Congressional Pig Out

Congress Spent $604,000 on Bottled Water, $397,000 on Catering:
"Crave ribs? Bagels and coffee or doughnuts? Seafood, subs or Chinese? So does Congress!

House members spent part of their Members Representational Allowances on these items -- and more -- during the nine-month period between late 2009 and early 2010 covered by the Sunlight Foundation's House Expenditure Reports Database. The info is highly enlightening, revealing, for instance, the popularity of Chantilly Donut's sinkers; what it costs to feed hungry congressional pages; and how lucrative it can be to own a part of the cottage industry of keeping our duly elected representatives fed and well hydrated."

Something to remember on Senior Citizen's Discount Day when you are shopping at your local supermarket.
These and other discount days are quite popular in my area of North Carolina, people use them to save 5-10% on their groceries. My local Harris Teeter has a special "e-Vic" email which provides a list of "lost leader" items at a heavy discount, just to get you into the store.
Hey, at our age every penny counts.

Hummm......... I was just wondering -
Do you think that if you asked your representatives to be just as frugal with your money, as you are with your money, they would?
In A Pigs Eye!

Elites, Bias, and Bigotry in Academia

Human Events- Pat Buchanan - Bias and Bigotry in Academia: 
"Elite college admissions officers may prattle about "diversity," but what they mean is the African-American contingent on campus should be 5 percent to 7 percent, with Hispanics about as numerous.

However, "an estimated 40-50 of those categorized as black are Afro-Caribbean or African immigrants, or the children of such immigrants," who never suffered segregation or Jim Crow.

To achieve even these percentages, however, the discrimination against white and Asian applicants, because of the color of their skin and where their ancestors came from, is astonishing. 

"As Nieli (Princeton Professor Russell K. Nieli) puts it,
'Being Hispanic conferred an admissions boost over being white ... equivalent to 130 SAT points (out of 1,600), while being black rather than white conferred a 310-point SAT advantage. Asians, however, suffered an admissions penalty compared to whites equivalent to 140 SAT points.'

To have the same chance of gaining admission as a black student with a SAT score of 1100, a Hispanic student otherwise equally matched in background characteristics would have to have 1230, a white student a 1410, and an Asian student a 1550.'

Was this what the civil rights revolution was all about -- requiring kids whose parents came from Korea, Japan or Vietnam to get a perfect SAT score of 1600 to be given equal consideration with a Jamaican or Kenyan kid who got an 1150? Is this what it means to be an Ivy League progressive?"

Another great article by Pat Buchanan.
If you've ever wondered why it takes a College Degree to be a Night Manager at McDonald's, this article explains it all.
The one thing that I have to keep reminding myself of is, that Diversity is Affirmative Action, which in and of itself is Discrimination.
But what the hell, nobody seems to complain, so how bad can it be?

For your viewing pleasure, I've graciously included a short video clip of one of my favorite movies. In it, you can get a brief glimpse into the future. Of course this assumes that the education system stays steadily on the Diversity Course (and it most assuredly will).

Race Issues Beset Obama

Analysis: Race Issues Beset Obama's Post-Racial Presidency:
"(Reuters) - Many supporters of Barack Obama hoped his election as America's first black president might herald an era of post-racial politics, but race has been an issue his administration just can't seem to avoid."

The phrase "race has been an issue his administration can't seem to avoid" is probably one of the most ridiculous phrases I've read in a long time. The author is so clueless about what has been going on in American politics, he must have been reading Dick's Sporting Goods catalogs for the last year and a half.

• Where was the author when President Obama made an uninformed statement about the arrest of a Harvard Professor without (by his own admission) any knowledge of the facts surrounding the case?
• Where was the author when President Obama allowed his Attorney General to call the American People a 'Nation of Cowards' on Race Matters?
• Where was the author when President Obama allowed The Speaker of The House, The Speaker of The Senate, the NAACP and others to falsely brand the Tea Party as a bunch of racists for political reasons?

President Obama will find that the American People are more than willing to have an open and honest discussion about race.
Unfortunately, to his dismay, he will find out right quick that the issues that are of concern to the "unwashed masses", will not be those that are bandied about among the Polite Washington Elite.

Census Workers Creative Jobs - NYPOST.com

Two More Census Workers Blow The Whistle:
"You know the old saying: 'Everyone loves a charade.' Well, it seems that the Census Bureau may be playing games.

Last week, one of the millions of workers hired by Census 2010 to parade around the country counting Americans blew the whistle on some statistical tricks.

The worker, Naomi Cohn, told The Post that she was hired and fired a number of times by Census. Each time she was hired back, it seems, Census was able to report the creation of a new job to the Labor Department."

I promptly filled out the form because I did not want a home visit by a Census Worker. I've heard some nasty things about them. 
Rumor has it that they are in some cases Ex-Cons, Sexual Predators and perhaps even................... Democrats.

Leave Vera Baker Alone - HillBuzz

Leave Vera Baker Alone. She Did Not Have An Affair With Obama:
"One of the more bizarre things we got dragged into on this site was the whole “Vera Baker, Mystery Woman” episode during the close of the 2008 general election campaign.

The GOP was convinced that Vera Baker, a former campaign fundraiser for Obama’s Senate race, had an affair with Obama and was then sent to Martinique to hide out during the election. Reportedly, Michelle Obama was so jealous of Baker that she “wanted to scratch her eyes out”, which is something she said about President Clinton as well. Michelle wants to scratch all sorts of people’s eyes out, none of whom have had an affair with Dr. Utopia."

I came across this blog post while I was doing some research on the shocking National Enquirer article Obama Cheating Scandal. The Hill Buzz article turned out to be more shocking than the Enquirer, and to say I was surprised by the allegations in this one, is an understatement of massive proportions.
   
Let me start by giving some background on the blog that posted the article because I think it's important to keep in mind who the writers are, and where they're coming from as you're reading the post.

Hill Buzz is written by a group of gay men in Chicago who began the blog in early 2008 as part of their efforts on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. They claim to have experienced the dirty tricks of the Obama campaign up close and personal during the primaries. As soon as the Democratic nomination was "stolen from Hillary", they became supporters of John McCain. They blogged, campaigned, phonebanked and donated money for McCain/Palin with unbounded zeal and passion.

Between the National Enquirer claiming that The President Of The United States is a philandering womanizer, and the HillBuzz claiming he is a philandering manizer, all I can say is that ............ I don't know what to say.

Remember In November

As I said in a recent post titled Dismal Congressional Performance

        The Times They Are a-Changin'

And those fools in DC better understand that simple fact.

Here it is, in a short, to the point video, that exemplifies the frustration of the American People. Just in case you needed a little something to prompt you to Get Out, and Vote Out, Dem Bums.

'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?'

Health Care Reform Spawns Mass Confusion For Public: 

"WASHINGTON — Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them.

Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors' offices, human resources departments and business groups.

'They're saying, 'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?' ' said Carrie McLean, a licensed agent for eHealthInsurance.com. The California-based company sells coverage from 185 health insurance carriers in 50 states."

Well there it is in Black and White.
Where Do I Get My Free Health Care?

All those polls showing how many people were for Obama Care were correct statistically.
What they didn't reflect was how  well informed  uninformed certain sectors of the American public were on the issues surrounding health care. Mainly issues like, what exactly is Obama Care, and what would the true cost be. Adding to the problem of cost is the fact that Half Of US Households Don't Pay Taxes,and there fore could care less how Obama Care is paid for.

Against Obamacare? Watch Out

Oppose It? You're A Fascist, Racist, Hater - Larry Elder:
"Differences of opinion and ideology, passionately held, drive the opposition to Obamacare.

Yet to shut down the effort to overturn Obamacare's unpopular assault on freedom and prosperity, the left resorts to a frequently employed tactic. They and their media co-conspirators find whack jobs holding stupid signs – or saying or doing stupid things – and say, 'See! Right-wing intolerance, hatred and racism fuel this movement.'

Idiots, wing nuts and haters exist – on both sides of the political spectrum – in a country of 300 million people. Those who threaten and engage in violence should be arrested and prosecuted. Those who use incendiary language should be denounced.

But which 'hater' said the following, and where was the condemnation?"

Great article from Larry Elder.

Larry exposes the hypocrisies of the left with a few "hatred" quotes from some of the most notable paragons of tolerance the Progressives have to offer.

It's quite a little history lesson, reminiscent of Pat Buchanan mixed in with a bit of Ann Coulter-ish sarcasm. For some reason it brings to mind an old bumper sticker I once saw:
A Person Of Tolerance And Diversity ….. Keyed My Car!

Read it and enjoy.

Mexicans Could Seek Asylum in U.S.

Mexicans Facing Drug War Violence Could Seek Political Asylum in U.S.:
"The spreading violence of the drug wars along the Mexican border may have one unintended consequence. It could upend efforts to curb illegal immigrants by giving Mexican border-crossers a tool they never had before: a valid claim for political asylum.

For decades, immigrants coming from Mexico were denied asylum because Mexico was a stable and relatively peaceful democracy. But that is changing now."

Well it looks like the Washington crowd might have found an easy way to accomplish "Immigration Reform" without the need for any troublesome legislation, and as an added bonus have a nifty excuse to silence voter outrage.
Political Asylum.

The Gang Of 534 must be overjoyed:

• More uneducated citizens who will vote in a block for their favorite party.
• More cheap labor for  their  political patrons   American Corporations and Unions.
• More taxpayers to add to the Ponzi Schemes of Medicare and Social Security.
• More Cannon Fodder for foreign intervention.

What A Deal.
Both parties must be elated.
In their wildest dreams, the Politicians couldn't ask for more.

Of course there is that little annoying thing that everyone in DC likes to fondly refer to as "Unintended Consequences."
But what the hell, they wont have to worry about them until later, after the election, when nobody will remember.

Or Will They?

Every Body Knows

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

  


I've only seen drips and drabs of Sin City while channel surfing, but it never made an impression on me.
So don't ask me how I ran across this video or why it caught my attention, it's one of life's mysteries.

At any rate, the song got me thinking about what's happening in Washington and on Wall Street lately:

The Banks Are Broke

Social Security And Medicare Are Insolvent

The Political System Is Corrupt Beyond Repair

Wall Street Bank Executives Are Thieves

The Stock Market Has Lost All Sense Of Reality 

Illegal Immigration Is Out Of Control
Nancy Pelosi Is Insane

The Inmates Are Running The Asylum

People are closing their eyes and desperately trying to make believe that all of this isn't true, but -

Every Body Knows

Obama in Rude Denial

The American Spectator : Obama in Rude Denial: 
"IT'S ALL A GOP PLOT.
The White House political and legislative operations were said to be livid with the announcement by several large U.S. companies that they were taking multi-million or as much as a billion dollar charges because of the new health-care law, the issue was front-and-center with key lawmakers. By last Friday, AT&T, Caterpillar, Deere & Co., and AK Steel Holding Corp. had all announced that they were taking the one-time charges on their first-quarter balance sheets. More companies were expected to make similar announcements this week.

'These are Republican CEOs who are trying to embarrass the President and Democrats in general,' says a White House legislative affairs staffer. 'Where do you hear about this stuff? The Wall Street Journal editorial page and conservative websites. No one else picked up on this but you guys. It's BS.'"

 
The melt down continues. 
Reality is starting to set in with the Democrats who happily cast their ballots for this legislation. Well some of them anyway.
The DC elites can't seem to come to grips with the fact that that they just made the economy ten times worse.

Those pesky Congressional Aides better start reading Ms. Pelosi's bills before they advise their bosses to vote for them. The one thing that the Democratic leadership hung their hat on was that the electorate would forget about health care when the economy recovered by November. Well it ain't gonna happen.

I also suggest that a course in Basic Accounting should be mandatory for anyone involved in the creation of a bill.
They should also verse themselves in Newtons Third Law:
"Every action has a reaction equal in magnitude and opposite in direction."
This way no one can claim the old "Unintended Consequences" defense, we've heard that one too many times. It's malfeasance to allege that they couldn't see this coming.

Congress and The President have to realize that the US is just about broke.
They killed The Goose Who Laid The Golden Egg by destroying the middle class, and the Money Tree is dead because they over harvested the fruit, and haven't watered or fed it in years.

The guys and girls in DC are like old broken down Silent Film stars who are well past their prime.
They've become like the proverbial Millionaires with out the Millions, and they're dragging us down with them.


Sorry, I am feeling very snarky this morning.
The thought of having my hard earned company benefits taken away from me always puts me in a bad mood.

A Monkey's Tale

LIKE A MONKEY WITH A HAMMER - James Quinn -- Seeking Alpha:
"When I saw this Dilbert this morning, the phrase “Like a Monkey with a Hammer” really struck home. Don’t the Congress people we see every day on TV fit this description to a tee? A scene in the movie Generation Zero last night describing how the big banks handled their risk exposure showed a monkey trying to use an adding machine and eventually pushing it off his desk."

I too was struck when I saw the Dilbert strip this morning, but for a different reason than Mr. Quinn.
It reminded me of a crude joke about force feeding a pig, and the punch line went something like this:
"The last thing I saw was the monkey trying to put the cork back in."

With the way Congress has printed money to stimulate the economy, bail out Wall street, nationalize car companies, and fund black hole projects like health care, it's only a matter of time before the whole thing blows up in their faces. Just like the force fed pig in the joke, excrement will be flying everywhere..

So the only question that remains is: Which one of the Gang of 535 will be selected as the monkey whose job will be to "put the cork back in."

The Money Hole

Well, The Onion has done it again.

If it wasn't so representative of how the folks in DC think about our tax dollars, it would be a very funny skit. It seems it's not a matter of IF the money should be spent, it's HOW.
Unfortunately I'm seeing more and more articles about the U.S.A. and Sovereign Default (government bankruptcy). So many in fact that I'm getting very, very, nervous.

What About You?

Hyperinflation

This is a very interesting and very scary video created by the National Inflation Association.
It begins with a look at Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation, then goes on to explain that the U.S. is traveling the same road.
If nothing else, Jim Rogers' observation on why the bailouts aren't working is worth your time to view the video.
The way that the fools in DC are spending, it won't be long until a dollar won't be worth the disk space it is stored on.

Who Will Succeed Barack Obama?

Wanted: short, fat white man to succeed Barack Obama - Telegraph:
"Remember that you heard it here first: Make way for the short, pudgy, balding white fellow who's been there and got the scars - and the results - to prove it.

Barack Obama was the ultimate candidate for the television age. He looked fantastic and sounded wonderful. He soared above politics and made people feel better about themselves.

Ability to get things done? Track record? Such petty considerations seemed beside the point in 2008 for Obama was the very culmination of history. It was almost as if the then Senator for Illinois symbolised the end of politics, the point at which the perfect candidate drew a line under grubby partisanship.

Now, Americans have woken up from that dream and are living with the hangover. Neither history nor politics ended when Obama's ascended to the Oval Office. The recession is biting, unemployment is still hovering just below 10 per cent, the deficit is soaring and there is still gridlock in Washington."

It's taken a British Newspaper to finally give validity to something I've said about Obama many times before:

Our country is paying a terrible price for a trendy impulse. The Fashion Voters - those who voted for the nation's first black President regardless of his qualifications and despite the communists in his background - are how we got into this ungodly mess in the first place.

Now if only the U.S. Main Stream Media could see what's very obvious to the Brits maybe we could ...........................
Nah.
No Way.
Never Gonna Happen.

An Alarming video every Westerner should see

Another Hat Tip to John L.
I Don't know why, but the emails I get these days seem be on a roll about Homeland Security issues that effect our daily lives (see  Now We're Talking Sense ).
This video below is a follow up to that post. It came from a Christian web site called Tangle.com, but I'm sure it is running ramped throughout the Jewish and Muslim communities as well.

It seems that there are a lot of people who are very alarmed over scenarios put forth in the video (anthrax and all that), and I sympathize with their angst and fears.

To them I say, not to worry.
Like myself, they should sleep like babies knowing that the ever vigilant Department of Homeland Security headed by Big Sis, and armed with an annual budget of $55.1 Billion and a President committed to the War On Terror, will Deliver Us From Evil.

Now We're Talking Sense

Hat Tip to John L.

I just received this tongue in cheek email about Air Port Scanning that really made me think about the stupidity of this whole TSA fiasco. Being forced to take off your shoes while watching your eightyfive year old grandmother being frisked doesn't make for a pleasant flying experience.

No one in the Government, the MSM, or the conservative news broadcasts  will admit that most TSA procedures are ineffective, and performed only for "security theater" purposes.

What's mind boggling is that this Kabuki is costing us big time. TSA’s budget has been increased to $8.2 billion for 2010.

Maybe that's what makes this email's silly solution seem so sensible.

An engineer (ex-NASA project director) has what I think is the near perfect solution for airport security!

Here's a solution to all the controversy over full-body scanners at the airports. Have a booth that you can step into that will not X-ray you, but will detonate any explosive device you may have on you.
It would be a win-win for everyone, and there would be none of this crap about racial profiling and this method would eliminate a long and expensive trial.
Justice would be quick and swift..
Case Closed!

Dismal Congressional Performance Ratings

Congressional Performance A Bust - Rasmussen Reports™: 
"Voter unhappiness with Congress has reached the highest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports as 71% now say the legislature is doing a poor job.
That’s up ten points from the previous high of 61% reached a month ago.
Only 10% of voters say Congress is doing a good or excellent job."

For some reason this article reminded me of a song by Bob Dylan called The Times They Are a-Changin'
It was popular during the "cultural revolution" of the Sixties. To quote one review -
"Released in February 1964, the incisive title track quickly became an anthem for all those seeking social justice, and served as the soundtrack for an entire generation."

According to the Rasmussen Poll you might want to mark your calendar because this year may bring about another "cultural revolution."
Only this time the marches and protests will come from an entirely different generation, and an entirely different segment of the population. This time it will be the middle class, and they will be more akin to a Shays' Rebellion than a bunch of unwashed, stoned, unemployed hippies singing "com by ya my lord".

The Times They Are a-Changin'

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Touche Keith Olbermann

The Main Stream Media is desperately trying to brand The Tea Party as a bunch of Racist Right Wing Kooks. It looks like they have moved on (pun intended) from a simple case of Sarah Palin Agita to the more serious Tea Party Derangement Syndrome.

Keith Olbermann over at MSNBC has been his usual boorish self in his criticism of  them. The "Countdown" host did a Special Comment segment concluding with this question to Tea Party activists -

Why are you surrounded by the largest crowd you will ever again see in your life that consists of nothing but people who look exactly like you?

Below is a very clever response to the race baiting question.

Huxi: Secrets Of China's Richest Village

The following mind boggling video gives new meaning to that classic song by Tennessee Ernie Ford:

You load sixteen tons, what do you get

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

China has its own bubbles to contend with, and it makes Dubai's seem a little less obscene. I found the video embedded in a Bloomberg news story. It is an eerie account of a sleepy village's journey from peasantry to modern day serfdom, golden shackles and all.
Both spouses are working 7 days a week to support the Dream Life Style, Mercedes in the garage, Plasma TVs in the living room, Mac Mansions to live in, and Universal Health Care.

Sound Familiar?

Bloomberg.com 
The township of Huaxi in the Yangtze River Delta is a proud symbol of how Chinese communists embraced capitalism to lift 300 million people out of poverty during the past three decades.

Its leaders took a farm community with bamboo huts and ox carts in the 1970s and transformed it into an industrial and commercial powerhouse where today many of its 30,000 residents live in mansions and most have a car. Per-capita income of 80,000 yuan ($11,700) -- almost four times the national average -- allows Huaxi to claim it’s China’s richest village.

Huaxi is also emblematic of the country’s construction and real estate boom. Communist Party officials there are building one of the world’s 30 tallest buildings, a 2.5 billion yuan, 328-meter (1,076-foot) tower(Photo Tower ). The revolving restaurant atop the so-called New Village in the Sky offers sweeping views of paddy fields, fish ponds and orchards, Bloomberg Markets reports in its April issue.

Huaxi has an even more ambitious project coming up: a 6 billion yuan, 538-meter skyscraper that would today rank as the world’s second tallest. The only loftier building is the new Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Real Clear Politics

V.P.'s Joe Biden and Dick Chaney made the Sunday Talk Show rounds today. As expected, both were trying to defend each other's administrations actions regarding National Defense. One of Biden's Talking Points was the war in Iraq and how the Obama Administration was claiming the success as theirs, and that Chaney was "re-writing history."   
I started to do a little research and came across a post on Real Clear Politics titled -
Flashback: Biden 2002 On Saddam: We Have To "Eliminate The Threat"

The video clip in the post reminded me of one that I had saved many years ago. It showed various well known Democrats spouting off about Iraq and Sadam. This of course was well before Bush was elected, the Iraq War had started, and everyone on the left started chanting "Bush Lied" about WMD's.
I thought I'd share the video with you. It seems that both the politicians and the people have short memories, and clips like this prove it.

Getting back to our illustrious V.P. Joe Biden:
Someone once told me that if I voted for Sarah Palin, I'd be stuck with "the dumbest Vice President in history."
They was right.

Tishman's Alternative To Bankruptcy

Tishman Venture Gives Up Stuyvesant Project - WSJ.com:
"'It has become clear to us through this process that the only viable alternative to bankruptcy would be to transfer control and operation of the property, in an orderly manner, to the lenders and their representatives,' the venture said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. 'We make this decision as we feel a battle over the property or a contested bankruptcy proceeding is not in the long-term interest of the property, its residents, our partnership or the city.'"

A few weeks back I posted an article from the New York Times called Walk Away From Your Mortgage. It concerned the New Morality of "strategic defaults" by a growing number of  underwater home debtors. The article discussed the differences between how individuals and large corporations are morally judged when they decide to strategically default (SD) on a bad investment. It seems the average individual's SD is frowned upon by most, and according to one source in the article the individual "should think twice "about the “message” they will send to “their family and their kids and their friends.”" On the other hand corporate SD's are hailed by the financial community as being "smart business decisions."

Well her's another example of a corporation, Tishman to be specific, having no problem with a strategic default of massive proportions. According to the article they "just gave the project up." Nicely worded don't you think? No moral baggage, no shame, very orderly transition of ownership back to the bank, how precious and moral.

To see how others are viewing the controversy, I've added a link to a few comments on an NPR article from one of my favorite financial blogs,  Calculated Risk . I hope they will prove as thought provoking for you as they were for me.

Update:
More comments from yet another NYTimes article titled No Aid or Rebound in Sight, More Homeowners Just Walk Away.

It's Getting Ugly Out There

Looks like it's going to be an interesting November.

The boyz have taken off the gloves, and now it's "Guns, bottles, fists, knives, clubs..." 

Seems like Both Sides Of The Aisle like to use the Nazi analogy. First Pelosi and Reid, and now this. 

Who needs the World Boxing Association, World Wrestling Federation, or the Ultimate Fighting Championship when we have the Democrats and Republicans duking it out this election cycle. 

Buy that Plasma TV now, it's going to be a duzzi.  

America Rising Part II - To The Republican Party

As I said in a previous post, the "Old GOP Doesn’t ‘Get’ Tea Parties" and I've found more ammunition to back up my claims that Washington better start listening to the People. This time the YouTube video below is aimed at the Republicans.

To further illustrate my point, Neil Cavuto of Fox News had a visit with former Vice President Dan Qualyle on Jan 13 mainly to discuss the earthquake in Haiti and the efforts that Quayle was saying needed to be made for the victims there.  Cavuto also asked the former veep about his feelings about the Tea Party movement. Quayle’s reply was revealing in that he proved that he really didn’t know how to think about the Tea Partiers. I think that Quayle is in exactly the same confused state that most of the old guard GOP is. They just don’t get it.

Cavuto asked what Quayle thought of the Tea Party movement and what it forecasted for the Republican Party. Quayle’s reply was that the GOP had to “co-opt” the Tea Partiers back into the GOP."
Good Luck pulling that one off Mr. Quayle.

The Financial Crisis Commission

The following from The Business Insider is an informative history lesson about our Government and The Great Depression. Maybe it will help us understand how we got into, and how long it will take to get out of, This Greatest Depression.
I think history will expose how many clueless elite inhabit the Hallowed Halls of Congress. 

America Rising: An Open Letter

Washington better start listening to the People. The YouTube video below is aimed at the Democrats; but I've seen a lot of Republican talking heads on TV, that feel that when push comes to shove the Tea Party followers will support them. I think they will be terribly disappointed with that "where else can they go" attitude.
It's time that both parties woke up and realized the extent of dissatisfaction the American public has with the DC establishment.


The following quote (with a little editing of my own) from Karl Denninger of The Market Ticker, just about sums it up:

"YouTube is today's version of handbills nailed to trees in the dark of night - in 1775. Ripping down the handbills (or ignoring their importance) does not make them go away. When the people are pissed - it makes them multiply and the people begin to consider that the first box of freedom - speech - may no longer be effective." That's when something stronger may be in order.

Obama "R" Bonds

Jesse's Cafe Americain: The Obama Administration Wants to Annuitize Your 401k's and IRA's:
"As a rule of thumb, the worst possible time to convert lump sum savings into a fixed income annuity would be when interest rates are historically low.
Although products may vary, this is roughly equivalent to buying long term bonds at a time when interest rates are likely to increase, substantially reducing your principal in real terms, and eroding your fixed returns through inflation.
For some reason the Obama Administration is promoting the idea now that there should be some encouragement for Americans to start converting their 401K's and IRA's into annuities, to provide themselves with lifetime income."

This article is a must read for anyone who has a 401K or IRA.

Again the Government wants to appropriate from savers, and reallocate the wealth to themselves and "the banks." They basically want you to turn over your hard earned money to them, and in return they will give you a small stipend to live on. It appears they haven't stolen enough from Social Security and Medicare, now their going after one of the only assets the shrinking middle class has left.

This whole financial mess reminds me of what's going on in Venezuela. It seems Mr. Chavez just announced that he's devalued the Venezuelan Bolivar by 50%. That's why the following quote from Jesse's article really made the hair on the back of my neck stand up:

"Why have a separate "R Bond" instead of those government bonds they have now called 'Treasuries?' And why have a mandatory universal retirement system when you have this thing called 'Social Security?' Think about it. Sounds like the kind of preparations governments make for things like 'new dollars' after a selective default."

Given the current state of the Dollar and our spiraling national debt, I wouldn't put it past the fools in D.C. to allow the selective default, and forced devaluation of the Dollar to happen.

Walk Away From Your Mortgage?

The Way We Live Now - Walk Away From Your Mortgage! - NYTimes.com:
"John Courson, president and C.E.O. of the Mortgage Bankers Association, recently told The Wall Street Journal that homeowners who default on their mortgages should think about the “message” they will send to “their family and their kids and their friends.” Courson was implying that homeowners — record numbers of whom continue to default — have a responsibility to make good. He wasn’t referring to the people who have no choice, who can’t afford their payments. He was speaking about the rising number of folks who are voluntarily choosing not to pay.
Businesses — in particular Wall Street banks — make such calculations routinely. Morgan Stanley recently decided to stop making payments on five San Francisco office buildings. A Morgan Stanley fund purchased the buildings at the height of the boom, and their value has plunged. Nobody has said Morgan Stanley is immoral — perhaps because no one assumed it was moral to begin with. But the average American, as if sprung from some Franklinesque mythology, is supposed to honor his debts, or so says the mortgage industry as well as government officials."

This is a very interesting article on The New Morality.
Usually Jingle Mail is a subject that gets more discussion in the blogsphere than the Main Stream Media, so I was surprised that the Times ran an article on the subject. It is truly is a moral issue, but who is the immoral one, the bank or the home owner? Since most Boomers are Old School and have worked their entire lives to pay off their mortgages, it would be interesting to hear their thoughts on the subject.

Below is an embedded commentary from The Business Insider on the same article, the comments are very interesting.

The Debit Card Game

Visa, Using Fees To Dominate a Market - NYTimes.com: 
"Every day, millions of Americans stand at store checkout counters and make a seemingly random decision: after swiping their debit card, they choose whether to punch in a code, or to sign their name.
It is a pointless distinction to most consumers, since the price is the same either way. But behind the scenes, billions of dollars are at stake.
When you sign a debit card receipt at a large retailer, the store pays your bank an average of 75 cents for every $100 spent, more than twice as much as when you punch in a four-digit code."

Even at my age, I find you can learn something new.

I switched from Credit Cards to one Debit Card many years ago. I got tired of the fees charged to both me and the merchants, and all the other problems associated with them. So I was quite surprised when I read this article about how all the fees are still there, only now they are being paid by the merchants and the banks. As the article points out we are talking big bucks here.

I will never understand why the merchants don't just give discounts to cash customers and save themselves some money. That way they would also have some leverage with the banks and card companies over rates, now they seem to have nothing to bargain with.

Update: The NYT article seems to be making the rounds among bargain hunter blogs. Sue Stock's News and Observer consumer blog has a post entitled  The Deal On Debit Cards. It has some interesting observations on the subject, so give Sue some traffic and take a look at what she has to say.

Mayo Clinic says Adios to Medicare Patients

Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients - Bloomberg.com:
"Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little.
More than 3,000 patients eligible for Medicare, the government’s largest health-insurance program, will be forced to pay cash if they want to continue seeing their doctors at a Mayo family clinic in Glendale, northwest of Phoenix, said Michael Yardley, a Mayo spokesman. The decision, which Yardley called a two-year pilot project, won’t affect other Mayo facilities in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota."

The reason I'm posting another article about the Mayo Clinic refusing to take Medicare patients, is because the source of the article is Bloomberg and not just a local paper like The Arizona Republic and The News and Observer (NC).

Read it and weep, this is the future of Medicare.
One can only assume that the Health Care Reform bill, no mater what shape it morphs into, will make health care for the elderly worse by siphoning off 1/2 a Trillion from Medicare in order to pay for the monstrosity they call Reform.
I'm hoping the story starts to draw some national attention. As I pointed out in my Nov. 20, 2009 post entitled  Mayo Clinic Opting Out of Medicare  this is the beginning of a trend, and if the Main Stream Media picks up on this there will be "political hell to pay." The Bloomberg article is dated 12/31/09 making the timing a boon for the proponents of HCR. I scoured the online versions of the MSM outlets today, but the only reference I found was Fox's Gretta Van Susteren's blog  GretaWire and it was quite a small blurb, although the comments were interesting. One of the commentators claimed that Mayo has been doing this in Florida since 2002, but I haven't been able to substantiate it as fact yet.
We'll have to wait and see what happens. I hope I'm wrong but my feeling is that no one will notice that a prestigious institution like Mayo Clinic is refusing Medicare patients.