Keystone XL pipeline:
Obama to fast-track southern portion of project As criticism from Republicans mounts, Obama announces expedition of 485-mile pipeline from Oklahoma to Gulf Coast
Associated Press - Guardian.co.uk
President Barack Obama has firmly defended his record on oil drilling, ordering the government to fast-track an Oklahoma pipeline while rebuking Congress for playing politics with a larger Canada-to-Gulf Coast pipeline project.
Deep in Republican oil country on Thursday, Obama said lawmakers refused to give his administration enough time review the controversial 1,170-mile Keystone XL pipeline in order to ensure that it wouldn't compromise the health and safety of people living in surrounding areas.
OBAMA’S ENERGY STRATEGY: DELAY, DENY AND DECEIVE
by John Hinderacker - PowerlineBlog.com
Today Barack Obama continued his fraudulent energy tour in Cushing, Oklahoma. The purpose of his visit to petroleum-producing areas is to convince the American people that he is a pro-energy, pro-development president. Today Thomas Pyle, President of the Institute for Energy Research, released this statement in response to Obama’s speech in Cushing:
President Obama wants to deceive the American people into believing that he’s somehow responsible for the southern segment of the Keystone XL pipeline, much like he wants them to think he’s responsible for increased oil and gas production in the United States. Neither claim is true, and the president knows it.
CFTC Gensler addresses budget at Senate hearing
BY PRESS RELEASE - FuturesMag.com
"It is critical that the derivatives markets – both futures and swaps – work for hedgers, the farmers, ranchers, producers and commercial companies in the real economy. Futures and swaps markets allow them to lock in a price and focus on what they do best – servicing customers, producing products and investing in our country’s future. As it’s the hedgers in the real economy – the non-financial side – that provide 94 percent of private sector jobs, it’s all the more important that these markets work for America’s job providers.
The derivatives markets that the CFTC oversees are where hedgers across the country meet financial firms, and others generally called speculators. Over time, the makeup of these markets has shifted dramatically. Financial firms and speculators now make up the vast majority of these markets.
Something Bernanke is Neglecting To Mention
When He Disses A "Gold Standard"
By Aaron Krowne, Founder - ML-Implode.com
Other critics have done a good job of debunkingBernanke’s various weak economic arguments against a gold standard, made in his comments to college students two days ago.
However, I think their efforts are largely in vain, as Bernanke’s remarks are directed towards already-decided opponents of monetary gold to give them a fresh excuse (on authority) not to change their position. And those who "believe" in gold will not be swayed by Bernanke’s puerile remarks. None of this changes anything, as far as rhetoric goes.
Obama's Love-Hate Relationship With Ben Bernanke
By Merrill Matthews, Contributor - Forbes.com
If you’re President Obama, you have to love Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke — and hate him. On the one hand, the Fed’s easy-money policies have helped goose the stock market and the economy, boosting that public feel-goodism that comes with an inflated money supply. On the other hand, devaluing the money gooses commodity prices, like gold and oil, helping to drive up the price of gasoline, which angers voters.
At the nadir of the recent recession, around mid-September of 2008, the media frequently pointed out that as an economics professor, Bernanke was a "student of the Great Depression." Implicit in the observation was that Bernanke would try to avoid making the same mistakes the Fed made then, which prolonged the recession.
Fed officials clash on view of economy
By Ann Saphir
(Reuters) - The gap between the Federal Reserve's dovish core and its hawkish wing was on display on Thursday as a top Fed official said the economy is in better shape even as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke focused on a source of weakness.
While growing "slower than we would like," the U.S. economy is expanding fast enough that it does not need further help from the central bank, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher told Fox Business Network.
Bend the Fed
By Bill Sardi - SilverBearCafe.com
It would be nice to talk about the Federal Reserve bank and just stick with topical questions about money supply and interest rate strategy, without launching a personal attack against its chairman, Ben Bernanke, but this is not just a man who heads up a reserve board that makes critical decisions about the American economy, he is the Fed’s sole decision maker and creator of unprecedented financial maneuvers, acting as king of the world’s banking system by virtue of the dominance of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
While there is concern expressed over a one-world currency, the US dollar is very close to fulfilling that idea. That Mr. Bernanke is doing things far beyond what the US Constitution could imagine cannot be denounced outright because we live in a world of interlocking international commerce where a banking crisis in Greece is also a potential crisis in America. But at the same time, reckless central bankers across the globe are taking their institutions beyond prescribed limits (Basel agreements) and then essentially extort the world with demands for bailout money or they will default on their debts, causing chaos in the world’s financial grid.
It's Helicopter Ben That Needs to Go Back to School
By Victor Sperandeo - Forbes.com
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke headed back to school earlier this week to deliver the first of four scheduled lectures at George Washington University. In doing so, Bernanke became the first sitting Fed chairman ever to help teach a college course. But, after reading through his delivered remarks, I believe that it is Mr. Bernanke that needs to go back to school and take a refresher course in economic history.
Here is a portion of what he had to say during his lecture to 30 undergraduate students:
"…in the 1800′s…the U.S. was prone to frequent booms and busts in part because the gold standard left no discretion in the banking system over interest rates or the money supply."
Both manufacturing output and service sector activity contracted in March, showing the worst performances for three and four months respectively. However, in both cases, the rates of decline were only very modest.
The Cracks in the BRICS
By Brahma Chellaney - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW DELHI – As it prepares to hold its latest annual summit in New Delhi on March 28-29, the BRICS grouping – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – remains a concept in search of a common identity and institutionalized cooperation. That is hardly surprising, given that these countries have very different political systems, economies, and national goals, and are located in very different parts of the world. Yet the five emerging economies pride themselves on forming the first important non-Western global initiative.
Martin Armstrong: The Debt Crisis Will Rotate from Europe to Japan to the US−We’re Past the Tipping Point The US is the best house in a bad neighborhood
Interview: James J Puplava CFP with Martin Armstrong
Jim welcomes back Martin Armstrong of ArmstrongEconomics.com. Martin believes "capital knows something is wrong" and we’re past the tipping point of the debt crisis. He sees the crisis rotating from Europe to Japan and finally reaching the US, with devastating results. As to gold, he believes the best thing for gold would be a correction this year and a healthy period of consolidation, setting the stage for a launch higher as the debt crisis worsens.
Are we all Muppets? Focused on clients, and what we can make off them
BY DANIEL P. COLLINS - FuturesMag.com
A week ago Greg Smith, a Goldman Sachs executive director, wrote a remarkable public resignation letter in a New York Times op ed piece. In it he describes a breakdown in culture at the largest investment bank over the years he worked there. He describes a culture that transformed a customer centric business to one where only the bottom line mattered and executives and sales people openly dismissed customers as "Muppets" — basically carrion to be fed off of until another carcass could be found.
Rare bipartisanship as Senate passes jobs, insider-trading bills
By Sean Lengell - The Washington Times
In a rare burst of activity, the Senate broke through its gridlock rut Thursday and passed two bipartisan measures aimed at cutting red tape for small businesses and explicitly banning insider stock trading for members of Congress.
The Democrat-controlled Senate voted 73-26 to pass the House Republicans’ Jobs Act, which is designed to give small businesses better access to capital by easing some Securities and Exchange Commission regulations.
Congress members face new curbs on insider trading
By David Lawder
(Reuters) - The Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to send President Barack Obama legislation imposing new curbs on insider trading by members of Congress, even though the measure was weaker than a version it passed in February.
"After I sign this bill into law, members of Congress will not be able to trade stocks based on nonpublic information they gleaned on Capitol Hill," Obama said in a statement.
Feds consider closing some courtrooms
By JEANNIE NUSS - Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- The federal government is considering closing dozens of courtrooms, many of which are located in small, rural communities, as part of an effort to cut costs.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press show 60 federal court facilities in 29 states could be on the chopping block. Most of the courtrooms are in buildings that house other federal agencies including post offices and many are located in remote areas. Critics say closing them could make it more difficult for people to get to court proceedings.
Keiser Report: Unbanked & Unworthy (E265)
Watch the full Keiser Report 265 on Thursday. In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss the great 'unbanked' masses dumping gold believing in a 'recovering economy' and an end to money printing while banks and insiders buy gold and mortgage backed securities in preparation for more quantitative easing by the Fed. In the second half of the show Max talks to Mark Melin of Uncorrelated Investments about MF Global, JP Morgan and the future of the futures market. They also discuss the Charles Manson's of the futures industry and the branch office of the too big too fail banks formerly known as the SEC.
Fed’s Bullard Says Monetary Policy May Be at a Turning Point
By Steve Matthews and Fion Li - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said monetary policy may be at a turning point and the Fed should be cautious about stepping up accommodation as the U.S. economy rebounds.
With policy currently "on pause, it may be a good time to take stock of whether we may be at a turning point," Bullard said in a speech in Hong Kong today. "As the U.S. economy continues to rebound and repair," further action "may create an overcommitment to ultra-easy monetary policy."
How Quickly Can Price Inflation Explode to the Upside? The answer: Very quickly
GoldSilver.com - SilverBearCafe.com
Amity Shlaes is a senior fellow in economic history at the Council on Foreign Relations. Her writings are followed carefully by the top of the top at CFR. And to a significant degree she uses Hayekian business cycle theory in analyzing the economy. She also has the distinct honor of being hated and attacked by the Keynesian Paul Krugman. In other words, take her very seriously.
Yesterday, I wrote on how confused Bernanke was by stating that price inflation was of little concern. Here's Shlaes putting things in historical perspective:
A little is all right. That’s the message Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has been giving out recently when asked about the evidence of inflation in the U.S. recovery.
BofA Allows Some Homeowners to Rent, Avoid Foreclosure
By Dakin Campbell - Bloomberg.com
Bank of America Corp., the second- largest U.S. bank, started a program this week to allow mortgage borrowers facing foreclosure to stay in their homes as renters while transferring title back to the lender.
The pilot program, dubbed "Mortgage to Lease," will begin with fewer than 1,000 borrowers in Arizona, Nevada and New York, the bank said today in a statement. Homeowners will transfer title to the bank and have their mortgage debt forgiven, the lender said. They’ll then be able to lease the home from the bank for as many as three years, at or below market rates.
Job creators brace for Obamacare impact Companies plan to pay
for health care mandate by shedding workers
By Rep. Darrell E. Issa - The Washington Times
This week, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee issued a report, "Impact of President Obama’s Health Care Law on Jobs," detailing the negative impact that President Obama’s health care law has already had and will continue to have on job creation. The report highlights congressional testimony from many businesses about the health care law’s negative impact on their company and their ability to hire.
The reality is that the president's partisan health care overhaul, passed without any Republican votes, is directly contributing to the nation’s unemployment problem. As regulators busily codify rules, employers are scrambling to figure out how to survive the plethora of mandates and taxes sprinkled throughout the nearly 3,000-page law. And its worst provisions have yet to be enacted.
The Real Meaning of $1 Trillion in Student Loans We're burying our country's future under a mountain of debt.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
If the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is right, the total outstanding student loan debt in the United States now stands at above $1 trillion dollars. In economic terms, that changes very little about what we already knew regarding college borrowing. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York had previously pegged the figure at $870 billion by the end of 2011. Either number would be larger than America's collective credit card balance.
But psychologically, it's a sad threshold. A trillion dollars -- it brings home just how enormous the burden is quickly becoming.
American Airlines tells employees
it will seek to end labor contracts
Dallas Business Journal by Lance Murray
American Airlines notified its employees and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on the Thursday that it had so-far failed to reach agreements with its unions during negotiations and would ask the court next week to allow it to reject current collective bargaining agreements.
The notification came in a letter to employees from Jeff Brundage, senior vice president of human resources for the Fort Worth-based airline.
For Government: No Limits
By Cal Thomas - PatriotPost.us
Are there no limits on government's power, no place where it cannot go?
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a former (thankfully) Republican, but in name only, has decided to limit food donations to city charities, including homeless shelters, because the government is unable to measure the nutritional value of the food.
Who in city government believes that a homeless person with no access to money other than what he or she might panhandle cares about the nutritional content of food? If they are able to scrounge up a few bucks on the streets, does anyone seriously think they're headed to a grocery store to buy carrots and arugula? Any food, including "unhealthy" fast food would be their preferred choice.
Judge Andrew Napolitano Natural Rights
and The Patriot Act part 1 of 3
Oct 2, 2009 - Judge Andrew Napolitano gives a speech from the heart about freedom and from where our rights come. The Judge explains the hard core truth about the Constitution and why we must fight to regain and retain our freedoms.
40 Behind-The-Scenes Billionaires Funding The 2012 Election
By Clare O'Connor, Forbes Staff
This morning the Wall Street Journal published an interview with Harold Simmons, the Texas investor who — despite his $9 billion fortune and controversial nuclear waste program — has remained largely unknown to the general public.
Simmons came out swinging against Obama, telling the WSJ he plans to give $36 million to various right-leaning super PACs before the election. He’s already given $18 million, both personally and through his chemical company Contran Corp., making him the most generous donor by far this cycle.
ANOTHER ECHO OF THE CARTER YEARS
By John Hinderacker - PowerlineBlog.com
Another respect in which the Age of Obama resembles the Jimmy Carter years has started to emerge. As it has become clear that the economy will not rebound dramatically by Election Day, the media are going to Plan B: telling us that an era of diminished expectations and relative poverty isn’t really so bad, once we get used to it.
If the president is a Republican, $4 a gallon gasoline is a disaster that takes food off the tables of the working poor. Not so if the president is a Democrat. Now, expensive gasoline is just the price we pay for transitioning to a glorious future of green energy. Plus, as CNN assures us, gas isn’t really as expensive as it looks; and it isn’t hurting us as much as we think; and the whole thing is being ginned up by politicians; and we really should just stop complaining about the price of gasoline.
"Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual -- or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country." --Samuel Adams (1781)
"During Women's History Month," Obama proclaimed, "we ... reaffirm our steadfast commitment to the rights, security and dignity of women. ... We see the arc of the American story in the dynamic women who shaped our present and the groundbreaking girls who will steer our future. ... With the leadership of the White House Council on Women and Girls, my administration is ... making deep and lasting investments in the future of all Americans. I call upon all Americans to observe this month ... with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that honor the history, accomplishments, and contributions of American women."
The Nanoscale Future of Pixels
By Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg - TheAtlantic.com
Cambridge University's Under the Microscope series shares amazing microscopic footage from the university's labs with the public via YouTube. In this video, Dr. Tim Wilkinson of the Centre of Molecular Materials for Photonics and Electronics discusses his work developing better liquid crystal displays with nanotechnology.
What Is Causing The Strange Noises In The Sky
That Are Being Heard All Over The World?
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
During the second half of 2011, a lot of people all over the planet started reporting hearing really strange noises coming from the sky. In some instances the noises produced a loud rumbling such as a train, a thunderstorm or the slamming of a heavy door would make. In other instances, the noises sounded more like "groaning". In yet other instances the noises sounded almost as if a trumpet was playing. Dozens of videos went up on YouTube purporting to document this phenomenon, but the truth is that you can fake almost anything on a YouTube video and many dismissed these strange "strange sounds" as an Internet hoax. However, now entire towns in the northern part of the United States are hearing strange noises in the sky and the mainstream media is reporting on it. In fact, one U.S. town is planning to spend thousands of dollars to hire an engineering firm to investigate where these strange sounds are coming from. At this point a lot of theories about these strange noises are being floated, but so far scientists have not been able to give us a definitive explanation for the source of these strange noises. So exactly what in the world is going on?
Threat of US-China trade war
hangs over dealings of century's superpowers American accusations of currency manipulation are sorest point in relationship still beset by mutual suspicion
By Chris McGreal in Washington, Guardian.co.uk
It has been said that the US-China relationship is the most important of the 21st century.
There are good reasons to believe it. The pair have the world's largest economies even if trade relations are afflicted by accusations of currency manipulation and industrial espionage. Beijing is the US's largest foreign creditor.
There is a growing military rivalry, environmental challenges and co-operation on issues such as North Korea's nuclear weapons. There are also foreign policy differences, including China's veto, with Russia, of UN security council resolutions on Syria and its co-operation with Iran's nuclear programme.
RSS![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/quotes_7a.gif)