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Date Sent: 2009-08-04
Freedom's Phoenix Global Edition for Tuesday, August 4, 2009 PM edition |
Sen. Gregg: 'We're going to be like a banana republic in 10 years' -- G.M. to Lay Off Thousands
Peter Schiff On The Phony US Economy -- Homeland Secretary Napolitano predicts severe flu epidemic for fall
-- Personal Bankruptcy Filings up 34% -- Recovery 'not in sight' says
BMW: Profits Off 75% -- A Modern-Day Daniel - by Chuck Baldwin -- Venezuela Seizes Coffee Companies -- Denninger: How To (Unlawfully?) Blow A Market Bubble
-- Goldman Sachs admits its software manipulates economy!!! -- Corrupt
Prosecutor Seeks to Strike Deal With Sergey Aleynikov -- Mish: Recession? What recession? This is a depression. -- ABC's John Stossel on National Healthcare -- China's US Dollar Exit - An Instruction Manual -- Geithner Bullies Financial Regulators to Accept Fed as Top Dog -- Andy Xie: China Has Become A Giant Ponzi Scheme -- The Real Economy Versus the Make-Believe World of the Government and Financial Giants -- Redflex Camera Attacked on AZ-51
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News Link • Economy - Economics USA
Gregg: 'We're going to be like a banana republic in 10 years'
08/04/2009
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The Hill
The U.S. will resemble a "banana republic" in 10 years if its fiscal situation stays on the same track, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) warned Tuesday.
Gregg, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, asserted that programs like "cash for clunkers" would pile up to as much as 80 percent of the total U.S. economic output because of federal spending.
"We're going to be like a banana republic in 10 years!" Gregg said during a panel discussion on CNBC. "Sure, Americans want the program. But if you stop and think about it, is it right to do for our children?"
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News Link • Obama Administration
Obama administration withholds data on program
08/04/2009
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Breitbart
Transparency Not Gonna Happen!
The Obama administration is refusing to release government records on its "cash-for-clunkers" rebate program that would substantiate�"or undercut�"White House claims of the program's success, even as the president presses the Senate for a quick vote for $2 billion to boost car sales.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Sunday the government would release electronic records about the program, and President Barack Obama has pledged greater transparency for his administration. But the Transportation Department, which has collected details about 157,000 rebate requests, won't release sales data that dealers provided showing how much U.S. car manufacturers are benefiting from the $1 billion initially pumped into the program.
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News Link • World News
Police Beat Women Opposing Sudan Dress Code Trial
08-04-2009
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AP
Sudanese police fired tear gas and beat women protesting outside a
Sudanese court during the trial of a female journalist accused
of violating the Islamic dress code by wearing trousers in public.Police moved in swiftly and dispersed about 50 protesters, mostly women, who were supporting Lubna Hussein, a former U.N.
worker facing 40 lashes on the charge of ''indecent dressing.'' Some of
the women demonstrators wore trousers in solidarity with Hussein while
others wore more traditional dress.
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Powell Gammill
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News Link • Technology: Computer Hardware
One Time Rebel, TiVo, Goes Over To The Dark Side
08-04-2009
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www.tech.yahoo.com
TiVo, the creator of the digital video recorder that panicked the TV business by making it simple to skip ads, now flashes banners on TV screens when users pause, fast-forward or delete shows.
Viewers who paused "The Biggest Loser" TV show saw an ad saying "Jenny Craig says you've got more to lose!" If you used TiVo to pause "Iron Chef America" on the Food Network, this popped up: "Sub-Zero: Every cook deserves the best!"
"We were once a foe of the networks, now we've become a friend," said Tara Maitra, TiVo's general manager of content services and ad sales. "We're working with the industry ... to get users to engage in a world increasingly equipped to fast-forward through commercials."
Dave Zatz, a 37-year-old network engineer in Herndon, Va., isn't happy about it because he bought a TiVo digital video recorder and pays a subscription to skip ads.
"It's obnoxious,&qu
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Chip Saunders
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News Link • New World Order
Who Will Probe The U.N.-Vatican Connection?
08/04/2009
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AIM
The U.N. has been rocked by scandals involving U.N. "peace-keepers" who sexually abuse women and children, the failure to protect populations in danger of genocide, and financial corruption. It is an anti-American institution founded by a Soviet spy that is currently headed by a Communist Catholic Priest, U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto, who recently gave a speech at a U.N. financial conference on the need to protect "Mother Earth."
So when the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics endorsed a "World Political Authority" in his encyclical "Caritas in Veritate," it was big news that could only be understood in the context of the growing power and influence of the U.N. The timing was also significant. The Papal statement was issued just before a meeting of the G-8 nations, including Russia, China and the U.S., and before Pope Benedict XVI's meeting with President Barack Obama.
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News Link • Corruption
Denninger: How To (Unlawfully?) Blow A Market Bubble
08-04-2009
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Market-Ticker.Denninger.net/
By engineering a 50% rally off the bottom in March while revenues continue to tank, personal income is in the toilet and tax receipts are in freefall they have exposed the equity markets for what they have turned into - a computer-trading rigged casino
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Jack Gregson
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News Link • Bailouts
TARP profit claim bugs skeptics
The Treasury Department's bank investments are paying dividends
08/04/2009
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CNN
The markets are on a roll, but it's still a tad early for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to be counting his bailout winnings.
Geithner said this past weekend that taxpayers have made a small profit on their investments in banks via the Troubled Asset Relief Program. "We've already earned about $6 billion for the taxpayer on those investments," Geithner said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
Pollock said it's impossible to assess the profitability of TARP without a robust and systematic accounting of the program's costs, including interest expense and overhead.
Others have reached similar conclusions. Gary Engel, director of financial management and assurance at the Government Accountability Office, was asked at a hearing last month whether he views the stream of dividends into Treasury as a profit for taxpayers. "Not at this point," he said
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News Link • Economy - International
Will Acute Distress in the Baltics Blow Back to Europe?
08-04-2009
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NakedCapitalism.com
The open question is how fragile are Europe's banks now? They ran on even lower equity levels than US banks, ate a lot of bad US paper, and depend on national regimes for backstops. In the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany, the banking sectors are too large for their governments to credibly back them up
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Jack Gregson
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News Link • Bailouts
TARP bailout money we can kiss goodbye
08/04/2009
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CNN
One of the things they teach in Successful Investing 101 is to cut your losses short and let your winnings run. But when it comes to the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the government is stuck doing the opposite. Its gains are being cut short, because its most profitable investments are being closed out, yet its losses will continue running.
The big gains come from stock-purchase warrants that Congress insisted the Treasury get as part of the $244 billion of TARP loans it made to 662 banks and bank holding companies. Warrants, which give holders the right (but not the obligation) to purchase stock at a fixed price for a fixed period, are designed to offer taxpayers a chance to make some serious money if the stock prices of the bailed-out banks rise.
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News Link • Corruption
Corrupt Prosecutor Seeks to Strike Deal With Sergey Aleynikov
08/03/2009
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CRIME & FEDERALISM
Matthew Goldstein, the Reuters blogger who broke the Aleynikov story, is reporting:
It looks like federal prosecutors may be trying to cut a deal with alleged Goldman Sachs high-frequency trading code stealer Sergey Aleynikov.Today was the day for prosecutors to indict Aleynikov, who was arrested on July 3 on the theft charges.
But in a court filing, prosecutors told the presiding magistrate judge that they need another 14 days to continue discussions with Aleynikov’s lawyer about a “possible disposition.”
In the legal world, a “possible disposition” means a deal.
After exposing federal prosecutor Joseph Facciponti's fraud upon the court in his prosecution of Aleynikov, we wrote on July 23, 2009:
Aleynikov will be given a super-sweet plea bargain. If his case proceeds towards trial, the world will learn about Goldman Sach's high frequency trading program. Sure, AUSA Joseph Facciponti will try to keep the case under seal. Too many people are paying attention. Reporters a
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News Link • Obama Administration
Government: Inflation Is Zero (And other odd things)
08/04/2009
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Economic Policy Journal
John Williams, of ShadowStats.com, reports that some very quirky things helped boost the recently announced Q2 GDP number.
The government lowered the inflation rate it uses in the GDP calculation to almost zero. A near zero inflation rate means the government hardly had to adjust downward its raw GDP number.
Further, as Williams points out, there was no good news out of the durable goods sector. New orders for durable goods, were down 25% from the same time last year.
So what did boost GDP?
Barry Ritholtz reports that the trade deficit distorted the GDP. Goods imported by Americans fell by a much larger amount than the decline in our exports---which boosted GDP.
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News Link • Healthcare
ABC's John Stossel on National Healthcare
08/03/2009
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Economic Policy Journal
This is a great report from John Stossel. In it, he also mentions the problem that innovation will be killed off without the ability for firms an individuals to profit from there innovations. I have mentioned this as a key problem of a national healthcare system, outside of Stossel, I have seen little mention of this great problem. If Obamacare passes, it is likely that we will have peaked as far as innovation, for a very long time, perhaps forever.
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News Link • Constitution
Security Cyber Czar Steps Down
08/04/2009
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WSJ
I am in shock anyway never in my lifetime would I have thought that the United States of America would be (communism) having "Czars"!
The White House's acting cybersecurity czar announced her resignation Monday, in a setback to the Obama administration's efforts to better protect the computer networks critical to national security and the global economy.
The resignation highlights the difficulty the White House has had following through on its cybersecurity effort. President Barack Obama first outlined his cybersecurity plans in a high-profile speech May 29, announcing his intention to create a top White House cybersecurity post -- a position he has yet to fill.
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News Link • Crony Capitalism
Goldman Sachs and other banks pay out more in bonuses then they earn
08/03/2009
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Goldman Sachs 666
In this recent article, Some U.S. bank pay "unmoored" from performance: Cuomo
By Grant McCool of Reuters, Jul 30, 2009 7:22pm the reporter makes the comment,
..."bonuses for Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co were "substantially greater" than the banks' net income."
Goldman earned $2.3 billion, paid out $4.8 billion in bonuses and received $10 billion in TARP funding,...
How is it any company can pay out more in bonuses then they earn? One way is to use taxpayer money. New York's AG, Cuomo is on the right path in this investigation but the outcome of his efforts are yet to be seen or heard.
But Goldman Sachs is not alone in this. Yet it is very possible from reading Michael Lewis' book "Liars Poker" that they may have invented the concept of overpaying people and then found ways to justify it which in turn they possibly shared with the others in their "club".
Is it a coincidence that Pa
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News Link • Propaganda
Here are some examples of how history repeats itself. The government “crisis manual” stays the same.
08/04/2009
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Investment Watch
September 1929
“There is no cause to worry. The high tide of prosperity will continue.” �" Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury.
October 14, 1929
“Secretary Lamont and officials of the Commerce Department today denied rumors that a severe depression in business and industrial activity was impending, which had been based on a mistaken interpretation of a review of industrial and credit conditions issued earlier in the day by the Federal Reserve Board.” �" New York Times
December 5, 1929
“The Government’s business is in sound condition.” �" Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury
December 28, 1929
“Maintenance of a general high level of business in the United States during December was reviewed today by Robert P. Lamont, Secretary of Commerce, as an indication that American industry had reached a point where a break in New York stock prices does not necessarily mean a national depression.” �" Associated Press dispatch.
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News Link • Propaganda
GOLDMAN PRINCES TOLD: SPEND LIKE PAUPERS
08/04/2009
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NY Post
More Smoke and Mirrors to hide the truth from the public!
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has warned his employess to avoid making big-ticket, high-profile purchases as the gold-plated Wall Street firm hunkers down amid a firestorm of public and political anger over outsize bonus payments.
According to sources at the bank, Blankfein has Goldman in particular, should be toned down in light of the billions in bailout money that banks, including Goldman, have gotten from Uncle Sam.
A source within the bank said Blankfein first began calling for an end to the conspicuous consumption late last year, but has stepped up his campaign in recent weeks as the White House has sought to rein in compensation and as the firm has gotten dinged by a pair of high-profile magazine articles. "This is a sensitive time for us, and [Blankfein] wants to make sure that we're not being seen living high on the hog," said one Goldman exec.
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News Link • Propaganda
BO at -7 Americans are waking up to the Propaganda! Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
08/04/2009
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Rasmussen
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 30% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -7 (see trends).
By a 54% to 33% margin, American adults oppose new funding for the “Cash for Clunkers” program.
On health care, 48% of voters now rate the U.S. health care system as good or excellent. That reflects a significant increase over the past few months as Congress has considered health care reform.
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News Link • Conspiracies
Goldman's new 'American Socialism Manifesto'
8 ways 'The Conspiracy' is destroy
08/04/09
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Market Watch
Wall Street, under the command of the Goldman Conspiracy, can further consolidate power over the American people forever by making sure Congress and the President (no matter which party wins elections) passes other new laws:
Kill the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Kill "public option" competition in the health-care reform. Kill all efforts to revive Glass-Steagall. Pass a "cap and trade" law so Wall Street can start gambling trillions in a new derivatives bubble. Pass laws to guarantee Wall Street's "too-stupid-to-fail" big banks unlimited access to taxpayer funds in the future, as they've enjoyed since October.
Final comment: More demands will naturally follow to empower this banana republic dictatorship disguised as the new "American Socialism."
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News Link • China
Andy Xie: China Has Become A Giant Ponzi Scheme
08/03/2009
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Ritzholtz
Pretty harsh words from former Morgan Stanley Analyst Andy Xie:
“Chinese stock and property markets have bubbled up again. It was fueled by bank lending and inflation fear. I think that Chinese stocks and properties are 50-100% overvalued. The odds are that both will adjust in the fourth quarter. However, both might flare up again sometime next year. Fluctuating within a long bubble could be the dominant trend for the foreseeable future. The bursting will happen when the US dollar becomes strong again. The catalyst could be serious inflation that forces the Fed to raise interest rate.
Chinese asset markets have become a giant Ponzi scheme. The prices are supported by appreciation expectation. As more people and liquidity are sucked in, the resulting surging prices validate the expectation, which prompts more people to join the party. This sort of bubble ends when there isn’t enough liquidity to feed the beast.”
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News Link • Depression
The Real Economy Versus the Make-Believe World of the Government and Financial Giants
08/04/2009
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Washington;s Blog
In the real economy, unemployment is at Depression-era levels (see this, this and this).
In the real economy, bank loan loss rates will be higher than the Depression.
In the real economy, government revenue is at its lowest level since the Depression, and most states are on the verge of bankruptcy.
In the real economy, the world economy is crashing faster than during the Depression (and see this).
But in the make-believe world of the government and the financial giants, the recession is over.
How do they do it?
Well, as I noted a couple of days ago, the boys use:
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News Link • Arizona's Top News
Redflex Camera Attacked on AZ-51
08/03/2009
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CameraFRAUD
An automated ticketing machine was rendered inoperable over the weekend, CameraFRAUD has learned. The Redflex device, located on the AZ-51, appears to have been covered with black spray paint ("freedom mist?")
Arizona’s beleaguered “photo enforcement” cameras have been rendered inoperable with post-it notes, silly string, sledgehammers, pick-axes, spray paint, large rocks, spare tires, as well as two acts of God .
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Camera FRAUD
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