With the unemployment rate rising into double digits - and that's not counting the millions of "underemployed" Americans - consumers are hitting the breaks, which is having a huge impact, given consumer spending accounts for about 70% of economic activity.
Rising unemployment and the $8 trillion negative wealth effect of housing mean more Americans will default on not just mortgages but student loans and auto loans and credit card debt.
More consumer loan defaults will hit banks, which are also threatened by what Davidowitz calls a "depression" in commercial real estate, noting the recent bankruptcy of General Growth Properties and distressed sales by Developers Diversified and other REITs.
‘Like gold in 1924, dollar is today a barbarous relic’ Once upon a time, Byron King shunned writing letters to the editor. He was afraid that one might actually appear in print. That sounds like the stuff of fairy tales when you’re talking about someone with as prolific a pen (or keyboard) as Byron. A one-time field historian on the staff of the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, he has a gift for putting current events into an historical context. Byron King’s credits include writing for Agora Financial’s Daily Reckoning and its Energy and Scarcity Investor newsletter (editor) as well as Whiskey and Gunpowder (contributing editor for this “independent investor’s daily guide to gold, commodities, profits and freedom”).
Gold sees next demand boom from Central Banks By now, the whole world knows that China is buying gold like never before and the country has become one of the top holders of the yellow metal. Even though it was obvious that China has been buying gold for the past few years, a clear picture was not available till last month when China came out with a statement on its gold holdings. At a time when China is stocking gold and other metals like copper, other countries also may be harbouring the same idea and may be doing the same.
Gold Climbs to Seven-Week High on Jobless Rise; Silver Advances Gold rose to the highest closing price in seven weeks as investment demand for the metal increased after reports showed a gain in U.S. producer prices and a rise in initial claims for jobless benefits. Silver also advanced. The number of first-time applicants seeking unemployment insurance jumped to 637,000 last week, threatening to restrain consumer spending and prolong the recession. A separate report showed prices paid to U.S. producers climbed in April, paced by a 1.5 percent increase in consumer foods, pushing back the risk of deflation taking root in the economy.
US 'sham' bank bail-outs enrich speculators, says buy-out chief Mark Patterson The US Treasury's effort to stabilise the banking system through the TARP programme is a hopelessly ill-conceived policy that enriches speculators at public expense, according to the buy-out firm supposed to be pioneering the joint public-private bank rescues. "The taxpayers ought to know that we are in effect receiving a subsidy. They put in 40pc of the money but get little of the equity upside," said Mark Patterson, chairman of MatlinPatterson Advisers. The comments are likely to infuriate Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, because MatlinPatterson took advantage of the TARP's matching funds to buy Flagstar Bancorp in Michigan. His confession appears to validate concerns that the bail-out strategy is geared towards Wall Street.
Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load 'Unsustainable' President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending "unsustainable," warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries. "We can't keep on just borrowing from China," Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. "We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children's future with more and more debt." Holders of U.S. debt will eventually "get tired" of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. "It will have a dampening effect on our economy."
World Government: Accept or Resist? Part 1 World Government is coming.... and it's coming fast!!! Whether it succeeds or not, depends on us... And not on a MAJORITY of us (at least not at first), but rather, it depends on whether a much smaller group of FREEDOM FIGHTERS will rally the Peoples of the world against the New World Order Masters... So, what will it be with you? Do you accept or resist the coming World Government?
World Government; Accept or Resist? Part 2 If you don't plan on passively accepting the coming World Government, here's some tips on common first steps that are possible the world over. The initial Objective is to generate a CRITICAL MASS of active, clear-minded people...
Prudential, Allstate Said to Be Among Insurers Cleared for TARP Prudential Financial Inc., Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Allstate Corp. are among six insurers approved by the U.S. government for bailout funds after investment declines eroded capital across the industry. Hartford won preliminary approval for $3.4 billion from the Treasury Department's capital purchase program, the Connecticut- based insurer said today in a statement. A person familiar with the matter said five other carriers won preliminary approval, including Lincoln National Corp., Principal Financial Group Inc. and Ameriprise Financial Inc.
Bernanke May Revise Fed Rules Favoring Moody's, S&P The U.S. Federal Reserve may revise rules that currently favor Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in a letter released today by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. The Fed is "conducting a broad review of our approach to using rating agencies," Bernanke said in an April 13 letter written in response to a complaint from Blumenthal that the central bank's rules unfairly favor the companies that helped cause the financial crisis.
Treasuries Rise as Fed Purchases Debt, Treasury Auctions Pause Treasuries rose for a second day after the Federal Reserve bought U.S. debt maturing between one and two years amid a two-week hiatus in the Treasury's auction schedule as the government borrows record amounts to revive economic growth. Ten-year note yields touched the lowest level since April 29 as more Americans than forecast filed for unemployment benefits last week. The central bank bought $2.975 billion of Treasuries maturing from October 2010 to February 2011 as part of an effort to lower consumer borrowing costs.
"The Yield from Money Held" Reconsidered Franz Cuhel occupies an honorary place in the history of economic thought and of the "Viennese" or "Austrian" school of economics in particular. In his book Zur Lehre von den Bedürfnissen (1907), Cuhel presented for the first time a strictly ordinal interpretation of marginal utility and thus contributed to a systematic advance of pure economic theory. Since this lecture is named in Cuhel's honor, I felt it appropriate that I, too, should discuss here a purely theoretical problem of economics. My subject is not the general theory of value, however, but, more specifically, the theory of money.
Strong appetite for silver boosts coin production Mints around the world almost doubled their silver coin production in the first quarter in response to a surge of investor interest in the metal. It follows an extraordinary buying spree for coins and bars by investors last year that was accompanied by a record surge of inflows into silver exchange-traded funds. It suggests that silver has benefited as much as gold from the trend by risk-averse investors to seek out havens following the September collapse of Lehman Brothers, according to GFMS, the consultancy, which on Wednesday released its Silver Survey 2009 in conjunction with the Silver Institute, the industry association.
Former official slams Fed for inflation risk A sharp critic of the Federal Reserve and prominent authority on monetary policy on Tuesday slammed the U.S. central bank for risking inflation and warned that government action had "caused, prolonged and worsened" the country's financial crisis. John Taylor, a former undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs and author of the widely cited Taylor Rule of central banking, ran his own numbers for the U.S. economy and said the Fed's monetary stance was way too loose. "My calculation implies that we may not have as much time before the Fed has to remove excess reserves and raise the rate," he said in remarks prepared for a financial markets conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. "We don't know what will happen in the future, but there is a risk here and it is a systemic risk," he said.
Tincture of Lawlessness Obama's Overreaching Economic Policies Anyone, said T.S. Eliot, could carve a goose, were it not for the bones. And anyone could govern as boldly as his whims decreed, were it not for the skeletal structure that keeps civil society civil -- the rule of law. The Obama administration is bold. It also is careless regarding constitutional values and is acquiring a tincture of lawlessness. In February, California's Democratic-controlled Legislature, faced with a $42 billion budget deficit, trimmed $74 million (1.4 percent) from one of the state's fastest-growing programs, which provides care for low-income and incapacitated elderly people and which cost the state $5.42 billion last year. The Los Angeles Times reports that "loose oversight and bureaucratic inertia have allowed fraud to fester."
Clueless Economists Say Recession Will End By Autumn The Wall Street Journal released it's latest survey of economists today, revealing the good news that they see the recession ending by autumn. The bad news is that they say it will take years for the economy to fully recover." The worse news: economists are just as crappy as everyone else at predicting the future. Gordon Smith at the Conglomerate searched the WSJ economist survey for the last few years. What he found was that sometime the economists are right but sometimes they were wrong. In short, they're "fairly clueless" about the future. That's hardly surprising--the future is hard predict--but it makes us wonder why the Journal even bothers with these things.
Real Estate Expert: Stay Away from Malls Real estate expert Howard Davidowitz expects the real estate collapse will spread to the malls, and is looking for a large number of them to close.
55,000 helped by Obama mortgage rescue Servicers are adjusting loans under Obama's foreclosure prevention program. The administration is expanding the program to help those that don't qualify for a modification. More than 55,000 troubled homeowners have received loan modification offers under President Obama's foreclosure prevention program, officials said Thursday. The administration also announced it was expanding the $75 billion program to assist more troubled borrowers. The government will provide incentives for servicers and borrowers to avoid foreclosure using methods such as short sales.
Commercial Real Estate Is The Next Shoe To Drop, According To The Internet With the market having reached a kind of uneasy stasis, everyone's been asking the same thing: "What's the next shoe to drop?" At least the folks who aren't smoking the green shoots and mustard seeds are asking this. Over and over again we've heard the same thing loud and clear: commercial real estate. One problem with this is that if everyone is saying that it's the next shoe to drop, is it really?
Decoupling From America Back in the golden age of American Fly fishing -- say around 1913 -- when technical innovation in a prissy and recondite sport was joined by a new leisure class emanating from the white glove canyons of Wall Street, some new-minted guru of angling came up with method for whipping up action on a trout stream when no fish would rise to the fly. It was really lame. The idea was to artificially create the illusion of a mayfly hatch -- that moment when the larva of, for instance, Ephemerella subvaria, the Hendrickson mayfly, swims to the surface, molts, and dries its newly unfurled adult wings in the brisk spring air. This is famously the moment that drives trout crazy, and when it occurs en masse, with zillions of mayflies "hatching" off the water, a trout feeding-frenzy can ensue. The idea with the artificial hatch was to pitch a fake Hendrickson fly made of feathers and fur in so many furious, rapid casts that the dumb trout lurking below would get suckered into a feeding frenzy -- and, shortly, into the buttered frying pan, with a nice "tuxedo" of cornmeal and bacon.
The End of American Exceptionalism Andrew Bacevich has written a powerful but flawed criticism of American foreign policy. Both an academic historian and a professional soldier, he is exceptionally qualified to undertake such a critique. He begins his indictment from an indisputable fact. America has commitments all over the world, but we proved unable to defend ourselves against the assault of 9/11. By allowing empire to trump defense, what Bacevich calls the "national security state" failed miserably. . . . "A political elite preoccupied with the governance of empire paid little attention to protecting the United States itself. In practical terms, prior to 9/11 the mission of homeland defense was unassigned. The institution nominally referred to as the Department of Defense didn't actually do defense; it specialized in power projection." (p. 5)
Who Runs America? What do you suppose it is like to be elected president of the United States only to find that your power is restricted to the service of powerful interest groups? A president who does a good job for the ruling interest groups is paid off with remunerative corporate directorships, outrageous speaking fees, and a lucrative book contract. If he is young when he assumes office, like Bill Clinton and Obama, it means a long life of luxurious leisure. Fighting the special interests doesn’t pay and doesn’t succeed. On April 30 the primacy of special over public interests was demonstrated yet again. The Democrats’ bill to prevent 1.7 million mortgage foreclosures and, thus, preserve $300 billion in home equity by permitting homeowners to renegotiate their mortgages, was defeated in the Senate, despite the 60-vote majority of the Democrats. The banksters were able to defeat the bill 51 to 45.
‘AUDIT THE FED’ BILL GATHERS STEAM TWO MONTHS AFTER REP. RON PAUL (R-Texas) introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 (H.R. 1207), the bill, which mandates an official audit of the privately owned and controlled Federal Reserve System has already garnered 112 cosponsors. It is currently making the rounds in the House Committee on Financial Services. Advocates are optimistic that the landmark measure will see the light of day in this Congress and could even come to the floor for a House vote soon. “This piece of legislation is perhaps the most important of my career,” said Paul upon introducing the measure. “Americans from all over the political spectrum are demanding an audit of the Federal Reserve. And with good reason.”
Senate Will Move on Hate Crimes Bill Critics Claim Bill Simply Unnecessary ON APRIL 29, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (H.R. 1913) by a vote of 249 to 175. It is expected to be taken up in the Senate any day now. Critics of the measure contend that, if the bill becomes law, it will force local and state law enforcement to prosecute and sentence individuals not only for the crimes they commit, but also for their beliefs—a slippery slope which will take the country down the road toward eventually criminalizing the thoughts of the American people. Conservatives were quick to blast the bill for elevating a few in the eyes of the law. “In addition to posing a litany of constitutional problems, today’s legislation alarmingly overturns the cornerstone of equality in our justice system by placing a higher value on one life over another,” said Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) on the House floor. “In no way could I support a bill that more harshly punishes criminals who kill a homosexual, transvestite or transsexual than criminals who kill a police officer, a member of the military, a child, or a senior citizen.”
New World Order - Our Leaders Are Ready. Are You? Spread the message of freedom and individual liberty by rating and commenting on this video, as well as reposting it. Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. -Thomas Jefferson
Is U.S. government-data being “massaged”? "Many market-watchers claim that U.S. economic statistics are increasingly being revised downward in subsequent periods, suggesting that the figures initially being reported by Washington are “puffed up,” so to speak, most likely for political purposes."
The public pension bomb For years, states all across the country have been starving their retirement plans. Here's a look at how the crisis is playing out in New Jersey, where the bill is coming due, and the state doesn't have the money to pay it. Even as the nation's economy is showing some tentative signs of bottoming out, another calamity looms: the public pension bomb. For years, states nationwide have shortchanged the retirement programs that cover teachers, police, and other public employees; now the stock market plunge has wiped out billions of dollars from already underfunded plans. California, New York and Illinois are among the states scrambling to plug multibillion-dollar holes in their pension systems. The growing obligations raise the specter of higher taxes, diminished services, or even another round of costly federal bailouts.
Boiling Frogs The Boiling Frog Syndrome goes something like this: "If you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, he will jump out. But if you place a frog into a pot of cold water and and turn the heat on low, it will float there quite placidly. As the water gradually heats up, the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot tub, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death. Now I'm not sure this really works with frogs, (I couldn't bring my self to find out), but I am certain that it works with people. I believe that we are all sitting in a big pot and the water is beginning to boil.
Never-Ending Government Lies About Markets The purpose of government is for those who run it to plunder those who do not. Throughout history, governments have used violence, intimidation, coercion, and mass murder to enforce this system. But governments' first line of "defense" is always a blizzard of lies — about its own alleged benevolence, altruism, heroism, and greatness, along with equally big lies about the "evils" of the civil society, especially the free market. The current economic crisis, which was instigated by the government's central bank and its boom-and-bust monetary policies, among other interventions, has once again been blamed on "too little regulation" and too much freedom. Will Americans ever catch on to this biggest of all of government's Big Lies?
Trading Down to Survive Economy
Pipeline-Istan: Everything You Need to Know About Oil, Gas, Russia, China, Iran, Afghanistan and Obama Nothing of significance takes place in Eurasia without an energy angle. As Barack Obama heads into his second hundred days in office, let's head for the big picture ourselves, the ultimate global plot line, the tumultuous rush towards a new, polycentric world order. In its first hundred days, the Obama presidency introduced us to a brand new acronym, OCO for Overseas Contingency Operations, formerly known as GWOT (as in Global War on Terror). Use either name, or anything else you want, and what you're really talking about is what's happening on the immense energy battlefield that extends from Iran to the Pacific Ocean. It's there that the Liquid War for the control of Eurasia takes place.
Schwarzenegger Seeks $6 Billion Loan, Orders Cuts California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed the state seek a $6 billion loan from Wall Street and called for deep cuts in education and welfare programs to help erase a resurgent $15 billion deficit. Schwarzenegger, a 61-year-old Republican, said the state should sell $6 billion of revenue anticipation warrants, a type of cash-flow loan that can be repaid over two years. More borrowing likely will be needed as the fiscal year progresses, he said. He also proposed cutting $6 billion in spending, mostly from schools and colleges. The proposals are part of his annual May revision to the state's budget plan.
Chrysler Dealers Hunt for Answers After Shutdown News A half-century of Chrysler car sales ended when Eldon Howe received a delivery from United Parcel Service Inc. That's how Howe learned that his Beacon Sales Inc. in Charlotte, Michigan, was among the dealers targeted to be shuttered as bankrupt Chrysler LLC prunes its retail outlets in a restructuring led by Italy's Fiat SpA. "We got the letter today from UPS," said Howe, 78, who founded Beacon 55 years ago in the central Michigan city about 110 miles (177 kilometers) west of Detroit. "I've done this all my life," he added. "I haven't done anything else." From Virginia to California, Chrysler's decision to cancel 789 dealership agreements forced franchisees to assess what they'll do next, prepare to dismiss employees and ponder how to wind down decades-long relationships with their customers.
Chrysler Seeks to Reject 789 Dealership Agreements Chrysler LLC is seeking to reject 789 automotive dealership agreements, including seven contracts with AutoNation Inc., according to court papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. The bankrupt company wants to reject its contracts with less than a quarter of its approximate 3,188 retail outlets, according to today’s filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez seeking approval of the move. Fiat SpA, not Chrysler, decided which dealers will be brought along to the new company to be formed under the U.S. automaker’s bankruptcy process, according to people familiar with the situation. Trimming the bulk of dealers from urban areas will increase profitability at the remaining dealers, lawyers for Chrysler said.
Auto layoffs lift U.S. jobless claims, PPI up The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, government data showed on Thursday, pushed up by auto plant shutdowns related to Chrysler's bankruptcy. Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits increased 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 637,000 in the week ended May 9, the Labor Department said, reversing an easing trend of the previous two weeks. A Labor Department official said "a good part of the increase is due to automotive states and claims."
Mich. jobless rate may rise to 20 percent David Littmann, senior economist with the Midland-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, predicts unemployment in the state could hit "somewhere between 17 (percent) and 20 percent" by year's end. The current figure for unemployment statewide is 12.6 percent. According to an interview posted on the think tank's Web site Tuesday, Littmann cited the impact of the auto crisis on the state's economy, including contributing to a steep decline in the state's tax base.
Obama Tells Arizona Graduates to Become Leaders With ‘Purpose’ President Barack Obama challenged Arizona State University graduates to help bring an end to a culture that for too long has emphasized “celebrity over character” and “short-term gain over lasting achievement.” The president, speaking to almost 9,000 graduates of the university in Tempe last night, said that with their energy and enthusiasm they can revive the spirit that built the nation. “The leaders we revere, the businesses that last -- they are not the result of narrow pursuit of popularity or personal advancement, but of devotion to some bigger purpose,” Obama said in his address, the first of three college commencement speeches he is scheduled to give this month.
U.S. Producer Prices Rose in April, Led by Food Prices paid to U.S. producers rose in April as food costs surged, pushing back risks that extended price declines may take root in the economy. The 0.3 percent increase was more than forecast and followed a drop of 1.2 percent in March, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Excluding fuel and food, so-called core prices climbed 0.1 percent, as anticipated. Signs that the worst of the recession is over may boost commodity costs further, alleviating concern over deflation, or an extended drop in prices that hurts the economy. Along with the trillions of dollars pumped into the banking system by the Federal Reserve, increases in raw materials may stoke inflation once an economic recovery takes hold.
Jobless Claims in U.S. Increase More Than Forecast More Americans than forecast filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, mainly reflecting a jump in applications related to the Chrysler LLC bankruptcy. Initial jobless claims rose by 32,000 to 637,000 in the week ended May 9, from a revised 605,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. A “good part” of the jump was from states reporting an increase in auto-related claims, a Labor spokesman said without providing a more precise estimate.
Sunny skies forecast for House climate bill But Democrats still face GOP House Democratic leaders claimed an early victory on a revised climate bill Thursday even as they had sizable work ahead to draft the legislation and gain the support of moderate party members to pass one of President Obama's top priorities. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers hoping to peel away Democratic support for the measure introduced an alternative climate bill and said they planned to offer amendments to the Democratic draft next week in an effort to dilute the final bill.
Senate Nears Completing Credit Card Bill, Blocks 15% Rate Cap The U.S. Senate, working to complete legislation to curb credit-card fees and limit contract changes, refused to cap interest rates on balances at 15 percent. The Senate may pass the so-called credit-card bill of rights measure as early as today, said Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd. Approval would send the measure to a committee to resolve differences with a House version. “We’ve spent a lot of time over the last number of months trying to help stabilize the financial system,” said Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat. “A lot of attention has been paid to banks. We haven’t spent enough time trying to help consumers.”
Dictionary: 'Narrow-minded' means 'conservative' Reference book equates terms without comment When you hear the word "narrow-minded," does "extremely conservative" pop into your head? It might if you use Dictionary.com as a reference tool. The online source to learn the meanings of words equates the two, based on information in the Random House Dictionary. The listing provides three definitions for "narrow-minded":
having or showing a prejudiced mind, as persons or opinions; biased.
not receptive to new ideas; having a closed mind.
extremely conservative and morally self-righteous.
It also features a list of synonyms, specifically "bigoted, partial, intolerant, illiberal."
Gun-Control Advocate: Napolitano Report on ‘Rightwing Extremists’ Makes Case for Gun Ban An April 7 report from the Department of Homeland Security branding some conservative groups as “rightwing extremists” is enough reason to revive former President Bill Clinton’s idea of an assault-weapons ban, according to an executive of a gun-control group--the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. "I think it certainly helps to make that case because what that report suggests is that there is a rise in the kind of paramilitary activity that we saw actually in years before the Oklahoma City bombing,” Dennis Henigan, the vice president for law and policy at the Brady Center, told CNSNews.com Wednesday. Henigan talked about the years before the 1995 Oklahoma City tragedy--when “rightwing extremist militia groups (were) out training with assault weapons, training for war against the United States government, training to shoot federal law enforcement,” he said.
British Want Their Guns Back
Napolitano on Supreme Court short list Former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is among those being considered by President Barack Obama to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, according to the Associated Press. The AP reports that California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and some other federal judges also are on the short list to replace Souter.
Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists, and More Ten minutes into arrant mayhem in this town near the Mexican border, and the gunman, a disgruntled Iraq war veteran, has already taken out two people, one slumped in his desk, the other covered in blood on the floor. The responding officers - eight teenage boys and girls, the youngest 14 - face tripwire, a thin cloud of poisonous gas and loud shots - BAM! BAM! - fired from behind a flimsy wall. They move quickly, pellet guns drawn and masks affixed. "United States Border Patrol! Put your hands up!" screams one in a voice cracking with adolescent determination as the suspect is subdued. It is all quite a step up from the square knot.
What Do Guns and Credit Cards Have in Common? . . . . On Tuesday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced an amendment to a credit card reform bill -- a credit card reform bill! -- that not only reinstates the Bush-era rule but actually broadens it to give gun owners even more leeway in carrying guns on public lands. The amendment was approved by a 67-29 vote. A House version of the credit card bill -- did I mention Coburn slapped the gun amendment on a credit card bill? -- does not carry the gun provision. This discrepancy now forces House and Senate negotiators to come to some sort of compromise. Here's a suggested resolution: Drop the gun amendment completely from the -- wait for it -- credit card bill.
Republicans Adopt Emanuel’s Tactics to Deliver 2010 ‘Thumpin” Republicans are getting inspiration on how to rebuild their party in the U.S. Congress from an unlikely source: White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. California Representative Kevin McCarthy, the chief recruiter for House Republicans, said he wants his party to select candidates based less on ideology and more on their chances of winning. The goal, he said, is to seek out prospects who are ethnically diverse, female, less partisan and even supportive of abortion rights. So far, these efforts are more concept than reality.
Swine Flu is a HOAX! It is a U.S. Government Psychological Operation (Psy/Op) to TERRIFY the Public! This is not the first time the U.S. Government has used the LIE of “Swine Flu” to try to accomplish its evil goals. In 1976, they wreaked havoc on the American people with their disastrous “Swine Flu” vaccine that caused numerous horrendous injuries and deaths. WHAT are the U.S. Government and the New World Order/Illuminati doing?
Media Censoring Lethal Side Effects Of Flu Remedies Donald Rumsfeld’s Tamiflu pushers (just as they were in 2006) are set to be the big winners in the GSFS (great swine flu scare of 2009) lottery. Shares of Swiss drug-maker Roche Holding had fallen sharply after their latest cancer drug failure—but the GSFS came just in time to give their falling stocks a boost—just as the great bird flu scare of 2006 did. In November 2005, George W. Bush goaded Congress to pass $7.1 billion in “emergency funding” to prepare for the possible bird flu pandemic, of which $1 billion was solely dedicated to the purchase and distribution of Tamiflu.
New World Order Mind Altering Drug Corporations Makes People Suicidal and Psychopathic Part 1
New World Order Mind Altering Drug Corporations Makes People Suicidal and Psychopathic Part 2
Scientist arrested for smuggling vials used in Ebola research into US A Canadian scientist has been arrested for smuggling 22 vials stolen from Canada's National Microbiology Lab, used in Ebola and HIV research, into the United States, Canadian and US officials said Wednesday. Konan Michel Yao, 42, "was taken into custody" while crossing the border from Manitoba province into the western US state of North Dakota on May 5, said a spokeswoman for the Public Health Agency of Canada, which operates the lab. According to US prosecutor Lynn Jordheim, Yao was detained for carrying unidentified biological materials in vials wrapped in aluminium foil inside a glove and packaged in a plastic bag, along with electrical wires, in the trunk of his car. Yao said in an affidavit he stole the vials, described as research vectors, from the Winnipeg lab on his last day of work there on January 21.
Constitution ‘Suspended’ on Mexican Border Returning to his home in Tempe, Ariz., Pastor Steve Anderson refused to allow a search of his automobile by Border Patrol guards when he was stopped on April 14 at a routine check point on Interstate-8. Not willing to submit to the increased harassment of law-abiding Americans by so-called law enforcement, Anderson says he was merely standing up for his right to be protected against unreasonable search without a warrant. After being held at the scene for an hour while awaiting the arrival of state police, Anderson saw his car windows cracked opened by officers who proceeded to smash his face into the broken glass before dragging him from the car. He was then tasered multiple times. According to Anderson, the cops ground his face into the asphalt with their boots. He was taken to jail for the night.
HARD TIMES AHEAD It’s time to prepare for hard times, my friends. And, if you’re a bible believing, Christ-following Christian, I believe the coming years will be particularly troublesome. I say “bible-believing, Christ-following Christian” because our degenerating culture has all but stripped the biblical definition of the word “Christian” from today’s collective conscience so that it has lost much of it’s scriptural meaning, even among many of today’s attending church members.
2nd congressman: Prove eligibility Virginia representative signs onto plan to demand evidence Now there are two. A Virginia congressman, very quietly, has signed onto a measure in Congress that would require presidential candidates to verify their eligibility to hold the highest elected office in the United States. WND earlier reported when freshman Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., filed H.R. 1503, an amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. According to the Library of Congress' bill-tracking website, H.R. 1503 would "require the principal campaign committee of a candidate for election to the office of president to include with the committee's statement of organization a copy of the candidate's birth certificate, together with such other documentation as may be necessary to establish that the candidate meets the qualifications for eligibility to the Office of President under the Constitution."
Why are there still questions about qualifications? Arguments of president's defenders never actually addressed eligibility In the last few months, dozens of U.S. courts have dismissed legal challenges to Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility to occupy the Oval Office, and even the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hold a hearing on the evidence – but what have the courts actually cited as reasons for dismissing the concerns of millions of Americans? Mootness, lack of jurisdiction, lack of responsibility, lack of standing, a series of "no comments" and even the fact the issue has been "twittered." The one subject that has been avoided to date has been whether or not the president is, in fact, eligible.
249-175 House Vote Gives Child Molesters Hate Crime Shield THE HOUSE APPROVED federal hate crimes legislation (H.R. 1913), by a decisive 249- 175 margin. But in a shocking move, Democrats killed language that would have excluded pedophiles from receiving protections afforded in the measure. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) added the amendment during Judiciary Committee hearings, which stated that sexual orientation in the bill specifically be defined as not including pedophiles. According to Ted Pike, director of the National Prayer Network, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) objected, saying that King’s amendment was “unnecessary and inflammatory.” Ms. Baldwin claimed that sexual orientation, as defined by the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990, means consensual heterosexual or homosexual sex. That definition, she claimed, is sufficient to exclude pedophiles, Pike added. Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (Ill.) then quickly cut off debate—before any conservatives on the committee could respond—and called for a vote.
Bill Clinton Urges Action on Repayments to TARP, Climate Bill Former President Bill Clinton called on the Obama administration to make a “genuine effort” to prod healthy banks to repay the Troubled Asset Relief Program and urged Congress to act on legislation to cut U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions before the global warming summit in Copenhagen this December. Referring to banks that were pressed late last year to take TARP funding, Clinton said yesterday: “Give them a chance to pay it back and maybe just give it back without the interest or anything else.” Unencumbered by TARP loans, financial institutions could set executive compensation without fearing a public backlash, he said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
Obama to Confront Israeli Settlement Surge in Netanyahu Meeting On a West Bank plateau overlooking the desert road to Jericho, crews are building cottages and paving streets for a new neighborhood in Maale Adumim, Israel’s biggest settlement. A town of 35,000 with a suburban-style shopping mall, Maale Adumim is one of about two dozen settlements Israel is expanding in the face of demands from U.S. and European leaders to halt construction. The push has helped increase the number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, where Palestinians hope to create a state, by 40 percent in the last seven years to almost 300,000.
Netanyahu Asks Pope to Condemn Iran Pope Benedict XVI became further entangled in Middle East politics on Thursday when the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, urged him to denounce Iran. A day after visiting a Palestinian refugee camp and calling for the creation of a Palestinian state as a solution to the conflict with Israel, Benedict met with Mr. Netanyahu, whose hawkish Likud government has not endorsed that policy.
Jordan Tells Israel to Accept Two-State Solution The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, met on Thursday with King Abdullah II of Jordan, who urged the Israeli leader to commit to a two-state solution with the Palestinians, according to news reports. Mr. Netanyahu made the unannounced trip to Jordan hours before he was to meet in Nazareth with Pope Benedict XVI, and days ahead of a pivotal meeting with President Obama, scheduled to take place in Washington on Monday. It will be the first meeting between the Israeli and American leaders since the conservative-leaning Mr. Netanyahu took office six weeks ago.
Israeli Leader to Meet Obama as U.S. Priorities Shift The last time Benjamin Netanyahu met an American president as Israel's new leader, in 1996, it did not go well. Mr. Netanyahu lectured President Bill Clinton about Arab-Israeli relations, aides recalled, driving Mr. Clinton into a profane outburst after his guest left. Mr. Netanyahu is likely to avoid a repeat of that when he meets President Obama at the White House on Monday. But the underlying relationship between Israel and the United States has become more unsettled since Mr. Obama took office. Israel has been rattled by signs that the Obama administration has sworn off the unstinting support of Israel that was a hallmark of the Bush years, as well as by the softer approach that Mr. Obama has taken to dealing with Iran.
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