Imagine the power of banks and commercials to simply generate any number of contracts necessary to short sell or suppress the price of a commodity. You can create these contracts out of thin air with little regard for whether or not you can deliver the underlying commodity. Because you never do.
You settle in cash. Maybe offer a premium to the holder of 20% in lieu of providing the commodity because you don't have it. You don't really care because the FED is giving you free money anyway. The US Government's CFTC has your back. They raise margin requirements making it more difficult for the holders of long contracts to take delivery of physical gold or silver. They have to prove they have the cash to settle the contract.
That is the situation in the silver and gold markets. The bankers and the US Governments Commodities Futures Trading Commission or CFTC did those things last week. It is hard to imagine what might have happened if we had actual position limits tied to some actual physical measurement of available gold and silver supply.
Those tricks have always worked in the past. They did not work last week. That should make you sit up and take notice. Big time. Silver shot through 34 an oz. briefly on Wednesday before the banks and the CFTC started working their price suppression tactics.
The put contracts traded by the big commercials, JP Morgan et.al., in just two days- represented more than a year's supply of world mining production. Do they have that kind of supply to fill contracts? Not a chance in hell.
China is accumulating gold and silver. In huge amounts. Why? Citizens know it's anti-inflation properties and they buy it. But the really huge underlying theme is that I believe China is positioning itself to remove the dollar as the world's reserve currency and replace it with the yuan. People that do not think this can happen are just as deluded as those UK souls who did not think the pound sterling was at risk to the U.S. dollar. That is the life cycle of things. I don't think China with it's vast population, intellectual superiority, and worker capacity really enjoys being bullied by the smaller U.S. They have taken capitalism to a whole new and improved level. A fully backed yuan would make mincemeat of the world's unbacked fiat currencies. What you are about to witness is China become the world's greatest economic and world superpower. It is unfolding now. We have made ourselves extremely vulnerable. Granted we won't go down without a struggle and fight- but I don't think we can win this game.
Fundamentally nothing has changed. At current price levels, 34.00 and 1405.00 for silver and gold respectively, the commodities are a screaming deal. We simply don't know the true value of precious metals because we have never seen such a scenario. There is no "price discovery" in a world where banks are allowed to suppress prices at will with unbacked paper, either currency or contracts. As demand increases I think the bankers will be overwhelmed. I simply can't envision a scenario where supply can keep up with demand from a precious metals carnivore the size of China and India.
There is no bubble. Gold and silver are simply trading the inverse of the value of a dollar. As the dollar declines- they will go up. I am increasing my allocation to a full 33% of my available assets. I do not trade paper. This is physical gold and silver. I am expecting a big ramp up in prices as May nears and the world finds out that the FED and Mr. Bernanke must continue to print unless of course the stock market implodes first. Something has got to give and soon. He who panics first-panics best.
http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/
This dude is scary. I think he could be my clone. http://www.kitco.com/ind/willie/feb232011.html
Saturday, February 26, 2011
The Greatest Conspiracy Ever- Part Two
In part one of this piece, I have retraced some of the things that have happened in the United States since the fall of 2008. I have shown how the banks had co-opted members of Congress. I did not include shady loans made to members. What I am hoping to do in this part of my "epic" two-part piece is to extend a premise to you that makes sense. But first I'd like to do a little housecleaning here.
I dislike the Republican Party almost as much as the Democrat Party. I view both of those entities, in current form, as enemies of the Republic. This is not some partisan hack on President Obama. I am no Bush fan either. I will even go to the fringe and tell you I did not particularly care for Reagan either- sacrilege to a lot of conservatives. Reagan was no conservative when it came to piling on debt.
Secondly, I spend a great deal of time reading. There is simply no way that the average American citizen could do what I do. I am certainly no smarter than any other news junkie. I love to read and write. I am a much better reader than a writer. I am blessed that I have the time and money to do as I please. Six of the letters on my keyboard are obliterated. My laptop is less than 4 years old. Having said all of that, let's get back on track.
Conspiracies can and do exist. The word conspiracy is descriptive. Somehow it has devolved into some nasty sounding thing. The definition I like is this one- Any concurrence in action; combination in bringing about a given result.
Conspiracies can be overt planning wherein the participants of crime actually sit down and plan their activities and build governing structures. Mafia style organizations, cartels, drug dealers. A conspiracy to elect people might be called a political action committee. A conspiracy to raise money might be a raffle or a fireman's ball. A political party conspires to elect party faithful. We simply don't attach the word conspiracy because somehow that has a negative connotation. Our language evolves that way. But conspire they do. The other type of conspiracy that occurs is not necessarily as overt. The conspirators don't actually plan. However, they have a mutual understanding whether they talk about it or not. In other words, they are all motivated by the same set of circumstances. They agree in principle. They might even seek the same outcome without enlisting the aid of other like minded individuals or co-conspirators. They want the same thing. An excellent example of this is a politician who wants to be re-elected. A politician cannot afford to isolate himself from the giant contributions of the banking industry. To do that spells death. Politicians are not elected or re-elected because of mom and pop donations of twenty bucks. The millions that banks contribute are essential to their survival. They become like minded conspirators- taking money- but reluctant to bite the hand that feeds them.
In late 2006 and early 2007, when everyone with warm blood was getting a home or an equity loan, banks had absolutely flooded the marketplace with easy credit. This was facilitated by the FED. As home loans began to deteriorate and default, the first people to know this would have been banks. They would have known this well in advance of the Presidential campaign. Many bankers like Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, fresh from Goldman Sachs, would have known very early. They would not have told anyone either because to do so would have imploded their stock prices, ruined credit quality, caused panic and bank runs. You can't conspire to minimize damages and losses when you are doing all that truth telling either. They were certainly operating in stealth mode. But they needed a patsy. A sympathetic guy they could co-opt just in case things got really bad. They found one.
Enter Barack Obama. A man nobody outside of Illinois had ever heard of. A likable, well spoken and educated man, Obama was the polar opposite in appearance to George Bush. He was perfect. Obama had a tremendous amount of ties to the banking industry already. Obama bankrolled a record- billion dollars for his campaign. The premise that I am going to extend is simple. That Obama was selected by the banking elite because he was easily co-opted and sympathetic. That if and when the worst scenario played out, he would not seek to prosecute them or damage them further. Sure, they could see that far ahead- they were in the best position to do so. The rest of us were in the dark. And when he won, Obama announced that he would not look back. That we were going to move forward. That there would be no investigations and no prosecutions. Obama even extended the bail outs. That was the promise Obama made and kept to the criminal bankers and elite that elected him. That was the conspiracy, make no mistake about it. He'd sweep it all under the rug and make it all go away.
I was a little naive in 2008. I still believed in the rule of law and I gave people the benefit of the doubt when I could. Since that time, I have been seeking answers. Trying to sort out how guys from nowhere get elected President and crooked bankers waltz away scot free. There just isn't that much coincidence in the world. Most, if not all, human behavior is purposeful. This is no different. No matter how I look at this, or the thousands of articles I have read and pieced together, I simply can't escape the obvious. That President elect Obama and the criminal banking elite of this country, conspired to bankrupt this country and avoid prosecution. That they continue to do so is evident. Personally, I think they should all be sitting in prison somewhere. I'd like to see them all take their rightful place in history for the liars and thieves that they are.
The greatest conspiracy ever? Honestly, I can't think of one larger in scope. It took millions of greedy homeowners, hundreds of thousands of bankers to generate, complicity by Fannie, Freddie, Wall St., ratings agencies and the FED- and the cover up required complicity between the President, Congress, and every Federal Prosecutor and law enforcement agency with jurisdiction. That's pretty large.
Know this, you bastards. While the rest of my country is working their asses off trying to make ends meet- they don't have the time to see through you or put the pieces together that you so desperately try to conceal. Our people are being killed in places like Afghanistan while you piss on their graves. They are not stupid and they are not sheep. They are just people trying to make the best of their lives while cowards like you lie, scheme, and obstruct justice- steal our wealth and desecrate our country. They don't believe in conspiracies because they don't engage in them and they can't believe others do. Don't mistake their loyalty for stupidity. They may be patriots but you are certainly not. You are not public servants. You aren't even decent people. No matter how this plays out we know what you've done. That's finally becoming "transparent" to a few of us.
I dislike the Republican Party almost as much as the Democrat Party. I view both of those entities, in current form, as enemies of the Republic. This is not some partisan hack on President Obama. I am no Bush fan either. I will even go to the fringe and tell you I did not particularly care for Reagan either- sacrilege to a lot of conservatives. Reagan was no conservative when it came to piling on debt.
Secondly, I spend a great deal of time reading. There is simply no way that the average American citizen could do what I do. I am certainly no smarter than any other news junkie. I love to read and write. I am a much better reader than a writer. I am blessed that I have the time and money to do as I please. Six of the letters on my keyboard are obliterated. My laptop is less than 4 years old. Having said all of that, let's get back on track.
Conspiracies can and do exist. The word conspiracy is descriptive. Somehow it has devolved into some nasty sounding thing. The definition I like is this one- Any concurrence in action; combination in bringing about a given result.
Conspiracies can be overt planning wherein the participants of crime actually sit down and plan their activities and build governing structures. Mafia style organizations, cartels, drug dealers. A conspiracy to elect people might be called a political action committee. A conspiracy to raise money might be a raffle or a fireman's ball. A political party conspires to elect party faithful. We simply don't attach the word conspiracy because somehow that has a negative connotation. Our language evolves that way. But conspire they do. The other type of conspiracy that occurs is not necessarily as overt. The conspirators don't actually plan. However, they have a mutual understanding whether they talk about it or not. In other words, they are all motivated by the same set of circumstances. They agree in principle. They might even seek the same outcome without enlisting the aid of other like minded individuals or co-conspirators. They want the same thing. An excellent example of this is a politician who wants to be re-elected. A politician cannot afford to isolate himself from the giant contributions of the banking industry. To do that spells death. Politicians are not elected or re-elected because of mom and pop donations of twenty bucks. The millions that banks contribute are essential to their survival. They become like minded conspirators- taking money- but reluctant to bite the hand that feeds them.
In late 2006 and early 2007, when everyone with warm blood was getting a home or an equity loan, banks had absolutely flooded the marketplace with easy credit. This was facilitated by the FED. As home loans began to deteriorate and default, the first people to know this would have been banks. They would have known this well in advance of the Presidential campaign. Many bankers like Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, fresh from Goldman Sachs, would have known very early. They would not have told anyone either because to do so would have imploded their stock prices, ruined credit quality, caused panic and bank runs. You can't conspire to minimize damages and losses when you are doing all that truth telling either. They were certainly operating in stealth mode. But they needed a patsy. A sympathetic guy they could co-opt just in case things got really bad. They found one.
Enter Barack Obama. A man nobody outside of Illinois had ever heard of. A likable, well spoken and educated man, Obama was the polar opposite in appearance to George Bush. He was perfect. Obama had a tremendous amount of ties to the banking industry already. Obama bankrolled a record- billion dollars for his campaign. The premise that I am going to extend is simple. That Obama was selected by the banking elite because he was easily co-opted and sympathetic. That if and when the worst scenario played out, he would not seek to prosecute them or damage them further. Sure, they could see that far ahead- they were in the best position to do so. The rest of us were in the dark. And when he won, Obama announced that he would not look back. That we were going to move forward. That there would be no investigations and no prosecutions. Obama even extended the bail outs. That was the promise Obama made and kept to the criminal bankers and elite that elected him. That was the conspiracy, make no mistake about it. He'd sweep it all under the rug and make it all go away.
I was a little naive in 2008. I still believed in the rule of law and I gave people the benefit of the doubt when I could. Since that time, I have been seeking answers. Trying to sort out how guys from nowhere get elected President and crooked bankers waltz away scot free. There just isn't that much coincidence in the world. Most, if not all, human behavior is purposeful. This is no different. No matter how I look at this, or the thousands of articles I have read and pieced together, I simply can't escape the obvious. That President elect Obama and the criminal banking elite of this country, conspired to bankrupt this country and avoid prosecution. That they continue to do so is evident. Personally, I think they should all be sitting in prison somewhere. I'd like to see them all take their rightful place in history for the liars and thieves that they are.
The greatest conspiracy ever? Honestly, I can't think of one larger in scope. It took millions of greedy homeowners, hundreds of thousands of bankers to generate, complicity by Fannie, Freddie, Wall St., ratings agencies and the FED- and the cover up required complicity between the President, Congress, and every Federal Prosecutor and law enforcement agency with jurisdiction. That's pretty large.
Know this, you bastards. While the rest of my country is working their asses off trying to make ends meet- they don't have the time to see through you or put the pieces together that you so desperately try to conceal. Our people are being killed in places like Afghanistan while you piss on their graves. They are not stupid and they are not sheep. They are just people trying to make the best of their lives while cowards like you lie, scheme, and obstruct justice- steal our wealth and desecrate our country. They don't believe in conspiracies because they don't engage in them and they can't believe others do. Don't mistake their loyalty for stupidity. They may be patriots but you are certainly not. You are not public servants. You aren't even decent people. No matter how this plays out we know what you've done. That's finally becoming "transparent" to a few of us.
The Greatest Conspiracy Ever- Part One
In the fall of 2008, it was absolutely breathtaking to watch the stock market crash. I had shorted a number of stocks, particularly Countrywide Mortgage, but covered that position far too early. I had no idea of just how toxic that company had become. Clearly it exceeded my expectations. Fannie, Freddie, and many of the giant banks were every bit as bad and still are.
The size and scope of the problem revealed itself when the FED was finally forced to disclose how much it had lent it's member banks back then, which was just released a couple of months ago. Over 9 trillion dollars. That was in addition to the 1 trillion Hank Paulson and Congress extorted from the American people. Ten trillion dollars. 10,000,000,000,000.00. http://nation.foxnews.com/bailouts/2010/12/02/shocking-fed-s-trillion-dollar-foreign-bank-bailout
So why didn't the FED, who apparently had a spare 9 trillion dollars laying around, simply loan that last 700 billion to it's member banks? Why did it seek that bailout loan from Congress?
In fact, that question is so prescient that it begs to be asked. The answer I believe- is far more sinister than anyone cares to believe. In fact, that 700 billion dollars was used to co-opt and corrupt Congress. Here is the even more sinister part. The FED could not bail out the insurer, AIG. American International Group is a private insurer, a public corporation, not a primary bank or dealer. It's counter party losses were staggering. The beneficiaries of those losses were the banks. If AIG were allowed to fail, all those banks were not going to get their insurance money.
So Congress, it's most influential members already placed in office with the help of million dollar campaign contributions from banks, was co-opted. Called on to pay back the bankers. Once the money was turned over, they became co-conspirators. Although I am certain that some knew precisely what was happening, I'll bet many did not. They were herd animals and probably felt they had no alternative. You can't bite the hand that feeds you. And at some point in time and certainly thereafter- you can bet they figured out they had been conned.
It is the nastiest lie in Washington. Prosecuting bankers, means Congress members are also at risk. Not only criminal prosecution but undoubtedly re-election loss. Particularly those that knew precisely what was happening. Slick bastards like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank. But now I am going to take you where nobody has ever gone before. This is how the mind of an old cop works.
If all of this is true, and I believe that is, there are two other huge problems. One is the existing President, and the other larger pressing problem, is the incoming President. You have to be able to co-opt both of those men to make your plan work. Because both of those men have the power to stop this dead in it's tracks. They are the heads of the executive branch. The enforcement division of the United States. If either man were not on board, the plan would unravel. Bush was clearly elite, sympathetic, and he had been co-opted long ago. It was his staff who put this ugly plan into motion as Bush was about to leave office. Bush had suffered at the hands of an American people who were very bitter and angry with him. Quite honestly, I don't think Bush gave two shits whether the American people got hosed or not. The Katrina backlash comes to mind. Bush might have even viewed it as revenge. But the most interesting piece of this puzzle is Barack Obama.
Remember how Obama literally came out of nowhere?
I clipped the following table from Open Secrets who I think is a pretty reputable source of campaign contributors. Obama raised nearly 1 billion dollars. Here are some of the larger beneficiaries. Hmmm...Berkeley, that makes sense. A million from Goldman Sachs- oh yea- they are the ones that got all of that money from AIG...(Hank's bailout) There's Google who has been helping the government recently. There's Citibank- the most bankrupt of the TBTF banks, JP Morgan the United States Hedge Fund, UBS with all of those elite Swiss Bank Accounts and my favorite, GE. Get a load of this link and keep those campaign contributions in mind. Remember too- that Jeffrey Immelt of GE just became Obama's new business Czar and suddenly President Obama wants to build a train? http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/ge-obama-affair-and-jeff-immelt-s-harsh-words
The size and scope of the problem revealed itself when the FED was finally forced to disclose how much it had lent it's member banks back then, which was just released a couple of months ago. Over 9 trillion dollars. That was in addition to the 1 trillion Hank Paulson and Congress extorted from the American people. Ten trillion dollars. 10,000,000,000,000.00. http://nation.foxnews.com/bailouts/2010/12/02/shocking-fed-s-trillion-dollar-foreign-bank-bailout
So why didn't the FED, who apparently had a spare 9 trillion dollars laying around, simply loan that last 700 billion to it's member banks? Why did it seek that bailout loan from Congress?
In fact, that question is so prescient that it begs to be asked. The answer I believe- is far more sinister than anyone cares to believe. In fact, that 700 billion dollars was used to co-opt and corrupt Congress. Here is the even more sinister part. The FED could not bail out the insurer, AIG. American International Group is a private insurer, a public corporation, not a primary bank or dealer. It's counter party losses were staggering. The beneficiaries of those losses were the banks. If AIG were allowed to fail, all those banks were not going to get their insurance money.
So Congress, it's most influential members already placed in office with the help of million dollar campaign contributions from banks, was co-opted. Called on to pay back the bankers. Once the money was turned over, they became co-conspirators. Although I am certain that some knew precisely what was happening, I'll bet many did not. They were herd animals and probably felt they had no alternative. You can't bite the hand that feeds you. And at some point in time and certainly thereafter- you can bet they figured out they had been conned.
It is the nastiest lie in Washington. Prosecuting bankers, means Congress members are also at risk. Not only criminal prosecution but undoubtedly re-election loss. Particularly those that knew precisely what was happening. Slick bastards like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank. But now I am going to take you where nobody has ever gone before. This is how the mind of an old cop works.
If all of this is true, and I believe that is, there are two other huge problems. One is the existing President, and the other larger pressing problem, is the incoming President. You have to be able to co-opt both of those men to make your plan work. Because both of those men have the power to stop this dead in it's tracks. They are the heads of the executive branch. The enforcement division of the United States. If either man were not on board, the plan would unravel. Bush was clearly elite, sympathetic, and he had been co-opted long ago. It was his staff who put this ugly plan into motion as Bush was about to leave office. Bush had suffered at the hands of an American people who were very bitter and angry with him. Quite honestly, I don't think Bush gave two shits whether the American people got hosed or not. The Katrina backlash comes to mind. Bush might have even viewed it as revenge. But the most interesting piece of this puzzle is Barack Obama.
Remember how Obama literally came out of nowhere?
I clipped the following table from Open Secrets who I think is a pretty reputable source of campaign contributors. Obama raised nearly 1 billion dollars. Here are some of the larger beneficiaries. Hmmm...Berkeley, that makes sense. A million from Goldman Sachs- oh yea- they are the ones that got all of that money from AIG...(Hank's bailout) There's Google who has been helping the government recently. There's Citibank- the most bankrupt of the TBTF banks, JP Morgan the United States Hedge Fund, UBS with all of those elite Swiss Bank Accounts and my favorite, GE. Get a load of this link and keep those campaign contributions in mind. Remember too- that Jeffrey Immelt of GE just became Obama's new business Czar and suddenly President Obama wants to build a train? http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/ge-obama-affair-and-jeff-immelt-s-harsh-words
| University of California | $1,591,395 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Goldman Sachs | $994,795 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Harvard University | $854,747 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Microsoft Corp | $833,617 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Google Inc | $803,436 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citigroup Inc | $701,290 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| JPMorgan Chase & Co | $695,132 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time Warner | $590,084 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sidley Austin LLP | $588,598 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stanford University | $586,557 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Amusements Inc | $551,683 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UBS AG | $543,219 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wilmerhale Llp | $542,618 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skadden, Arps et al | $530,839 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IBM Corp | $528,822 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Columbia University | $528,302 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Morgan Stanley | $514,881 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General Electric | $499,130 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| US Government | $494,820 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Social Security Trust Fund...Dead Money
Every once in awhile, I stumble across somebody who is under the impression that Social Security funds are resting in some safe account that politicians can't raid and haven't spent.
Four years ago, I was one of those guys. A few folks pointed out- that I was a moron.
Excess contributions and reserves have been spent. When the SSA posted a 49 billion dollar loss this year, that raised my eyebrows. Remember when they said the fund wouldn't go red until 2018? Wrong.
So when you are already bleeding money, what's the smart move? Well according to this government, just cut the employees share. For a year. Snipped from an online article.
The FICA tax (consisting of Social Security and Medicare taxes) is imposed on both employers and employees at an aggregate rate of 15.3 percent. Half is paid by the employer and half is paid (through withholding) by the employee. That is, each employer and employee pay 7.65 percent in FICA tax. Of each half, 6.4 percent is Social Security Tax.
In 2011, the Social Security tax is imposed on the first $106,800 earned by an employee. For this year only, the Act reduces the employee’s share of the Social Security Tax to 4.4 percent of this wage base. This means that an employee making $106,800 will pay $2,136 less in Social Security Tax in 2011. An employee making $50,000 will pay $1,000 less.
-You just can't make this shit up. You can't rob Peter to pay Paul. Why not? Because Peter has to finance that 49 billion dollar loss with more Treasury debt. Interest. This year, we are not just going to lose the 3% that should be paid in...we are going to lose an additional 3 or 4% in interest. Can you imagine how ugly this is going to be at the end of this year? I think with the loss of revenue, baby boomers taking their first out, higher costs, the SSA fund loss could triple this year to 150 billion. More treasury debt, more interest.
It also set a unique precedent just prior to an election year. Do you think it's possible to extend this again through 2012? I sure do.
The interesting thing, I think, is that while the DC morons argue about those paltry cuts in the discretionary part of the budget- they could be dismantling and phasing out SS- particularly for younger folks. That has a far greater reward and return. Of course the howls from the largesse gatherers would be so intense- that politicians see it as career suicide. And it probably is.
Sooner or later someone is going to have to step up and commit suicide. That's the way it is. Like all good politicians before them- I fully expect this spineless crew to let someone else commit suicide. I think the whole system implodes as the Bernank just cranks up the presses some more. I can easily see trillion dollar losses in the next five years as the boomers exit at a rapid pace and nobody pays in. The losses will rise exponentially and interest will get tacked on. If this crew can't make some paltry cuts in this years budget and agree on them, what chance do they have of rescuing Social Security? The SSA is dead money...it's just a matter of when.
Four years ago, I was one of those guys. A few folks pointed out- that I was a moron.
Excess contributions and reserves have been spent. When the SSA posted a 49 billion dollar loss this year, that raised my eyebrows. Remember when they said the fund wouldn't go red until 2018? Wrong.
So when you are already bleeding money, what's the smart move? Well according to this government, just cut the employees share. For a year. Snipped from an online article.
The FICA tax (consisting of Social Security and Medicare taxes) is imposed on both employers and employees at an aggregate rate of 15.3 percent. Half is paid by the employer and half is paid (through withholding) by the employee. That is, each employer and employee pay 7.65 percent in FICA tax. Of each half, 6.4 percent is Social Security Tax.
In 2011, the Social Security tax is imposed on the first $106,800 earned by an employee. For this year only, the Act reduces the employee’s share of the Social Security Tax to 4.4 percent of this wage base. This means that an employee making $106,800 will pay $2,136 less in Social Security Tax in 2011. An employee making $50,000 will pay $1,000 less.
-You just can't make this shit up. You can't rob Peter to pay Paul. Why not? Because Peter has to finance that 49 billion dollar loss with more Treasury debt. Interest. This year, we are not just going to lose the 3% that should be paid in...we are going to lose an additional 3 or 4% in interest. Can you imagine how ugly this is going to be at the end of this year? I think with the loss of revenue, baby boomers taking their first out, higher costs, the SSA fund loss could triple this year to 150 billion. More treasury debt, more interest.
It also set a unique precedent just prior to an election year. Do you think it's possible to extend this again through 2012? I sure do.
The interesting thing, I think, is that while the DC morons argue about those paltry cuts in the discretionary part of the budget- they could be dismantling and phasing out SS- particularly for younger folks. That has a far greater reward and return. Of course the howls from the largesse gatherers would be so intense- that politicians see it as career suicide. And it probably is.
Sooner or later someone is going to have to step up and commit suicide. That's the way it is. Like all good politicians before them- I fully expect this spineless crew to let someone else commit suicide. I think the whole system implodes as the Bernank just cranks up the presses some more. I can easily see trillion dollar losses in the next five years as the boomers exit at a rapid pace and nobody pays in. The losses will rise exponentially and interest will get tacked on. If this crew can't make some paltry cuts in this years budget and agree on them, what chance do they have of rescuing Social Security? The SSA is dead money...it's just a matter of when.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Huckabee Now Using "Frankenstein" Adjective to Describe Obamacare
Interesting. Come to think of it, that 2300, 2600, or 2700 page monstrosity of a health care bill probably qualifies for the term. Throw in the FED, the tax code, and the people dreaming up this garbage and somehow it all makes sense.
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/huckabee-health-care-obama/2011/02/24/id/387342?s=al&promo_code=BBF5-1
I will remember Huckabee as the Governor who pardoned a prison inmate for what seemed to be an outrageous sentence of 60 years for burglary at age 17. That same inmate killed four police officers in Washington State. Clearly the cops in that case, the prosecutor, and the sentencing judge knew something that Governor Huckabee didn't.
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/huckabee-health-care-obama/2011/02/24/id/387342?s=al&promo_code=BBF5-1
I will remember Huckabee as the Governor who pardoned a prison inmate for what seemed to be an outrageous sentence of 60 years for burglary at age 17. That same inmate killed four police officers in Washington State. Clearly the cops in that case, the prosecutor, and the sentencing judge knew something that Governor Huckabee didn't.
Buying an RFID Chip, Another Wild Ass Day in the Silver Market
A few days ago, while conversing with the passport lady at the Post Office, she asked me if I would be traveling soon. I told her I wasn't getting a passport to travel- I was getting one to evacuate.
So today, for only 151.00 dollars, I bought one of those RFID embedded passports. I don't really like embedded chips scattering my personal data from up to 30 feet away and heaven forbid the chip gets disabled. Some sort of crushing accident, perhaps a fall on my ass. I hope that doesn't happen but I've been known to be a little bit clumsy.
I need the passport for a trip I am going to take through Canada with my Roofracer pal, Troy. He has one of those underpowered Harley soft tails that makes a lot of noise but doesn't go fast. My bike has the opposite characteristics. In fact, with six cylinders and carburetors, I'm not sure it gets much better gas mileage than my car. I need the passport for a couple of reasons.
In the unlikely event (let me give you a wild ass example) of the government declaring that precious metals were illegal and that you had to exchange them for currency- that might necessitate a trip to one of our adjoining countries. I am a creative problem solver, ya know what I mean? Not that I would bother checking to find the cheapest safety deposit boxes in Canadian banks. That would be lunacy.
So after I paid the vig to the government shysters, I went down to the coin dealer. Just before leaving the house- I had watched silver absolutely in freefall. At one point it dipped nearly 2 bucks which is 6% off. I am always looking for spring "sales events" and when I arrived at the dealer he told me he couldn't buy or sell for a few minutes. While I was standing there, some guy came in and sold someone's silverware. He had it in a big freezer bag which is more commonly used for carrying pot. I wondered which commodity he'd rather have. Judging from the look of him, it was a toss up. At any rate, the gal behind the counter scratched each piece, eyedropped some reagent on it, and seemed satisfied with the results. At any moment, I expected this guy to open his mouth and pry out a gold crown and fork it over although he seemed a little short on teeth as it was.
Today, I was very happy not to be in the paper silver market. My heart goes out to those longs which cannot stand for delivery. Maybe we'll get 'em next month.
So today, for only 151.00 dollars, I bought one of those RFID embedded passports. I don't really like embedded chips scattering my personal data from up to 30 feet away and heaven forbid the chip gets disabled. Some sort of crushing accident, perhaps a fall on my ass. I hope that doesn't happen but I've been known to be a little bit clumsy.
I need the passport for a trip I am going to take through Canada with my Roofracer pal, Troy. He has one of those underpowered Harley soft tails that makes a lot of noise but doesn't go fast. My bike has the opposite characteristics. In fact, with six cylinders and carburetors, I'm not sure it gets much better gas mileage than my car. I need the passport for a couple of reasons.
In the unlikely event (let me give you a wild ass example) of the government declaring that precious metals were illegal and that you had to exchange them for currency- that might necessitate a trip to one of our adjoining countries. I am a creative problem solver, ya know what I mean? Not that I would bother checking to find the cheapest safety deposit boxes in Canadian banks. That would be lunacy.
So after I paid the vig to the government shysters, I went down to the coin dealer. Just before leaving the house- I had watched silver absolutely in freefall. At one point it dipped nearly 2 bucks which is 6% off. I am always looking for spring "sales events" and when I arrived at the dealer he told me he couldn't buy or sell for a few minutes. While I was standing there, some guy came in and sold someone's silverware. He had it in a big freezer bag which is more commonly used for carrying pot. I wondered which commodity he'd rather have. Judging from the look of him, it was a toss up. At any rate, the gal behind the counter scratched each piece, eyedropped some reagent on it, and seemed satisfied with the results. At any moment, I expected this guy to open his mouth and pry out a gold crown and fork it over although he seemed a little short on teeth as it was.
Today, I was very happy not to be in the paper silver market. My heart goes out to those longs which cannot stand for delivery. Maybe we'll get 'em next month.
Welcome to the Herd/ More Proof of Corrupt Government/SEC General Counsel Departs Quietly
After reading a fascinating article on why the SEC General Counsel recently departed quietly- I have added Lawyers on Strike to the blogroll. Please read this article, it's short. http://strikelawyer.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/interesting-lesson-in-journalism/
I want you to stop and think about this for a moment. The fucking SEC General Counsel was invested in Madoff's Fund??? And Madoff went uninvestigated for 10 years???
Please tell me what IF ANYTHING, qualifies as a conflict of interest?? This guy stands to lose 1.5 million profit he got from Madoff?? Turns out that this piece of shit, served as General Counsel to the SEC from 2000-2002. He was rehired in 2009 shortly after Madoff was arrested. He would have had all of this time to publicly disclose that he inherited profits from Madoff and certainly before beginning his second tour of duty at the SEC. Even the idiots at the SEC might have run a little scared. But hell, who knows? Here is the story of the poor sap who spent 10 years trying to expose Madoff without success. Go figure. http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/man_who_exposed_madoff_190.html
In fairness, Becker inherited the funds from his mother. What are the chances he knew and advised his mother where to invest his future inheritance? I'm saying better than average. Thus the chances of Madoff being investigated- in the 2000-2002 time frame? Nil. Tough to say how much mom had made by then and what clout Becker still had after he left.
Of course, David Becker, has excuses. See here. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022306509.html
Lawyers are subject to ethical code and conduct rules. That of course is an unproven theory and every once in awhile, the Bar in any given state, actually imposes some sanction on one of their kindred spirits. It is usually a scolding for having got caught.
All of Becker's excuses don't amount to shit. Any kind of good ethical conduct would demand disclosure at some point- years prior to today.
I am getting a headache just thinking about this.
I want you to stop and think about this for a moment. The fucking SEC General Counsel was invested in Madoff's Fund??? And Madoff went uninvestigated for 10 years???
Please tell me what IF ANYTHING, qualifies as a conflict of interest?? This guy stands to lose 1.5 million profit he got from Madoff?? Turns out that this piece of shit, served as General Counsel to the SEC from 2000-2002. He was rehired in 2009 shortly after Madoff was arrested. He would have had all of this time to publicly disclose that he inherited profits from Madoff and certainly before beginning his second tour of duty at the SEC. Even the idiots at the SEC might have run a little scared. But hell, who knows? Here is the story of the poor sap who spent 10 years trying to expose Madoff without success. Go figure. http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/man_who_exposed_madoff_190.html
In fairness, Becker inherited the funds from his mother. What are the chances he knew and advised his mother where to invest his future inheritance? I'm saying better than average. Thus the chances of Madoff being investigated- in the 2000-2002 time frame? Nil. Tough to say how much mom had made by then and what clout Becker still had after he left.
Of course, David Becker, has excuses. See here. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022306509.html
Lawyers are subject to ethical code and conduct rules. That of course is an unproven theory and every once in awhile, the Bar in any given state, actually imposes some sanction on one of their kindred spirits. It is usually a scolding for having got caught.
All of Becker's excuses don't amount to shit. Any kind of good ethical conduct would demand disclosure at some point- years prior to today.
I am getting a headache just thinking about this.
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