long Winter
Investment Crash Points to Economic Pain
UK Financial Watchdog Backs World Transaction Tax
Can The Financial Soufflé Rise Again?
UK Sleepwalking Toward Decade of Economic Misery
Germany to Lend Directly as Second Credit Dive Looms
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
FED To Steal State Pension Funds
Fed to Steal State Pension Funds? If this doesn't give you an idea of just how desperate times are...
By the way, to answer a question: Putting your money in gold and silver is about "protecting your assets", not making a profit. You should see profit as just an added benefit. When an economy collapses and its currency drops in value, it takes more of that currency to buy gold, and initially that gold will buy a lot more stuff because the prices of items haven't caught up with the reality of the situation. Eventually however, the price of every necessary item increases (inflation), and ultimately tries to catch back up with gold and silver, putting gold right back at the same place it was before - in purchasing power. One other huge benefit though, is when currency has NO buying power at all, gold and silver have all of the buying power.
Most sound advisors recommend that you have at least 20% of your investments in gold. Gerald Celente says he has 80% of his in gold at the moment.
Fed to Steal State Pension Funds - You think the average person would have predicted this? Heck, most of them won't be aware of it after-the-fact.
Celente: 2.5 Million Jobs Lost Since Obama's Presidency - as the government reports it. He's being careful.
The Travails of Small Business Dooms the Economy
So Long, California
Pens and Notebooks Put on Layaway - People just don't have money.
The Dollar: Soon to Swoon? - You think Bernanke lays awake at night thinking about this?
Feds, 10 States Join to Fight Mortgage Fraud
Pyongyang's Booming Trade in Fake US Currency A fascinating article.
Without prospects, they’re prospectors: Metal’s high price and economy’s low ebb create new California gold rush
Cash for Clunkers: Dumbest Program Ever?
Even Warren Buffett Is Now Saying Bonds Could Crack
Bullish Stampede Persists - In a market kept afloat by mere faith in the government.
Here's a pretty good website to keep up with: http://urbansurvival.com/week.htm
By the way, to answer a question: Putting your money in gold and silver is about "protecting your assets", not making a profit. You should see profit as just an added benefit. When an economy collapses and its currency drops in value, it takes more of that currency to buy gold, and initially that gold will buy a lot more stuff because the prices of items haven't caught up with the reality of the situation. Eventually however, the price of every necessary item increases (inflation), and ultimately tries to catch back up with gold and silver, putting gold right back at the same place it was before - in purchasing power. One other huge benefit though, is when currency has NO buying power at all, gold and silver have all of the buying power.
Most sound advisors recommend that you have at least 20% of your investments in gold. Gerald Celente says he has 80% of his in gold at the moment.
Fed to Steal State Pension Funds - You think the average person would have predicted this? Heck, most of them won't be aware of it after-the-fact.
Celente: 2.5 Million Jobs Lost Since Obama's Presidency - as the government reports it. He's being careful.
The Travails of Small Business Dooms the Economy
So Long, California
Pens and Notebooks Put on Layaway - People just don't have money.
The Dollar: Soon to Swoon? - You think Bernanke lays awake at night thinking about this?
Feds, 10 States Join to Fight Mortgage Fraud
Pyongyang's Booming Trade in Fake US Currency A fascinating article.
Without prospects, they’re prospectors: Metal’s high price and economy’s low ebb create new California gold rush
Cash for Clunkers: Dumbest Program Ever?
Even Warren Buffett Is Now Saying Bonds Could Crack
Bullish Stampede Persists - In a market kept afloat by mere faith in the government.
Here's a pretty good website to keep up with: http://urbansurvival.com/week.htm
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
What are You Expecting?
Sooner or later, you'd think "they" would figure out that they'd better tell us what's coming, kind of like people are told to tape up their windows and fill their bath-tubs with water before a hurricane hits. But keep in mind also, that before Hurricane Katrina hit, only a few experts said to evacuate New Orleans, and that was literally at the last minute causing massive traffic jams a hundred miles long. The earliest to sound the alarm were the weathermen - saying, "GET OUT!!! " 3 days before it hit. If you recall, FEMA didn't really get on board until a few days after it was a full blown disaster. So don't wait on the Feds to tell you to get ready for an economic disaster. If history serves as a guide, they will do so with a bullhorn from a pile of rubble, with their sleeves rolled up and their ties loosened as if they're actually going to do some work. Lying is part of the job.
Preparing for the Worst - Robert Kiyosaki - "I believe the stock market is being manipulated. I suspect the government, banks, and Wall Street are doing everything they can to keep the market from crashing. Our leaders know that nothing makes the world feel better than a raging bull market." (In other words, they aren't allowing the "bad" to get worked out of the free market system, which in turn sets us up for a worse fall in the future.)
Krugman: Economy in Purgatory: “Anybody who says that we are out of the woods or even moving out of the woods has got to be lost at sea,“ Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, said on ABC’s This Week. “I mean, there’s no evidence that this economy is doing much better. The best that can be said is we’re getting worse more slowly. And that is small consolation to people who are losing their jobs.”
Tsunami of Home Foreclosures to hit U.S.
Court Orders Federal Reserve to Disclose Emergency Loan Details (It's about time!)
Slums of Suburbia Sorting through the rubble of California's foreclosure tsunami.
White House, Congress project record deficits; Both see the overall national debt nearly doubling over the next decade
Senator warns of hyperinflation rivaling the 1980s
Rhode Island governor to shut down state government for 12 days
Labor Leader Named Head of New York Fed - Oh good, a Union Boss is in charge of a Federal Bank. (!?!?)
Oil Falls 4% After Hitting 10-Month Peak of $75
Latest in Stimulus: Cash for Refrigerators
Brookings "Experts" Admit Stimulus a Bust
Federal Reserve Paying Interest on Excess Reserves, Why Lend When You Can Earn Interest For Holding on to Funds With Low Risk
CBO Warns of Higher Unemployment; DC Worries About the Deficit
Basket Cases (The Mogambo Guru)
Gross National Debt to Top $12 Trillion
Craig Harrington | 08/25/09
With the gross national debt expected to top $12 trillion in the next two weeks, America can ill-afford to accumulate the additional $9 trillion the White House predicts over the next 10 years.
10-Year Deficit: $9 Trillion and Rising
Dustin Ensinger | 08/25/09
The Obama administration raised its 10-year debt projections estimating that the federal government will need to borrow $9 trillion over the next decade.
Preparing for the Worst - Robert Kiyosaki - "I believe the stock market is being manipulated. I suspect the government, banks, and Wall Street are doing everything they can to keep the market from crashing. Our leaders know that nothing makes the world feel better than a raging bull market." (In other words, they aren't allowing the "bad" to get worked out of the free market system, which in turn sets us up for a worse fall in the future.)
Krugman: Economy in Purgatory: “Anybody who says that we are out of the woods or even moving out of the woods has got to be lost at sea,“ Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, said on ABC’s This Week. “I mean, there’s no evidence that this economy is doing much better. The best that can be said is we’re getting worse more slowly. And that is small consolation to people who are losing their jobs.”
Tsunami of Home Foreclosures to hit U.S.
Court Orders Federal Reserve to Disclose Emergency Loan Details (It's about time!)
Slums of Suburbia Sorting through the rubble of California's foreclosure tsunami.
White House, Congress project record deficits; Both see the overall national debt nearly doubling over the next decade
Senator warns of hyperinflation rivaling the 1980s
Rhode Island governor to shut down state government for 12 days
Labor Leader Named Head of New York Fed - Oh good, a Union Boss is in charge of a Federal Bank. (!?!?)
Oil Falls 4% After Hitting 10-Month Peak of $75
Latest in Stimulus: Cash for Refrigerators
Brookings "Experts" Admit Stimulus a Bust
Federal Reserve Paying Interest on Excess Reserves, Why Lend When You Can Earn Interest For Holding on to Funds With Low Risk
CBO Warns of Higher Unemployment; DC Worries About the Deficit
Basket Cases (The Mogambo Guru)
Gross National Debt to Top $12 Trillion
Craig Harrington | 08/25/09
With the gross national debt expected to top $12 trillion in the next two weeks, America can ill-afford to accumulate the additional $9 trillion the White House predicts over the next 10 years.
10-Year Deficit: $9 Trillion and Rising
Dustin Ensinger | 08/25/09
The Obama administration raised its 10-year debt projections estimating that the federal government will need to borrow $9 trillion over the next decade.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Swiss Bank Secret
At this point, are you really surprised that there's still so much bad news?
Cash for Clunkers to end on Monday - "Kill it - kill it - it wasn't supposed to be this way!" LOL
Germany braces for second wave of credit crunch - Someone just told me the other day, "But Germany has recovered...."
The Week in Charts, Buckle the Heck Up!
U.K. Has Record July Deficit as Recession Curbs Taxes
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rose by 15,000 to 576,000
FDIC May Add to Special Fees as Mounting Failures Drain Reserves
Swiss to reveal UBS accounts to settle U.S. tax battle "Switzerland has agreed to reveal the names of about 4,450 wealthy American clients of UBS AG to U.S. authorities in a tax dispute settlement that pierces Swiss banking secrecy and now threatens to spill over to other banks."
Citigroup To Initiate Fees on Some Cards To Reduce The Dent To Their Income
Buffett: We'll Be Crushed Under a Mountain of Debt - Yeah, this is what Peter Schiff has been saying since 2005.
Debt Revolt Haunting Europe
NY Car Dealers Pulling Out of Clunkers Program
Stocks Creep Higher Amid Economic Worries
Sears Shares Drop as Recession Drags Down Sales
Pension Plans' Private-Equity Cash Depleted as Profits Shrink
Insurers' Biggest Write-Downs May Be Yet to Come - This is always a phrase you want to pay attention to: "may be yet to come". It never means anything good.
Cash for Clunkers to end on Monday - "Kill it - kill it - it wasn't supposed to be this way!" LOL
Germany braces for second wave of credit crunch - Someone just told me the other day, "But Germany has recovered...."
The Week in Charts, Buckle the Heck Up!
U.K. Has Record July Deficit as Recession Curbs Taxes
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rose by 15,000 to 576,000
FDIC May Add to Special Fees as Mounting Failures Drain Reserves
Swiss to reveal UBS accounts to settle U.S. tax battle "Switzerland has agreed to reveal the names of about 4,450 wealthy American clients of UBS AG to U.S. authorities in a tax dispute settlement that pierces Swiss banking secrecy and now threatens to spill over to other banks."
Citigroup To Initiate Fees on Some Cards To Reduce The Dent To Their Income
Buffett: We'll Be Crushed Under a Mountain of Debt - Yeah, this is what Peter Schiff has been saying since 2005.
Debt Revolt Haunting Europe
NY Car Dealers Pulling Out of Clunkers Program
Stocks Creep Higher Amid Economic Worries
Sears Shares Drop as Recession Drags Down Sales
Pension Plans' Private-Equity Cash Depleted as Profits Shrink
Insurers' Biggest Write-Downs May Be Yet to Come - This is always a phrase you want to pay attention to: "may be yet to come". It never means anything good.
Influential American
Buffett: We're Going to Be Crushed Under Mountain of Debt
Posted Aug 19, 2009 11:51am EDT by Henry Blodget
A highly influential American has finally hit the panic button about the tremendous mountain of debt the country is piling up.
Last year, Warren Buffett says, we were justified in using any means necessary to stave off another Great Depression. Now that the economy is beginning to recover, however, we need to curtail our out-of-control spending, or we'll destroy the value of the dollar and many Americans' life savings.
Some not-so-fun facts from Buffett's editorial today in the New York Times:
Congress is now spending 185% of what it takes in
Our deficit is a post WWII record of 13% of GDP
Our debt is growing by 1% a month
We are borrowing $1.8 trillion a year
$1.8 trillion is a lot of money. Even if the Chinese lend us $400 billion a year and Americans save a remarkable $500 billion and lend it to the government, we'll still need another $900 billion.
So, where's it going to come from? Most likely the printing press. And, ultimately, Buffett says, that will destroy the value of the dollar.
Posted Aug 19, 2009 11:51am EDT by Henry Blodget
A highly influential American has finally hit the panic button about the tremendous mountain of debt the country is piling up.
Last year, Warren Buffett says, we were justified in using any means necessary to stave off another Great Depression. Now that the economy is beginning to recover, however, we need to curtail our out-of-control spending, or we'll destroy the value of the dollar and many Americans' life savings.
Some not-so-fun facts from Buffett's editorial today in the New York Times:
Congress is now spending 185% of what it takes in
Our deficit is a post WWII record of 13% of GDP
Our debt is growing by 1% a month
We are borrowing $1.8 trillion a year
$1.8 trillion is a lot of money. Even if the Chinese lend us $400 billion a year and Americans save a remarkable $500 billion and lend it to the government, we'll still need another $900 billion.
So, where's it going to come from? Most likely the printing press. And, ultimately, Buffett says, that will destroy the value of the dollar.
How to Choose an Economic Prophet
Track Record: Basically, what I've spent the last year (5 hours a day) doing is going back and looking at individual track records for predicting economic trends. The best macro-economic prophets are: Schiff, Celente, Rogers, Faber, Ron Paul and a couple of other lesser known names. It's also prudent to listen to economists and heads of State outside of the US, since their observations are not swayed by US public opinion and reaction. [Listen to a dozen or more, and take the consensus of what they predict.] Schiff and Celente are at the top in my book. Short term rises and dips are anyone's guess, and most people get it wrong, so we can't depend on those predictions. But if Schiff says stocks will crater, then you need to listen. DO NOT listen to Jim Cramer. Everything that he knows about the Stock Market only works in a 90's economy. Since we are in uncharted territory, its best to listen to people who understand the macro-economic situation, and make long term moves based on their outlook.
Peter Schiff: Hyperinflation Risk High, Stocks Will Crater - Print this one and stick it on your refrigerator. We can't have people claiming they weren't warned.
L.A. ranks near bottom among big cities for finding a job, website says - How fitting. All counties and the State went to Obama.
The Next Crisis in the Making - "... if governments keep throwing trillions down these rat holes, we’ll end up with a financial and economic catastrophe much larger than the current one."
FDIC Sees Ag Banks as Next Crisis - Farmers will have a much harder time get credit necessary to run a farm. That means less food available. Plant a garden, learn to can, and stock up.
Stock Market Still a Chump's Game
Bernanke Says US Economy on Cusp of Recovery. - What he says means NOTHING. If you look back over his history, he always says things are going to get better, and utterly failed to predict this crisis in the first place.Don't read the article. Watch the videos.
Brown Shoots: US Mortgage Delinquencies Hit Record High
A rush for black gold in the Gulf - Every country except the USA will be drilling in the Gulf of Mexico thanks to Obama's no offshore drilling policy. Now WHAT could possibly motivate him to make a decision like that, ...........except maybe......he's trying to put this country into economic turmoil? The logical thing to do to help the economy long-term would be to allow offshore drilling. It makes no sense to cut off the supply until you have other energy sources in place
Peter Schiff: Hyperinflation Risk High, Stocks Will Crater - Print this one and stick it on your refrigerator. We can't have people claiming they weren't warned.
L.A. ranks near bottom among big cities for finding a job, website says - How fitting. All counties and the State went to Obama.
The Next Crisis in the Making - "... if governments keep throwing trillions down these rat holes, we’ll end up with a financial and economic catastrophe much larger than the current one."
FDIC Sees Ag Banks as Next Crisis - Farmers will have a much harder time get credit necessary to run a farm. That means less food available. Plant a garden, learn to can, and stock up.
Stock Market Still a Chump's Game
Bernanke Says US Economy on Cusp of Recovery. - What he says means NOTHING. If you look back over his history, he always says things are going to get better, and utterly failed to predict this crisis in the first place.Don't read the article. Watch the videos.
Brown Shoots: US Mortgage Delinquencies Hit Record High
A rush for black gold in the Gulf - Every country except the USA will be drilling in the Gulf of Mexico thanks to Obama's no offshore drilling policy. Now WHAT could possibly motivate him to make a decision like that, ...........except maybe......he's trying to put this country into economic turmoil? The logical thing to do to help the economy long-term would be to allow offshore drilling. It makes no sense to cut off the supply until you have other energy sources in place
The Road to Ruin
Watching the economy fall apart is kind of like watching a glacier melt. It's not an overnight process to say the least.
However, with certainty, it will continue to melt.
AP source: White House projects lower deficit. Another case of “The deficit is growing slower than we originally thought.” They fail to point out its still growing exponentially. They “saved” $250 billion but we will be $2 trillion in the hole by year’s end. And that's 66% of what the entire deficit was when Bush became president!
Marc Faber "in China there is an investment bubble ...the total collapse is ahead of us and probably a world scale war..." - While perhaps the "world war" prediction is a bit extreme, you can't ignore the fundamentals that lead to Faber making this prediction.
Obama to raise 10-year deficit to $9 trillion. The bailouts just won't quit growing.
Stiglitz: Dollar Reserve System Falling Apart
Iceland: What Ugly Secrets Await Being Revealed in the Meltdown
The Consumer Has Dug in His Heels
Frustrations Rising Over Mortgage Relief
More Shoppers Getting Cold Feet in Checkout Line
Global credit quality continues slide, Fitch says – Reuters
Watch out below – CaseyResearch
Fiscal Ruin – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - "The imperative for the debt-bloated West is to cut spending systematically for year after year, off-setting the deflationary effect with monetary stimulus. This is the only mix that can save us. My awful fear is that we will do exactly the opposite, incubating yet another crisis this autumn, to which we will respond with yet further spending. This is the road to ruin. "
Southern Georgia, US, Schools Swine Flu Outbreak
Can you read between the lines in this following sentence: "Thus, the policy of keeping schools open, and using fever as one of the key symptoms, may lead to extensive spread by patients who have low or no fever. Moreover, most of the students have mild illnesses, so they are not tested, which may allow important genetic changes to silently spread."
What it says is - the swine flu isn't the pandemic we thought it would be, but we want to keep the hysteria going. If this flu is going to get bad, it will be in the Fall and Winter months. But copious secretions and respiratory complications don't seem to be a major factor at this point. Remember how big of a deal they made of SARS? Well, only 70 people died worldwide. We lose twice that many every day in the US from auto accidents. Just recently a 15 year old girl died on a flight from the US to Brazil. The mighty eye of the media descended on that case. Do you have any idea how many people drop dead globally every minute!? That's a very misleading way of observing a potential pandemic. The data set must be HUGE to give a real overview of what we're dealing with. Not n = ~1. (sample size of one)
I don't blame them for being jumpy. A true pandemic with just the right properties could kill a billion people and wipe out a tremendous amount of medical resources. But I don't think this is it. We will continue to observe.
--------------------------------end transmission
However, with certainty, it will continue to melt.
AP source: White House projects lower deficit. Another case of “The deficit is growing slower than we originally thought.” They fail to point out its still growing exponentially. They “saved” $250 billion but we will be $2 trillion in the hole by year’s end. And that's 66% of what the entire deficit was when Bush became president!
Marc Faber "in China there is an investment bubble ...the total collapse is ahead of us and probably a world scale war..." - While perhaps the "world war" prediction is a bit extreme, you can't ignore the fundamentals that lead to Faber making this prediction.
Obama to raise 10-year deficit to $9 trillion. The bailouts just won't quit growing.
Stiglitz: Dollar Reserve System Falling Apart
Iceland: What Ugly Secrets Await Being Revealed in the Meltdown
The Consumer Has Dug in His Heels
Frustrations Rising Over Mortgage Relief
More Shoppers Getting Cold Feet in Checkout Line
Global credit quality continues slide, Fitch says – Reuters
Watch out below – CaseyResearch
Fiscal Ruin – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - "The imperative for the debt-bloated West is to cut spending systematically for year after year, off-setting the deflationary effect with monetary stimulus. This is the only mix that can save us. My awful fear is that we will do exactly the opposite, incubating yet another crisis this autumn, to which we will respond with yet further spending. This is the road to ruin. "
Southern Georgia, US, Schools Swine Flu Outbreak
Can you read between the lines in this following sentence: "Thus, the policy of keeping schools open, and using fever as one of the key symptoms, may lead to extensive spread by patients who have low or no fever. Moreover, most of the students have mild illnesses, so they are not tested, which may allow important genetic changes to silently spread."
What it says is - the swine flu isn't the pandemic we thought it would be, but we want to keep the hysteria going. If this flu is going to get bad, it will be in the Fall and Winter months. But copious secretions and respiratory complications don't seem to be a major factor at this point. Remember how big of a deal they made of SARS? Well, only 70 people died worldwide. We lose twice that many every day in the US from auto accidents. Just recently a 15 year old girl died on a flight from the US to Brazil. The mighty eye of the media descended on that case. Do you have any idea how many people drop dead globally every minute!? That's a very misleading way of observing a potential pandemic. The data set must be HUGE to give a real overview of what we're dealing with. Not n = ~1. (sample size of one)
I don't blame them for being jumpy. A true pandemic with just the right properties could kill a billion people and wipe out a tremendous amount of medical resources. But I don't think this is it. We will continue to observe.
--------------------------------end transmission
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