Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Monday 12.31.2012
Happy New Year Middle Class:
The Fiscal Cliff Is Going To Rip You To Shreds
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The middle class has quite a gift welcoming them as the calendar flips over to 2013. Their payroll taxes are going to go up, their income taxes are going to go up, and approximately 28 million households are going to be hit with a huge, unexpected AMT tax bill on their 2012 earnings. So happy New Year middle class! You are about to be ripped to shreds. In addition to the tax increases that I just mentioned, approximately two million unemployed Americans will instantly lose their extended unemployment benefits when 2013 begins, and new Obamacare tax hikes which will cost American taxpayers about a trillion dollars over the next decade will start to go into effect. If Congress is not able to come to some sort of a deal, all middle class families in America will be sending thousands more dollars to Uncle Sam next year than they were previously. And considering the fact that the middle class is already steadily shrinkingand that the U.S. economy is already in an advanced state of decline, that is not good news. You would think that both major political parties would want to do something to keep the middle class from being hit with this kind of tax sledgehammer. Unfortunately, at this point it appears that our "leaders" in Washington D.C. are incapable of getting anything done. So get ready for much smaller paychecks and much larger tax bills. What is coming is not going to be pleasant.
2012 - Year of Living Dangerously In Review
BY JAMES QUINN - FinancialSense.com
On January 8 of this year I posted my annual prediction article for this year – 2012 – The Year of Living Dangerously. Now it's time to assess my complete and utter cluelessness when it comes to predicting things within a given time frame. Despite the fact that myself and everyone else acting like they know what lays ahead are proven wrong time and time again, we continue to make predictions about the future. It makes us feel like we have some control, when we don't. The world is too complex, too big, too corrupt, too lost in theories and delusions, and too dependent upon too many leaders with too few brains to be able to predict what will happen next. This is the time of year when all the "experts" will be making their 2013 predictions. I haven't seen too many of these experts going back and honestly assessing their 2012 predictions, which didn't happen.
Manchin Introduces 'CALM' Act to Ease Fiscal Cliff
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) - PressRelease - Manchin.Senate.gov
With hours to go before deadline, Manchin introduces last-ditch effort to prevent worst effects of the cliff
Washington, D.C. – With the country barreling toward the fiscal cliff and no deal in sight, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) offered legislation to alleviate the worst immediate effects of the cliff, while also providing a path forward to a long-term solution.
Senator Manchin introduced the "Cliff Alleviation at the Last Minute," or CALM Act, with less than 36 hours to go before the massive tax hikes and deep spending cuts from the cliff start to take effect.
At edge of ' fiscal cliff' with little option Last-minute deal elusive despite GOP concessions
By Stephen Dinan and Sean Lengell - The Washington Times
With hours to go, President Obama and Congress barreled toward the New Year's Day "fiscal cliff," trading last-minute offers and narrowing the range of options Sunday, but reaching no deal.
"There's still significant distance between the two sides," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, announced Sunday evening, though he said there was still time to reach agreement by Monday's midnight deadline. "We intend to continue negotiations."
"Major setback" in "fiscal cliff" talks, says Dem source
By LINDSEY BOERMA - CBSNews.com
A new demand from Republicans in negotiations to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" presents "a major setback" in lawmakers' attempt to reach a deal before Jan. 1, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will tell his Democratic caucus this afternoon, a Democratic source with knowledge of the negotiations told CBS News.
Though he is expected to qualify that he has not given up on talks with his House counterparts, Reid will brace his caucus for a new offer from Republicans, who in exchange for letting the tax cuts expire for the wealthiest Americans, are proposing a Social Security cut called "chained" consumer price index (CPI), which would measure inflation at a different rate, resulting in lower Social Security payments for recipients.
Budget Talks Stall Over Income, Estate Taxes
By James Rowley & Richard Rubin - Bloomberg.com
With little more than a day remaining to avert tax increases for almost every U.S. worker and to halt federal spending cuts, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell worked to bridge gaps over income tax rates, the estate tax and other issues.
"There's still significant differences between the two sides but negotiations continue," Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said on the Senate floor today. The Senate will resume its session tomorrow at 11 a.m. Washington time and "perhaps" have further announcements then, he said. "I certainly hope so."
Obama's 'Fiscal Cliff' Bottomline: Spare Only 'Middle Class' from Tax Hike and Extend Unemployment Benefits Again
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama said on Friday evening that if he cannot make a bipartisan deal with congressional leaders before the Monday "fiscal cliff" deadline, he has asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring legislation up for a vote in the Senate that would extend the Bush tax rates for "middle class" Americans only and extend unemployment benefits for 2 million Americans whose government payments would otherwise expire.
"So if we don't see an agreement between the two leaders in the Senate, I expect a bill to go on the floor—and I have asked Senator Reid to do this—put a bill on the floor that makes sure that taxes on middle class families don't go up, that unemployment insurance is still available for 2 million people, and that lays the groundwork then for additional deficit reduction and economic growth steps that we can take in the New Year," said Obama.
This Is How Much Your Taxes Will Rise
If We Fall Off the Fiscal Cliff Beware the looming payroll tax hike
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
Until or unless Congress actually does something, 2013 will be the year of tax increases. Big tax increases.
The fiscal cliff is a bit of a misnomer, but when it comes to taxes, the metaphor is apt. If all of the tax cuts, credits, and deductions set to expire at year end do in fact expire, incomes will fall off a tax cliff. Median earners will have 4 percent less in take-home pay in 2013 than they otherwise would; households making a million dollars or more would have 11.4 percent less.
You can see what a fully armed and operational tax cliff would mean for different earners in the chart below from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Obama Makes Last-Minute Fiscal Appeal as Time Grows Short
By Margaret Talev - Bloomberg.com
President Barack Obama made a last- minute appeal for compromise as three senators said the chances were greater than 50-50 for a deal to avert more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.
In an interview broadcast today on NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama warned of "an adverse reaction in the markets" if Congress doesn't act.
The US 'cliff' - one small part of a huge debt crisis
By Liam Halligan | Telegraph - Yahoo.com
So here we are, at the turn of the year, with the global economy tottering on the edge of America's fiscal cliff.
What's kept springing to my mind over the holiday season is the final scene of The Italian Job the iconic 1969 original, not the tacky 2003 remake.
"Hang on a minute, lads," says heistmaster-in-chief, Charlie Croker, as he and his merry band of crooks balance precariously in a bus on the edge of an Alpine cliff. "I've got a great idea."
$1 Trillion Obamacare Tax Hike Hitting on Jan. 1 On January 1, regardless of the outcome
of fiscal cliff negotiations, Americans will be hit
with a $1 trillion Obamacare tax hike.
By Joh Kartch - ATR.org
Obamacare contains twenty new or higher taxes. Five of the taxes hit for the first time on January 1. In total, Americans face a net $1 trillion tax hike for the years 2013-2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The five major Obamacare taxes taking effect on January 1 are as follows:
The Obamacare Medical Device Tax: Medical device manufacturers employ 409,000 people in 12,000 plants across the country. Obamacare imposes a new 2.3 percent excise tax on gross sales – even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. In addition to killing small business jobs and impacting research and development budgets, this will increase the cost of your health care – making everything from pacemakers to artificial hips more expensive.
Tim & Ben Are Fiscal Cliff Enablers
By Jonathan Trugman, New York Post
While most are chastising Congress for not coming to an agreement on the fiscal cliff as shirking its constitutional responsibilities, the real culprits in this macabre tableau go unmentioned.
Let's take a look at the "Great Enablers," Fed chief Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
You see when countries have piles of debt — and we have piles of it: $16.7 trillion and counting — interest rates should go sky-high.
Obama says failure to reach fiscal deal would hurt markets
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 30, 2012 11:49am EST
(Reuters) - Financial markets would be affected adversely if U.S. lawmakers fail to agree on a "fiscal cliff" deal before Tuesday, President Barack Obamasaid in an interview broadcast on Sunday, while urging Congress to act quickly to extend tax cuts for middle-class Americans.
Lawmakers are seeking a last-minute deal that would set aside $600 billion in tax increases and across-the-board government spending cuts that are set to start within days. If Congress does not make that happen, the first bill brought up in the new year would be to reduce taxes for middle-income families, Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Empires of Illusion and the Credibility Trap
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
I came across a nice, compact interview with Chris Hedges which illuminates his thesis of the decline of the American Empire and the illusory thinking that accompanies it. Can the shock and meltdown of Karl Rove on election night be any better contemporary illustration of the power of selective thinking to delude a group of seemingly rational people to their own downfall?
The end of empires and the accompanying sea change of social organization are always remarkable for their extremes of human behaviour. The almost frenetic preoccupation and adherence to the Nazi ideology in the latter stages of the war, when it was obvious to any rational observer that they could not win, is remarkable.
Sci-Finance: The Great Cybernetic Experiment Mad scientists from MIT have taken over the markets to conduct the world's greatest experiment. What are the unintended consequences? Financial disaster is only part of it...
BY CRIS SHERIDAN - FinancialSense.com
As recently reported by the Wall Street Journal many of the world's most powerful central bankers — including our own distinguished Ben Bernanke — received their PhDs at MIT. ZeroHedge chose to frame this by saying:
"...a handful of people from MIT, deeply steeped in economic theory (not practice), the same people whose actions incidentally were responsible for the first great financial crisis, and who yield more power than any potentate in the history of the world - people who, as the ECB showed in the case of Berlusconi, can take down presidents and PMs with the flick of a switch, meet in private. No transcripts or butlers are allowed.
The middle class languishes as the super-rich thrive Washington's proposed budget solutions are ever more irrelevant to the problems at hand while being more protective of the 1%.
By Michael Hiltzik - LATimes.com
The good news for the U.S. economy as we enter 2013 is that the election's over. The bad news is that the election's over.
What's good about it is that both parties in Washington can shed their preoccupation with the campaign theatrics that dominated our long national voyage from pre-primary jockeying through election day.
Yet the most dispiriting thing about the campaign's end is that the economic challenges facing the majority of Americans remain unaddressed. As these words are being written, the end-of-year deficit debate in Washington remains largely unresolved.
CPI Unchained The sneaky plan to cut Social Security and raise taxes
by changing how inflation is calculated.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
On Wednesday I wrote about one of the most widely discussed and high-profile ideas for reducing federal spending on the elderly—raising the eligibility age for Medicare. It's a simple idea to understand and a pretty terrible one. The other idea that comes up constantly in negotiations and rumors of negotiations and hypothetical grand bargains, by contrast, languishes in obscurity. It involves indexing Social Security benefits to the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) rather than the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) that's currently in use.* This change shows up in all kinds of think-tank plans and unofficial sketches, and it has at various times secured the endorsement of everyone from Dick Durbin to Eric Cantor.
US Whistleblowers on Being Targeted
by the Secret Security State
By: Kevin Gosztola
The Chaos Communication Congress (29C3), which organizers describe as "an annual four-day conference on technology, society and utopia," began on December 27. Yesterday, this blog featured Tor software developer and WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum's talk. Later in the day, three United States whistleblowers gave presentations, which should be considered required viewing.
Jesselyn Radack, who blew the whistle on ethics violations in the case of John Walker Lindh when she was an ethics adviser under Attorney General John Ashcroft, describes what led to her resignation and whistleblowing.
29C3 Panel: Jesselyn Radack, Thomas Drake,
William Binney on whistleblowing and surveillance Enemies of the State: What Happens When Telling the Truth
about Secret US Government Power Becomes a Crime
Blowing the Whistle on Spying, Lying & Illegalities in the Digital Era
Panel presented at 29C3 (29th Chaos Communication Congress), 27 December 2012. Speakers are Jesselyn Radack, Thomas Drake, and William Binney. Q&A afterward is not included in this video.
Obama Orders Pay Raise for Biden,
Members of Congress, Federal Workers
BY DANIEL HALPER - WeeklyStandard.com
President Barack Obama issued an executive order to end the pay freeze on federal employees, in effect giving some federal workers a raise. One federal worker now to receive a pay increase is Vice President Joe Biden.
According to disclosure forms, Biden made a cool $225,521 last year. After the pay increase, he'll now make $231,900 per year.
Gov strangling start-ups… Tech Freedom: Tech start-ups strain
against regulatory headaches
By Maxim Lott - FOXNews.com
Can't find a taxi on the street? Want to hail one using a smartphone? The technology exists -- if the government lets you use it.
Entrepreneurs are constantly pushing the boundaries of the web. But in some of the newest fields, they've hit an unexpected problem: government regulation. This month, after pressure from users of taxi-hailing app Uber, regulators in both DC and New York revised regulations to explicitly allow the innovative tech app on city streets. Now, multiple companies plan to compete for business. A company called "Hailo" raised $50 million and plans to compete with Uber in New York.
Senate Confirms Galante as Federal Housing Agency Chief
By Katherine Rizzo - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Senate confirmed Carol Galante as head of the Federal Housing Administration, the agency she has spent more than a year running as acting FHA commissioner.
The vote to confirm her nomination as an assistant secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development was 69-24. Sixty votes were needed under the terms of an agreement between majority Democrats and the minority Republicans who opposed her confirmation.
Obama Administration: We Can and Will Force Christians
to Act Against Their Faith
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - In a legal argument formally presented in federal court in the case of Hobby Lobby v. Kathleen Sebelius, the Obama administration is claiming that the First Amendment—which expressly denies the government the authority to prohibit the "free exercise" of religion—nonetheless allows it to force Christians to directly violate their religious beliefs even on a matter that involves the life and death of innocent human beings.
Because federal judges—including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor—have refused to grant an injunction protecting the owners of Hobby Lobby from being forced to act against their Christian faith, those owners will be subject to federal fines of up to $1.3 million per day starting Tuesday for refusing to include abortion-inducing drugs in their employee health plan.
Speed Limiters, Too? From gun control to car control and more.
By ERIC PETERS - Spectator.org
Most people — including people who favor what they call "gun control" — would probably not support the idea of fitting all cars with speed governors. But why? Isn't the principle exactly the same?
A car is a machine that's capable of being used for "illegal" purposes. It can be used to cause harm, even to kill. Why should anyone be allowed to own a car with more capability than theyneed?
Most people would rise back on their heels and defend their cars. But why not someone else's gun?
WashPost's Endorsement Of Kerry: Curious And Curiouser
By Ken Blackwell - CNSNews.com
The editorial staff of the Washington Post surely meant well. They wanted readers to think that Sen. John Kerry's vast experience in foreign policy over four decades equips him to serve as Secretary of State in the second Obama administration.
The editorial, titled "John Kerry: Well-suited to be Secretary of State," gets that part right. The natty Mr. Kerry certainly looks the part of a globe-trotting senior U.S. diplomat.
What 2013 and Sec. Kerry Hold for Keystone XL
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
When the Obama administration formally enters its second term in a few short weeks, U.S. lawmakers will have presumably averted sending the national economy into a tailspin and will be looking ahead to more pressing foreign policy issues like the pending Afghan drawdown and the so-called pivot to Asia. At the helm of that drive will be John Kerry, tasked last week with taking over for retiring Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Kerry has been a staunch ally of the green movement, saying climate issues are as important as many national security matters. At the top of the 2013 agenda will be the status of the Keystone XL pipeline, though by the time Kerry starts his new job, his voice might not matter.
Graham: Clinton must testify on Benghazi
before Kerry's nomination process
FoxNews.com
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must testify before Congress on the Benghazi issue before the Senate begins confirmation hearings on likely replacement Sen. John Kerry, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday.
Graham told "Fox News Sunday" that Kerry, D-Mass., agrees.
"He needs to know what (Clinton) says," said Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Big Wind Meets an Ill Wind The answer to our electricity needs is not blowin' in the wind.
By PETER HANNAFORD - Spectator.org
Four years ago, Shell Wind Energy, a unit of the oil company, looked for a suitable site for a wind farm on the Northern California coast. Its scouts found a large acreage — cattle pastures — high on the hills about six miles from the town of Ferndale. They secured permission from the rancher-owners to use the land and announced the project. All hell broke loose.
The local weekly in the tight-knit town was flooded with concerned letters to the editor: One of two narrow roads into the hill area carried all the daily traffic of a large hinterland; the other was largely dirt. They would be clogged for months with construction trucks. Wind turbine blades will kill thousands of birds. The constant noise of the turning blades will keep local ranch families awake. The wind farm will spoil the view and forever alter the bucolic nature of the land.
Globalization on the ropes! Can globalization survive 2013?
By Robert J. Samuelson - WashingtonPost.com
One fateful question for 2013 is this: What happens to globalization? For decades, growing volumes of cross-border trade and money flows have fueled strong economic growth. But something remarkable is happening; trade and international money flows are slowing and, in some cases, declining. David Smick, the perceptive editor of the International Economy magazine, calls the retreat "deglobalization." What's unclear is whether this heralds prolonged economic stagnation and rising nationalism or, optimistically, makes the world economy more stable and politically acceptable.
Senate Approves Warrantless Electronic Spy Powers
BY DAVID KRAVETS - Wired.com
The Senate on Friday reauthorized for five years broad electronic eavesdropping powers that legalized and expanded the President George W. Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.
The FISA Amendments Act, (.pdf) which was expiring Monday at midnight, allows the government to electronically eavesdrop on Americans' phone calls and e-mails without a probable-cause warrant so long as one of the parties to the communication is believed outside the United States. The communications may be intercepted "to acquire foreign intelligence information."
OBAMA ON GUN CONTROL: 'THERE WILL BE RESISTANCE'
by WYNTON HALL - Breitbart.com
In his first appearance on the Sunday shows in over three years, President Barack Obama called the Newtown shooting the worst day of his presidency and vowed he would throw his "full weight" behind gun control measures and warned "there will be resistance."
On NBC's "Meet The Press," Mr. Obama told David Gregory:
"It is not enough for us to say, 'This is too hard so we're not going to try.' So what I intend to do is I will call all the stakeholders together. I will meet with Republicans. I will meet with Democrats. I will talk to anybody.
Hillary Clinton 'in hospital' with blood clot US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been admitted to hospital in New York with a blood clot, officials say.
BBC.co.uk
Mrs Clinton suffered a concussion earlier this month after fainting and falling down.
At the time, she was reported to have had a stomach virus and to have passed out after becoming dehydrated.
The worst year in Washington: The tea party
By Chris Cillizza - WashingtonPost.com
The Gadsden flag, which flew proudly over the 2010 midterm elections, now lies in tatters — rent by internal disagreements, losses among its most visible standard-bearers and a growing sense that the tea party movement, which once looked like it could transform American politics, will soon be nothing more than a blip in the country's collective memory.
The movement's journey from boom to bust is the story of American politics writ large. The tea party's ups and downs (in 2012, mostly downs) highlight some of the key forces shaping today's battles — from the fissures that threaten to destroy the Republican Party to the perils of a leaderless or multi-leader effort to the difference between proving a point and winning.
U.S. Taxpayers Will Continue to Pay
More Than One-Fifth of U.N. Budget
By Patrick Goodenough - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – In one of its last actions of the year, the United Nations General Assembly on Christmas Eve agreed to extend for another three years the formula that has U.S. taxpayers contributing more than one-fifth of the world body's regular budget.
No member-state called for a recorded vote, and the resolution confirming the contributions that each country will make for the 2013-2015 period was summarily adopted. The assembly also approved a two-year U.N. budget of $5.4 billion.
Chinese Oil Companies Apparent Victors in Post-Saddam Iraq
By John Daly - OilPrice.com
It was not supposed to be like this.
After 2003's U.S.-led Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq's vast oil reserves, a monopoly under the Baathist government of deposed President Saddam Hussein, were opened to foreign investment.
That optimistic assessment proved somewhat naïve however, as the country quickly descended into a prolonged power struggle between Sunni Arabs, who had dominated the Saddam administration, Shia Iraqis, the majority in the country, and northern Iraq's Kurdish population, which had suffered years of repression.
Approaching comet may outshine the moon
By Irene Klotz
Dec 28 (Reuters) - A comet blazing toward Earth could outshine the full moon when it passes by at the end of next year - if it survives its close encounter with the sun.
The recently discovered object, known as comet ISON, is due to fly within 1.2 million miles (1.9 million km) from the center of the sun on Nov. 28, 2013 said astronomer Donald Yeomans, head of NASA's Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif
NextWorld: Future Intelligence
Soon, we will be able to build computers with artificial intelligence and processing power that rivals the human brain. Intelligence will be everywhere, embedded in our clothing, our vehicles and homes. Intelligent robots will serve us - until they don't feel like doing so anymore. And what happens then…?
North Korea EMP attack could destroy U.S. — now Obama must take immediate action
By Peter Vincent Pry - WashingtonTimes.com
North Korea now has an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to the United States, as demonstrated by their successful launch and orbiting of a satellite on Dec. 12. Certain poorly informed pundits among the chattering classes reassure us that North Korea is still years away from being able to miniaturize warheads for missile delivery, and from developing sufficiently accurate missiles to pose a serious nuclear threat to the United States. Philip Yun, director of San Francisco's Ploughshares Fund, a nuclear disarmament group, reportedly said, "The real threat from the launch was an overreaction that would lead to more defense spending on unnecessary systems. The sky is not falling. We shouldn't be panicked."
In fact, North Korea is a mortal nuclear threat to the United States— right now.
UN Envoy Warns of Syria 'Hell' as Beheaded Bodies Found
By Henry Meyer & Scott Rose - Bloomberg.com
UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned yesterday that the war in Syria is spiraling into "hell" and giving rise to warlords.
The Syrian army killed 143 people across the country yesterday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees said in an e-mailed statement. Fifty unidentified beheaded corpses with signs of torture were recovered behind Tishreen Military Hospital in Damascus, the group said.
Obama deploys troops to Africa to defend U.S. Embassy
By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times
With rebels advancing on the capital city of the Central African Republic, the U.S. has deployed about 50 combat troops to neighboring Chad to support the evacuation of U.S. Embassy personnel and American private citizens, President Obama notified Congress in a letter Saturday.
Mr. Obama said he took the action "due to the deteriorating security situation in the Central African Republic and the potential threat to U.S. citizens." The evacuation of Americans from Bangui, Central African Republic, began on Thursday.
2 Reasons to be Bullish on Gold
By Cullen Roche - PragCap.com
Just some random gold thoughts here via David Rosenberg's 2013 outlook:
"Gold is also a hedge against financial instability and when the world is awash with over $200 trillion of household, corporate and government liabilities, deflation works against debt servicing capabilities and calls into question the integrity of the global financial system. This is why gold has so much allure today. It is a reflection of investor concern over the monetary stability, and Ben Bernanke and other central bankers only have to step on the printing presses whereas gold miners have to drill over two miles into the ground (gold production is lower today than it was a decade ago – hardly the same can be said for fiat currency).
Recent gold price take down is like what happened before the big take-off in the late 70s recalls Jim Sinclair
By: Peter Cooper - GoldSeek.com
The recent falls in the gold price are absolutely nothing to worry about for long-term investors who have a gold price target way off the present scale, and this is a repeat of the take down in gold that happened in the late 1970s just before the big price take-off, says the 70's gold king who made it all happen then.
Jim Sinclair offers a unique perspective on gold from the position of an old-timer who made a fortune from great timing. Past success does not guarantee future success but choosing your market guides on this basis is surely better than not doing so.
Your 2013 Guide to Investing in Gold
BY WILLIAM PATALON III, Executive Editor, Money Morning
….Insights on Investing in Gold
His answer: Physical bullion remains a top play; the physical metal is a vehicle for profit, and will serve as an excellent hedge against inflation and the many problems that remain in both the global and domestic U.S. economies.
Precious Metals "Under Pressure" Ahead of Year-End, US "Due to Hit Debt Ceiling This Monday" says Geithner
By: Ben Traynor - GoldSeek.com
London Gold Market Report
U.S. DOLLAR gold prices traded above $1650 an ounce Thursday morning, in line with where they started the week, as the London market reopened following Christmas.
Silver meantime hovered either side of $30 an ounce, while stock markets edged higher and the Dollar fell, following news that the US Treasury is to take extraordinary measures to avoid hitting the federal debt ceiling next Monday.
The Coming Isolation of the USDollar
BY JIM WILLIE - FinancialSense.com
The typical human reaction to any infection, vermin, danger, or toxicity is to stand back, to isolate the agent, to trap it, to prevent its further spread or release, then to remove it in a safe secure way if possible using trained professionals. Eventually decisions must be made on the level of acceptable risk on the removal, like what is willing to be lost or damaged or killed in the process. Risk analysis, cost trade-offs, and minimization decisions must be evaluated and executed. The toxic agent in global trade, global banking, and globalbond market is the USDollar.
Fiscal Cliff Diving Republicans will get a better deal if they stop negotiating behind closed White House doors and force the Senate to vote on a plan. In other words, if they follow the Constitution.
By PETER FERRARA - Spectator.org
Remember your high school civics, when your teacher explained the process for passing federal legislation in Washington?
First the Speaker of the House goes to ask permission to pass proposed legislation from the Emperor in the White House. If the Speaker does not get the Emperor's approval before trying to pass a bill, then he is just wasting everyone's time. Further, if the Senate does not agree with what the House has passed, the Senate Majority Leader can just say the magic incantation, "Dead on Arrival," and the Speaker of the House skips town.
Ten Economic Questions For 2013 Here are some questions I'm thinking about ...
By Bill McBride - CalculatedRiskBlog.com
1) US Policy: This is probably the biggest downside risk for the US economy in 2013. I assume some sort of fiscal agreement will be reached soon, but how much austerity will be included? What will happen with the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)? What about emergency unemployment benefits? What about extending the mortgage relief for debt forgiveness (important for short sales)?
16 Things About 2013 That Are Really Going To Stink
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The beginning of the year has traditionally been a time of optimism when we all look forward to the exciting things that are going to happen over the next 12 months. Unfortunately, there are a whole bunch of things about 2013 that we already know are going to stink. Taxes are going to go up, good paying jobs will continue to leave the country, small businesses will continue to be destroyed, the number of Americans living in poverty will continue to soar, our infrastructure will continue to decay, global food supplies will likely continue to dwindle and the U.S. national debt will continue to explode. Our politicians continue to pursue the same policies that got us into this mess, and yet they continue to expect things to magically turn around. But that is not the way that things work in the real world. Bad decisions lead to bad outcomes. Instead of realizing that what we are doing is not working, our "leaders" continue to give us more of the same. As a result, there are going to be a lot of things about 2013 that will not be great. Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending that everything will be "okay" somehow is not going to help anyone. We've got to make people understand exactly what is happening and why it is happening if we ever hope to see real changes.
Prospects for Cliff Deal Dim With Time Running Out, Any Agreement
Is Expected to Be Limited in Scope
By JANET HOOK and CAROL E. LEE - WSJ.com
Congress and the White House took small steps toward breaking the budget impasse Thursday, but Democrats and Republicans grew increasingly fearful they won't be able to avert the tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff, a prospect that is unnerving consumers and investors.
President Barack Obama invited congressional leaders to the White House Friday afternoon for a last-ditch effort to broker a deal, as the Senate returned to Washington Thursday. House GOP leaders said in a Thursday conference call with Republicans, who are growing nervous about their party being blamed for the deadlock, that the House will reconvene Sunday evening.
Reid: 'Fiscal cliff' deal unlikely
By Ramsey Cox - TheHill.com
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday said it is likely too late for Congress to pull the nation back from the "fiscal cliff."
Speaking on the Senate floor, Reid castigated Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for sending members of the House back to their districts last week after he was forced to scrap his "Plan B" tax plan for lack of support.
Higher Taxes for All:
The Dems' Terrible Fallback Plan for the Fiscal Cliff
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
So, the fiscal cliff. Barring a semi-miraculous breakthrough, it looks like it will be around until at least January. In other words, a deal is not close. That's left both sides scrambling for a backup plan, which could leave all of us scrambling for more cash in the new year. Indeed, as Greg Ip of The Economist points out, the fallback option Democrats are talking about now, a bill the Senate passed last summer, wouldn't undo nearly enough of the austerity set to kick in.
Obama's GOP Tax Collectors Bob Dole in 1982: "We're just trying to avoid going over the cliff": Reagan, Kemp, and "tax the rich."
By JEFFREY LORD - Spectator.org
"I didn't come to Washington to raise taxes." — Congressman Jack Kemp to President Ronald Reagan
Jack Kemp was furious.
Summoned to the White House in 1982 for a one-on-one with President Ronald Reagan — Reagan not only his longtime ideological and political ally but his old boss (as an off-season football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills Kemp had served an internship as a special assistant to the fledgling California Governor Reagan in 1967), now-Congressman Kemp was adamant.
Reagan was being told by all manner of GOP Establishment leadership types like Kansas Senator Bob Dole, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, that taxes had to be raised as Democrats insisted. The Reagan economic policy was a failure, Reagan was being told. And the Democrats had a deal — a spending reduction of $3 for every $1 in tax cuts. After trying mightily to get Reagan to give up on the third-year of his tax cuts — which Reagan flatly refused — Dole made his pitch for an increase in business and excise taxes. Based on the idea of those corresponding budget cuts, Reagan reluctantly went along.
Obama calls Hill leaders for Friday cliff talks House to reconvene for unusual Sunday evening session
By Robert Schroeder and Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama has called congressional leaders to come to the White House on Friday in a last ditch effort to avert the fiscal cliff.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi are expected to attend the meeting.
White House officials, McConnell and Boehner all confirmed plans for the meeting.
Bankers with Borders
Howard Davies - Project-Syndicate.org
LONDON – When Mark Carney replaces Mervyn King as Governor of the Bank of England in July 2013, the world will be deprived of King's witty public utterances. My personal favorite came when, commenting on strong retail-sales figures during one Christmas period, he cast doubt on their significance for assessing the state of the economy. "The true meaning of the story of Christmas" he solemnly intoned, "will not be revealed until Easter, or possibly much later." A new career on the stage, or in the pulpit, surely beckons.
Major borrowers to reduce bank deposits: Fed survey
(Reuters) - Wall Street dealers expect hedge funds, insurance companies and other borrowers to pull some cash from commercial banks when a financial crisis-era deposit insurance program expires at the end of the year, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday.
The U.S. central bank's quarterly survey of senior credit officers found that most expect their clients to get rid of at least some commercial bank deposits and instead park their cash in securities such as repurchase agreements, money market funds or Treasury bills.
U.S. Treasury, Trying to Duck Borrowing Limit,
Will Stop Investing in Gov't Retirement Funds
BY CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP - CNSNews.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department will begin taking steps on Friday to delay hitting the government's $16.4 trillion borrowing limit on Dec. 31.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a letter Wednesday to congressional leaders that the department will use accounting measures to save approximately $200 billion. That could keep the government from reaching the limit for about two months.
Consumer confidence slides from 'cliff'
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
Consumer confidence is continuing to slide as the threat of the "fiscal cliff" draws near with little sign of progress from policymakers.
The benchmark Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index posted its second straight month of decline in December, and consumer expectations have fallen "sharply."
Consumer confidence now stands at 65.1, down from 71.5 in November; a score of 100 represents the optimistic economic outlook of 1985. And the expectations index now pegs consumer outlook at 66.5, down from 80.9 just one month ago.
Spain's house prices to fall another 30pc as glut keeps growing Spain's property slump will deepen for much of the next decade, and tracts of buildings along the Mediterannean coast will have to be demolished, the country's top consultants have warned.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
RR de Acuña & Asociados expects home prices in Madrid, Barcelona and other major cities to fall a further 30pc in a relentless slide until 2018, but it may be even worse in sunbelt regions where 400,000 Britons either live or own homes.
Fresh losses could reach 50pc and drag on for 10 to 15 years in those places where construction ran wild during the bubble, bringing the total decline from peak to trough towards 75pc.
Household debt burden hits 29-year low
By Lucia Mutikani
(Reuters) - A measure of the burden of household debt tumbled in the third quarter to its lowest level in 29 years, which should help free up money for consumer spending and support the economy.
The household debt service ratio -- an estimate of the share of debt payments to disposable personal income -- fell to 10.61 percent from 10.72 percent in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday.
It was the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 1983.
Obama's Phony Fannie, Freddie 'Reform'
Investors.com
The White House is taking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the wrong direction. Instead of reforming the toxic mortgage twins as promised, it's broadening their role.
Even as taxpayer losses from the failed mortgage giants have hit $187 billion, the administration has done nothing to address the problem except sending Congress a report that pays lip service to reforms.
New Home Sales and Distressing Gap
by Bill McBride - CalculatedRiskBlog.com
New home sales have averaged 363,000 on an annual rate basis through November. That means sales are on pace to increase 18%+ from last year. Most sectors would be pretty happy with an 18% increase in sales.
But even with the significant increase this year, 2012 will be the 3rd lowest year for New Home sales since the Census Bureau started tracking new home sales in 1963. This year will be above 2010 and 2011, but below the 375,000 sales in 2009. I expect new home sales to double from here within the next several years as distressed sales continue to decline.
White House Wants to Expand Refis
for Underwater Borrowers: Report The Obama administration may be looking to expand the number of borrowers who can refinance their mortgages.
AmericanBanker.com
The White House is considering a proposal that would authorize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to guarantee repayment by borrowers whose homes are underwater and whose mortgages aren't backed by the government, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The move would require Congress to authorize a change to the companies' charters that would allow Fannie and Freddie to back billions of dollars in loans and to charge higher rates to borrowers to offset the risk.
For Four Retailers, Do or Die The New Year Has New Urgency for Best Buy, RadioShack, J.C. Penney and Sears
By ANN ZIMMERMAN And DANA MATTIOLI - WSJ.com
While 2013 will be a tough year for retailers due to the tepid economic recovery, a few in particular face a critical 12 months. Their experiences highlight the challenges facing store chains, from increasingly cautious consumers to fierce online competition.
These unlucky retailers are going into the New Year with extra woes: slipping sales, questionable strategies and tight finances—which is why they are the ones to watch, and not in a good way.
Possible strike at docks
would cripple key U.S. ports, hurt economy
By Brad Plumer and Michael A. Fletcher - WashingtonPost.com
Thousands of dockworkers from Baltimore to Houston are threatening to go on strike this Sunday over their pay, a move that could throttle an array of key ports and disrupt commerce at a critical juncture for the economy.
Nearly half of the nation's ocean-bound container traffic runs through the 14 threatened ports on the East Coast and Gulf Coast, and a work stoppage would crimp imports of household goods, clothing and frozen foods, among others. The biggest hub, in the New York area, handled $208 billion worth of goods last year.
Senate vote begins on reauthorizing surveillance programs
By Ramsey Cox and Jennifer Martinez - TheHill.com
Senate began voting Thursday on a bill reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Senators debated the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act for seven hours before starting to vote on amendments to the legislation. The bill would extend for five years the ability of U.S. intelligence authorities to surveil terrorists overseas without first getting permission from a court.
Government Dependents Outnumber
Those With Private Sector Jobs In 11 U.S. States
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
America is rapidly becoming a nation of takers. An increasing number of Americans expect the government to take care of them from the cradle to the grave, and they expect the government to dig into the pockets of others in order to pay for it all. This philosophy can be very seductive, but what happens when the number of takers eventually outnumbers the number of producers? In 11 different U.S. states, the number of government dependents exceeds the number of private sector workers. This list of states includes some of the biggest states in the country: California, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Maine, Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, New Mexico and Hawaii. It is interesting to note that seven of those states were won by Barack Obama on election night. InCalifornia, there are 139 "takers" for every 100 private sector workers. That is crazy! The American people have become absolutely addicted to government money, and it gets worse with each passing year. If you can believe it, entitlements accounted for 62 percent of all federal spending in fiscal year 2012. It would be one thing if we could afford all of this spending, but unfortunately we simply cannot. We aredrowning in debt, and we are stealing more than a hundred million more dollars from future generations with each passing hour. No bank robber in history can match that kind of theft.
Is Obama About to Betray Those Who Re-Elected Him
Less Than Two Months Ago?
by SCOTT HARRIS - CounterPunch.org
One of the most contentious issues in the current "fiscal cliff" negotiations that's angering progressive activists is President Obama's offer to the GOP to change the way cost of living adjustments are made to Social Security benefits. According to economists working with the group Social Security Works, moving to what is called a "chained" consumer price index will reduce benefits for the average 65-year-old by about $6,000 in the first 15 years of retirement, and $16,000 over 25 years.
I'm not surprised, but still angry. Obama has always been a failure as a negotiator with Republicans. He reliably makes major concessions before negotiations even begin – and in exchange for little or nothing from the other side.
A Conservative Case For The Welfare State
By Bruce Bartlett, Economix
At the root of much of the dispute between Democrats and Republicans over the so-called fiscal cliff is a deep disagreement over the welfare state. Republicans continue to fight a long-running war against Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and many other social-welfare programs that most Americans support overwhelmingly and oppose cutting.
Republicans in Congress opposed the New Deal and the Great Society, but Republican presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower through George H.W. Bush accepted the legitimacy of the welfare state and sought to manage it properly and fund it adequately. When Republicans regained control of Congress in 1994 they nevertheless sought to repeal the New Deal and Great Society programs they had always opposed.
Tea Party Turmoil: FreedomWorks' Dick Armey
Takes $8 Million Exit Buyout After Failed Coup
DemocracyNow.org
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey attempted a coup within his own tea party-linked nonprofit FreedomWorks earlier this year. When that failed, he took an $8 million payout from a millionaire Republican donor to leave. The incident highlighted what is believed to be growing turmoil inside the tea party movement after it rose to prominence ahead of the 2010 election. We're joined by Politico reporter Kenneth Vogel."
Piers Morgan: 'It's Time For an Amendment to the Bible'
By Elizabeth Harrington - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – After his gun-control views landed him on a petition to be deported from the United States, CNN host Piers Morgan is now contending "it's time for an amendment to the Bible" because, like the Constitution, it is "inherently flawed."
In an interview that was broadcast on Christmas Eve, Morgan told evangelical Pastor Rick Warren that due to changing cultural views on gay marriage the Bible, too, must be changed.
BARNEY FRANK NOT RULING OUT KERRY'S SENATE SEAT
by BREITBART NEWS
With Ted Kennedy Jr. ruling out a run for John Kerry's senate seat, eyes turned to Barney Frank as a potential replacement. In an interview last week, Frank demurred but added he would not necessarily say "no" should he be offered an interim appointment.
Governor Deval Patrick is tasked with the job of replacing Kerry until a special election is held in 2014. Barney Frank is retiring from the House of Representatives at the end of the year after a 30+ year tenure.
Gallup Poll: 54% Have Favorable Opinion of the NRA
By Daniel Doherty - Townhall.com
While some on the Left have demonized the National Rifle Association on Twitter and other social media platforms (indeed, one "educator" even called for the execution of NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre) in the days since the unspeakable tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, a majority of Americans (albeit a slim majority) continue to view the NRA favorably:
Liberals Who Cling to Their Guns Next thing we'll learn is that they're big on designer guns.
By AARON GOLDSTEIN - Spectator.org
Few things animate the ire of liberals more than the right to bear arms. Liberals loathe the Second Amendment and when horrific tragedies like the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut rear their ugly head, they are quick on the draw to call for more gun control. But just don't ask liberals to practice what they preach.
Senator Dianne Feinstein of California is readying legislation to re-introduce a ban on assault weapons. Yet, as Mark Levin pointed out, Feinstein owned a concealed firearm. She said, "If somebody tries to take me out I'm going to take them with me."
Facebook Purges Pro-Gun Accounts Massive act of censorship
sees alternative media pages disappeared
By Paul Joseph Watson - Infowars.com
Facebook is purging accounts that carry pro-second amendment and pro-liberty information in a censorship purge that has accelerated over the past few hours, with innumerable pages being disappeared merely for posting legitimate political content.
NaturalNews.com's Mike Adams contacted us to alert us to the fact that "Facebook banned our account for posting this," with an attached image of a Gandhi quote about how the British disarmed the citizenry during their rule in India.
After the Disaster: American Rebirth or Interment?
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
America is now in a time that in some ways resembles the 1850s, when freedom-loving people, attentive to political and cultural trends, saw a great crisis coming.
After the Mexican-American War, as Southern slaveholders and their political allies sought to extend the realm of slavery into the West and tip the nation's political and cultural balance to the advantage of slaveholders, many believed liberty was at risk.
S. Korean media: DPRK deploys missiles
China.org.cn
South Korean media says the DPRK has deployed more than 900 ballistic missiles at 3 separate sites across the country.
KBS news agency reports that the 3 zones are for the use of the launch of short, middle and long-range missiles. DPRK leader Kim Jong-un is said to have paid a visit to the headquarters in charge of missile launches, which is seen as key to the DPRK's missile deployment.
China opposes US defense act
China.org.cn
A spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry on Thursday voiced strong opposition to the content concerning China in a U.S. defense authorization act.
"The content is a rude interference in China's internal affairs and harmful to our strategic mutual trust. We are strongly opposed to it," said spokesman Yang Yujun, referring to the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, which contains controversial sections related to the Diaoyu Islands and arms sales to Taiwan.
Syrian rebels sidetracked by scramble for spoils of war Looting, feuds and divided loyalties threaten to destroy unity of fighters as war enters new phase
By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Aleppo - The Guardian
It wasn't the government that killed the Syrian rebel commander Abu Jameel. It was the fight for his loot. The motive for his murder lay in a great warehouse in Aleppo which his unit had captured a week before. The building had been full of rolled steel, which was seized by the fighters as spoils of war.
But squabbling developed over who would take the greater share of the loot and a feud developed between commanders. Threats and counter-threats ensued over the following days.
Leonard Melman Finds the Fiscal Cliff
a Boon for Precious Metals The Gold Report: Leonard, what are the most pressing issues facing investors today?
Leonard Melman: Let's start with the fiscal cliff. If America falls into this abyss, the combination of tax increases and spending reductions will slow down economic growth. Interestingly, political leaders in Europe are callingfor increasing taxes and decreasing spending in order to solve their problems. I find it amusing that the solution to economic problems being proposed by leaders on the European side of the Atlantic is thought to be the problem on the American side of the Atlantic.
Doug Casey on the Morality of Money
Interviewed by Casey Research Chief Metals & Mining Investment Strategist Louis James Louis: Doug, every time we have a conversation, I ask you about the investment implications of your ideas, and we consider ways to turn the trends you see into profits. The assumption is that's what people want to hear from you, since you're the guru of financial speculation.
But this, your known status as a wealthy man, the fact that you have no children, and other things may lead some people to form an incorrect conclusion about you – that "all you care about is money." So let's talk about money. Is it all you care about? Doug: I think anyone who has read our conversation giving advice to people just starting out in life (or re-starting) knows that the answer is no. Or the conversation we had in which we discussed Scrooge McDuck, one of the great heroes of literature. However, I have to stop before we start and push back: If money were all I cared about, so what? Would that really make me a bad person?
US Treasury warns of 'extraordinary measures'
amid fiscal cliff deadlock Barack Obama cuts short holiday to tackle budget crisis as country faces breaching its $16.4tn debt limit
By Dominic Rushe and Heidi Moore - The Guardian
US Treasury secretary Tim Geithner warned on Wednesday he would have to take "extraordinary measures" to avoid a default on the US's legal obligations as the country is set to breach its $16.4tn (£10.16tn) debt limit.
In a letter to Congress, Geithner said the debt ceiling would be reached on 31 December and that the Treasury could raise $200bn (£124bn) to fund government spending as a stopgap measure. But he warned that the current impasse over the fiscal cliff budget crisis meant it was uncertain how long that money would last.
Treasury unveils plan to buy time under debt ceiling
by Anna Yukhananov, Jason Lange and Pedro Da Costa
(Reuters) - The Treasury on Wednesday announced the first of a series of measures that should push back the day when the government will exceed its legal borrowing authority as imposed by Congress by around two months.
Without any action, Treasury said the government is set to reach its $16.4 trillion debt ceiling on December 31.
The government is facing a crunch on the debt ceiling because the issue has become ensnarled in talks to avoid some $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts due to begin in early January. Failing to raise the debt ceiling could cause the government to default on its debt.
Geithner moves to avoid Dec. 31 debt ceiling
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Treasury Department soon will begin making accounting moves so that the United States can put off hitting its debt ceiling at the end of the month, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Geithner said the government would hit the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling on Dec. 31 unless he authorized the extraordinary measures.
I am writing to inform you that the statutory debt limit will be reached on December 31, 2012, and to notify you that the Treasury Department will shortly begin taking certain extraordinary measures authorized by law to temporarily postpone the date that the United States would otherwise default on its legal obligations.
These extraordinary measures, which are explained in detail in an appendix to this letter, can create approximately $200 billion in headroom under the debt limit. Under normal circumstances, that amount of headroom would last approximately two months. However, given the significant uncertainty that now exists with regard to unresolved tax and spending policies for 2013, it is not possible to predict the effective duration of these measures. At this time, the extent to which the upcoming tax filing season will be delayed as a result of these unresolved policy questions is also uncertain. If left unresolved, the expiring tax provisions and automatic spending cuts, as well as the attendant delays in filing of tax returns, would have the effect of adding some additional time to the duration of the extraordinary measures. Treasury will provide more guidance regarding the expected duration of these measures when the policy outlook becomes clearer.
Sincerely,
Timothy F. Geithner
US Treasury to take steps
to avoid hitting debt ceiling on Monday
NBCNews.com
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday announced the first of a series of measures to delay hitting the government's $16.4 trillion borrowing limit. Without those steps, the debt ceiling would be hit on Dec. 31.
The government is facing a crunch on the debt ceiling because the issue has become ensnarled in talks to avoid some $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts due to begin in early January. Failing to raise the debt ceiling could cause the government to default on its debt.
Geithner: US will hit $16.4 trillion debt limit on New Year's Eve
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
The United States will reach its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit on Dec. 31 and undertake "extraordinary measures" to avoid default, the Treasury Department informed congressional leaders in a letter on Wednesday.
The notice about the debt ceiling came packaged with a stark warning from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who said the policy uncertainty stemming from the "fiscal cliff" makes it impossible for him to say with certainty how much time lawmakers have left to raise the borrowing cap.
WHAT WILL BE CONSEQUENCES OF 'GOING OVER THE CLIFF'?
by KERRY PICKET - Breitbart.com
Lawmakers and President Barack Obama are hurrying back to Washington on Thursday in what appears to be another attempt to avoid going off the fiscal cliff. In order to do that, Congress and the White House must agree on how to handle expiring tax provisions and across-the-board spending cuts, among other short-term issues that will impact the federal budget.
According to a recent Gallup poll, roughly half of the country is skeptical that a deal will happen before the January 1 deadline. Democrats continue to argue that allowing tax rates to expire on families making $250,000 combined and individuals making $200,000 or more will improve the economy. Republicans, however, want taxes to remain at current rates and focus more on entitlement spending cuts.
U.S. economy could handle short fall over 'fiscal cliff'
By Christopher S. Rugaber - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
WASHINGTON — The economic threat that's kept many Americans on edge for months is nearing reality — unless the White House and Republicans cut a budget deal by New Year's Day.
Huge tax increases. Deep cuts in domestic and defense programs. The likelihood of sinking stock prices, reduced consumer spending and corporate layoffs. The risk of a recession within months.
RT Capital Account: Headlines + Fedspeak
As expected, UBS settled over accusations of Libor rigging, paying a 1.5 billion dollar fine. In addition to the settlement and guilty plea from UBS's Japanese subsidiary, regulators released details on the communications and internal emails of UBS traders. The messages were filled with colorful language, with traders calling each other nicknames including "Superman" and "Captain Caos," according to the Wall Street Journal. In one example, a UBS trader told a broker I want to "do one humongous deal with you" and "I'll pay you... whatever you want" in order to secure help manipulating rates. Although infuriating, this language is at least more straightforward than the public statements from the sanctioned rate manipulator, the Federal Reserve. Despite Ben Bernanke's suggestions for improving public communication, we still hear a prevalence of "FedSpeak." For example, at the most recent Fed press conference Ben Bernanke said "While in that circumstance the Committee would no longer be increasing policy accommodation, its policy stance would remain highly supportive of growth." We talk to James Savage, Managing Partner of Reputation Leadership Group and the former VP of Public Affairs at the Cleveland Federal Reserve, about what is lost in "FedSpeak."
Obama seeks 60 Senate votes for cliff deal Boehner says House will act if plan can pass Senate
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — As President Barack Obama and members of the Senate head back to Washington, 60 is the most important number.
It will take 60 votes for any scaled-back deal on the fiscal cliff to clear a filibuster in the Senate.
"All eyes are on the Senate in the next 48 hours," said Chris Krueger, senior policy analyst at Guggenheim's Washington Research Group.
Republican Sellout Invites Stagflation
By John Browne, Euro Pacific Capital - RealClearMarkets.com
While it may not be a surprise that the Republicans are preparing to yield on their vow to oppose tax hikes, it should raise investor concerns the world over that an upcoming budget agreement will likely involve a Congressional surrender of its authority to set the federal debt ceiling. In exchange for this, it appears that the Republicans have simply done nothing to halt, or even curb, the dangerous federal spending trajectories or the current drift towards greater state control of the economy. President Obama has politically outmaneuvered the Republicans, even going as far as evoking the Newtown massacre as a reason for quickly concluding a deal. As a result, it is likely that the GOP will bear the blame for any breakdown in fiscal cliff negotiations. They could wear such an outcome as a badge of honor, but nothing indicates that they have the political courage to do so.
The Way for Obama to Beat GOP Fanatics
in Fiscal Cliff Negotiations
By Robert Reich - Truthdig.com
President Obama is cutting his Christmas holiday short, returning to Washington for a last attempt at avoiding the fiscal cliff. But he's running headlong into the Republican strategy of fanaticism.
It's a long-established principle of game theory (see Thomas Schelling's classic 1956 essay in the American Economic Review) that a fanatic who restricts his freedom to avert a disaster puts maximum pressure on his opponent to give ground.
The Most Overlooked Statistic in Economics Is Poised
for an Epic Comeback: Household Formation The most important graph of 2012? We asked around for some suggestions last week. We got 34 responses. This was mine. It answers the question: What share of each recovery since 1970 came from selling houses and cars?
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
The message is that home and car sales power recoveries. This recovery is different from all others because we just. Aren't. Selling. Enough. Houses.
That might be changing. With home prices rising, construction hours-worked recovering, and multi-family homes making a sustained comeback, 2013 could be the year our economy breaks out of "new normal" growth and gets back to "normal normal" growth.
CNBC's Boldest Predictions
Covering a range of topics — from auto sales and health care to the New York Jets and the price of gasoline — CNBC's anchors, reporters, editors and contributors make calls on what 2013 will bring. Click ahead for predictions to help you plan ahead for the year to come.
Obamacare Could Double Health Care Premiums: Aetna CEO
By: Justin Menza - CNBC.com
To provide all Americans with health insurance, premiums will have to rise to pay for it, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Wednesday.
"If we're going to insure all Americans, which is a worthy and appropriate cause, then somebody has to pay for it," Bertolini said of the expected premium increases under Obamacare.
Obamacare Tax Hikes May Just Be Getting Started
CNBC.com
New taxes are coming Jan. 1 to help finance President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Most people may not notice.
But they will pay attention if Congress decides to start taxing employer-sponsored health insurance, one option in play if lawmakers can ever agree on a budget deal to reduce federal deficits.
The tax hikes already on the books, taking effect in 2013, fall mainly on people who make lots of money and on the health care industry. But about half of Americans benefit from the tax-free status of employer health insurance.
In 2013, Millions Of Americans Face Obamacare Tax Hikes
By Sally Pipes, Contributor - Forbes.com
As part of the negotiations over the fiscal cliff, Congress and President Obama are battling over whether to raise marginal tax rates at the very top of the income ladder.
Regardless of how these talks turn out, millions of Americans are already facing tax hikes thanks to Obamacare.
Obamacare's authors chose to offset about half of the trillion-dollar cost of the law through higher taxes. Since the Supreme Court upheld the law's individual mandate and allowed states to opt out of its Medicaid expansion, though, the cost estimate has swelled to $1.76 trillion between 2012 and 2021.
PUBLIC TURNS GLOOMY, FEARFUL AS 2013 APPROACHES
by MIKE FLYNN - Breitbart.com
The holidays are traditionally a time where we renew our optimism about the future. Gatherings with friends and family, festive meals and sparkling decorations are all powerful elixirs to the wear-and-tear of daily life. A new ABC/WaPo poll, however, shows that this year the holiday spirit is powerless to boost the public's mood. Almost half of Americans, in fact, are fearful about their own lives in the new year.
44% of Americans report they are fearful about what the new year holds in store for their lives. It's the highest recording ever in the poll. At the start of the decade, just 16% of Americans were fearful about the coming year, while 80% were hopeful. This year just 53%, barely a majority, are hopeful about their personal lives in the new year.
President Obama's Legacy: $20 Trillion in Debt for 2016 Victor
By Paul Gregory, Forbes.com
The fiscal-cliff negotiations have deteriorated into an embarrassing travesty of competing press conferences, off-the-record remarks, closed meetings, and sound bites. The Republican side is frustrated and flabbergasted by the absence of a concrete proposal from the President that can be scored by the Congressional Budget Office and then "marked up" by Congress according to standard procedures. Vague offers of so and so many trillions of revenue increases and spending cuts spread over a decade are just words, not real proposals.
Keiser Report: Crazyflation (E383 ft. Peter Schiff)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert look at the the central bank revolution that will end in disaster with Japan leading the way after voters have demanded even more aggression with the nation's monetary policy. They also look at Moody's ratings getting no respect because nobody has done better than flipping a coin for 50 years in a slow burning prison. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to Peter Schiff about bonds, dollars and governments buying their own debt.
Charity Begins With Wealth Creation
By John Stossel - PatriotPost.us
Charity -- helping people who have trouble helping themselves -- is a good thing two times over. It's good for the beneficiary and good for the donor, too. Stephen Post's fine book, "The Hidden Gifts of Helping," reveals that 76 percent of Americans say that helping others is what makes them most happy. Giving money makes us feel good, and helping face-to-face is even better. People say it makes them feel physically healthier. They sleep better.
Private charity is unquestioningly better than government efforts to help people. Government squanders money. Charities sometime squander money, too, but they usually don't.
Fighting Poverty By Giving Poor People Money
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
There's more to life than just this, but I've come to think that directly transfering cash money to people in need is the most underrated tool around for fighting poverty. So I was incredibly excited to read Dana Goldstein's profile of GiveDirectly last week and this morning I sent them some money for Christmas.
They take advantage of the fact that Kenya has a widely used mobile phone-based payment and banking system to take money from those who want to give and deposit funds directly in the accounts of impoverished families. About ten percent of the money goes to overhead (electronic payments processing alone is three percent) and ninety percent of funds reach the recipients. Obviously there's a risk that some of the money will be "wasted" on booze or tobacco but in practice that looks like much less wastage than the guaranteed waste involved in a high-overhead prescriptive charity. Dylan Matthews explained that one further advantage of the cash transfer approach is that "many households who receive such transfers save the money, which increases investment and growth in the community over the long run."
Government Dependents Outnumber
Those With Private Sector Jobs In 11 U.S. States
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
America is rapidly becoming a nation of takers. An increasing number of Americans expect the government to take care of them from the cradle to the grave, and they expect the government to dig into the pockets of others in order to pay for it all. This philosophy can be very seductive, but what happens when the number of takers eventually outnumbers the number of producers? In 11 different U.S. states, the number of government dependents exceeds the number of private sector workers. This list of states includes some of the biggest states in the country: California, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Maine, Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, New Mexico and Hawaii. It is interesting to note that seven of those states were won by Barack Obama on election night. In California, there are 139 "takers" for every 100 private sector workers. That is crazy! The American people have become absolutely addicted to government money, and it gets worse with each passing year. If you can believe it, entitlements accounted for 62 percent of all federal spending in fiscal year 2012. It would be one thing if we could afford all of this spending, but unfortunately we simply cannot. We aredrowning in debt, and we are stealing more than a hundred million more dollars from future generations with each passing hour. No bank robber in history can match that kind of theft.
Social Security Ran $47.8B Deficit in FY 2012;
Disabled Workers Hit New Record in December: 8,827,795
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - The Social Security program ran a $47.8 billion deficit in fiscal 2012 as the program brought in $725.429 billion in cash and paid $773.247 for benefits and overhead expenses, according toofficial data published by Social Security Administration.
The Social Security Administration also released new data revealing that the number of workers collecting disability benefits hit a record 8,827,795 in December--up from 8,805,353 in November.
Unions dream big for Obama's 2nd term Michigan speech lifted hopes
By Dave Boyer-The Washington Times
When President Obama spoke out forcefully against Michigan's right-to-work law, it was a rare example of the president putting on public display his support of organized labor.
"What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money," Mr. Obama told union workers, reciting labor's talking points as faithfully as if his speech had been written by the United Auto Workers.
Approaching the Twilight of the Labor Movement
by DAVID MACARAY - CounterPunch.org
Private sector union membership in the U.S. stands at about 7-percent, meaning that 93-percent of all private sector jobs in this country are non-union, which makes those accusations of unions of being "too powerful" even more ridiculous and hysterical than they already were. (Not to resort to one of those tiresome Nazi analogies, but didn't Hitler use the Big Lie to great effect?)
Yet, even with these depressingly low membership numbers, if America's non-union workers rooted for unions to succeed, and aspired to join a union themselves, it would mean, at least in theory, that the labor movement was alive and well and had a decent chance of succeeding.
Illinois governor backs insurance 'co-ops' under healthcare law
By Sam Baker - TheHill.com
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) is embracing a new type of insurance plan under President Obama's signature healthcare law.
The State Journal-Register reported that Quinn praised a new healthcare "co-op," which announced last week it would seek a license to operate in Illinois.
Co-ops are new, nonprofit health plans authorized by the Affordable Care Act. They're privately run, must be owned by their members and must reinvest all of their profits into improving quality or lowering premiums.
US lambasts China for breaches of trade rules Washington has issued a blistering attack on China for persistent breaches of world trade rules and abuse of industrial secrets, accusing Beijing of failing to abide by treaty obligations.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
China is still flouting World Trade Organisation rules 11 years after it first joined, misusing the complaints machinery for tit-for-tat retaliation, said US Trade Repesentative Ron Kirk.
"China's trade policies and practices in several specific areas cause particular concern for the United States," said Mr Kirk in his year-end report to Congress.
Six die in US storms as states brace
for further woe and travel chaos High winds, tornadoes and icy conditions ground more than 300 flights and leave tens of thousands of families without power
Associated Press in Oklahoma City - Guardian.co.uk
The death toll rose to six Wednesday from winter storms in the US midsection that pushed toward the north-east. More than 600 flights were cancelled in the storm's path.
Two passengers in a car on a sleet-slickened Arkansas highway died when the vehicle crossed the center line and struck an SUV.
The Left Bullies the NRA
By Ben Shapiro - PatriotPost.us
On Christmas Eve, seven people were shot in the city of Chicago. The media made little mention of the shootings, since they're now routine in Chicago -- the city has seen some 500 shootings in 2012 alone. The vast majority of the shooters are black, and the vast majority of the victims are black. Many of the victims are under the age of 18: Anton Sanders, 15, shot on Jan. 20; Deshun Winfert, 15, shot on Feb. 5; Damion Rolle, 14, shot on Feb. 21; George Howard and Albert Guyton, both 15, shot on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28; the list goes on. A few are under age 10. You've never heard of any of them.
But when an evil white person with a history of mental instability shoots up a school, killing 20 children, most of whom were white, the media is suddenly concerned with gun control.
OBAMA CLAUS GIVES YOU 90 MORE DAYS
TO COLLECT YOUR $50,000 REPARATIONS CHECK
by LEE STRANAHAN - Breitart.com
Circle March 25, 2013 on your calendar. That's the last day you can submit your claim form from this official U.S. government website to collect fifty thousand tax-free American dollars, courtesy of the Obama administration in its current multi-billion giveaway scheme.
No, you don't need a potted plant and you don't even to be black or even Hispanic; as long as you are a woman (or related to one) and you fill out the forms correctly, you can collect the money because nobody will verify your information.
3-D Printing Sparks Innovation Among Small Companies
By: Heesun Wee - CNBC.com
As costs continue to fall, 3-D printing is becoming more accessible to small businesses. This nascent trend in turn is sparking creativity and innovation among entrepreneurs who couldn't afford the once very expensive technology.
Some in the fast-evolving industry are even calling it a game changer for manufacturers and beyond.
3-D printing allows users to download designs from the Internet and transform the printouts—layer by layer—into three-dimensional physical objects. The applications are seemingly endless. Small firms are creating custom objects and spare parts for everything from toys to artificial limbs—all at a fraction of the cost of traditional manufacturing.
2013 Predictions | Interview with Gerald Celente
Abby Martin talks to Publisher of the 'Trends Journal' and founder of the Trends Research Institute, Gerald Celente, about the trends that are forecasted for 2013.
Republican Dick Armey 'stages armed coup'
at Tea Party organisation Washington Post reports that the former head of Tea Party-backer FreedomWorks feared group was being hijacked
By Dominic Rushe in New York - The Guardian
A former top Republican, his wife, and an armed aide reportedly staged a coup in the Washington office of one of the Tea Party's biggest backers amid fears that the organisation was being hijacked by fellow conservatives, it emerged Wednesday. The news comes amid growing signs of disarray in the once powerful grassroots movement.
Dick Armey, former head of the Tea Party-affiliated FreedomWorks, was ousted in September with an $8m payoff. At the time he told Associated Press "my differences with FreedomWorks are a matter of principle" and that other board members had urged him not to leave until after the 6 November election.
FreedomWorks tea party group nearly falls apart
in fight between old and new guard
By Amy Gardner - WashingtonPost.com
The day after Labor Day, just as campaign season was entering its final frenzy, FreedomWorks, the Washington-based tea party organization, went into free fall.
Richard K. Armey, the group's chairman and a former House majority leader, walked into the group's Capitol Hill offices with his wife, Susan, and an aide holstering a handgun at his waist. The aim was to seize control of the group and expel Armey's enemies: The gun-wielding assistant escorted FreedomWorks' top two employees off the premises, while Armey suspended several others who broke down in sobs at the news.
THE TEA PARTY HAS NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT
by JOEL B. POLLAK - Breitbart.com
If the Tea Party has been weakened by the November election, why are the mainstream media expending so much effort attacking it?
The latest attempt is today's front-page article by the New York Times, which alleges that the Tea Party is turning to "narrower" issues and suggests, none too subtly, that Congress should stop paying attention to it.
As proof, the Times offers the fact that Republican leaders "have embraced raising tax revenues in budget negotiations, repudiating a central tenet of the Tea Party." It ignores the fact that Republican leaders could not muster the votes in the House to pass those proposals.
Sam Donaldson Tells Tea Partiers
'It's Not Your Country Anymore - It's Our Country'
SAM DONALDSON: The minorities re-elected president Obama, but I'm going with Katty. It's the Tea Party and thinking of the Tea Party and people like that that are driving the Republicans out of contention as a national party. You cannot win nationally if you don't know something about the way the country's changed, and the Tea Party seems to think the country can go back 25 or 30 years. The greatest slogan that I hated during this last campaign was "We want to take back our country." Guys, it's not your country anymore – it's our country and you're part of it, but that thinking is going to defeat Republicans nationally if they don't get rid of it.
'Brighter than a full moon':
The biggest star of 2013...
could be the comet of the century A comet discovered by two Russian astronomers will be visible from Earth next year. Get ready for a once-in-a lifetime light show
By David Whitehouse - Independent.co.uk
At the moment it is a faint object, visible only in sophisticated telescopes as a point of light moving slowly against the background stars. It doesn't seem much – a frozen chunk of rock and ice – one of many moving in the depths of space. But this one is being tracked with eager anticipation by astronomers from around the world, and in a year everyone could know its name.
Comet Ison could draw millions out into the dark to witness what could be the brightest comet seen in many generations – brighter even than the full Moon.
Americans Living an Illusion, 2012 Misses, 2013 Predictions
On this episode of Breaking the Set, Abby Martin talks to Publisher of the 'Trends Journal' and founder of the Trends Research Institute, Gerald Celente, about the trends that are forecasted for 2013. Abby then speaks to Breaking the Set Producer, Manuel Rapalo, about the biggest stories missed by the corporate media in 2012 including the NDAA, Bradley Manning, and the growing surveillance state. BTS wraps up the show with a look back at philosopher Plato's the 'Allegory of the Cave' and its application to today's society.
'Chemical weapons were used on Homs':
Syria's military police defector tells of nerve gas attack General becomes one of the most senior officers to join the rebels
By ALISTAIR DAWBER - Independent.co.uk
The head of Syria's military police defected to the opposition, accusing the Assad regime of systematic "murder" and claiming that reports of chemical weapons being used against rebels in the restive city of Homs were true.
Maj-Gen Abdul-Aziz Jassim al-Shallal became one of the highest ranking Syrian military officers to throw their support behind the rebels, accusing forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of turning their weapons on innocent civilians in the now 22-month-long civil war.
Mohamed Morsi signs Egypt's new constitution into law Egypt's president make divisive new charter legally binding shortly after referendum result showing more than 60% support
By Peter Beaumont - Guardian.co.uk
Egypt's controversial new constitution has been signed into law by President Mohammed Morsi, a day after he announced it had been approved by a large majority in a referendum that his opponents claim was marked by widespread irregularities.
Critics say the new constitution, which was hurriedly drafted by Morsi'sMuslim Brotherhood and its Salafist allies, is undemocratic and too Islamist, and that it could allow clerics to intervene in the lawmaking process and leave minority groups without proper legal protection.
This Gold Strategy Is About To Payoff…
Matt Insley - SilverBearCafe.com
Gold dropped $30 yesterday, $60 in the past three days, $110 in the past month, and $130 in the past three months…
Before you ask "Hey! What the heck is happening!?"
Let's take a step back and take a look at the big picture…
It seems like just last week we were discussing the future direction for gold.
Wait a second. It WAS last week when we were discussing the future direction to gold! Luckily with that"best time to buy gold" discussion in our back pocket we can frame this week's downward pressure on gold.
U.S. Secret Service Bans Certain Gold and Silver Coins on eBay
BY JON MATONIS - FinancialSense.com
eBay was contacted by the U.S. Secret Service sometime last month to remove the Liberty Dollar precious metal coins. Citing consistency with eBay's general policy of not listing counterfeit items, eBay spokesperson Ryan Moore confirmed the ban with Coin World. The following email was sent to affected sellers when the systematic removals began:
"The United States Secret Service has requested the removal of all Norfed Liberty dollars on the eBay site as counterfeits. … Please do not relist this item(s). We appreciate that you chose to list this coin on our site and understand there was no ill intent on your part. Your listing fees have been credited to your account."
Will 2013 Bring Financial Reform? Quite possibly.
By Simon Johnson - Slate.com
Here's an odd prediction for the coming year: 2013 will be a watershed for financial reform. True, while the global financial crisis erupted more than four years ago, and the Dodd-Frank financial reforms were adopted in the United States back in 2010, not much has changed about how Wall Street operates—except that the large firms have become bigger and more powerful. Yet there are reasons to expect real progress in the new year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is finally shifting its thinking. In a series of major speeches this fall, Gov. Dan Tarullo made the case that the problem of "too big to fail" financial institutions remains with us. We need to take additional measures to reduce the level of systemic risk—including limiting the size of our largest banks. News reports indicate that the Fed has already started saying no to some bank mergers.
Grand Bargain Shrinks
as Congress Nearing U.S. Budget Deadline
By Derek Wallbank - Bloomberg.com
The deal that seems possible to fix the U.S. budget is getting smaller and smaller.
Five days before a deadline that would trigger more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that could cause a U.S. recession, Congress will return Dec. 27 amid calls for action in the Senate.
The politics of progress there are easier than in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which balked last week at Speaker John Boehner's plan for tax increases on income above $1 million. Still, the House would have to sign off next. Boehner and President Barack Obama have been unable to agree on the tax-rate increase on top earners Obama wants or the cuts to entitlement programs that Boehner sought, complicating the chances of getting a package done.
Stop-gap fix most likely outcome of "fiscal cliff" talks
By Richard Cowan and Fred Barbash
WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 23, 2012 12:49am EST
(Reuters) - The "fiscal cliff" deadline is days away and the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama have left town for Christmas.
But even if they were still here, it wouldn't have mattered, according to Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives. He says they were going nowhere to resolving the disagreement over how to fix the nation's fiscal problems.
The Fed and Interest Rates – The Details
By CULLEN ROCHE - PragCap.com
Dr. Krugman has another good smackdown of the inflationistas on his blog today. But his explanation is lacking in the details that definitively prove the inflationistas wrong. So let's round out the details.
First, the Fed sets rates by manipulating rates HIGHER. This isn't the case sometimes. It is the case ALL THE TIME. If the Fed didn't set the rate on reserves by paying interest (as they do today) the banking system would be flooded with reserves and the rate would naturally be driven down to zero as banks would attempt to get rid of these reserves in the overnight market. Because the banking system as a whole cannot control the amount of reserves, the process inevitably ends at zero. That is, the overnight rate is zero without Fed intervention. So, the Fed ALWAYS manipulates rates HIGHER in trying to achieve an interest rate target. And it does so by manipulating the amount of reserves or by setting a floor on the rate as they do today via IOR (interest on reserves). So, get over the whole "Fed manipulation" meme. The Fed always manipulates rates higher.
Big Ben's Ghost of QE Past, Present, and Future
By GE Christenson - GoldSilverWorlds.com
It was the best of times; it might be the worst of times.
Dollar bills glide effortlessly to the ground, dropped from the giant QE machine in the sky. All is quiet, all is calm. There is peace on earth, well, at least in Washington D.C. and on Wall Street. And then with a horrible crash, another Mortgage Backed Security (MBS) explodes and collateral damage spreads far and wide.
Cut to three am in the Big Ben bedroom. A ghost appears amid the sound of Hope and Chains and carries the sleeping Head of The Fed to a land far away. The Head of the Fed wakes to the sound of his own voice saying, "The impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained." and "we do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system."
Gloomy predictions as Washington approaches the 'fiscal cliff'
Brad Knickerbocker - SilverBearCafe.com
It's still possible that the 'fiscal cliff' with its automatic tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts can be avoided. But the clock is ticking toward Jan.1, and most lawmakers are pessimistic.
The New Year may be more than a week off, but realistically Congress and the White House have less than that as the clock ticks toward the "fiscal cliff" with its automatic tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts that could throw an already-weakened economy into a tailspin.
Say Goodbye To The Good Life
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Will this be the last normal holiday season that Americans ever experience? To many Americans, such a notion would be absolutely inconceivable. After all, in the affluent areas of the country restaurants and malls are absolutely packed. Beautiful holiday decorations are seemingly everywhere this time of the year and children all over the United States are breathlessly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. Even though poverty is exploding to unprecedented levels, most families will still have mountains of presents under their Christmas trees. Of course a whole lot of those presents were purchased with credit cards, but people don't like to talk about that. It kind of spoils the illusion. Sadly, the truth is that our entire economy is a giant illusion. The extreme prosperity that we have been enjoying has been fueled by debt, and any future prosperity that we will experience is completely dependent on our ability to go into even more debt. The total amount of debt in our economy is almost 10 times larger than it was just 30 years ago, but we don't like to think about that too much. Most Americans are way too busy living the good life to be bothered with "doom and gloom". Well, get ready to say goodbye to normal. As history has shown us, no financial bubble lasts forever, and time is rapidly running out for us.
What's Behind The Muni Sell-Off?
By Matt Tucker, ISharesBlog.com
As fiscal cliff negotiations come down to the wire, one asset class that has been sought as a relative safety play – municipal bonds – is coming under fire. With the recent deterioration in muni prices, my team has been fielding a number of questions from clients who are wondering what's behind the selloff.
Uncertainty around taxes in 2013 is certainly one of the key drivers. President Obama's most recent proposal lowers the value of many tax deductions and tax breaks – including the tax-exempt status of munis – for high income households. As changes to the tax treatment of munis seemed less likely in the fall, the latest market move is an unpleasant holiday surprise for many investors. Prior to this development, munis had been a benefactor of fiscal cliff concerns. For example, the iShares National AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (MUB) has seen $250mm in inflows since November 1st, partially due to investors believing munis would remain tax-free in the midst of a variety of proposed tax hikes or limitations in deductions.
Dealers Tighten Treasuries Grip as New Fed QE3 Suppresses
By Cordell Eddings - Bloomberg.com
The world's biggest bond dealers are growing more reluctant to give up their record holdings of Treasuries, providing support for a rally in the world's most- liquid debt market that is entering its fourth year.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the rest of the 21 primary dealers of U.S. government securities have reduced the amount of bonds they offered to the Federal Reserve to average of $8.04 billion a day in the past two weeks, from the $11.6 billion in September 2011, when the central bank began its Operation Twist stimulus program, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At the same time, Wall Street's holdings of Treasuries more than doubled since March.
The Beltway's Most Exclusive End-of-Year List
By KATHERINE ROSMAN - WSJ.com
When a select group of Washington, D.C., power brokers wants to identify the best books, films and albums of the year, they don't look to national newspapers, magazines or other bibles of the cultural cognoscenti.
They pore—and sweat—over a painstakingly drawn-up list that is crafted annually since 1999 by Drew Littman, a 51-year-old technology-industry lobbyist from Rockville, Md. About 80 people are selected by Mr. Littman to receive and respond via email to his compilation, known to many around the nation's capital simply as "The List."
Greeks Can't Find Euros to Buy Heating Oil This Winter
By Oliver Staley - Bloomberg.com
In the Greek mountain town of Kastoria, less than an hour from the Albanian border, Kostas Tsitskos, 88, can't afford fuel to heat his home against the winter's cold. So he and his son live in a single bedroom, warmed by a small electric heater.
"One room is enough," said Tsitskos, who lives on a 734 euro-a-month ($971) pension and doesn't have the 1,000 euros a month he needs to buy heating oil.
Shoppers' frugality hurts retailers' bottom line
By Candice Choi and Mae Anderson, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
NEW YORK — Shoppers who waited until the final days before Christmas were rewarded with big bargains and thinner crowds. But their strategic deal hunting reflects why stores may not ring up the sales they had hoped for.
Analysts expect growth from last year to be relatively modest. Several factors have dampened shoppers' spirits, including fears that the economy could fall off the "fiscal cliff," triggering tax increases and spending cuts early next year.
The Season of Our Disillusionment
By Susan Zakin - Truthdig.com
During the December holidays I feel the urge to watch old black and white movies, preferably those starring Jimmy Stewart. This year, "It's a Wonderful Life" is too painful, a reminder of what we used to be but aren't anymore. I prefer screwball comedies like "The Philadelphia Story" with its sympathy for alcoholics and philanderers, and schizophrenic alternation between class rage and craven worship of old money.
In "The Philadelphia Story," Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn play an upper crust couple who, though divorced, still love each other. Hepburn almost, but not quite, falls for Stewart, a writer from a modest background. Every time Hepburn waxes nostalgic about the sailboat Grant designed for their honeymoon, the True Love, she murmurs in that wonderful Connecticut lockjaw, "My, she was yare." This means, in boat language, fast, agile and resilient. When she says this, my eyes brim with tears along with hers.
Public sours on what 2013 will bring
Posted by Peyton Craighill - WashingtonPost.com
Public expectations about the year ahead are bleaker than they've been in more than a decade, with Republicans leading the way in adopting gloomier outlooks, according to anew Washington Post-ABC News poll.
A bare 53 percent majority of all Americans are "hopeful" about their lives in 2013; some 44 percent say they are instead more "fearful." The assessment about what's in store for the world is even more grim: a record low 40 percent report being hopeful about the next year, with 56 percent saying they are more fearful.
Poll: Americans more worried about future
By Meghashyam Mali - TheHill.com
As Americans head into 2013, a new poll shows the public much less optimistic about what the future holds than they were four years ago at the start of President Obama's first term.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Saturday shows that 53 percent of Americans say they are "hopeful" about what the new year holds in store for them personally. Forty-four percent, however, characterize their mood as "fearful."
Freddie Mac buys $62.5 billion in mortgages
By C M Lynski - HousingWire.com
Freddie Mac bought $62.5 billion worth of loans in November, up from $50 billion in purchases in October. The agency saw its mortgage portfolio increase at an annualized rate of 3.6% in November, according to its monthly value summary report.
The government-sponsored enterprise modified 6,622 loans in November, compared to 6,988 in October.
The unpaid principal balance on Freddie's mortgage-related investment portfolio decreased by $6 billion in November.
Is The US Government going to Seize Retirement Accounts?
RumorMail - SilverBearCafe.com
The National Deficit, along with the lack of demand for Treasury Bonds, leaves the government with no other option! And what you don't know can hurt you!
Goldworth Financial first uncovered the early blueprint of the US Government's plot to seize retirement accounts in early 2009.
Since that time, they have come up with 9 Basic Questions that expose the people behind this plan.
1. Who's behind the plot to confiscate retirement accounts?
The US government takeover of private retirement accounts is a concept first drawn up by Teresa Ghilarducci, who was funded by the White House, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. President Obama's 2008 presidential run proposed the "Automatic IRA," which has now evolved into Ghilarducci's "Guarantee Retirement Accounts (GRA's)" concept.
25 Facts That The Mainstream Media
Doesn't Really Want To Talk About Right Now
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
For decades, the mainstream media in the United States was accustomed to being able to tell the American people what to think. Unfortunately for them, a whole lot of Americans are starting to break free from that paradigm and think for themselves. A Gallup survey from earlier this year found that 60 percent of all Americans "have little or no trust" in the mainstream media. More people than ever are realizing that the mainstream media is giving them a very distorted version of "the truth" and they are increasingly seeking out alternative sources of information. In the United States today, just six giant media corporations control the mainstream media. Those giant media corporations own television networks, cable channels, movie studios, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, music labels and even many prominent websites. But now thanks to the Internet the mainstream media no longer has a complete monopoly on the news. In recent years the "alternative media" has exploded in popularity. People want to hear about the things that the mainstream media doesn't really want to talk about. They want to hear news that is not filtered by corporate bosses and government censors. They want "the truth" and they know that they are not getting it from the mainstream media.
Online sales tax bill likely dead for 2012
By Brendan Sasso - TheHill.com
Supporters of an online sales tax are unlikely to get a vote on their bill during this session of Congress.
Christina Mulka, a spokeswoman for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said the bill is unlikely to come up this year. Durbin plans to re-introduce the measure during the next session of Congress, she said.
"It's no secret that time is running out," said David French, the top lobbyist for the National Retail Federation, which supports the legislation.
Detroit nears deadline from state over finances
By Andrea Billups-The Washington Times
LANSING, Mich. — Time ticks for the city of Detroit as its burgeoning fiscal crisis and its dispute with the state likely will come to a head soon.
According to news accounts and analysts, the city will see either a state-appointed emergency financial manager early in the New Year or a new consent agreement to give it continued control but tighter deadlines to restructure its finances.
Federal workers feel unease
over potential layoffs, furloughs unleashed by 'fiscal cliff'
By Lisa Rein - WashingtonPost.com
Federal employees have been skeptical for months that the biggest cuts to government spending in history could really happen. But with the "fiscal cliff" a week away, workers are now growing increasingly alarmed that their jobs and their missions could be on the line.
President Obama and members of Congress headed out of town late last week for a Christmas break without reaching a deal to avoid $110 billion in automatic across-the-board spending cuts, which would hamstring operations ranging from weather forecasting and air traffic control to the purchase of spare parts for weapons systems. So civil servants are bracing for the blow, wondering whether their work will be upended — and whether they may be forced to take unpaid days off.
As Florida goes, so goes nation of aging communities Baby boomers lead the way into an uncharted era
By Luke Rosiak-The Washington Times
KILMARNOCK, Va. — More than a half-century after the baby boom, echoes shake the nation.
The first boomers are now 66, the number of people younger than 45 has declined in most states over the past decade, and the 2011 birthrate was the lowest on record, at nearly half the 1957 rate. The divide between the population needing care and the working adults who do the earning and caring worsens each year.
The Politics of Gun Control Or how the Republicans have become
the New York Jets of political Washington.
By JED BABBIN - Sppectator.org
The Newtown, Connecticut massacre of children has changed the gun control debate to an extent no other event has in decades. One of the reasons it has had such an effect is that it came at the time when liberals are at the height of their power and conservatives — and Republicans — are at their lowest ebb. It also came at a time when the maneuvers between House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama over solving the "fiscal cliff" crisis fell apart, leaving Boehner severely weakened.
The Newtown children hadn't even been buried before the usual gun control liberals were demanding another "assault weapons" ban. California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein hit the Sunday shows two days after the massacre advancing a new version of the ban she'd authored in 1994. Chuckie Schumer, Nanny Bloomberg, and the rest were up in verbal arms, demanding that DiFi's approach — or something more restrictive — be adopted forthwith. Nancy Pelosi wanted the House to pass immediately a ban on magazines holding more than ten rounds.
Ron Paul breaks with NRA on armed guards in nation's schools
By Jonathan Easley - TheHill.com
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) rejected a call from the National Rifle Association to put armed guards in schools on Monday, saying in a statement on his website that "government security is just another kind of violence."
"Do we really want to live in a world of police checkpoints, surveillance cameras, metal detectors, X-ray scanners, and warrantless physical searches?" Paul wrote.
Wayne LaPierre: Gun control 'not going to make any kid safer'
Posted by Aaron Blake - WashingtonPost.com
National Rifle Association head Wayne LaPierre said Sunday that gun control measures, including an assault weapons ban, won't do anything to to prevent mass shootings like the recent elementary school killing in Newtown, Conn.
"I know this town wants to argue about gun control," LaPierre said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," adding: "It's not going to work. It hasn't worked."
The "glue" that makes us all average, normal, and clueless
By Jon Rappoport - SilverBearCafe.com
Tragic events, crises, threats are designed to capture our minds and hold us in a state of emergency, whether or not such a state is officially declared by our august leaders.
This "glue" is one aspect of the Matrix.
And of course, when events seem to threaten our very existence, these leaders are all too eager to enact responses and solutions that make the original crises pale by comparison.
We couldn't be blamed for defining "solution" as "whatever is worse than the problem."
UN determined to dictate American policy. UN votes to reopen talks on arms-trade treaty opposed by NRA
By Jonathan Easley - TheHill.com
The United Nations General Assembly on Monday voted to reconsider an international treaty to regulate the global arms trade, a measure opposed by the nation's largest gun-rights lobby.
The move could intensify another high-profile fight between the administration, which backs the treaty, and the National Rifle Association (NRA) which says it will restrict the domestic sale of firearms.
The Final Battle
By Chris Hedges - Truthdig.com
Over the past year I and other plaintiffs including Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg have pressed a lawsuit in the federal courts to nullify Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This egregious section, which permits the government to use the military to detain U.S. citizens, strip them of due process and hold them indefinitely in military detention centers, could have been easily fixed by Congress. The Senate and House had the opportunity this month to include in the 2013 version of the NDAA an unequivocal statement that all U.S. citizens would be exempt from 1021(b)(2), leaving the section to apply only to foreigners. But restoring due process for citizens was something the Republicans and the Democrats, along with the White House, refused to do. The fate of some of our most basic and important rights—ones enshrined in the Bill of Rights as well as the Fourth and Fifth amendments of the Constitution—will be decided in the next few months in the courts. If the courts fail us, a gulag state will be cemented into place.
An Elite That Still Reject Him Tolerating Jesus only if he's not the Son of God.
By J.T. YOUNG - Spectator.org
Christmas reminds us that, to some of our "elite," Jesus' ultimate "crime" remains unchanged. Though two thousand years separate them, some members of the liberal elite of our own day, just as were the elite of his, are unwilling to accept Jesus admitting to being God.
In Chapter 22 of his Gospel, St. Luke recounts Jesus being brought before the High Council in Jerusalem. The following exchange sealed his fate:
"You are the Son of God, then?" they all said, and he replied, "It is you who say I am." They said, "Need we call further witnesses? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips."
Bethlehem celebrates first Christmas
since UN recognition of Palestine Festivities mark 'birth of Christ
and birth of state of Palestine', patriarch tells crowds
By Harriet Sherwood in Bethlehem - Guardian.co.uk
Deep in the Grotto of the Nativity, where a 14-point silver star set into a marble slab marks the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born, the atmosphere of spiritual serenity seemed a world away from the swirling, and occasionally fractious, Christmas Eve crowds above.
Midnight mass at St Catherine's was the finale to a day of celebration and ceremony in Bethlehem, boosted this year by being the first Christmas since the United Nations recognised the state of Palestine last month and the Nativity church was named a world heritage site by the UN's cultural arm, Unesco, in June.
Report finds Antarctic thaw is twice as bad as anyone thought New research reveals that original climate estimates were based on faulty data
By OLIVER DUGGAN - Independent.co.uk
Temperatures in the western part of Antarctica are rising almost twice as fast as previously believed, adding to fears that continued thaws are causing sea levels to rise, according to comprehensive research published this week.
In a discovery that raises new concerns about the effects of climate change on the South Pole, the average annual temperature in the region has risen by 2.4C since the 1950s, three times faster than the average around the world.
North Korea could have U.S. within missile range, says South
By Ju-min Park
SEOUL | Sun Dec 23, 2012 7:56am EST
(Reuters) - This month's rocket launch by reclusiveNorth Korea shows it has likely developed the technology, long suspected in the West, to fire a warhead more than 10,000 km (6,200 miles), South Korean officials said on Sunday, putting the U.S. West Coast in range.
North Korea said the December 12 launch put a weather satellite in orbit but critics say it was aimed at nurturing the kind of technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile.
Israel approves another 1,200 settlement units
around Jerusalem Plan brings total approvals to 5,500 in just over a week as right urges Binyamin Netanyahu to drop two-state solution pledge
By Peter Beaumont - Guardian.co.uk
Israel has given the green light for the fast-track development of a further 1,200 settlement units around Jerusalem. It brings the total number of new approvals to 5,500 in just over a week, the largest wave of proposed expansion in recent memory.
The latest plan, which would see almost 1,000 new apartments built over Jerusalem's green line in Gilo, comes as the Israeli media is reporting mounting pressure on the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to drop his commitment to a two-state solution from his platform for re-election in January.
Christmas 2012 music
* White Christmas- Michael Buble
* Santa Baby- Taylor Swift
* Someday At Christmas - Justin Bieber
* Silent Night- Christina Aguilera
* Its Christmas All Over The World- Sheena Easton
* Merry Christmas Darling- Glee
* Last Christmas- Taylor Swift
* Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas- Christina Aguilera
* Give Love on Christmas Day- Michael Jackson
* O Holy Night- Danny Gokey
* Christmas In Our Hearts- Jose Marie Chan
* Do You Hear What I Hear- Carrie Underwood
* My Only Wish- Britney Spears
* I'll Be Home For Christmas- Michael Buble
* All I Want For Christmas Is You- Mariah Carey
* Hark! The Herald Angels Sing-Gloria- Mariah Carey
* Sleigh Ride- Ralient K
* Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree- Miley Cyrus
* It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas- Michael Buble
A CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYLIST FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS PARTY
BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE - JAMES TAYLOR, NATALIE COLE
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN - PEGGY LEE
PLEASE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS - THE EAGLES
HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS - ELLA FITZGERALD
CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE - VINCE GUARALDI
WE NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS - THE NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS
THE HURON CAROLE - TOM JACKSON
WHAT CHILD IS THIS - VANESSA WILLIAMS
CAROL OF THE BELLS - HARRY SIMONE CHOIR
MARY'S BOY CHILD - BONEY M
LET IT SNOW - DEAN MARTIN
CHRISTMAS BLUES - HOLLY COLE
SNOWFALL - DORIS DAY
MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY - CHARLES BROWN, BONNIE RAITT
HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS - BOB DYLAN
A CHRISTMAS SONG - NAT KING COLE
SANTA BABY - MARIA MULDUAR
JINGLE BELL ROCK - BOBBY HELMS
RIVER - JONI MITCHELL
SONG FOR A WINTER'S NIGHT - SARA McLACHLAN
SLIPPIN' AND SLIDIN' - BUDDY HOLLY
TAKIN' CARE OF CHRISTMAS - RANDY BACHMAN
Christmas 2012
By Oliver North - PatriotPost.us
EPHRATA, PA -- Five years ago, this annual Christmas column was written while our Fox News "War Stories" team was embedded with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division south of Baghdad. A year earlier, the Christmas 2006 column was written in Ramadi, Iraq, while we were embedded with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines in what was then the bloodiest place on the planet. In 2005, this column originated with 3d Battalion, 7th Marines and the 2nd Brigade of the 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, in Anbar Province. In the days before Christmas that year, we were able to document the first free elections ever held in an Arab country.
Committee has no obligation to hold its meetings in public, announce decisions in draft form or even consider public comments. Meet the ObamaCare Mandate Committee Think the contraception decision was bad? Wait until bureaucrats start telling your insurer which cancer screenings to cover.
By SCOTT GOTTLIEB - WSJ.com
Offended by President Obama's decision to force health insurers to pay for contraception and surgical sterilization? It gets worse: In the future, thanks to ObamaCare, the government will issue such health edicts on a routine basis—and largely insulated from public view. This goes beyond contraception to cancer screenings, the use of common drugs like aspirin, and much more.
Under ObamaCare, a single committee—the United States Preventative Services Task Force—is empowered to evaluate preventive health services and decide which will be covered by health-insurance plans.
Yes, Virginia, there really is retirement Some people don't believe in retirement any more.
By Andy Landis - MarketWatch.com
I frequently hear " I can't retire because I don't have $2 million ... because I can't live on Social Security ... because the market is down ..." and on and on.
Humbug!
The Ghost of Retirement Past will tell you, people have always retired, in good times and bad. And the Ghost of Retirement Present says they still do. Some have plenty of money, some don't. But they find a way to retire, if that's what they want to do ... or are forced to do.
Agenda 21 Is Being Rammed Down The Throats
Of Local Communities All Over America
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Have you ever heard of Agenda 21? If not, don't feel bad, because most Americans haven't. It is essentially a blueprint for a "sustainable world" that was introduced at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. Since then, it has been adopted by more than 200 counties and it has been modified and updated at other UN environmental summits. The philosophy behind Agenda 21 is that our environmental problems are the number one problem that we are facing, and that those problems are being caused by human activity. Therefore, according to Agenda 21 human activity needs to be tightly monitored, regulated and controlled for the greater good. Individual liberties and freedoms must be sacrificed for the good of the planet. If you are thinking that this sounds like it is exactly the opposite of what our founding fathers intended when they established this nation, you would be on the right track. Those that promote the philosophy underlying Agenda 21 believe that human activity must be "managed" and that letting people make their own decisions is "destructive" and "dangerous". Sadly, the principles behind Agenda 21 are being rammed down the throats of local communities all over America, and most of the people living in those communities don't even realize it.
Everything You Need To Know
About the Economy in 2012, in 34 Charts
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
Give the Mayans credit. They came within a week or so of predicting the fiscal cliff. That's a forecasting record most economists can only dream of.
Okay, so the fiscal cliff isn't exactly the end of the world. It's just a particularly premature dose of austerity, which is bad enough. But if we've learned anything the past two years, it's that this Congress will find a way to muddle through after it's exhausted all other options, including voluntary default. And that's really been the theme of 2012. Whether it was slow, steady growth in the U.S. (but no recession), a slow, steady recession in Europe (but no implosion), or a slow, steady slowdown in China (but no hard landing), 2012 was the year of muddling through. And the year of the central banker. And the U.S. election.
Merry Christmas! The economy is doing better than you think.
By Neil Irwin - WashingtonPost.com
Two new numbers out Friday morning indicate that the U.S. economy is plugging along better than you thought.
The most important legs of the economy—consumers and businesses—both showed surprising resilience in November, even as negotiations heated up over the fiscal cliff.Personal consumption spending rose 0.4 percent and incomes rose 0.6 percent, according to one report. According to another, overall orders for durable goods rose 0.7 percent while a key measure of business investment, orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, rose a surprising 2.7 percent.
The Upside of the Fiscal Cliff
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
Facing reality is positive. That's the upside to the fiscal cliff.
There are two definite upsides to the fiscal cliff:
1. We are finally starting a national discussion of spending-taxation trade-offs
2. We are at last starting to (grudgingly) accept there is no free lunch, what I call the Free Lunch Fantasy of limitless borrowing at near-zero interest rates: taxes for upper-income wage-earners will revert to previous levels while those drawing Federal dollars must accept reductions in spending.
Confiscation of Gold - Then What? Part 3
BY JULIAN PHILLIPS - FinancialSense.com
In this part of the series on the subject of Confiscation, we look at the realities that you face in trying to avoid your gold being confiscated should a Confiscation Order be issued in your country. But first we ask the question, is there really a danger of gold being confiscated? We believe that there is.
"Importantly, Central Banks and the Authorities possibly will not wait for the monetary system to crash before acting to ensure they have enough gold to keep the monetary system working. They will act well ahead of that time to make sure they avoid a collapse and attempt to engineer the event so as to catch gold investors by surprise, removing their chances of making any contingency plans. With their prime objective being to shore up confidence in the monetary and banking system, they could not afford to signal the market about their intentions beforehand. We are not just talking about the U.S.A. but many other countries that may precede or follow the U.S. in these acts. The trouble is that the gold they 'acquire' maybe yours.
The Unadulterated Gold Standard Part 3
by Keith Weiner - ZeroHedge.com
There would be no central bank with its "experts" to dictate the rate of interest and no "lender of last resort". There would be no Securities Act, no deposit insurance, no armies of banking regulators, and definitely no bailouts or "too big to fail banks". The government would have little role in the monetary system, save to catch criminals and enforce contracts.
As mentioned in Part I, people would enjoy the right to own gold coins, or deposit them in a bank if they wish. We propose the radical idea that the government should have no more involvement in specifying the contents of the gold coin than it does specifying the contents of the software that runs a web server. And this is for the same reason: the market is far better at determining what people need and far better at adapting to changing needs.
How The Fiscal Cliff Talks Collapsed
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
The collapse of the Fiscal Cliff talks should come as no surprise to anyone (except, of course, for all those "expert" political commentators virtually all of whom saw a deal by December 31: a full list of names is forthcoming). The reason: a simple one - a House torn, polarized to a record extreme, and a political environment in which the two parties, in the aftermath of a presidential election humiliating to the GOP, reached unseen before antagonism toward each other. In this context, it was absolutely inevitable that America would see a replica of last summer's debt ceiling collapse, which mandated a market intervention, in the form of a crash, and the wipeout of hundreds of billions in wealth - sadly the only catalyst that both parties and their electorate, understand.
Obama Suggests Short-Term Deal to Avert Cliff
By DAVID LAWDER and ROBERTA RAMPTON, Reuters - TheFiscalCliff
The White House on Friday tried to rescue stalled talks on a fiscal crisis after a Republican plan imploded in Congress, but there was little headway as lawmakers and President Barack Obama abandoned Washington for Christmas.
In remarks before flying to Hawaii for a break, Obama suggested reaching a short-term deal on taxes and extending unemployment insurance to avoid the worst effects of the "fiscal cliff" on ordinary Americans at the start of the New Year. "We've only got 10 days to do it. So I hope that every member of Congress is thinking about that. Nobody can get 100 percent of what they want," said Obama.
Barack Obama 'eager' to fall off fiscal cliff,
says senior Republican senator Senator John Barrasso tells Fox News Sunday he thinks the president is 'eager to go off fiscal cliff for political purposes'
By Matt Williams in New York - Guardian.co.uk
President Barack Obama has been accused by a senior Republican of being eager to take the US over the fiscal cliff for political gain, as Washington edges closer to a year-end deadline with no deal in sight.
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Senator John Barrasso, the third-highest ranking senator in the GOP, suggested that the president "sensed victory at the bottom of the cliff".
Stop-gap fix most likely outcome of "fiscal cliff" talks
By Richard Cowan and Fred Barbash
WASHINGTON | Sat Dec 22, 2012 6:02pm EST
(Reuters) - The "fiscal cliff" deadline is days away and the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama have left town for Christmas.
But even if they were still here, it wouldn't have mattered, according to Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives. He says they were going nowhere to resolving the disagreement over how to fix the nation's fiscal problems.
Bill Gross: Fed's 'Hot Air' Will Keep Bond Bubble Aloft
By Aaron Task - CNBC.com
After getting burned in 2011 by betting against Treasuries, Bill Gross learned a time-honored lesson: Don't fight the Fed.
"Of course there is" a bubble in the bond market, PIMCO's founder and co-CIO tells The Daily Ticker. "[But] I don't think rates are going to go much higher...the Fed is blowing lots of air -- some say hot -- and constantly inflating the bubble."
Fitch expects 'Bond Bubble' carnage when rate cycle turns The worldwide stampede into corporate debt over the past year has fuelled a "bond bubble" that threatens heavy losses for investors once interest rates spike up again, Fitch Ratings has warned.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Yields on 10-year US corporate bonds have fallen to the lowest levels in history as a result of central bank liquidity, halving from 4pc to well under 2pc since early 2011.
Fitch said investors could cope with a gentle reversion to higher rates, but a "sudden rise" would devastate the portofolios of life insurers, pension funds, and other fixed-income institutions.
"If interest rates were to revert rapidly to early-2011 levels, a typical BBB-rated US corporate bond could lose 15pc of its market value, with longer duration bonds [30 years] suffering a 26pc loss," it said.
Pimco's El-Erian: Ugh, Recession Is Now More Likely
By: Mohamed El-Erian, CEO & CO-CIO, Pimco - CNBC.com
Here is a simple way to think about the political calculus of Washington's latest twists and turns. And — unfortunately — it suggests that economic and market dislocations may be needed to get our politicians to cooperate and govern properly.
A major issue from day one was the extent to which the lack of trust between our political parties undermined Washington's ability to govern.
Sen. Joe Lieberman: 'Likely' country will go over 'fiscal cliff'
after Boehner's plan rejected Tells CNN 'colossal consequential act of congressional irresponsibility in a long time, maybe ever in American history.'
AP - NYDailyNews.com
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Lieberman says he feels "it's more likely than not" that the country will go over the "fiscal cliff" now that House anti-tax rebels rejected Speaker John Boehner's plan because it would raise rates on million-dollar earners.
Lieberman says going over the cliff "will be the most colossal consequential act of congressional irresponsibility in a long time, maybe ever in American history."
Dollar Remains Higher Against Euro Amid U.S. Fiscal Cliff
By Monami Yui - Bloomberg.com
The dollar remained higher against the euro as concern U.S. lawmakers will struggle to agree on a budget deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff of tax increases and spending cuts boosted demand for safer assets.
The U.S. currency stayed higher versus most of its major peers after House Republican leaders canceled a vote on Speaker John Boehner's plan to allow higher tax rates for annual income above $1 million last week, sending stock prices lower. The yen was near a 20-month low versus the greenback after Shinzo Abe, who is poised to become Japan's prime minister, said he will consider changing the law on the Bank of Japan if it fails to revise its inflation target up to 2 percent next month.
The biggest tax stories of 2012 Three issues that will continue to shape policy next year
—
and beyond
By Bill Bischoff - MarketWatch.com
1. Pro-Tax Obama Wins Re-election
For the past four years, it's been clear that President Barack Obama would like to raise taxes — especially on "rich" folks with incomes above about $250,000. Due to the lousy economy, however, the president was forced in 2010 to go along with a two-year extension of the so-called Bush tax cuts. That extension runs out at the end of this year, but the tax rates for next year and beyond remain up in the air. At this point, the only thing we know for sure is the tax increases that will automatically kick in — unless Congress and the president can agree on something different.
What End of Bush Tax Cuts Would Mean for You Unless Congress takes action,
it's not just the "rich" who will see higher tax bills.
By Bischoff - SmartMoney.com
The so-called Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of this year. While you may already know that, you may not fully understand what's in store for you and your family. Here's what to expect.
Higher Tax Rates for All
You may think only individuals in the top two brackets will face higher federal income taxes if the Bush cuts go bye-bye as scheduled on Jan. 1, 2013. Not true. Unless Congress takes action and the president goes along (whoever that is), rates will go up for everyone -- not just "the rich." Specifically, the existing 10% bracket will go away, and the lowest "new" bracket will be 15%. The existing 25% bracket will be replaced by the "new" 28% bracket; the existing 28% bracket will be replaced by the new 31% bracket; the existing 33% bracket will be replaced by the 36% bracket; and the existing 35% bracket will be replaced by the 39.6% bracket.
Bottom line: We'll all see higher taxes.
Preparing for 'Taxmageddon' Bischoff: Beneficial estate and gift tax provisions are set to expire at the end of this year. Here's what to expect.
By Bischoff - SmartMoney.com
The 2010 Bush tax cut extension legislation also established a favorable, but temporary, federal estate and gift tax regime for 2011 and 2012. But we will go back to the bad old days on Jan. 1, 2013, unless Congress takes action and the president goes along.
Some commentators are calling the end of the income tax cuts, in conjunction with the scheduled demise of the current beneficial estate and gift tax provisions, as "taxmageddon."
Here's what you need to know, starting with where we stand right now.
How free online returns can spark shopper loyalty
by James G. Maxham III
and Amanda B. Bower - WashingtonPost.com
The big idea: Many online retailers view product returns as an unwieldy cost that drains margins, and several are asking customers to absorb return shipping costs. But consider the upside of free returns: enhanced customer loyalty that could spark more purchases.
The scenario: U.S. firms spend billions annually in the handling, shipping, insuring and processing of returned products. Returns are particularly problematic for online retailers, in part because customers might not know what they're actually getting. To partially stave off profit losses and control excessive return rates, many retailers have established what they believe to be a "fair" deal in the form of equity-based return shipping policies. If retailers determine that returns are their own fault, they will absorb the return shipping costs; otherwise, responsibility falls to consumers. Yet, the chances that customers and retailers will agree on who's to blame are fairly low.
Obamacare Mandate: Sterilize 15-Year-Old Girls for Free--Without Parental Consent
By Sabrina Gladstone - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - Thanks to an Obamacare regulation that took effect on Aug. 1, health care plans in Oregon will now be required to provide free sterilizations to 15- year-old girls even if the parents of those girls do not consent to the procedure.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finalized the regulation earlier this year.
Medicare Is the Real Fiscal Cliff Obstacle Medicare May Be Silent Killer in Budget Battles
By Josh Boak - The Fiscal Times
Taxes may be taking the lion's share of the spotlight right now in the fervor to negotiate a fiscal cliff deal, but Medicare looks more and more like the major obstacle to putting the federal budget on a stable course.
As part of the talks to avoid the year-end cliff, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner – challenging a core Republican belief – have agreed to some form of a tax rate hike on wealthy Americans. Obama prefers higher rates on incomes above $400,000 as part of a grand bargain, while Boehner, in both his counter offer and the alternative Plan B, wants a starting point of $1 million.
Avalanche of boomers may bury Social Security There are those who like to say that demography is destiny. And if that's true, then our destiny is becoming increasingly clear. The unclear part may be what to do because of it, particularly as it affects Medicare and Social Security.
By Robert Powell - MarketWatch.com
Consider, for instance, a recent release from the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to that release, the population in the U.S. is projected to grow much more slowly over the next several decades, but the population age 65 and older is expected to more than double between 2012 and 2060, from 43.1 million to 92.0 million.
Judge blocks Missouri insurance law on birth control
AP - FOXNews.com
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A federal judge on Friday blocked a new Missouri law that requires insurers to exclude birth control coverage for moral objectors, ruling that it conflicts with an insurance mandate under President Barack Obama's health care law.
The temporary restraining order halts the Missouri law just three months after the Republican-led Legislature enacted it by overriding Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's veto.
Postal workers continue hunger strike
against proposed delivery cuts
By Alicia M. Cohn - TheHill.com
Despite most of Congress leaving town for the holidays, postal workers are continuing a hunger strike protesting legislation to save the United States Postal Service (USPS) through budget cuts.
The hunger strike began Tuesday and is expected to end late Saturday, according to The Washington Post.
Six former and current postal workers, part of a group called Communities and Postal Workers United, are calling the strike "six days starving to save six-day delivery." Their goal is to stop Congress from reducing postal delivery to five days a week.
40 Years of Floating Money, Declining Wage Result 40 Years Of Floating Money,
40 Years Of The Average Worker Getting Poorer
By Nathan Lewis - Forbes.com
The reason we have floating currencies today is to enable economic management via currency manipulation. Central banks attempt to guide macroeconomic factors like unemployment, economic growth, interest rates, inflation and so forth by jiggering the currency.
This idea is very old, and was expressed in many forms by the Mercantilist writers of the 1600-1780 period. The other idea, equally ancient, is the Classical ideal of a currency that is as stable, predictable, and free of human influence as possible. This is typically represented by a value link of some sort, either to gold, or perhaps another major international currency.
American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals
By Elliot Blair Smith - Bloomberg.com
After being dismissed from her job as a Midtown Manhattan securities attorney in October 2009, Christina Tretter-Herriger hitched a used horse trailer to her Dodge Ram pickup and drove 1,628 miles to Texas.
The 32-year-old lawyer sold skin-care products in Houston before finding work as the assistant general counsel of a futures-trading firm where an irate customer punctuated a recorded voice-mail message with gunfire.
GM Recalls 119,000 Trucks, SUVs
By Paul Ausick - 247WallStreet.com
General Motors Co. has notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the company is recalling 119,000 Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon vehicles built in model years 2010 to 2012. The company said that the vehicles may have been assembled without the required secondary hood latch.
A secondary latch may be required to keep the hood closed in the event that the first latch fails to prevent the hood from flying open unexpectedly. GM said its first notice of the missing latch came in late September this year. The company did not report any accidents related to the missing latch.
Workers at GM, Ford to Score Nice Bonuses This Year
By Paul Ausick - 247WallStreet.com
Profit-sharing bonuses for United Auto Workers' members at Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. are expected to be at least as large as last year's payout at General Motors and larger than the year-ago bonuses paid at Ford. Approximately 55,000 GM hourly workers and 40,000 Ford employees are in line for the payments.
GM workers can expect bonuses of between $5,500 and $7,000, and Ford's employees could receive a payment of more than $8,000 each, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The payments are based on a formula that gives workers a $1 bonus for every $1 million in North American operating profit at the two companies.
Delta Air Gets 22,000 Applications for 300 Attendant Jobs
By Mary Schlangenstein - Bloomberg.com
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), the world's second-largest carrier, received 22,000 applications for about 300 flight attendant jobs in the first week after posting the positions outside the company.
The applications arrived at a rate of two per minute, Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson told workers in a weekly recorded message. Applicants will be interviewed in January and those hired will begin flying in June, for the peak travel season.
Online child privacy rules updated by Federal Trade Commission
By RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press - TulsaWorld.com
WASHINGTON - New online child privacy rules will keep anonymous advertisers and marketers from siphoning personal information about preteens but won't restrain innovation among technology companies and businesses that rely on the Internet to reach consumers, government officials said Wednesday.
But those assurances failed to win over software developers who said the cost of complying with the new regulations and the risk of violating them will cause many responsible businesses to abandon the children's marketplace.
Pope Benedict denounces gay marriage
during his annual Christmas message The Pope sent a clear message to gay rights activists who are celebrating gains made this year — the Vatican still thinks same-sex marriage is a 'manipulation of nature.'
BY CAROL KURUVILLA / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Pope Benedict used his annual Christmas message to denounce gay marriage, saying that it destroyed the "essence of the human creature."
In one of his most important speeches of the year, the Pope stressed that a person's gender identity is God-given and unchangeable. As a result, he sees gay marriage as a "manipulation of nature."
Maker Mom Builds Cookie-Cutter Empire With 3-D Printers
BY JOSEPH FLAHERTY - Wired.com
Athey Moravetz is doing some tasty work with her 3-D printers.
The video game designer has worked on PlayStation games like Resistance Retribution and Uncharted Golden Abyss. She's also a self-described "jack-of-all-trades," skilled with 3-D modeling tools like Maya, and knows how to design compelling characters with them.
Michigan labor vote was political payback
By JAMES P. HOFFA - Politico.com
Extremist billionaires have achieved what seemed unthinkable only a few years ago. They rapidly forced through union-busting laws in Michigan, the birthplace of the modern American labor movement.
No one should be confused about why they did it.
The passage of right-to-work-for-less in Michigan wasn't driven by the desire to grow jobs or boost the state's economy. It will do neither. The record on so-called "right to work" in other states is clear. These anti-worker laws lead to lower wages, fewer benefits, increased poverty, more dangerous workplaces and have no credible effect on job growth.
Audits of businesses for illegal immigrants rises
By Manuel Valdes, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
SEATTLE (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached its highest number yet of companies audited for illegal immigrants on their payrolls this past fiscal year.
Audits of employer I-9 forms increased from 250 in fiscal 2007 to more than 3,000 in fiscal 2012. From fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2012, the total amount of fines grew to nearly $13 million from $1 million. The number of company managers arrested has increased to 238, according to data provided by ICE.
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Leaving the highly sensitive topic of "gun-control" aside for the time being, one can't help but wonder if it isn't time that the US government, seemingly hell-bent on regulating virtually everything in its quest to prove (to itself?) that America's population can no longer be trusted with making any responsible decisions on it own (and in the process becomingeven bigger), shouldn't be more focused on "fat-control" instead. Why? Because while guns may or may not kill people, the bottom line is that of the 32K or so death attributed to firearms, roughly 20K, or two thirds were suicides, meaning firearm-based homicides were 11,015 in 2010. Putting this number in perspective, every year some 935,000 Americans suffer a heart attack, and 600,000 people die from some form heart disease: 1 in every 4 deaths. Net result to society: the cost of coronary heart disease borne by everyone is $108.9 billion each year. And of all proximal factors contributing to heart disease, obesity and overweight is the main one.
NRA's Wayne LaPierre doubles down
on schools gun plan as anger rises Lobbyist holds his ground as Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence releases plea from parent of Sandy Hook survivor
By Karen McVeigh in New York - Guardian.co.uk
The National Rifle Association doubled down Sunday on its controversial push for armed guards to be stationed in every US school, despite anger among gun control advocates over the group's "tone deaf" proposals.
Responding to widespread condemnation of the lobbying group's press conference on Friday – which broke a week-long silence over the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut – Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's chief executive and executive vice president, refused to back down or enter into a new debate.
Gun enthusiasts pack shows to buy assault weapons
By Dave Warner Kevin Murphy
ALLENTOWN, Penn./KANSAS CITY, Missouri | Sat Dec 22, 2012
(Reuters) - Gun enthusiasts thronged to shows around the country on Saturday to buy assault weapons they fear will soon be outlawed after a massacre of school children in Connecticut prompted calls for tighter controls on firearms.
Reuters reporters went to gun shows in Pennsylvania, Missouri and Texas, and found long lines to get in the door, crowds around the dealer booths, a rush to buy assault weapons even at higher prices and some dealers selling out.
Sen. Feinstein suggests national buyback of guns
By Joel Gehrke - WashingtonExaminer.com
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said that she and other gun control advocates are considering a law that would create a program to purchase weapons from gun owners, a proposal that could be compulsory.
"We are also looking at a buy-back program," Feinstein said todayin a press conference. "Now, again, this is a work in progress so these are ideas in the development."
New kind of magnetism discovered:
Experiments demonstrate 'quantum spin liquid' Following up on earlier theoretical predictions, MIT researchers have now demonstrated experimentally the existence of a fundamentally new kind of magnetic behavior, adding to the two previously known states of magnetism.
by David Chandler - Phys.org
Ferromagnetism—the simple magnetism of a bar magnet or compass needle—has been known for centuries. In a second type of magnetism, antiferromagnetism, the magnetic fields of the ions within a metal or alloy cancel each other out. In both cases, the materials become magnetic only when cooled below a certain critical temperature. The prediction and discovery of antiferromagnetism—the basis for the read heads in today's computer hard disks—won Nobel Prizes in physics for Louis Neel in 1970 and for MIT professor emeritus Clifford Shull in 1994. "We're showing that there is a third fundamental state for magnetism," says MIT professor of physics Young Lee. The experimental work showing the existence of this new state, called a quantum spin liquid (QSL), is reported this week in the journal Nature, with Lee as the senior author and Tianheng Han, who earned his PhD in physics at MIT earlier this year, as lead author.
'Container Cliff': East Coast Faces 'Devastating' Port Strike
By: Lori Ann LaRocco - CNBC.com
First came the "Fiscal Cliff." Now, get ready for the "Container Cliff."
The threat of a longshoremen's strike that could close 15 ports from Massachusetts to Texas—including the port of New York and New Jersey—has shipping industry leaders, manufacturers and retailers warning of a "devastating blow" to the supply chain.
Like the fiscal cliff in Washington, the deadline for an agreement between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and employers represented by the U.S. Marine Alliance is approaching fast—Dec. 29 to be exact.
What the Looming Port Strike Is Really About
By Michelle Malkin - PatriotPost.us
It's not about jobs. It's not about safety. It's not about improving dockworkers' living standards. The looming, long-planned East and Gulf Coast port strikes are about protecting Big Labor's archaic work practices and corrupt waterfront rackets.
Are you ready for a fiscal cliff? The union bosses of an estimated 14,500 workers at 15 ports are preparing to send the economy plunging back into recession over productivity and efficiency rules changes. You read that right. Much more on that in a moment. But first, here's what's at stake.
Congress completes $633B defense bill
BY DONNA CASSATA - CNSNews.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress sent President Barack Obama a $633 billion defense bill for next year that would tighten penalties on Iran to thwart its nuclear ambitions and bulk up security at diplomatic missions worldwide after the deadly Sept. 11 raid in Libya.
The Senate voted 81-14 on Friday for the massive policy measure that covers the cost of ships, aircraft, weapons and military personnel. The vote came less than 24 hours after the House passed the bill, 315-107.
South Korea warns that North Korea
has developed rockets that can reach the US mainland
By David Piper - FOXNews.com
South Korean officials say analysis of debris from the latest North Korean rocket shows it has the ability to reach the US mainland.
At a news conference in Seoul on Sunday, Defense Ministry officials made the announcement after their experts looked at parts of the rocket that fell in the sea after Pyongyang's successful launch on Dec. 12.
They have only recovered part of the first stage of the rocket from the Yellow Sea off South Korea's West Coast.
Syrian airstrike kills at least 60 people
as international envoy visits
By Ben Hubbard - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
BEIRUT (AP) — A government airstrike on a bakery in a rebel-held town in central Syria killed more than 60 people on Sunday, activists said, casting a pall over a visit by the international envoy charged with negotiating an end to the country's civil war.
The strike on the town of Halfaya left scattered bodies and debris up and down a street, and more than a dozen dead and wounded were trapped in tangled heap of dirt and rubble.
Russian military presence in Syria poses challenge to US-led intervention Advisers deployed with surface-to-air systems bolster President Assad's defences and complicate outcome of any future strikes
By Julian Borger - The Guardian
Russian military advisers are manning some of Syria's more sophisticated air defences – something that would complicate any future US-led intervention, the Guardian has learned.
The advisers have been deployed with new surface-to-air systems and upgrades of old systems, which Moscow has supplied to the Assad regime since the Syrian revolution broke out 21 months ago.
Breaking In New Zealand: World Not Ending
By Dave Their - Forbes.com
December 21, 2012 is upon us. Some of us, at least. While we in America may have to wait another day to see if the world ends in fiery cataclysm,New Zealand is already there. According to Twitter, the world is not ending. Here's a few tweets:
Jim Sinclair About The Gold & Silver Price:
A Move Of Desperation By The Fed
GoldSilverWorlds.com
A thinly traded gold and silver market because of the start of the end of year holiday … an ideal setting apparently to make the precious metals price(s) agressively move. Yes indeed, Paulson could have triggered an initial sell off in the GLD yesterday, causing prices to decline. But today's price action seems too stretched. Logic or not, Jim Sinclair has opinion about it, and it is outspoken:
You cannot fix the problems of the Western Economic system by breaking the telltale thermometer, which is the price of gold.
There is not one professional who does not know sales in extreme volume at a time of low activity internationally have but one purpose, and that is to reduce the price of gold.
Is Now the Time to Invest in Gold?
By Tim Iacono - OilPrice.com
It's not been a good month for gold as the price has dipped from about $1,750 an ounce to under $1,670, two large sell-offs in recent weeks accounting for the bulk of that $80 decline and once again spurring talk of manipulation in the gold market.
Who is responsible for these market-moving sell orders and why they're doing it remains a mystery, however, since the long-term fundamentals for the yellow metal remain quite good – fading confidence in paper money, low real interest rates, and strong demand from emerging market central banks and global investors to name just a few – investors with little or no gold exposure might want to consider taking advantage of the lower prices now being offered for gold and silver.
Silver Vaults Stuffed Means
Price Rising 30% in '13: Commodities
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen & Nicholas Larkin - Bloomberg.com
Silver Bullion Pte, one of Singapore's largest suppliers of coins and bars to retail investors, says sales tripled since October, part of a global surge in demand that drove holdings to a record.
"Our clients are worried that a major currency crisis or mass bankruptcies would occur," said Gregor Gregersen, the 36- year-old founder of Silver Bullion, whose sales now average about S$6 million ($4.9 million) a month. "It all has to do with falling confidence in the heavily indebted Western governments and financial institutions."
Putting It In Perspective:
In 2013 The Fed Will Conjure Enough Paper Money
To Buy 11% Of All Existing Gold
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
When people throw around "trillions" (and in the case of local-denominated Japanese debt and/or total outstanding gross derivatives, quadrillions) with the facility that mere billions was being dispensed with as recently as 5 years ago, it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. So what is the big picture? Well, recall the following quote from Warren Buffet's letter to investors: "Today the world's gold stock is about 170,000 metric tons. If all of this gold were melded together, it would form a cube of about 68 feet per side. (Picture it fitting comfortably within a baseball infield.) At $1,750 per ounce – gold's price as I write this –its value would be $9.6 trillion....You can fondle the cube, but it will not respond."
What Can 1 Ounce Of Gold Buy?
CommodityHQ.com
Gold investing has become one of the most popular facets of the commodity world in the past few years. After watching the precious metal soar to its historic high in 2011, many have hopped on the gold train and added exposure to their portfolio. One of the biggest limiting factors in gold investment is the sheer price of the metal; at roughly $1,700/oz.
Brazil Doubles Gold Reserves In Last 3 Months
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
With precious metal prices echoing 2011's year-end plunge, it is perhaps worthwhile considering the bigger picture. To wit, Central banks in emerging markets have increased their purchases of gold in recent years to bolster their rapidly growing currency reserves as the global financial crisis unfolds. Brazil, until recently, held only 0.5% of its foreign reserves in gold, but as Bloomberg reports, the nation's official holdings of gold now stand at 2.16 million troy ounces - double the 1.08 million ounces it held in August.
Top Ten Reasons Why Fiat Currency
Is Superior to Gold (or Silver) Money
BY JOHN BUTLER - FinancialSense.com
In the spirit of the holidays and hope for a more prosperous 2013, I thought my readers might appreciate a little humor to partially offset the relentless doom and gloom associated with the Amphora Report. So please, don't take this edition too seriously. But if you happen to stumble across a 'paperbug' or two over the holidays, perhaps you could share some of the points made here. Humor sometimes helps people realize just how hopelessly misguided they are. Cheers!
Number 10: There Is Not Enough Gold (or Silver) In the World to Serve as Money
Let's begin with the obvious. We know that central banks the world over have printed money at exponentially growing rates for years. There is now so much paper and electronic money floating around the world that gold (or silver) cannot possibly be expected to keep up. You can't print gold, after all, you need to find it, dig it out of the ground, refine it, etc., a hugely expensive and time-consuming process which practically ensures a stable rather than exponentially growing supply of the stuff.
Fallout out from fiscal cliff inaction
By Jeanne Sahadi - Money.CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Congress and the White House created the fiscal cliff. And now they've waited too long to avert it, even if they do somehow eke out a deal by Dec. 31.
Dragging out the negotiations this far has created needless uncertainty and pushed some individuals and businesses to try to protect themselves against something the government may or may not do.
Fed chief has gone totally round the Ben(d)
By John Crudele - New York Post
The Federal Reserve has to be kidding.
Last week the Fed announced that monetary policy would be tied to the nation's unemployment rate. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who has already done more than enough to destroy this country's currency, must need a change of prescription.
I could understand if Bernanke tied monetary policy to something tangible — like, say, making interest rates rise when an NFC team wins the Super Bowl and go down when the AFC is victorious.
2013 Will Be the Year of Total Fed Control 2013 Is Bernanke's Year:
Unlimited QE And Total Control Of The Fed
By Agustino Fontevecchia - Forbes.com
Barack Obama's decisive victory over Mitt Romney in the presidential elections has cemented the future path of monetary policy under Ben Bernanke. After unveiling a fourth round of long-term asset purchases, or quantitative easing, and a new threshold-based guidance, the Federal Reserve has put itself on a path of unlimited purchases of Treasuries and residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) until the unemployment rate falls. The FOMC's natural rotation will only strengthen the Chairman's control of the committee, while an Obama Presidency and a Democratic Senate guarantee a continuation of current policies, either under Bernanke or Vice Chair Janet Yellen.
Mainstream Media Finally Awakens to the Fact
that Big Banks Are Criminal Enterprises
By George Washington
"The Government Has Bought Into the Notion that Too Big to Fail Is Too Big to Jail"
Alternative media have noted for years that:
• Fraud caused the Great Depression and the current financial crisis, and the economy will neverrecover until fraud is prosecuted
• The main driver of economic growth is a strong rule of law
• Criminal fraud is the main business model adopted by the giant banks.
In 2008, Geithner was told about Libor manipulation
by Richard Field - TYIllc.com
In a must read Financial Times article, then NY Fed President, Timothy Geithner was told in May 2008 about the manipulation of Libor.
His failure to take action highlights one of the major lessons of the financial crisis. The lesson is the bank regulators' monopoly on all the useful, relevant information needed in an appropriate, timely manner to assess the risk of the banks must be ended as it creates instability in the financial system.
Fed's $4 Trillion Rescue Helps Hedge Fund as Savers Hurt
By Bob Ivry - Bloomberg.com
Deepak Narula's mortgage-bond fund is up 39 percent this year. George Sanchez's monthly annuity payout is down 41 percent.
The near-zero interest rate the Federal Reserve charges financial firms, as well as securities purchases that will balloon the central bank's balance sheet to almost $4 trillion next year, have made it easier for Narula's $1.6 billion fund to thrive and more difficult for Sanchez, a former college library director, to enjoy retirement.
200 Year Old NYSE to be Bought for $8.2 Billion
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
The operator of the world famous New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NYSE Euronext, has today agreed to be sold to IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) in an $8.2 billion deal.
ICE, which is only 12 years old but already runs several other international trading exchanges in the commodities and derivatives markets, will pay $33.12 a share for the NYSE operator, a premium of 38% above Wednesday's closing price.
U.S. Mint testing new metals to make coins cheaper
By Joann Loviglio, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — When it comes to making coins, the Mint isn't getting its two cents worth. In some cases, it doesn't even get half of that. A penny costs more than two cents and a nickel costs more than 11 cents to make and distribute. The quandary is how to make coins more cheaply without sparing our change's quality and durability, or altering its size and appearance.
A 400-page report presented last week to Congress outlines nearly two years of trials conducted at the Mint in Philadelphia, where a variety of metal recipes were put through their paces in the massive facility's high-speed coin-making machinery.
Why Reported Inflation Seems Different Than Reality
By Lance Roberts, StreetTalkLive - FinancialSense.com
The subject of inflation has remained an emotionally charged topic of debate over the last several years. As rising prices for individuals, and businesses, has negatively impacted their prosperity; reported inflation has remained at very low levels. With the Fed pumping trillions of dollars into financial system the fear of much higher inflation, as the dollar is debased, has caused gold prices to soar in recent years. As we will discuss momentarily, the issues surrounding government spending, and the massive deficit, has brought the topic of inflation to the forefront of the political debate.
Tokyo Plays Hardball, Weakens Yen, Lifts the Nikkei
BY GARY DORSCH - FinancialSense.com
"By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some. And not one man in a million will detect the theft," John Maynard Keynes wrote in 1920.
On Dec 12th, a shadowy group of political lackeys, voted 11-1 to launch what's popularly dubbed as "Infinity QE-4," – the Federal Reserve's most radical scheme ever, that's designed to enable the US-government to continue borrowing as much as $1-trillion per year, for the next several years, if necessary, in order to finance the burgeoning US-welfare state. US-lawmakers are negotiating over the details of the so-called "fiscal cliff," but are simply nibbling at the edges of $1-trillion budget deficits. Yet US-politicians from both sides of the isle, believe they can stave off significant tax hikes and spending cuts, without having to pay a penalty of sharply higher interest rates, which normally follows such fiscal recklessness.
The Coming China Crisis: An Interview with Bert Dohmen
BY CLIF DROKE - FinancialSense.com
When Bert Dohmen talks, smart investors listen.
In 2007 when most investment analysts and economists were downplaying the developing credit market troubles, Bert warned investors that the probability was very high that the troubles would escalate into full-blown crisis and would produce a crash of historic proportions. He chronicled the developing credit crisis in the pages of his newsletter and also published a book in early 2012 entitled, The Coming China Crisis, which provided his insightful views on the emerging crisis in depth.
Economy shows some muscle, but outlook downbeat
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:05pm EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. economy grew faster than previously thought in the third quarter, helped by exports and government spending, but a sluggish global demand and belt-tightening by Washington looks set to put on the brakes again.
Other data on Thursday showed factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region picked up this month, while home resales in November were the best in three years, indicating the economy retained some vigor early in the fourth quarter.
What Does FedEx Tell Us about the Economy?
By Cullen Roche - PragCap.com
Everyone always thinks that Alcoa kicks off the earnings season, but I don't see it that way. The real earnings season kicks off with FedEx who usually reports well in advance of Alcoa and gives us a much more meaningful look into the state of the economy. So what's the global bellwether telling us? Here are some of the key highlights from their earnings report yesterday and the conference call:
• Guidance for the full-year was in-line with expectations after last quarter's big cut. That could mean things are a bit more stable. The outlook certainly isn't deteriorating much.
• Mike Glenn said they still see growth in the global economy:
Franchise businesses cite 'fiscal cliff' fears
By Tim Devaney, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
Add the nation's franchise operators to the list of those worried about what happens if the nation pitches over the federal budgetary "fiscal cliff."
Franchise businesses warned Thursday that growth could slow to a "screeching halt" in the coming year as they struggle with uncertainty related to the fiscal cliff, tax increases and new, more expensive health care rules.
Walmart's Widespread Bribery In Mexico Wal-Mart seen facing sizable fines in U.S. bribery probe
By Aruna Viswanatha
WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:17pm EST
(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N) may be facing sizable fines related to allegations of widespread bribery at its Mexican affiliate, after a second report from the New York Times provided more details about the scope of the alleged misconduct.
Experts said the latest report, published online late on Monday, is significant because it appears to show that the alleged bribes were a substantial part of its business methods, and more than routine payments to speed up approvals, which are allowed under U.S. law.
Midwest Storm Cancels 1,000 U.S. Flights as Holiday Nears
By Brooke Sutherland & Mary Schlangenstein - Bloomberg.com
U.S. airlines have scuttled more than 1,000 flights as a winter storm pummels the U.S. Midwest, hobbling travel just as airports prepare for the peak of the pre-Christmas rush.
Chicago O'Hare International Airport, the nation's second- busiest for passenger traffic, led the cancellations with more than 470, industry data provider FlightAware said. The city's Midway International Airport scrubbed almost 150 flights, Houston-based FlightAware said.
Port strike looms as talks break down
By Chris Isidore - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
A strike at container ports from Boston to Houston appears more likely after talks broke down Tuesday, leaving businesses worried about a crippling shutdown set to start in less than two weeks.
The strike involves 14,500 dock workers at all major ports along the East and Gulf Coasts and could cost the economy at least $1 billion a day, as it stops the flow of goods from clothing and toys to televisions and furniture. The ports also accept many materials crucial to keeping U.S. factories running, such as auto parts and heavy machinery.
To Cease Tax Avoidance, End Deductions & Cut Taxes
By Julian Morris, RealClearMarkets.com
George Osborne, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer (think: Treasury Secretary with a posh accent and a permanent sneer), earlier this month announced his solution to the country's fiscal problems: clamp down on "tax avoidance." While tax avoidance is certainly not desirable, Osborne's solution for the most part would be counterproductive.
In particular, his proposal to adopt a General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) and to work with the G8 to force companies to pay higher tax rates would make us all worse off: tax rates everywhere would rise, economic growth would fall, and we would end up even more in debt. A far better solution would be to remove the deductions and other loopholes that enable such avoidance - and lower tax rates.
Shiller: Housing Hasn't Necessarily Bottomed Yet
By Cullen Roche - PragCap.com
In an interview on CNBC earlier today Robert Shiller provided his outlook for housing. Shiller says house prices haven't necessarily bottomed yet.
"A lot of people seem to think that if the market turns around, that means more of the same, meaning another big boom."
"I don't think [a boom] is in the cards. We might see home prices go up a little bit, you know, a little bit above inflation, maybe. Not likely that we'll see a real boom."
FINANCIAL BURDEN OF INSURANCE EXCHANGES
JEOPARDIZES OBAMACARE
by TONY LEE - Breitbat.com
The refusal by a majority of states to set up state-based exchanges could neuter some important aspects of Obamacare and make it more difficult for the federal government to actually implement the law.
On December 12th, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, announced his state would not participate in Obamacare's state-based health insurance exchange program, making Pennsylvania the 28th state to allow the federal government to operate its health insurance exchange.
Worries that Matt Damon's New Film
may Turn American's against Fracking
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
With his new film 'Promised Land', Matt Damon is enetering the fracking debate, and fracking companies are worried that his celebrity status could help to influence many people, turning them against fracking and causing great damage to the industry.
The film, co-written with John Krasinski, best known as Jim Halpert from the American version of the Office, explores the debate surrounding the controversial technology, with Damon playing Steve Butler, a gas industry representative looking to secure land leases in rural towns.
The Bakken Oil Boom: Moving "Back Home" to Montana?
By Keith Schaefer - OilPrice.com
Most people associate the huge Bakken oil field with North Dakota... but did you know the Bakken was actually discovered to the north in Montana?
Drilling equipment and crews are moving "back home" from North Dakota—where the Bakken Boom has been the Biggest. In fact Montana's rig count has grown to 22 from just eight at this time last year.
Montana's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation issued a record 356 oil drilling permits in the first ten months of the year, easily beating the previous record of 313 set in 2005.
Gun-Control Support Modest Even After School Shooting
By Frank Bass - Bloomberg.com
Support for gun control in the wake of last week's mass shooting at an elementary school inConnecticut remains far below the peak seen at the turn of the century, according to a surveyreleased today.
The poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, taken after the killing of 20 children and seven adults in Newtown, reflects only a modest change in attitudes, the Washington-based organization said. The survey found 49 percent of people believe it's more important to control gun ownership than to protect Americans' right to own guns, while 42 percent placed a higher priority on the right to possess firearms.
Pensions invested in firearms… The money behind the Newtown massacre One way to reduce mass shootings is for big institutions to stop funding the assault weapon manufacturers.
By Dan Primack - Fortune.com
FORTUNE -- Do you know who owns more than a 6% stake in the maker of .223 Bushmaster rifles, like the one used last Friday to murder 20 first graders and seven adults in Newtown, Connecticut? California public schoolteachers.
The company in question is Freedom Group, a privately-held firearms conglomerate formed by private equity and hedge fund group Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus created the platform in April 2006 via the acquisition of Bushmaster, after which it added another 10 makers of firearms, ammunition and accessories (including Remington, Marlin Arms and Barnes Bullets).
Gun Grabbers Call For
Re-Education Programs In Public Schools
by Brandon Smith - ZeroHedge.com
Was the shooting of 20 students in Newtown, Connecticut the Neo-Liberal version of 9/11? The question merits considerable thought, but let me explain further what I mean. In the aftermath of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, a sense of shock and awe sunk into the minds of the American populace like nothing seen in decades. This overwhelming fear, this logic crippling terror, infected the public to more destructive ends than any deadly virus in existence. Conservatives were especially vulnerable to the infectious symptoms of the event, abandoning all reason and even their small government values to support the fascist inklings of the Bush Administration. More than a decade later, the Neo-Liberal (fake liberal) Obama Administration and its minions continue the Bush legacy by exploiting our latest tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary as a means to an end; a political opportunity to assert federal authority as more valuable than constitutional freedom. If you can't convince people through rational debate that your position is the correct one, and, if you have to threaten them, lie to them, or brainwash them before they will adopt your ideas, then there is something wrong with your ideas.
Communist Chinese Government
Calls For Americans to be Disarmed China can keep its draconian police state,
Americans will keep their guns
By Paul Joseph Watson - Infowars.com
The Communist Chinese government, via its state-run media front Xinhua, has called for Americans to be disarmed, arguing that the Sandy Hook school massacre demands "no delay for U.S. gun control."
Xinhua is virtually the press agency for the Communist Chinese government. The organization, "is subordinate to the State Council and reports to the Communist Party of China's Propaganda and Public Information Departments."
NDAA Indefinite Detention Provision
Mysteriously Stripped From Bill
By Michael McAuliff - HuffingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON -- Congress stripped a provision Tuesday from a defense bill that aimed to shield Americans from the possibility of being imprisoned indefinitely without trial by the military. The provision was replaced with a passage that appears to give citizens little protection from indefinite detention.
The amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 was added by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), but there was no similar language in the version of the bill that passed the House, and it was dumped from the final bill released Tuesday after a conference committee from both chambers worked out a unified measure.
GALLUP: AMERICANS WANT MENTAL HEALTH LAWS,
POLICE, NOT BANNING GUNS
by WILLIAM BIGELOW - Breitbart.com
Despite the attempts by the Left to use the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut to forward their anti-gun agenda, Americans feel that there are other avenues they would rather explore to protect to innocent children, according to a new Gallup Poll. In order of preference, the poll shows that 53% of Americans would favor an increased police presence at schools, 50% wanted to increase government spending on mental health screening and treatment, 47% thought that gun violence on TV, in movies and in video games should be decreased, and 42% thought the sale of assault and semi-automatic guns should be banned.
A REAL PUBLIC OPINION POLL:
8,000 PEOPLE A DAY JOIN NRA AFTER SANDY HOOK
by Awr Hawkins - Breitbart.com
While the media seizes on the tragedy in Connecticut to tell us that Americans have now largely turned a corner and thrown away their love for 2nd Amendment freedoms, reality tells us something completely different.
The reality is that "8,000 new members" have the joined the National Rifle Association (NRA) every day since the terrible crime at Sandy Hook Elementary School was committed.
OBAMA COMES AFTER THE GUNS
By Ben Shapiro - Breitbart.com
Today, President Obama took to the podium to declare his unsurprising support for new, poorly-calibrated gun laws. His logic was simple: a horrific massacre occurred in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary, and we must try something. Anything. Well, not anything -- the same tried-and-true liberal gun control measures that have failed time and again.
Obama said, "We may never know all the reasons why this tragedy happened. We do know that every day since, more Americans have died of gun violence. We know such violence has terrible consequences for our society. And if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try."
END OF WORLD RUMORS PROMPT MI
TO CLOSE OVER 30 SCHOOLS
Breitbart News
More than 30 Michigan schools closed for the holidays two days early, in part because the Mayan calendar predicts the world will end on Friday, an official said.
Matt Wandrie, superintendent for Lapeer Community Schools, said doomsday "rumors" are running rampant in several districts, adding to fears raised by last week's school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
In Greek Migrant Camp, Refugees Find Tough Road to Europe
By Naomi Kresge - Bloomberg.com
It was 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday when Greek Coast Guard Ensign Chrisafis Theofilos's boat got a report of a migrant drowning off the coast of the island of Lesbos.
As dawn began to break, Theofilos sped south toward the man's coordinates. His scheduled departure had already been delayed five hours by a broken radar system that headquarters inAthens hadn't yet fixed. That made night patrols too dangerous. Before Theofilos got to the man, another Coast Guard boat had already picked him up and taken him to the hospital with hypothermia.
Mexico's ethnic Maya unmoved by 2012 'Armageddon' hysteria
By Alexandra Alper - Reuters.com
IZAMAL, Mexico, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Thousands of mystics, New Age dreamers and fans of pre-Hispanic culture have been drawn to Mexico in hopes of witnessing great things when the day in an old Maya calendar dubbed "the end of the world" dawns on Friday.
But many of today's ethnic Maya cannot understand the fuss. Mostly Christian, they have looked on in wonder at the influx of foreign tourists to ancient cities in southern Mexico and Central America whose heyday passed hundreds of years ago.
Is There a Best Way to Return to a Gold Standard?
BY TERRY COXON - FinancialSense.com
Many of us see hair-curling rates of price inflation not too far down the road. Today inflation is hardly noticeable. But what's coming will be so painful and so disruptive that soaring prices will become the voting public's number-one complaint. How will the politicians respond?
They will be responding to an audience for whom the idea of fiat money (even with a picture of a dead president on every bill) has been discredited. The obvious alternative to fiat money will be a return to a gold standard, and it's hard to imagine what competing proposals might get in the way. In such an environment, being pro-gold will be politically smart. Championing the idea of re-linking the dollar to gold would serve any politician nicely as an I-dare-you-to-disagree challenge to his competitors. And supporting such a proposal would be a convenient way for politicians to distance themselves from the mistakes of the past.
Gold prices dip sharply; but TDS still sees $2,000 Gold in 2013
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Global gold prices ended sharply lower on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange and reached a fresh three and half month low on Tuesday, but TD Securities still believes prices will reach new record high in 2013.
The most active February gold contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange last traded down $29.20 an ounce at $1,688.80. Spot gold was last quoted down $30.10 at $1,668.50. The gold market started to sell off in late-morning trading right about the time that U.S. House Speaker Boehner mentioned a "Plan B" on the fiscal cliff negotiations.
Confiscation of Gold - Then What? Part 2
BY JULIAN PHILLIPS - FinancialSense.com
There you sit with gold as a key investment. You did not want to trust the banks or gold ETF's or the derivatives market with your gold investments, despite the prospect of short-term gains. You want your gold for financial security in the face of economic collapse, or to supplement your needs, if hard times destroyed your other security. To make sure you were secure, you registered your gold in your name.
One of the questions you should contemplate is, "Is there really a danger of gold being confiscated?" We believe that there is. This is part of what we said in Part I of the series:
Morgan Stanley Redeems Paulson Investments:
Explanation For Recent Gold Liquidation?
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
In key news that may well be the missing puzzle piece to explain some of the very odd market moves in the past week, we just learned courtesy of CNBC, that Morgan Stanley's Wealth platform unit has finally, after months and months of considerations, pulled the plug on the fund that for the second year in a row is one of the three worst performing in the weekly HSBC report and is now redeeming. That in itself is not unexpected. What however is notable is that MS withdrawing hundreds of millions in feeder capital may well explain why gold has seen such a dramatic dislocation in the past week. Recall that at Paulson & Co, gold is not simply an investment - the bulk of direct gold investments at the once legendary investor are in the form of (largely underperforming) gold mining stocks - but an actual investment class. In other words, instead of being denominated in USD, investors are actually denominated in (paper) gold, with a fixed conversion into GLD at inception. This means that upon liquidation of gold-denominated shares, any gold-denominated shares, he has no choice but to sell GLD, and by virtue of this being the most liquid paper instrument in the PM space, gold. Does the massive gold dislocation in the chart below now make more sense especially since Paulson was aware of MS' intentions days in advance and traded, or in this case liquidated, appropriately)?
John Williams: We're Going to be in a New Recession in 2013
John Williams of Shadowstats.com has long contended the Fed is really just using the weak economy to continue to prop up the banking system. Williams says, "If the Fed wasn't doing what it's doing . . . I'd presume you'd be on the road to a banking system collapse. The banking system is still in trouble." Williams warns the "open-ended" printing of $85 billion a month ". . . will be part of what will eventually become hyperinflation." And if there is no deal on the so-called "fiscal cliff," then Williams expects "heavy selling pressure on the U.S. dollar."
U.S. "fiscal cliff" talks turn sour, Obama threatens veto
By Matt Spetalnick and Mark Felsenthal
WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 19, 2012 8:25pm EST
(Reuters) - Talks to avoid a U.S. fiscal crisis stalled on Wednesday as President Barack Obama accused opponents of holding a personal grudge against him while the top Republican negotiator called the president "irrational."
As a year-end deadline nears, Obama and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner are locked in intense bargaining over a possible deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff of harsh tax hikes and automatic spending cuts that could badly damage an already weak economy.
Fitch Says U.S. Debt Downgrade Possible
By Paul Ausick - 247WallSt.com
In its latest review of sovereign debt, Fitch Ratings warns that continuing weakness in the developed economies and the threat that the U.S. will tumble over the fiscal cliff are having a negative effect on global sovereign credit quality. The impact is also spilling over into emerging market debt, which are exposed to the weakness in developed nations' economies.
What Causes Hyperinflations
And Why We Have Not Seen One Yet
by Martin Sibileau - ZeroHedge.com
What causes hyperinflations? The answer is: Quasi-fiscal deficits (A quasi-fiscal deficit is the deficit of a central bank)! Why have we not seen hyperinflation yet? Because we have not had quasi-fiscal deficits! Essentially, hyperinflation is the ultimate and most expensive bailout of a broken banking system, which every holder of the currency is forced to pay for in a losing proposition, for it inevitably ends in its final destruction. Hyperinflation is the vomit of economic systems: Just like any other vomit, it's a very good thing, because we can all finally feel better. We have puked the rotten stuff out of the system.
Watching Your Money Disappear
BY DETLEV S SCHLICHTER - FinancialSense.com
….The money itself may not in fact disappear (although some of it probably will) but money's value will disappear, moneys purchasing power. This will not be the result of an act of magic but will simply be the consequence of our monetary arrangements and the established course of policy. Future historians will be surprised that anybody could have seriously contemplated a different and much happier outcome for today's system of unconstrained fiat money production.
Should Central Banks Target Employment?
By Kemal Derviş - Project-Syndicate.org
WASHINGTON, DC – On December 12, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that the Fed will keep interest rates at close to zero until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5%, provided inflation expectations remain subdued. While the Fed's governing statutes, unlike those of the European Central Bank, explicitly include a mandate to support employment, the announcement marked the first time that the Fed tied its interest-rate policy to a numerical employment target. It is a welcome breakthrough, and one that should be emulated by others – not least the ECB.
Do We Have Another Bubble On Our Hands?
By Michael Sivy - TIME.com
More than two years ago, economists started talking about a bubble in Treasury bonds that would eventually burst, just as the dot.com bubble and the housing bubble had. If that happens, the prices of long-term bonds could fall by 10% to 20%. So far, that bond bust hasn't materialized. But one of the characteristics of bubbles is that they often go on longer than anyone expects. What is most troubling now is that the problem is spreading beyond Treasuries. Excessive borrowing and ultra-low interest rates are now distorting all the debt markets. As a result, there is no longer just one bubble – there are many.
World Bank fears fresh credit bubble in China on hot money flows China and Asia's tigers are roaring back to life and risk a fresh credit booms unless they can choke inflows of hot money, the World Bank has warned.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The Far East has shaken off the deep downturn earlier this year and looks poised to drive a fresh cycle of global growth in 2013. "China appears to have bottomed out," said the Bank in its regional report.
Asia's powerhouse economy will rebound with 8.4pc growth next year as credit stimulus and an infrastructure blitz by local governments gain traction, with knock-on effects through East Asia. The region as a whole will grow by 7.9pc, with Myanmar at last starting to catch up as undertakes "formidable reforms".
UBS Libor Traders Face Criminal Charges for 'Getting Rich'
Bloomberg News - MoneyNews.com
UBS AG's $1.5 billion fine for rigging global interest rates expands the scandal to include bribery of brokers and U.S. criminal charges against two former traders.
Tom Alexander William Hayes and Roger Darin were charged with conspiracy in a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department said. Hayes also was charged with wire fraud and a price-fixing violation for activity with another bank aimed at manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, the department said.
Developing Economies' Long-Term Financing Shortfall
By Mahmoud Mohieldin - Project-Syndicate.org
WASHINGTON, DC – Since the global financial crisis, "banking" has practically become a swear word. But, while banks undoubtedly have the capacity to inflict serious damage on economies and livelihoods, a well-run financial system can offer significant benefits. A growing body of evidence, highlighted in the World Bank Group's recent Global Financial Development Report,shows that financial institutions and markets have a profound influence on economic development, poverty alleviation, and the stability of economies worldwide, and that a pragmatic assessment of the state's role in finance is warranted.
Models Behaving Badly
By Robert Skidelsky - Project-Syndicate.org
LONDON – "Why did no one see the crisis coming?" Queen Elizabeth II asked economists during a visit to the London School of Economics at the end of 2008. Four years later, the repeated failure of economic forecasters to predict the depth and duration of the slump would have elicited a similar question from the queen: Why the overestimate of recovery?
Consider the facts. In its 2011 forecast, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the European economy would grow by 2.1% in 2012. In fact, it looks certain to shrink this year by 0.2%. In the United Kingdom, the 2010 forecast of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) projected 2.6% growth in 2011 and 2.8% growth in 2012; in fact, the UK economy grew by 0.9% in 2011 and will flat-line in 2012. The OECD's latest forecast for eurozone GDP in 2012 is 2.3% lower than its projection in 2010.
Uncle Sam Books 50% Loss As Government Motors
Buys Back 200MM Shares From Tim Geithner
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
A few days after divesting its stake in the firm that started it all, AIG, and at a profit at that (ignoring that the risk has merely been onboarded by the Fed whose DV01 is now $2+ billion as a result), the US Treasury continues to divest of all its bailout stake, this time proceeding to GM, where the channel stuffing firm just announced it would buyback 200MM shares from the US government at a price of $27.50. More importantly, the "Treasury said it intends to sell its other remaining 300.1 million shares through various means in an orderly fashion within the next 12-15 months, subject to market conditions. Treasury intends to begin its disposition of those 300.1 million common shares as soon as January 2013 pursuant to a pre-arranged written trading plan. The manner, amount, and timing of the sales under the plan are dependent upon a number of factors." Assuming a price in the $27.50 range, this implies a nearly 50% loss on the government's breakeven price of $54. So much for the "profit" spin. One hopes all those Union votes were well worth the now booked $40+ billion cost to all taxpayers.
GM to buy stake from Treasury; government may lose billions
By Ben Klayman
Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:07pm EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury plans to sell its stake in General Motors Co (GM.N) over the coming year, all but assuring a multibillion-dollar loss in a move that will end the automaker's "Government Motors" era.
Treasury's plan - a two-step process that includes a $5.5 billion stock sale to GM - is part of a broader push to wind down the controversial financial bailout under the Troubled Asset Relief (TARP) program. TARP was created by former president George W. Bush to prevent the collapse of the U.S. banking industry during the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
GM to produce next-generation Camaro in Michigan
By Allison Martell
Wed Dec 19, 2012 3:32pm EST
(Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) will produce the next generation of Chevrolet Camaro in Lansing, Michigan, not at the plant in Oshawa, Ontario, where it currently assembles the sports car, the company said on Wednesday.
While the move is a fresh setback for workers at GM's Oshawa operation, where employment has dwindled over the last decade, it's a win for Michigan's hard-hit auto sector.
Keiser Report: Monetized Genocide (E381)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert look at central banking monkeys performing cannonballs into the global dark pools, the backlash against quantitative easing and the Queen ticking orf the Bank of England. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to economist Sandeep Jaitly of FeketeResearch.com about silver backwardation and a monetary path that will throw us *all* into such poverty that none of us will be able satisfy our ends.
Pew Survey: 55% of Americans
Have Received Major Entitlements
By Dan Weil - MoneyNews.com
A 55 percent majority of American citizens have received payments from the biggest government entitlement programs at some point in their lives, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 2,511 adults.
Those programs include unemployment compensation, Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, Medicaid and welfare.
If veterans benefits and college loans and grants are included, the total rises to more than 70 percent.
IRS: Two-thirds of returns could face delay without 'cliff' deal
By Bernie Becker - TheHill.com
Perhaps two-thirds of tax returns could be delayed next year unless Washington reaches a "fiscal cliff" deal, the IRS told congressional tax writers on Wednesday.
Steven Miller, the acting IRS commissioner, told the lawmakers that 80 million to 100 million returns would not be filed on time in 2013 if lawmakers fail to pass legislation ensuring that the Alternative Minimum Tax does not expand to more middle-class families.
That's because, Miller said, the tax-collecting agency has assumed that Congress would act, and would need to make "significant programming changes" if it does not.
Reality economics
A review of Norbert Häring and Niall Douglas, Economists and the Powerful (London: Anthem Press, 2012).
By Michael Hudson
"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad." And if they would destroy economies, they first create a wealthy class on top, and let human nature do the rest. The acquisition of power soon leads to its abuse, to economic and social hubris. By seeking to protect its gains, perpetuate itself and make its wealth hereditary, power elites lock in their position in ways that exclude and injure those below. Turning government into an oligarchy, the wealthy indebt and shift the tax burden onto the less powerful.
It is an ancient tale. The Greeks got matters right in seeing how power leads to hubris, bringing about its own downfall. Hubris is the addiction to wealth and power, an arrogant over-reaching that involves injury to others. By impoverishing economies it destroys the source of profits, interest, capital gains, and even recovery of the original savings and debt principal.
Postal employees stole millions in federal checks
Georgia supervisor, coworker and four others cashed 1,300 U.S. Treasury checks before authorities caught them. More than 171 Postal workers arrested in 2012
BY PHILLIP SWARTS - WashingtonGuardian.com
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night could stop these postal employees from stealing checks.
The former supervisor at an Atlanta mail distribution facility, a coworker and four others pled guilty this month to stealing $3 million in U.S. Treasury checks, including veterans benefits, tax refunds and Social Security checks. By the time authorities figured out the scheme, the small theft ring had stolen or cashed 1,300 federal checks, officials said.
20 Signs That The U.S. Poverty Explosion
Is Hitting Children And Young People The Hardest
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The mainstream media continues to insist that the economy is "getting better", but the poverty numbers for children and young people just continue to explode. For example, did you know that the poverty rate for families with a head of household under the age of 30 is a whopping 37 percent? Children and young people sure didn't cause our recent economic downturn, but they sure are getting hit the hardest by it. According to the U.S. Department of Education, for the first time ever more than a million U.S. public school students are homeless. That seems like an impossible number, but it is actually true. How in the world could the "wealthiest nation on earth" get to the point where more than a million children can't count on a warm bed to sleep in at night? Sadly, a huge number of American children can't count on a warm dinner either. About a fourth of them are enrolled in the food stamp program. What do you do if you are a parent in that kind of situation? How do you explain to your kids that you can't afford a nice home like everybody else has or that you can't afford to go to the grocery store and buy them some dinner?
Gerald Celente - National Intel Report - December 18, 2012
Gerald talks on Trend Forecasting and how the government is using the Newtown shootings as a way to implement gun control, the way the media has portrayed the shootings and information that is not being discussed on the shootings.
We've Nationalized the Home Mortgage Market. Now What?
By Jesse Eisinger - ProPublica.com
At the height of the 2008 financial crisis, the country heatedly debated whether to nationalize the failing banking system. Both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations rejected that path as excessive government intrusion into the marketplace.
Yet since then, with little planning and paltry public discussion, the government has almost completely taken over the American home mortgage market. Banks and other for-profit financial services companies lend money to homeowners, but without the guarantees and other support the government provides, the housing market would barely be functioning now.
US Oil Production Increases
by Largest Amount since Records Began
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
Seven years ago George W. Bush declared that, "America is addicted to oil, much of which is imported from unstable parts of the world."
That statement is certainly not true now. Eager to make the most of consistently high oil prices, oil companies have set up 1,432 rigs this year in the US, the most since records began in 1987. According to the Department of Energy this has led the US to increase its oil production capacity by 766,000 barrels a day, to a total volume of 6.41 million barrels a day, the highest level in 15 years and the largest increase in production since the first well was drilled back in 1859. Petroleum imports have fallen by 38 percent, now accounting for 41 percent, down from 60 percent, and proof that the US is moving closer to energy independence.
He Says He Wants Us to Change How might that be?
By AARON GOLDSTEIN - Spectator.org
I have no doubt that the people who assembled at Newtown High School found comfort in President Obama's words on Sunday night.
But make no mistake (as Obama is so fond of saying). The President didn't only come to Newtown to pay his respects to those who were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary last Friday morning. He also came to lecture the nation and to save us from ourselves:
This is our first task — caring for our children. It's our first job. If we don't get that right, we don't get anything right. That's how, as a society, we will be judged.
The Bullying Left Exploits Sandy Hook
By Ben Shapiro - PatriotPost.us
The horror of the massacre of innocents at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. struck at the fabric of the American tapestry. Virtually every American has spent the last few days in a haze -- shocked at the nature of evil, confused and frustrated by the inability to prevent such an atrocity, fearful at the possibility of such a monstrous occurrence repeating itself.
It is only natural in such times to discuss what we can do differently to prevent such things from happening. Nobody wants to see dead children, grieving parents or bullet-riddled schools. Nobody. We may disagree about what the proper solutions are, but we all want solutions.
Is Wall Street Abandoning Gun Manufacturers?
By Christopher Matthews - Time.com
There have been clear signs this week that after the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., the balance of power in the debate over gun control is shifting. Pro-gun Democrats with stellar ratings from the NRA like West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Viriginia Senator Mark Warner came out in favor of increasing federal restrictions on gun ownership, while Republicans like Iowa Senator Charles Grassley and ten-term Republican Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia both agreed that Congress should at least consider tightening gun control as part of a broader effort to curb gun violence, according to the Associated Press.
Wal-Mart Stores Sell Out Of Guns
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Yesterday, when we described the unprecedented surge in gun sales in the aftermath of the Newtown massacre, we said that "what is most ironic, is that it is precisely the fear of forced, unilateral rejection, by either or all three branches of government, of the original constitution and its various amendments that has Americans scrambling into gun stores. And thus the closed loop nature of the problem: by threatening to take away America's guns, the government is only exacerbating a problem that is steeped in 200+ years of history and is engrained deep in American psychology." It took about 24 hours to demonstrate just how counterproductive government intervention always is: as of this moment, Bloomberg reports, Wal-Mart, the biggest retailer in the US and the world, has stores in at least five states where guns are now completely out of stock.
Fewer Guns, More Crime It is time to put liberal posturing aside.
By PETER FERRARA - Spectator.org
To President Obama, the word "politics" means anyone who disagrees with him, as in the phrase "It is time to put politics aside." Whenever he says that, he is really saying "It is time to put aside anyone who disagrees with me on this issue."
Our hearts are all still hurting over the mass shooting and murder of 20 innocent small children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. But it was in the same breath as the announcement of the tragedy that President Obama's all politics all the time ideological warriors inserted their politics, seeking to exploit the deaths of these small children for their ideological and political gain. For them, such gain means liquidating even more of the liberties and even constitutional rights of all Americans who had nothing to do with the mass shooting.
2012 Person of the Year: Barack Obama, the President
By Michael Scherer - Time.com
Twenty-seven years after driving from New York City to Chicago in a $2,000 Honda Civic for a job that probably wouldn't amount to much, Barack Obama, in better shape but with grayer hair, stood in the presidential suite on the top floor of the Fairmont Millennium Park hotel as flat screens announced his re-election as President of the United States. The networks called Ohio earlier than predicted, so his aides had to hightail it down the hall to join his family and friends. They encountered a room of high fives and fist pumps, hugs and relief.
The end is near — for Mayan calendar bunk
By Patrick Hruby-The Washington Times
Citizens of the world, exhale. Contrary to a ballyhooed ancient Mayan prophecy that has spawned everything from Chinese doomsday cults to Hollywood special effects extravaganzas to dire warnings that Earth is on a collision course with the mystery world of Nibiru, our planet will not come to an apocalyptic finale Friday.
But the ancient Mayas predicted
Maya apocalypse and Star Wars collide in Guatemalan temple
By Mike McDonald
TIKAL, Guatemala | Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:41pm EST
(Reuters) - At the center of the rebel base where Luke Skywalker took off to destroy the Death Star and save his people from the clutches of Darth Vader, Guatemala is preparing for another momentous event: the end of an age for the Maya.
Deep inside the Guatemalan rainforest stand the ruins of the Maya temples that George Lucas used to film the planet Yavin 4 in the movie "Star Wars," from where Skywalker and his sidekick Han Solo launched their attack on the Galactic Empire's giant space station.
Dec. 21, 2012: Fearful 'end of world' callers flood NASA
By Kate Mather - LATimes.com
If there's one government agency really looking forward to Dec. 22, it's NASA.
The space agency said it has been flooded with calls and emails from people asking about the purported end of the world — which, as the doomsday myth goes, is apparently set to take place on Dec. 21, 2012.
The myth might have originated with the Mayan calendar, but in the age of the Internet and social media, it proliferated online, raising questions and concerns among hundreds of people around the world who have turned to NASA for answers.
Egypt's New Pharaoh
By Chris Hedges - Truthdig.com
When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran after 14 years in exile on Feb. 1, 1979, he set out to destroy the secular opposition forces, including the Communist Party of Iran, which had been instrumental in bringing down the shah. Khomeini's declaration of an Islamic government, supported by referendum, saw him rewrite the constitution, close opposition newspapers and ban opposition groups including the National Democratic Front and the Muslim People's Republican Party. Dissidents who had spent years inside Iran's notoriously brutal prison system under the shah were incarcerated once again by the new regime. Some returned to their cells to be greeted by their old jailers, who had offered their services to the new regime.
Inside the Ring: U.S. warns China on North Korea
By Bill Gertz-The Washington Times
The State Department is pressuring Beijing about its communist ally North Korea following failed efforts to halt the recent rocket launch that proved to be Pyongyang's first successful long-range missile test.
According to a Western intelligence official, the State Department sent a diplomatic protest note to China after the Dec. 12 launch that placed a non-functioning satellite into orbit.
What on earth's going on in the gold market? Logic suggests that the gold price should be riding much higher than it is at present – what is keeping it down?
Author: Lawrence Williams - Mineweb.com
LONDON - The gold market has been denying all logic. Virtually everything which is happening in the global economy suggests that the price should be rising – and probably rising fast, yet it has been unable to move out of a trading range of between around $1680 - $1750 – and every time it nears the top of this range it gets knocked back again. It certainly has made some weak holders pull out of the gold market altogether, while other half believers are beginning to find the call from gold experts that they should use the dips as buying opportunities frustrating to say the least – and they may fall out of the market too.
What In The World Are Barack Obama
And John Boehner Thinking?
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicColapseBlog.com
Barack Obama and John Boehner both seem absolutely determined to drive U.S. government finances off a cliff. The mainstream media would have you believe that there are vast ideological differences between the two of them and that they are bitter enemies, but that is simply not the case. Both of them say that tax increases are "necessary", but they disagree over the details. Both are seeking about a trillion dollars of spending cuts and about a trillion dollars of new "revenue", but they don't see eye to eye on how to get there. But overall, they are both definitely playing in the same ballpark. And those numbers certainly do sound impressive until you realize that they are talking about a time span of ten years. Personally, I would love to see federal spending cut by a trillion dollars this year. But that will never happen. A trillion dollars over the course of a decade breaks down to about 100 billion dollars per year. That still sounds like a lot of money until you put it up next to the trillion dollar deficits that we have been running for four years in a row. Even if somehow those spending cuts turned out to be real (which they aren't), they would still only put a very small dent in our yearly budget deficits.
Republicans threaten fiscal cliff 'plan B'
as deal with White House takes shape Boehner proposes bill that would prevent tax rises for Americans earning less than $1m in move to put pressure on Obama
By Ewen MacAskill in Washington
and Dominic Rushe in New York - Guardian.co.uk
Republicans in Congress went on the offensive over the fiscal cliffnegotiations on Tuesday, threatening to unilaterally introduce a plan B before the end of the year to prevent tax rises for anyone earning less than $1m a year.
The House Republicans are proposing to introduce a speedy bill that would enshrine these proposals.
White House rejects Boehner 'Plan B'
with threat of tax hikes looming
The White House on Tuesday rejected House Speaker John Boehner's call for a fall-back option to avert the looming fiscal crisis, in a move the speaker's office said "defies common sense."
The feisty exchange came as both sides crept toward a possible middle ground in private talks. But underscoring the differences that remain, the White House resisted Boehner's bid to craft a "Plan B" just in case those talks fail to yield a compromise before a Jan. 1 deadline -- that's when taxes are set to rise on everyone, followed by a wave of spending cuts.
S&P upgrades Greek credit rating and sets outlook to stable Ratings agency Standard and Poor's has notched up the credit rating on Greece's sovereign debt by more than it expected following the nation's successful bond buyback program me.
By Denise Roland - Telegraph.co.uk
S&P ratcheted the credit rating on the troubled eurozone nation's government debt up six notches from 'standard default' to 'B minus' following the successful completion on Monday of its bond buyback programme - one grade higher than expected.
The agency lowered Greece's credit rating from CCC to 'selective default' after Athens invited bondholders to participate in a series of debt buyback auctions on December 3, saying it expected restore the rating on completion of the programme.
Japan's Shinzo Abe prepares to print money for the whole world Japan's incoming leader Shinzo Abe has vowed to ram through full-blown reflation policies to pull his country out of slump and drive down the yen, warning Japan's central bank not to defy the will of the people.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The profound shift in economic strategy by the world's top creditor nation could prove a powerful tonic for the global economy, with stimulus leaking into bourses and bond markets - a variant of the "carry trade" earlier this decade but potentially on a larger scale.
"We think this could be the beginning of a fresh reflation cycle for the global system, combining with the US recovery to mark a turning point in the crisis," said Simon Derrick from BNY Mellon.
Libor scandal: More than 30 UBS bankers
'to be implicated in rate rigging' Authorities are this week expected to say that more than 30 bankers and managers at Swiss banking giant UBS were involved in the alleged rigging of the key Libor interest rate.
By Garry White - Telegraph.co.uk
The Swiss bank is also set to reveal on Wednesday that it will pay a $1.5bn (£926m) fine to regulators in the UK, US and Switzerland. The bank's Japanese securities unit is also expected to plead guilty to a US criminal offence, but it is not expected to lose its licence to operate in the country.
The fine follows an agreement between UBS and regulators such as the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, US Department of Justice, UK's Financial Services Authority and UBS's main Swiss supervisor Finma.
Paul Krugman: China's Economic Growth May Kill Us All
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize winning economist and New York Times columnist, believes that China is a great example of human success. The speed and power of its economic growth, and its contribution to the development of new technologies are shining examples of what humanity is capable of; however, at the same time, China's success could kill the planet.
"If you worry about climate change and stuff like that, then China is -- Chinese growth is a wonderful human success story that could kill us all," he stated at a recent New York Times DealBook conference.
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION ATTACK KOCH BROTHERS
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbrt.com
Today, the Democratic Governors Association sent out a blast email suggesting that higher taxes on high-income earners was justified because it would target the Koch brothers. This is how low the left now stoops: they think that hurting the economy is fine, so long as those most hurt are opponents of President Obama. Here's the text:
Friend,
Republicans lost the 2012 election, but you wouldn't know it based on their attitudes this week.
John Boehner and Congressional Republicans rejected outright President Obama's proposal to avoid across-the-board tax hikes on all Americans. Boehner is willing to hold the middle class hostage to protect the wealthiest 2% -- people like the billionaire Koch brothers, who spend millions of dollars every year attacking Democrats.
Pensions and personal savings
Hugo Salinas Price - Plata.com.mx
The idea has taken hold in the West and is spreading to what are called the "emerging economies" that pensions are a right to which all old people are entitled.
This is a fairly new idea, little more than a hundred years' old. The Iron Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck introduced this idea in Germany in 1890.
Perhaps a strictly disciplined government might be able to assist its elderly citizens with modest pensions and include these in a balanced budget, but as yet we haven't seen any such government anywhere.
The Death Of America's Middle Class
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
There is one chart that everyone should see that is part of Reuters' must read special series: The Unequal State of America: Redistributing Up - it is the chart we have said over the past 4 years is the only one that matters for America - that showing the flattening of America's wealth distributon Gaussian curve, aka the plunder and accelerating destruction of America's middle class, at the expense of the poorest and the wealthiest. This is nothing but the inevitable outcome of a co-opted, conflicted and controlled marionette government, which does the bidding of the wealthiest lobby powers (read corporate shareholders and Wall Street), partitioning the bulk of the wealth to the richest, while sending the scraps to the poorest in order to keep itself in power due to the power of the ever poorer, democratic majority. Alas, since there is never a free lunch, and since the Fed does not create wealth but through its currency debasement merely accelerates the transfer of wealth, someone ends up footing the bill? Who? None other than that part of the US population which made the United States of America the greatest country in the world, and is now watching it implode first slowly, then fast.
Is a decline in midlevel jobs hurting the U.S. recovery?
By Jonathan Spicer
NEW YORK | Tue Dec 18, 2012 12:44pm EST
(Reuters) - Some economists and U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers worry that a declining market for middle-skilled jobs exacerbated unemployment during the Great Recession and is now hurting the recovery.
But a new paper on "job polarization" from the Boston Federal Reserve Bank punches some holes in that theory. Among other things, it finds that the disappearance of midlevel jobs is not behind the troubling mismatch between the skills workers have and the skills employers seek.
Unions Take a Swing at Democracy Left-wingers get violent when they lose
By Edwin J. Feulner - PatriotPost.us
"This is what democracy looks like!"
That's a popular protest chant among liberals. It could be heard at many "Occupy" gatherings. It's a staple at union-backed protests.
We all know that in a democracy, sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don't. The big question is, how will you react?
Why Have Lumber Prices Risen 45% This Year? Why lumber prices are up 45% this year and could rise further
By Matt Phillips, Quartz
We've told you before: If you are betting against the US economy without taking note of the strengthening in the US housing market, you are asking for trouble. Evidence du jour: Lumber prices.
Yesterday they hit a six-year high, with prices returning to levels last seen duringthe boomiest days of the housing boom in 2006. Check it out:
Fast Food Scrooge:
McDonald's Asks Franchisees to Open on Christmas
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool - DilyFinance.com
It's not just retailers pushing to get their employees on the clock during the holidays.
Now, McDonald's (MCD) is turning heads by asking its franchisees to open on Christmas Day.
"Ensure your restaurants are open throughout the holidays," McDonald's USA COO Jim Johannesen wrote in a memo before Thanksgiving that was published by Advertising Age.
Many franchisees complied, breaking from tradition by opening on Thanksgiving. Now the company wants to make sure that they are flipping burgers and scooping fries on Dec. 25, too.
OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Medicare and the cliff
By Sam Baker and Elise Viebeck - TheHill.com
Medicare may be off the table in deficit talks, at least for the moment. Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) latest offer to President Obama calls for tax increases on families making more than $1 million per year, but it wouldn't raise the Medicare eligibility age right away. That change could be on the table next year as part of an agreement on tax and entitlement reform, perhaps to avert the spending cuts in the "fiscal cliff."
"It's an issue for discussion, but I don't believe it's an issue that has to be dealt with between now and the end of the year," Boehner said Tuesday.
House Democratic leaders soften opposition
to Social Security cuts
By Mike Lillis - TheHill.com
House Democratic leaders have softened their blanket opposition to Social Security cuts in a "fiscal cliff" package despite anger from rank-and-file members of their conference.
Democratic leaders expressed an open mind after President Obama proposed the cuts in his latest deficit offer to Republicans, with some saying they'd support Social Security reductions if the proposal protects the most vulnerable beneficiaries.
Aspirin Use May Raise Risk of Age-Related Eye Disorder
By Nicole Ostrow - Bloomberg.com
Older adults who use aspirin regularly for 10 years or more may have an increased risk of developing an age-related eye disorder that can lead to vision loss, a study found.
The risk of having wet age-related macular degeneration was about twice as high for those who regularly took aspirin a decade before researchers detected it in an eye exam compared with those who didn't take the medicine, according to research today in the Journal of theAmerican Medical Association.
Longmont, CO, said, "No!" to Fracking Colorado City Sued by Oil Industry Group for Fracking Ban By Andrew Harris - Blomberg.com
The Colorado Oil & Gas Association sued the City of Longmont to overturn a voter-approved ban on the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to extract oil and gas from sand and shale formations.
The industry group, in a complaint filed yesterday in state court in Greeley, Colorado, claims the resolution deprives land owners of property-development rights and conflicts with state law allowing the practice.
California to Require Disclosure 10 Days Before Fracking
By Bradley Olson - Bloomberg.com
California regulators will require oil and natural gas companies to disclose plans to use hydraulic fracturing 10 days in advance, under draft regulations released today.
If the regulations are adopted, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources will post well locations three days before fracturing begins, according to a statement posted on the agency's website today. The state doesn't currently require companies to reveal fracking plans.
Invincible Ignorance
By Thomas Sowell - PatriotPost.us
Must every tragic mass shooting bring out the shrill ignorance of "gun control" advocates?
The key fallacy of so-called gun control laws is that such laws do not in fact control guns. They simply disarm law-abiding citizens, while people bent on violence find firearms readily available.
If gun control zealots had any respect for facts, they would have discovered this long ago, because there have been too many factual studies over the years to leave any serious doubt about gun control laws being not merely futile but counterproductive.
Michigan Governor Kills Bill Allowing Concealed Guns in Schools
By Chris Christoff, Tim Higgins & Esmé E. Deprez - Bloomberg.com
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder vetoed a bill that would have allowed concealed guns in public schools, just four days after a man broke into a Connecticut elementary school and shot 20 pupils to death.
The 54-year-old Republican killed the measure, approved by the legislature less than 24 hours before the Newtown killings, primarily because it didn't allow day-care centers, hospitals and other public entities to opt out, according to a letter sent to the state Senate.
Explaining Evil
By Cal Thomas - PatriotPost.us
Trying to explain an evil act like the one that killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., is on a par with explaining how the universe was formed.
The natural human reaction after extending sympathy and prayers for the victims and their families is to ask what actions might have been taken to prevent the massacre. More gun laws? Connecticut already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. Those laws did not prevent a man with evil intent from carrying out his heinous act.
Connecting other dots… hmmmm. URGENT UPDATE on Connecticut Shooting
By SUSAN SHANNON- CHRISTIAN - Short Little Rebel
Friends, there is a gift that God has given me: I can smell something fishy a mile away. Like Benghazi. Almost on day one, I told my husband: "The facts don't make sense. Something is wrong here." Last night, after I saw a talking head interview (or, I should say, NOT interview) the father of the boy who saw his teacher get shot and ran for his life with a couple of friends, I told my husband, "Something is not right here. She didn't ask a single relevant question. So far, this boy is the only eye-witness of the gunman coming forward. She didn't ask if the boy saw one or more shooters. She didn't ask any details of what the gunman did first, second, third. She didn't ask for a description of the gunman. These reporters are complete prostitutes. They could care less about the feelings of the people they interview. So why didn't she ask any of these questions?" In fact, I could tell she was biting back questions. I looked at my husband and said, "Cal, this thing is starting to stink. By now, there should be many eye-witness accounts of the actual gunman. There should be breathless survivors talking about how this guy walked by their room, etc. About how they narrowly escaped. But so far, it looks like every single eye-witness is dead. That is IMPOSSIBLE!"
Riddle me this: Adam Lanza, 'computer genius,'
left no online footprint
by Lori Price - LegitGov.org
According to numerous media reports and witnesses, alleged Newtown, Connecticut shooter Adam Lanza was a 'genius' with computers. And yet, we are told that Lanza apparently left no online footprint. The question must be asked: Was the electronic history of Adam Lanza scrubbed?
Many articles, including witnesses' accounts, have described Adam Lanza's advanced skills with computers, a skill-level common with Asperger's sufferers. Indeed, many computer hackers have Asperger's syndrone -- Adrian Lamo, Ryan Cleary, and Gary McKinnon, for example. And yet, Adam Lanza 'left no online footprint?'
Reporter Is First To Tell Adam Lanza's Father
of Connection to Shooting
By Daniel Politi - Slate.com
While the world watched news of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary unfold, it seems Peter Lanza only found out about his connection to the tragic events several hours later. Moments after police left Peter Lanza's home in Stamford, Conn., around 40 miles from Newtown, Conn., where the shooting took place, Adam Lanza's father drove up in a blue Mini Cooper. The Stamford Advocate's Maggie Gordon was waiting outside and when she introduced herself as a reporter she was immediately surprised he didn't seem to realize why a reporter would want to talk to him.
Fear of being committed
may have caused Connecticut gunman to snap
By Jana Winter - FOXNews.com
NEWTOWN, Conn. – The gunman who slaughtered 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school may have snapped because his mother was planning to commit him to a psychiatric facility, according to a lifelong resident of the area who was familiar with the killer's family and several of the victims' families.
Adam Lanza, 20, targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown after killing his mother early Friday because he believed she loved the school "more than she loved him," said Joshua Flashman, 25, who grew up not far from where the shooting took place. Flashman, a U.S. Marine, is the son of a pastor at an area church where many of the victims' families worship.
Lawmakers Vow Tougher Gun Laws
as Obama Weighs Next Steps
By Phil Mattingly & Jonathan D. Salant - Bloomberg.com
President Barack Obama would support legislation restoring a ban on assault weapons and requiring background checks of buyers at gun shows as steps toward preventing more mass shootings, his spokesman said today.
Obama also would consider backing restrictions on high- capacity ammunition magazines like the one used by the gunman who killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
Boehner calls for GOP 'discussion' on guns
By Molly K. Hooper and Mike Lillis - TheHill.com
Republicans need to "have a discussion on guns" in the wake of last week's grade-school massacre in Newtown, Conn., Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told his conference Tuesday.
Speaking to his troops at a closed-door meeting in the Capitol, Boehner was mindful of conservatives' traditional opposition to new gun restrictions, emphasizing that Republicans wouldn't do "anything knee-jerk," according to a lawmaker in the room.
4,200 COLORADANS BUY GUNS DAY AFTER SANDY HOOK
by WILLIAM BIGELOW - Breitbart.com
Unlike what leftists believe, when a tragedy like the Newtown massacre occurs, Americans don't want to ban guns, they want tobuy guns. In Colorado on Saturday, one day after the shootings in Connecticut, there were so many gun-purchase background check requests that it set a one-day record.
Colorado thought the previous record of 4,028 background checks set on Black Friday after Thanksgiving this year would stand for a while, but it was broken by the 4,200 requests on Saturday.
How guns became gadgets—lightweight, easy to use,
and more effective than ever
By Christopher Mims - Quartz
It doesn't take more than a few hundred dollars and a trip to a Wal-Mart in the US to create an assault rifle identical to the one used to murder 27 people in an elementary school last Friday. Under laws that have been on the books since gangster Al Capone proved the devastating capacity of machine guns, Americans can't buy fully automatic rifles. But the action on modern assault rifles is so smooth that one can still fire four shots a second, simply by squeezing the trigger as quickly as possible. You only have to reload every 20 shots, or 30 with a bigger magazine. Owing to the design of modern bullet magazines, reloading only takes a few seconds.
President Obama to push assault weapons ban in second term
By Justin Sink - TheHill.com
President Obama will "actively support" efforts by Democrats to reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons next year, the White House announced on Tuesday.
Press secretary Jay Carney said the president would back Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) when she introduces legislation at the opening of the next Congress to ban certain assault weapons in the United States.
Gun sales surge across US after Newtown
amid fears of crackdown From Oregon to Connecticut, gun shops reported soaring sales over the weekend as national attention returns to gun control
By Chris McGreal - Guardian.co.uk
Karl Durkheimer is more coy than might be expected of a man with a pistol on his hip.
Durkheimer's gun shop looks to have enjoyed record sales of semi-automatics – "modern sporting rifles", as he calls them – and handguns at the weekend. But he doesn't want to talk specific numbers.
Nor is he terribly keen to speculate on the causes of the sudden demand. But he acknowledges that it probably has everything to do with a man killing two people with an assault rifle last week in a Portland shopping mall less than 10 minutes drive away, and Friday's massacre of 20 small children and seven adults on the other side of the country in Connecticut.
Obama to back Feinstein's assault weapons bill
as gun control gains steam After earlier vague promises on gun legislation, spokesman says president supports restricting clips and closing loopholes
By Ewen MacAskill - Guardian.co.uk
Barack Obama hardened up his commitment to imposing restrictions on gun ownership on Tuesday, with the White House promising to support a bill to ban assault weapons of the type used in the Newtown school shootings.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama supported reinstating the ban, which was first introduced in 1994 but was allowed to lapse in 2004 by the Bush administration.
NRA to 'push back' soon, schedules news conference
By James Rosen - FOXNews.com
Amid the tidal wave of shock and grief that followed the mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the gun-control lobby immediately launched a well-coordinated campaign to pressure Congress and the Obama administration into enacting stricter regulation of guns and rifles.
These forces -- led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. -- had the playing field largely to themselves.
That is soon to change.
The Case For $150 Oil… (In 2013)
By Matt Insley | DailyReckon.com
If you thought the Middle East was a powder keg before, just wait till you see what could be on tap for 2013.
There's mounting proof that shows the whole region could be headed down a one-way path to disaster. As you'll see, this could be the short fuse that sends oil to a brand new all-time high.
That said, let's head where most analysts won't. Here's the case for $150 oil, in 2013…
Mayan apocalypse mania grips Russia Officials try to calm fears as Russians buy up emergency supplies before the Mayan calendar runs out on Friday
By Miriam Elder in Moscow - Guardian.co.uk
The apocalypse is surely near when Ramzan Kadyrov emerges as the voice of reason.
The ruthless leader of Chechnya is among dozens of Russians officials, priests, doctors and psychiatrists aiming to calm an anxious populace frantically preparing for the end of the world later this week.
"People are buying candles saying the end of the world is coming," Kadyrov said in comments published on his official website last week. "Does no one realise that once the end of the world comes, candles won't help them?"
The Mayan apocalypse:
why is everyone in such a fever about it? Well, if the world really is coming to an end on Friday 21 December, you can see their point. On the other hand, there seem to be a few people trying to make money out of impending doom
The Guardian.co.uk Age: As old as idiocy itself. Appearance: Back-garden bunkers, tinned food and, eventually, embarrassment. Is this about Friday? It is indeed. Specifically, the moment on Friday when the whole world comes to a fiery, watery or in some other way unpleasant and cataclysmic end. As predicted by the Mayans? Actually, as predicted by absolutely no Mayan prophecies ever, but by quite a few very silly people who aren't aware that when a calendar comes to an end – even an ancient Mayan one – you just need to pop out and buy a new calendar. And they've gone feverish in anticipation? You could say that. In fact, you could say a mile-high tidal wave of apocalypse fever is sweeping across the planet as we speak.
15 Signs That The Ring Of Fire Is Waking Up
As We Head Into 2013
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
While most of the world has been focused on other things, the Ring of Fire has been quietly waking up. Over the past couple of months, there has been a steady string of noteworthy volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that have occurred along the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean. But because none of them have happened near a highly populated area, we really haven't heard much about them in the news. But if activity along the Ring of Fire continues to increase, it is inevitable that a major event will happen near a major city at some point. When that happens, the entire world will be focused on the Ring of Fire once again. Most people don't realize that approximately 90 percent of all earthquakes and approximately 75 percent of all volcanic eruptions occur along the Ring of Fire. The entire west coast of the United States sits along the Ring of Fire and a massive network of faults runs underneath California, Oregon and Washington. Fortunately, the west coast has not experienced any devastating seismic events in recent years, but scientists assure us that will change at some point. So it is important to sit up and take notice when there are reports of increasing activity along the Ring of Fire.
Palestinians flee to Lebanon
after jet bombs Syria's largest refugee camp PLO officials say Assad regime's attack marks 'historic moment' with former ally as 50,000 Palestinians expected from Yarmouk
By Martin Chulov in Beirut - The Guardian
Thousands of Palestinians in Syria are fleeing Damascus after an attack on the country's largest refugee camp, according to survivors who have reached Lebanon.
Some of those who have made it to the relative safety of Beirut claim the attack marks a "historical moment" in the Syrian war that has shattered the regime's claim to be a patron of resistance against Israel.
Israel sees new US poise, including military, to curb Iran
By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM | Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:31am EST
(Reuters) - U.S.-led efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program have resumed since President Barack Obama's re-election and include preparation for possible military action, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday.
The remarks by Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon suggested cautious optimism at prospects for an international resolution to the decade-old standoff with Tehran, though Israel says it remains ready to attack its arch-foe alone as a last resort.
The Fiscal Cliff Is A Diversion:
The Derivatives Tsunami and the Dollar Bubble
By Paul Craig Roberts
The "fiscal cliff" is another hoax designed to shift the attention of policymakers, the media, and the attentive public, if any, from huge problems to small ones.
The fiscal cliff is automatic spending cuts and tax increases in order to reduce the deficit by an insignificant amount over ten years if Congress takes no action itself to cut spending and to raise taxes. In other words, the "fiscal cliff" is going to happen either way.
Currency Cartel: Counterfeiting "Risk Free"
BY GORDON T LONG - FinancialSense.com
Since Bretton Woods and the creation of post WWII Monetary structure, US obligations were considered risk free and its debt instruments rated as AAA. Global risk and spreads have traditionally been priced off this foundation. A crippled dollar and US debt worries has the potential to trigger a global credit melt down. The 2008 financial crisis with Bear Stearns and Lehman gave us just an inkling of the magnitude of the problem.
This is forcing a game of Risk Free Counterfeiting to now be played out. It will end, and end badly. However, at the present time it is considered the only politically palatable solution.
Overtaken From Within
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
In the study of the market, and the study of economics, there is a mystery. It lies within the human heart, from a wellspring we cannot fathom. It is the mystery of existence; the mystery of "why" and "wherefore." To reduce man to a homo economicus (a rational and narrowly self-interested actor who seeks advantages) is to miss the big picture: namely, that man does not live by bread alone, that he is not merely rational, not merely economical, and not merely animal. Though some would say it is quaint nonsense, man is a moral and a spiritual being.
Why A Cliff Deal Could Cripple The Economy
By Josh Boak and Eric Pianin - The Fiscal Times
The U.S. economy has been propped up for the past four years by more than $1 trillion of emergency stimulus measures, a phenomenon not seen since the New Deal.
The government showered struggling businesses and ordinary Americans with tax breaks, public works projects, unemployment benefits and special subsidies to help them get through the worst of the Great Recession. But when millions of Americans wake up on New Year's Day, they may want to dive back under the covers when they discover their economic world in chaos. That's when the last remnants of the Obama Administration stimulus will likely disappear.
White House rejects Boehner's offer
to boost millionaires' tax rate in exchange for spending cuts
By Neil Munro - DailyCaller.com
President Barack Obama quickly spurned House Speaker John Boehner's latest compromise offer, as the federal government continues its scheduled progress toward the $500 billion so-called fiscal cliff in January.
The rejection came Sunday, two days after Boehner had offered to raise tax rates for Americans earning more than $1 million per year.
News of Boehner's compromise will likely spur protest by the GOP's small-government wing.
Higher Taxes in 2013? You're Already Paying Them for 2012
By Stephen Ohlemacher, AP - DailyCaller.com
WASHINGTON -- Millions of families and businesses will get hit by big tax increases a lot sooner than many realize if Congress and the White House don't agree on a plan to skirt the year-end fiscal cliff of higher tax rates and big government spending cuts.
In fact, they already have.
More than 70 tax breaks enjoyed by individuals and businesses expired at the end of 2011. If Congress doesn't extend them retroactively back to the beginning of this year, a typical middle-class family could face a $4,000 tax increase when it files its 2012 return in the spring, according to an analysis by H&R Block, the tax preparing giant.
Super-rich liberals breathe new life into 'death tax'
By Betsi Fores - DailyCaller.com
A group of wealthy businessmen petitioned Congress last week for a more progressive estate tax.
"We believe it is right to have a significant tax on large estates when they are passed on to the next generation," the letter says, boasting signatures from billionaires Warren Buffet, William Gates Sr., and George Soros.
Critics say the wealthy signatories actually stand to benefit financially from the policy they advocate.
Santelli And Schiff On Bernanke's
"Roach Motel Of Monetary Policy"
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
From the government-induced structural unemployment malaise to the implosion of our entire 'artificial economy', Peter Schiff and Rick Santelli explore the dark side of monetary policy in this brief clip. On the Fed's new policy and potential exit strategy, Schiff notes that "the Fed is constructing goalposts so it never actually hits them; the Fed is never going to tighten." While Santelli tends to agree with Schiff on the eventual collapse of the USD under this never-ending Fed easing scenario, he notes that getting a fix on that USD weakness is hard given everyone is racing to debase. Schiff notes, oil prices, gold prices, food inflation, and real assets all send the signal that Bernanke chooses to ignore and on the topic of 'monetization'which Bernanke seemed so 'put off' by during the press conference last week, Sch-antelli both seemingly (obviously) conclude that the mere mention of an exit at some point in the future by the great and powerful Oz does not preclude the fact that 90% of current Treasury issuance ends up on the Fed's books... leaving the fact that selling any of this "would make 2008 look like a Sunday picnic."
We've Been ZIRPed The perils of the zero interest rate policy.
BY ANDY KESSLER - WeeklyStandard.com
Father-son talks are always difficult, but it was time to teach my teenager about how things work. I dragged him to our local branch of Wells Fargo and opened a checking account with ATM card privileges and a savings account where he deposited his hard-earned umpiring cash. Having worked on Wall Street for 25 years, I stroked my chin and provided some sage advice: Checking accounts don't pay interest, so keep your money in the savings account and just move it to checking when you need it. None other than Albert Einstein, I noted, said, "compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe."
Indian government admits 'gold-backed'
means just pretending to have gold
By: Chris Powell - GoldSeek.com
Thanks to the government of India for acknowledging today that the great advantage of "gold-backed financial instruments" is not to their purchasers but rather to the government itself in its campaign to talk Indians out of their gold to reduce the country's current account deficit.
That is, as the Press Trust of India reports in the story appended from The Hindu, replacing the investment of the Indian people in gold with "gold-backed financial instruments" can reduce gold purchases only insofar as those "gold-backed financial instruments" don't actually have all the gold that has been sold in their name.
How the Fed Rules and Inflates
Mises Daily: by Murray N. Rothbard
Having examined the nature of fractional reserve and of central banking, and having seen how the questionable blessings of Central Banking were fastened upon America, it is time to see precisely how the Fed, as presently constituted, carries out its systemic inflation and its control of the American monetary system.
Pursuant to its essence as a post-Peel Act Central Bank, the Federal Reserve enjoys a monopoly of the issue of all bank notes. The U. S. Treasury, which issued paper money as Greenbacks during the Civil War, continued to issue one-dollar "Silver Certificates" redeemable in silver bullion or coin at the Treasury until August 16, 1968. The Treasury has now abandoned any note issue, leaving all the country's paper notes, or "cash," to be emitted by the Federal Reserve. Not only that; since the U.S. abandonment of the gold standard in 1933, Federal Reserve Notes have been legal tender for all monetary debts, public or private
Inflation rocks, but it could spur a bond market crash In This is Spinal Tap, the spoof documentary about a heavy metal rock band, there is a Marshall amplifier with a volume control which goes all the way up to 11.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
The joke is that the maximum volume is usually 10, but this one goes a stage higher. "Turning it up to 11" has since become a way of talking about extremes, or reaching beyond what is normally possible.
I recite the origins of the term because, unlikely though it might seem, it recently cropped up in conversation with a senior Bank of England policymaker. In his view, monetary policy, not just in Britain, but pretty much all major advanced economies, was already at 11, and it was hard to see how it could go much further.
Foreign holdings of US debt hit record $5.48T
By Christopher S. Rugaber, AP - Salon.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreign ownership of U.S. Treasury securities rose to a record level in October, a sign that overseas investors remain confident in U.S. debt despite a potential budget crisis.
Total foreign holdings of U.S. Treasurys rose to $5.48 trillion in October, the Treasury Department said Monday. That was up 0.1 percent from September. Still, the increase of $6 billion was the weakest since total holdings fell in December 2011.
Is Inflation the Hibernating Bear?
By 24/7 Wall St. - DailyFinance.com
The main objective of the Federal Reserve is to conduct the nation's monetary policy by influencing money and credit in the economy in pursuit of full employment and stable prices. Full employment is a long way off. Stable prices are another story. Inflation now seems very well behaved. The question is, does inflation remain as dormant as it has been in recent years?
The Federal Reserve has stated that the current accommodative policy may remain in effect until 2015, and a 6.5% unemployment and a 2.5% inflation target have been set as targeted thresholds for future policy changes for rates. That being the case, extraordinarily low interest rates seem all but certain to remain in place for consumers and business. The low interest rates should continue to propel not only the housing market but other individual and corporate investment, especially if the proverbial fiscal cliff is avoided.
The Eurozone's Delayed Reckoning
By Nouriel Roubini - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – The risks facing the eurozone have been reduced since the summer, when a Greek exit looked imminent and borrowing costs for Spain and Italy reached new and unsustainable heights. But, while financial strains have since eased, economic conditions on the eurozone's periphery remain shaky.
Argentina faces IMF penalties
over failure to meet inflation deadline Sanctions such as exclusion from G20 could be imposed as country's inflation rate appears at odds with independent assessments
By Ed Butler - The Guardian
Argentina faces the prospect of eviction from the world economic community after its apparent failure to respond to a three-month deadline set by the International Monetary Fund to produce accurateinflation and growth statistics.
Ejection from the IMF could lead to a variety of economic and political penalties, including exclusion from the G20 of industrial nations. IMF rules state that member states "must not co-operate with a non-member in practices that would be contrary to … the purposes of the Fund".
IMF about to show 'red card' to Argentina
RT.com
Argentina could be forced out of IMF and G20 over accusations it repeatedly fails to provide accurate inflation and GDP data.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde is to send a report on Argentina to the IMF board on Monday that could result in the country's expulsion, The Guardian reports.
In September the IMF warned there could be repercussions if Argentina fails to produce accurate inflation and growth data and set a three-month deadline that expires on Monday. The IMF claimed Argentina had "not brought itself into compliance" over the "quality of the official data reported to the Fund." Argentina has yet to respond.
Libor founder Minos Zombanakis condemns rate manipulators Those who are 'violating their own dignity' by dragging index into disrepute deserve fines, says syndicated finance pioneer
By Helena Smith in Athens - The Guardian
Amid mounting calls for the bankers who rigged Libor to be jailed, the Greek financier widely credited with inventing the benchmark interest rate has said that without the key ingredients on which it was built – honesty and trust – the formula was doomed to fail.
Speaking to the Guardian, Minos Zombanakis described how theLondon Interbank Offered Rate, which underpins $300tn of loans and financial transactions ranging from complex derivatives to ordinary mortgages, was born into a very different world. Manipulating the system, or indeed any unscrupulous behaviour, would have been unthinkable, Zombanakis says, because the system was based not only on the probity of men in bowler hats and pinstripe suits but on something more important still: an unwritten code of conduct inspired entirely by fair play.
36 UBS Bankers To Be Implicated In Liborgate,
Criminal Charges To Be Filed
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
As the fallout of Liborgate escalates, the next big bank to be impacted in the fallout started by Barclays civil settlement "revelation" is set to be troubled UBS, already some 10,000 bankers lighter, where as many as three dozen bankers are reported by the implicated in the fixing of the rate that until 2009 was the most important for hundreds of trillions in variable rate fixed income products. Only instead of attacking the US or even European jurisdiction, where the next big settlement is set to hit is Japan: a country whose regulators as recently as half a year ago promised there were no major issues with Libor, or Tibor as it is locally known, rate fixings. And while this most recent development will have little material impact on UBS' ongoing business model, the one difference from previous settlements is that it will likely include criminal charges lobbed against some of the 36 bankers.
Kathleen the Terrible Kathleen Sebelius is the most corrupt
and arrogant HHS secretary in history.
By DAVID CATRON - Spectator.org
Among the gifts Nancy Pelosi brings to the House of Representatives is her ability to draw a hearty guffaw from the most jaded observer of American politics. This talent for comedy was on display last Wednesday when she told a group of toadeaters disguised as journalists that she belongs to the anti-corruption party. The Orwellian absurdity of the claim, combined with her trademark vapid expression, was enough to make a cat laugh. I do, however, wish C-SPAN would flash some sort of warning on the screen when the former Speaker is about to deliver one of these howlers. That one caught me unawares with a mouth full of coffee and I had to spend the next ten minutes cleaning off my keyboard and monitor.
Michigan becomes right-to-work state despite union protests
DailyCaller.com
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — In a dizzyingly short time span, Republicans have converted Michigan from a seemingly impregnable fortress of organized labor into a right-to-work state, leaving outgunned Democrats and union activists with little recourse but to shake their fists and seek retribution at the ballot box.
The state House swiftly approved two bills reducing unions' strength Tuesday, one dealing with private-sector workers and the other with public employees, as thousands of furious protesters at the state Capitol roared in vain. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed the measures into law within hours, calling them "pro-worker and pro-Michigan."
Union thriving in right-to-work Nevada
By Nicholas Riccardi - AP
WashingtonTimes.com
The future of the American labor movement may lie just off the Las Vegas Strip, inside a squat building huddled in the shadow of the Stratosphere casino.
That's the home of the Culinary Workers Local 226, a fast-growing union of hotel and casino employees that has thrived despite being in a right-to-work state and a region devastated by the real estate crash.
UofD Law Students Help Homeowners
In Fight Against Police Pension Fund
By Steve Dibert - MFI-Miami.com
DETROIT, Dec. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Clinic is set to argue a motion to set aside an order effectively stripping over 70 Wayne County homeowners of ownership interests, leaving them faced with wrongful eviction from their homes. A large number of the affected homeowners are expected to be present for the motion hearing scheduled for Monday, December 17, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. at the Wayne County Circuit Court, Rm. #1901.
Paramount Land Holdings, locally funded by the Detroit Police and Fire Pension Fund, purchased foreclosed properties for as little as $10. Through land contracts, it sold them for inflated prices to buyers who were assured that Paramount had paid all back taxes. Homeowners learned otherwise when Wayne County began foreclosure proceedings for back taxes. As a result, many homeowners stopped making their monthly payments to Paramount.
Computers that will see, hear, smell: Next, world domination?
By Deborah Netburn - LATimes.com
IBM's 5 in 5 -- a list of five innovations that could change the world in five years -- focuses on how computers are developing the ability to taste, touch, hear, see and listen just like humans do, except way better.
It is kind of exciting and kind of terrifying, but mostly just really cool.
For example, Hendrik Hamann, a research manager of physical systems for IBM, describes a smartphone that could use a computerized nose to "smell" if we are sick. Forget the thermometer and the doctor's visit -- we will simply breathe into our cellphones to find out if we have the flu.
Peter Pan generation... won't grow-up 22 Stats That Prove
That There Is Something Seriously Wrong
With Young Men In America
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
When are we finally going to admit that we have a very serious problem with this generation of young men in America? We have failed them so dramatically that it is hard to put it into words. We have raised an entire generation of young males that don't know how to be men, and many of them feel completely lost. Sometimes they feel so lost that they "snap" in very destructive ways. Adam Lanza and James Holmes are two names that come to mind. Why is it that mass murderers are almost always young men? Why don't young women behave the same way? Sadly, Adam Lanza and James Holmes are just the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem in our society. Our young women vastly outperform our young men in almost every important statistical category. Young men are much more likely to perform poorly in school, they are much more likely to have disciplinary problems and they are much more likely to commit suicide.
Gun Control After Newtown
By Jeffrey D. Sachs - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – The brutal murder of 20 children and seven adults in Newtown, Connecticut, shakes us to the core as individuals and requires a response as citizens. The United States seems to reel from one mass gun killing to another – roughly one a month this year alone. Easy access to guns in the US leads to horrific murder rates relative to other highly educated and wealthy societies. America needs to find a better way.
White House says Obama will move swiftly
on gun control after Newtown First signs that Democrats are willing to take on pro-gun lobby as even NRA-endorsed senator Joe Manchin says 'we need action'
By Ewen MacAskill in Washington - The Guardian
The White House promised a comprehensive series of measures, including gun control legislation, on Monday to prevent a recurrence of mass shootings such as the "horrific" attack in Connecticut that left 20 children and six teachers dead.
The pledge came as the first cracks began to appear in the seemingly impregnable opposition to gun controls. Less than 24 hours after Barack Obama signalled that gun control would be a second term priority during a powerful speech on Sunday evening at a vigil for the victims in Newtown, at least two Democratic senators strongly identified with gun rights shifted position in favour of reform.
NRA Facebook Page Disappears
BY RYAN TATE - Wired.com
The Facebook page of the National Rifle Association disappeared this weekend in the wake of the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticuit; the page's former location now redirects users back to the home page.
Press accounts speculate that the staunch anti-gun-control group deleted its page amid a growing and impassioned debate over whether gun laws need tightening. A woman answering phones at the NRA's public affairs office declined to immediately comment on the Facebook page Monday. When asked whether the Facebook move was indeed voluntary, she responded, "I do not know, sir." The association touted its 1.7 millionth Facebook "like" in a tweet midday Thursday, prompting an fusillade of angry replies the following day, after the school shooting. An early-morning Friday tweet about NRA giveaways prompted a similar backlash and the group has not tweeted since.
Key Democratic senators shift on gun regulation Obama directs Cabinet to launch plan for reducing gun violence
By Debbi Wilgoren, Scott Wilson
and David A. Fahrenthold - WashingtonPost.com
President Obama on Monday began the first serious push of his administration to attempt to reduce gun violence, directing Cabinet members to begin formulating a set of proposals that could include an effort to reinstate a ban on assault rifles.
The effort will be led by Vice President Biden, according to two people outside government who have spoken to senior administration officials since Friday, when a gunman rampaged through Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killing 20 children, six adults and himself.
Texas judge halts Canadian Keystone XL oil pipeline work
DailyCaller.com
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas judge has ordered TransCanada to temporarily halt work on a private property where it is building part of an oil pipeline designed to carry tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, the latest legal battle to plague a project that has encountered numerous obstacles nationwide.
Texas landowner Michael Bishop, who is defending himself in his legal battle against the oil giant, filed his lawsuit in the Nacogdoches County courthouse, arguing that TransCanada lied to Texans when it said it would be using the Keystone XL pipeline to transport crude oil.
Montana approves XL Keystone pipeline Land board approves Keystone lease
AP - BillingsGazette.com
HELENA — Montana on Monday approved easements to let the Keystone XL pipeline cross state-owned land, including the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers.
The Land Board, chaired by Gov. Brian Schweitzer, running his last meeting before leaving office, sold the package of 50-year easements to TransCanada for $741,000. The board also finalized approval for land leases for the completion of the Montana-Alberta Tie Line.
Society Is Crumbling Right In Front Of Our Eyes
And Banning Guns Won't Help
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
What in the world is happening to America? I have written many articles about how society is crumbling right in front of our eyes, but now it is getting to the point where people are going to be afraid to go to school or go shopping at the mall. Just consider what has happened over the past week. Adam Lanza savagely murdered 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. 42-year-old Marcus Gurrola threatened to shoot innocent shoppers and fired off more than 50 rounds in the parking lot of Fashion Island Mall in Newport Beach, California. After police apprehended him, he told them that he "was unhappy with life". Earlier in the week, a crazy man wearing a hockey mask and armed with a semi-automatic rifle opened fire on the second floor of a mall in Happy Valley, Oregon.
Moscow fires warning shot across bow of US naval-based ABM
By Robert Bridge, RT.com
A top Russian official says a US missile defense system near Russia's border is strategically destabilizing and may prompt an arms race.
Speaking on the threat of mobile, naval-based elements of the US missile defense system "suddenly appearing" on Russia's coastline, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said such an event would trigger "the harshest reaction from Russia."
"We must consider the effective protection of our strategic nuclear forces," Rogozin said in an interview with the magazine Voyenny Parade ('Military Parade').
Libya closes borders, declares martial law
AAP - News.com.au
LIBYA has ordered the closure of its borders with four of its neighbours as it declared martial law in its vast desert south in the face of mounting unrest, state media has reported.
The National Assembly ordered the "temporary closure of the land borders with Chad, Niger, Sudan and Algeria pending new regulations" on the circulation of people and goods, said a decree on Sunday carried by the official LANA news agency.
Al Qaeda Lives
The real story behind Benghazi and the other attacks of 9/11/12
BY THOMAS JOSCELYN - WeeklyStandard.com
What actually happened in Egypt and Libya on September 11, 2012? The story from the U.S. government has changed many times in an effort to craft a narrative that causes as little damage as possible to the Obama administration. Now the administration seems to have settled on something approaching a final version.
It goes like this:
Iran Announces More Naval Exercises in the Straits of Hormuz
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
Earlier in the year the Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, stated that they would carry out eight military drills throughout the course of the current Iranian calendar year; which runs from March 21st to March 20th.
Now, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, has announced what could be the last set of military operations of the year to occur sometime between now and the 20th of March.
US Navy pulls two aircraft carriers from Syria shores
RT.com
Two aircraft carriers stationed off the Syrian coast were sent back to the US this week in a move that the Obama administration thought would ease tensions, but angered Turkish officials who hoped for significant US military presence in the region.
The USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier and the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and its 2,500 marines were recalled after being stationed on the Syrian coast, allegedly in preparation of potential military invasion.
Patriot missiles in Turkey: Targeting Syria or Iran? (Op-Ed)
By Sergey Strokan- RT.com
Turkey, a longtime geopolitical hotspot, has recently played a key role in the struggle for influence between regional and Western powers over NATO missile deployments – Ankara is once again at the center of a global crisis.
What prompted this new crisis (and evoked a distinct feeling of Cold War déjà vu) was Ankara's appeal to NATO to deploy its Patriot missiles in the southern Turkish provinces, along the 900-km-long border with Syria. While described as a purely defensive move, aimed at enhancing Turkish security in the wake of the escalating Syrian war and alleged possibility of a chemical weapons attack by the cornered President Assad, the initiative was denounced straight away by Ankara's neighbors and other regional powers – Moscow, Tehran and Damascus.
Syrian army tanks close in on Damascus Palestinian camp Residents fear Assad loyalists will enter in search of rebel groups after refugees become drawn into conflict in Syria
By Martin Chulov in Beirut
and Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem - Guardian.co.uk
Syrian tanks have closed in on the entrances to the largest Palestinian camp in Damascus after battles between pro- and anti-Assad groups for the first time directly drew the country's refugees into the 21-month-old crisis.
Skirmishes between Palestinian groups allied with the rebel Free SyriaArmy and other factions loyal to the Assad regime continued on Monday, a day after an air strike on a mosque in Yarmouk camp was thought to have killed around 20 people.
Syria 'genuinely worried' extremist groups
could get hold of chemical weapons In a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and UNSC, Syria's UN envoy expressed concern that other states might equip extremists with chemical weapons and accuse Assad of using them.
Reuters - Haaretz.com
Syria is "genuinely worried" that some countries might equip extremist groups with chemical weapons and then claim they were used by the Syrian government, the country's UN envoy said in a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council.
Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari also accused the U.S. government of supporting "terrorists" in Syria and waging a campaign that claims Syria could use chemical weapons in the 2-month civil war that has killed at least 40,000 people.
Syrian rebels take control of Damascus Palestinian camp Rebels control camp after pro-Assad fighters pull out; hundreds of Palestinian families flee to Lebanon; Syrian VP most prominent figure to say Assad cannot win.
Reuters - Haaretz.com
BEIRUT - Syrian rebels took full control of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on Monday after fighting raged for days in the district on the southern edge of President Bashar Assad's Damascus powerbase, rebel and Palestinian sources said.
The battle had pitted rebels, backed by some Palestinians, against Palestinian fighters of the pro-Assad Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). Many PFLP-GC fighters defected to the rebel side and their leader Ahmed Jibril left the camp two days ago, rebel sources said.
Iran warns Patriot missiles in Turkey could lead to 'world war' Iranian armed forces chief joins other Islamic Republic officials who caution that the stationing of NATO missiles could cause conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Reuters - Haaretz.com
The planned deployment of NATO Patriot missiles along Turkey's border with Syria could lead to a "world war" that would threaten Europe as well, Iran's military chief of staff was quoted as saying on Saturday.
Turkey asked NATO for the Patriot system, designed to intercept aircraft or missiles, in November to help bolster its border security after repeated episodes of gunfire from war-torn Syria spilling into Turkish territory.
Precious Metals Hit by the Evans' Rule
BY SOBER LOOK - FinancialSense.com
There seems to be a great deal of confusion about why gold (and silver) sold off in response to wednesday's announcement from the Fed.
The Fed will be undertaking an even more aggressive expansionary policy than originally announced in September. Balance sheet will expand dramatically and so will the reserves and the monetary base. Treasuries sold off again today with higher inflation expectations (see discussion).
So what's up with gold?
Noting that markets have been destroyed,
Chris Martenson earns his tinfoil hat
By: Chris Powell - GoldSeek.com
"Once upon a time," Martenson writes, perhaps with a weary glance at GATA, "it would have been considered in bad taste to suggest that the world was being centrally managed in secret by a smallish cabal of bankers whose actions served to either prop up the excessive spending habits of the very governments that conferred upon them the power to print money or to bolster the health and profits of the banks they mainly serve. That was then. Today you can just read about it in the Wall Street Journal."
No Way Out
By: Peter Schiff - GoldSeek.com
By upping the ante once again in its gamble to revive the lethargic economy through monetary action, the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee is now compelling the rest of us to buy into a game that we may not be able to afford. At his press conference this week, Fed Chairman Bernanke explained how the easiest policy stance in Fed history has just gotten that much easier. First it gave us zero interest rates, then QEs I and II, Operation Twist, and finally "unlimited" QE3.
The Fed's fantastic failure
By: Clif Droke - GoldSeek.com
Question: When is an unprecedented economic event tantamount to a non-event? Answer: When another Fed intervention is announced.
The U.S. Federal Reserve bank announced this week the commencement of a new round of Treasury purchases to the tune of $45 billion a month to replace the expiring Operation Twist. This is in addition to the recently launched QE3 program that committed the Fed to buying $40 billion a month in mortgage-backed securities. The grand total of these central bank interventions amounts to some $1 trillion a year in government debt markets.
QE 4: Folks, This Ain't Normal What you need to know about the Fed's latest move
BY CHRIS MARTENSON PHD - FinancialSense.com
Okay, the Fed's recent decision to boost its monetary stimulus (a.k.a. "money printing," "quantitative easing," or simply "QE") by another $45 billion a month to a combined $85 billion per month demonstrates an almost complete departure from what a normal person might consider sensible.
To borrow a phrase from Joel Salatin: Folks, this ain't normal. To this I will add ...and it will end badly.
The Fiscal Cliff Is Political Theater, Pure and Simple
By Ashby Foote - RealClearMarkets.com
The American economy is now three years into an economic expansion that, sadly, ranks as the weakest in 50 years. Big downturns are normally followed by big recoveries, but not this time. Growth is too slow, job creation too meager and business confidence downright hard to find.
By just about every measure the American economy is operating far below its potential. A bruising and exhausting Presidential campaign centered on jobs and the economy is finally over, but its conclusion brought little relief. In the election's aftermath, crisis fatigued citizens are confronted with yet another government contrived crisis - the Fiscal Cliff! - a name guaranteed to scare. If Alfred Hitchcock were alive today, he would surely be a political consultant.
U.S. will go over the fiscal cliff
and markets will force a deal: Nouriel 'Dr. Doom' Roubini
By Steve Gelsi - MarketWatch.com
Keeping to his nickname of "Dr. Doom" after he foretold of the 2008 financial crisis, economist Nouriel Roubini said Friday he expects the U.S. to fall off the fiscal cliff.
Referring to the combination of tax hikes and spending cuts facing the U.S. on Jan. 1 under current federal law, Roubini said "I think there's a highly likely chance we're going to go over the cliff."
But it won't be all bad, said Roubini, a professor of economics at New York University and chairman of Roubini Global Economics.
Fed Downgrades Economic Outlook
BY LANCE ROBERTS - FinancialSense.com
The Federal Reserve meeting for December came with few real surprises. The two important actions that were eyed by the financial markets were the pledge to continue artificially suppressing interest rates and the extension of monetary actions. Both of these goals were met.
While the Fed had already entered into a third Large Scale Asset Purchase program (QE 3) in September, which purchases $40 billion each month in mortgage related securities, they also announced of an additional program (QE 4) to replace the expiring "Operation Twist." Unlike"Operation Twist" which used maturing securities to purchase new holdings - the new program will be an outright monetization program of $45 billion each month of Treasury bond purchases. This will bring the total purchases of fixed income securities by the Fed each month to $85 billion.
Conservatives fear Boehner has lost his principles
by: Matthew Boyle - Times 24/7
Conservative Republicans in the House are seriously concerned with reports that House Speaker John Boehner has abandoned GOP principles in his behind-closed-doors fiscal cliff negotiations with President Barack Obama by offering a tax rate increase.
Kansas Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp told Breitbart News that the reports that Boehner has caved are troubling for the future of the GOP and for the economy.
The Permanent Budget Crisis The looming debt-ceiling showdown
will extend the fiscal crisis for months—or more.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
If you want to know why the fiscal-cliff talks are having such a devilishly hard time reaching resolution, you need to look behind the issues—taxes, spending, stimulus, austerity—that are dominating this month's debate and start looking ahead to the next debate.
Specifically, gaze dolefully forward to February or March or maybe April when the total volume of nominal federal debt will reach the statutory cap on borrowing—the "debt ceiling"—setting up a repeat of the legislative brinksmanship we saw in the summer of 2011. The debt ceiling is key because conservatives believe it gives them crucial hidden leverage that they currently lack, and because Democrats are determined not to settle for a short-term deal this month without resolving the debt ceiling for a while.
Boehner opens door to tax hikes, shifts U.S. fiscal cliff talks
By David Lawder and Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 16, 2012 7:31pm EST
(Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's offer to accept a tax rate increase for the wealthiest Americans knocks down a key Republican road block to a deal resolving the year-end "fiscal cliff."
The question now boils down to what President Barack Obama offers in return. Such major questions, still unanswered so close to the end of the year suggest, however, that no spending and tax agreement is imminent.
White House won't accept new tax offer from Republican leader
By Thomas Ferraro and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON | Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:02pm EST
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama is not ready to accept a new offer from the Republican leader of the U.S. the House of Representatives to raise taxes on top earners in exchange for major cuts in entitlement programs, a source said late Saturday.
The shape and details of Boehner's offer were uncertain Saturday night, as was the exact reason the president was prepared to reject it.
The GOP Case for the Higher Taxes on the Rich Republicans should unequivocally accept rate increases -- immediately. It would reduce the deficit and suddenly turn the spotlight on Democrats' steadfast refusal to reform entitlements.
By Michael R. Strain - TheAtlantic.com
Given that our structural deficit overwhelmingly reflects a spending problem and not a revenue problem, it is unfortunate that the Democrats have succeeded in making the opening battle in the fiscal cliff a fight about tax rates. But succeed they have. We won't have a serious debate about spending before we've determined the marginal income tax rates paid by the top two percent of Americans.
JPMorgan CEO Pushes Fiscal Cliff
Compromise As The Bank Lobbies For Tax Breaks
By Catherine New - The Huffington Post
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase's chief executive, has been out front among Wall Street chiefs in supporting higher tax rates on individual taxpayers as a way to avert the fiscal cliff.
In fact, Dimon has even said that he'd be willing to pay higher taxes on his own income, which was around $23 million last year alone. Add to that, the CEO is a member of Fix the Debt, a nonprofit group with the mission to promote ways to reduce the national debt.
The Fed's New, Squishy Inflation Target
BY TIM IACONO - FinancialSense.com
detailed here) and noting how they intend to tie interest rate decisions (and perhaps other policy changes) to both the jobless rate and the inflation rate, it occurred to me that their inflation target has lots of wiggle room in it.
For better or worse, it's pretty clear what unemployment rate they'll use as the Labor Department publishes this every month and, though it has its share of quirks (e.g., the official jobless rate went down last month as the number of employed people fell), when the Fed says they'll keep monetarypolicy super-easy until the unemployment rate falls below 6.5 percent, at least everyone knows what that means.
The US Continues Along an Alarming Continuum
By David Galland - GoldSeek.com
Late at night on November 6, along with John Mauldin, Doug Casey and a group of partygoers in a café here in Cafayate, we watched on a small television as Obama's contract was renewed by a majority of the mob. As was the case with many readers, I suspect, my initial reaction was disbelief.
While I try not to pay a lot of attention to the careers of individual politicians, but rather prefer to monitor the carnage they inflict on the world in the collective, I sincerely believed that Obama's steady transgressions against commonsense economics, individual liberty and the rule of law would see him unceremoniously turned out.
Keiser Report: High Frequency Scalping (E380)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert look at central banking meth heads and low level broker-dealer-thieves drinking the hand sanitizer that is the high frequency scalping of the last dregs of equity left in the markets. They also ask whether the US has it in for British banks. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to Peter Antonioni, author of the Economics for Dummies, about the policy of quantitative easing as economic homeopathy - it only works on the grounds that you believe it works and about the UK monetizing its debt after transferring QE 'surpluses' from the Bank of England to the Treasury.
False hope springs eternal in the eurozone It's remarkable that the single currency has survived –
but the worst is far from over
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
One thing you can say about the euro – it's proving much more resilient than conventional economic analysis suggested it was ever likely to be. Those who bet the ranch on it falling apart this year have been left badly out of pocket; those that took the contrary view and piled into Greek assets when they were flat on the floor have done well.
When politics and economics collide, it's nearly always economics that wins, but with the single currency – so far – the politics has triumphed over the economics. Large parts of the eurozone periphery have suffered economic collapse as bad as anything seen since the destruction of the Second World War, yet still they cling to monetary union as if it were the only possible hope of salvation. The appetite for economic torture seems to know no bounds.
Latest eurozone summit ends in stalemate Two-day summit was supposed to lay out a grand plan and timetable for reforming and stabilising the euro regime
By Ian Traynor in Brussels - Guardian.co.uk
European leaders wound up their final summit of 2012 on Friday in much the same manner as they started the year – kicking the euro crisis can down the road, playing for time, crossing their fingers, hoping the worst is behind them.
In almost three years since the Greek drama erupted in February 2010 and spread quickly around the fringes of the eurozone, the leaders have never quite managed to get ahead of the curve despite 22 summits and countless meetings of eurozone finance ministers.
Leaders disagree on future euro integration
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - EU leaders early Friday (14 December) had different views on how to deepen integration in the eurozone, with Germany insisting that any new budget aimed at rewarding reforms in the eurozone should be at most €20 billion strong.
In a bid to present a united front, EU leaders after the 10-hour long session focused mainly on things that had already been agreed: a deal on Greece's debt and bailout tranche and a key agreement by finance ministers on putting eurozone's largest banks under central supervision.
Conservatives Want To Raise the Medicare
Eligibility Threshold To Make It Easier To End Medicare
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
Something that's been puzzling me about the debate over raising the Medicare eligibility age is whether this is something conservatives even really want to do. It's a pretty terrible idea on the merits and my understanding of the conservative position on Medicare is that the program needs "structural reforms" (i.e., privatization) not a minor tweak in the number of people who qualify for it. But Peter Suderman at Reason has a good account of why conservatives might think a minor tweak in the number of people who qualify for Medicare is a helpful step on the road to privatization:
The most important likely effect is political. Reforming Medicare is difficult in part because of resistance by beneficiaries, who hold a lot of political influence; indeed, the fact that some beneficiaries might have to pay more for their insurance (CBO estimates that nearly all would still end up insured) is the primary argument cited by opponents of raising the eligibility age object to the change. That people who benefit from a program like it and/or get financial rewards from it, however, is not much of an argument for refusing to accept reforms, especially with an obviously unsustainable entitlement like Medicare. Diminishing the size of the beneficiary class is likely to diminish resistance to further change, and while it's not enough, it might ultimately make reform easier.
Domino's founder sues feds over health care law
AP - FOXNews.com
DETROIT – The founder of Domino's Pizza is suing the federal government over mandatory contraception coverage in the health care law.
Tom Monaghan, a devout Roman Catholic, says contraception isn't health care but a "gravely immoral" practice.
He filed a lawsuit Friday in federal court. It also lists as a plaintiff Domino's Farms, a Michigan office park complex that Monaghan owns.
Obama risks losing base by raising Medicare age
by: Steven T. Dennis - Times 24/7
An increase in the Medicare eligibility age, perhaps more than any other proposal getting bandied about in the fiscal cliff talks, would split President Barack Obama from the heart of his political base.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo., the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told CQ Roll Call last week that his caucus has been supportive of the president, but he said raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 would present a tough choice between backing the president and protecting African-American seniors from bearing the brunt of the change.
Radioactive Cigarettes: What Tobacco Companies Hid for Years So About That 'Glowing' Cigarette…
BY DEBORAH BLUM - Wired.com
By the end of the 1920s, scientists already knew that tobacco smoke contained a small encyclopedia's worth of risky chemical compounds: carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide and formaldehyde, ammonia and pyridine (a component in industrial solvents).
I discovered that list when I was researching my book about early 20th century toxicology, The Poisoner's Handbook. And I remember being surprised because I had believed that it wasn't until the mid-20th century, maybe a little before the famed 1964 U.S. Surgeon General report on the dangers of smoking – that we really knew anything about the health risks of smoking.
How Much Should The Federal Government
Subsidize Retirement? - Part II
By John Goodman - Forbes.com
Our federal deficit problem is an entitlement problem. And our entitlement problem is mainly about income and health care for the elderly. As I pointed out in aprevious post, entitlements for the elderly mainly subsidize retirement. If we cut back on spending, seniors will have less retirement income unless they work more and save more to replace those retrenchments.
How much should we cut back and how should we do it?
Innovative housing for the homeless
being built in downtown L.A. The Skid Row Housing Trust is building a 102-unit, $20.5-million complex by stacking pre-outfitted apartments atop one another in a Lego-like fashion to save time and money.
By Wesley Lowery, Los Angeles Times
The Skid Row Housing Trust has spent decades revitalizing abandoned buildings and hotels in downtown Los Angeles' most destitute neighborhood to serve as shelter for the city's chronically homeless.
But for its latest housing project, the trust abandoned its usual technique for a seemingly elementary construction concept. A 102-unit, $20.5-million complex is being built by stacking pre-outfitted apartments atop one another in a Lego-like fashion, limiting construction costs and fast-forwarding the project timeline. It is believed to be the first multi-tenant residential building in the nation to be constructed this way.
What does the Future "Really" Hold for US Oil Production?
By Tom Whipple - OilPrice.com
The Association for the Study of Peak Oil recently held its annual conference down in Austin, Texas. The venue for the meeting was right across the street from the University of Texas football stadium which is as close to the heart of Texas as you can get. This year the conference focused on two main themes: the rapid growth of tight oil production in the U.S. and where it is going; and the economics of oil (or, will prices continue to allow us to grow our economy?).
Is the US Coal Industry Drawing its Last Few Breaths?
By Energy Digital - OilPrice.com
After the reelection of President Barack Obama, big coal has come under the threat of imminent extinction in the United States. With the Environmental Protection Agency's new rules under the current administration, coal plants face stricter pollution rules, making many facilities unprofitable and forced to shut down altogether. Some companies, like Mitt Romney-endorsing Murray Energy, laid off hundreds of workers days after the results of November's presidential election, knowing full well that they would not be able to survive a second term under President Obama. But are politics really to blame?
The Boeing 787 Hole Gets Deeper, Questions Of Plane's Safety
By Douglas A. McIntyre - 247wallst.cim
Each time that Boeing (NYSE: BA) claims that some problem with its 787 Dreamliner is an anomaly, another problem occurs. With each new turn, the question of whether the 787 is safe for flight or not arises again. And, other problems has occurred recently.
The most pressing issue with the aircraft now is its power panel and generators. The Wall Street Journal reports:
But the electrical system is more critical to the operation of the Dreamliner than on previous Boeing aircraft. The Dreamliner's design eliminates a hot and hard-to-maintain system that transferred hot air from the engines to power many of the jet's systems, in favor of a more heavily electrical design that powers such processes as starting the jet's engines, deicing the wings and operating the cabin environmental system.
Boeing returns to Iraq after 30 years
By Adam Schreck, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
BAGHDAD — The first new Boeing Co. jetliner sold to Iraq in 30 years touched down in Baghdad on Saturday, signaling the country's determination to rebuild its economy after decades of war and sanctions.
Iraq is eager to improve its creaky aviation industry, which lags far behind those of its energy-rich neighbors. Boeing's twin-aisle 777-200LR plane was delivered less than two weeks after the company's chief rival, Airbus, announced the delivery of one of its own wide-body planes to Iraq.
U.S. should automatically register voters: attorney general
By Scott Malone and David Ingram
BOSTON/WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 12, 2012 6:21pm EST
(Reuters) - Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday that U.S. election officials should register eligible voters automatically and take steps to reduce the long lines Americans encountered in national elections on November 6.
In a speech in Boston, Holder became the highest-ranking official to call for voting changes since President Barack Obama expressed exasperation with the hours-long lines during his re-election victory speech last night.
Attorney General Secretly Granted Gov. Ability
to Develop and Store Dossiers on Innocent Americans
BY KIM ZETTER - Wired.com
In a secret government agreement granted without approval or debate from lawmakers, the U.S. attorney general recently gave the National Counterterrorism Center sweeping new powers to store dossiers on U.S. citizens, even if they are not suspected of a crime, according to a news report.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Eric Holder granted the center the ability to copy entire government databases holding information on flight records, casino-employee lists, the names of Americans hosting foreign-exchange students and other data, and to store it for up to five years, even without suspicion that someone in the database has committed a crime, according to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story.
Obama quietly grants amnesty Administration's program halts 102,000 deportations
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
The administration has issued stays of deportation for 102,965 illegal immigrants under President Obama's new non-deportation policy, officials announced Friday.
Another 157,151 applications are still under review under the policy, officially known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which grants a tentative legal status to illegal immigrants who qualify — though it does not grant them a path to citizenship.
SpyPhone: Pentagon Spooks
Want New Tools for Mobile 'Exploitation'
BY SPENCER ACKERMAN - Wired.com
The Pentagon wants to upgrade its spy corps. And one of its first jobs will be finding out what's on your iPhone.
If the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) gets its way, it'll send an expanded cadre of spies around the world to scope out threats to the U.S. military. And it won't just be a larger spy team, it'll be a geekier one. The DIA wants "technical exploitation" tools that can efficiently access the data of people the military believes to be dangerous once their spies collect it.
The U.N. Fought The Internet --
And The Internet Won; WCIT Summit In Dubai Ends
By Elise Ackerman - Forbes.com
For the last two weeks some of the planet's most oppressive regimes have faced off against some of the most powerful Internet advocates in an effort to rewrite a multilateral communications treaty that, if successful, could have changed the nature of the Internet and altered the way it is governed.
On Thursday night that effort failed, as a US-led block of dissenting countries refused to sign the proposed updates, handing the United Nation's International Telecommunication Union a humbling defeat.
Beware a Sleeping Godzilla:
The UN's Internet Treaty Fiasco
BY LAUREN WEINSTEIN - Wired.com
A mainstay of science-fiction and horror films is the monster you're led to believe has been vanquished, but reappears in even more horrific form — sometimes bringing along "friends" — in the final scene and even in sequels.
Godzilla appears to sink back into the sea to leave a battered Tokyo in peace, but he's merely snoozing, dreaming happy dreams of future destruction.
100 Million iPads Possible in 2013
By Paul Ausick - 247WallSt.com
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has its sights set on shipping 100 million iPads in 2013 according to a blog post at NPD DisplaySearch. That's a big jump from the 70 million 9.7-inch iPads the company is expected to ship this year and the 6 million iPad minis that Apple planned to sell this year.
The largest rise will come in iPad mini shipments, which DisplaySearch suggests may be as high as 50 million units, over and above the 100 million iPad 2s and new iPads that Apple hopes to ship next year.
China Is Officially Dusting the U.S. In Manufacturing
(and That's OK)
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
In 2010, China just barely edged out the United States as the world's top manufacturer by output -- a distinction it hadn't held since 1850. Still the two countries were basically neck and neck.
No longer. The United Nations has updated its national accounts data to capture 2011, and thanks to China's breakneck growth, its manufacturing output is now leaving ours in a cloud of coal dust, as shown in this graph from AEI's Mark Perry. China's trend line is practically an asymptote.
The Mysterious Ways of the United States and China
By Clive Crook - TheAtlantic.com
Returning from more than two weeks in China, I find I haven't missed much in Washington. A lot of budget-crisis commentary has flowed under the bridge since my previous post on that dismal subject, but I can't see much need to update it. China's problems include political paralysis of a certain kind--but nothing to compare with Washington's perpetual-crisis machine. A few of the people I met in Shanghai and Beijing asked me to explain what was going on. I tried to, as neutrally and dispassionately as I could, and they seemed to think I was exaggerating for comic effect. ("You mean they might really go over the cliff? And tell me again, what are they arguing about?") Not everybody in China sees the US as a rival whose economy has to be conquered for China to succeed, but those who do must find the news from the nation's capital encouraging.
Obama Brings Gun Debate to Fore
By GARY FIELDS and ASHBY JONES - WSJ.com
President Barack Obama, calling the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., a "heinous crime," vowed to press for meaningful action to prevent more such incidents.
"We've endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years," Mr. Obama said, wiping away tears.
The comments he made Friday on the need to act against gun violence mirror those he made in the aftermath of the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that severely wounded then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed six. He stopped short of making any proposals after that incident, however, and no new federal gun laws were enacted in its aftermath.
FTC poised to release new rules
to protect children's online privacy
By Brendan Sasso - TheHill.com
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is expected to soon overhaul regulations aimed at protecting the privacy of children when they are online.
At a recent event on Capitol Hill, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said he hopes to announce his update to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) this coming week.
More Than 2000 Children Are Murdered
In The United States Every Single Day
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Mass murderer Adam Lanza is yet another example of how society is collapsing right in front of our eyes. When I was young, I never imagined that someone would come into my school and try to kill me. But now any school that does not have armed security is being incredibly foolish. The mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday was the second worst school shooting in modern American history. All of the children that Adam Lanza savagely murdered were either 6 or 7 years old. It was such a horrific crime that even the mainstream media is using words that they would not normally use such as "evil", "wicked" and "demonic". There does not seem to be any penalty that would be too harsh for what Adam Lanza did. In this type of case, the death penalty seems way too kind. Unfortunately, Adam Lanza is dead so he will never have his day in court. Instead, the rest of us are left trying to figure out why this happened and what to do about it.
Gun Control After Newtown
By Jeffrey D. Sachs - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – The brutal murder of 20 children and seven adults in Newtown, Connecticut, shakes us to the core as individuals and requires a response as citizens. The United States seems to reel from one mass gun killing to another – roughly one a month this year alone. Easy access to guns in the US leads to horrific murder rates relative to other highly educated and wealthy societies. America needs to find a better way.
Lawmakers Weigh In on Gun Control
By GARY FIELDS, DEVLIN BARRETT and JARED FAVOLE - WSJ.com
Elected officials argued Sunday over how to prevent mass shootings like the one at an elementary school in Connecticut, with some calling for stricter gun controls and others arguing the restrictions don't prevent such tragedies.
Some questioned whether videogames and graphically violent Hollywood movies should be limited, and nearly all of the politicians who spoke about the shooting on Sunday morning talk shows wondered how the mental-health system may be failing to prevent such attacks.
Feinstein to introduce assault weapons ban
at start of next Congress
By Russell Berman - TheHill.com
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Sunday she would introduce a bill re-instating the federal ban on assault weapons on the first day of the new Congress in January.
Feinstein, a leading gun control advocate in Congress, said the measure had been in the works for a year and would be unveiled simultaneously in both the House and Senate.
GOP lawmaker wishes Sandy Hook principal
was armed with assault rifle
By Alexander Bolton - TheHill.com
Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican from Texas, says he wishes Dawn Hochsprung, the principal of the Sandy Hook Elementary School, was armed with an M-4 assault rifle when she confronted Adam Lanza, the shooter who killed 20 children.
"I wish to God she had an M-4 in her office locked up so when she heard gunfire she pulls it out and she didn't have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands but she takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids," Gohmert said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday."
Schumer: Gun debate at 'tipping point'
By Alexander Bolton - TheHill.com
Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking Senate Democratic leader, said the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. may open the door to new gun-control legislation.
"I think we could be at a tipping point for two reasons, a tipping point where we might actually get something done," Schumer said on CBS's "Face the Nation". "First this was not a single incident, it followed a series of others."
Obama under gun control pressure
amid new details of Newtown assault New York mayor leads way demanding stricter gun laws as police say they found 'hundreds' of bullets at school crime scene
By Chris McGreal, and Ed Pilkington in Newtown - Guardian.co.uk
Barack Obama is under intensifying pressure to take the lead in a campaign for greater gun control following the disclosure by police that the Newtown gunman used a semi-automatic assault rifle equipped with "numerous" high-capacity magazines holding hundreds of bullets to carry out his massacre of young children.
Connecticut state police confirmed the identity of the killer on Sunday as Adam Lanza, 20, and revealed that he carried out his dreadful killing spree of 20 six- and seven-year-olds and six adults in Sandy Hook elementary school using a Bushmaster semi-automatic assault rifle. Lanza also carried several high-capacity magazines each holding 30 rounds, with police confirming they found hundreds of bullets at the scene.
Obama to pick Kerry for State
By Kyle Balluck - TheHill.com
President Obama has decided to nominate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as the next secretary of State, according to news reports.
An unidentified source told CNN that a formal announcement could come as early as next week.
ABC News, quoting unidentified sources, said news, including the mass shooting at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, haddelayed the announcement.
Furtherance: The Cold War Plan to Launch
a Full-On Nuclear Assault If the President Were Killed
By Alexis Madrigal - TheAtlantic.com
The United States was going to launch an automatic and all-out nuclear attack on both the Soviet Union and China, in the event that the President was killed in an attack, a newly released document reveals. The plan was in place until 1968, when the plan was revised by President Johnson. It went by the name "Furtherance." Here's how William Burr of the National Security Archive at George Washington Universitydescribed the state of play before the changes.
What Americans need to understand
about the North Korean threat
By Van Hipp - FOXNews.com
The successful North Korean rocket launch of the Unha-3 was much, much different than any previous rocket or missile test conducted over the years by the Pyongyang Regime.
For years, right after Iran made news, we could always count on the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Il, to try and grab headlines with the latest test of his most recent version of the Taepodong Missile, which usually failed on the launch pad or broke apart in pieces over the Pacific Ocean.
U.S. must not allow North Korea to obtain ICBM Stern diplomacy needed for national security
By William C. Triplett II - WashingtonTimes.com
In October 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched its Sputnik satellite. By August 1958, 10 months later, it had successfully converted its space-launch vehicle (SLV) into the SS-6 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system. Because evolving an SLV into an ICBM is mainly a software issue these days, it seems likely that North Korea will have a functional ICBM by the end of next summer at the latest.
North Korea's Missile to Nowhere
By Christopher R. Hill - Project-Syndicate.org
DENVER – North Korea's apparently successful launch of its Unha-3 rocket was inevitable after the failed launch nine months ago. There were no signs then – or ever – that the North Koreans were planning to give up. Indeed, the missile launch seemed directly related to another launch – that of North Korea's newest beloved leader, Kim Jong-un – and the domestic politics surrounding it.
U.S. arms to Gulf allies hint of strategy
By Rowan Scarborough-The Washington Times
The largest infusion of U.S. arms ever for Persian Gulf allies has shifted more toward offensive weapons at the same time that President Obama's military strategy says it will rely more on allied firepower in any future war.
The only war on the horizon for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and four other Gulf coalition partners would be with nearby Iran.
Syrian fighter jets bomb Palestinian refugee camp Syrian fighter jets bombed a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus as it tried to stop rebels winning more territory in the government heartland.
By Ruth Sherlock - Telegraph.co.uk
Activists and local residents said at least eight people were killed when air strikes hit the Abdel Qader Husseini Mosque in the camp that was being used as a makeshift shelter for more than 600 people who had escaped heavy fighting in neighbouring districts.
Abu Mohammed, a resident in the area, said that a second bomb struck close to a school that was also filled with refugee families.
The Fed Christmas Present for Gold Bulls
By John Thomas - OilPrice.com
Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, delivered a real blockbuster yesterday in the aftermath of the final Open Market Committee meeting of 2012 - looks like he really wants to end the year with a bang.
Not only will the Fed continue with $40 billion-a-month worth of mortgage-backed securities to supercharge the housing market, it will also conduct an additional $45 billion-a-month of long-term Treasury bonds. The central bank will continue to peg the Federal funds rate at 0%-0.25% until mid 2015.
Jim Sinclair On Today's Gold Price Decline
Gold Silver Worlds
After yesterday's announcement from the US Fed to continue their bond buy program of $ 85 billion dollar per month, the gold price initially rallied but closed the day flat. Surprisingly, in the Asian market trading session, gold and silver took a dive. The idea that precious metals prices go down right after one of the the most bullish possible events, is highly suspicious (to say the least). That's the type of situation when a real expert needs to explain his opinion. Jim Sinclair commented on today's gold price action. What follows are his wise words :
Gold will trade at $3500 and above on its own merits with Eastern demand in the cash market being the engine of price.
The Fed via Goldman has capped gold in the paper market for months. They were so obvious between $1775 and $1800 that Petunia can call the strategy.
Why Gold is falling and why it will bounce back
By Rakesh Neelakandan - Commodity Online.com
Please be sure that this is not the end of the road for gold: it is just the beginning! In 2008, the crisis was not fundamentally about solvency, but about liquidity. But this time around it is the other way around. The crisis is about whether a government would default on its debt. When you feel that you will not get the money back once you have lent it to a person, would you continue to lend?
Why Gold is behaving like Silver and Silver like Gold What can explain gold's silver syndrome
and silver's gold syndrome?
By Rakesh Neelakandan - Commodity Online.com
These are weird times...
Fiscal cliff, Eurozone crisis, China slowdown, Middle East show down, Emerging Market doldrums...there seem to be no dearth for negative news, one would say.
But what can explain gold's silver syndrome and silver's gold syndrome? It all started on November 28 when gold unexpectedly crashed on the Comex by around $26 dollar.Explanations vary. But since then gold has been undergoing turbulent times. It is as if gold is eclipsed by some sort of a volatility curse. Silver, since then has been volatile occasionally, but not to the extent that one may expect it to be.
Peter Schiff: Rewinding 2013 Tax Rates to 1950s Can't Work
BY DAVID ZEILER, Associate Editor, Money Morning
While some "liberal pundits" have suggested the United States set 2013 tax rates for the rich back to the high rates of the 1950s, renowned economist Peter Schiff says that would simply result in the rich paying less than they do now.
Such prominent figures as investing guru Warren Buffett and The New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently have made the argument that since the U.S. economy of the 1950s was booming despite high tax rates on the rich, tackling the fiscal cliff by raising taxes on the wealthy in 2013 should do no harm – and could actually help the economy.
Fed Continues Monthly $ 85 Billion Bond Buying –
Gold Price Volatile
Gold Silver Worlds
The US Fed decided on today's FOMC meeting to continue with its monthly $85 billion bond purchases AND keep interest rates near zero until unemployment drops. The gold price reacted initially with a short rally, but closed the day flat. Reuters commented as follows on the Fed announcements:
Bullion benefited after the Fed officials revised lower their forecasts for economic growth and inflation next year. The Fed also replaced a more-modest expiring stimulus program with a fresh round of $45 billion Treasury debt monthly purchases on top of the $40 billion per month in mortgage-backed bonds they started buying in September.
How Risky Is The Fed's Major Move? A bold and necessary move? Yes, but the Fed's growing activism has limits and is ultimately inconsistent with the proper efficient functioning of a market economy.
By Mohamed El-Erian, Fortune.com
FORTUNE -- Wow! That is what I suspect many investors said when they heard Wednesday's policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. And this single reaction would have captured not just partial surprise but also a combination of conflicting feelings.
Have no doubt: Yesterday's Fed announcement will go down in the history books -- at least those texts covering central banking and monetary policy. It marks a major evolution in the activism, involvement and aspirations of the central bank. It is also a risky move, taking the institution much deeper into experimental and politically charged territory.
The Bare, Naked Truth
About The Federal Reserve's Socialist Agenda
BY SHAH GILANI, Capital Wave Strategist, Money Morning
The top line story, according to the FDIC's latest Quarterly Banking Review, is that the majority of U.S. banks are in better shape today than they have been in years.
The untold story is that when the Federal Reserve is done transitioning the United States from capitalism to socialism, the few dozen banks that remain in America will all be profitable until they need bailing out again, but will never die and live on in infamy.
GATA Reveals Confidential Document
Authorizing Central Banks To Hide Their Gold Reserves
Gold Silver Worlds
The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) was able to obtain a confidential report from the International Monetary Fund, written in 1999. The report defines that Western central banks would become allowed to hide their gold loans and swaps within their gold reserves, not disclosing the amount of their monetary gold but only the value assigned to it.
The report contains a proposal to strengthen financial reporting standards for central banks. The IMF consulted top officials of the organization itself but also from other institutions like the Bank for International Settlements, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the German Bundesbank, amongst others.
Central Bankers Are Saving the Global Economy Our Hero, Ben Bernanke:
Why Central Bankers (Not Politicians)
Are Saving the Global Economy From the U.S. to Europe, the stewards of monetary policy are tending to the financial system with greater nimbleness, creativity and maturity than their political counterparts or any other societal actor
By Zach Karabell, TheAtlantic.com
The Federal Reserve just announced a new round of measures designed to keep the money flowing. Central bankers -- not to be confused with the heads of private banks that have received so much opprobrium for their role in the financial crises of the past years - are not noted for their charisma or their communication skills, but their role in shaping today's world, shadowy at times, could hardly be greater. The question is: Are they helping or harming?
Edging closer to the 'fiscal cliff ' Obama, Boehner mum after talks
By Seth McLaughlin-The Washington Times
As the city, the markets and the world weigh in on a possible "fiscal cliff" deal, it's increasingly clear that only two opinions will count in the end.
Lawmakers have been reduced to bystanders as they wait to see whether President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner can produce a deal. The two men met again Thursday evening for their second face-to-face negotiation in five days.
EU strikes deal to bring banks under single supervisor
By Charles Riley - HONG KONG (CNNMoney)
European finance ministers said Thursday they had reached a deal that will bring the continent's banks under a single supervisor.
The measure is the latest attempt to alleviate pain caused by the region's debt crisis, and could help standardize the oversight of banking operations in Europe.
The European Central Bank will play a leading role under the deal. As supervisor, the ECB should be able to force banks to raise more capital -- with minimal interference from national governments.
Too Big to Jail: Our Banking System's Latest Disgrace
By Neil Barofsky - The New Republic
You can be forgiven if you watched the Department of Justice's announcement yesterday of a $1.92 billion settlement with HSBC with a sense of disappointment--and déjà vu. The event checked all the boxes in a theatrical routine that has become all too familiar.
Descriptions of breathtaking misconduct involving the facilitation of massive drug trafficking and transactions with rogue terror-sponsoring nations? Check.
Broad boasts about the "historic" nature of the settlement that will certainly end the type of criminal misconduct alleged? Check.
Secret Libor Transcripts Expose Trader Rate-Manipulation
By Liam Vaughan & Gavin Finch - Bloomberg.com
Every morning, from his desk by the bathroom at the far end of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc's trading floor overlooking London's Liverpool Street station, Paul White punched a series of numbers into his computer.
White, who joined RBS in 1984, was one of the employees responsible for the firm's submissions to the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, the global benchmark for more than $300 trillion of contracts, from mortgages and student loans to interest-rate swaps. Behind him sat Neil Danziger, a derivatives trader at the bank since 2002. On the morning of March 27, 2008, Tan Chi Min, Danziger's boss in Tokyo, told him to make sure the next day's submission in yen would increase.
Lloyd Blankfein: Bond bubble is looming The Goldman Sachs CEO says his firm
is advising companies to take on more debt.
By Stephen Gandel, senior editor
FORTUNE -- Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, says watch out for the bond market. Blankfein, talking Wednesday at The New York Times' Dealbook conference, said there appears to be a general complacency about low interest rates when he talks to investors.
"I think that is one of the big risks that are looming out there right now," says Blankfein.
Municipal bonds: A train wreck waiting to happen Beware of munis priced at bubble levels.
They'll always pop in the end.
By Allan Sloan - Fortune.com
FORTUNE -- Investment-grade municipal bonds used to be Snooze City. You know, the kind of thing that we retail investors buy, stick into our portfolios, and then forget about. But these days, thanks to the Federal Reserve's holding down interest rates and the prospect ofsteeper income taxes facing top-bracket types, high-grade munis, which pay tax-free interest, have become insanely popular. And are a train wreck waiting to happen.
Yes, I know you've heard over and over that bonds have crossed the borderinto bubble land. And you've seen that the more that people like me point with alarm, the lower the yields fall, the higher the prices of existing bonds climb, the more money retail investors pour into bond funds -- and the sillier pointers-with-alarm look.
A different kind of Black Friday coming for physical retailers Physical retailers aren't long for this world
By Jeff Jordan - Fortune.com
If you're a physical retailer and you sell the same SKU's as Amazon, you will not have a Happy Holiday this season.
Starting with the hoopla around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the media has been full of stories on how physical retailers plan to beat back the competitive pressure from online retailers. They detail a number of strategies, such as expanding their hours, guaranteeing to match lower online prices, offering customized shopping apps and trying to build up their own online businesses. Unfortunately, these strategies are destined to fail for many of these physical retailers.
We Are Witnessing The Death Of Small Business In America
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Historically, small businesses have been the primary engine of new job creation in the United States. If the economy was getting healthy, we would expect to see the number of jobs at new businesses rise. Instead, we are witnessing just the opposite. We are told that the economy is supposed to be "recovering", but the number of "startup jobs" at new businesses has fallen for five years in a row. According to an analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data performedby economist Tim Kane, there were almost 12 startup jobs per 1000 Americans back in the year 2006. By 2011, that figure had fallen to less than 8 startup jobs per 1000 Americans. According to Kane, the number of jobs in the United States at businesses that are less than one year old has fallen from 4.1 million in 1994 to 2.5 million in 2010. Overall, the number of "new entrepreneurs and business owners" has fallen by more than 50 percent as a percentage of the population since 1977. The United States was once known as "the land of opportunity", but now that is fundamentally changing. At this point we truly do have a "crisis of entrepreneurship" in this country, and that is a huge reason why America is in decline. We are witnessing the slow death of the small business in America, and that is incredibly bad news for all of us.
Aaaaah… so sad. At federal government agencies,
survey finds sagging job satisfaction
By Lisa Rein - WashingtonPost.com
It's no secret that federal workers are feeling worn down. They've had their salaries frozen and are at the center of a partisan debate over the value of their work.
A report due out Thursday, based on the largest sample ever of the workforce of 2 million, confirms a steady decline in morale and ebbing commitment.
Rate on U.S. 30-year mortgage dips to 3.32 pct.
By Marcy Gordon, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
WASHINGTON — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell this week near record lows, providing more incentive for Americans to buy homes and refinance.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan dipped to 3.32 percent. That's below last week's rate of 3.34 percent. And it's just above the 3.31 percent, the lowest rate on records dating to 1971.
Save the Middle Class… and Everyone Else There's no escaping it: the problem is spending.
By R. EMMETT TYRRELL - Spectator.org
WASHINGTON — William McGurn, the esteemed Wall Street Journal columnist and soon-to-be editor of the editorial page of theNew York Post, has made an interesting observation about the fabulous Bush tax cuts that are about TO lapse. They amount to a substantial sum of money for a middle-class family. For the middle-class it will be a big deal if they disappear. The Bush tax cuts have been portrayed by President Barack Obama as a rich person's tax cut, but now he is portraying them as a huge tax break for the middle class. Of a sudden he says do not let them lapse! Instead raise taxes on the wealthy!
Soak the Middle Class! In Praise of Higher Taxes on Everybody
By William Galston - TNR.com
There's a great fiscal debate in Washington, and George W. Bush is winning it. In 2008, Barack Obama campaigned on a pledge not to reverse Bush's tax cuts for the bottom 98 percent of taxpayers, a promise he has worked hard to honor. That locked in 80 percent of the Bush-era revenue losses. During the current negotiations, Obama's initial offer includes $1.6 billion in new revenue over 10 years, which would leave intact about 60 percent of Bush's tax cuts. Simply put, this is not enough: President Obama has conceded far too much to the policy framework of his immediate predecessor.
Rare 1892 Creede bank note sells at auction for nearly $102,000
By Steve Raabe - The Denver Post
A rare $5 bank note from Colorado's silver boom era sold Thursday for $101,790 at a New York auction.
The sale price was a premium from the estimated value of $70,000 to $90,000 established before the sale by currency experts at auctioneer Bonhams.
The unnamed buyer is a private collector in California who specializes in Colorado bank notes.
The note auctioned Thursday was issued in 1892 by the First National Bank of Creede.
"Right to Work" Isn't a Civil Right. But Unionizing Should Be
By Richard D.Kahlenberg and Moshe Z. Marvit - TNR.com
The adoption of so-called "right to work" legislation in Michigan, of all places, represents an historic setback for organized labor. First, Republicans went after public employees in the birthplace of public unions, Wisconsin. And now they have taken the fight to private employee unions in the cradle of modern industrial unionism. Conservatives are right that, if they can win in Michigan, they can win almost anywhere.
Endangering the Elderly Judge orders company to rehire unionized health care workers who may have endangered lives of elderly patients
BY: Bill McMorris - Washington Free Press
A federal judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton has ordered five Connecticut nursing homes to rehire striking employees despite a criminal investigation into allegations that some of those workers endangered the lives of seniors.
Judge Robert Chatigny on Wednesday ordered Healthbridge Systems to lay off hundreds of replacement workers in order to make room for the 600 striking members of the SEIU Local 1199, one of the Atlantic region's most powerful unions. Those workers walked out of their jobs over a contract dispute in July. Some employees allegedly tampered with the identification materials and medical records of patients, including some suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's, on their way out the door.
Why the Fed's Jobs Program Will Fail
By Robert Reich - Truthdig.com
For the first time, the Federal Reserve has explicitly linked interest rates to unemployment.
Rates will remain near zero "at least as long" as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and if inflation is projected to be no more than 2.5 percent, said the Federal Open Market Committee in a statement Wednesday.
Federal Reserve projects only modest economic growth next year, high unemployment through 2015
AP - WashingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve projects the unemployment rate will stay elevated until late 2015, suggesting it will keep short-term interest rates low for the next three years.
The latest economic forecasts released Wednesday after the Fed's final meeting of the year were little changed from September. But they coincided with a new communication strategy announced by the Fed that links future interest rate hikes with unemployment below 6.5 percent.
Michigan Lawmakers Approve New Emergency Manager Law
By Chris Christoff - Bloomberg.com
Michigan's Senate approved a law to give financially distressed cities and school districts a choice of bankruptcy or a state-appointed emergency manager with power to cancel union contracts.
The bill, which goes to Republican Governor Rick Snyder for his signature, would replace a similar 2011 measure voters repealed Nov. 6. Opponents who led that effort called the law, Public Act 4, undemocratic and an attempt to bust unions.
Water deficit worsening in the West,
Salazar and top regulators say
By Bruce Finley - The Denver Post
A hotter, drier climate is worsening the imbalance between water supply and rising demand in seven Western states where 40 million people depend on the Colorado River, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Wednesday after completion of a three-year study.
The study projects a future of falling river flows, shrinking snowpack, wilting crops and an intensifying struggle for wildlife.
A Growing Water Deficit in the West
By Alexander Reed Kelly - Truthdig.com
A three-year study by the Department of the Interior has concluded that a hotter, drier climate is threatening the water supply for 40 million people who depend on the Colorado River.
The study predicts smaller rivers, shrinking snowpack, struggling crops and an intensifying competition among wildlife.
A SECOND WAVE: TEA PARTY LEADER SAYS
'YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET'
by MATTHEW BOYLE - Breitbart.com
Todd Cefaratti, the president of TheTeaParty.net, has a message for Republicans and Democrats alike: "This is just the beginning. If you think the tea party's dead, you ain't seen nothing yet."
At a press conference inside the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon, Cefarratti's organization and several House Republicans joined with Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul to decry House GOP leadership considering capitulating to Democratic efforts to raise taxes during the fiscal cliff negotiations. A more subtle message that carried throughout the presser, though, was that conservatives are trying to regain the mantle they had in 2010 with a return to true conservative principles that were all but abandoned over the past couple years.
The seven countries where the state
can execute you for being atheist
Posted by Max Fisher - WashingtonPost.com
The annual "freedom of thought" report from the International Humanist and Ethical Union, an advocacy umbrella group that represents and seeks to protect non-religious people, details laws and practices around the world that punish or restrict atheism. The group presented the report to the United Nations today.
The report tracks, among other things, which countries have laws explicitly targeting atheists. There are not many, but the states that forbid non-religiousness – typically as part of "anti-blasphemy" legislation – include seven nations where atheism is punishable by death. All seven establish Islam as the state religion. Though that list includes some dictatorships, the country that appears to most frequently condemn atheists to death for their beliefs is actually a democracy, if a frail one: Pakistan. Others include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, the West African state of Mauritania, and the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. These countries are colored red on the above map.
North Korea's Rocket Man Kim Jong-un is also proving his regime is unreformable.
By DOUG BANDOW - Spectator.org
North Korea launched a rocket. Denunciations flowed around the world. But it was a non-event, one of the least surprising "crises" of the year.
A year ago the much beloved "Dear Leader" died as he indefatigably devoted himself to his people's welfare. Wailing crowds mourned his passing. Kim's son, the "Great Successor" Kim Jong-un — tagged the world's sexiest man by the Onion — took the helm of state.
Iran Asks OPEC to Cut Output
so Countries can't Find Alternative Sources of Oil
By Dave Summers - OilPrice.com
With the possibility that demand for Iranian oil may fall below 1 million barrels a day (mbd) as sanctions continue to bite, Iran has announced that it wants OPEC to cut back production to the agreed quotas, rather than the overall additional 1 mbd that is actually being produced, and sold. Such a move would, of course, ,make it more difficult for those customers who have found a way of replacing Iranian oil, and perhaps incline them more towards disregarding the embargo.
Intelligence on Syrian troops readying chemical weapons
for use prompted Obama's warning
By Joby Warrick - WashingtonPost.com
President Obama last week issued his stern warning to Syria not to use chemical weapons after Western intelligence agencies observed Syrian units making advanced preparations for the potential use of the lethal munitions, including loading trucks with ready-to-use bombs and shells, according to Western and Middle Eastern officials.
Soldiers at one Syrian base were monitored mixing precursors for chemical weapons and taking other steps to ready weapons for battlefield use, the officials said. It was the first hard evidence that Syria was moving toward possible activation of its vast arsenal of chemical weapons, which includes nerve gas and other poisons.
The Hermit Kingdom and the Brotherhood North Korea sending Scud parts to Egypt via China
BY: Bill Gertz - Washington Free Beacon
United States intelligence agencies recently uncovered a covert deal between North Korea and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood government to ship Scud missile parts from North Korea through China to Egypt.
Intelligence reports from mid-November were circulated to senior officials in the State Department, Pentagon, and intelligence agencies. The shipment would be the first by the North Korean regime to the new Egyptian regime headed by Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood-backed president.
"Scope for Gold at $2400"
as US Monetary Policy "Designed to Weaken the Dollar"
By: Ben Traynor - GoldSeek.com
THE SPOT gold price climbed back above $1715 an ounce Wednesday morning, around ten Dollars up from last week's close, as stocks, commodities and the Euro also edged higher and US Treasuries dipped, ahead of today's Federal Reserve policy announcement.
Silver meantime edged above $33.20 an ounce this morning, a slight gain on where it started the week.
Gold and Real Estate Are My Hedges for the Fiscal Cliff
Source: Karen Roche of The Gold Report - GoldSeek.com
With nary a glimmer of hope that economic sense will supplant political expedience, Stansberry & Associates Investment Research Founder Porter Stansberry expects rampant inflation to roar in once the cost of capital rises. How is he preparing himself? Stansberry tells The Gold Report he continues to buy and hold gold, and discusses another investment vehicle he has been pursuing.
The Gold Report: Not a day goes by that we don't hear or read something about the fiscal cliff. To what extent are you worried about the fiscal cliff? Or do you foresee a resolution?
Porter Stansberry: You can be sure of a couple of things from Washington. One is spending will not slow down. The increase to spending in 2013, 2014, 2015 will be the same kind of increases we have seen in previous years. We will continue to spend 24% of GDP at the federal level.
Obama Likely to Approve Gold Sanctions on Iran The Currency Wars Escalate
BY MARK O'BYRNE - FinancialSense.com
….Gold is hovering unchanged ahead of the U.S. FOMC policy statement that takes place at 1730 GMT and Ben Bernanke's news conference is at 1915 GMT. Investors believe that the Fed will reveal more bond purchases and a continued loose monetary stance which will favour gold and silver's appeal as hedges against inflation.
U.S. President, Barack Obama and John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, spoke by phone on Tuesday after exchanging new proposals on the fiscal cliff. Fiscal cliff concerns are likely affecting U.S. consumer and business confidence in the run up to Christmas and this will likely impact an already vulnerable U.S. economy.
Silver ready to catch up with 32 years of price suppression
and break the $50 all-time high of 1980
By Peter Cooper - SilverSeek.com
ArabianMoney editor and publisher Peter Cooper goes down to the Sharjah Gold Souk with Sandra Mergulhao from MyDubaiMyCity to investigate the silver market and finds traders forecasting a 30 per cent price hike for 2013 after a disappointing 15 per cent over the past 12 months.
The Cliff Hangs on the Fed:
Why Ben Bernanke Controls the Economy's Fate The liberal nightmare about the fiscal cliff is overwrought, since the Fed has the power to avert disaster. If Bernanke acts properly, Congress could cut spending deeply without risking a recession.
By Ramesh Ponnuru and David Beckworth - TheAtlantic.com
The economic stakes from the fiscal cliff debate aren't quite as high as you've been hearing. One largely unexamined assumption of the debate is that going over the cliff--that is, allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire on schedule and letting spending cuts Congress previously legislated take place--will push us into another recession in 2013.
It's a familiar Keynesian argument. Writing about the cliff, Paul Krugman warns that "bringing down the budget deficit when the economy is already depressed" would make "the depression deeper." IMF managing director Christine Lagarde has raised the same worry, citing forecasts of the cliff's effects that are themselves based on Keynesian assumptions. On those assumptions, spending cuts and tax increases depress the economy because they take money out of people's pockets. The affected people spend less money, the people who would have received their spending as income do the same, and pretty soon we are in another recession.
Fed now sides with unemployed Full-employment mandate finally taken seriously
By MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve surprised almost everyone on Wednesday when it announced a major change in how it will conduct monetary policy.
For the first time, the Fed has announced a goal for the unemployment rate. By saying that it anticipates that it will keep interest rates extremely low until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5% (and as long as inflation doesn't get out of control), the Fed has become more aggressive about turning the economy around.
Fed Links Rates to Joblessness, Expands Bond Purchases
By Joshua Zumbrun, Jeff Kearns
& Caroline Salas Gage - Bloomberg.com
The Federal Reserve for the first time linked the outlook for its main interest rate to unemployment and inflation and said it will expand its asset purchase program by buying $45 billion a month of Treasury securities starting in January to spur the economy.
"The conditions now prevailing in the job market represent an enormous waste of human and economic potential," Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in a press conference inWashington today after a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. The Fed plans to "maintain accommodation as long as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery in the context of price stability," he said.
QE4 Is Here:
Bernanke Delivers $85B-A-Month
Until Unemployment Falls Below 6.5%
By Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes.com
Ben Bernanke continues to make history at the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, the FOMC announced more quantitative easing at a rate of $85 billion a month for an extended period of time. The Bernanke Fed has also modified its guidance, noting its ultra-accommodative stance will remain in place until the unemployment rate falls below 6.5% and inflation projections remain no more than half a percentage point above 2% two years out.
QE4 is here. Only a few months after announcing what had been dubbed QE3, an open-ended $40 billion a month program to buy up mortgage backed securities (MBS), the FOMC decided to extend its asset purchases in 2013 as Operation Twist expires.
Fed ties stimulus to jobs,
inflation in unprecedented steps to bolster economy
By Zachary A. Goldfarb - WashingtonPost.com
The Federal Reserve will take steps to bolster the economy until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent or inflation looks likely to exceed 2.5 percent, the central bank said Wednesday in a historic move that for the first time specifies the Fed's goals for the nation's economy.
The Fed also said it would buy $45 billion in Treasury bonds a month, on top of $40 billon a month it is already buying in mortgage bonds, in an effort to flood markets with money and reduce interest rates on a wide range of loans. Lower interest rates tend to stimulate borrowing, economic activity and employment.
Inside the Risky Bets of Central Banks
[Google title for free article pass]
By JON HILSENRATH and BRIAN BLACKSTONE - WSJ.com $$
BASEL, Switzerland—Every two months, more than a dozen bankers meet here on Sunday evenings to talk and dine on the 18th floor of a cylindrical building looking out on the Rhine.
The dinner discussions on money and economics are more than academic. At the table are the chiefs of the world's biggest central banks, representing countries that annually produce more than $51 trillion of gross domestic product, three-quarters of the world's economic output.
Fed sets jobless, inflation targets; to buy bonds Guidance catches market by surprise
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve, in what analysts called a watershed move, set out new thresholds Wednesday on the level of unemployment and inflation that must be in place before it would contemplate higher interest rates.
At the same time, the Fed announced a new $45 billion bond-buying program in fresh action to keep the recovery going in the languishing jobs market.
Executives push for 'fiscal cliff' deal,
even if their tax concerns have to wait
By Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin - WashingtonPost.com
With corporate tax rates and tax breaks up for grabs, chief executives are personally stepping forward to lobby Congress and the White House on taxes, seeking to set priorities while conceding that some taxes will have to go up.
The business executives, while unenthusiastic about higher taxes, say that avoiding the "fiscal cliff" is their No. 1 priority and that many other key issues can be taken care of in broader tax reform negotiations they hope would take place next year.
I Can't Stop Looking At These Terrifying
Long-Term Unemployment Charts Unemployment looks normal for everyone except those out of work for six months or longer. If we don't act soon, the long-term unemployed will become unemployable.
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
There's a new cliff in town, and it's much scarier than the fiscal cliff. It doesn't have anything to do with expiring tax cuts or sequesters. It has to do with people who have been out of work for six months or longer. It's the worst cliff of them all: the Unemployment Cliff.
Our unemployment crisis is also an unemployment enigma. When jobs openings go up, unemployment should go down. This relationship is captured by the Beveridge Curve, seen below. The diagonal red line says that when there are more vacant job openings, the unemployment rate should be lower. But as you can see in the bottom right hand corner, something strange (and very bad!) is happening. More job openings haven't produced more jobs. That suggests a mismatch between jobs and skills ... the dreaded "structural unemployment."
Corporate Taxes on Table in Cliff Talks
By DAMIAN PALETTA, JANET HOOK and CAROL E. LEE - WSJ.com
The White House has told Republicans it would include an overhaul of the corporate-tax code as part of any deal to reduce the deficit, people familiar with the talks said, a move to court business groups as budget negotiations intensify.
Corporate taxes hadn't until now been part of budget talks aimed at averting spending cuts and tax increases set for January. Much of the focus has instead been on the expiring individual income-tax rates.
In shift, Fed sets 6.5 percent unemployment goal for easing
By Patrice Hill-The Washington Times
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced a new easing program to boost the U.S. economy and said for the first time that it will keep interest rates near zero until unemployment falls below a newly established threshold of 6.5 percent.
The U.S. central bank had never before set a formal target for the level of unemployment or inflation, but did so Wednesday with a near-unanimous vote of its rate-setting panel, the Federal Open Market Committee. Other global central banks typically have a formal inflation target, but few have also established such a goal for jobs.
Don't make holiday plans, Boehner tells Republicans
By Robert Schroeder - MarketWatch.com
With the fiscal cliff unresolved and the clock ticking, House Speaker John Boehner is telling his fellow Republicans not to make holiday-season plans, reports said.
"He just said just don't make plans," Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican, told the Huffington Post on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Boehner didn't go that far. But House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican, said basically the same thing.
Countdown to Capitulation The GOP has already accepted that its role is to follow, not lead.
By GEORGE NEUMAYR Spectator.org
The only remaining question in the fiscal cliff debate is not if the Republicans will capitulate to higher taxes but when. "I, as a Republican, would take raising the rates on the two top brackets if in return, we had tax reform laid out over a period of months, if we had entitlement reform," said former RNC chairman Haley Barbour, foreshadowing the coming capitulation of House Republicans.
Boehner: 'We Are Going to Begin to Solve
Our Debt Problem'— 72% Debt-to-GDP Ratio in 2022
By Elizabeth Harrington - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, "We are going to begin to solve our debt problem" with his proposal to avert the fiscal cliff, Wednesday.
"Presidents get elected to lead," Boehner said during a press conference on Capitol Hill. "The president talked about a balanced approach. We've brought a balanced approach.
Dollar Trades Near Week-Low as Fed Expands Bond Purchases
By Kristine Aquino & Monami Yui - Bloomberg.com
The dollar was 0.2 percent from its lowest level in a week versus the euro after the Federal Reserve said it will expand its asset purchases, a move that tends to debase the currency.
The greenback fell against most of its 16 major counterparts yesterday as members of the Federal Open Market Committee said rates will stay low as long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and inflation is in check. The yen touched the weakest level since March versus the dollar before the Bank of Japan (8301)'s Tankan survey tomorrow and the nation's general election on Dec. 16.
Americans Back Obama Tax-Rate Increase
Tied to Entitlement Cuts
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis - Bloomberg.com
A majority of Americans say President Barack Obama is right to demand that tax-rate increases for the highest earners be a precondition for a budget deal that cuts U.S. entitlement programs, a Bloomberg National Poll shows.
Just over half say Obama and Democrats are more on their side in the debate over taxes and government spending than House Speaker John Boehner and Republicans, in a survey conducted Dec. 7-10 that suggests the president has broad public backing for his stance in the deficit-reduction talks.
Tax Breaks on Muni Bonds Draw Scrutiny
[Google title for free article pass] Obama, Boehner Willing to Consider
Deductibility Limits to Raise Revenue
By JOHN D. MCKINNON and ANDREW ACKERMAN - WSJ.com - $$
A rare area of potential agreement between the White House and Republicans in the fiscal-cliff debate could come as a surprise to many investors: Both sides are willing to consider taxing at least a portion of municipal-bond interest paid to higher-income households.
President Barack Obama has advanced the idea twice, first in a jobs bill in 2011, and again in the budget he released in February. White House officials argue that too much of the roughly $30 billion a year in forgone federal tax payments from the interest exemption goes to higher-income households.
While The Fiscal Cliff Keeps You Distracted,
The AMT Will Rob You Blind
By Tony Nitti - Forbes.com
While the nation's eyes are affixed firmly on the future tax implications of the fiscal cliff negotiations, few people realize that they stand to pay larger tax bills in 2012 courtesy of a little something Congress could have — and should have – taken care of long ago: the exemption to the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
As a reminder, the AMT is a parallel tax system that was originally designed in 1969 to guarantee that 155 wealthy, enterprising taxpayers would pay someamount of federal income tax. But like the pet alligator that quickly outgrows the family stupid enough to own it, today the AMT threatens to devour us all.
Prepare for the Worst We will soon suffer the death, or at least the crippling,
of a thousand regulatory cuts.
By ROSS KAMINSKY - Spectator.org
THE PUBLIC DEBATE over the "fiscal cliff," the combination of automatic spending cuts and tax rate increases that our nation is about to careen into in 2013, started the same way Republicans always begin following an electoral setback: badly. John Boehner seemed to be negotiating with himself, and conservative pundit Bill Kristol suggested that raising taxes on millionaires "won't kill the country," as if that were the proper standard for fiscal policy.
RAY DALIO:
The US Economy Is Facing A Rare Set Of Circumstances
That Will Be Bad For Markets
By Joe Weisenthal - BusinessInsider.com
At the Dealbook conference, Ray Dalio, Steve Schwarzman and David Rubinstein just wrapped up a panel on investing and markets.
Of particular interest was Ray Dalio, the hedge fund god who has been killing it throughout the crisis.
And so you have to be intrigued that he's bearish.
Greece's Bogus Debt Deal
By Ashoka Mody - Project-Syndicate.org
PRINCETON – The process of official forgiveness of Greek debt has begun. Referred to as "official sector involvement" (OSI), it includes several initiatives aimed at reducing Greece's debt/GDP ratio to 124% in 2020, from roughly 200% today. Even as the deal was announced, however, newspaper reports suggested that officials recognized that the measures would be insufficient to meet the target; further negotiations on additional steps would be needed at a politically more convenient moment.
55 Reasons Why California Is The Worst State In America
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Why in the world would anyone want to live in the state of California at this point? The entire state is rapidly becoming a bright, shining example of everything that is wrong with America. It is so sad to watch our most populated state implode right in front of our eyes. Like millions of Americans, I was quite enamored with the state of California when I was younger. The warm weather, the beaches, the great natural beauty of the state and the mystique of Hollywood all really appealed to me. At one point I even thought that I wanted to move there. But today, hordes of Californians are racing to get out of the state because it has become a total nightmare. It is the worst state in the country in which to do business, taxes were just raised even higher, unemployment is more than 20 percent higher than the national average and the state government is drowning in debt. Meanwhile, poverty, gang activity and crime just seem to get worse with each passing year. On top of everything else, the insane politicians in Sacramento just keep on passing more laws that make the problems that the state is facing even worse. Unfortunately, what is happening in California may be a preview of what is coming to the entire nation. The old adage, "as California goes, so goes the nation", has been proven to be true way too many times.
States Face $3 Billion Estate Tax Windfall
If We Fall Off Fiscal Cliff
By Ashlea Ebeling, Forbes Staff
Will estate taxes come back from the dead in 30 states on Jan. 1? Yes, if Congress stalls on fiscal cliff talks, which include the fate of the federal estate tax.
If Congress does nothing, the federal estate tax law reverts to pre-2001 parameters, including an obscure provision known as the state death tax credit that allows states to share in estate tax revenue the Treasury collects. As a result, 30 states would resume collecting estate taxes, boosting their revenue by about $3 billion in 2013, calculates Norton Francis, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute in Back From the Dead: State Estate Taxes After The Fiscal Cliff.
Obama's America Will Become Detroit
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
President Barack Obama travelled to Michigan this week and made his case for class war in defense of the welfare state.
We need to take more money from the rich, he said, or schools will not be able to afford books, students will not be able to afford college, and disabled children will not get health care.
"Our economic success has never come from the top down," said Obama. "It comes from the middle out. It comes from the bottom up."
Right to Work Won't Doom Michigan's Unions—
It Might Even Save Them If battered industrial unions learn to convince skeptical workers of their value, it might help them rebuild.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
At this point, you might be under the impression that labor unions are about to become an endangered species in Michigan, now that it has become the 24th state to pass a right-to-work law.
Whether it was the the Associated Press calling the statute a "devastating and once-unthinkable defeat," or the New York Times reporting that it would "substantially" diminish labor's clout in the state, the consensus yesterday seemed to be that the statute amounted to an unprecedented blow for the union movement, both locally and nationally.
'Right-to-Work' Laws Explained, Debunked & Demystified
By Rick Ungar - Forbes.com
One of the enduring myths of legislation designed to bring 'right-to-work' laws to the states is the notion that these laws actually have something to do with the right to work.
They decidedly do not.
While—as we will see—the misnomer has nothing whatsoever to do with granting anyone a right to get work or protecting those who have a job from losing it, this "misunderstanding-by-design" has not prevented the Michigan legislature from sending two bills to the desk of Governor Rick Snyder.—legislation that, upon execution, will turn Michigan into the 24th state to adopt right-to-work laws.
The middle class could wreck the whole planet Billions will have more stuff, but won't be satisfied
By Al Lewis
DENVER (MarketWatch) — The middle class is a rising scourge.
They drive cars, and spew carbon into the atmosphere. They connect on smartphones and fatten themselves on everything from burgers at McDonald's to buffets at Whole Foods.
I count myself among them, living as I do in an oversized house with oversized televisions, feeding oversized appetites. The problem, however, isn't just me. It's the billions more who want to live just like me.
Poll: 21% of Small Business Owners
Will Cut Their Workforce in 2013
By Jon Street - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – A recent poll from the Wells Fargo/Gallup quarterly survey shows that U.S. small business owners are growing "increasingly pessimistic" as the new year approaches, finding that 21 percent of small business owners' expect to decrease their workforces in the next 12 months to a level not seen since Aug. 2003.
Wells Fargo small business head Marc Bernstein attributed the potential decline in confidence in part to the possibility of going over the "fiscal cliff," or the automatic tax hikes and defense cuts scheduled to occur if Congress and the White House do not reach a budget deal by the end of this month.
Small business optimism plunges,
forecasting dire economic conditions ahead
By Betsi Fores - The Daily Caller News Foundation
The small business optimism index, calculated by the National Federation for Independent Business, dropped by more than five points in November, reaching one of its lowest points in history and highlighting concerns that the economic climate will worsen in 2013.
"Something bad happened in November," the group's chief economist, Bill Dunkelberg, said in a statement. "It wasn't merely Hurricane Sandy."
NFIB: More About the Economy than the Election
BY LANCE ROBERTS - FinancialSense.com
Today the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) released their monthly survey. In short, economic confidence collapsed. From the NFIB Release:
Small Business Optimism Index dropped 5.6 points in November, bottoming out at 87.5. The two major events in November were the national elections and Hurricane Sandy, which devastated parts of the East Coast. To disentangle these, the results for the states impacted by Sandy were excluded from the computation for comparison. When separating the hurricane-impacted states from the remainder, the data makes clear that the election was the primary cause of the decline in owner optimism.
Sorry Protesters:
Your Jobs Are Being Sent To China
And They Aren't Coming Back
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Did you see the huge crowds of protesters that flooded the Michigan Capitol on Tuesday? They were there to protest two bills there were being considered by the state legislature that would limit the power of unions in the state. Michigan lawmakers approved the bills and this absolutely infuriated the protesters. There is a lot of passion on both sides of this debate, but I am afraid that both sides in this debate are missing the bigger picture. If we keep shipping millions of our jobs to China, there isn't going to be work for anyone no matter how much power unions have or don't have. During the month of October, the U.S. trade deficit increased to 42.2 billion dollars. Our trade with China accounted for most of that deficit. Our trade deficit with China in October increased to a new all-time one month record of 29.5 billion dollars. Nearly 30 billion dollars that could have gone to U.S. businesses and U.S. workers went to China instead. Since 1975, a total of about 8 trillion dollars that could have gone to U.S. businesses and U.S. workers went to the rest of the world instead. Shiny new factories are going up all over China, and meanwhile our once great manufacturing cities are degenerating into desolate wastelands. So what is going to happen when all of the good paying manufacturing jobs are gone?
Republicans Deemed Too Pro-Rich, 57% in Poll Want Change
By John McCormick - Bloomberg.com
A majority of Americans say the Republican Party needs a major overhaul after electoral losses revealed demographic, messaging and technological shortfalls compared with Democrats, a Bloomberg National Poll shows.
Even among Republicans, just 16 percent say their party is fine and doesn't need to change. The survey also shows the party is viewed as too protective of the wealthy and that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has a slight edge among high-profile Republicans who may lead the party.
Housing Rebound and the Next "Bull Market"
BY RICHARD RUSSELL -FinancialSense.com
December 11, 2012 -- Goldman predicts -- Jan Hatzius, chief economist of Goldman, predicts, for the first time since the financial crisis, the economy accelerating to above trend growth in the second half of next year. Then Goldman's commodity analyst, Damien Courvalin, is calling for the great gold bull market to end next year, based on the fact that real interest rates are finally going to start heading higher.
How seriously should we take these predictions? I don't take them seriously at all. First, they are predictions for next year. Nobody on God's green earth knows what next year will look like. If the forecasts are dead wrong, nobody will remember them. If they turn out to be correct, the analysts will trumpet them to high heaven and hope everybody remembers their forecasts.
Census: Whites no longer a majority in U.S. by 2043
By Hope Yen - WashingtonTimes.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — White people will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2043.
The new government projection is a year later than previous estimates, made before the impact of the recent economic downturn was known.
The nation continues to grow and become more diverse due to higher birth rates among minorities, but no longer at a torrid pace as immigration wanes.
Dems Ask for Delay to Obamacare Med Device Tax
They Voted for in the First Place Medical Device Tax is just one of 20 Obamacare Taxes.
ATR.org
In a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid, 18 Democrat senators and senators-elect have asked for "a delay in the implementation" of the Obamacare medical device tax. Like most of the significant tax increases in Obamacare, the medical device tax is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2013, conveniently after the 2012 presidential election.
New Report Could Affect Huge Change in the Pipeline Industry
By Keith Schaefer - OilPrice.com
How are leaks detected on today's oil and gas pipelines?
Often times they're found – not by the owners and operators of the pipelines – but by complaining landowners who live where the pipeline crosses.
It's true, says Dr. David Shaw, one of the authors of a draft "Leak Detection Study" prepared for the U.S. Department of Transportation, for a report that will go to the US Congress early in 2013.
Work on Keystone XL Halts in Texas
over "Wrong Type of Oil" Claim
By Energy Digital - OilPrice.com
In Texas, a judge ordered the halting of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline after a landowner filed a lawsuit claiming that the company lied to Texans about type of oil it would be transporting.
Landowner Michael Bishop, a 64-year-old retired chemist in medical school, claims that TransCanada (NYSE:TRP)lied in telling Texans that it would use the pipeline to transport crude oil, which will instead be used to transport tar sands oil, or diluted bitumen. According to Bishop, tar sands oil does not meet the state's definition of crude oil as "liquid hydrocarbons extracted from the earth at atmospheric temperatures," he told the Associated Press, which mean it "has to be heated and diluted in order to even be transmitted."
New Report Could Affect Huge Change in the Pipeline Industry
By Keith Schaefer - OilPrice.com
How are leaks detected on today's oil and gas pipelines?
Often times they're found – not by the owners and operators of the pipelines – but by complaining landowners who live where the pipeline crosses.
It's true, says Dr. David Shaw, one of the authors of a draft "Leak Detection Study" prepared for the U.S. Department of Transportation, for a report that will go to the US Congress early in 2013.
Google's tax avoidance is called 'capitalism',
says chairman Eric Schmidt Google chairman Eric Schmidt has insisted that he is "very proud" of the company's tax structure, and said that measures to lower its payments were just "capitalism".
By Telegraph Staff
Mr Schmidt's comments risk inflaming the row over the amount of tax multinationals pay, after it emerged that Google funnelled $9.8bn (£6.07bn) of revenues from international subsidiaries into Bermudalast year in order to halve its tax bill.
However, Mr Schmidt defended the company's legitimate tax arrangements. "We pay lots of taxes; we pay them in the legally prescribed ways," he told Bloomberg. "I am very proud of the structure that we set up. We did it based on the incentives that the governments offered us to operate."
Apple Big Screen TV is Coming, Says Andreessen, Suppliers
BY CHRISTINA BONNINGTON - Wired.com
Apple reportedly is testing several designs for a big-screen television, and Silicon Valley VC luminary Marc Andreessen says we'll see a TV from Cupertino by 2015.
"It's one of those poorly kept Valley secrets," Andreessen said Wednesday at the DealBook conference.
This adds to the flurry of speculation, rumor and innuendo surrounding the greatest product Apple still hasn't announced. Andreessen conceded that he doesn't have any direct inside knowledge of the project and admitted Apple is notoriously tight-lipped about its plans, but according to Business Insiderhe said, "rumors about an Apple TV are strong" and we'll see something next year. Or in 2014. Or possibly 2015.
Apple's Disruptive Television Product
Is Already Here and It's Called the "Apple TV"
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
Tim Cook's statement about how television continues to be an area of "intense interest" for Apple has prompted yet another round of speculation about whether Apple will make a TV and what this Apple TV will look like or do. My suggestion is that Apple not only will make an Apple TV but in fact already makes an Apple TV—the so-called "Apple TV" which I and others own—and that future Apple TV products will be similar to this one.
Mr. Zuckerberg, Tear Down This Wall
BY RYAN TATE - Wired.com
The web was created to knock down walls. You could create a page on a Unix workstation in Switzerland that could be viewed perfectly on a Windows laptop in California, all thanks to the miracle of common formats and open standards. But lately it seems like the big social networks are doing their best to undermine this sort of compatibility and to integrate products vertically much as behemoths like IBM and DEC did 40 years ago.
The Law of the Sea's Next Wave
By David Miliband - Project-Syndicate.org
LONDON – Thirty years ago, the Cold War was at its height and the United Kingdom had just clawed its way out of recession. Perhaps those factors explain why, this week in 1982, when 119 government delegations chose to sign the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the UK was not among them. According to Donald Rumsfeld, Britain's then-prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, declared UNCLOS to be "nothing less than the international nationalization of roughly two-thirds of the Earth's surface."
East Asia's Turning Point
By Brahma Chellaney - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW DELHI – Political transitions in East Asia promise to mark a defining moment in the region's jittery geopolitics. After the ascension in China of Xi Jinping, regarded by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as its own man, Japan seems set to swing to the right in its impending election – an outcome likely to fuel nationalist passion on both sides of the Sino-Japanese rivalry.
Japan's expected rightward turn comes more than three years after voters put the left-leaning Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in power. By contrast, South Korea's election – scheduled for December 19, just three days after the Japanese go to the polls – could take that country to the left, after the nearly five-year rule of rightist President Lee Myung-bak, who proved to be a polarizing leader.
UN Council Considers North Korea Punishment for Rocket
By Sangwon Yoon & Flavia Krause-Jackson - Bloomberg.com
The United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the North Korean rocket launch, calling it a "clear violation" of UN prohibitions.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said the 15-member Council -- which has the power to authorize sanctions -- will discuss a set of measures to punish North Korea for violating Council resolutions barring it from pursuing nuclear and ballistic-missile testing.
"Our objective is that this be a clear and meaningful response by the Security Council," Rice told reporters in New York.
North Korea enters elite 'club' with rocket launch
By Andrew Salmon - Special to The Washington Times
SEOUL — North Korea's successful launch of a long-range rocket late Tuesday places the secretive, communist state in an elite club of technologically developed nations, analysts said Wednesday.
"Technically speaking, any country that is successful in putting a satellite into orbit has intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, capability," said Kim Tae-woo, an expert on North Korea's strategic programs and former chief of the Korea Institute of National Unification, a think tank in Seoul.
North Korea rocket launch raises nuclear stakes
By Jack Kim and Mayumi Negishi
SEOUL/TOKYO | Wed Dec 12, 2012 2:01pm EST
(Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to opponents.
The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting targets as far away as the continental United States.
Egypt's Monster in the Making
By Fiorello Provera - Project-Syndicate.org
BRUSSELS – On December 15, Egypt's draft constitution is due to be put to a referendum. A year ago, Egyptians were thrilled to know that finally their country's constitution would reflect their democratic hopes and aspirations. Yet the document that they will now vote on is more likely to dash those hopes and dim Egyptians' prospects for democracy.
The constitutional drafting process was rushed, without the input of liberals, non-Muslims, and women, all of whom boycotted the process, owing to the preponderance of Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood, and primarily President Mohamed Morsi, is banking on the assumption that the strength of Egypt's Islamist vote will earn him enough support among "regular Egyptians," and that the opposition will have little impact on the referendum's outcome.
Politicized Muslim Brotherhood Could Unite the Islamic World
By Felix Imonti - OilPrice.com
A new politicized Islamic force is emerging from Egypt. If it can survive these early days, the Middle East and beyond will have to deal with a new ideology.
Islam is the solution; the Quran is our law; the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for Allah is the highest of our aspirations, is the philosophical foundation of the Muslim Brotherhood that Hassan Al-banna gave to the movement that he founded in Egypt in 1928. This is not the credo of an organization prepared to compromise or to promote democracy. Considering that Morsi has been conditioned within this philosophical school, it is easier to understand his unyielding stand towards the opposition.
Syria Fires Scud Missiles,
Burning Bombs and Even Sea Mines at Rebels
BY SPENCER ACKERMAN - Wired.com
The Syrian regime isn't using its chemical arsenal on its opposition, at least not yet. But it's starting to look like Bashar Assad is throwing everything else he has against the rebels, from Scud missiles to incendiary weapons. He's even chucking naval mines onto dry land to attack his foes.
Hours after announcing it will recognize a revamped Syrian opposition coalition as a revolutionary government, the Obama administration said it had indications that regime forces have recently fired at least six Scud ballistic missiles at rebel positions in the north. Countries typically fire Scuds at their foreign enemies, like Saddam Hussein did to Israel in 1991, not their own populations. (Moammar Gadhafi provides a recent exception to that rule.) NATO, for instance, recently delivered a Patriot missile battery to Turkey out of fear that Assad would turn his Scuds against the Turks.
Assad's forces fire Scuds in Syria escalation: U.S. official
(Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have fired Scud missiles at rebels trying to overthrow Syria's government, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, a step seen as an escalation in Assad's struggle to retain power.
U.S. officials said they were unaware of any previous instances in which Scuds were used against the rebels since the start of the 20-month-old uprising, which has killed more than 40,000 people.
Worried Republicans Stocking Up on Gold Coins
By Matthew Yglesias - Salon.com
Jack Farchy reports for the Financial Times that Barack Obama's re-election has sent demand for gold coins soaring: "The US Mint's sales of American Eagles, one of the most popular gold coins, leapt 131 per cent in November, hitting their highest level in more than two years."
Gold May Rally on "Massive, Open-Ended Stimulus"
BY BEN TRAYNOR - FinancialSense.com
Wholesale gold price rose to $1712 an ounce Tuesday morning in London, a few Dollars above where they started the week, while stocks edged higher and US Treasury bonds fell ahead of tomorrow's Federal Reserve policy decision.
All-but-one of 49 economists polled by news agency Bloomberg predict the Fed will buy US Treasury bonds in addition to the $40 billion per month of mortgage-backed securities purchases announced in September.
Chained CPI: The Sneaky, Complicated Idea
That Could End the Fiscal Cliff Showdown—Explained What if I told you we could raise taxes, cut entitlement spending, and break the cliff stalemate for good, by changing one obscure policy? Ladies and gentlemen: Meet chained CPI.
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
If you're growing weary of the fiscal cliff, I do not blame you. Budget deals can be powerfully wearying stuff. But they are rarely as complicated as they seem from a distance.
Take, for example, the new proposal that some Republicans and Democrats think might end this terrible cliff showdown for good. It would involve a simple change to the way we measure cost-of-living. The proposal is called chained consumer price index -- or chained CPI.
Reid: 'Fiscal cliff' deal by Christmas 'extremely difficult'
By Morgan Little - LATimes.com
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) took on the role of the Grinch on Tuesday, expressing doubt that a deal on the "fiscal cliff" will be reached before Christmas. Reid, speaking to reporters, said it would be "extremely difficult" to finish a deal by Dec. 25, placing the onus on Republicans in the House and a tightening legislative schedule.
Reid pointed to Republican opposition as a main cause of the delays in the Senate, saying a bill would probably take "a couple weeks" to reach fruition as a result.
Republicans have surrendered on fiscal cliff Path to a fiscal-cliff deal is visible, but it won't be easy
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Now that Republicans have conceded two of their most cherished economic ideals, the path is open for them to reach a deal with President Barack Obama to avoid going over the so-called fiscal cliff in early January.
The only thing that stands in the way of a deal now is for the Republicans to recognize that they've already given up on their core principles.
Republicans submit fiscal cliff counter-offer to Obama Proposal falls short of what president is looking for but suggests Boehner and Obama are edging towards a compromise
By Ewen MacAskill in Washington - Guardian.co.uk
Republican congressional leaders have sent a new proposal to the White House as part of the negotiations aimed at preventing America being forced over the fiscal cliff on January 1.
Although the latest GOP counter-offer falls far short of what Barack Obama is looking for, it suggests the two sides are edging towards a compromise.
Both sides edging toward deal in deficit-reduction negotiations
By Alexander Bolton - TheHill.com
Congressional Republicans and the White House on Tuesday appeared to edge closer to a deficit-reduction deal that would raise new taxes on the wealthy but also reform entitlement programs.
The two sides exchanged offers following a face-to-face meeting Sunday between President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who are negotiating a deal to prevent tax hikes and spending cuts that could trigger a recession early next year.
John Boehner slow-walks the country towards the fiscal cliff
Posted by Greg Sargent - WashingtonPost.com
John Boehner went on the House floor today to reiterate his demand that the White House propose detailed spending cuts to prove its seriousness about reaching a fiscal cliff deal:
As you know, Dems have already agreed to well over $1 trillion in spending cuts in 2011 — cuts Boeher himself said were significant at the time. By contrast, Republicans have not agreed to a penny in new rates. Since experts believe we can't raise a substantial enough amount in deficit reducing revenues without hiking rates, the basic situation here is simple: One side has made far more concessions towards real deficit reduction than the other has. And the one that hasn't made as many concessions is the one demanding still more — even though it lacks the leverage here.
Macro Outlook on US: The Math Does Note Lie
BY GREGORY T WELDON - FinancialSense.com
We note commentary from President Obama's Chief Economic Advisor Alan Krueger, a wildly accomplished academic-economist, following Friday's release of the BLS Employment Situation Report for November ...
"Today's employment report provides further evidence that the US is continuing to heal. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class. The types of programs that the President has been proposing to support the economy in the short-run, get us on a sustainable fiscal path in the long-run, and protect the middle class. We are going to continue to see progress in this economy."
Liberals: Leave Medicaid out of talks
By Sam Baker - TheHill.com
Liberals are intensely — and successfully — pressing the White House to take Medicaid off the table in deficit-reduction talks.
Republicans have insisted on entitlement cuts in exchange for higher revenues in a deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff," a combination of tax increases and automatic spending cuts set to take effect at the end of the year.
House, Senate Democrats:
No Deal If It Involves Medicare or Medicaid Reforms
By Matt Cover - CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com) – Senior House and Senate Democrats said that they were opposed to any fiscal cliff deal that would cut Medicare or Medicaid, telling the White House and House Republicans they opposed any plan that would cut federal health care programs.
"We're not budging on Medicare, and we're not budging on Medicaid," Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said at a Capitol Hill press conference Tuesday.
Taxing the Poor Inflation is the meanest tax --
and it even affects welfare benefits in cruel ways.
By THOMAS SOWELL - Spectator.org
With all the talk about taxing the rich, we hear very little talk about taxing the poor. Yet the marginal tax rate on someone living in poverty can sometimes be higher than the marginal tax rate on millionaires.
While it is true that nearly half the households in the country pay no income tax at all, the apparently simple word "tax" has many complications that can be a challenge for even professional economists to untangle.
"So when you put it all together, what you need is a package that keeps taxes where they are for middle-class families; we make some tough spending cuts on things that we don't need; and then we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a slightly higher tax rate. And that's a principle I won't compromise on, because I'm not going to have a situation where the wealthiest among us, including folks like me, get to keep all our tax breaks, and then we're asking students to pay higher student loans. Or suddenly, a school doesn't have schoolbooks because the school district couldn't afford it. Or some family that has a disabled kid isn't getting the help that they need through Medicaid."
-- President Obama
Remarks at Daimler Detroit Diesel Plant
Redford, Michigan
December 10, 2012
That's right, folks. If taxes aren't increased on the wealthy, schools will suddenly be unable to afford schoolbooks and disabled children will be denied Medicaid. Never mind that President Obama was perfectly happy to cut $110 billion from Medicaid during the fiscal cliff negotiations of 2011.
Dollar falls as Fed meeting starts U.S. central bank is expected to continue Treasury purchase
By Deborah Levine and William L. Watts, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar declined on Tuesday as Federal Reserve policy makers began a two-day meeting likely to result in more asset purchases that are seen as weakening the country's currency.
The ICE dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's performance against a basket of six major global currencies, fell to 80.061 from 80.309 late in North America Monday.
Keiser Report: Whammies of Wall St. Witches (E378)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert look at the latest BIS warning of a global credit bubble caused by zero percent interest rate policies meant to appease the angry hidden people in the shadow banking system. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to David Smith of GenevaBusinessInsider.blogspot.com about the Swiss currency peg, the global game of honesty limbo in the financial sector and hoping that midnight never comes for Alice in Switzer-land.
Obama Scam Admitted: Bush Tax Cuts Worked Geithner report signed by President details tax cut success:
Rich Google ally evades taxes.
By JEFFREY LORD - Spectator.org
In a word, it's a scam.
President Obama has admitted -- in detailed print with his signature -- that the Bush tax cuts worked.
Even though he spent an entire campaign saying of the tax cuts: "That's what took us from surplus to deficit."
A hat tip here to the Hoover Institution's Paul Sperry.
Did you know that the 2012 Economic Report of the President -- the official government document on the economy published by the Obama Administration and signed personally by Obama himself -- admits the Bush tax cuts caused government revenue to go up, not down?
That's right.
Obdurate Washington
By Paul Craig Roberts
With its power declining, Washington was not able any longer to keep Russia out of the World Trade Organization. Congress showed its spite over its impotence by hooking the normalizing of trade with Russia to what is called the "Magnitsky rule."
Sergei Magnitsky was a Russian attorney who represented a British investment firm accused of tax evasion and fraud in Russia. Apparently, the UK firm supplied information to media alleging government misconduct and participation in corruption inside state-owned Russian companies.
Argentina's Debt Conundrum
By Eduardo Levy Yeyati - Project-Syndicate.org
BUENOS AIRES – Argentina is in a quandary. Prior to its 2005 sovereign-debt exchange, its legislature enacted a "lock law," which barred the way to any future offers to holders of bonds on which Argentina defaulted in 2002. While the lock law helped to boost the participation rate in the 2005 exchange, holdout creditors remained, and have pursued litigation to force repayment.
In late November, Thomas Griesa, a United States federal judge in New York, ordered Argentina to deposit the $1.33 billion owed to holdouts into an escrow account by December 15. Griesa lifted the stay on his order from February 2012, following indications from Argentina's government that it intended to ignore the ruling – including public statements calling the holdouts "vulture funds" and a vow by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner never to pay. The ruling, pending appeal, leaves Argentina with three options: violate its own law, violate US law, or default again.
Asian shares rise, dollar pressured before Fed
By Chikako Mogi
TOKYO | Tue Dec 11, 2012 7:15pm EST
(Reuters) - Asian shares rose as strong overnight performances in global equities and firmer economic sentiment in Germany buoyed sentiment, while the dollar was pressured ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting later in the day.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan.MIAPJ0000PUS nudged up 0.3 percent to a 16-month peak. The index has hit successive 16-month highs since December 5.
Storm relief sets up new spending without cuts
By Seth McLaughlin-The Washington Times
President Obama's call for $60 billion in additional spending to cover damage from Superstorm Sandy tops a congressional wish list of more stimulus spending, expanded unemployment benefits and extending the payroll tax cut — all without finding cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.
The new spending, totaling as much as $250 billion, and the lack of what lawmakers call "offsets" threaten to complicate the already difficult "fiscal cliff" conversations going on in Washington, where the push is on to lower deficits over the long run.
Lawmakers to check on FCC's airwave auctions
By Brendan Sasso and Jennifer Martinez - TheHill.com
THE LEDE: The House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on Communications and Technology will examine the Federal Communications Commission's efforts to auction TV stations' airwaves to cellular carriers at a hearing on Wednesday morning.
All five FCC commissioners are scheduled to testify.
Congress authorized the FCC to conduct the auctions as part of a payroll tax cut extension bill earlier this year. The FCC is currently accepting comments on its proposal.
TREASURY DEPT. WRAPS UP TARP BAILOUT OF AIG
BY SELLING ASSETS TO CHINA
by TONY LEE - Breitbart.com
The Treasury Department announced on Monday that it would unload its remaining shares of American International Group (AIG), the infamous insurance giant that received $182 billion in bailout money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
As part of the divestment plan, AIG will also sell its aircraft leasing business (ILFC) to a Chinese consortium.
Weak exports, imports signal tepid economic growth
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:28pm EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit widened in October as exports suffered the biggest drop in nearly four years, indicating slowing global demand was spilling over into the already struggling U.S. economy.
The Commerce Department said on Tuesday the trade gap increased 4.9 percent to $42.2 billion. In a sign of weak domestic demand, imports hit the lowest level in 1-1/2 years.
Essays in Fragility: Our One-Off Economy If you set out to create an increasingly fragile economy, you'd do precisely what the Federal Reserve and our political "leaders" have done.
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
All the extraordinary measures deployed since 2008 to jumpstart the U.S. economy are one-offs: either they cannot be repeated or they have lost their effectiveness.
As a result, we now have an extraordinarily fragile one-off economy that is dependent on "emergency" measures that cannot be withdrawn even as their utility in the real economy dwindles by the day.
MORE HOMELESS IN CA THAN ANY STATE
by WILLIAM BIGELOW - Breitbart.com
California is a beautiful place, yet people are leaving in droves. Last year more people left the state for greener pastures than the number who moved there, but there is one group determined to stay. Guess which group that is?
If you guessed the homeless, go straight to the head of the class.
California ranks first in the nation in the number of homeless citizens on its streets – and it's not even close.
Fresno, Cali. Announced as America's Dirtiest City
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
A study of US cities has named the Dirtiest City in America as Fresno, California. The Central Valley city can share its shame with other Californian neighbours such as Modesto, Stockton, Bakersfield, San Jose, Riverside, and Los Angeles; all of which suffer from some of the worst air and water pollution in the country.
The environmental degradation of the central valley started decades ago, as each year the local farmers burnt all their leftover cuttings from after the harvest, releasing thousands of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, which then, due to the fact that mountains surround the valley on three sides, could not escape. The vast amounts of fertilizer and pesticides that have been used in the valley by farmers over the years have seeped down into the water table and polluted the regions natural water supply to such an extent that the drinking water regularly gives people a rash, and can give babies the potentially fatal "blue baby syndrome."
States Sweeten Jet Makers' Pot
By JON OSTROWER And DANIEL MICHAELS - WSJ.com
States and cities across the U.S., hungry to create jobs, are using increasingly rich and controversial incentives to compete for some of the world's most sophisticated manufacturers: passenger-jet makers.
The trend has accelerated since the recession, with states providing at least $1 billion in various incentives since 2008 to draw aerospace investments, according to Wall Street Journal calculations. That includes at least $450 million to attract Boeing Co. to South Carolina, $158 million from Alabama for European rival Airbus and $57 million from Virginia to draw engine-maker Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC.
America's Milk Business in a 'Crisis'
By IAN BERRY And KELSEY GEE - WSJ.com
In an age of vitamin waters and energy drinks, the decadeslong decline in U.S. milk consumption has accelerated, worrying dairy farmers, milk processors and grocery chains.
The industry "is coming to recognize this as a crisis," says Tom Gallagher, CEO of Dairy Management Inc., a farmer-funded trade group that promotes milk products. "We cannot simply assume that we will always have a market.
Small Business Sentiment Plunges on Obama Reelection
BY DOUG SHORT - FinancialSense.com
The latest issue of the NFIB Small Business Economic Trends is out today (see report). The December update for November came in at 87.5. This is the tenth lowest reading in history of this series.
Here is the opening summary of the report:
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped 5.6 points in November, bottoming out at 87.5. The two major events in November were the national elections and Hurricane Sandy, which devastated parts of the East Coast. To disentangle these, the results for the states impacted by Sandy were excluded from the computation for comparison. When separating the hurricane-impacted states from the remainder, the data makes clear that the election was the primary cause of the decline in owner optimism.
Why You Should Care: States Secession (E28)
Thousands of Americans are signing petitions for their states to secede. Tim attempts to discuss the issue with his robo-pal who has very strong opinions about it.
Long-treasured mortgage interest deduction may face changes
'Fiscal cliff' debate has put home mortgage interest deduction on the table. Critics contend it benefits the wealthy much more than the middle class.
By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times - ChigagoTribune.com
WASHINGTON — At 70, Frank White isn't a typical first-time home buyer. But a key reason he ditched his Altadena apartment and bought a three-bedroom house in nearby Pasadena has been common for decades: He wanted the tax break.
"I pay very high taxes, and I have no deductions," said White, who owns an apartment rental business with his two brothers. Now, after purchasing the $500,000 home in November, he's looking forward to writing off the interest on his 30-year mortgage.
Hostess management took pension funds. Hostess Maneuver Deprived Pension
By Julie Jargon, Rachel Feintzeig
and Mike Spector | The Wall Street Journal
Hostess Brands Inc. said it used wages that were supposed to help fund employee pensions for the company's operations as it sank toward bankruptcy.
It isn't clear how many of the Irving, Texas, company's workers were affected by the move or how much money never wound up in their pension plans as promised.
After the company said in August 2011 that it would stop making pension contributions, the foregone wages weren't put toward the pension. Nor were they restored.
Obamacare fee of $63 per person to begin in 2014
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar - WashingtonTimes.com
Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Obama's health care overhaul.
The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers.
Protests reignite as Michigan 'right-to-work' bill nears final OK
By Alana Semuels - LATimes.com
It's Wisconsin all over again -- this time in Lansing, Mich., where thousands of protesters are descending on the state capital in a day of action to demonstrate against a "right-to-work" law that may be signed into law this week. They're outside -- in the snow -- and inside the Capitol, as legislators cast final votes on the bill, which could be signed by Gov. Rick Snyder as early as noon.
The legislation, which would prohibit unions from requiring people to join them in order to be employed, was rushed through the Legislature in a lame-duck session last week. Its rapid movement and the lack of public input into the process have drawn union protests from across the state; on Monday, Michigan's Democratic congressional delegation met with Snyder to ask him to veto the law, or encourage more public input.
UNIONS REAP THEIR OWN BITTER HARVEST IN MICHIGAN
by MIKE FLYNN - Breitbart.com
The Michigan legislature made history today when it passed legislation making the state the 24th to enact right-to-work laws protecting workers. Workers in Michigan can no longer be compelled to join a union as a condition of employment. Perhaps more surprising than the measure's passage, though, is it's genesis. The new law is the direct result of an epic strategic miscalculation by the state's union bosses.
Over protesters' angry chants, Michigan lawmakers give final approval to right-to-work bills
By Associated Press, WashingtonPost.com
LANSING, Mich. — As the chants of angry protesters filled the Capitol, Michigan lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to right-to-work legislation, dealing a devastating and once-unthinkable defeat to organized labor in a state that has been a cradle of the movement for generations.
The Republican-dominated House ignored Democrats' pleas to delay the passage and instead approved two bills with the same ruthless efficiency that the Senate showed last week. One measure dealt with private sector workers, the other with government employees. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed them both within hours.
North Korea defies warnings to launch rocket
BBC.co.uk
North Korea has launched its rocket in defiance of international warnings, South Korea and Japan say.
The rocket went up at 09:49 local time (00:49 GMT) from a west coast site. It is not yet clear whether the launch was a success.
North Korea says its rocket will put a satellite into space, but many countries believe the tests are a cover for weapons development.
US Fighting Terrorism with Financial Weapons
By Claude Salhani - OilPrice.com
Forget about fighting fire with fire, it gets messy. Instead, find something as efficient, if not all the more so and that will convince your friends and foes alike that you mean business.
The world of deep finance is the new weapon the US finds to be among the most efficient in the war on terrorism. And that is how the Obama administration intends to convince its Arab allies who and what to fund the Islamists fighting the forces of President Bashar Assad in the Syrian civil war.
Bye-Bye, Middle East?
By Zaki Laïdi - Project-Syndicate.org
PARIS – For some time now, a certain strategic vision has been gaining traction: the United States is becoming energy-independent, paving the way for its political retreat from the Middle East and justifying its strategic "pivot" toward Asia. This view seems intuitively correct, but is it?
Energy-hungry America has long depended on the global market to meet domestic demand. In 2005, the US imported 60% of the energy that it consumed. Since then, however, the share of imports has decreased, and it should continue to do so. The US is expected to become energy self-sufficient in 2020, and to become an oil exporter by 2030.
Obama Says U.S. Will Recognize Rebels in Syria
By MARK LANDLER, MICHAEL R. GORDON
and ANNE BARNARD - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — President Obama said Tuesday that the United States would formally recognize a coalition of Syrian opposition groups as that country's legitimate representative, in an attempt to intensify the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to give up his nearly two-year-long bloody struggle to stay in power.
Mr. Obama's announcement, in an interview with Barbara Walters of ABC News on the eve of a meeting in Morocco of the Syrian opposition leaders and their supporters, was widely expected.
US to formally recognise Syrian opposition Barack Obama says US will recognise opposition coalition as the de facto administration of Syrian regions under rebel control
By Chris McGreal - Guardian.co.uk
Barack Obama has said the US will formally recognise a Syrian opposition coalition as the de facto administration of regions under rebel control in a move that further saps the legitimacy of president Bashar al-Assad's rule.
The president's announcement, in an interview with ABC News, comes as Washington attempts to bolster support for rebel groups it regards as acceptable to western interests while attempting to isolate others.
'Jihadists may use chemical weapons to ethnically cleanse Syria'
Syrian political activist Yazan Abdallah shared with RT information that jihadist groups inside Syria might use chemical weapons to conduct "ethnic cleansing" against certain sectarian groups.
Muslim Brotherhood inherits U.S. war gear
By Rowan Scarborough-The Washington Times
For Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government, more battle tanks and jet fighters are on their way from the United States.
Cairo's military link to Washington has remained intact, meaning the U.S. will continue to modernize the biggest military in Africa — even as President Mohammed Morsi has decreed near-absolute power for himself and his supporters and opponents battle outside his palace.
'US secretly pushing for Islamic fascist regime in Egypt'
Egypt's opposition is calling for more protests, after President Morsi insisted on ploughing ahead with a referendum on the new constitution, which is viewed by many as discriminatory.
Even his decision to scrap the decree which had granted him almost absolute power, was dismissed as a play on words.
The U.S. has made no comment on Egypt's draft constitution, even though it's criticised for undermining basic freedoms.
Geopolitical analyst F. William Engdahl says Washington is secretly supporting Muslim Brotherhood to turn Egypt into an Islamic dictatorship.
Israel grows jittery of new Palestinian uprising Netanyahu heeds no warnings of 'worst intifada'
By Josef Federman. AP - The Washington Times
JERUSALEM — The rising confidence and bellicosity of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, combined with rapidly deteriorating relations with Israel's would-be peace partner in the West Bank, are raising jitters in Israel that a Palestinian uprising could be near.
Several prominent voices have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take steps to ease the tensions and bolster the Western-backed Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.
Mr. Netanyahu's political rival, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, warned that renewed violence might not be "far off."
Protesters breach barricades at palace
amid mass demos in Cairo
In Egypt, thousands of pro and anti-Morsi demonstrators have gathered in Cairo - ahead of Saturday's referendum on the new constitution. Protesters opposed to the president have breached the barricades of the Presidential Palace, amid fears that the proposed draft would lead the country towards an Islamic dictatorship. For more on this RT talks to journalist Bel Trew, who's in Cairo.
Why Obama May Mint a Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin
By James Hamilton - OilPrice.com
Here's one of the wilder suggestions floating around for what the President could do if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.
To explain the idea, let me begin with some basics on how the banking system functions. If some day you were to bring that jar of coins sitting on your dresser to deposit them in your bank account, the bank would credit your account with the amount of the deposit, and you could then use those funds to write checks.
Why gold is money
By Ben Mountifield - 247Bull.com
Most people believe that gold is simply a commodity, a valuable commodity, but a commodity none the less. The truth however, is that first and foremost, gold is money, and this article examines why that is the case.
What makes good money?
In order to understand why gold is money, and why it has been the most widely accepted form of money for thousands of years, it is first necessary to understand what constitutes good money.
Treasury Breakeven Rate Is Near One-Month High
Before Fed Meets
By Masaki Kondo - MarketWatch.com
The Treasury 10-year breakeven rate was near a one-month high before Federal Reserve policy makers start a two-day policy meeting today.
The benchmark 10-year yield was within a quarter percentage point of the record low as dealers that trade with the Fed expect the central bank to begin buying as much as $45 billion of Treasuries a month. Data due this week may show U.S. retail sales rose last month, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists.
The Value of the Dollar
BY ALASDAIR MACLEOD - FinancialSense.com
I very rarely criticise the work of others, but I am going to make an exception in the case of Paul van Eeden, of Cranberry Capital. Mr van Eeden, in an interview with The Gold Report stated that "the value of gold is about $900 per oz. Expectations of monetary inflation are keeping gold prices high." He states that quantitative easing is not producing the inflation expected. The purpose of this article is to point out some of the fallacies behind his approach, and in this respect, Mr van Eeden is far from alone. And this is where a number of basic errors are committed.
Dollar Falls Before Fed Considers Added Monetary Stimulus
By Allison Bennett - Bloomberg.com
The dollar weakened against most its major counterparts amid better-than-forecast factory data from China and bets the U.S. central bank will add to monetary stimulus.
The U.S. currency fell versus the euro and the yen before the Federal Reserve starts a policy meeting tomorrow amid forecasts it will expand bond-buying plans. Japan's currency touched the highest in almost two weeks versus the euro after Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti said he intends to resign. Mexico's peso advanced after a report showed exports increased 13 percent from a year earlier.
To Cliff or Not to Cliff
BY THOMAS J SMITH CFA - FinancialSense.com
It doesn't really matter what our station in life, most of us procrastinate. It appears Congressman and Senators share that trait with the rest of us. Congress begins their holiday vacation at the end of the week. School kids and power brokers are the only ones that get a big break for the holidays. The start of recess is important because it often gives us guidance on what is happening with major issues in DC. Whether it be the tax holiday, or Bush tax cuts or any other major issue that has confronted our leaders, the middle of the month is a good starting point to use in determining a time table for progress.
What's At Stake With the Fiscal Cliff?
BY RICHARD LARSEN - FinancialSense.com
I was astounded recently to hear someone say they believe the talk of a "fiscal cliff" is artificial and not a legitimate threat. There is an artificial component to it in that government created it, but the threat is legitimate, and not only will it impact everyone of us in one way or another, even if an agreement is reached in Washington, but the cumulative economic impact could be significant.
There are several components to the so-called "fiscal cliff," some of which are less widely known than others. Most people are aware that the present six income brackets taxed at rates of 10 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent, 28 percent, 33 percent and 35 percent will expire, and revert to the pre-Bush era five income brackets taxed at rates of 15 percent, 28 percent, 31 percent, 36 percent and 39.6 percent. Without some reconciliation in Congress, everyone, even those at poverty level, will see their taxes increase.
The Bitter Fight That Still Might Take Us Over the Fiscal Cliff
Posted by: Joshua Green - Businessweek.com
Just over three weeks remain before we reach the edge of the fiscal cliff, and in the perverse logic of how Washington functions these days, everything appears to be right on track. Disaster looms in the form of the cliff's $607 billion of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect at year's end. Unless Congress acts to stop it, the Congressional Budget Office says the country will slide back into recession. Cable news stations are running countdown clocks. Both sides are bickering and pointing fingers, taking turns being "outraged" and "saddened," and generally acting out the Kabuki ritual that presages every big Washington deal.
Most people don't seem very worried. Markets rose this week. Citizens aren't freaking out over the impending tax hikes. And the deal likely to be struck seems obvious, even beneficial: higher taxes on the rich in exchange for long-term entitlement reform to bring the budget back into balance.
A real cliff of incompetence, excuses As the stakes for our financial future ratchet higher, so do the rhetoric, political posturing and hypocrisy. And still the Federal Reserve and lax regulators escape blame.
By Bill Fleckenstein - MSNMoney.com
OK, everyone, buckle up. This is going to be a bumpy ride.
First off, I would like to turn to our eventual funding crisis. Yes, I have been talking about this for some time, and no, it hasn't started yet. But it will. One day the markets will take the printing press away from central bankers by spurning their bonds, and governments needing to get their debt funded will see rates rise dramatically.
Whether it will start here, in Japan or somewhere else I don't know, nor do I know when it will start. But I do know that the catalyst will most likely be the world losing its fear of a deflationary accident.
Watch yield spreads as Monti calls it quits Will European Central Bank's bond-buying plan keep the peace?
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch.com
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's firewall is holding up, with markets outside Italy reflecting only modest anxiety Monday over Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's decision over the weekend to step down early amid domestic political turmoil.
Italian government bonds sold off in a knee-jerk reaction, sending yields higher and widening the all-important yield premium demanded by investors to hold Italian and Spanish government bonds over safe-haven German bunds. Italian stocks also sank.
Europe: The new market cliff
by Robert Gottliebsen - BusinessSpectator.com
Australian and world stock markets now suddenly face a 2013 danger that they had not anticipated – instability in Italy and therefore Europe. In the next few months we are likely to see the European equivalent of the US fiscal cliff emerge.
The global strength in stock markets in the last six months was partly due to the remarkable Italian prime minister, the non-elected former Goldman Sachs man, Mario Monti. Now Monti is preparing to step down.
Mario Monti's exit is only way to save Italy Italy has only one serious economic problem.
It is in the wrong currency.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The nation is richer than Germany in per capita terms, with some €9 trillion of private wealth. It has the biggest primary budget surplus in the G7 bloc. Its combined public and private debt is 265pc of GDP, lower than in France, Holland, the UK, the US or Japan.
It scores top of the International Monetary Fund's index for "long-term debt sustainability" among key industrial nations, precisely because it reformed the pension structure long ago under Silvio Berlusconi.
Romanticizing Taxation The irresistible temptation to spend other people's money
By Sheldon Richman - Reason.com
In the debate over avoiding the "fiscal cliff"—especially over whose taxes should and shouldn't be raised—I detect an annoying attempt to romanticize taxation. I read this as an act of desperation on the part of those who want higher taxes on the wealthy, for there is nothing romantic about taxation.
The other day MSNBC's Chris Hayes invoked Franklin Roosevelt in support of higher taxes on the top 2 percent. Pulling out all the stops, Hayes quoted from one of FDR's October 1936 campaign speeches, in which Roosevelt said:
Is the U.S. Already in Recession?
BY TIM DUY PHD - FinancialSense.com
Via a recent media blitz, ECRI Co-Founder Lakshman Achuthan insists that the US is already in recession, apparently as of July. I would be very skeptical that this was in fact the case. I think the preponderance of evidence weighs in favor of ongoing expansion, disappointing as the pace of that expansion may be.
Actually, Achuthan loses credibility quite quickly by claiming there is a strict definition of recession based upon peaks of production (Achuthan apparently views "production" as "industrial production"), income, jobs, and sales. In contrast, according to the NBER business cycle dating committee:
Standard Chartered Bank forfeits $227 million
for violating U.S. sanctions laws
By Jerry Seper-The Washington Times
Two British-based banks have been slapped with huge settlement payments to resolve separate allegations involving an elaborate conspiracy to launder millions in illegal cash and another scheme to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran, Sudan, Libya and Burma.
HSBC, the British banking giant, agreed to pay $1.9 billion to settle a money-laundering probe by federal and state authorities in the United States, which had focused on the transfer of billions of dollars on behalf of nations like Iran, which are under international sanctions, and the transfer of money through the U.S. financial system from Mexican drug cartels.
Report: By 2030, US will lose superpower status
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
The United States will no longer be a single global superpower by 2030 as economies in Asia grow larger than the U.S. and Europe, according to a new report from the U.S. intelligence community.
The report, by the National Intelligence Council, says that no country would replace the United States as the dominant superpower, and that the U.S. would remain "first among equals."
Is the Economy Creating a Lost Generation?
By Robert Samuelson - RealClearMarkets.com
This is not a good time to be starting out in life. Jobs are scarce, and those that exist often pay unexpectedly low wages. Beginning a family - always stressful and uncertain - is increasingly a stretch. The weak economy begets weak family formation. We instinctively know this; several new studies now deepen our understanding.
When the labor market operates smoothly, it creates an economic escalator. Just out of high school or college, young workers typically switch jobs frequently until they find something that fits their talent and temperament. Job changes often mean higher pay; people move to advance themselves. The more they succeed, the more confident they feel in marrying and having children.
15 Signs That The Economy Is Rapidly Getting Worse
As We Head Into 2013
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
How can the mainstream media claim that the U.S. economy is "improving" when it is painfully obvious to anyone with a brain that the middle class is being absolutely eviscerated? According to numbers that were just released, the number of Americans on food stamps rose by more than 600,000 in a single month to an all-time record high of 47.7 million. Youth unemployment in the U.S. is at a post-World War II high and large companies have announced the elimination of more than 100,000 jobs since Barack Obama won the election. Consumer debt just hit a new record high and the federal government is accumulating debt at a much faster pace than it was at this time last year. So where is the evidence that the economy is getting better? The mainstream media says that the decline of the unemployment rate to "7.7 percent" is evidence that things are improving, but I showed how fraudulent that number isyesterday. The percentage of working age Americans with a job today is exactly where it was back in September 2009 in the midst of the last major economic crisis.
Food stamp use reaches another high in September:
47.7 million participants
By Caroline May - DailyCaller.com
Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, reached another high in September, according to new data released by the United Stated Department of Agriculture.
The most recent data on SNAP participation were released Friday, and showed that 47,710,324 people were enrolled in the program in September, an increase of 607,559 from the 47,102,765 enrolled in August.
Surprise: New insurance fee in health overhaul law
By Ricardo Alonso Zaldivar - Businessweek.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers.
Employee benefits lawyer Chantel Sheaks calls it a "sleeper issue" with significant financial consequences, particularly for large employers.
Five ways raising eligibility could change Medicare
Posted by Sarah Kliff - WashingtonPost.com
The Medicare eligibility age is one entitlement policy on the table in a fiscal cliff deal. If it went through, the policy change would move about 5 million seniors out of the entitlement program and into the market that serves the non-elderly, with private insurance and Medicaid for low-income populations as the main options.
The idea of raising Mediare's age has bounced around Washington for a few decades now, giving researchers a lot of time to figure out what this change would mean for the health care system. Here are five of their most important findings.
Obamacare: For State Republicans, It's Decision Time
By Devin Leonard - Businessweek.com
Florida Governor Rick Scott abhors the Affordable Care Act. He campaigned against the health-care law when he ran for office in 2010 and has rarely missed an opportunity to vilify it since. Even after the Supreme Court upheld it, the Republican told Fox News (NWS), "We're not going to implement Obamacare in Florida."
So Scott was noticeably uncomfortable on Nov. 16 when he told reporters at a Washington meeting of the conservative Federalist Society that he wanted to meet with administration officials to discuss creating a state-run health exchange, as required by the law. "Governor Romney didn't win the election," Scott lamented. "So it's not an option to repeal Obamacare."
States cannot do partial Medicaid expansion,
says Obama administration
By Sam Baker - TheHill.com
States must take or leave the entire Medicaid expansion under President Obama's healthcare law, and cannot expand the program only partially, the Obama administration said Monday.
The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) said the law does not allow for a partial expansion — at least not with the level of federal funding available to states that participate in the expansion.
Chris Christie Really Doesn't Want Obamacare Near His State
By Devin Leonard - Businessweek.com
Obamacare still isn't sinking in. Chris Christie, New Jersey's Republican governor, has now vetoed legislation—for the second time this year—that would have allowed his state to enact the law's key element: a state-run health insurance exchange. Christie complained that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services hasn't told New Jersey enough about the cost of setting up an exchange, which is basically an online marketplace enabling people to shop for coverage the same way they do for books on Amazon. "Until the federal government gives us all the necessary information, any other action than this would be fiscally irresponsible," he said in a statement. "Thus far, we lack such critical information from the federal government."
Obamacare: For State Republicans, It's Decision Time
By Devin Leonard - Businessweek.com
Florida Governor Rick Scott abhors the Affordable Care Act. He campaigned against the health-care law when he ran for office in 2010 and has rarely missed an opportunity to vilify it since. Even after the Supreme Court upheld it, the Republican told Fox News (NWS), "We're not going to implement Obamacare in Florida."
So Scott was noticeably uncomfortable on Nov. 16 when he told reporters at a Washington meeting of the conservative Federalist Society that he wanted to meet with administration officials to discuss creating a state-run health exchange, as required by the law. "Governor Romney didn't win the election," Scott lamented. "So it's not an option to repeal Obamacare."
Unions vow political payback for Michigan right-to-work law
DailyCaller.com
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — With defeat in the Michigan Legislature virtually certain, Democrats and organized labor intend to make enactment of right-to-work laws as uncomfortable as possible for Gov. Rick Snyder and his Republican allies while laying the groundwork to seek payback at the polls.
Shellshocked opponents of the laws spent the weekend mapping strategy for protests and acts of civil disobedience, while acknowledging the cold reality that Republican majorities in the House and Senate cannot be stopped — or even delayed for long by parliamentary maneuvers. Leaders vowed to resist to the end, and then set their sights on winning control of the Legislature and defeating Snyder when he seeks re-election in 2014.
Obama jumps headfirst into fight
over Michigan 'right-to-work' law
By Amie Parnes and Kevin Bogardus - TheHill.com
President Obama on Monday injected himself into an escalating fight over changing Michigan into a right-to-work state, saying the state Legislature's move to ban the required paying of union dues was all about politics.
The quick entry into the fight by Obama suggests the White House could be more aggressively involved in the Michigan fight than in a similar battle in Wisconsin in 2011.
Mich. legislators defy unions, OK right-to-work
BY BY JOHN FLESHER AND JEFF KAROUB - Salon.com
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — In an audacious flex of political muscle, Republicans in a single day reached the brink of a goal that for years has seemed an all-but-impossible dream: making the labor bastion of Michigan a right-to-work state.
The GOP majority used its superior numbers and backing from Gov. Rick Snyder to ramrod legislation Thursday through the House and Senate, brushing aside denunciations and walkouts by helpless Democrats and cries of outrage from union activists who swarmed the state Capitol hallways and grounds. At one point, police used pepper spray to subdue demonstrators who tried to rush the Senate chamber.
Pennsylvania woman sues Google over Gmail privacy
By THE WASHINGTON TIMES
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania woman has accused Google Inc. of illegal wiretapping for "intercepting" emails she sent to Gmail accounts and publishing content-related ads.
Her lawsuit echoes others filed across the country by class-action lawyers who say the practice violates wiretap laws in some states. They represent email users who do not have Gmail accounts and have therefore not signed the company's acceptance policy.
FTC probes mobile apps firms over child privacy concerns
By Cecilia Kang - WashingtonPost.com
Hundreds of popular smartphone and tablet apps aimed at children are collecting personal data and sharing it without informing parents, a new federal study said Monday.
Developers of these software programs offered misleading privacy policies or buried their practices in fine print, the Federal Trade Commission found after testing 400 leading apps sold in the mobile stores run by Apple and Google.
In Some Stores, the Mannequins Are Watching You
By Andrew Roberts - Businessweek.com
Store mannequins are meant to catch your eye. Soon, you may catch theirs. Italian mannequin maker Almax is rolling out the EyeSee, a mannequin equipped with technology typically used to identify criminals at airports. The dummies allow retailers to glean demographic data and shopping patterns from customers as they move through stores, much as online merchants do.
Although retailers are loath to discuss the mannequins' use, Almax Chief Executive Officer Max Catanese says five companies are using a total of "a few dozen" of them in three European countries and the U.S.—and he has outstanding orders for at least that many more. Already, he says, information collected by the €4,000 ($5,130) device has spurred shops to adjust window displays, store layouts, and promotions to keep consumers spending. "It's spooky," says Luca Solca, head of luxury goods research at Exane BNP Paribas (BNP) in London. "You wouldn't expect a mannequin to be observing you."
Why Are Preppers Hated So Much?
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Have you noticed that it has become trendy to bash preppers? For a long time the prepper movement was ignored, but now it has become so large that it is getting very difficult for the mainstream media to pretend that it is not there. In fact, it has been estimated that there are now approximately 3 million preppers in the United States alone. So now the mainstream media has decided that mocking the movement is the best strategy, and lots of "critics" and "skeptics" out there have picked up on this trend. Instead of addressing the very real issues that have caused millions of Americans to prepare for the worst, those criticizing the prepper movement attempt to put the focus on individual personalities. They try to find the strangest nutjobs they possibly can and then hold them up as "typical preppers". The goal is to portray preppers as tinfoil hat wearing freaks that need to be locked up in the loony bin for their own personal safety and for the good of society. The criticism of preppers has really ramped up in recent months, and it will likely get even worse in 2013. The establishment does not like any movement that is outside of their control, and the prepper movement is definitely not under their control.
How the Koch Brothers Manipulate Climate Change Studies
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
The Koch brothers, Charles and David, are the billionaire owners of Koch Industries, and two of the most obstinate climate change deniers out there.
It actually turns out that they will stop at nothing to try and dirty the reputation of climate science, even going as far as fixing renewable energy studies to provide proof to their cause.
Even when Richard Muller, a Berkeley physicist, reported earlier in the year that his 3 year long, Koch-funded investigation proved that global warming did exist, that human activity was largely responsible, and that it is having a far worse effect on the planet than commonly thought; the Koch's just ignore the results and focused on another study that shows climate change is fake.
Only 37 countries willing to back Kyoto Protocol extension
By Michael Bastasch - DailyCaller.com
After two weeks of bitter fighting over continued emissions reductions and international aid, UN delegates in Qatar finally agreed to an extension of the Kyoto Protocol along with vague promises for aid to help poor countries fight climate change.
However, the Kyoto extension — which lasts until 2020 — was only backed by 37 out of 194 countries, accounting for 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the German publication FOCUS magazine. There is still no clear deal on how much these countries would reduce their emissions.
Senate Dems push climate change amendment
By Zack Colman - TheHill.com
Senate Democrats are attempting to force a vote on climate change through an amendment to the defense authorization bill.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's (D-R.I.) amendment calls for the U.S. to "assess, plan for, and mitigate the security and strategic implications of climate change" out of concern for national security.
It is unclear whether the amendment will surface on the floor as senators work to complete the sweeping defense policy bill as soon as Tuesday.
U.S. Intelligence Agencies See a Different World in 2030
By Nicole Gaouette - Bloomberg.com
New technologies, dwindling resources and explosive population growth in the next 18 years will alter the global balance of power and trigger radical economic and political changes at a speed unprecedented in modern history, says a new report by the U.S. intelligence community.
The 140-page report released today by the National Intelligence Council lays out dangers and opportunities for nations, economies, investors, political systems and leaders due to four "megatrends" that government intelligence analysts say are transforming the world.
Navy sends 2 more warships for N. Korean missile launch
By Kristina Wong-The Washington Times
The Navy has positioned two more warships in the Pacific to monitor North Korea's upcoming long-range missile launch.
The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain and the guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh have joined the USS Benfold and the USS Fitzgerald, both guided-missile destroyers, to monitor the launch, a Navy official said Saturday.
Egyptian military's power in keeping order alarms liberals
By Sarah Lynch and Ruby Russell - WashingtonTimes.com
CAIRO — The military's role in post-revolutionary Egypt is being scrutinized as backers and foes of the country's Islamist president are organizing massive rallies for Tuesday.
The rallies are being planned to voice support and opposition in the runup to Saturday's referendum on a draft constitution that would give clerics a lawmaking role in this secular Arab nation.
President Mohammed Morsi issued a decree late Sunday placing the military and police jointly in charge of maintaining public order and allowing the army to arrest civilians.
Iran says it has decoded data from captured CIA drone
By Ali Akbar Dareini, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
TEHRAN (AP) — Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Monday said it has decoded all of the data from an advanced CIA spy drone captured last year.
The Guard's aerospace chief, Gen. Ami Ali Hajizadeh, told state-run Press TV that the RQ-170 Sentinel craft had not carried out missions over nuclear facilities before it went down in December 2011 near the eastern border with Afghanistan.
Israeli Special Forces Track Chemical Weapons in Syria IDF Special Forces are operating inside Syria to track chemical weapons, the London Sunday Times reported.
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu - IsraelNationalNews.com
IDF Special Forces are operating inside Syria to track chemical weapons, the London Sunday Timesreported. The Israeli government has not commented on the report.
The report from London comes hours after Syrian opposition forces released a video showing that Syrian President Bashar Assad has used chemical weapons in the commercial center of Aleppo.
US approves $647M weapons deal to Israel
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
The Pentagon told Congress Monday it has signed off on a potential $647 million weapons package to Israel.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale of 6,900 Boeing-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) kits, which would total $647 million.
The JDAM kits convert unguided bombs into precision "smart" weapons.
Can Gold Keep Its Luster In 2013?
BY CLIF DROKE - FinancialSense.com
Gold took a double hit recently based partly on a news item from the rumor mill that a large fund in Asia was selling to "run the stops."
"The sale looks like a carefully crafted trade prepped and successfully executed by a well known $14b US fund," according to one source. "Prior to the sale there had been an unusually large purchase of gold 'puts' - a leveraged options play that profits from a downward spike in prices. There had also been some early selling on the overnight electronic platform presumably to test the waters before the big guns fired a devastating salvo."
Inside The Bank Of England's Gold Vault
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
For those who think any documented presentation of the physical gold held by the world's oldest central bank usually takes place on a movie set in Burbank, CA here is a video featuring University of Nottingham's chemistry professor Professor Martyn Poliakoff (of all people) from within the bowels of the world's second largest gold repository supposedly disproving this (whose comment "one's first reaction is that it can't possibly be real" may be far more accurate than he can possibly imagine). Why the BOE would change its long held tradition of keeping its gold miles away from the public's eye (very much the same way Bob Pisani's dramatic descent into the GLD vault was a straight-to-DVD B-grade thriller) is anyone's guess, especially now that Goldman is about to take the helm of this most venerable of money-printing institutions.
IMF study in 1999 found 80 central banks
lending 15% of official gold reserves
By: Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer, GATA - GoldSeek.com
A study by the International Monetary Fund in 1999, obtained last week by GATA's researcher R.M., reported that more than 80 central banks had lent 15 percent of official gold reserves into the market and that central banks then lending gold included the German Bundesbank, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the central banks of Austria, Portugal, and Venezuela.
The IMF study, commissioned as the agency pondered selling some of its own gold, emphasized the lack of transparency in the gold market and the secrecy demanded by central banks.
Fed's monetary stimulus meets 'fiscal cliff'
By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa
WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 9, 2012 3:05pm EST
(Reuters) - The contrast could not be sharper: Economists are all but certain the U.S. Federal Reserve will expand its monetary stimulus this week, but they have no clue how the fiscal battle in Congress will shake out.
U.S. central bankers look set to extend their monetary stimulus, known as Quantitative Easing, into the new year at a meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. Analysts expect the Fed to continue buying $85 billion worth of securities per month.
The Fiscal Cliff Is Set To Clobber The Middle Class
With Nearly 50% Tax Rates
BY KEITH FITZ-GERALD, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning
If I didn't know any better, I'd think there's a small but growing group of people in Washington who think it would actually be good if we temporarily went over the fiscal cliff.
I say that because I am seeing a smattering of articles recently suggesting that somehow going over the cliff "won't be all that bad" or that we're "really just talking about cuts that need to happen in the first place."
President Obama seems to think the same way judging by the fact that he's dug in his heels, telling the GOP there will be no fiscal cliff bargain that doesn't include tax hikes.
White House could protect middle class
from tax hikes if deficit talks falter
By Peter Schroeder and Bernie Becker - TheHill.com
The White House has the power to temporarily protect taxpayers from middle-class tax hikes even as upper income rates rise if Congress does nothing and all of the Bush-era tax rates expire in January.
Experts and lawmakers alike agree that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has the power to adjust how much is withheld from paychecks for tax purposes — for all taxpayers or just for some.
The Fiscal Cliff And The FOMC
By Bob McTeer, Contributor - Forbes.com
Well, it looks like our leaders have chosen not to put a fence at the top of the fiscal cliff, but to count on an ambulance at the bottom to clean up the mess. We only have three weeks to go before we find out how messy it will be. I don't have an informed opinion on that, but I do have a strong opinion that the Federal Reserve should lay low until it is resolved one way or another. More specifically, at the FOMC meeting on December 11 and 12, the members should do nothing new. Positive measures would only help enable further inaction.
As "fiscal cliff" nears, market complacency sets in
By Angela Moon and Steven C. Johnson
NEW YORK | Sun Dec 9, 2012 4:50pm EST
(Reuters) - Like many on Wall Street, investor Todd Petzel cringed when U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said this past Wednesday that he was ready to let the economy go over the "fiscal cliff" if Republicans would not agree to higher tax rates on the rich.
"I didn't think good things would come out of the comment," said Petzel, the chief investment officer at Offit Capital Advisors in New York. "But nothing happened."
What Is the VIX Saying About the Fiscal Cliff?
BY JW JONES - FinancialSense.com
The past few weeks have been full of a constant barrage of press conferences and public statements from the charlatans in Washington D.C. Politicians cannot pass up a chance to get in front of the cameras and the media has used the "fiscal cliff" as a mechanism to scare average Americans further about their future.
Interestingly enough, amid all of the nonsense that has been going on stocks have remained resilient. I think sometimes its important to just step back away from the media's noise and just look at some price charts for more clarity. The S&P 500 Index has been trading in a relatively tight range now for over 6 trading sessions as shown below.
Obama's dangerous fiscal game The President's sole objective
is to make the Republicans capitulate
By Charles Krauthammer - NYDailyNews.com
Let's understand President Obama's strategy in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations. It has nothing to do with economics or real fiscal reform. This is entirely about politics. It's Phase 2 of the 2012 campaign.
The election returned him to office. The fiscal cliff negotiations are designed to break the Republican opposition and grant him political supremacy, something he thinks he earned with his landslide 2.8-point victory margin on Election Day.
The Historic Inversion In Shadow Banking Is Now Complete
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Back in June, we wrote an article titled "On The Verge Of A Historic Inversion In Shadow Banking" in which we showed that for the first time since December 1995, the total "shadow liabilities" in the United States - the deposit-free funding instruments that serve as credit to those unregulated institutions that are financial banks in all but name (i.e., they perform maturity, credit and liquidity transformations) - were on the verge of being once more eclipsed by traditional bank funding liabilities. As of Thursday, this inversion is now a fact, with Shadow Bank liabilities representing less in notional than traditional liabilities.
Research Shows ALL Paper Money Systems Failed
Gold Silver Worlds
Gold analysts argue that gold is the only form of real money, as it is the only tangible form of money that has survived 5,000 years of monetary history. Against that background, a critical event has taken place on August 15th 1971: former US President Nixon "closed the gold window." He announced the decision to give up the Bretton Woods agreement (click to see the original version of his speech). What seems to most people a political decision is in reality affecting everyone of us in a way only a minority of people can understand. In fact, it's touching our lives today more than ever.
Keiser Report: Hollywood Accounting (E377)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert look at how Hollywood accounting has turned the global financial system into one in which money and wealth melt like so much congealed snow. And so from Pontiac, Michigan to the Australian outback, zero percent interest rates and jobs that never materialize are the new normal. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone magazine about banksters who can't recall a single thing about their crimes, including everything from Libor rigging to defrauding monoline insurers
How Corruption Is Strangling U.S. Innovation
by James Allworth - Harvard Business Review
If there's been one topic that has entirely dominated the post-election landscape, it's the fiscal cliff. Will taxes be raised? Which programs will be cut? Who will blink first in negotiations? For all the talk of the fiscal cliff, however, I believe the US is facing a much more serious problem, one that has simply not been talked about at all: corruption. But this isn't the overt, "bartering of government favors in return for private kickbacks" corruption. Instead, this type of corruption has actually been legalized. And it is strangling both US competitiveness, and the ability for US firms to innovate.
The corruption to which I am referring is the phenomenon of money in politics.
World risks fresh credit bubble, Switzerland's BIS warns Asset prices across the world have risen to heady levels not seen since the credit boom five years ago and may be losing touch with economic reality yet again, the Bank for International Settlements has warned.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Tlegraph.co.uk
"Some asset prices appeared highly valued in a historical context relative to indicators of their riskiness," said the bank in its quarterly report.
Yields on mortgage bonds have fallen to the lowest level ever recorded. Spreads on corporate debt have narrowed to the wafer thin margins of 2007, even though default rates are currently three times higher than they were then for junk bonds and twice as high for investment-grade companies.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde warns US
of worldwide effects of fiscal cliff On CNN's State of the Union, monetary fund boss says improvements on employment and debt would be negated
By Ed Pilkington in New York - Guardian.co.uk
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has warned the US it has the potential to be its "own worst enemy" over the fragile economic recovery and that failure to reach a comprehensive settlement over thefiscal cliff could see growth plummet to zero.
In forthright comments over the impending fiscal cliff, the IMF managing director said that "if the US economy was to suffer the downside risk of not reaching a comprehensive deal, then growth would be zero". The markets would react quickly, "and the stock market would take a hit," she said.
Euro's effects on our woes haven't died, they're just resting Whether it will be Italy, Spain, Portugal or Greece, one of these will shortly re-ignite fears for the euro's survival.
By Roger Bootle - Telegraph.co.uk
Rarely has such a gloomy mood been so widely shared. After last week's Autumn Statement it is as though a dark cloud has descended on the nation. One ray of light, many people seem to think, is that the euro crisis has died down. Accordingly, there is hope for better European growth ahead.
This view is misguided – on two counts. First, this particular parrot is not dead but merely sleeping. The re-emergence of political instability in Italy highlights one of the eurozone's key weaknesses, while the eurozone economy is dire, pretty much everywhere. Whether it will be Italy, Spain, Portugal or Greece I do not know, but I feel sure that one of these will shortly re-ignite fears for the euro's survival.
Europe clings to scorched-earth ideology
as depression deepens Like the generals of the First World War, Europe's leaders seem determined to send wave after wave of their youth into the barbed wire of tight money, bank deleveraging, and fiscal austerity a l'outrance.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The strategy of triple-barrelled contraction across a string of inter-linked countries has been the greatest policy debacle since the early 1930s. The outcome over the last three years has been worse than forecast at every stage, and in every key respect.
The eurozone has crashed back into double-dip recession. It will contract a further 0.3pc next year, according to a chastened European Central Bank. The ECB omitted mention of its own role in this fiasco by allowing all key measures of the money supply to stall in mid-2012, with the time-honoured consequences six months to a year later.
Greek opposition leader calls for European debt conference Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras says only viable solution to debt crisis is 'a haircut for Greece and entire southern periphery'
By Helena Smith in Athens - Guardian.co.uk
Only weeks after the EU and IMF announced a third plan in as many years to rescue Greece from insolvency, the country's most popular party – its radical left opposition – has called for a European debt conference to "finally" settle a crisis it claims is no nearer to being solved.
In an exclusive interview, Alexis Tsipras, who heads the stridently anti-austerity Syriza, insisted that with the debt drama spreading it was vital that foreign lenders take a leaf out of the history books by dealing with the eurozone's crisis-hit southern periphery in much the same way that Germany had been treated after the second world war.
Greece Is Close to Reaching Debt Buyback Target,
Official Says
By Paul Tugwell - Bloomberg.com
Greece is near to reaching its target in a buyback of sovereign debt that will unlock aid from theInternational Monetary Fund and the European Union, according to a Greek government official.
The amount offered in the buyback of Greece's bonds is close to 30 billion euros, the official at the Finance Ministry said on condition of anonymity, referring to the face value of the securities.
Italy's Technocratic Government Coming To An End:
Goldman's Mark-To-Mario Gambit
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
In what is the day's most overhyped piece of non-news, we go to Italy to learn what manyalready knew on Thursday, namely that with the loss of support of Berlusconi's PDL party, Mario Monti's technocratic government, which correctly "feels" it lost its parliamentary support, is coming to an end and after a two hour meeting between the former Goldman advisor and Italian president Napolitano, Monti announced he "intends to resign after checking to see if parliament can pass next year's budget law, President Giorgio Napolitano's office said on Saturday... If the budget law can be passed "quickly", Monti said he would immediately confirm his resignation. Monti's announcement came after a two-hour meeting with Napolitano, who has the power to dissolve parliament." The reason this is non-news is that Monti government's tenure is ending in a few months anyway, and general elections are coming in Q1 regardless. In other words, it may take weeks or months for the budget law to pass, or not, at which point it will be time for new elections anyway.
Democrats Hint at Entitlement Program Cuts in U.S. Budget
By Heidi Przybyla - Bloomberg.com
As Democrats demand tax concessions from Republicans to avert a collision over the federal budget, Senate Democratic leaders are signaling that they may be willing to trade an entitlement spending overhaul to secure a deficit- reduction deal.
Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said he might reluctantly be open to expanding means- testing for Medicare eligibility -- charging more to higher- income seniors. New York Senator Chuck Schumer said he wouldn't rule out changing entitlements, challenging Republicans to come up with specific proposals.
The Liberal Left's Dirty Little Secret:
The Middle Class and Poor Pay For the Entitlement State
By Paul Gregory, Forbes.com
Europe's more than half century experience shows that, no matter hard you squeeze them, the rich cannot pay for a big government that guarantees all its citizens "positive rights" to income, employment, health, and retirement. Such an entitlement state – some call it a nanny state — is funded primarily by repressive taxes on the middle class and the working poor. This conclusion is based on hard statistical facts that neither the right nor left dispute. America's Left has kept this fact under wraps and out of sight of voters. It should have been the focus of the 2012 Republican campaign, but it was not.
Walmart Bails On Obamacare-Sticks Taxpayers
With Employee Healthcare Costs
By Rick Ungar, Contributor - Forbes.com
After making a big deal of publicly supporting the Affordable Care Act, Walmart—the nation's largest private sector employer—is joining the ranks of companies seeking to avoid their obligation to provide employees with health insurance as required by Obamacare.
It was not all that many years ago that Walmart announced, in response to harsh criticism over the low pay provided to Walmart 'associates', that the company would provide a healthcare benefit to its part-time, low earning employees. The uncharacteristically generous nod to worker needs was short lived as the company partially pulled back on the commitment in 2011, citing premium rate increases that Walmart deemed beyond their capacity to pay.
We Are All Eating Nanotechnology
by Rick Paulas - KCET.org
Michael Crichton was always a bit of an alarmist. In his novels, he exploited the simple concept that everyone from Bram Stoker to Alfred Hitchcock had mastered: Take something people experience every day, and make it kill them. For Stoker, it was open windows. For Hitchcock, it was roadside motels. For Crichton, it was technology.
Unemployment Is Not Going Down:
The Employment Rate Has Been Under 59 Percent
For 39 Months In A Row
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The mainstream media is heralding the decline of the official unemployment rate to 7.7 percent as evidence that the U.S. economy is improving. But it is a giant lie. The truth is that unemployment in America is not actually going down. The percentage of working age Americans with a job actually dropped slightly in November. During the last recession, the percentage of working age Americans with a job fell from about 63 percent to under 59 percent and it has stayed there for 39 months in a row. In September 2009, during the depths of the last economic crisis, 58.7 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In November 2012, 58.7 percent of all working age Americans were employed. It is more then 3 years later, and we are in the exact same place! So how in the world are they able to pretend that the "unemployment rate" is going down steadily? Well, they get there by pretending that hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers "leave the labor force" each month. According to the government, another 350,000 Americans left the labor force during November, and when you keep pretending that huge chunks of workers "disappear" each month it is easy to get the "unemployment rate" to go down.
Move Over, Michigan, China Is The World's Next Rustbelt
By Gordon G. Chang, Contributor - Forbes.com
Six cities in Liaoning province, including Shenyang and Anshan, recently announced they are converting abandoned industrial sites to farm land. Dongguan, once a booming factory center, is on the verge of bankruptcy as companies close, leaving the local government severely cash-strapped.
Just two years after China overtook the U.S. to become the world's largest manufacturer, the country faces the prospect of decades of de-industrialization. And there is little Beijing can do to arrest the slide.
Will Regulators Damn Keystone XL?
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
Starting Tuesday, U.S. regulators hold meetings on oil and natural gas pipeline safety standards. A series of pipeline issues, ranging from a deadly gas pipeline explosion in California, to a massive oil spill in Michigan, have brought pipeline safety to the forefront of the American energy debate. The safety meetings, scheduled in Virginia, come days after environmental regulators in Nebraska end a public comment period for Keystone XL, one of the most contentious U.S. pipeline issues.
The World Starts to Come Apart at the Seams
as it Battles over Energy Supply
By Dave Summers - OilPrice.com
There is a lot going on in the Middle East at the moment. There is the revolution in Syria which seems now to be entering some form of end game, and there are the riots in Egypt. There are some signs that these events might move on to countries such as Jordan. Increasing levels of turmoil in the Middle East do not help stabilize the future flow of oil and natural gas around the world, and there are underlying tensions, brought about in part by the need to sustain sanctions against Iran.
Google to start charging small businesses for Google Apps The company has done away with a free version available to firms with 10 or fewer users, but private users are still free
By Jay Alabaster - Computerworld.com
IDG News Service - Google has ended a free version of its Google Apps online application suite for small businesses, saying it wants to provide a stronger and more uniform experience to users.
The Internet giant said Thursday in a blog post that now even small businesses with 10 or fewer users will have to pay to use its online app platform, a group that up until now has been free. All businesses will now be charged US$50 per user, per year, for the service.
U.S. mobile providers commit to emergency texting service The four largest mobile carriers will offer text-to-911 nationwide by mid-2014 in an agreement with the FCC
By Grant Gross - Computerworld.com
IDG News Service - The four largest mobile carriers in the U.S. -- AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile -- have agreed to accelerate the availability of emergency texting, or text-to-911.
The four carriers have committed to major deployments of text-to-911 in 2013, with nationwide availability by May 15, 2014, U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said late Thursday. The agreement between the agency and the four carriers means that more than 90 percent of the nation's mobile consumers, including those with hearing or speech disabilities, will be able to contact emergency services by sending text messages to 911.
Foxconn eyes expanding its manufacturing in the U.S. Apple plans on bringing back Mac manufacturing to the U.S.
By Michael Kan - Computerworld.com
IDG News Service - Foxconn Technology Group is considering expanding its existing manufacturing operations in the U.S., in a move that could be linked with Apple's plan to bring back Mac manufacturing to the country.
Foxconn made the statement on Friday after Apple CEO Tim Cook said ininterviews with NBC and Businessweek that Apple would manufacture one of its Mac lines in the U.S. by the end of next year.
Newt Gingrich: Republicans cannot win
if Hillary Clinton runs in 2016 Former presidential candidate calls party 'incapable of competing' if she decides on another bid for the White House
By Ed Pilkington in New York - Guardian.co.uk
It's still four years to go until the next US presidential election, but already the Republicans are having cold sweats over the prospect of facing Hillary Clinton at the ballot box, judging by the comments of Newt Gingrich.
The one-time challenger for the party's 2012 White House nod expressed the thought that many of his GOP colleagues must be harbouring, but are too timid to mention: If Clinton decides to stand in 2016, they are toast.
Muslims, Episcopalians, and Diversity Dreams Is this how a liberal Episcopal church seeks to increase attendance and draw media attention?
By MARK TOOLEY - Spectator.org
On December 15 the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) will have its annual convention at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, a prominent liberal parish within the increasingly liberal Episcopal denomination. It's the first time MPAC has convened at a church.
Last week a younger writer on national security issues named Ryan Mauro penned a column critical of MPAC's radical connections in its past and questioned the church's wisdom in hosting it. The article appeared in Frontpagemag.com and on the website of my group, the Institute on Religion and Democracy. On December 6, MPAC and the All Saints Episcopal convened a press conference at the church to denounce an ostensible "attack from right-wing extremists," which seemed mostly to be Mauro's article.
The Arab Spring Is Turning into a Hard Winter In the face of growing opposition, Egyptian President Morsi has pledged to forge ahead with his polarizing constitution and defended the decrees that have granted him near absolute power. German editorialists say that without a compromise, the latest round of violence won't be the last.
By Renuka Rayasam - Spiegel.de
This week Egypt has seen the worst outbreak of violence since the Arab Spring demonstrations that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak's regime two years ago. Six people were killed and hundreds injured when opposition protestors and supporters of President Mohammed Morsi clashed on Wednesday night. And with more demonstrations planned for Friday after midday prayers, there are fears that the rift between the two sides will only deepen.
Despite the unrest, embattled President Morsi stood his ground in a nationally televised address on Thursday night. The president, who is backed by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, said he was open to dialogue with the opposition starting on Saturday, but refused to withdraw decrees he issued last month that put his authority beyond judicial review. He also rejected demands that he postpone a Dec. 15 referendum on a draft constitution that would cement several tenants of Islamism into law.
U.S. warships moving to monitor
North Korea's planned rocket launch
By David Alexander
WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 7, 2012 3:16am EST
(Reuters) - The United States is shifting warships into position to track and possibly defend against a planned North Korean rocket launch while urging Pyongyang to cancel its second such attempt this year, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command said on Thursday.
Admiral Samuel Locklear, who commands U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, said warships were being moved to the best locations to track the rocket during its launch and flight, which North Korea has set for sometime between December 10 and 22.
North Korea a looming problem for whoever wins South vote
By Jack Kim
SEOUL | Sun Dec 9, 2012 4:19pm EST
(Reuters) - Whoever wins South Korea's December 19 presidential election will likely find that spiky and unpredictable North Korea is as ready to strike as it is to negotiate.
The main contenders in the South's election have said they would hold talks with Kim Jong-un, the youthful ruler of one of the world's most heavily armed states, in a bid to end the chill that has descended on relations under South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak, whose mandatory single term ends in February.
North Korean rocket launch window opens
By HYUNG-JIN KIM - SFGate.com
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A near two-week launch window for a North Korean long-range rocket began Monday, a day after Pyongyang said it may delay liftoff. North Korea has faced mounting international pressure to abandon what critics call a cover for a banned missile test.
Scientists had been pushing forward with final preparations for the launch from a west coast site but are considering "readjusting" the timing for unspecified reasons, an unidentified spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology told North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency early Sunday.
NATO Says Military Intervention in Syria is "Imminent"
Following the arrival of the USS Eisenhower in the Mediterranean sea just outside Syria, reports are now circulating that other NATO forces are firmly in place to launch an "imminent" Libya-style military assault to topple President Bashar Al-Assad.
G.I.s mass on border with Syria 400 NATO soldiers readying Patriot missiles
BY BILL HUTCHINSON / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
NATO BEGAN putting troops and missiles along the Syrian border Thursday in response to reports that embattled President Bashar Assad is poised to use chemical weapons.
At least 400 NATO soldiers from the U.S. and the Netherlands were beefing up Turkey's border with Syria and readying Patriot missiles.
Russia and US in Geneva talks over future of Syria But foreign minister says 'brainstorming session' with UN envoy does not signal Moscow's support for Assad is waning
By Julian Borger, diplomatic editor - The Guardian
Russian and American diplomats have met in Geneva to discuss the future of Syria with the UN envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, according to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who insisted the meeting did not imply Moscow had softened in its support for the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad.
Lavrov said the 'brainstorming session' involving Brahimi with senior officials from Washington and Moscow, had been agreed last week when Lavrov, Brahimi and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, met in Dublin.
Assad's strategy shift keeps rebels at gates of Damascus Government forces may have retreated but it seems their tactic is to strengthen the areas that they believe they can hold
By PATRICK COCKBURN - Independent.co.uk
A rebel assault on Damascus has failed to make serious gains in the Syrian capital, diplomats have said, warning that the struggle between the regime of Bashar al-Assad and the opposition is now likely to drag on longer than had been expected.
The diplomats say that the Syrian government has adopted a new strategy in recent weeks whereby it withdraws its troops from bases that are indefensible in order to concentrate them in Damascus and other cities it views as strategically crucial. This pull-back enabled the army to launch a successful counter offensive in the past week, relieving the military pressure on the capital and improving its negotiating position.
In Obama's Plan to Tax Rich, $250,000 Figure May Mislead
By CATHERINE RAMPELL and BINYAMIN APPELBAUM - NYTimes.com
President Obama's insistence that marginal tax rates rise for families making more than $250,000 has convinced millions of affluent Americans that they are likely to be writing larger checks to the government next year.
But many of those families have no reason to fret.
A close look at the president's plan shows that a large majority of families making up to $300,000 — as well as hundreds of thousands of families with even larger incomes — would not pay taxes at a higher marginal rate.
3 Economic Bears Seek Goldilocks Economy
By Miller & Nazareth - Bloomberg.com
When it comes to the U.S. economy, the glass may not be half empty after all.
Three prominent bears -- David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates, Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer at Pacific Investment Management Co., and David Levy, chairman of the Jerome Levy Forecasting Center -- separately see some hopeful signs. These include a housing market that is healing, a more competitive manufacturing industry and technological breakthroughs that could boost productivity.
"More so than at any time in the past three years, I'm doing whatever I can to identify silver linings in the clouds," Rosenberg said.
The Fiscal Bluff The Jackass Caucus's 'Grecian Formula' for Economic Collapse
By Mark Alexander - PatriotPost.us
"The multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife." --Thomas Jefferson (1821)
Have you heard about this "fiscal cliff" thing -- I mean have you heard ENOUGH about it?
Well, for 16 months I have dutifully avoided devoting any time and bandwidth to the tax increases and budget cuts scheduled for January 2, 2013, if Barack Hussein Obama fails to sign pre-emptive legislation. However, now that the dust has settled on Obama's landslide 50.9 percent re-election and the status-quo reseating of Republican House and Democrat Senate majorities, it's time to put Obama's Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) "deal" into proper Patriot perspective.
What If the Fiscal Cliff Is the Wrong Cliff?
By Robert Wright - TheAtlantic.com
One premise of the people who built the "fiscal cliff"--who committed Congress to either make big inroads on the deficit or have big inroads made automatically, meat-cleaver style--is that government debt is central to our economic problems. What if they're wrong?
I don't mean "What if public debt isn't a problem?"--because it is, and I don't doubt that addressing it in some measure is a good idea. I mean: What if public debt is such a small part of the problem that we're setting ourselves up for pain followed by disappointment? What if we'll make lots of budget cuts, dampening economic activity in the short term, only to find that the long-term benefits, while real, are dinky in the scheme of things, and there's a much bigger problem that's been left unaddressed?
The Real Fiscal Risks in the United States
By Simon Johnson - Economix.com
A great deal of attention is currently focused on the notion that a "fiscal cliff" of higher taxes and spending cuts awaits at the end of this year. The good news is that politicians are finally talking about the budget – and working hard to communicate their competing messages regarding what should be done to put public finance on a more sustainable footing.
The bad news is that almost the entire national conversation on deficits and debts misses the real fiscal risks that we face.
There are three major issues.
CBO: GOING OVER FISCAL CLIFF
WILL REQUIRE RAISING DEBT CEILING BY $4.25 TRILLION
by TONY LEE - Breitbart.com
If the country goes over the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling may need to be raised by another $4.25 trillion over the next decade even though the federal government will take in a record amount of tax dollars.
This could explain why President Barack Obama wants unilateral power to raise the debt ceiling without getting approval from Congress.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) outlook for the next decade shows that tax revenues will "rise to a record level as a percentage of GDP," but annual federal spending will also increase by 55%. This will cause a massive increase in the deficit.
Barry Ritholtz and Chris Whalen
Discuss Danger of Derivatives Market
BY FS STAFF - FinancialSense.com
From Bloomberg Law:
The unregulated multi-trillion dollar derivatives market exceeds global GDP [by an estimated 10x +] and poses a clear danger to the global economy, Chris Whalen, Senior Managing Director at Tangent Capital Partners, and Barry Ritholtz, CEO at Fusion IQ, tell Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia."
"The fix is very simple," says Ritholtz, "repeal the Commodities Futures Modernization Act and suddenly this becomes like every other financial instrument."
Ritholtz: 'Dot Com Bonus Envy' Stymies Wall St. Reform
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg Law) -- The unregulated multi-trillion dollar derivatives market exceeds global GDP and poses a clear danger to the global economy, Chris Whalen, Senior Managing Director at Tangent Capital Partners, and Barry Ritholtz, CEO at Fusion IQ, tell Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia.
"The fix is very simple," says Ritholtz, "repeal the Commodities Futures Modernization Act and suddenly this becomes like every other financial instrument."
Whalen notes that the financial industry is reluctant to change the way derivatives are managed because they generate large returns at a time when banks are less profitable than before. "The super normal returns that they earn from derivatives subsidize the rest of the business," he says.
One way or the other, Ritholtz and Whalen believe the financial industry needs to get used to the idea of making less money.
Democrats Hint at Entitlement Program Cuts in U.S. Budget
By Heidi Przybyla - Bloomberg.com
Two Senate Democratic leaders signaled they may have to accept cuts to U.S. entitlement programs to secure a deficit-reduction deal, after some Republicans expressed willingness to discuss higher tax rates for top earners.
Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said he is open to alternatives including expanded means-testing -- charging higher-income seniors more -- for Medicare. Republicans are seeking limits to spending on entitlement programs. Durbin and New YorkSenator Chuck Schumer, the chamber's third-ranking Democrat, didn't rule them out while speaking with reporters today in Washington.
Greenspan Says Painless Solution to U.S. Debt is Fantasy
By Joshua Zumbrun & Tom Keene - Bloomberg.com
Reducing U.S. long-term deficits will inevitably cause economic pain, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said.
"The presumption that we're going to have a painless solution to this, I think, is fantasy," Greenspan said today during a "Bloomberg Surveillance" television interview with Tom Keeneand Sara Eisen. "There are a lot of risks out there but the one thing I can be reasonably certain of is we won't get through this whole issue without some pain."
ECB mulls negative rates as Europe's economic crisis deepens The European Central Bank has slashed its eurozone growth forecasts and warned that recession will drag on into the middle of next year, sending the euro plunging below €1.30 to the dollar.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Mario Draghi, the ECB's president, said the governing council had discussed a cut in overnight deposit rate to below zero for the first time, and was "operationally ready" to do so if needed.
The comment sent the euro into a nosedive, dropping from $1.3075 to $1.2950 in just two hours. "A negative deposit rate is the mother of all sell signals for a currency," said Hans Redeker, currency chief at Morgan Stanley.
The False Promise of a Eurozone Budget
By Daniel Gros - Project-Syndicate.org
BRUSSELS – A key question confronts the four presidents of Europe's major institutions (the European Commission, the European Council, the European Central Bank, and the Eurogroup) as they prepare their report on how to reform the common currency: Does the eurozone need its own budget?
They are facing the argument that the United States' monetary union works much better because there is a large federal budget to smooth the impact of asymmetric shocks – that is, shocks to individual states. The eurozone, it is claimed, should have its own budget to provide similarly automatic insurance to its members.
This argument, however, misreads the US experience.
SEC to Lift Ban on Actively Run ETFs Using Derivatives
By Christopher Condon - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is lifting its ban on actively managed exchange- traded funds that make significant use of derivatives, a move that may clear the path for more of the funds and allow changes at existing products.
The agency still won't approve new ETFs that use derivatives to amplify returns or provide the inverse performance of an index, Norm Champ, director of the division of investment management, said today in a speech at a New York conference for investment advisers. Proposed funds will have to meet requirements on managing risk and disclosure, Champ said.
Show This To Anyone That Believes That Taxes Are Too Low
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollaspeBlog.com
Every year average Americans pay dozens of different types of taxes, and yet many of our politicians are very open about the fact that they want to raise rates even higher and invent even more ways to bleed us all dry. Someday historians will look back and be absolutely amazed at how stupid we were. We have the most complicated tax code in all of human history and at this point the federal tax code is more than four times as long as the entire collected works of William Shakespeare. In many places it is so incomprehensible that nobody actually understands what it means and the entire thing is absolutely riddled with loopholes from the beginning to the end. Trust me, I used to study this stuff. Nobody could ever read the entire thing - it is close to four million words long. But that is just for federal income taxes. We have a number of other taxes taken out of our paychecks such as state income taxes, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes. Sadly, the taxes taken out of your paycheck are only just the beginning.
The death of tax reform
By Robert J. Samuelson - WashingtonPost.com
The story behind the story is that "tax reform," as we know it, is dying. During the 1980s, no major piece of legislation better symbolized bipartisan consensus than the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which was regarded by both liberal and conservative experts as the best tax law since World War II. The basic idea was simple: Reduce tax rates and recover lost revenue by ending (or limiting) tax breaks. The struggle between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner over the "fiscal cliff" indicates that this beneficial consensus has collapsed.
Centrist Democrats flock to tax-cut discharge petition
By Mike Lillis - TheHill.com
A long list of House Democrats who bucked their party this summer to oppose tax breaks targeting only the middle class have now thrown their support behind the same bill.
Fifteen of the 19 centrist Democrats who joined the GOP in August to kill a Senate-passed proposal extending the Bush-era tax rates only on income below $250,000 have now endorsed a discharge petition pressing Republican leaders to bring that very bill back to the House floor this month.
The Recession's Toll:
How Middle Class Wealth Collapsed to a 40-Year Low
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
I'm about to share a statistic that you should remember every time you think about the Great Recession, and why the recovery has been so painstaking. It's going to illustrate precisely how devastating the downturn was for your typical American family, and the size of the hole we've been trying to dig ourselves out of.
Ready? Here goes: Between 2007 and 2010, the median net worth of U.S. households fell by 47 percent, reaching its lowest level in more than forty years, adjusted for inflation. In other words, middle class wealth virtually evaporated in this country. A good chunk of the population got sucked through a financial wormhole back to the sixties.
Unions explode as Michigan weighs right-to-work law
By Andrea Billups-The Washington Times
LANSING, Mich. — After weeks of speculation, Michigan's Republican-controlled legislature and GOPGov. Rick Snyder on Thursday pushed ahead with a bill to make this historic labor stronghold a right-to-work state, sparking a tense clash in the halls of the state Capitol and setting up what could be an epic fight in a Rust Belt state that will be watched by union and management supporters nationwide.
As police pushed back protesters with pepper spray outside, the GOP-dominated state House of Representatives by a 58-52 vote quickly approved the "Workplace Equity and Fairness Act" that would end mandatory union dues collection at any Michigan company and would apply to both public and private workers, with the exception of firefighters and police. It would make Michigan the 24th state in the nation to adopt a right-to-work law, ten months after neighboring Indiana adopted its own right-to-work law.
Mich. lawmakers push right-to-work legislation;
police pepper-spray protesters inside Capitol
By AP - WashingtonPost.com
LANSING, Mich. — Republicans rushed right-to-work legislation Thursday in the Michigan Legislature, drawing raucous protests from hundreds of union supporters, some of whom were pepper-sprayed by police when they tried to storm the Senate chamber.
The House voted 58-52 to approve a measure prohibiting private unions from requiring that nonunion employees pay fees. The Senate was debating a similar bill, with Democrats denouncing it as an attack on worker rights and the GOP sponsor insisting it would boost the economy and jobs. Separate legislation dealing with public-sector unions was expected to come later.
Dems see jobs report as factor
in push for stimulus in debt deal
By Peter Schroeder, Bernie Becker
and Vicki Needham - TheHill.com
Lawmakers and economists are bracing for a jobs report that could signal how much of a push short-term stimulus will get as part of a fiscal deal between Congress and the White House.
The White House and Democrats are wrestling over how much to bolster the economy as they negotiate a deal aimed at addressing the nation's long-term fiscal challenges.
CA MUNICIPALITIES TO BE SCORED
UNDER 'DEFAULT PROBABILITY MODEL'
by TONY LEE - Breitbart.com
Some of California's municipalities are so cash-strapped that California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer has commissioned a "default probability model" for city bonds that will allow California lawmakers and the public to identify the cities that are at the greatest risk of default. Under the model, each city will receive a numerical score reflecting its fiscal health.
Lockyer commissioned a San Jose State economist, Matthew Holian, and Public Sector Credit Solutions to develop the "default probability model," which will be fully transparent and available to everyone when it is published in May of 2013. Holian, the economist specializing in municipal policy issues, said the information would be "essential" for California residents, investors, decision makers, and real estate developers. "City solvency is an important and controversial issue that would benefit from unbiased, statistical modeling," Holian said.
It's Not Too Late for a Real Stimulus
That Creates Jobs and Lasting Growth
It starts with infrastructure
By Jim Tankersley - TheAtlantic.com
The United States is now in its third straight recovery from a recession in which economic growth has revived but job growth hasn't followed at anywhere near the same pace. First 1991, then 2001, now the Great Recession -- jobless recoveries appear to be the economy's default setting, and a damaging one. Since mid-2009, gross domestic product has climbed by 3.6 percent in the United States (on a per capita basis) while employment has fallen by 1.8 percent, economists Nir Jaimovich of Duke University and Henry Siu of the University of British Columbia reported in a research paper in November. This is why more than half of Americans still believe the recession hasn't ended.
From Good Jobs To Bad Jobs To No Jobs -
The Tragic Downfall Of The American Worker
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollaspeBlog.com
There was a time in America when virtually anyone that wanted a job could go out and get one and the United States boasted the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world. Sadly, those days are long gone. Back in 1969, 95 percent of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job. But now there are millions of Americans in their prime working years that cannot find a job. Millions of others are working low wage jobs or part-time jobs because that is all they can get. The other day I went to a large retail store and I got into a conversation with the lady who was checking me out. She said that she had worked professional jobs all her life, and that she had taken this job to tide her over as she searched for a new job, but now she had been there for two years with no end in sight. I felt really bad for her, because she was obviously a sharp lady with a lot of skills. But this is the new reality. Good paying manufacturing and professional jobs are being replaced by low paying service jobs. We are transitioning from an economy with plenty of good jobs to an economy with plenty of bad jobs. The next stage in our transition will be to an economy where it seems like there are no jobs for anyone. We are witnessing the tragic downfall of the American worker, and it is heartbreaking.
Smart Grids, Stupid People
By Jen Alic - OilPrice.com
Here's the thing: In the immediate term it's expensive to be smart, and cheap to be stupid. In the long term, smart saves, though the math is a bit complicated.
There are a handful of energy experts out there who believe that America's utility giants could have recovered from Hurricane Sandy much better had they invested in smart grid upgrades.
A number of smart grid paraphernalia would have come in handy:
Rate on U.S. 30-year mortgage ticks up to 3.34 pct
AP - WashingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages ticked up this week just slightly above record lows, keeping home-buying and refinancing attractive to consumers.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate on the 30-year loan ticked up to 3.34 percent, above last week's rate of 3.32 percent. Two weeks ago, the rate dipped to 3.31 percent, the lowest on records dating to 1971.
Hillary Clinton for president? President Clinton for ambassador?
By Al Kamen - WashingtonPost.com
Look for the word "no," in this dispatch from our colleague Anne Gearan when folks in Ireland asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about her plans and whether she will run for president.
""I'm right now too focused on what I'm doing to complete all the work we have ahead of us before I do step down," Clinton said. "I am frankly looking forward to returning to living a life that enjoys a lot of simple pleasures and gives me time for family and friends and other pursuits."
America's Hope Against Hope
By Joseph E. Stiglitz - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – After a hard-fought election campaign, costing well in excess of $2 billion, it seems to many observers that not much has changed in American politics: Barack Obama is still President, the Republicans still control the House of Representatives, and the Democrats still have a majority in the Senate. With America facing a "fiscal cliff" – automatic tax increases and spending cuts at the start of 2013 that will most likely drive the economy into recession unless bipartisan agreement on an alternative fiscal path is reached – could there be anything worse than continued political gridlock?
Does 'Lincoln' Mean Hollywood
Is Finally Catching Up With History? The fifth installment in a roundtable discussion between Ta-Nehisi Coates, A.O. Scott, Kate Masur, and Tony Horwitz about history and Steven Spielberg's movie
By Ta-Nehisi Coate - TheAtlantic.com
I want to thank you guys for spending the week with us here at the Atlantic hashing this over. I actually was worried people were all Lincolned out, but judging by the comment section over at my house, people are as interested as ever. Anyway, in our second and final round, I know you guys all have perspectives you want to explore, but I'd ask you (in addition to your own points) to grapple with another question. I'm obviously somewhat mixed on Kate's critique of race in the film. But I think her point about the portrayal of Elizabeth Keckley and William Slade is pretty dead-on. I'm not really sure how it improves the film to place Keckley and Slade there and neglect to employ their background. One might as well just use nameless black servants. I differ from Kate because I think that is a flaw in the grand sweep of damn fine film. And I also think that afterlife of Lincoln the movie might well mirror the afterlife of Lincoln the man.
Apple IPhone to Be Sold by T-Mobile in 2013
By Scott Moritz & Cornelius Rahn - Bloomberg.com
T-Mobile USA Inc. will begin offering Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s iPhone next year, becoming the last of the four largest U.S. carriers to offer the best-selling device.
Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), T-Mobile's parent, disclosed the agreement to sell Apple products in 2013 in a statement today. Larger U.S. competitors Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc. (T)and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) all sell the iPhone.
Apple to Invest in Manufacturing Macs in U.S., Cook Says
By Adam Satariano & Josh Tyrangiel - Bloomberg.com
Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to spend more than $100 million next year on building Mac computers in the U.S., shifting a small portion of manufacturing away from China, the country that has handled assembly of its products for years.
"Next year we're going to bring some production to the U.S.," Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek. "This doesn't mean that Apple will do it ourselves, but we'll be working with people and we'll be investing our money."
Are the Russians on the Verge of a Major Arctic Oil Coup?
BY DR. KENT MOORS, Global Energy Strategist, Money Morning
As I move into the main meetings here in Moscow, something unexpected has joined the conversations on oil prices, European pipeline prospects, liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading scenarios, and the prospects of unconventional shale.
That something is venture capital funding.
The Kremlin has developed several venture capital funds with potential state-supported investments amounting to at least $12 billion.
It may be early yet, but I see signs of where these new efforts may be directed.
You should watch out for two aspects with this story.
The first must happen in Russia.
But the second is likely to take shape in an unexpected place: Boston, MA.
Here's why. It has to do with Arctic oil.
Why US Oil Consumption
Might Drastically Decline in the Coming Years
By James Hamilton - OilPrice.com
A lot of attention has been given to the optimistic assessments of future U.S. and Iraqi oil production in the IEA'sWorld Energy Outlook 2012. However, perhaps even more dramatic is the report's prediction of a significant long-term decline in petroleum consumption from the OECD countries. For example, the report predicts about a 1 mb/d drop in U.S. oil consumption by 2020 and a 5 mb/d drop by 2035 relative to current levels. I was curious to examine some of the fundamentals behind petroleum consumption to assess the plausibility of the IEA projections.
Monckton to UN: 'In the 16 years we have been coming to these conferences, there has been no global warming' Lord Monckton evicted from UN climate summit after challenging global warming
By Marc Morano – Climate Depot.com
After the news conference, and as diplomats gathered for the climate conference president's assessment of how close countries are to agreement, Monckton quietly slipped into the seat reserved for the delegation of Myanmar and clicked the button to speak.
"In the 16 years we have been coming to these conferences, there has been no global warming," Monckton said as confused murmurs filled the hall and then turned into a chorus of boos.
Ambassador: US working 'day and night'
to keep Internet rules out of UN treaty
By Jennifer Martinez - TheHill.com
Ambassador Terry Kramer on Thursday said the United States will be working "day and night" to ensure new Internet regulations are kept out of a United Nations treaty.
"Fundamentally the conference, to us, should not be dealing with the Internet sector," Kramer told reporters on a conference call from Dubai, where the treaty is being negotiated at a conference hosted by the United Nations International Telecommunications Union. He is leading the U.S. delegation at the conference.
Golden Spike space-tourism company: 'To the moon!'
By Joel Achenbach - WashingtonPost.com
It had to happen: A start-up company is offering rides to the moon. Book your seat now — though it's going to set you back $750 million (it's unclear if that includes baggage fees).
At a news conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Washington, former NASA science administrator Alan Stern plans to announce the formation of Golden Spike, which, according to a news release, is "the first company planning to offer routine exploration expeditions to the surface of the Moon."
IRANIANS PREPARE TERROR CAMPAIGN INSIDE U.S. 'There are numerous Revolutionary Guard cells' inside borders
By Michael Carl - WND.com
Iran's Revolutionary Guard is alive and well in the U.S. and the country's law enforcement officials ignore them at their peril, according to former U. S. Air Force officer Steven O'Hern.
O'Hern says that the Revolutionary Guard, long an influential factor in the radical Islamic regime in Iran, does most of its surveillance and intelligence gathering through its proxy force, Hezbollah, considered by many to be a terror group.
Obama's Impotence in the Face of Muslim Brotherhood Coup The administration refuses to take sides against the Brotherhood's tyrannical power grab.
By Arnold Ahlert - PatriotPost.us
Events in Egypt continue to deteriorate. On Wednesday, rival groups of protesters clashed outside the presidential palace in Cairo, when Muslim Brotherhood supporters of President Mohamed Morsi confronted 300 opposition members who were staging a sit-in. The protesters were initially routed, but after a lull in fighting, hundreds of young Egyptians returned to the scene and a violent exchange of firebombs and rocks ensued. Gunshots were also fired, and more than 211 were injured, medical sources reported. The violence marks the worst outbreak of unrest in the deepening crisis centered on Egypt's new draft constitution, scheduled to be put to a vote December 15.
Russia: West exaggerating Syria's chemical weapons threat
By Kim Sengupta - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
The West is aware that its' claims about the threat from the Syrian regime's chemical weapons does not stand up to scrutiny, the Russian government has said.
Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov declared that there had been an exaggeration of the threat faced by Turkey to justify Nato's deployment of Patriot missile batteries and the move will end up adding to the tension in the region; "any such deployment is creating the risk that these arms will be used" he maintained.
US starts a new 'cold war' over Magnitsky affair: America votes to name and shame Russian officials involved in corruption, prompting furious Twitter response from Moscow Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described 'biased approach' as 'nothing but a vindictive desire to counter Russia in world affairs'
By JEROME TAYLOR, SHAUN WALKER - Independent.co.uk
The US Senate tonight voted to name and shame Russian officials involved in corruption and to forbid them from travelling to America or investing there.
The overwhelming vote in favour of the new law prompted a furious response from Moscow – as well as demands from two former British Foreign Secretaries, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and David Miliband, for a similar ban to be introduced by the UK.
Syria loads chemical weapons into bombs;
military awaits Assad's order
By Jim Miklaszewski and M. Alex Johnson, NBC News
Updated at 8:20 a.m. ET: The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.
The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said.
WORLD VIEW—REPORTS: U.S. PREPARES FOR SYRIA INTERVENTION
OVER CHEMICAL WEAPONS Four Egyptians killed in clash
between pro- and anti-Morsi protesters
by JOHN J. XENAKIS - Breitbart.com
Four Egyptians were killed and hundreds injured in fighting that followed a "massive attack" by Muslim Brotherhood supporters of president Mohamed Morsi on opposition protesters. The attack by Morsi supporters occurred as the perception has been growing that widespread opposition to Morsi is causing him to lose his legitimacy as president.
Morsi had a great deal of legitimacy two weeks ago, after he successfully engineered a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza. A number of commentators say that Morsi apparently believed at that time that he had enough prestige that there would be little opposition to his constitutional decree giving himself dictatorial powers. That was a bad misjudgment, and opposition demonstrations have been increasing, even more so after the Muslim Brotherhood led Constituent Assembly came out with a draft constitution that embodied Islamic Sharia law.
U.S. holds talks to end Syrian strife Seeks united approach with Russia and U.N.
By Bradley Klapper, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
DUBLIN — Diplomatic efforts to end Syria's civil war moved forward Thursday, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joining Russia's foreign minister and the U.N. peace envoy to the Arab country for extraordinary three-way talks that suggested Washington and Moscow might finally unite behind a strategy as the Assad regime weakens.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said intelligence reports raise fears that an increasingly desperate Syrian President Bashar Assad is considering using his chemical weapons arsenal – which the U.S. and Russia agree is unacceptable.
UN Envoy Says Clinton, Lavrov to Work Together on Syria
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan - Bloomberg.com
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with United Nations Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi today, renewing a diplomatic push to endSyria's civil war.
The two sides failed to break their impasse over how to address the crisis, though a State Department official said on condition of anonymity that other U.S. and Russian officials will follow up in the coming days. Brahimi, speaking after the meeting in Dublin tonight, said the three hadn't "taken any sensational decisions" while agreeing to "work together to see how we can find creative ways" to end the fighting.
US Syria envoy: Extremists obstacle to political solution Ambassador Robert Ford warns extremists are gaining influence in the Syrian opposition; points to Iraqi al-Qaida affiliate now operating in Syria; says Assad cannot be part of political solution.
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, JPOST.com
WASHINGTON – The top US envoy to Syria warned on Thursday that extremists were gaining influence in the Syrian opposition and that this influence would only increase the longer fighting dragged on in the Levant country.
US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, speaking to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, described extremist groups that had "little by little been gaining influence among the armed opposition." He pointed particularly to an al-Qaida affiliate in Iraq that is now operating in Syria.
Hillary Clinton warns Syria over chemical weapons US secretary of state asks Russia to lean on Assad regime but Damascus accuses west of creating pretext for invasion
By Ian Black, Middle East editor
and Matthew Weaver - Guardian.co.uk
The US secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, warned that events on the ground in Syria were accelerating on Thursday before a surprise meeting in Dublin with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and the UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi.
"The pressure against the regime in and around Damascus is increasing," she said.
The US and Britain urged Russia to pressure President Bashar al-Assadto refrain from using chemical weapons as Syria's crisis escalates. But Assad's government again insisted it would not use such weapons.
United States and Russia confer as Syria crisis takes dark turn
By LOVEDAY MORRIS - Independent.co.uk
The United States and Russia held surprise talks on the crisis in Syria today, suggesting they may be looking to put acrimony aside amid allegations that President Bashar al-Assad could be preparing to use chemical weapons.
The Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, met her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and the UN Syria envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, in Dublin, just a day after unconfirmed reports that the regime has loaded the nerve agent sarin into bombs.
How to Prepare for the Coming Gold Crunch
By Marin Katusa - OilPrice.com
A number of market analysts and gold-industry insiders are warning about a possible shortage of gold supply. Barrick CEO Jamie Sokalsky recently stated that since gold production is inelastic (i.e., insensitive to price changes) there will be a very limited increase in supply from gold producers, even during sharp increases in the gold price. Rick Rule, a billionaire and avid gold investor, pointed out that while we're seeing spectacular demand, a number of issues will make supply very tight in the future, especially among retailers.
A Millisecond Analysis Of The Latest Gold Smackdown
By Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
On December 4th, 2012 at 47 minutes and 13.1 seconds after midnight, 2,035 February Gold Futures contracts GCG3 took the market down $10 as fast as the exchange could executethe order. This invisible hand that decided that that was the perfect time to execute a trade for over 200,000 ounces and $345mm notional of gold is exposed in oh-so-visible a manner by Nanex's eagle-eyed millisecond-by-millisecond charts below. As the day wore on, there were more of these sudden 'unexplained' price moves. Cue 'Twilight Zone' music...
Keiser Report: TINA's Big Black Hole (E375)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert investigate the black hole of debt sucking in our economies, jobs and wealth like strings of spaghetti past the economic event horizon. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to Ned Naylor-Leyland of Cheviot Asset Management about the fishy smoke signals blowing at the LBMA regarding silver contracts and about the debate between inflation, deflation, hyperinflation actually being a debate about the final denouement of paper currencies. Ned also reveals that BBC's flagship programme, Panorama, had interviewed him and Andrew Maguire about silver manipulation and yet have never aired the episode.
Fiscal Cliff Notes: Part II Obama's blaming increased budget deficits on the Bush tax cuts is demonstrably false.
By THOMAS SOWELL - Spectator.org
One of the big advantages that President Obama has, as he plays "chicken" with the Congressional Republicans along the "fiscal cliff," is that Obama is a master of the plausible lie, which will never be exposed by the mainstream media -- nor, apparently, by the Republicans.
A key lie that has been repeated over and over, largely unanswered, is that President Bush's "tax cuts for the rich" cost the government so much lost tax revenue that this added to the budget deficit -- so that the government cannot afford to allow the cost of letting the Bush tax rates continue for "the rich."
Geithner: Ready to go over 'cliff' if necessary
WashingtonExaminer.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that the Obama administration is "absolutely" ready for the economy to go over the "fiscal cliff" rather than accept a budget deal that doesn't include higher tax rates for top earners.
Geithner said the administration thinks budget deficits are so large that they can't be closed without boosting tax rates on the highest-earning 2 percent of Americans. Most Republicans oppose higher rates for any taxpayers.
The Real Fiscal Cliff: How to Spot the Ledge | Peter Schiff
Archived from the live Mises.tv broadcast, this lecture by Peter Schiff was presented at the Mises Circle in Manhattan: "Central Banking, Deposit Insurance, and Economic Decline." Includes an introduction by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. Music by Kevin MacLeod.
Thought Experiment: Why Obama Wants The Fiscal Cliff
by Lance Roberts of Street Talk Live - ZeroHedge.com
Why would President Obama willing choose to go over the fiscal cliff?
Obama already knows that such an event would create an economic drag in the next year of nearly 4% as the various taxes and mandated spending cuts sap economic strength. After four years of effort, bailouts, incentives and programs to keep the economy afloat - what incentive would there be to willingly go over the "cliff?" It is an interesting question.
Geithner: White House 'absolutely' willing
to scuttle deficit deal over tax rates
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
The White House is "absolutely" prepared to go over the "fiscal cliff" if Republicans do not agree to raise tax rates on the wealthy, according to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
The president's top economic adviser was resolute in a Wednesday interview, saying the administration would not budge and was willing to let the components of the fiscal cliff — expiring tax cuts and automatic spending cuts — take effect if Republicans refuse to concede on taxes.
Peter Schiff: Many Other Cliffs Await the US Economy
CNBC 12/05/2012
Peter Schiff, CEO, Euro Pacific Capital says the U.S. economy may need to go over this fiscal cliff and address some structural issues, or face other cliffs on multiple fronts if this imminent one is avoided.
Obama stamps foot, demands no-limit credit card
By Neil Munro - DailyCaller.com
President Barack Obama says he won't come out of his room to negotiate his government's allowance until Congress gives him a credit card with no spending limit.
"If Congress in any way suggests that they're going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again as part of a budget negotiation… I will not play that game," Obama huffed to a room full of business executives, whose own prosperity rests on proper management of their budgets and on staying within their credit limits.
Debt limit complicates deficit talks
By Russell Berman - TheHill.com
President Obama and congressional Republicans on Wednesday ratcheted up their threats on an increase in the debt ceiling, complicating fiscal-cliff negotiations that had already stalled over taxes.
The president, during a meeting with business leaders at the White House, issued a stern warning to Republicans not to try to use a debt-limit vote as leverage to extract concessions on spending cuts, as they did in 2011.
Bounced Checks and Imbalances The fiscal cliff fiasco continues.
By GEORGE NEUMAYR - Spectator.org
Out of power, Democrats celebrate America's system of checks and balances. In power, they bemoan it. Woody Allen's comment from a few years back that Obama should enjoy dictatorial autonomy and that the "Republican Party should get out of his way and stop trying to hurt him" more or less summarizes the Democrats' position in the fiscal cliff debate.
Barack Obama is our "lord and savior," says actor Jamie Foxx. His wife is "superwoman," according to actor Samuel Jackson. And so the left expects Republicans to bow down to them. They find it troubling that the party in charge of the chamber most responsive to the people would deign to speak for them, and that individual citizens, such as that "nobody" Grover Norquist, as pundit Chris Matthews calls him, get to influence the debate.
Bombshell: Deutsche Bank Hid $12 Billion In Losses
To Avoid A Government Bail-Out
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Forget the perfectly anticipated Greek (selective) default. This is the real deal. The FT just released a blockbuster that Europe's most important and significant bank, Deutsche Bank, hid $12 billion in losses during the financial crisis, helping the bank avoid a government bail-out, according to three former bank employees who filed complaints to US regulators. US regulators, whose chief of enforcement currently was none other than the General Counsel of Deutsche Bank at the time!
Dollar Cliff?
BY AXEL G MERK - FinancialSense.com
As election euphoria settles and the "fiscal cliff" approaches, what are the implications for the dollar? Even as federal deficits may be unsustainable, stocks and bonds are up, and while the dollar may have resumed its long-term downward trend, the greenback has hardly fallen off a cliff. We look at how different tax policies might affect the U.S. dollar.
Max Keiser: 2013, Year of The Great Crash
Alex speaks with economist, film-maker, and television show host Max Keiser about the impending fiscal cliff and the continued slow-motion implosion of world markets.
Dollar up as Spain problems keep pressure on euro U.S. data clouded by Hurricane Sandy effects;
Dollar up vs. yen
By Deborah Levine and Carla Mozee - MarketWatch.com
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar rose against major currencies on Wednesday after a weak Spanish debt auction drew some attention back to the lack of resolution in Europe's sovereign debt crisis.
The ICE dollar index, which measures the unit against a basket of six major currencies, rose to 79.774 from 79.632 in North American trade late Tuesday.
Taxpayers footing the bill for next generation
of electric car batteries
By John Brandon - FOXNews.com
Whether you like it or not, you are an investor in the electric vehicle (EV) battery of tomorrow.
Late last week, the Department of Energy announced plans to spend $120 million to establish a major battery research center at the Argonne National Lab outside of Chicago. The stated goal: to create a new "Manhattan Project" that will develop an EV battery in the next five years that lasts five times as long and costs one-fifth as much as current EV batteries.
Citigroup to Cut 11,000 Jobs, Take $1 Billion Charge
By Donal Griffin - Bloomberg.com
Citigroup Inc. (C)'s Michael Corbat, who took over as chief executive officer less than two months ago, will cut more than 11,000 jobs and pull back from some emerging markets to drive down costs as revenue dries up at global banks.
The lender will take a $1 billion charge this quarter to cover the 4.2 percent workforce reduction, which includes 1,900 jobs in trading, investment banking and transaction services, Citigroup said today in a statement. The bank, ranked third by assets in the U.S., said it wants to improve productivity in markets businesses such as cash equities where profit is lagging. The stock jumped as much as 8.1 percent in New York.
Citi On Why QE Isn't Working
by Robert Buckland, Head of Citi Global Equity - ZeroHedge.com
The economics textbooks teach us that expansionary monetary policy, which lowers interest rates and eases credit, can be used to combat unemployment and economic recession. So, with inflationary pressures waning and the world economy slowing, policymakers around the globe have put this theory into practice and continued a "race to the bottom" for global interest rates. Many of those countries with policy rates still high enough to make it worth cutting have done so. Those where rates were already rock-bottom have resorted to increasingly creative means to lower borrowing costs even further.
Starbucks to open 1,500 more cafes in US
FOXNews.com
Another Starbucks may soon pop up around the corner, as the world's biggest coffee company plans to add at least 1,500 cafes in the U.S. over the next five years.
The plan, which would boost the number of Starbucks cafes in the country by about 13%, was announced at the company's investor day in New York Wednesday. Taking into account Canada and South America, the company plans to add 3,000 cafes in its Americas region.
Home values are up, but should you sell? Commentary: Consider the potential tax bill before first
By Bill Bischoff - MarketWatch.com
Many residential real estate markets finally seem to be getting better. In fact, some are getting a lot better. That means there are more people with hugely appreciated homes. If you fit into this category, please don't sell without considering the heavy tax hit that would result.
Selling a Hugely Appreciated Home: The Basics
If you sell a hugely appreciated principal residence, your profit will likely exceed the federal home sale gain exclusion. That means part of the profit will be taxed as capital gain (unless you have offsetting capital losses). The maximum exclusion is $500,000 for married couples; $250,000 for singles.
How Fed Policy Distorts Home Prices
BY TIM IACONO - FinancialSense.com
I've about had it with how giddy a large portion of the U.S. population has become about rising home prices.
Don't get me wrong, when first thinking about this, I was about as happy as anyone else to learn that property values are now rising sharply again since, after renting for six years, my wife and I finally bought a house about two years ago. So, we stand to benefit as much as anyone else.
Wal-Mart mortgages could fuel the next bubble Commentary: We want convenience, but what would it cost us?
By Al Lewis - MarketWatch.com
DENVER (MarketWatch) —Too bad Wal-Mart doesn't offer mortgages.
If you insist on getting a mortgage from a big-box retailer, you have to go to Costco, which began offering them last April in a partnership with a New Jersey community bank, First Choice Bank.
Nevertheless, one out of three people would consider taking out a mortgage at Wal-Mart, according to a survey released Monday by Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group.
Detroit councilwoman to Obama:
We voted for you, now bail us out
By FOX 2 News Staff
DETROIT (WJBK) -- The city of Detroit faces a major financial crisis and one member of city council thinks President Barack Obama should step in and help.
City Council member JoAnn Watson said Tuesday the citizens support of Obama in last month's election was enough reason for the president to bailout the struggling the city.
Bad Boy Cities and States Test Fiscal Limits
By Steven Malanga - RealClearMarkets.com
Illinois' reputation as the incorrigible outlaw of state finance has continued to grow throughout the fall. In mid-October, a fiscal study group co-chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker issued a stinging assessment of the state's finances which argued that Illinois is effectively insolvent.
But what is perhaps more startling is that other states and many municipalities have increasingly employed the same kinds of gimmicks as the Prairie State to create the illusion that they are balancing their books. Although this maneuvering fools fewer and fewer people as the long fiscal downturn drags on, some states and cities act as if there are no consequences to their extended fiscal games. Perhaps they imagine another Washington bailout of local governments, like the 2009 stimulus, is inevitable.
Why Capital Gains Tax Should Go Up, and Go Up a Lot
By Eliot Spitzer - Slate.com
The fiscal cliff negotiations aren't just about plugging holes in the deficit: They are about restoring fairness to our tax code. This should go beyond merely raising the rates on the top 2 percent of income earners—the current line in the sand drawn by the White House.
Two of the fundamental economic problems we need to confront are the increasingly disproportionate percentage of income earned by the top tier, and the underlying lack of demand that is inhibiting economic growth. Fortunately both of these trends can be at least partially reversed in the negotiations now underway, because the tax code—which is surely going to be reformed as part of this process—is one of the best tools we have to confront each of these problems. A couple of data points: First, in 2010, 93 percent of the income that was added to our economy accrued to the top 1 percent of families. Second, corporate earnings as a percentage of GDP are at an all-time high—totaling 1.75 trillion in the third quarter of this year, while wages as a percentage of GDP are at an all-time low—just about 43 percent of GDP.
UNBALANCED APPROACH:
GOVERNMENT WORKERS WORK LESS AND EARN MORE Analysis of government versus private sector pay and work hours suggests bureaucrats get more money for less work.
by JOHN SEXTON - Breitbart.com
Andrew Biggs of the American Enterprise Institute and Jason Richwine of the Heritage Foundation have recently taken a look at two issues related to public sector pay, compensation and hours worked. What they find is that government workers work about one month less in a given year and earn more than comparably skilled workers in the private sector.
A summary of their findings on compensation were published by the Washington Postlast month. Biggs and Richwine were responding to claims that public sector employees earn 35 percent less than their private sector counterparts. However, these comparisons are badly misleading.
Are food stamps a perk for 'paid government volunteers'?
By Joel Gehrke - WashingtonExaminer.com
Two Senate Republicans identified a welfare loophole that allows 'paid government volunteers' in AmeriCorps to receive food stamps from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — for which they should not qualify, as a rule — in addition to a stipend from the government.
"The role of the SNAP program isn't to provide additional money to paid government volunteers; it is to help feed hungry American families," Sen. John Thune, R-N.D., said in a statement today. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee added that "we've learned that a separate government agency—whose mission is to encourage volunteerism and community service—is using a loophole to further expand welfare enrollment without regard to need or qualification."
States still have power to reject Obamacare
By Dean Clancy - TheDailyCaller.com
President Obama's re-election may have seemed like a final victory for Obamacare, especially after the Supreme Court's inexplicable decision last June to uphold the controversial law's mandate on virtually all Americans to purchase health insurance. But we who cherish health care freedom aren't giving up.
If the grassroots freedom movement has taught us anything, it's that real change happens from the bottom up. The next big battleground in the three-and-a-half-year-old Obamacare fight is the states.
IRS finalizes new tax for medical devices in healthcare law
(Reuters) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday released final rules for a new tax on medical devices, products ranging from surgical sutures to knee replacement implants, that starts next year as part of President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare law.
The 2.3-percent tax must be paid, effective after December 31, by device-makers on their gross sales. The tax is expected to raise $29 billion in government revenues through 2022.
Don't Raise the Medicare Eligibility Age Kicking people off Medicare would cost patients
about twice as much as it would save the government.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
When economists and policymakers worry about the long-term fiscal crisis, what they're mostly worried about is Medicare. That's why a persistent idea during this fiscal cliff season is raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.
It's an idea that appears superficially to have many virtues. Bringing the Medicare retirement age into line with the Social Security retirement age seems logical. The change is simple to describe to journalists and the public. And agreeing to reduce spending by keeping the program the same but limiting eligibility for it allows Democrats and Republicans to come together without resolving their fundamental disagreement over what Medicare should look like. As far as big picture entitlement reform goes, in other words, it's relatively simple, straightforward, and easy to accomplish.
Long-term care coverage: Worth the price? With premiums up, here's what buyers need to know
By Elizabeth O'Brien - MarketWatch.com
Many people hear "long-term care insurance" and think "nursing home." The thought often ends there. Few want to end their life in a care facility, so why would they buy a product that enables them to do just that—a complicated, often expensive product to boot?
In reality, long-term care insurance is a more flexible tool, and one whose value people approaching retirement need to weigh carefully. Long-term care coverage often helps seniors age in place by paying for in-home care, said Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance; in fact, of the claims initiated industrywide in 2011, 50% went to pay for home care, and 19% were for assisted living; only 31% paid for nursing-home care.
Conservative group launches campaign
to 'depose' Boehner from speakership
By Alexis Levinson - DailyCaller.com
The backlash against Speaker of the House John Boehner's removal of several conservative members of Congress from committees continued Wednesday, with one conservative group calling for Republicans to "depose" Boehner from his speakership.
American Majority Action (AMA) is launching a #FireBoehner campaign. If 16 members of the Republican Party abstain from voting for Boehner as speaker in January, he will be one vote shy of the 218 necessary to confirm his speakership.
"Capitalism" And "Socialism"
Are Most Looked-Up Words Of 2012
By Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
In what is a modestly surprising development, Mirriam-Webster has reported that "socialism" and "capitalism" are the two most looked-up words of 2012, and thus, the words of the year. All we can say is, it is about time people learned the difference. And now that they know how the two differ on paper, they will get a front row seat to experience it in practice too.
For those still confused, here it is:
America More European After Four Years of Obama POLL: LESS THAN HALF BELIEVE AMERICAN CULTURE SUPERIOR
by JOHN NOLTE - Breitbart.com
While Americans are still more "American" than Europeans when it comes to issues involving religion, military force, and individualism, according to a newPew poll, we've lost our sense of exceptionalism about our own culture. In 2002, 60% of American agreed with the statement, "our people are not perfect, but our culture is superior." Today, less than half of those surveyed agreed, 49%.
This is sadder news, though, for the rest of the world than it is for us.
They Can Hear You Now:
Verizon Patent Could Listen In On Customers
WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – Verizon has filed a patent for targeting ads that collect information from infrared cameras and microphones that can detect the amount of people and types of conversations happening in customers' living rooms.
The set-top box technology is not the first of its kind – Comcast patented similar monitoring technology in 2008 that recommended content to users based on people it recognized in the room. Google TV also proposed a patent that would use video and audio recorders to figure out exactly how many people in a room were watching its broadcast.
Americans Are The Most Spied On People In World History
By George Washington - ZeroHedge.com
In a radio interview, Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Angwin (who's been one of the best at covering the surveillance state in the US) made a simple observation that puts much of this into context: the US surveillance regime has more data on the average American than the Stasi ever did on East Germans.
Indeed, the American government has more information on the average American than Stalin had on Russians, Hitler had on German citizens, or any other government has ever had on its people.
The American government is collecting and storing virtually every phone call, purchases, email, text message, internet searches, social media communications, health information, employment history, travel and student records, and virtually all other information of every American.
Keystone XL: Welcome to the Proxy Energy War
By Jen Alic - OilPrice.com
Now that elections are over, everyone is waiting for a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, but it's not so easy amid the atmosphere of protests that have even traditionally oil-friendly Texans putting up a fight.
Lawsuits, intensifying protests, conflicts of interest and the underlying notion that the pipeline is not really essential are causing the Obama administration no end of discomfit.
Aerospace Industries predicts $6B growth
despite Pentagon spending cuts
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
The leading defense and aerospace industries trade group is predicting growth in 2013 despite the threat of across-the-board cuts to the Pentagon's budget.
The Aerospace Industries Association's (AIA) prediction of $6 billion in additional sales in 2013 doesn't take into account the $55 billion in defense cuts set to take place next year if Congress doesn't vote to turn them off.
Doomsday for Iran? US Tests EMP Bomb Boeing has successfully tested an EMP missile that could be doomsday for Iran; media have largely ignored the development.
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu - Israel National News
Boeing has successful tested anelectro-magnetic pulse (EMP) missile that turns "science fiction into science fact" and could be the doomsday weapon against Iran, but media have largely ignored the development.
The U.S. Air Force and Boeing demonstrated the device more than two months ago over a military site in the Utah desert, reported the VR-Zonetechnology website.
Boeing's Advanced EMP Missile
Boeing has completed another successful test for technology that fries enemy electronics with little to no collateral damage to other objects.
Flowers, an Estonian pillow and an inflatable walrus:
Nato waves goodbye to Hillary Clinton
She remained silent on whether stepping down from her post was in preparation for a bid for the White House in 2016
By KIM SENGUPTA - TheIndependent.co.uk
She was presented with a giant pillow, an inflatable walrus, pink and white roses which matched her outfit and condiments which US quarantine regulations would prevent her from taking back home. There were also compliments and best wishes galore for Hillary Clinton on her last appearance at a Nato conference.
The soon to be former US Secretary of State spoke of just how much she had enjoyed working with others in the alliance and listed all that they had done together, from military action in Afghanistan and Libya to opening up to former Warsaw Pact states and embarking on a new relationship with Russia. She dwelt on the latest significant act: the deployment of Patriot missiles to the Syrian border while, like every other of her colleagues, insisting it was not the start of "mission creep" into a bloody civil war.
CAIRO: BLOOD IN THE STREETS, OBAMA SILENT
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbart.com
As the White House remains completely silent on the most recent events in Egypt – the President has not uttered as much as a peep about the Muslim Brotherhood's thuggery against democratic protesters, raising memories of his spineless behavior during the Iranian uprising of 2009 – violence is breaking out in the streets of Cairo. According to the latest reports, Islamists are battling seculars en masse using rocks and firebombs and shotguns. Already, several top Morsi backers have resigned from his newly-minted dictatorship, fearful of the backlash from the population.
Morsi flees as angry crowd storms palace in Cairo,
battles riot police
Egypt's President, Mohammed Morsi, has been forced to flee his Cairo residence by a wild mob demanding an end to his rule. Riot police have struggled to keep crowds from storming the leader's palace and fired tear gas at protesters.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to visit Gaza Exiled leader to visit Palestinian territories for first time in 45 years to mark anniversary and repair split in ranks
By Harriet Sherwood in Gaza City - Guardian.co.uk
The Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal, is set to visit Gaza for the first time this week to join celebrations marking the Islamist organisation's 25th anniversary and to offer congratulations on what it regards as a victory against Israel in the recent conflict.
The visit of Meshaal, who has been in exile from the Palestinian territories for 45 years, may also signal a rapprochement between the internal and external leaderships of Hamas, and a new enthusiasm for reconciliation with rival West Bank-based faction Fatah.
'Syrian army prepared to use chemical weapons' US officials tell NBC News Syrian army have loaded deadly nerve gas onto aerial bombs, are awaiting Assad's orders to drop them.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS - JPost.com
The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from Syrian president Bashar Assad, NBC News reported Wednesday, citing US officials.
The officials told NBC News that "the army had loaded precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, onto aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers."
'US ready to act militarily if Assad uses WMDs' 'Times of London' quotes sources as saying US, allies on standby for armed intervention in Syria if chemical weapons employed.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS - JPost.com
A US-led coalition is prepared to take military action in Syria within days in the event that Syrian President Bashar Assad resort to the use of chemical weapons in his fight against opposition forces in his country, The Times of London reported on Tuesday, citing a US official.
"It won't require major movement to make action happen. The muscle is already there to be flexed," a US official said. "It's premature to say what could happen if a decision is made to intervene. That hasn't taken shape, we've not reached that kind of decision. There are a lot of options, but it [military action] could be launched rapidly, within days," theTimes quoted the official as saying.
Gold remains safe harbor With this volatility, is gold still a safe haven? Gold prices have seen sharp drops in recent sessions
By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold hasn't been trading like a safe haven lately, leaving investors to wonder whether it still is one.
"The volatility that the price of gold has seen lately gives the illusion that it is not a safe haven, but in reality investors still view it as a place to protect their wealth," said David Beahm, vice president at precious-metals investment firm Blanchard & Co.
Weakness in Gold "Non-Sustainable" China, Investors and Central Banks "Happy to Buy on Dips"
BY BEN TRAYNOR - FinancialSense.com
Spot market prices to buy gold rose back above $1705 an ounce during Tuesday morning's London session, though it remained below where it started the week following falls overnight, while stock markets also edged higher along with the Euro after European leaders welcomed progress on Greece's debt buyback program.
Silver meantime fell to around $33.30 an ounce, still above last week's low, as othercommodity prices also dipped.
Bank of America Calls 2013: 1,600 S&P 500 and $2,000 Gold
By JON C. OGG - 24/7 Wall St.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) has a new macroeconomic report in its RIC Report series. As it is December now, it is the investment ideas for 2013. BofA has 10 themes it is watching for its Macro/Investment Strategies as the market remained preoccupied with tail risks throughout 2012. Investors have shifted their focus from a break-up of the eurozone to a hard landing in China and finally to the U.S. fiscal cliff.
In 2013, BofA's RIC Report shows that a core view that the global economy will gradually pick up steam in the second half of the year, following a resolution to the fiscal cliff and after Spain asks for formal help from the European Central Bank.
The Coming Derivatives Panic
That Will Destroy Global Financial Markets
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
When financial markets in the United States crash, so does the U.S. economy. Just remember what happened back in 2008. The financial markets crashed, the credit markets froze up, and suddenly the economy went into cardiac arrest. Well, there are very few things that could cause the financial markets to crash harder or farther than a derivatives panic. Sadly, most Americans don't even understand what derivatives are. Unlike stocks and bonds, a derivative is not an investment in anything real. Rather, a derivative is a legal bet on the future value or performance of something else. Just like you can go to Las Vegas and bet on who will win the football games this weekend, bankers on Wall Street make trillions of dollars of bets about how interest rates will perform in the future and about what credit instruments are likely to default. Wall Street has been transformed into a gigantic casino where people are betting on just about anything that you can imagine.
U.S. GDP on the road to zero growth by 2050 GMO guru Grantham's 'most depressing forecast ever'
By Paul Farrell - MarketWatch.com
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Near zero economic growth by 2050? Yes, America's economy is collapsing. Fast. Yes, the "most depressing forecast ever," says InvestmentNews, trusted source for 90,000 professional financial advisers across America.
Actually it's worse than depressing if you read the details in "On Road to Zero Growth," the latest Quarterly Letter from Jeremy Grantham, founder and chief investment strategist for the $100 billion GMO money managers.
U.S. sailed off the 'fiscal cliff' long ago We created Fedzilla; now it's time to kill it
By Ted Nugent-The Washington Times
Only a Fedzillacrat could possibly think raising taxes on the wealthy could accomplish anything toward restoring sanity in the financial insane asylum known as our federal government.
Let's be honest; we are not close to going over the "fiscal cliff." We drove off that cliff a long time ago. We can only hope the crash doesn't demolish the republic.
Get ready to go over the fiscal cliff Austerity is coming, even if cliff is avoided
By Irwin Kellner - MarketWatch.com
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) — Agreement or not, 2013 will bring higher taxes and lower spending, so be prepared.
As you know, current law dictates a humongous rise in taxes and a massive cut in spending, come the New Year. Under the Budget Control Act of 2011, taxes are scheduled to jump by around $500 billion, while spending will have to be slashed by over $100 billion.
Obama firm on 'fiscal cliff' amid Republican disarray
By David Lawder and Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 4, 2012 7:41pm EST
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama held his ground on the "fiscal cliff" on Tuesday, insisting on higher tax rates for the wealthiest Americans, while Republicans showed increasing disarray over how far they should go to compromise with Obama's demands.
With less than a month left to confront the budget cuts and tax increases that will begin taking effect in January unless Congress acts, Obama dangled the possibility of lowering tax rates as part of a broad U.S. tax code revamp in 2013.
Obama Sets Higher Top Tax Rate as Prelude to Fiscal Deal
By Julianna Goldman & Julie Hirschfeld Davis - Bloomberg.com
President Barack Obama sketched out a potential year-end deal pairing tax increases and spending cuts to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, while insisting Republicans must accept higher tax rates for top earners as a condition for negotiations.
"We have the potential of getting a deal done," Obama said at the White House today on Bloomberg Television in his first interview since winning re-election. "We're going to have to see the rates on the top 2 percent go up, and we're not going to be able to get a deal without it."
Have Tax Revenues Topped Out? Efforts to collect more taxes fail
because people adjust their behavior accordingly.
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
Amidst all the "fiscal cliff" talk of raising tax rates, few dare to ask: have tax revenues topped out?
How could tax revenues decline as rates go up? Easy: people modify their behavior in response to whatever incentives and disincentives are present.
Make mortgage interest deductible and people will rack up huge mortgages. Reduce the yield on savings to near-zero (thank you, Federal Reserve) and people will save less.
Governors urge Obama, lawmakers to avoid 'fiscal cliff'
By Michael A. Fletcher
and Rosalind S. Helderman - WashingtonPost.com
A bipartisan group of governors came to Washington on Tuesday to urge President Obama and congressional leaders to act quickly to avert the "fiscal cliff," warning that the series of budget cuts and tax increases set to take effect in January would rock their states.
The impact could be particularly dramatic locally, where Virginia and Maryland are grappling with the prospect of a broad cut in defense and other federal spending, key to both states' economies.
Bill Gross, others look past Treasurys for 2013 Australia, emerging markets look more favorable
By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Bond investors such as Pimco's Bill Gross, and strategists including those at RBS Securities and Credit Suisse, are looking for where to put their money in 2013.
Among fixed-income options, Gross, manager of the world's biggest bond fund, said his picks are mostly outside the traditional options of Treasury bonds as well as U.S. corporate debt — investment grade or high yield.
The Bernanke Fed's Role In Debt Debate The Fed's role in the debt debate
By Charles Lane, WashingtonPost.com
Judging by the latest signs and portents, President Obama and congressional Republicans appear to be at an impasse over taxes and spending, and the country might indeed be headed over the "fiscal cliff." Next year's economic sluggishness and partisan recriminations could make today's look like a picnic.
The two parties and their allied pundits blame each other; each side has its points. But while everyone's pointing fingers, let me at least wave in the direction of the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Ben S. Bernanke. There's a case to be made that Bernanke's lowinterest-rate policies are part of the problem, too.
Britain's European Destiny
By Tony Blair - Project-Syndicate.org
LONDON –The toughest challenge in politics right now is resolving the tension between the best long-term policy and the best short-term politics. Nowhere is this tension clearer than in Britain's debate over Europe.
Europe has disturbed and divided British politics for years. But this time is different. Now mainstream politicians from the governing party are openly making the case for Britain leaving the European Union, or at least radically changing its relationship with it – which may amount to the same thing – with the sympathy of some of our nation's leaders and far wider support among the public.
Elizabeth Warren Likely Headed to Senate Banking Panel
By STEVE PEOPLES - AP - DailyFinance.com
BOSTON (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants Massachusetts Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren to join the Banking Committee.
A Senate Democratic official confirmed Tuesday that Warren's appointment was likely, but cautioned nothing was final until the Democratic caucus approves the move. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made.
Fiscal Cliff Notes Debasing the value of money
by creating more of it is nothing new or esoteric.
By THOMAS SOWELL - Spectator.org
Amid all the political and media hoopla about the "fiscal cliff" crisis, there are a few facts that are worth noting.
First of all, despite all the melodrama about raising taxes on "the rich," even if that is done it will scarcely make a dent in the government's financial problems. Raising the tax rates on everybody in the top two percent will not get enough additional tax revenue to run the government for ten days.
And what will the government do to pay for the other 355 days in the year?
Too Big To Fail Banks
Turn To Ma And Pa Investor To Make A Buck
By Helaine Olen - Forbes.com
Banks such as Wells Fargo & Co, JP Morgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs, under pressure from a host of national and international laws meant to stop a repeat of the events of 2008, have now found themselves a new moneymaking opportunity:
You.
According to an article published today by Bloomberg.com, these global financial behemoths "have rediscovered the appeal of the mundane business of managing money for clients" and are looking to grab "market share" from such mutual fund superstores as Fidelity Investments, and Charles Schwab.
Worried companies scramble to take cover
By Patrice Hill-The Washington Times
With only weeks to go, American businesses are bracing for the impact of the "fiscal cliff" in major ways. Fear of a sudden increase in tax rates on Jan. 1 is driving a range of business actions from a steep drop in hiring plans to a record wave of special stock dividends and corporate borrowings aimed at enabling investors to take advantage before a possible tax hike.
Among those scrambling ahead of the deadline are the nation's manufacturers, who reported their first drop in hiring plans in three years last month, with many citing concerns about the prospect of tax increases and deep spending cuts if the White House and Congress fail to reach a long-term budget deal.
Innovation Crisis or Financial Crisis?
By Kenneth Rogoff - Project-Syndicate.org
CAMBRIDGE – As one year of sluggish growth spills into the next, there is growing debate about what to expect over the coming decades. Was the global financial crisis a harsh but transitory setback to advanced-country growth, or did it expose a deeper long-term malaise?
Recently, a few writers, including internet entrepreneur Peter Thiel and political activist and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, have espoused a fairly radical interpretation of the slowdown. In a forthcoming book, they argue that the collapse of advanced-country growth is not merely a result of the financial crisis; at its root, they argue, these countries' weakness reflects secular stagnation in technology and innovation. As such, they are unlikely to see any sustained pickup in productivity growth without radical changes in innovation policy.
The 11 "Death Spiral" States
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Eleven states made Forbes' list of danger spots for investors including California, New York, Illinois, and Ohio. They warned (and with the cliff it is even more critical), if you have muni bonds in these states - clean up your portfolio; if your career takes you there - rent, don't buy! Two factors determine their list of 'fiscal hellholes'. The first is whether there are more takers (someone who draws money from the government) than makers (the gainfully employed). The second is a state credit-worthiness score (via Conning) based on large debts, uncompetitive business climates, weak home prices, and bad trends in employment. Conning rates North Dakota the safest state to lend money to, Connecticut the most hazardous. A state qualifies for the Forbes'death spiral list if its taker/maker ratio exceeds 1.0 and it resides in the bottom half of Conning's ranking. See below for the 11 states to avoid...no matter what Bob Toll, Larry Yun, Bob Pisani, or Alexandra Lebenthal tells you..
Do You Live In A Death Spiral State? Don't buy a house in a state where private sector workers are outnumbered by folks dependent on government.
By William Baldwin, Forbes.com
Thinking about buying a house? Or a municipal bond? Be careful where you put your capital. Don't put it in a state at high risk of a fiscal tailspin.
Eleven states make our list of danger spots for investors. They can look forward to a rising tax burden, deteriorating state finances and an exodus of employers. The list includes California, New York, Illinois and Ohio, along with some smaller states like New Mexico and Hawaii.
The Recession's Toll:
How Middle Class Wealth Collapsed to a 40-Year Low
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
I'm about to share a statistic that you should remember every time you think about the Great Recession, and why the recovery has been so painstaking. It's going to illustrate precisely how devastating the downturn was for your typical American family, and the size of the hole we've been trying to dig ourselves out of.
Ready? Here goes: Between 2007 and 2010, the median net worth of U.S. households fell by 47 percent, reaching its lowest level in more than forty years, adjusted for inflation. In other words, middle class wealth virtually evaporated in this country. A good chunk of the population got sucked through a financial wormhole back to the sixties.
Home Prices Rise in October by 6.3%, the Most in 6 Years
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER - AP - DailyFinance.com
WASHINGTON -- A measure of U.S. home prices rose 6.3 percent in October compared with a year ago, the largest yearly gain since July 2006. The jump adds to signs of a comeback in the once-battered housing market.
Core Logic also said Tuesday that prices declined 0.2 percent in October from September, the second drop after six straight monthly increases. The monthly figures are not seasonally adjusted. The real estate data provider says the decline reflects the end of the summer home-buying season.
Housing Killed the Economy—Next Year, It Can Save Us And Obama can make all the difference.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
Early in 2012, the U.S. housing market quietly woke up from its postcrash coma and began the recovery we'd all been waiting for. Today, home prices are rising, foreclosures are falling, and construction crews are back in business.
So what's left for President Obama to do, now that he has been reelected despite a checkered record on helping homeowners? Plenty. The administration could take a number of steps that might ease the debt burden on millions of families and jump-start our all-but-frozen private lending markets. And, even better, Obama might be able to take many of these actions without waiting for Congress.
Restaurant chain says
criticizing 'ObamaCare' may hurt its earnings
By Sam Baker - TheHill.com
A major restaurant chain said Tuesday that its complaints about President Obama's healthcare law have been bad for business.
Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster, had previously announced plans to cut its workers' hours so that it wouldn't have to provide health insurance under the law's employer mandate.
Oklahoma Health-Care Act Suit's Dismissal Sought by U.S.
By Andrew Harris - Bloomberg.com
Oklahoma's lawsuit contending a key part of President Barack Obama's 2010 health-care reform legislation is blocked by the state's constitution should be thrown out, lawyers for the U.S. said in a court filing.
"Oklahoma lacks standing to sue the federal government to deprive its residents of the benefits of federal law," U.S. Justice Department attorneys argued in papers filed yesterday in federal court in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Internet co-creator warns of U.N. interference
by: Brad Reed - Times247.com
Vint Cerf, the legendary computer scientist who co-created the TCP/IP networking protocols that serve as the Internet's foundation, is not happy that United Nations wants to apply old telecom regulations to his creation.
Cerf, who now serves as Google's (GOOG) Chief Internet Evangelist, has written a post on Google's official blog this week urging people to take action to protest the International Telecommunication Union's plan to amend the International Telecommunications Regulations treaty to regulate the Internet.
20 Shocking Examples Of How Sadistic
And Cruel People Have Become
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
How much sicker can people get? It seems like our world is becoming more sadistic and more cruel with each passing day. If you doubt this, just keep reading. Sadly, I could have easily included hundreds more examples just like these. Changes are happening to our society at a very deep and very fundamental level. Everywhere you look, hearts are growing colder and it seems like we are completely surrounded by psychopaths and sociopaths. But if all you do is listen to the mainstream media, you would be tempted to think that we are the smartest, most moral, most "enlightened" generation in all of human history. Unfortunately, that is most definitely not the case. Society is literally coming apart at the seams right in front of our eyes.
Google is building Skynet (This is the REAL Dec. 21, 2012 Singularity event)
InvestmentWatchBlog.com
Ray Kurzweil is working with Google...
Google is close, dear friends with the Obama regime.
Kurzweil is currently building a software system that will be able to not only think like a human brain, but be able to predict what other brains are thinking.
Multi Source Energy Generation Chip to Replace Batteries?
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new chip that has the exciting possibility of generating energy from three separate sources; solar, heat, and motion, all at the same time. This ability makes the chip very efficient, and a great alternative to simple batteries.
Anantha Chandrakasan, the MIT professor in charge of the research, said that, "today there are devices to scavenge energy from solar or vibration. This can replace them to provide more power by combining several sources."
Save the $1 Bill! A new GAO study says we could save billions
by replacing dollar bills with coins. Don't believe it.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
A Government Accountability Office report last week concluded that the American government could save $4.4 billion over 30 years by eliminating paper dollar bills and replacing them with coins. This study essentially repeats an analysis that was performed just last year and prompted a hearing from the House financial services committee, suggesting that committee chairman Spencer Bachus has a bee in his bonnet about ridding us of the greenback. And what red-blooded Alabama conservative wouldn't want to cut government spending? Dollar-bill elimination also has a certain cachet among liberals, since emulating European practices often has prestige on the left. Meanwhile, media outlets that cover the issue tend to focus on it as a question of savings vs. convenience. Even skeptics like veteran budget wonk Stanley Collender say the problem is that actually eliminating the paper bills isn't credible, so the savings will never materialize "no matter how much fiscal sense it might make in theory."
We're trying to stop the UN
from regulating the Internet, Ambassador Kramer says
By Maxim Lott - FOXNews.com
A U.N. conference that kicked off today in Dubai has sparked fear of Internet censorship in the U.S. -- something U.S. Ambassador Terry Kramer said he is doing everything in his power to prevent.
"Nothing regarding the Internet do we want subject to U.N. review and regulation," Kramer told FoxNews.com.
Monday marked the first day of an 11-day conference. Kramer, who leads the U.S. delegation at the conference, said that the first day had "gone well" and so far delegates are "still in the early stage, talking about what should be reviewed when." No specific regulations have been debated yet.
Waters secures top Democratic spot
on House Financial Services Committee
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has been officially named the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.
The outspoken liberal vowed Tuesday to protect the Dodd-Frank financial reform law from GOP attempts to dismantle it, while pursuing reform of housing finance with the new chairman, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).
Senate rejects United Nations treaty
for disabled rights in a 61-38 vote
By Ramsey Cox and Julian Pecquet - TheHill.com
A United Nations treaty to ban discrimination against people with disabilities went down to defeat in the Senate on Tuesday in a 61-38 vote.
The treaty, backed by President Obama and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), fell five votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for confirmation as dozens of Senate Republicans objected that it would create new abortion rights and impede the ability of people to homeschool disabled children.
Senate passes $631B defense policy bill 98-0
By Jeremy Herb and Ramsey Cox - TheHill.com
The Senate on Tuesday passed a massive, wide-ranging $631 billion defense authorization bill that restores threatened Pentagon biofuels programs, issues new sanctions against Iran and changes U.S. detention policy for American citizens.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the Senate unanimously 98-0 after the bill was debated for five days and hundreds of amendments were considered on the floor.
NATO says anti-missile defense for Turkey
does not open door to Syria intervention
By Anne Gearan - WashingtonPost.com
BRUSSELS — NATO agreed Tuesday to send new American-made air defenses to Turkey's volatile southern border with Syria, a boost to an alliance member on the front lines of Syria's civil war and a potential backstop for wider U.S. or NATO air operations if the situation deteriorates further.
The alliance's approval of Patriot anti-missile batteries represents NATO's first significant military involvement in the 20-month-long crisis, even if it falls well short of rebels' demands for help.
Defection or escape?
Syria's foreign ministry spokesman 'on way to US' Jihad Makdissi, former frontman of Bashar al-Assad,
is regime's senior Christian
By Ian Black, Middle East editor - Guardian.co.uk
The former Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, is on his way to the United States after apparently defecting, the Guardian has learned.
Makdissi, the most senior Christian official yet to abandon Bashar al-Assad's regime, was reported on Monday to have variously been sacked or defected and to have arrived back in London, where he used to serve in the Syrian embassy.
Tension Escalates in Syria Amid Fears of Chemical Weapons
By Claude Salhani - OilPrice.com
The conflict in Syria has taken a turn for the worst this week amid fears that the beleaguered regime of President Bashar Assad may resort to the use of chemical weapons as a last resort to avoid being overthrown by a growing rebel force.
There were reports of very heavy fighting in and around the Syrian capital, Damascus, this past week as the government deployed airplanes, armour, and heavy artillery against rebel forces and severed all communication links to the outside world, including the Internet, telephones and air transportation.
U.S., allies weighing military options
if Syria uses chemical weapons
AP - CTVNews.ca
WASHINGTON -- The White House and its allies are weighing military options to secure Syria's chemical and biological weapons, after U.S. intelligence reports show the Syrian regime may be readying those weapons and may be desperate enough to use them, U.S. officials said Monday.
President Barack Obama, in a speech at the National Defence University on Monday, pointedly warned Syrian President Bashar Assad not to use his arsenal.
Syria: Nato agrees to deploy Patriot missiles in Turkey Nato has agreed to deploy Patriot missiles to defend Turkey as Britain warned Syria of "serious consequences" if the regime were to use chemical weapons.
By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels, Ruth Sherlock in Beirut and David Blair - Telegraph.co.uk
Arriving for a Nato foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, William Hague, the foreign secretary, said that Britain had delivered a stark message to President Bashar al-Assad, echoing the words of the Obama administration on Monday.
"We are worried about chemical weapons," said Mr Hague. "We have become more concerned about them in recent days for the same reasons the US has. We have already sent our own, clear, private message directly to the Syrians about the serious consequences that would follow from the use of those weapons."
Syria regime 'mixing chemicals to make sarin gas': report The White House issued a stark warning that it feared President Bashar al-Assad might be turning to his arsenal of chemical weapons as a report emerged claiming the regime has already begun mixing the chemicals to make deadly sarin gas.
By Richard Spencer - Telegrph.co.uk
On a day of turmoil in which a high-ranking Assad spokesman defected, and the United Nations announced it was withdrawing all non-essential personnel in Syria, American defence officials confirmed that activity had been reported at the regime's known chemical sites, including movements of weapons components.
Although previous activity has been reported, it was seen then as the regime seeking to secure stocks against possible rebel attack.
Fiscal Cliff Mess: How Bad Will Economy Be in 2013?
By Yuval Rosenberg, The Fiscal Times
As the fiscal cliff negotiations continue in Washington and the stock market seemingly turns on every expression of optimism or disappointment, what's really at stake, in the near term at least, is the answer to two important and interrelated questions: How dysfunctional is our political leadership and how bad is our economy going to be next year?
Headed Toward the 11th Hour Compromise
BY RON PAUL - FinancialSense.com
As the year draws to an end, America faces yet another Congressionally-manufactured crisis which will likely end in yet another 11th hour compromise, resulting in more government growth touted as "saving" the economy. While cutting taxes is always a good idea, setting up a ticking time bomb with a sunset provision, as the Bush tax cuts did, is terrible policy. Congress should have just cut taxes. But instead, we have a crisis that is sure not to go to waste.
Fiscal Cliff Talks Stalled Over $1.6 Trillion Tax Boost
By Richard Rubin - Bloomberg.com
Negotiations over the so-called fiscal cliff are stalled over President Barack Obama's demand for $1.6 trillion in higher taxes and Republicans' insistence on continuing all of the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003.
Here are questions and answers about the fiscal cliff means and what each side is demanding in the talks:
What is the fiscal cliff?
The fiscal cliff is the combination of more than $600 billion worth of U.S. spending cuts and tax increases for 2013 that will begin taking effect in January if Congress doesn't act.
Economic Analysis: Schiff vs. Bernanke
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
If you haven't had the pleasure of watching Peter Schiff's response [video below] to Ben Bernanke's college lectures, then you ought to take a moment and watch. In Schiff's presentation we are reminded that there are facts and there is analysis; and sometimes people believe things that are counter-factual, but more often it's a case of bad analysis. In the lectures of Bernanke the facts of history have been misconstrued by way of faulty analysis, and Schiff catches him out.
Peter Schiff - The Fed Unspun: The Other Side of the Story
"Ben Bernake fancies himself as a student of the Great Depression," says renowned investment broker, global strategist, author, and Austrian economist Peter Schiff, "but... if he were my student he would have gotten an F."
Who Got the Biggest Tax Break in the Last 30 Years?
(The Rich, of Course)
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Since 1980, total tax rates have fallen for each income group -- rich, poor, and everybody in the middle. But who got the biggest break?
This fabulous series of charts from the New York Times offers one answer -- and it exactly the group you're expecting. Total tax rates -- that's federal income + payroll + corporate + state/local -- have gone down for poor and rich alike since 1980.
GOP fiscal cliff plan would freeze federal pay
for a total of five years
By Joe Davidson - WashingtonPost.com
The Republican plan to avoid a year-end fiscal cliff of budget cuts and tax increases is like an old, out-of-tune song to federal workers, at least the stanza that mentions them.
They've heard it repeatedly and didn't like it the first time.
Geithner Fight on Fiscal Cliff Invokes Dodd-Frank Resolve
By Ian Katz - Bloomberg.com
When U.S. senators were picking apart the Obama administration's plan for a stand-alone consumer- protection bureau during negotiations on the financial-rules overhaul, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner agreed to put it under the Federal Reserve to ensure that Republican lawmakers wouldn't kill it.
Geithner calculated the bureau wouldn't be affected and backing down would help get the 2010 legislation passed. His compromise illustrates the pragmatic approach Geithner embraced in pressing for Dodd-Frank during his four years at the Treasury and will need to draw on in one final test as the administration's lead negotiator with Congress on the so-called fiscal cliff.
Republicans Reprise 2011 Debt-Limit Threat in Cliff Talks
By Richard Rubin - Bloomberg.com
Republicans are renewing attempts to use a debt-limit increase to force deeper spending cuts, replicating the 2011 showdown that caused the U.S. to come within days of default and led to a credit-rating downgrade.
As in 2011, many Republicans in Congress see the need to raise the $16.4 trillion limit on public debt in early 2013 as leverage to force President Barack Obama to cut entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. House Republicansview the U.S. budget deficit, which topped $1 trillion in each of the past four years, as a crisis requiring immediate action.
The Best Idea for the Debt Ceiling? Abolish It Forever The debt ceiling isn't a weapon of legislative restraint. It's a just another cliff -- a Financial Cliff -- that warps Washington into behaving even more foolishly than normal.
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
There are countless ways to criticize the debt ceiling -- it's a tax on the majority party; a high-stakes yes-or-yes question; a weird, mandatory hostage crisis -- but they all arrive at the same conclusion, which is that it's a really dumb idea.
The case for the debt ceiling might go something like this. Just as cars need brakes, and Ulysses needed a mast, governments need restraints. The U.S. government's ability to borrow debt has no actual limit. We will probably run deficits, large and small, for every year in the life of the republic, just as we have in our two-and-a-half-century history. But we have installed a ceiling for the purpose of forcing lawmakers to reflect on our debt and consider the tradeoffs of borrowing.
Cliff Stalemate Takes a Huge Toll on Manufacturing
By EDWARD KRUDY, Reuters - FiscalTimes.com
Manufacturing unexpectedly contracted in November to its lowest level in more than three years, as companies worried about whether lawmakers in Washington could reach a budget deal in time avert a crisis that many fear could lead to a recession.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Monday that its index of national factory activity fell to 49.5 in November from 51.7 the month before. The reading was shy of expectations of 51.3, according to a Reuters poll of economists. The figure was the softest since July 2009 when the U.S. economy was struggling in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Economists said the November slide may have been aggravated by superstorm Sandy, which devastated the U.S. east coast in late October, as well as uncertainty over budget negotiations in Washington.
Ceiling is a cliff hanger The debate in Washington is not what it seems to be — let's set the record straight so everyone isn't fooled by the DC hustle.
By Jonathon Trugman, New York Post
After all, these are professional politicians.
The entire podium-posturing about the fiscal cliff has really been nothing more than a fig leaf for raising the debt ceiling.
The country will once again max out its taxpayer-funded credit card and bump up against its borrowing limit very early in 2013 — close to Inauguration Day, coincidentally.
ESM bank bailouts will not happen soon, says Schaeuble
BY BENJAMIN FOX - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble Monday (3 December) reiterated that no bank recapitalisation could take place until the EU's planned banking union is up and running.
The move deals a blow to ailing banks hoping for swift capital injections from the European Stability Mechanism.
Time For Bernanke To Retract His Sworn Testimony To Congress
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Three months ago, as part of our ongoing explanation of what happens next to the Fed's balance sheet (which is now established as official canon in advance of the December 12th FOMC, when Bernanke will effectively announce QE4 consisting of $40 billion in MBS and $45 billion in unsterilized TSY purchases as we predicted the day QE3 was announced), we said that "the Fed will continue increasing its 10 Yr equivalents by roughly 12% (of the total market) per year, for at least the next 3 years, at which point it will own 60% of the entire Treasury market. It means that the Fed will monetize all gross long-term issuance every year for the next 3 years." Most looked at the bold sentence without it registering just what it means. Perhaps, now that the "serious" media has finally taken on the topic of applying a calculator to the one driver of all marginal risk demand, it will register a little better: in a Bloomberg story titled, appropriately enough "Treasury Scarcity to Grow as Fed Buys 90% of New Bonds" we read that "the Fed, in its efforts to boost growth, will add about $45 billion of Treasuries a month to the $40 billion in mortgage debt it's purchasing,effectively absorbing about 90 percent of net new dollar-denominated fixed-income assets, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co." Actually that's incorrect and it is more like 100%.
Clinton for Mayor in '13?
Bloomberg Asked Her to Consider Succeeding Him
By MICHAEL BARBARO - NYTimes.com
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has long struggled to imagine a successor with the combination of star power, experience and grit to fill his shoes.
But not long ago, he was struck by an inspiration: Hillary Rodham Clinton, the retiring secretary of state.
In a phone call confirmed by three people, Mr. Bloomberg encouraged Mrs. Clinton to consider entering the 2013 mayor's race, trading international diplomacy for municipal management on the grandest scale. She would, he suggested, be a perfect fit.
A tease from Hillary
By Al Kamen - WashingtonPost.com
Hillary Clinton is not running for president. Nope, she's said. Not happening.
Wait, was that a wink?
The secretary of state, who has repeatedly said she'd like to spend the next chapter of her life out of the political limelight, maybe as a professional grandmother, joked Thursday about her status as the most speculated-about potential 2016 candidate.
Keiser Report: Insect-Like Humans (E374)
In this episode, Max Keiser urges "Sami don't pay," challenges the anti-anti-fragile Nassim Taleb to a black swan event and coins a new phrase, 'insectual,' to describe the increasing insect like behavior of humans online and in markets. Keiser and Stacy Herbert also discuss GATA getting attention in Austria where the central bank is haplessly looking for its alleged gold. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men about their new film, The Yes Men are Revolting and about Action Switchboard and the war against anti-corporate activism.
First Guns… Now Gold
By Dave Gonigam | DailyReckoning.com
It's not only gun sales that spiked after Election Day. So did the sale of Gold Eagles from the U.S. Mint.
While Eagle sales hardly set a "record" last month, as touted at the Drudge Report, they did turn in the best number since July 2010, and the best November since 1998. The final figures out this morning from the Mint indicate 136,500 ounces.
IRS aims to clarify investment income tax under healthcare law
(Reuters) - The Internal Revenue Service has released new rules for investment income taxes on capital gains and dividends earned by high-income individuals that passed Congress as part of the 2010healthcare reform law.
The 3.8 percent surtax on investment income, meant to help pay for healthcare, goes into effect in 2013. It is the first surtax to be applied to capital gains and dividend income.
Storm Front Approaching the Home Builders
By Ramsey Su - Bloomberg.com
There is only one problem with the home builders - expectations are way too high. The builders are not only priced for perfection (as we noted here) by the market, the builders themselves have business strategies that are modeled for perfection. I believe the bar is set at an unattainable level.
Here is why.
Keiser Report: Hermaphrodite Banking (E373)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert welcome Mark Carney to the City of London freak show at which Max predicts that Carney will play the bearded hermaphrodite who devalues the pound by 25 percent and yet only manages to introduce an ice age of economic growth. Max and Stacy also compare the rebels robbing the central bank in Goma to the Goldman Sachs takeover of central banks in Europe. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to professor and author, Andrew Ross, about the 'angel capitalists' striking debt across America and about the historic Black Friday strike at Walmart.
Fiscal struggle puts Detroit under credit cloud
By Karen Pierog
Mon Dec 3, 2012 3:57pm EST
(Reuters) - Detroit's fiscal clock is ticking down again as the city faces running out of money by the end of the year unless a political squabble between the mayor and city council can be resolved.
Without a resolution, the state of Michigan will not release cash to keep the city running. Mayor Dave Bing, who contends that bankruptcy or bond defaults are not on the horizon, is prepared to put city workers on unpaid leave to keep the struggling local government operating.
The United (Police) State of America
By Doug Casey - DailyReckoning.com Louis James: Doug, after conversations like the one we had last week, we often get letters from angry readers who accuse you of hating America, disloyalty, and perhaps even treason. These people don't know or understand what I do about you — that you love the idea that was America. It's the United State it has become for which you have nothing but contempt. Perhaps we should try to explain this to them? Doug Casey: I doubt it would work; it's a tough row to hoe, trying to explain things to people who are so set in their thinking that they truly and literally don't want to hear anything that might threaten their notions. A person who feels threatened by ideas and who responds with emotion is acting irrationally. How can we have a discussion with someone whose emotion trumps their reason? How do we even begin to untangle the thinking of people who [gathered two weeks ago] to give thanks for the bounty produced by freedom and hard work — the famous puritan work ethic — by eating a turkey bought with food stamps?
But we can outline the ideas, for the record.
U.S. manufacturing shrinks in November to 3-year low
By Christopher S. Rugaber - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing shrank in November to its weakest level since July 2009, the first month after the Great Recession ended. Worries about automatic tax increases in the New Year cut demand for factory orders and manufacturing jobs.
The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its index of manufacturing conditions fell to a reading of 49.5, down from 51.7 in October.
Some iMacs labeled 'Assembled in USA,' teardown shows Is Apple assembling some iMacs in the U.S.? That would be a departure from its custom of assembling virtually all products in Asia.
by Brooke Crothers - CNet.com
Could Apple be assembling some new iMacs in the U.S.? A teardown of a new model introduced on Thursday shows an iMac with this marking.
A teardown by iFixit revealed markings on the back of an iMac that say, "Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in USA."
What isn't clear at this point is whether this is a new Apple policy to assemble new products in the U.S. or imprecise Apple labeling.
AARP lobbies against Medicare changes
that could hurt its bottom line
By Jerry Markon, WashingtonPost.com
As Washington debates whether to cut federal retirement programs as part of a deal to tackle the nation's debt, one of the most powerful advocates for preserving them could have millions of dollars riding on the outcome.
AARP, the highly influential lobby for older Americans, is fiercely opposing any Medicare or Social Security cuts and emphasizes that it is fighting for the good of its members. But the proposals for changing Medicare also could affect AARP's bottom line.
Audi and VW Plan to Make 300MPG Cars
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
When it comes to efficient transportation and MPG (or MPG equivalent), then human powered locomotion is pretty unbeatable. Bicycles top the charts with an astounding 984 MPGe, pedestrians tend to achieve an MPGe of 700, and runners move with an efficiency of 315 MPGe.
Unfortunately faster modes of transportation do not even come close to these levels; the most efficient vehicle on the market currently is the Mitsubishi i-MiEV which boasts a combined MPG of just 112. Favourites such as theNissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt offer 99 MPG and 60 MPG respectively.
The Next Big OS War Is in Your Dashboard
BY DOUG NEWCOMB - Wired.com
Competition in automotive technology has long been about who's got the most horsepower, the best towing capacity or the fastest acceleration. These days, though, it's all about having the slickest infotainment systems and most-connected cars.
The shift in focus from what's under the hood to what's behind the dashboard has brought a largely covert war to the auto industry over the operating systems that will control these gadgets. As in the smartphone biz, the battle line is between proprietary and open source software. The outcome will determine what these systems look like, how they work and how distinctive they are as automakers embrace walled gardens or open ecosystems.
Cops to Congress: We need logs of Americans' text messages State and local law enforcement groups want wireless providers to store detailed information about your SMS messages for at least two years -- in case they're needed for future criminal investigations.
by Declan McCullagh - CNet.com
AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and other wireless providers would be required to record and store information about Americans' private text messages for at least two years, according to a proposal that police have submitted to the U.S. Congress.
CNET has learned a constellation of law enforcement groups has asked the U.S. Senate to require that wireless companies retain that information, warning that the lack of a current federal requirement "can hinder law enforcement investigations."
Internet Hangs in Balance
as World Governments Meet in Secret
BY DAVID KRAVETS - Wired.com
There's a lot of sky-is-falling doomsday predictions about the World Conference on International Telecommunications, which opens Monday in Dubai with some 190-plus nations discussing the global internet's future.
That's because much of the accompanying proposals from the global community have been kept under lock and key, although some of the positions of nations have been leaked and published online.
The idea behind the meetings is to update the International Telecommunications Regulations governed by the International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations agency known as the ITU, that is responsible for global communication technologies.
Internet Users Shouldn't Have to Pay the Price
of This International Treaty
BY SALLY SHIPMAN WENTWORTH - Wired.com
An 11-year-old girl is enrolled in an online college-level physics course offered by an education company in Silicon Valley; she lives in Lahore, Pakistan. In nearby India, the government has announced a plan to distribute subsidized tablet computers – the Aakash 2 tablet – to equip potentially millions of students and teachers throughout the country.
Halfway across the world in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University and MIT have invested over $60 million in online education platform edX, with the goal of educating 1 billion people. Other universities are following suit via platforms like Udacity, in a trend that promises to revolutionize education.
Dr. Nick Begich: The Technologies of Mind Control
This is the century of the brain and the mind. The technologies that have advanced, under cover of secrecy and national security, now have the power to either enslave us or free us to our higher potentials. These technologies will impact our consciousness itself and, as a result, require an invigorated public debate in the light of day. At the same time, there is hope and great possibility in these areas of science. The first part of this book deals with the sinister side of controlling the human mind with the second part exploring the possibilities that are emerging with new brain and mind enhancing technologies. The greatest threats and the greatest possibilities reside within the core of who we are and what happens in the center of our minds, the seat of our souls. This is the most important book yet released from the research efforts of Dr. Nick Begich.
Monster Sinkholes An Indication That Major Earth Changes
Are Coming Along The New Madrid Fault?
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
The most powerful earthquakes in the history of the United States happened along the New Madrid Fault in 1811 and 1812. Those earthquakes were reportedly felt more than 1,000 miles away. Scientists assure us that one day we will once again see very powerful earthquakes along the New Madrid fault. It is only a question of when it will happen. Today, the New Madrid fault zone covers portions of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. However, a major earthquake of magnitude-8.0 or greater would likely have a dramatic effect all the way from the Great Lakes all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. When most Americans speak of the "big one", they think of what may happen along the coast of California someday, but the truth is that a New Madrid earthquake could potentially do far more damage. So is there evidence that the New Madrid fault zone is waking up? Yes, there is.
Katrina, All Over Again
By Chris Hedges - Truthdig.com
Avgi Tzenis, 76, is standing in the hall of her small brick row house on Bragg Street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. She is dressed in a bathrobe and open-toed sandals. The hall is dark and cold. It has been dark and cold since Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast a month ago. Three feet of water and raw sewage flooded and wrecked her home.
"We never had this problem before," she says. "We never had water from the sea come down like this."
Hurricane Sandy, if you are poor, is the Katrina of the North. It has exposed the nation's fragile, dilapidated and shoddy infrastructure, one that crumbles under minimal stress. It has highlighted the inability of utility companies, as well as state and federal agencies, to cope with the looming environmental disasters that because of the climate crisis will soon come in wave after wave. But, most important, it illustrates the depraved mentality of an oligarchic and corporate elite that, as conditions worsen, retreats into self-contained gated communities, guts basic services and abandons the wider population.
iRobot Founder Now Building Tiny Hovering Drone Spies
BY ROBERT BECKHUSEN - Wired.com
Four years ago, iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner stepped down from the company she helped turn into an all-important supplier of the military's growing arsenal of ground robots. Now today, she's unveiled the first 'bots to roll off her new company's assembly line. What are they? Teeny tiny hovering drones, designed to fly through your window and spy on you.
That's just one of two robots revealed so far from Massachusetts company CyPhy Works, founded by Greiner after leaving iRobot. We've also now got a sense of what Greiner's been developing for the past couple of years.
Democratic lawmakers refocus on gun control
in wake of NFL tragedy
By Jonathan Easley - TheHill.com
Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.) on Monday slammed Congress for "doing nothing to protect our families and our society" from gun violence in the wake of a high-profile murder-suicide involving a National Football League player.
"With the senseless tragedy in Kansas City this weekend, once again, gun violence finds its way onto our nation's front pages; and once again we hear the same stale arguments from both sides of the political spectrum," DeGette told The Hill in an email. "It's clear these old arguments are doing nothing to protect our families and our society, so I urge our nation to come together and change the conversation."
Will a Secret Private Manned Mission to the Moon
Be Announced This Week?
BY ADAM MANN - Wired.com
Internet rumors have been swirling for several weeks of a secret venture backed by private entrepreneurs that would return people to the moon's surface. It seems that the veil will finally be lifted this week, during a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6.
"The Golden Spike Company invites you to attend a game-changing announcement about the future of commercial human space travel to the Moon," reads the announcement for the media briefing. "Executives from the company will describe the team, the mission architecture, and the business model."
Contractors say sequester will 'shatter' security plans
By Kristina Wong-The Washington Times
Key defense contractors said Monday that automatic federal spending cuts set to begin next month would hamstring their ability to develop critical machinery, equip military personnel and help maintain national security.
David Langstaff, president and chief executive officer of TASC Inc., said it would be "irresponsible" to allow the spending cuts, known as sequestration, to take effect Jan. 2.
Indian navy prepared to deploy to South China Sea
to protect oil interests
(Reuters) - The Indian navy is prepared to deploy vessels to the South China Sea to protect India's oil interests there, the navy chief said on Monday amid growing international fears over the potential for naval clashes in the disputed region.
India has sparred diplomatically with China in the past over its gas and oil exploration block off the coast of Vietnam. China claims virtually the entire mineral-rich South China Sea and has stepped up its military presence there. Other nations such as Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia have competing claims.
The Diminishing Role of the U.S. in the Middle East
By PATRICK SMITH, The Fiscal Times
You knew something important was afoot when Israel and Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip, agreed to a ceasefire in their missile-trading conflict ten days ago. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not broker this deal, as an American leader typically would. She (along with Hamas and the Israelis) stood aside to applaud Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's Islamic president, for structuring the agreement.
The Middle East is changing before our eyes and yet, true to form, it's like a volcano ready to blow.
White House warns Syria it will be 'held accountable'
for chemical weapon use
By Justin Sink - TheHill.com
The White House issued a stern warning to Syria on Monday, telling its leaders that the use of chemical weapons would "cross a red line."
"They will be held accountable by the United States and the international community if they use chemical weapons or fail to meet their obligation to secure them," White House press secretary Jay Carney said, adding that use of the weapons "would cross a red line for the United States."
China Moves Forward in Opening Gold Market
By Clementine Wallop - WSJ.com
China will allow over-the-counter gold trading between banks for the first time Monday, a significant financial reform for the world's second-largest buyer of the precious metal.
The move reflects the Chinese government's latest effort to develop Shanghai into a major gold trading center, and mirrors similar developments in the country's currency and oil markets.
Our Collapsing Economy and Currency
By Paul Craig Roberts
Is the "fiscal cliff" real or just another hoax? The answer is that the fiscal cliff is real, but it is a result, not a cause. The hoax is the way the fiscal cliff is being used.
The fiscal cliff is the result of the inability to close the federal budget deficit. The budget deficit cannot be closed because large numbers of US middle class jobs and the GDP and tax base associated with them have been moved offshore, thus reducing federal revenues. The fiscal cliff cannot be closed because of the unfunded liabilities of eleven years of US-initiated wars against a half dozen Muslim countries–wars that have benefitted only the profits of the military/security complex and the territorial ambitions of Israel. The budget deficit cannot be closed, because economic policy is focused only on saving banks that wrongful financial deregulation allowed to speculate, to merge, and to become too big to fail, thus requiring public subsidies that vastly dwarf the totality of US welfare spending.
MIDDLE CLASS NET WORTH COLLAPSES TO 1969 LEVELS
by JOHN NOLTE - Breitbart.com
The angle of a just-released New York University studyis, of course, that ole' left-wing canard known as "income inequality," but the findings are still useful in drawing other conclusions, and not ones that are very pleasant. Is America now a bigger version of Chicago, where Democrats and the media have so expertly rigged the electoral game that, even as their policies fai,l they're able to stay in power?
According to the study, we are now back to 1969 levels with respect to median net worth in this country. A large part of this is the housing crisis we've yet to recover from, which cost the middle class 18% of its net worth. The news isn't much better with respect to median incomes, which have dropped to $26,364, setting us all the way back to 1999.
Avoiding a New American Recession
By Martin Feldstein - Project-Syndicate.org
CAMBRIDGE – The United States may be headed for a recession in 2013. Even if the country avoids going over the "fiscal cliff," a poorly designed political compromise that cuts the deficit too quickly could push an already weak economy into recession. But a gradual phase-in of an overall cap on tax deductions and exclusions (so-called tax expenditures), combined with reform of entitlement spending, could achieve the long-run fiscal consolidation that America needs without risking a new recession.
The US economy has been limping along with a growth rate of less than 2% during the past year, with similarly dim prospects in 2013, even without the shock of the fiscal cliff. That is much too weak a pace of expansion to tolerate the fiscal cliff's increase in tax rates and spending cuts, which would reduce demand by a total of $600 billion – about 4% of GDP – next year, and by larger sums in subsequent years.
Timothy Geithner warns US could fall off 'fiscal cliff' The Obama administration warned on Sunday there was no guarantee America would not go over the "fiscal cliff", saying there could be no deal unless Republicans agreed to raise tax rates on the wealthiest.
By Raf Sanchez, Washington - Telegraph.co.uk
With only a month left until the onset of the $600 billion of automatic spending cuts and tax rises that could drive the US back into recession, both the White House and its Republican adversaries appeared to being hardening their negotiating positions.
Timothy Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, refused to rule out the possibility that no deal would be reached, saying: "That's a decision that lies in the hands of the Republicans that are now opposing increases in tax rates".
Republicans urged to call Democrats' bluff Press on entitlements, Norquist says
By Seth McLaughlin-The Washington Times
Grover Norquist says Republicans will emerge victorious from the "fiscal cliff" fight if they put television cameras in the negotiating room and smoke out Democrats over their reluctance to cut entitlement programs — the biggest drivers of federal spending and the national debt.
In a meeting with editors and reporters of The Washington Times, Mr. Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform and father of the group's influential "no new taxes" pledges, said Republicans are at a tipping point after 20 years of building their anti-tax brand, and the most disastrous thing lawmakers in the GOP could do is put their "fingerprints" on a tax increase. It would be better for the party, he said, to get no deal than to sign on to tax hikes.
Geithner presses GOP, says no deficit deal
unless tax rates rise on wealthy
By Meghashyam Mali - TheHill.com
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner sought to raise pressure on Republicans amid "fiscal cliff" talks, insisting Sunday that any deficit deal would need to raise tax rates on the wealthiest.
"There's not going to be an agreement without rates going up," said Geithner, who appeared on all Sunday morning shows, during an interview with CNN's "State of the Union."
Boehner on 'Cliff' Talks: 'We're Almost Nowhere'
By: CNBC.com with Wires
House Speaker John Boehner lashed out Friday at President Barack Obama, saying negotiations to avoid the "fiscal cliff" are "almost nowhere."
Boehner spoke after Republicans disclosed that the White House was $1.6 trillion in tax increases up front, as well as $50 billion in additional stimulus spending.
Boehner said the plan would be a "crippling blow" to an economy that is still struggling to find its footing.
Sen. Graham: 'We're going over the cliff'
By Meghashyam Mali - TheHill.com
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday expressed pessimism over talks to reach a deficit-reduction deal, saying the he believes the nation is "going over the cliff."
"I think we're going over the cliff. It's pretty clear to me they made a political calculation," said Graham on CBS's "Face the Nation," dismissing the initial White House proposal to help the nation avoid the looming "fiscal cliff" of automatic spending cuts and tax rate rises.
US's Geithner Predicts Republicans
Will Allow Higher Tax Rates
CNBC.com
President Barack Obama's top fiscal negotiator pressed Republicans on Sunday to offer specifics on deficit reduction, and predicted they would agree to raise tax rates on the rich to secure a year-end deal to avoid possible economic doom.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said "I can't promise" that the United States won't go over a looming "fiscal cliff," triggering automatic tax hikes for most Americans and deep spending cuts in early 2013. He insisted it is up to Republicans.
Pelosi warns 'clock is ticking,'
threatens House vote on tax rates
By Molly K. Hooper - TheHill.com
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) on Sunday repeated threats to file a "discharge petition" and force a House vote to extend current tax rates for households making under $250,000 a year.
The Senate has already approved extending those rates, but the House GOP objects to the measure, instead calling for all of the expiring Bush-era tax rates to be extended across-the-board.
Time for Congressional Republicans
to Expose Obama's Agenda
By David Limbaugh - PatriotPost.us
We can get back to discussing GOP minority constituent recruitment soon, but in the meantime, we have a fiscal cliff issue that beckons -- the real fiscal cliff (America's imminent financial collapse), not the government shutdown molehill everyone is agonizing over.
Congressional Republicans should look at their party's loss in the presidential election as liberating. They surely now understand that the strategy of soft-pedaling Obama's record and agenda doesn't work. They surely grasp that its fear of calling President Obama out on his real intentions and the disastrous consequences of his destructive policies just plays into his hands and enables the advancement of his agenda.
Are Banksters & the Fed
Becoming the Fourth Branch of Our Government?
By Richard Clark - OpEdNews.com
Despite its pathetic propaganda encouraging us to practice doublethink, the Federal Reserve freely admits that it is privately owned, is a monopoly empowered by Congress, and that it operates independently from -- above? -- Congress and the president. Yet it pays its private undisclosed shareholders/owners huge rewards . . that it extracts from U.S. taxpayers!
Who receives dividends from owning shares of the private Federal Reserve? Charts created by the House Banking Committee Staff Report of August, 1976 reveal the following people and companies own shares in the Federal Reserve: Rothchilds, J.P. Morgan, the Warburgs banks, Kuhn, Loeb & Company, Jacob Schiff, William Rockefeller, David Rockefeller/Chase Bank, and many others.
To Save the Economy, More Americans Increasing immigration may be
our simplest path to long-term growth.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
As Congress crawls its way towards what might well be a historic debate on immigration reform, there's one, easy-to-repeat point our legislators need to keep in mind: The United States needs more people.
Truly, it does. Our birth rates are falling as our population is aging. That means fewer workers and more retirees. Even if you completely ignore the challenge of paying for Medicare and Social Security, that combination a poor recipe for long-term economic success. Just ask Japan what it's like when your country turns into a nation-sized nursing home.
Wake Up! 11 Facts That Show That Europe
Is Heading Into An Economic Depression
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Europe is not just heading into another recession. The truth is that Europe is heading into a full-blown depression. The economy of the EU is actually larger than the U.S. economy, and we are watching it melt down right in front of our eyes. Things just continue to get worse in Europe, and yet somehow the authorities over in Europe just keep insisting that everything is going to be "just fine". Well, everything is not "just fine" over in Europe right now. Unemployment in the eurozone has just hit another brand new record high. In some nations in Europe, the unemployment rate is already significantly higher than anything the United States experienced during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Europe is a continent that is collapsing under the weight of its own debt, and this is just the beginning. A lot more pain is on the way.
Companies seek tax deal, but don't always save jobs As Companies Seek Tax Deals, Governments Pay High Price
By: Louise Story | The New York Times - CNBC.com
In the end, the money that towns across America gave General Motors did not matter.
When the automaker released a list of factories it was closing during bankruptcy three years ago, communities that had considered themselves G.M.'s business partners were among the targets.
For years, mayors and governors anxious about local jobs had agreed to G.M.'s demands for cash rewards, free buildings, worker training and lucrative tax breaks. As late as 2007, the company was telling local officials that these sorts of incentives would "further G.M.'s strong relationship" with them and be a "win/win situation," according to town council notes from one Michigan community.
Mortgage Catch Pushes Widows Into Foreclosure
By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG - NYTimes.com
Geraldine Bates lost her husband to kidney failure last year. Now, she has fallen behind on her mortgage payments and is terrified that she will lose her home in Jacksonville, Fla.
Ms. Bates, 70, is caught in aforeclosure trap that is ensnaring widows across America: she cannot get help lowering her payments until her name is added to the mortgage note, but the lender says she must be current on payments before that can happen.
Is FHA the Next Fannie or Freddie? In an F.H.A. Checkup, a Startling Number
By Gretchen Morgenson - NYTimes.com
Like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before it, the Federal Housing Administration is suffering in a mortgage hell of its own making. F.H.A. officials say they won't need taxpayers' help, but we've heard that kind of line before.
The F.H.A. backs $1.1 trillion of American mortgages and, by the look of things, it's in deep trouble. Last year, its mortgage insurance fund was valued at $1.2 billion. Today that fund is valued at negative$13.48 billion.
How Rising Home Prices May Actually Stall the Recovery
By: Diana Olick - CNBC.com
Home prices have been rising steadily for the past several months, but some fear the rapid increase could actually start hurting the housing recovery.
The reason is that the rise in prices is mainly due to investors, mostly large hedge funds, that have been swooping into the most distressed markets and inhaling properties as fast as their plentiful cash will allow. They are turning those properties into rentals, and getting anywhere from 8 to 12 percent returns on their investments, thanks to still hot demand. The trouble is, as home prices rise, those returns shrink.
WASHINGTON PROPOSES $1 TRILLION BAILOUT
FOR DELINQUENT STUDENT LOANS
by RON MEYER & CELIA BIGELOW - Breitbart.com
A possible $1 trillion bailout is coming—and soon.
America's now-nationalized student loan industry just reached a value of $1 trillion, according to Citigroup, growing at a 20 percent-per-year pace. Since President Obama nationalized the industry (a tacked-on provision of the Obamacare bill), tuition has gone up 25 percent and the three-year default rate is at a record 13.4 percent.
With many young people unable to pay their loans (average graduating debt is about $29,000), Citigroup and others are speculating that this industry might be ripe for a bailout.
Closing of the American Mind
By George Will - PatriotPost.us
WASHINGTON -- In 2007, Keith John Sampson, a middle-aged student working his way through Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis as a janitor, was declared guilty of racial harassment. Without granting Sampson a hearing, the university administration -- acting as prosecutor, judge and jury -- convicted him of "openly reading [a] book related to a historically and racially abhorrent subject."
"Openly." "Related to." Good grief.
The book, "Notre Dame vs. the Klan," celebrated the 1924 defeat of the Ku Klux Klan in a fight with Notre Dame students. But some of Sampson's co-workers disliked the book's cover, which featured a black-and-white photograph of a Klan rally. Someone was offended, therefore someone else must be guilty of harassment.
Michigan eyes right-to-work measure Unions battling to avoid second loss
By Andrea Billups-The Washington Times
LANSING, Mich. — Having just helped torpedo a labor-backed move that would have enshrined collective-bargaining rights in the state's constitution, emboldened Republican lawmakers are considering a move to make this historic bastion of union power into the nation's 24th right-to-work state.
The possible push in the state Legislature's lame-duck session has already sparked a battle, as a coalition of about 300 AFL-CIO members as well as a contingent from the state police descended on the Statehouse in Lansing on Thursday to lobby lawmakers against a measure they fear could dramatically limit their influence.
Fischer: Obama is Intentionally Trying to Keep
'As Many Americans As Poor As Possible'
BY Kyle Mantyla - RightWingWatch.org
On his radio program yesterday, Bryan Fischer made the entirely reasonable and logical argument that communists like President Obama "have a vested interest in keeping as many Americans as poor as possible" and to prevent them from succeeding in order to keep them dependent on the government.
In fact, Obama's push to help more students attend college, said Fischer, is really just an effort to saddle them with massive student loan debt and a worthless degree so that when they can't find a job, they become "helplessly, hopelessly, slavishly dependent upon government handouts."
The Economy's Improving? Tell Small Business
By John Tozzi - Businessweek.com
One survey following another shows that Americans feel better about the economy than they have since before the 2008 financial crisis. Plus the housing market appears to finally be recovering. All this should make small business owners who are coming off a rough couple of years feel pretty good, right?
Not so, according to a Gallup poll out Friday from Wells Fargo (WFC), showing the biggest drop in small business owners' confidence since the fall of 2008. The quarterly index, based on responses from 600 business owners, dropped 28 points as more businesses reported declining revenues, payrolls, and capital investment, both in the last 12 months and in their expectations for the year ahead.
Small Employers Weigh Impact of Providing Health Insurance
By: Reed Abelson and Steven Greenhouse - CNBC.com
Like many franchisees, Robert U. Mayfield, who owns five Dairy Queens in and around Austin, Tex., is always eager to expand and — no surprise — has had his eyes on opening a sixth DQ. But he said concerns about the new federal health care law had persuaded him to hold off.
"I'm scared to death of it," he said. "I'm one of the ones sitting on the sidelines to see what's really going to happen."
Obama Slaps States That Don't Comply With Obamacare
By Sandy Fitzgerald and Martin Gould - NewsMax.com
Residents of states that refuse to set up health insurance exchanges under Obamacare are set to be hit with higher premiums under new rules announced by the Health and Human Services Department.
Insurance companies will be charged 3.5 percent of any premiums they sell through the federal exchanges, the department announced Friday.
And insurers are likely to pass that surcharge on to clients, leaading to higher premiums.
Is America Becoming a 'Football' Paradise?
By MATTHEW FUTTERMAN - WSJ.com
Major League Soccer is throwing a farewell party for David Beckham in Los Angeles this weekend.
There is also the small matter Saturday of the MLS Cup, a rematch of last year's final between Beckham's L.A. Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo (4:30 p.m., ESPN). But the transcendent Beckham recently announced his retirement from the Galaxy and MLS after six seasons. The match has become less a sporting event than a sold-out valedictory for the megastar whose presence legitimized the league and helped turn the U.S. into perhaps the world's most unappreciated soccer paradise.
Kansas City Chiefs Player Involved in Fatal Shootings
By KEVIN CLARK - WSJ.com
Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend before driving to the team's practice facility and killing himself in front of team officials, Kansas City police said.
Belcher, a 25-year-old from West Babylon, N.Y. who played college football at Maine, shot himself at 8:10 a.m. after a conversation in the parking lot of the team's offices.
GOP ready to forget Romney
and embrace Rep. Ryan on Medicare
By Sam Baker and Elise Viebeck - TheHill.com
Mitt Romney's Medicare budget might be fading away just as quickly as Romney himself.
During the campaign, candidate Romney repeatedly hammered President Obama for cutting $716 billion from Medicare as part of his signature healthcare law. Romney pledged to repeal those cuts in a break from his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
OBAMACARE FALLOUT:
WALMART ENDS INSURANCE FOR NEW HIRES
by JOHN NOLTE - Breitbart.com
And so the government takeover of our health care system begins:
Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, plans to begin denying health insurance to newly hired employees who work fewer than 30 hours a week, according to a copy of the company's policy obtained by The Huffington Post. …
Walmart declined to disclose how many of its roughly 1.4 million U.S. workers are vulnerable to losing medical insurance under its new policy.
Walmart's New Health Care Policy
Shifts Burden To Medicaid, Obamacare
By Alice Hines - HuffingtonPost.com
Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, plans to begin denying health insurance to newly hired employees who work fewer than 30 hours a week, according to a copy of the company's policy obtained by The Huffington Post.
Under the policy, slated to take effect in January, Walmart also reserves the right to eliminate health care coverage for certain workers if their average workweek dips below 30 hours -- something that happens with regularity and at the direction of company managers.
Unemployment benefits cost: $520 billion
By Tami Luhby - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Jobless Americans have collected more than half a trillion dollars in benefits over the past five years.
State and federal unemployment insurance programs have cost roughly $520 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released Wednesday.
Privacy up for vote:
Senate considers new electronic communication law
ET.com
Members of the US Senate are expected to vote this week on a bill that would finally require law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing personal emails and other digital messages stored on the cloud.
The antiquated Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 set the standard for how emails and other online correspondence is accessed by the police, but little revisions have been made in the nearly 30 years since it was first approved. During that time, technology has far outpaced the rate in which Congress works, and that is perhaps most evident in this example with the ECPA: since 1986, any emails stored on the cloud with service providers such as Google or Yahoo can be accessed without a warrant after just 180 days.
Congress eyes online sales tax
By Tim Devaney-The Washington Times
Online shoppers could end up paying sales tax more often by the end of the year.
A Senate bill requiring online retailers to collect sales tax from customers may be tacked on the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013. Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, filed an amendment Friday to include the Marketplace Fairness Act in the spending bill with lawmakers voting as early as next week.
"We are optimistic that once the Marketplace Fairness Act is brought for a vote, it will have enough support to pass," said Mr. Durbin's spokeswoman, Christina Mulka.
School Replaces Baby Jesus with Frosty the Snowman
By Todd Starnes - FoxNews.com
Frosty the Snowman is there — and so is Santa Claus.
But the Baby Jesus is stuffed inside a closet at Cottondale Elementary School — leaving many residents of this small town in the Florida panhandle outraged.
The Nativity scene had been a part of the school's holiday lawn decorations for years. But this year the yuletide display is strictly secular.
Lock your doors and load your guns: San Bernardino
warned of uncontrollable crime as police squad shrinks
RT.com
A San Bernardino city attorney told residents this week to gather arms and prepare to defend themselves since the bankrupt town can no longer afford the law enforcement it needs.
During a city council meeting Wednesday, City Attorney Jim Penman urged residents of the bankrupt Californian city to"lock their doors and load their guns" to protect themselves.
City officials prepared a budget plan earlier this month that would attempt to tackle the $45.8 million deficit partially by cutting benefits for city workers like firefighters and police officers, as well as eliminating 80 cops from the force altogether.
Lock Your Doors And Prepare To Defend Your Family
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Do you think that is an alarmist headline? Well, I am not the one saying this. Law enforcement authorities all over the country are telling citizens that they can no longer deal with all the crime and that people need to lock their doors and prepare to defend their families. Just recently, the city attorney of San Bernardino, California told citizens to "lock their doors and load their guns" because there is not enough money to pay for adequate police protection any longer. The murder rate in San Bernardino is up 50 percent this year, but the city is dealing with bankruptcy and has been forced to lay off 80 police officers. But San Bernardino is not the only city dealing with this kind of a thing. In Oakland, burglaries are up 43 percent so far this year, and to say that there is a "crime wave" going on in Oakland would be a massive understatement. If you can believe it, in Oakland "more than 11,000 homes, cars or businesses have been broken into so far this year – translating to about 33 burglaries a day." Sadly, there simply are not enough police to keep up with it all. Due to budget cuts, it is being projected that by February the size of the police force in Oakland will be about 25 percent smaller than it was back in 2008. But what is happening in Detroit is perhaps even more frightening. Today there are about 1,000 fewer police officers in Detroit than there was a decade ago. But crime just continues to rise. So now even the police are telling people to "enter Detroit at your own risk".
U.S. overseeing mysterious construction project in Israel
By Walter Pincus - WashingtonPost.com
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to supervise construction of a five-story underground facility for an Israel Defense Forces complex, oddly named "Site 911," at an Israeli Air Force base near Tel Aviv.
Expected to take more than two years to build, at a cost of up to $100 million, the facility is to have classrooms on Level 1, an auditorium on Level 3, a laboratory, shock-resistant doors, protection from nonionizing radiation and very tight security. Clearances will be required for all construction workers, guards will be at the fence and barriers will separate it from the rest of the base.
Russians are taking '2012' VERY seriously… Survival kits and trips to hell, doomsday hysteria grips Russia
RT.com
Doomsday hysteria has gripped Russia and some of its neighbors. Travel agencies are selling tours to either heaven or hell and people are stocking up on food and fuel. Officials are publicly denying the apocalypse, hoping to calm the hype.
Those awaiting Doomsday have three weeks to finish their preparations before the date of the much publicized apocalypse allegedly predicted by Mayan calendar, that is going to happen on December 21, 2012.
China Claims Sovereignty Over South China Sea Region China's neighbors express alarm
over militant new South China Sea policy
by JOHN J. XENAKIS - Breitbart.com
China's neighbors are expressing alarm over China's belligerent new actions in claiming sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, including regions that historically belonged to other countries, including Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. China's new passports contain the "nine-dash map," a map that China uses to designate its claims with nine dashes circling the entire South China Sea. As I reported reportedtwo days ago, China is now sending warships to the South China Sea and is preparing to board and take control of any ship in what china considers to be its sovereign "territorial waters." The Philippines, which refuses to recognize the new Chinese passport, is saying that China's new military policy is a violation of international laws. One senior Philippine naval officer has a different explanation:
N. Korea gears up to launch long-range rocket
By Foster Klug - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
SEOUL (AP) — North Korea is gearing up to fire a long-range rocket this month in a defiant move expected to raise the stakes of a global standoff over its missile and nuclear programs.
The North's announcement Saturday that it would launch the rocket between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22 came as President Obama prepares for his second term and as South Korea holds a presidential election Dec. 19.
Gohmert: Obama Administration may have 'A Bunch of Muslim Brotherhood Members Giving them Advice'
BY Brian Tashman - RightWingWatch.org
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) spoke to anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney yesterday on Secure Freedom Radio where he alleged that the Obama administration actively aided Al Qaeda and follows the advice of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Texas congressman partnered with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and a group of Republicans to demand investigations of Muslim Americans serving in the administration, with Bachmann warning that Muslim Brotherhood secret agents have successfully conducted "deep penetration" of the U.S. government. After the witch hunt was roundly criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike, Bachmann ended up literally running away from reporters.
The New Middle East's New Problems
By Joschka Fischer - Project-Syndicate.org
BERLIN – When hostilities flared in Gaza last month, it seemed like the same old story was repeating itself. The world again witnessed a bloody and senseless surge of violence between Israel and Hamas, in which the main victims were innocent civilians maimed and killed on both sides.
This time, however, things were not what they seemed, because the Middle East has undergone a significant change in the past two years. The political epicenter of this troubled region has shifted from the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians toward the Persian Gulf and the struggle for regional mastery between Iran on one side and Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and now Egypt on the other. In the emerging struggle between the region's Shia and Sunni powers, the old Middle East conflict has become a sideshow.
US reportedly blindsided by Israel's move
to approve settlement building Sources tell New York Times that Netanyahu
informed Washington of the plan
just hours before it was announced
By ASHER ZEIGER - TimesOfIsrael.com
of construction of 3,000 new housing units in Jerusalem and the West Bank on the heels of last week's UN General Assembly vote.
The decision, roundly condemned by the Obama administration and by capitals around the world, was seen as a punitive measure for the successful Palestinian upgrade to nonmember observer state status at the UN.
ABBAS: JERUSALEM IS OURS
by WILLIAM BIGELOW - Breitbart.com
Finally, those in the West can take their blinders off. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has taken off the veil and articulated what the real war is between Islam and the West: not a war over the land of Israel but the religious war between radical Islam on one side and Judaism and Christianity on the other.
In his celebratory speech after his return from the UN, Abbas threw down the gauntlet: "One day, a young Palestinian will raise the Palestinian flag over Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the state of Palestine!"
Clinton raps Palestinians, Israelis for letting peace slip away Palestinians have missed multiple opportunities, but Israelis should show more empathy, says outgoing secretary of state
By RON KAMPEAS - TimesOfIsrael.com
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Palestinians have missed multiple opportunities for peacemaking, but the Israelis have shown a lack of empathy, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.
"I think Israelis have good grounds to be suspicious" of Palestinians as a result of the stalled peace process, Clinton said last Friday at an event held in her honor in Washington by the Saban Forum, an annual assembly of US and Israeli leaders.
The war ahead in Gaza
By Ramzy Baroud - ATimes.com
In life, some phenomena cannot be explained by ordinary logic or technical language, let alone official discourses. How did Gaza manage to fight back with such ferocity and undying vigor in quelling the latest Israeli war despite years of a bloody siege and one-sided war in 2008-9? It simply cannot be explained by the outmoded language of today's media analysts. Notwithstanding, a new reality is about to emerge.
During the 2008-09 "Operation Cast Lead", Israel killed over 1,400 Palestinians and wounded over 5,000 others. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Most victims were civilians as is always the case in such wars of "self-defense''. A United Nations investigation published in September 2009 concluded there is "evidence indicating serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law were committed by Israel during the Gaza conflict, and that Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity."
Dollarless Iranians Discover Bitcoin Dollar-Less Iranians Discover Virtual Currency
By Max Raskin, Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Under sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies, dollars are hard to come by in Iran. The rial fell from 20,160 against the greenback on the street market in August to 36,500 rials to the dollar in October. It's settled, for now, around 27,000. The central bank's fixed official rate is 12,260. Yet there's one currency in Iran that has kept its value and can be used to purchase goods from abroad: bitcoins, the online-only currency.
Iran showcases new warships near strategic waters Navy launches domestically produced Sina-7,
equipped with anti-ship missiles
TimesOfIsrael.com
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's state TV is showcasing additions to its Navy including a missile-launching warship around the size of a frigate.
Navy officials watched as the domestically-produced Sina-7, equipped with anti-ship missiles, was launched Wednesday at Bandar Abbas, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Two new Iranian-built Ghadir submarines and two repaired hovercrafts were also delivered to the Navy
Turkey requested Nato missile defences
over Syria chemical weapons fears Turkish officials say they have evidence Assad regime could resort to ballistic missiles if air campaign against rebels fails
By Julian Borger, diplomatic editor - Guardian.co.uk
A request by Turkey for Nato Patriot missile defences to be deployed on its territory followed intelligence that the Syrian government was contemplating the use of missiles, possibly with chemical warheads, Turkish officials have told the Guardian.
The officials said they had credible evidence that if the Syrian government's aerial bombardment against opposition-held areas failed to hold the rebels back, Bashar al-Assad's regime might resort to missiles and chemical weapons in a desperate last effort to survive..
Israel exacts retaliation for Palestinian statehood
vote as it confiscates £75m in revenue Israel exacted a price for the UN's de facto recognition of Palestine on Sunday by confiscating £75 million in revenues even as the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, triumphantly told thousands of followers: "Now we have a state."
By Robert Tait In Jerusalem - Telegraph.co.uk
The Israeli move, coinciding with Mr Abbas's arrival to a hero's welcome in the West Bank, came as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu baldly rejected last Thursday's resounding vote granting the Palestinians full UN observer status.
It left the Palestinian Authority (PA) facing a financial black hole that could prevent it from paying the salaries of thousands of workers, just as Mr Abbas in Ramallah exhorted his countrymen to celebrate "a decisive landmark on the path of our national struggle".
