Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Thursday 01.31.2013
On the chopping block March 1st... The Idiocy of Sequestration A trillion dollars in spending cuts nobody wants are coming, and they won't even fix our real deficit problem.
By Matthew Yglesias -slate.com
With all feel-good talk about immigration reform, fans of conflict and dysfunction may fear the arrival of genuine bipartisanship in Washington.
Not to worry! Another budget crisis is almost upon us! This time it's not the dread fiscal cliff or the debt ceiling, but rather the "sequester"—the extremely crude cutting mechanism that essentially nobody favors but that seems likely to happen anyway. It'll drag down the economy, impair the functioning of the government across the board, and do nothing to improve America's fiscal sustainability over the long run.
Here's what you need to know.
Countdown to the Collapse
BY JOHN BUTLER - FinancialSense.com
On multiple fronts there appears to have been a resumption of hostilities in the global currency wars. A subtle indication of this is the recently released report, Gold, the Renminbi and the Multi-Currency Reserve System, which I believe is highly significant for two reasons: First, it demonstrates that major global actors are now keenly aware and frightened of the possibility of a major breakdown in international monetary relations. Second, it suggests that these same actors are trying to contain the growing demand for gold as an alternative reserve asset and pre-empt an uncontrolled gold remonetization. These efforts will fail. A collapse of the current, unstable global monetary equilibrium is inevitable. Recent events indicate that the countdown has begun.
Fed keeps stimulus in place as economy "paused"
By Alister Bull and Pedro da Costa
WASHINGTON | Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:17pm EST
(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left in place its monthly $85 billion bond-buying stimulus plan, saying economic growth had stalled but indicating the pullback was likely temporary.
Describing the nation's job market as continuing its modest pace of improvement, the Fed repeated a pledge to keep purchasing securities until the outlook for employment improves substantially.
The U.S. Economy Shrinks. Is Recession on the Way?
BY SHERAZ MIAN - FinancialSense.com
The U.S. economy essentially screeched to a halt in the last quarter of 2012 – contracting by -0.1% relative to expectations of +1% growth. As shocking as the first negative GDP growth print since 2009 is, it doesn't mean we are heading towards a recession, in my humble view. It does show, however, the level of vulnerability for the economy.
The sharp deceleration from the third quarter's +3.1% growth pace is mostly due to factors that are either temporary (effects of hurricane Sandy) or not reflective of underlying momentum in the economy. Lack of private sector inventory accumulation, trade deficit, and weak spending by government dragged down GDP growth. The parts of the economy that really matter – spending by households and businesses – showed acceleration from the third quarter's pace.
Gold and Quantitative Easing: Inflation All Over Again?
by Przemyslaw Radomski - GoldSeek.com
Perhaps you have heard that the Fed is printing money to get out of the crisis and that such actions cannot possibly end other than in even more money being printed and in the dollar losing its ability to buy you tangible assets. In our essay on gold and the dollar collapse we pointed out that since 1970 the debt numbers have gone up more than 40-fold (!). In 2002, future Fed chairman Ben Bernanke noted that "the U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at no cost." In keeping with these words, Bernanke has played an important role in the introduction of three rounds of what is known today as quantitative easing (QE) – programs expanding the money supply beyond the usual. The bill for QEs is $2.25 trillion and counting. As of January 17, 2013, U.S. debt totaled $16.4 trillion. These extraordinary numbers call for a deeper analysis and today we focus on what QE actually is.
New Hawks and Doves at Fed Likely Won't Alter Policy
AP - CNBC.com
The cast of voting members on the Federal Reserve's policy committee is changing this year. Their policies probably won't be.
Chairman Ben Bernanke will likely retain a solid majority on the 12-member committee for his drive to keep interest rates low well into the future despite critics who worry about the risks.
Dollar falls as Fed stays aggressive; euro climbs Further upside seen in store for shared currency in the short run
By Carla Mozee and William L. Watts, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar fell Wednesday, weighed by a report of shrinking activity in the world's largest economy as the U.S. Federal Reserve said it will maintain its aggressive easing stance.
Meanwhile, the euro reclaimed the $1.35 handle and pressed to its highest level versus the dollar since November 2011.
No Pay? Little Sacrifice For Many in Congress
By: Jeremy W. Peters, NYTimes via CNBC.com
WASHINGTON -- In principle, it sounds self-sacrificing, even noble: Congress swears off collecting its paychecks until it passes a budget.
But behind the ''no budget, no pay'' proposal, which the House passed last week when it voted to temporarily extend the debt limit, is also a basic reality: many of those who support the concept are so wealthy that their Congressional paychecks represent little more than a rounding error.
U.S. economic growth disappeared at end of 2012
By Patrice Hill-The Washington Times
U.S. economic growth, in a stunning and surprising development, ground to a halt at the end of last year, falling from a healthy 3.1 percent rate in the summer to a contraction of 0.1 percent in the final quarter, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday morning.
Growth was snuffed out by a 15 percent drop in federal government spending, including a 22.2 percent collapse in defense spending, a 5.7 percent drop in exports and a decline in business spending on inventories.
GDP unexpectedly shrinks, decline seen temporary
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON | Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:41pm EST
(Reuters) - The economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, but analysts said there was no reason for panic given that consumer spending andbusiness investment picked up.
Gross domestic product fell at a 0.1 percent annual rate, its weakest performance since it emerged from recession in 2009, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.
Rick Santelli Responds to Negative GDP Report:
'We Are Now Europe'
By Noel Sheppard - NewsBusers.org
Rick Santelli made a stunning observation Wednesday about the shocking report that the economy actually shrunk in the fourth quarter last year.
"We are now Europe," he declared on CNBC's Squawk Box.
"Hey Joe," Santelli said, "when you act like Europe, you get growth rates like Europe, and our discussions with economists sounds like we're in Europe. They have the same discussions constantly."
The Real Euro Crisis Is Just Starting Unemployment is near society's breaking point
By Matthew Lynn - MarketWatch.com
LONDON (MarketWatch) — A new year is always meant to be a fresh start. But rarely can that have been so true as for the euro zone over the last month.
After three years of almost perpetual crisis, 2013 opened in a surprisingly optimistic mood. Leaders of the battered single currency have started to declare that the war is over — and that they have won.
2 things that may trigger U.S., global correction Euro money rates, slumping Korean won bear watching
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Looking for the catalyst that will trigger a correction in the U.S. stock rally as well as the greater, global rally in equities and other "risky" assets?
While earnings surprises, central bank actions or political turmoil often top the list of potential triggers, Steven Barrow, currency and fixed-income strategist at Standard Bank in London advises investors to keep their eye right now on euro-zone money market rates and the Korean won.
How politicians are planning the return of taxation
without representation
By Christopher Bedford - DailyCaller.com
It's been nearly 250 years since the king passed his Stamp Act to pay for all that royal spending, and nearly 240 years since gramps found that generally Intolerable and sent the British running. But the issue is not dead. On the contrary, legislators are again actively attempting to pass what is effectively taxation without representation, and far from being a distant king in England, the villains today are both Democratic and Republican lawmakers from Washington to Tennessee.
Fed's new ethanol ruins engines New E15 gas can ruin auto engines
by Paul Bedard - WashingtonExaminer.com
This week's warm Washington temperatures had some thinking about rolling the Lawn-Boy out of the garage for the first cut of the year. And we all know what that means: Difficult starts due to E10 gas that gels when it sits.
Now, according to a new study, cars and truck may face the same fate thanks to President Obama's demand for a higher ethanol in the new E15 gas.
GDP Contracts, Jobs Outlook Sours
By: Peter Morici - CNBC.com
The Commerce Department reported GDP fell 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Weak conditions abroad and flagging U.S. competitiveness caused exports to contract by $27 billion, and businesses anticipating a further slowdown slashed inventories by $40 billion.
Friday, forecasters expect the Labor Department to report the economy added 160,000 jobs in January; however, employment tends be a lagging indicator and flat or negative GDP growth will cause unemployment to rise sharply in the months ahead.
States Force Jobless to Pay Needless Fees
By AP / Daniel Wagner - Time.com
WASHINGTON — Jobless Americans are paying millions in unnecessary fees to collect unemployment benefits because of state policies encouraging them to get the money through bank-issued payment cards, according to a new report from a consumer group.
People are using the fee-heavy cards instead of getting their payments deposited directly to their bank accounts. That's because states issue bank cards automatically, require complicated paperwork or phone calls to set up direct deposit and fail to explain the card fees, according to a report issued Tuesday by the National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit group that seeks to protect low-income Americans from unfair financial-services products. An early copy of the report was obtained by The Associated Press.
The Doctor's Office as Union Shop As new health-care laws turn physicians
into service workers, why wouldn't they organize?
By DAVID J. LEFFELL - WSJ.com
As the country moves toward the effective start date of the Affordable Care Act in 2014, the operational and economic elements of this vast legislation are becoming clearer. Yet one likely outcome of the act that will directly affect the quality of patient care, and could affect its cost, has gone virtually unnoticed and unreported: the increasing trend for physicians to become employees, rather than self-employed. This development represents a potentially radical factor in the transformation of health care—the doctor as union worker.
Small businesses - outsmart ObamaCare by becoming corporations... To Outsmart ObamaCare, Go Protean
Don't fire staff to avoid the 50-employee trigger. Make them corporations.
By PAUL CHRISTIANSEN - WSJ.com
How big can a company get with just 50 employees? We're about to find out.
Thousands of small businesses across the U.S. are desperately looking for a way to escape their own fiscal cliff. That's because ObamaCare is forcing them to cover their employees' health care or pay a fine—either of which will cut into profits and stymie future investment and growth.
Obamacare: A starting point for GOP revival
by Jennifer Rubin - WashingtonPost.com
The Republicans, at least sentient ones, have figured out that talking in abstractions ( "free-market capitalism") and slogans ("rule of law!") may be soothing for fellow conservatives but largely falls on deaf ears in a wider electorate. Likewise, opposing tax increases, opposing Obamacare and opposing compromise aren't going to capture the imagination or earn the respect of non-ideological voters. Any political hack can vote no on the "fiscal cliff," oppose immigration reform and demand a repeal of Obamacare; none of those actions, however, will advance conservatism nor earn the GOP more support.
Is the Refi 'Apocalypse' Really Upon Us?
By: Diana Olick - CNBC.com
Mortgage rates today are very low, but U.S. borrowers have a very short memory. They forget that the rate on the 30-year fixed, which sits around 3.6 percent today, was a full percentage point higher a year ago, and above 5 percent in January of 2010. The purchasing power gained through today's low rates have arguably helped fuel the recovery in home sales. Low rates have also sparked a boom in mortgage refinancing, which in turn has put more spending money in consumers' pockets.
Still, the slightest move higher has dramatic effects.
'Rich Tax' Puts California on Risky Path
Reuters - CNBC.com
California's governor is betting the wealthy will grow wealthier still to help right his state's finances, a wager that is expected to help the budget in the short term, but leaves it at risk of a revenue slump if assets such as stocks lose value.
Democratic Governor Jerry Brown sees a budget surplus within reach, in contrast to the deficits that have bedeviled the state for the past decade, in part due to new revenue from increases in income tax rates on the wealthy approved by voters in November.
Hostess bidders win the $400 million pie
By Jessica Chasmar-The Washington Times
Hostess is set to announce that it has picked two investment firms — C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management — as its highest bidders for Twinkies and other snack cakes.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the offer would be for more than $400 million. The deal could be disclosed as early as Tuesday.
Economic Recovery is Impossible
Whilst Oil and Gas are Risk On Assets
By Dian L. Chu - OilPrice.com
Gas Prices Pegged to Risk On Trade
As long as gas prices are pegged to the market rally in equities and the currencies in the Risk On Trade then this rally is nearing its end. Gas prices are up 35 cents and climbing, oil is up $13 and climbing and because of congress consumers are being taxed more in 2013, and as a result have less take home pay to apply towards discretionary spending. That combination makes for a healthy economy?
Decoupling Needed for Ultimate Recovery
Until gasoline and oil finally decouple from the Risk On Trade we are going to continually have this stop and start economy every time the market goes up on the correlated asset trade. At this pace I give the rally two more weeks at most, unless the aforementioned assets decouple. Gold and silver have decoupled, but oil is moving right up with the euro and yen funding currency crosses.
New Shale Formation in West Texas could Dwarf the Bakken
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
The US shale boom has led some to predict that it will overtake Saudi Arabia as world's largest oil and gas producer by 2020, thanks to the massive reserves found in plays such as the Bakken Shale of North Dakota, the Marcellus Shale in New York, and the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas; even the newly discovered Tuscaloosa Shale formation in Louisiana holds large potential.
However there is a new shale formation that has been discovered in West Texas which could dwarf all others being drilled in the US at the moment.
The Economics Of Immigration: Who Wins, Who Loses and Why
By Christopher Matthews - TIME.com
Washington's focus has shifted to immigration reform this week as a bipartisan group of Senators put forward a comprehensive plan on Monday and President Obama followed with a proposal of his own yesterday. The debate thus far has been anchored around the bipartisan Senate proposal, the President's support for a "path to citizenship," and House Republican's opposition to it. The opposition to the plan so far has centered around concerns about such a deal inviting a new influx of undocumented workers, or its rewarding those who have violated the law. These are important discussions to have, but with the economy here at home still so fragile, many are wondering what sort of effect immigration has on the American economy.
Here's a look at four big questions concerning the economics of immigration:
Senators reinforce call for tightened borders
as part of immigration reform Republicans champion call for added border reinforcement despite number of agents doubling over the last six years
By Karen McVeigh in New York - Guardian.co.uk
The citizenship ambitions of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US could rest on a fight over the definition of what constitutes a secure border, experts predict.
Barack Obama, in a milestone speech on immigration reform on Tuesday, echoed Republicans' tough language on border enforcement. But he did not go as far as a demand by a bipartisan group of senators that the US border be declared secure before people who are in the US illegally be given a "path to citizenship".
Chinese firm gets U.S. OK to take over
troubled high-tech battery firm American competitor gains A123
By Jim McElhatton-The Washington Times
The federal government approved a deal allowing a U.S. battery maker backed with tens of millions of dollars from the federal stimulus program to be purchased by a Chinese competitor, officials announced Tuesday.
After weeks of speculation, Wanxiang America Corp. announced that it had won permission from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to purchase A123 Systems.
Who Runs The World?
Solid Proof That A Core Group Of Wealthy Elitists
Is Pulling The Strings
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Does a shadowy group of obscenely wealthy elitists control the world? Do men and women with enormous amounts of money really run the world from behind the scenes? The answer might surprise you. Most of us tend to think of money as a convenient way to conduct transactions, but the truth is that it also represents power and control. And today we live in a neo-fuedalist system in which the super rich pull all the strings. When I am talking about the ultra-wealthy, I am not just talking about people that have a few million dollars. As you will see later in this article, the ultra-wealthy have enough money sitting in offshore banks to buy all of the goods and services produced in the United States during the course of an entire year and still be able to pay off the entire U.S. national debt. That is an amount of money so large that it is almost incomprehensible.
Draft UN climate report shows 20 years
of overestimated global warming, skeptics warn
By Maxim Lott, Charles Couger - FOXNews.com
A preliminary draft of a report by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was leaked to the public this month, and climate skeptics say it contains fresh evidence of 20 years of overstated global warming.
The report -- which is not scheduled for publication until 2014 -- was leaked by someone involved in the IPCC's review process, and is available for download online. Bloggers combing through the report discovered a chart comparing the four temperature models the group has published since 1990. Each has overstated the rise in temperature that Earth actually experienced.
The Cost of Obama's Regulatory Explosion Double the cost of 16 years under Bush and Clinton.
BY JEFFREY H. ANDERSON - WeeklyStandard.com
As Adam White discusses in detail, there's nothing moderate or incremental about the increase in federal regulations — and hence in centralized executive power — under President Obama. To the contrary (as White notes), according to figures published by the Obama White House (see table 2-1), the costs of regulations issued by this administration have dwarfed the costs of regulations issued by prior administrations.
Executive branch overstepping bounds? Court says Obama recess appointments invalid
By Aruna Viswanatha
WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 25, 2013 6:13pm EST
(Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that President Barack Obama violated the U.S. Constitution when he used recess appointments to fill a labor board, a decision that could curtail the president's options in filling vacancies.
Obama, frustrated by Republican opposition to his nominees, made the three "recess" appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in January 2012, while the Senate was on one of its many recesses but not formally adjourned for the year.
White House disagrees with court recess appointment decision
By Roberta Rampton
WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:26pm EST
(Reuters) - The White House on Friday said it disagrees with a U.S. federal appeals court's "novel and unprecedented" decision to reject PresidentBarack Obama's "recess appointments" to a labor board last year, but declined to say whether the administration would appeal.
"We respectfully but strongly disagree with the rulings," White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a briefing. "There have been, according to the Congressional Research Service, something like 280-plus intra-session recess appointments by ... Democratic and Republican administrations dating back to 1867."
ALERT: UN International Arms Trade Treaty - final draft - March 18-28, 2013 - Contact your House Reps and Senators NOW if you are opposed to this international treaty, which will supercede US law IF ratified by congress (defeated in 2012).
After Obama win, U.S. backs new U.N. arms treaty talks
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS | Wed Nov 7, 2012 6:48pm EST
(Reuters) - Hours after U.S. President Barack Obama was re-elected, the United States backed a U.N. committee's call on Wednesday to renew debate over a draft international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global conventional arms trade.
U.N. delegates and gun control activists have complained that talks collapsed in July largely because Obama feared attacks from Republican rival Mitt Romney if his administration was seen as supporting the pact, a charge Washington denies.
Giffords' plea to Congress on guns: 'you must act'
By Alan Fram - Associated Press - AZCentral.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a dramatic appeal, wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords urged Congress on Wednesday to enact tougher curbs on guns, saying, "too many children are dying" without them.
"The time is now. You must act. Be bold, be courageous, Americans are counting on you," she told the Senate Judiciary Committee at Congress' first gun control hearing since 20 elementary school children were shot to death in Newtown, Conn., late last year.
Giffords spoke haltingly, a result of the wounds suffered when she was shot in the head in an attempted assassination two years ago that left six others dead.
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.
Can House Stop U.N. Arms Trade Treaty Gun Grab?
Editorial - News.Investors.com
Second Amendment: A House resolution, as futile as it may be, represents growing opposition to another administration bow to the U.N. encroachment on U.S. sovereignty at the expense of its laws and even our Constitution.
Treaties are ratified by a two-thirds majority of the Senate, and the final version of the U.N.'s Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) may likely be signed by this president and ratified by this Senate, especially if presented as a "sensible restriction" on international arms trafficking with no impact on our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
But some House members are not going to let it happen without a justified protest.
Sen. Moran: Senate Opposition to U.N. Arms Trade Treaty
Remains Strong
Moran.Senate.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) today reiterated the grave concern in the U.S. Senate about the dangers posed to Americans' Second Amendment rights by the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). President Obama recently announced his intent to resume negotiations of the ATT even though the majority of the Senate notified both the President and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of their intent to oppose ratification earlier this year.
Opposition to UN arms treaty heats up
By Julian Pecquet - 07/02/12
Some 130 lawmakers sent President Obama a letter on Monday expressing their opposition to a pending arms trade treaty if it impinges on gun rights and U.S. sovereignty in any way.
The United Nations this week begins a month-long process of crafting a long-delayed treaty to create international standards for importing and exporting conventional weapons. Proponents say the treaty would bring much of the rest of the world in line with U.S. standards without affecting domestic sales, but gun enthusiasts are worried.
U.N.'s Arms Trade Treaty: "Why on Earth Would We Sign?"
Michael Cunningham - Heritage.org
Opposition to a proposed United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is growing over concerns about its possible implications for America's sovereignty and interests.
As Heritage's Kim Holmes explains in the Washington Times, the language in the draft circulated at the U.N. this week would harm law-abiding nations like the United States while allowing the true offenders to carry on with their arms trafficking.
Under the rhetoric of international security and justice, member states of the U.N. are working on a legally binding treaty to regulate the sale or transfer of all kinds of arms, which treaty supporters say contribute to human rights abuses, violence, crime, and terrorism around the world. But the U.N. continued to undermine its credibility and contradict its own intentions byelecting Iran to a top post at the treaty conference, even though the Security Council had recently found that Iran had transferred weapons to Syria.
U.N. Arms Trade Treaty will harm us, let others go free
By Kim R. Holmes - Special to The Washington Times
It's the kind of U.N. treaty you would expect - contradictory and unenforceable, one that would bind law-abiding nations while letting tyrants and terrorists off the hook. The Arms Trade Treaty currently being hammered out in Turtle Bay may well end up violating U.S. freedom and sovereignty, as well as common sense.
Negotiators at the U.N. expect to finalize a treaty by July 27. So far, we have only a "chairman's draft paper" prepared by conference chairman Ambassador Roberto Garcia Moritan of Argentina. Its stated purpose is to establish "common international standards" for controlling and limiting the import, export and transfer of conventional arms, including small arms.
ARMS TRADE TREATY
UN.org
The global trade in conventional weapons – from warships and battle tanks to fighter jets and machine guns – remains poorly regulated. No internationally agreed standards exist to ensure that arms are transferred responsibly.
Arms Trade Treaty U.S. Support of the Arms Trade Treaty
State.gov
The Arms Trade Treaty is the name of a potential multilateral treaty that would regulate the international trade in conventional weapons. The treaty was to be negotiated at a global conference under the auspices of the United Nations from July 2-27, 2012, in New York. Although the negotiations made substantial progress on a draft Treaty, they ran out of time as the negotiators were unable to reach consensus on the text. We anticipate the future actions concerning the potential Treaty will be raised at the UN General Assembly this fall. The United States supports a second round of negotiations, conducted on the basis of consensus on the Treaty next year. While we would have preferred to conclude the July negotiations with a Treaty, we believe that more time is a reasonable request for such a complex but critical issue
KEY U.S. REDLINES
• The Second Amendment to the Constitution must be upheld. There will be no restrictions on civilian possession or trade of firearms otherwise permitted by law or protected by the U.S. Constitution.
• There will be no dilution or diminishing of sovereign control over issues involving the private acquisition, ownership, or possession of firearms, which must remain matters of domestic law.
• The U.S. will oppose provisions inconsistent with existing U.S. law or that would unduly interfere with our ability to import, export, or transfer arms in support of our national security and foreign policy interests.
• The international arms trade is a legitimate commercial activity, and otherwise lawful commercial trade in arms must not be unduly hindered.
• There will be no requirement for reporting on or marking and tracing of ammunition or explosives.
• There will be no lowering of current international standards.
• Existing nonproliferation and export control regimes must not be undermined.
• The ATT negotiations must have consensus decision making to allow us to protect U.S. equities.
• There will be no mandate for an international body to enforce an ATT.
- - - - - - - - - - -
More about NATO and Executive Orders
that govern martial law (i.e. Civil Emergency)
Reagan's EO defines 'martial law' superseding 2 previous EOs Executive Order 12656
Assignment of emergency preparedness responsibilities
Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order No. 12656 - Synopsis
On November 18, 1988, following the election of George H.W. Bush as president, Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order No. 12656, entitled "Assignment of Emergency Preparedness Responsibilities." The provisions of this executive order, which superseded two earlier EOs — ## 10421, (December 31, 1952) and 11490 (October 28, 1969) — would apply during a national security emergency: defined in the executive order as "any occurrence, including natural disaster, military attack, technological emergency, or other emergency, that seriously degrades or seriously threatens the national security of the United States." (Emphasis added).
Will NATO oversee martial law in the US? Civil Emergency Planning A key security task of the Alliance
NATO.int
The aim of civil emergency planning in NATO is to collect, analyse and share information on national planning activity to ensure the most effective use of civil resources for use during emergency situations, in accordance with Alliance objectives.
It enables Allies and Partner nations to assist each other in preparing for and dealing with the consequences of crisis, disaster or conflict.
Administration of Barack Obama (2009-Present) Disposition of Executive orders
signed by President Barack Obama
144 Total Executive orders Issued to date
Syria Says Israel Struck Military Site, as Accounts Diverge
By FARNAZ FASSIHI, JULIAN E. BARNES and SAM DAGHER - WSJ.com
Conflicting accounts emerged Wednesday over an apparent Israeli airstrike inside Syrian territory earlier in the day—with several regional and Western officials saying Israeli jets had struck a convoy of trucks carrying arms near the Lebanon-Syria border, while Syria's state media described an Israeli strike on a military facility near Damascus.
The early-morning Israeli strike took place inside Syria and targeted a convoy carrying a shipment of Russian-made SA-17 missiles, according to a Western official briefed on the strike.
Syria: Israeli planes attacked military research center Syrian army command denies earlier reports that IAF planes had struck a convoy carrying weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon; claims 2 people were killed and five wounded in the attack on the site in Jamraya.
Reuters - JPost.com
Israel Air Force fighter jets struck a "military research center" in Syria's Damascus province, near the border with Lebanon, at dawn on Wednesday, according to a report by Syrian state television.
Two people were said to have been killed and five wounded in the attack on the site in Jamraya, which the report described as one of a number of "scientific research centers aimed at raising the level of resistance and self-defense."
Syria confirms Israel bombed site near Damascus IAF jets hit 'scientific research center,' killing 2, Syrian army announces; US officials say target was a convoy of trucks
By ILAN BEN ZION and AP - The Times of Israel
Israel conducted a rare airstrike on a military target inside Syria, foreign officials and Syrian state TV said Wednesday, amid fears President Bashar Assad's regime could provide weapons, including chemical arms, to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.
According to a Syrian military statement cited by the official SANA news agency, the IAF fighter jets came from the north, "flying at a low altitude and below radars," and bombed a "scientific research center" in the Jamraya area just northwest of Damascus.
Israel hits Syria arms convoy to Lebanon
By Mariam Karouny and Oliver Holmes
BEIRUT | Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:13pm EST
(Reuters) - Israeli jets bombed a convoy on Syria's border with Lebanon on Wednesday, sources told Reuters, apparently targeting weapons destined for Hezbollah in what some called a warning to Damascus not to arm Israel's Lebanese enemy.
"The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon," said one Western diplomat, adding that the consignment may well have included anti-aircraft missiles.
'Israeli jets hit Hezbollah-bound anti-aircraft missiles' IAF warplanes reportedly hit convoy of trucks
Tuesday night near the Lebanese border town of Nabi Chit
By ILAN BEN ZION and GABE FISHER - The Times of Israel
An airstrike reportedly carried out by Israeli warplanes near the Lebanese-Syrian border overnight Tuesday targeted a shipment of sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles bound for the Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah, regional security officials implied to AP on Wednesday.
Air Force chief:
Collapse of Syria would pose major threat to Israel
Special to WorldTribune.com
TEL AVIV — Israel's military has warned of the collapse of Syria, which has the largest chemical weapons stockpile in the Middle East.
Israel Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel said the Jewish state was encountering the collapse of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Eshel said Syria, with a huge conventional and non-conventional arsenal, marked the greatest threat to Israel.
Israeli air strikes reportedly hit targets on Syria-Lebanon border amid Hezbollah chemical weapons concerns There is growing concern that groups such as Hezbollah will get hold of Damascus's stockpile of chemical weapons
By ALISTAIR DAWBER - Independent.co.uk
Israel has hit targets on the border between Syria and Lebanon, it was claimed earlier today, amid growing concern that groups such as Hezbollah will get hold of Damascus's stockpile of chemical weapons.
According to the Israeli media, the strike came soon after a significantly increased number of sorties by the Israeli air force over Lebanon. It is thought that in the last 24 hours, at least 12 Israeli warplanes had crossed into Lebanon's airspace and flown sorties over a number of villages in the south of the country. It is not uncommon for Israeli jets to fly over southern Lebanon.
Israel likely didn't target chemical weapons, expert says Such a strike would have caused 'significant environmental damage' that could not have gone undetected,
Dany Shoham tells Times of Israel
By MITCH GINSBURG - TimesOfIsrael.com
Israeli war planes that reportedly struck near the Lebanese border with Syria would either have bombed a convoy of conventional weapons or the nontoxic component of a chemical agent, according to a leading Israeli expert on chemical weapons.
"The chances that someone was able to bomb a chemical weapons convoy without causing significant environmental damage is very small," Lt. Col. (res) Dr. Dany Shoham, a BESA Center fellow and expert on chemical and biological weapons in the Middle East, told The Times of Israel.
Obama Announces New Humanitarian Aid for the Syrian People U.S. President Barack Obama announces an extra $155 million dollars to aid refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.
By Elad Benari - Israel National News
U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced an extra $155 million dollars to aid refugees fleeing what he said was "barbarism" propagated by the Assad government against Syrians, AFP reported.
Obama, unveiling a grant which will take U.S. humanitarian help to Syrians to $365 million, also promised that the Assad regime "will come to an end. The Syrian people will have their chance to forge their own future."
Iran calls for Muslim countries to patrol Gulf National security official says Tehran is ready to hold exercises with other regional powers to replace Western navies
By STUART WINER - TimesOfIsrael.com
An Iranian lawmaker and security official has called on local Muslim countries to join forces and patrol the Persian Gulf in place of Western powers, Press TV reported on Wednesday.
"Regional countries should make use of the Iranian Navy's high capabilities to ensure security and peace in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman," said Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a member of the Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy.
Russian flotilla heads for Mediterranean
to counter NATO role in Syria
by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com - WorldTribune.com
Over 300 Russian Marines are onboard a flotilla of at least five warships from Russia's Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet en route to the Syrian coast in the Mediterranean, both Russian and Israeli sources have confirmed.
Moscow had earlier stated that the purpose of sending warships to Syria was to prepare for civilian evacuation in case of regime collapse.
However, that mission would not have required hundreds of Russian marines.
Obama's Defense Secretary Nominee Said
Israel Keeps 'Palestinians Caged Up Like Animals'
BY DANIEL HALPER - The Weekly Standard
President Barack Obama's secretary of defense nominee, Chuck Hagel, said that Israel keeps "Palestinians caged up like animals." He made the remarks in 2003.
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel protested what he called the "completely distorted" record on Israel that his critics are promoting in an interview earlier this month with his hometown newspaper.
The former Nebraska senator said an accurate assessment would show "unequivocal, total support for Israel."
Yet a decade earlier, the same newspaper–the Lincoln Journal Star–quoted Hagel making a startling accusation against Israel in a Jan. 12, 2003 article. Israel, Hagel declared, was "keep[ing] Palestinians caged up like animals."
Palestinians say they may have no choice
but to take Israel to Hague court
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS | Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:40pm EST
(Reuters) - The Palestinians declared Wednesday that they will have no choice but to complain aboutIsrael to the International Criminal Court if the Jewish state proceeds with plans to build housing on land the Palestinians want for a future state.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the Middle East, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said his government's decision will largely depend on what the Israelis do with the so-called "E1" area outside the Arab suburbs of East Jerusalem.
Egypt's rulers in peril with growing violence
By Daria Solovieva and Dave Boyer-The Washington Times
CAIRO — Egypt's security deteriorated sharply Tuesday as violent clashes in Cairo and elsewhere raised questions about the ruling Islamist party's control of the country, which the army chief said is in danger of collapse.
In Cairo, a mob ransacked the five-star Semiramis Hotel, while thousands of mourners in a funeral procession for six slain protesters in Port Said called for the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood.
Iran-Linked Arms Shipment Intercepted Off Coast of Yemen Yemeni authorities intercepted a ship carrying a "substantial" cache of illegal arms that officials suspect were being smuggled from Iran.
By Rachel Hirshfeld - Israel National News
Yemeni authorities working with the United States Navy intercepted a ship carrying a substantial cache of illegal arms that U.S. officials suspect were being smuggled from Iran.
The arms, intercepted aboard the ship in Yemeni territorial waters in the Arabian Sea last Wednesday, included surface-to-air missiles, potent explosives and rocket-propelled grenades, a U.S. official and Yemen's government announced Monday.
Hagel pledges focus on Iran military options "While there is time and space for diplomacy, backed by pressure, the window is closing," Hagel says ahead of nomination hearing.
By Bloomberg.com - JPost.com
Chuck Hagel is pledging that as defense secretary he will "focus intently on ensuring the US military" is prepared to strike Iran's nuclear facilities if needed.
"I agree with the president that the United States should take no options off the table in our efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," Hagel said in written answers to policy questions posed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hold a hearing tomorrow on President Barack Obama's nomination of the former Nebraska senator to head the Pentagon.
Silver coin sales set record in January after halt
By Frank Tang
NEW YORK | Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:24pm EST
(Reuters) - American Eagle silver coin sales in January surged to an all-time monthly high as the U.S. Mint resumed sales after huge demand triggered a brief suspension, and gold coins also posted their best performance since July 2010.
As of January 29, silver Eagle sales for the month were 7.1 million ounces, data from the U.S. Mint's website showed, surpassing its previous record of 6.1 million ounces set in January 2012.
China Just Threatened a Currency War
if the Fed Doesn't Stop Printing
by Phoenix Capital Research - ZeroHedge.com
The tension between Central Banks that we noted yesterday continues to worsen. This time it was China and the EU, not just Germany, that fired warning shots at the US Fed.
A senior Chinese official said on Friday that the United States should cut back on printing money to stimulate its economy if the world is to have confidence in the dollar.
Asked whether he was worried about the dollar, the chairman of China's sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corporation, Jin Liqun, told the World Economic Forum in Davos: "I am a little bit worried."
US debt headed toward 200 percent of GDP
even after 'fiscal cliff' deal
By Vicki Needham - TheHill.com
The nation's long-term fiscal outlook hasn't significantly improved following the recent agreement between Congress and the White House over tax and spending issues, according to a new analysis.
The "fiscal cliff" deal, combined with the debt-limit agreement of August 2011, only slightly delays the United States reaching debt-to-gross domestic product levels that would damage the economy and risk another fiscal crisis, according to a report from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation released on Tuesday.
Keiser Report: Kamikaze Currency Killers (E399)
In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss Japan where the latest source of monetary inspiration is Korekiyo Takahasi, described by Ben Bernanke as the man who "brilliantly rescued" his country from the Great Depression of the 1930's, while neglecting to mention that Takahasi was then assassinated by the army, who were angered by cuts to their wages. They also discuss the biggest Aso in Japan, finance minister Taro Aso, suggesting old people just 'hurry up and die' in order to save money for government. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to former MI5 agent turned whistleblower, Annie Machon, about the global crackdown on the internet and the activists who live there.
Dollar Near 14-Month Low Versus Euro Before Fed, GDP Data
By Candice Zachariahs & Kristine Aquino - Bloomberg.com
The dollar traded 0.1 percent from its weakest in more than a year versus the euro ahead of data forecast to show slowing growth and job gains in the U.S.
The U.S. currency maintained a two-day decline against the yen before the Federal Open Market Committee issues its policy statement today, while fourth-quarter gross domestic product data may show growth was the slowest in almost two years. A private report is forecast to show companies added fewer workers in January. New Zealand's currency held yesterday's advance against the yen after the statistics bureau said home-building approvals surged to a 4 1/2-year high in December.
Dollar Thrives in Age of Competitive Devaluations
By Gary Shilling, Bloomberg.com
In periods of prolonged economic pain -- notably the 2007-2009 global recession and the ensuing subpar recovery -- international cooperation gives way to an every-nation-for-itself attitude. This manifests itself in protectionist measures, specifically competitive devaluations that are seen as a way to spur exports and to retard imports.
Trouble is, if all nations devalue their currencies at the same time, foreign trade is disrupted and economic growth is depressed.
Zimbabwe's Total Cash On Hand: $217.00 Here we will briefly ignore the fact that Zimbabwe's net cash position is about $120,000,000,000,217.00 greater than that of the US
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Several years after revealing the first one hundred trillion modern-day banknote and seeing its economy implode in a cloud of hyperinflationary smoke, Zimbabwe's problems are back with a vengeance. And this time not even more currency destruction, as Zimbabwe does not actually have its own currency any more having largely shifted to foreign currencies primarily the USD and the ZAR - can help. The problem? The country is officially out of cash.From AFP: "After paying public workers' salaries last week, the balance in cash-strapped Zimbabwe's government public account stood at just $217, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said Tuesday. "Last week when we paid civil servants there was $217 (left) in government coffers," Biti told journalists in the capital Harare, claiming some of them had healthier bank balances than the state. "The government finances are in paralysis state at the present moment. We are failing to meet our targets."" Sadly not even the projected and quite hilarious 5% GDP growthof the now completely broke country, which can't even create money out of thin air as there is nobody who will lend it even one penny, will do much if anything.
Wall Street to Washington: Cut Deficit Now
By: Steve Liesman - CNBC.com
Wall Street is sending a sharp and unambiguous message to Washington: cut spending and solve the deficit problem now and don't do it with more revenue.
The January CNBC Fed Survey finds eight of 10 respondents agreeing with the statement the U.S. should "urgently enact a plan that puts it on a path toward a sustainable budget deficit." Only 20 percent believe the U.S. has time to enact such a plan or doesn't need one.
Warning: Banks Set to Crash Economy Again Critical Warning No. 7: Banks crash economy again Commentary: Time to jail the bankers
By Paul Farrell, Marketwatch.com
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Drive-time radio. Ominous voice: "Critical Warning No. 6" again, "Something bigger than the credit crisis of 2008 is headed our way. For most people, it will hit them like a brick wall. It will touch Americans harder and deeper than anything else we've seen since the Great Depression."
But wait. The New York Times tells a different story: "Americans seem to be falling in love with stocks again." Check the facts: S&P 500 just hit a five-year high. Rallied 13% in 2012. Up 120% since we predicted of a new bull market back in March 2009.
Bernanke Seen Buying $1.14 Trillion in Assets in 2014
By Joshua Zumbrun, Jeff Kearns
& Catarina Saraiva - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's latest round of bond buying will reach $1.14 trillion before he ends the program in the first quarter of 2014, according to median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Bernanke will push on with purchases of $40 billion a month of mortgage bonds and $45 billion a month of Treasuries, according to the survey of 44 economists, even as some Fed officials warn his unprecedented balance-sheet expansion will impair efforts to tighten policy when necessary.
Senator Introduces 17% Flat Tax Bill
To Reduce Tax Returns 'To The Size Of A Postcard'
By Craig Bannister - CNSNews.com
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) today introduced a bill to replace the tax code with a 17% flat tax that would reduce tax returns to "the size of a postcard."
Shelby's Simplified, Manageable And Responsible Tax (SMART) Actestablishes a flat tax rate of 17 percent on all income (personal and business).
It also repeals estate taxes, gift taxes, and the Alternative Minimum Tax (ATM).
Moody's downgrades 6 Canadian banks RBC the only one of Big 6 banks to escape downgrade
CBC News
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the long-term credit ratings of six Canadian banks, including Toronto-Dominion, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal and CIBC. National Bank and Desjardins were also downgraded.
The ratings agency lowered each of its ratings one notch, citing high levels of consumer debt and high home prices as threats to the Canadian economy. Moody's had put all six banks under review in October.
Libor Lies Revealed in Rigging of $300 Trillion Benchmark
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 had joined RBS in 1984, was one of the employees responsible for the firm's submissions for 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 who had worked at the bank since 2002.
No Wall Street Consensus on When & How QE Ends
By: Steve Liesman - CNBC.com
Wall Street expects the Federal Reserve to remain highly aggressive throughout 2013 but is divided over when quantitative easing will end and how it will be stopped, according to the January CNBC Fed Survey.
The 52 respondents — including economists, strategists and money managers — see the Fed on average purchasing $859 billion of assets this year for an average of $71 billion per month.
Latest Postage Stamp Price Hike
Buys The US Postal Service Two Weeks Of Extra Time
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
The US Postal Service may be a woefully overstaffed anachronism of a bygone era, with a painfully mismatched cost and revenue structure, which last year reported a massive, and record, $15.9 billion annual loss for the last Fiscal year, but that doesn't mean it is going away without a fight. As of yesterday, the USPS valiantly hiked the price of first-class mail by another 2.6%, to 46 cents, up from the 45 cents which in turn was hiked a year previously. Alas, somehow we doubt this latest increase in pricing which is supposed to keep up with inflation, will do much for the long-term viability of the government service which employes some 500,000, and which has warned would run out of cash by October 2013 for two simple reasons: the ongoing collapse in mail volume sent via the USPS (with free or more effective alternative widely adopted), and a cost structure that unlike the revenue side, has managed to stay leaps and bound ahead of inflation courtesy of some rather vocal labor unions.
Homeownership rate slips, rental vacancies up
(Reuters) - The share of privately owned homes edged down in the fourth quarter and rental vacancies rose, government data showed on Tuesday, underscoring the challenges still confronting the housing market recovery.
The homeownership rate slipped to 65.4 percent from 65.5 percent in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said.
While the housing market recovery appears to be gaining traction, high unemployment and stringent lending standards are keeping many from owning a home.
Stuck in Reverse, Detroit Edges Closer to Bankruptcy
Reuters via CNBC.com
At the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, luxury was in the air. Pricey new Bentleys and Maseratis glittered - including a Maserati 2014 Quattroporte with a $132,000 price tag; U.S. Cabinet Secretaries and dignitaries rubbed shoulders; and many of the well-heeled attendees ponied up for a $300-a-ticket black-tie charity ball.
But in a city that is slowly dying, the glitz didn't extend much beyond the Cobo Center exhibition hall.
Study: Nearly half are overqualified for their jobs
Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY
Nearly half of working Americans with college degrees are in jobs for which they're overqualified, a new study out Monday suggests.
The study, released by the non-profit Center for College Affordability and Productivity, says the trend is likely to continue for newly minted college graduates over the next decade.
Three Major Car Companies Join
to Accelerate Development of Fuel Cells of EVs
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
The fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) sector has received a boost with the announcement that Ford, Renault-Nissan, and Daimler have made a three-way agreement to work together and accelerate the development and commercialisation of fuel cells. Under the agreement they intend to launch the "world's first affordable, mass-market fuel cell electric vehicles" by 2017.
Raj Nair, the Group Vice President for the Ford Motor Company, explained that, "working together will significantly help speed this technology to market at a more affordable cost to our customers. We will all benefit from this relationship as the resulting solution will be better than any one company working alone."
Retirement Living: Debt holds many Boomers back With the average Baby Boomer a half-million dollars short on retirement savings, the prospects for actually retiring look slim. So what do we do about it?
By Rodney Brooks, USA TODAY
Baby Boomers, forget about retirement. We'll be working for the rest of our lives.
OK, that may be an exaggeration, but not by much.
We have not saved enough money. And worse, many of us will still be up to our eyeballs in debt when we do retire. We're just one medical emergency away from bankruptcy.
The American Household
Is Digging Out of Debt in the Worst Possible Way
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
Our long, national deleveraging nightmare might soon be over. After peaking at over $13.6 trillion in late 2008, outstanding household debt has fallen by $833 billion the past four years, albeit for the not-so-good reason that so many people have been foreclosed on. It's the most painful, and perhaps least efficient way, of getting out from under our collective pile of debt, but it's also, ahem, the default way of doing so. It's politically easier not to fight for more writedowns and refis.
Why Are Voters So Uninformed?
Do you know which political party holds the majority in the House of Representatives? How about the largest congressional budget item or the rate of inflation in the United States? Surveys show that fewer than half of respondents knew the answers to these questions in 2010. So why does the public know and care so little about government and politics? Prof. Diana Thomas shows how the answer is founded in basic incentives. It may take a lot of time and energy to become an informed voter, but there is little chance even the most informed voter can have any effect on the outcome of an election. Based on the lopsided incentives involved, most economists will say it is, in fact, completely rational to be ignorant about politics.
YouTube Set to Introduce Paid Subscriptions This Spring A New Revenue Model For TV Networks and Video Producers
By: Jason Del Rey - AdAge.com
A new chapter in online video is about to begin. YouTube is prepping to launch paid subscriptions for individual channels on its video platform in its latest attempt to lure content producers, eyeballs, and advertiser dollars away from traditional TV, according to multiple people familiar with the plans.
YouTube has reached out to a small group of channel producers and asked them to submit applications to create channels that users would have to pay to access. As of now it appears that the first paid channels will cost somewhere between $1 and $5 a month, two of these people said. In addition to episodic content, YouTube is also considering charging for content libraries and access to live events, a la pay-per-view, as well as self-help or financial advice shows.
Wind Overtakes Nuclear
to Become China's 3rd Largest Energy Source
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
According to data from the China Wind Energy Association (CWEA), wind energy capacity has now surpassed nuclear power to become the third largest source of electricity in China, after coal, and large-scale hydro-electric plants.
In 2012 wind power generation totalled 100.4 billion kilowatt hours, an increase of 0.5% from the years before, and enough to send it past nuclear power generation.
Keystone XL decision may loom large
for red state Democrats in 2014 midterms
By Alexandra Jaffe - TheHill.com
A handful of vulnerable Democratic senators running for reelection in red states are seeking to insulate themselves from political fallout if the Obama administration rejects the Keystone XL oilsands pipeline from Canada.
Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), joined 44 of their Republican colleagues in signing a letter last week urging Obama to expedite the pipeline's approval.
Homeland Security: Disable UPnP, as tens of millions at risk Summary: The U.S. government is warning to disable a common networking feature after bugs have left tens of millions of hardware devices vulnerable to attacks by hackers and malware.
By Zack Whittaker - ZDNet.com
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is next in line to warn of a serious threat to networking devices, such as scanners and printers, computers and routers.
It comes only a few hours after a white paper was released by security researchers at Rapid7, which claimed that approximately 40 to 50 million devices worldwide are vulnerable to infiltration by hackers as a result of a flaw in a networking protocol.
Vendors with vulnerable products include Belkin, Linksys and Netgear... Millions of PCs exposed through network bugs,
security researchers find Summary: Experts say that common networking standards are placing our devices and data at risk.
By Charlie Osborne - ZDNet.com
Common bugs in networking systems are placing PCs, printers and storage devices at risk, according to security researchers.
According to the security team at Rapid7, technology used worldwide in both routers and standard networking equipment is making it possible for hackers to potentially infiltrate approximately 40 to 50 million devices worldwide.
Security Flaws in Universal Plug and Play: Unplug, Don't Play
Posted by HD Moore - Rapid7.com
This morning we released a whitepaper entitledSecurity Flaws in Universal Plug and Play. This paper is the result of a research project spanning the second half of 2012 that measured the global exposure of UPnP-enabled network devices. The results were shocking to the say the least. Over 80 million unique IPs were identified that responded to UPnP discovery requests from the internet. Somewhere between 40 and 50 million IPs are vulnerable to at least one of three attacks outlined in this paper. The two most commonly used UPnP software libraries both contained remotely exploitable vulnerabilities. In the case of the Portable UPnP SDK, over 23 million IPs are vulnerable to remote code execution through a single UDP packet. All told, we were able to identify over 6,900 product versions that were vulnerable through UPnP. This list encompasses over 1,500 vendors and only took into account devices that exposed the UPnP SOAP service to the internet, a serious vulnerability in of itself.
ScanNow for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) The free scanner checks whether your network-enabled devices might be vulnerable to attack through the UPnP protocol.
Rapid7.com
Recent research from Rapid7 revealed that around 40-50 million network-enabled devices are at risk due to vulnerabilities found in the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) protocol. UPnP enables devices such as routers, printers, network-attached storage (NAS), media players and smart TVs to communicate with each other. Three groups of security flaws in the protocol are exposing millions of users to remote attacks that could result in the theft of sensitive information or other criminal activity such as spying.
The Web's New Monopolists Just because Facebook and Google are innovative now doesn't mean they won't strangle growth and harm us all—if we let them.
By JUSTIN FOX - TheAtlantic.com
Ask Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of the social network Twitter and the mobile-payment start-up Square, what his two companies have in common, and he has a quick answer: "They're both utilities." Mark Zuckerberg might agree: he spent years trying to convince people that Facebook is not a social network but a "social utility."
It's an intriguing choice of words for such of-the-moment entrepreneurs. Utilities tend to be boring, slow-growing beasts. They also—and this is the more important point—tend to be monopolies that are either regulated heavily by governments or owned outright by them.
Tech world lauds plan to aid immigrant students Tech companies are giving mixed reviews to a new proposal that would help advanced-degree students in tech fields stay and work in the U.S. after they complete school.
By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
Technology companies are praising a congressional proposal to provide a path for permanent U.S. residency to immigrants who receive master's degrees or doctorates in technical fields, but they say it would only partly solve their recruiting problems.
Under a blueprint unveiled by a bipartisan group of senators, immigrants who receive master's degrees or doctorates in science, technology, engineering or math from an American university would be awarded a green card, or permanent residency.
California Lawmakers Propose Bullet Tax to Curb Gun Crime
By Michael B. Marois - Bloomberg.com
California should tax bullets to pay for mental-health programs and to put more police in crime- ridden areas, two Democratic state lawmakers proposed.
One bill, by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson of Sacramento would impose a 5-cent tax per bullet sold to expand a program that screens children for mental illness. A similar measure from Oakland's Rob Bonta would aid law enforcement in cities with the highest violent-crime rates. A third would require licenses for ammunition dealers and have them report all sales.
Why Gun Makers Want Children to Play With Rifles As the vast bulk of American hunters close in on old age, firearms makers need a shot of youth to keep their profits flowing.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
In a story sure to turn the stomachs of urban parents coast to coast, The New York Times reported this weekend that firearms makers have been engaging in a years-long, multimillion- dollar push to hook children and teenagers on the charms of gun culture. Among other efforts, the industry has started cooking up teen-focused magazine ads, offered "junior shooters" discounts on military-style semi-automatic rifles, sponsored youth handgun competitions, and lobbied to lower state age limits for hunting.
One study commissioned by the industry investigated ways companies could appeal to potential customers as young as eight.
Reid declines to endorse
Feinstein's assault-weapons legislation
By Alexander Bolton - TheHill.com
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday declined to voice support for Democratic legislation that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips.
Reid said he would bring gun-violence legislation to the floor and open it to a lengthy amendment process. But he declined to endorse the assault weapons ban introduced last week by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), which has the support of the 2nd- and 3rd-ranking Senate Democratic leaders.
How 3D Metal Printing May Change Manufacturing
Published on Jan 10, 2013
At a recent additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, showcase at Penn State, engineers demoed some of the latest technology in the field. Hear from experts about how 3D metal printing may change manufacturing in the United States, and what challenges it faces.
3D printing 'bigger than internet'
Published on Jul 6, 2012
Its proponents say it's the next disruptive technology with the potential to significantly change the landscape of a number of industries. Peter Marsh, manufacturing editor, talks to one such supporter - Abe Reichental, chief executive of US-based 3D Systems - to find out how 3D printing works and how big a game-changer it's is likely to be.
The 3D Printing Revolution
Published on Apr 5, 2012
3D printing will soon allow digital object storage and transportation, as well as personal manufacturing and very high levels of product customization. This video by Christopher Barnatt of ExplainingTheFuture.com illustrates 3D printing today and in the future.
RoBo 3D Printer
Project will be funded on Friday Feb 1, 6:42pm EST.
Kickstarter.com The low-cost, open source, easy to use 3D printer we've all been waiting for. Help bring your ideas to life, one layer at a time.
MakerBot Announces More Advanced Replicator 2X 3-D Printer
BY NATHAN HURST - Wired.com
Months ago, MakerBot dropped hints to Wired about a newer version of their shiny Replicator 2 3-D printer. Today at CES, CEO Bre Pettis announced the Replicator 2X, an update to the printer that is designed for a more advanced consumer, a more experimental user.
Targeting a higher-end market, the 2X features dual heads for printing more-complex objects. "For the daredevils out there, the Doc Browns, the MacGyvers, the test pilots, we haven't forgotten about you," says Pettis in a YouTube video released in advance of the announcement. Whereas the Replicator 2 uses PLA filament, the 2X — like the original Replicator — uses ABS filaments. But the 2X is supposed to run more smoothly, and print in multiple colors and even multiple materials.
Stratasys -- Mojo Personal Desktop 3D Printer
Mojo, the new personal desktop 3D printer by Stratasys, is making 3D-printing technology accessible to more people than ever before. Mojo 3D printers let architects, design engineers and innovators of all kinds reap benefits of 3D printing at an affordable price. This 3D printer builds genuine ABS plastic parts and prototypes, and comes with everything you need to start 3D printing.
Scott Summit — The Future of 3D Printing
Uploaded on Aug 2, 2010
Scott Summit explains the current state and future potential of 3D printing (also known as rapid prototyping) technology.
3D metal printing
Uploaded on Dec 13, 2010
How It's Made: 3D Metal Printing (Courtesy of Ex One)
Democratic Senator: 'Much of Progressive Agenda
is Going to Be Driven' by Obama Using Executive Power
By Fred Lucas - CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com) – Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) says that he believes President Obama in his second term will drive the progressive agenda forward with a more aggressive use of executive power.
"We're going to see a president of the United States use his executive powers as much as he's allowed to under federal law and under the Constitution, in a more aggressive way than last time," Brown said in an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.
IG Report: 4,317 Non-Citizens
Obtained Multiple Social Security Numbers
By Matt Cover - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – A report from the Social Security Administration Inspector General (IG) found 4,317 instances where a non-citizen was able to obtain two Social Security numbers, including 542 instances that happened since 2001.
"We identified 4,317 instances where the Numident record of 2 SSNs assigned to noncitizens contained matching first, middle, and last names; dates and places of birth; gender; and fathers' and mothers' names," the IG reported on Dec. 10, 2012.
NWO… global governance still alive and moving forward A Peace Agenda for Global Development
By Graca Machel - Project-Syndicate.org
MONROVIA, LIBERIA – This week, the 27 members of the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda gather in Monrovia, Liberia, to advise United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. At the meeting, the Panel will establish a "bold yet practical" vision for joint action on sustainable development.
While these discussions – hosted by Liberian President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and British Prime Minister David Cameron – take place, the nearby Sahel and the Great Lakes region continue to be plagued by violence and conflict. Indeed, large-scale displacement of people and unspeakable human suffering are occurring in many African countries (not to mention in Syria and elsewhere), threatening to reverse the continent's unprecedented economic progress during the last decade.
Encouragement In A Time Of Grave Fear
By Charlie Daniels - CNSNews.om
If you read this column very often you know the frustration and disgust I feel for our government, their profligate spending, their all consuming passion for self-preservation, and the inevitable fall at the end of the ruinous path they seem so determined to force this nation down.
You know I'm deeply concerned about the rapid erosion of personal liberty and our president's cavalier attitude toward the Constitution and consolidation of power into a monolithic central, federal government, a bureaucratic nightmare that makes and enforces the rules, controlling even the administration of health care and the curriculum our children will study in school.
Senate overwhelmingly confirms John Kerry
as secretary of state Swift approval had been expected as Massachusetts senator set to replace Hillary Clinton in country's top diplomatic post
Reuters in Washington - Guardian.co.uk
John Kerry's nomination as President Barack Obama's new secretary of state sailed through the US Senate on Tuesday, as his fellow senators voted overwhelmingly to confirm him to replace Hillary Clinton as the country's top diplomat.
The vote was 94-3 in favor. The two senators from Texas, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and Oklahoma senator James Inhofe, all Republicans, were the only no votes.
The Asian Sleepwalkers
By Yoon Young-kwan - Project-Syndicate.org
SEOUL – Whether East Asia's politicians and pundits like it or not, the region's current international relations are more akin to nineteenth-century European balance-of-power politics than to the stable Europe of today. Witness East Asia's rising nationalism, territorial disputes, and lack of effective institutional mechanisms for security cooperation. While economic interdependence among China, Japan, South Korea, and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations continues to deepen, their diplomatic relations are as burdened by rivalry and mistrust as relations among European countries were in the decades prior to World War I.
S. Korea poised for high-stake rocket launch
AFP - France24.com
AFP - South Korea was poised Wednesday for its third bid to send a satellite into orbit -- a watershed moment for the future of the country's space programme and a high-stakes challenge to national pride.
The pressure surrounding the mission has risen considerably in the wake of rival North Korea's successful launch of a satellite on an indigenously-built carrier in December.
Exxon, BP Straddle Front Line in Iraq-Kurd Oil War
By Jen Alic - OilPrice.com
BP Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. are caught on opposite sides of the front line of the oil war between the Iraqi central government and the Iraqi Kurds, with Baghdad talks with BP over a deal in disputed Kirkuk and warns Exxon about working with the Kurds.
On 28 January, the Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi again threatened to cancel Exxon's contract in the massive West Qurna-1 oil field in southern Iraq if it refuses to stop dealing separately with the Kurds in Northern Iraq.
Egypt's armed forces chief warns
unrest could cause collapse of state General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's comments spark fears military might once again intervene in day-to-day governance of Egypt
By Patrick Kingsley in Cairo - The Guardian
Continuing civil unrest may soon cause the collapse of the Egyptian state, the head of the country's armed forces warned.
Parts of Egypt are in turmoil following five days of rioting in which 52 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured after protests against President Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and police brutality turned violent. The unrest comes two years after the start of the 2011 revolution that toppled the former dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Iran on the Offensive
By Claude Salhani - OilPrice.com
Until now, the Arab oil producing countries of the Persian Gulf, also called the Arabian Gulf, or to those seeking political neutrality, simply the Gulf, looked at their Persian neighbour with suspicion and trepidation. The fear came from mainly the military superiority that Iran wields over the Gulf, Persian or Arabian, depending on how you prefer to call it.
The reasons behind the animosity between Arabs and Persians are numerous. There is the historic schism of culture, language, tribal, territorial but also religious. For the most part the Arabs are Sunni and the Iranians are Shia. Yet, although being a religious differential opposing the two sides, the schism is not one of theology.
Japan's new inflation target fuels
currency war debate at Davos
AFP - TheAustralian.com.au
JAPAN'S controversial new economic policy emerged as one of the hot topics at this year's Davos forum, with talk of currency wars and strong rebuttals from Japanese officials.
The new government in Tokyo, led by Shinzo Abe, has pushed the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to step up efforts to battle nearly two decades of deflation and sluggish growth in the world's third-largest economy.
Japan's Currency War. Militarization and Monetary Policy
By Peter Symonds - GlobalResearch.ca
Japan's new Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government has begun implementing an aggressive nationalist program on two fronts. An expansion of the military unshackled from constitutional restraints is being matched by a unilateralist monetary policy aimed at weakening the yen and expanding exports at the expense of Japan's rivals.
Under intense pressure from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced on Tuesday that it would expand its inflation target from 1 to 2 percent "at the earliest possible time" through an open-ended purchase of bonds and other assets—a policy in line with the US Federal Reserve's "quantitative easing."
Currency Wars Heating Up As Taiwan,
Korea And China Fire Warning Shots
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
While the overnight session has been relatively quiet, the overarching theme has been a simple one: currency warfare, as more of the world wakes up to what the BOJ is doing and doesn't like it. The latest entrants in global warfare: Taiwan, whose central bank overnight said it would step in the FX market if needed, then Thailand, whose currency was weakened on market adjustment according to Prasarn, and of course South Korea, where the BOK said that global currency war spreads protectionism. Last but not least was China which brought out the big guns after the PBOC deputy governor Yi Gang "warned on currency wars." To wit: "Quantitative easing for developed economies is generating some uncertainties in financial markets in terms of capital flows," Yi, who is also head of China's foreign-exchange regulator, told reporters. "Competitive devaluation is one aspect of it. If everyone is doing super QE, which currency will depreciate?" "A currency war, a series of tit-for-tat competitive devaluations, would trigger trade protection measures that would damage global trade and therefore growth globally," said Louis Kuijs, chief China economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Plc in Hong Kong, who previously worked for the World Bank. "That would not be good for any country with a stake in the global economy." Which brings us to the fundamental question - if everyone eases, has anyone eased? And is there such a thing as a free lunch when central banks simply finance global deficits while eating their soaring stock market cake too? The answer, of course, is no, but we will cross that bridge soon enough.
Jim Rickards on Currency Wars,
Real Wars and Gold Wars (11/17/11)
In this Capital Account with Lauren Lyster...A report from US Congress says the Chinese renminbi could threaten the dominance of the US dollar within a decade. We've seen tough talk between the countries on currency before, including now, but are we already in the throes of a currency war? We talk to James G. Rickards, author of Currency Wars, who sure thinks so. Meanwhile, US President Obama calls the Asia-Pacific region a top priority of US security policy. And the US is stationing troops in Australia reportedly to counter China's expanding influence. But could the next war be waged not with boots on the ground, or drones for that matter, but with financial weapons: stocks, bonds, and derivatives? Also, one clothing company thinks they have a better solution for US-China relations. It involves world leaders making love, not war.
Policymaker's Guide To Playing The Global Currency Wars
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
G4+CHF can fight the currency wars longer and more aggressively than small G10 and EM countries can. However, as Citi's Steven Englander notes, it also takes a lot of depreciation to crowd in a meaningful amount of net exports. His bottom line, GBP, CHF and JPY have a lot further to depreciate. In principle, the USD can easily fall into this category as well, but right now the USD debate is focused on Fed policy – were it to become clear that balance sheet expansion will end well beyond end-2013, the USD would fall into the category of currency war 'winners' as well. Critically, though, the reality of currency wars is thatpolicymakers do not use FX as cyclical stimulus because of its effectiveness; they use it because they have hit a wall with respect to the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies, and are unwilling to bite the structural policy bullet. The following seven points will be on every policymakers' mind - or should be.
Rumbles in the Bond Market Rattling Gold
BY CHRIS PUPLAVA - FinancialSense.com
Last July the 10-Yr UST yield fell to an all-time low of 1.379%. Since that time yields have been steadily rising with the 10-Yr yield hitting 1.947%. The rise in interest rates has been greater than the rise in inflation rates which may be hurting gold since it is highly influenced by real interest rates (nominal rates less inflation). The 10-Yr UST yield is at a key level and a further rise in yields may continue to weigh on gold ahead.
The Fed's Big Secret - Quantitative Easing Isn't Free
By Mark Sunshine - SeekingAlpha.com
The Fed is gearing itself up for a classic I Love Lucy moment. When the economy recovers, interest rates rise and Congress figures out that the Federal Reserve System is the biggest financial black hole in the history of mankind, there's going to be a lot of explaining to do.
Bernanke hasn't told anyone quantitative easing's big secret; it isn't free. There's a cost to the Fed's policy and the bill will be past due when the economy recovers and interest rates rise. The tab may be big enough to blow the Federal budget and plunge Washington into a new fiscal and political crisis. And, there won't be many policy choices. The Fed cannot be allowed to fail. Like it or not, it carries the full faith and credit of the United States of America.
Why Deleveraging Still Rules Markets in 2013
By A. Gary Shilling - Bloomberg.com
I have structured my investment themes for 2013 in two ways. The first is geared toward the current "risk on" climate, even though I doubt it will endure. The other is a "risk off" scenario that I believe will unfold once investors recognize the unsustainability of what I call the Grand Disconnect between robust securities markets and subdued economic reality.
The investment scene in the U.S. and elsewhere is dominated by a number of forces: the deleveraging of private economic sectors and financial institutions; the monetary and fiscal responses to the resulting slow growth and financial risks; competitive devaluations; the fixation of investors on monetary ease that obscures weak real economic activity; and central bank-engineered low interest rates that have spawned more distortions and investor zeal for yield, regardless of risk.
Federal Reserve Money Printing
Is The Real Reason Why The Stock Market Is Soaring
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
You can thank the reckless money printing that the Federal Reserve has been doing for the incredible bull market that we have seen in recent months. When the Federal Reserve does more "quantitative easing", it is the financial markets that benefit the most. The Dow and the S&P 500 have both hit levels not seen since 2007 this month, and many analysts are projecting that 2013 will be a banner year for stocks. But is a rising stock market really a sign that the overall economy is rapidly improving as many are suggesting? Of course not. Just because the Federal Reserve has inflated another false stock market bubble with a bunch of funny money does not mean that the U.S. economy is in great shape. In fact, the truth is that things just keep getting worse for average Americans.
Treasury Gets a Citibanker From Wall Street failure
to the pinnacle of finance in four short years.
Opinion - WSJ.com
There was a time when you had to be successful on Wall Street to become secretary of the Treasury. Now along comes presidential nominee Jack Lew, whose only business credential is a stint at the most troubled too-big-to-fail bank.
During the darkest days of the financial crisis Mr. Lew served as the chief operating officer of Citigroup's Alternative Investments unit (CAI). When Mr. Lew took this job in January 2008, the unit was already infamous for overseeing "structured investment vehicles" that hid mortgage risks outside Citi's balance sheet. It also housed internal hedge funds that were in the process of imploding.
Report: Bailed-out executives
still enjoy hefty compensation from taxpayers
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
A government watchdog is blasting the Treasury Department for continuing to dole out robust pay packages to executives of bailed-out companies.
A new report found that executives from American International Group (AIG), General Motors, and Ally Financial, while still on a government lifeline, regularly pushed and received compensation in excess of guidelines originally set by the bailout team charged with overseeing executive paychecks.
The perfect storm is heading toward the debt market Sverre Rørvik Nilsen is a financial consultant based in Oslo, Norway. A former financial journalist, he works with companies to find trading solutions.
By Sverre Rørvik Nilsen — Quartz
In the markets, it's starting to look like the 100-year wave is just over the horizon and I'm left with a sensation that the question is not "if" it is coming but "when."
For the past couple of years something big has changed in the markets, leaving many market participants feeling like up is down and down up. All of a sudden the bond market is starting to behave more like the stock market, at least in the eyes of the investor. It's like that moment in the movie The Perfect Storm when Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney decide to weather the storm and the conditions for fishing are almost eerily good. Just like the many oh-so-good years in the bond markets—with some funds having returns well over 100%.
Tripling in Debt to $1.7 Trillion Drags on Economy
By Bloomberg News
Chinese companies are spending more than ever to service debt after their borrowing almost tripled over five years, prompting strategists to warn of rising default risk and a threat to economic growth.
Total short- and long-term borrowing by 3,895 publicly traded non-financial companies rose to almost $1.7 trillion in their latest filings, from $604 billion at the end of 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Financing costs, including interest, on all forms of debt climbed to the highest level as a percentage of gross domestic product last year, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
Bank of America makes derivatives switch from Dublin to London Bank of America can now benefit from carrying Merrill Lynch's losses forward, a move that could reduce its tax bill
By Jill Treanor - Guardian.co.uk
Bank of America is routing billions of pounds of complex financial transactions through London rather than Dublin in a move that could reduce the bank's tax bill.
The bank bought Merrill Lynch in the days after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008, by which it time had emerged that Merrill had booked £13bn of losses on investments that turned toxic during the UK credit crunch.
US Facing Fresh Financial Shock to Economy
By: Robin Harding Washington, FT via CNBC.com
The $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts that Barack Obama once promised to avert are looking increasingly likely to occur because of entrenched politics in Washington, threatening a shock to confidence in the US economy.
Economists have long assumed that the so-called sequester - a budgetary mechanism passed in 2011 that takes effect on March 1 and slashes the Pentagon's budget by $600bn over 10 years while cutting discretionary spending for government programmes by another $600bn - would be replaced or reversed by Congress.
Bank of America issues `bond crash'
alert on Fed tightening fears The return of confidence and healthy growth in the US risks setting off a "bond crash" comparable to 1994 and triggering a string of upsets across the world, Bank of America has warned.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The US lender said investors face a treacherous moment as central banks start fretting about inflation and shift gears, threatening a surge in bond yields.
This happened in 1994 under Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan when yields on US 30-year Treasuries jumped 240 basis points over a nine-month span, setting off a "savage reversal of fortune in leveraged areas of fixed income markets".
Is America In Decline May Be Wrong Question
By Robert Samuelson - RealCleaMarkets.com
The American Century is dead. Long live the next American Century.
The subtext of political debate these days is that the United States is in decline - a proposition often portrayed as self-evident. The economy lacks dynamism; unemployment near 8 percent remains at recession levels. The president and his Republican critics barely talk to each other; stalemate seems unending. But what if America isn't in decline? A powerful rebuttal comes from an unlikely place: Wall Street.
Krauthammer: We have 'a Statue of Liberty —
it's not a Statue of Equality'
By Jeff Poor - DailyCaller.com
Over the weekend, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer spoke at the National Review Institute Summit in Washington, D.C. During a question-and-answer session, he was asked if he thought President Barack Obama would attempt to hand-pick his successor in order to help guide the country down a path to "socialism."
Krauthammer began his response by advising against using that term.
"I would just caution you about using the word, 'socialism,'" Krauthammer said. "The reason is it is too broad a term. It encompasses all kinds of socialism, including the nasty totalitarian examples — the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, Cuba, Korea."
Santelli And Biderman Slam The Market's Four Faltering Fallacies
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
There are numerous myths flying around the screens we all remain glued to - from inflows suddenly becoming correlated with equity market performance to a 'real recovery' in housing. TrimTabs CEO Charles Biderman paid a brief but fact-full visit to CNBC's Rick Santelli and the two somewhat skeptical gentlemen expounded on four of the critical fallacies supporting hope in our markets currently. First, the last timeinflows were this big we saw dramatic reversals in stocks; and coincidentally, secondly, we also sawcompanies buying back less stock (in fact we saw float rising at those periods) and sure enough that is what Biderman notes is happening in January too. Third, current 'economic' euphoria appears due to thedrag forward of incomes into Q4 2012 due to tax concerns (which is being spent/saved now) - however that means Q1 2013 and on will be negatively impacted (even if we see a decent print in Q4 GDP) as that pull-forward reverts; and finally, fourth, interest rates are rising and simultaneously refinances have plunged - hurting the 'housing recovery' meme which has been the driver of a lot of euphoria (be careful what you wish for). It appears facts, once again, get in the way of a good story.
Hyperinflation FAQ
By Vincent Cate - SeekingAlpha.com
It is difficult to say exactly when hyperinflation will hit a currency. However, I am convinced that the danger level is so high for most fiat money that it is worthwhile for everyone to increase their understanding of hyperinflation. This is the first part of a Hyperinflation FAQ for frequently asked questions or objections about hyperinflation. The statements or questions below are in bold and my responses follow.
How is hyperinflation defined?
The International Accounting Standard of IAS 29 says there is hyperinflation when "the cumulative inflation rate over three years approaches, or exceeds, 100%."This works out to 26% per year. There are many other definitions for hyperinflation but they almost all have something like "inflation over X per year" or "inflation over Y per month". People pick some level of price inflation as the cutoff between regular inflation and hyperinflation. It is just the values for X or Y that differ. Note that hyperinflation is not defined in terms of the money supply alone, since the velocity of money and GNP are also key factors in the price level during hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is a process, apositive feedback loop, that once entered is very hard to get out of. This process can go on for years.
EXCLUSIVE - RAND PAUL:
OBAMA WOULD PREFER 'A DIFFERENT TYPE OF CONSTITUTION'
Senator Rand Paul to Breitbart News's Ben Shapiro: "I think the President understands the Constitution enough to know that he would prefer a different type of constitution. [Supreme Court Justice] Ginsberg said she admired the South African Constitution. So, I think that's more of where the President is coming from. They would rather have positive rights, enumerated, that everyone has the right to water, housing, haircuts, you name it."
California Defeats Lawsuit Against Cap-and-Trade Program
By Karen Gullo & Lynn Doan - Bloomberg.com
California environmental regulators running the nation's first economy-wide carbon cap-and-trade program defeated a lawsuit that claims the system contains a loophole so companies can avoid reducing carbon emissions.
State court Judge Ernest Goldsmith in San Francisco rejected claims by two environmental groups challenging the way the program allows polluters to buy greenhouse gas emission credits from entities that aren't part of the program.
Chart Of The Day: Is The ECB Responsible
For The Second Coming Of BitCoin?
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
That precious metals are not the best friends of central banks, whose sole provenance is in creating, and lately massively diluting, faith-based fiat currency is no secret, especially not after the recent snafu involving the Bundesbank and its shocking gold repatriation announcement which came in direct refutation of its public statements just 2 months earlier about faith in the NY Fed this, and bashing of a "phantom debate" on the safety of gold reserves that. Yet it was not gold gold, silver or even tungsten that was the object of derision in an amusing paper released by the ECB in early November titled "Virtual Currency Schemes", which we profiled at the time, but rather the decentralized electronic currency BitCoin, which was supposed to highlight what, in the eyes of the Draghi-led Frankfurt institutions, is nothing but a Ponzi scheme.
Labor Minister Says France Is "Totally Bankrupt"
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Things in France must not be very serious, because the French labor minister accidentally let the truth come out a little earlier today. As the Telegraph reports, France's labour minister sent the country into a state of shock on Monday after he described the nation as "totally bankrupt."
Remember: France is one of the supposedly stable countries in Europe.
"Michel Sapin made the gaffe in a radio interview, which left French President Francois Hollande battling to undo the potential reputational damage. "There is a state but it is a totally bankrupt state," Mr Sapin said. "That is why we had to put a deficit reduction plan in place, and nothing should make us turn away from that objective." It appears that once one wipes out the propaganda and the smooth politico talk, things are bad and getting worse at Europe's core. "Data from Banque de France showed earlier this month that a flight of capital has already left the country amid concerns that France's Socialist leader intends to soak the rich and businesses. The actor Gérard Depardieu has renounced his French citizenship and decamped to Russia in protest, while David Cameron said Britain will "roll out the red carpet" to attract wealthy individuals. Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, said the comments by Mr Sapin were "inappropriate"."
Dimon in Davos Won't Worry About Whales
By William D. Cohan - Blooomberg.com
If you are a Wall Street honcho and you decided not to cancel your trip to Davos, Switzerland, this year, you must be feeling pretty good about things.
Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), was at theWorld Economic Forum for the first time since 2008, newly bearded and fresh from a year in which the firm made $7.5 billion in net income and regained its swagger as the potentate of Wall Street. Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America Corp., was back and could hold his head a bit higher: BofA's stock was up close to 60 percent in a year as Moynihan has slowly begun to put behind him the bank's errors leading up to and during the financial crisis.
Who wants to be a 'death panelist'? Welcome to Health Reform Watch, Sarah Kliff's regular look at how the Affordable Care Act is changing the American health-care system — and being changed by it.
by Sarah Kliff - WashingtonPost.com
Jonathan Gruber was one of the Obama administration's key advisers during the health-care reform debate. As the economist who conceived the ideas at the heart of the Massachusetts health-care law, he is arguably the intellectual godfather of the Affordable Care Act.
All of which would make him a natural fit for the Independent Payment Advisory Board, the new, 15-member panel that has the authority to reduce Medicare doctors' reimbursements and pilot new ways to deliver high quality care for less. There's just one tiny problem: Gruber has absolutely no interest in serving on the panel. "No way," he says without pause. "Maybe if it was a part-time gig. But full time? I can't see it."
Don't Have Health Insurance?
Start Your Own Insurance Company! How Sara Horowitz created affordable health care benefits for freelancers.
By Seth Stevenson - Slate.com
Sara Horowitz was born into a proud union family. Her father worked as a labor lawyer, her grandfather as a vice president of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. So it felt like kismet when, on the first day of a new law firm job, Horowitz discovered that she and several other recent hires had been classified as independent contractors. "We weren't given retirement or health insurance benefits. We called ourselves 'the transient workers union,' and I was made president. We joked about it, but for me it was a significant aha! moment. I started realizing there was this whole new way that workers were being treated."
Louisiana forces milk prices higher State regulators crack down
on grocery chain for selling cheap milk
By Michael Bastasch - DailyCaller.com
Louisiana state regulators recently cracked down on a supermarket chain's weekly promotional deal because it was selling milk too cheaply — which violates state law.
The upscale Fresh Market was selling gallons of milk for $2.99 as part of a weekly promotional deal. Louisiana requires that retailer price markups be at least six percent above the invoice and shipping costs of the product.
Boy Scouts may allow local troops to set policy on gays
By Cheryl Wetzstein-The Washington Times
Gay-rights groups were elated Monday after the Boy Scouts of America announced that it was considering dropping its long-standing national policy of disallowing open homosexuals from participating in its activities, but traditional-family groups were quick to condemn the shift.
If adopted next week, the change would permit local BSA organizations to decide "how to address this issue" at their level.
Fannie Adds Bailout For Underwater Walkaways: Mortgages
By Kathleen M. Howley
Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac will let some borrowers who kept up payments as their homes lost value erase their debts by giving up the properties, helping Americans escape underwater loans while adding to losses at the mortgage giants bailed out with $190 billion of taxpayer money.
Non-delinquent borrowers with illness, job changes or other reasons they need to move will become eligible in March to apply for a so-called deed-in-lieu transaction that erases the shortfall between a property's value and the size of its mortgage. It follows a change in November that lets on-time borrowers sell properties for less than they owe, known as short sales, wiping out the remaining mortgage debt. Normally, the lenders could pursue people to recoup their losses.
Pending Home Sales Fall Due to Dwindling Supply
By: Diana Olick - CNBC.com
Signed contracts to buy existing homes fell 4.3 percent in December from the previous month, according to a monthly index from the National Association of Realtors. That missed analysts' expectations of a one percent gain. The index is 6.9 percent higher than December of 2011. Realtors say it is not lack of demand but supply at the end of 2012 that pushed the numbers down.
"Buyer interest remains solid, as evidenced by a separate Realtor survey which shows that buyer foot traffic is easily outpacing seller traffic," wrote Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR in a release.
U.S. to Bury its 70,000 Tonnes of Nuclear Waste
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
Oak Ridge National Laboratory has released a recent study which has determined that if and when the US ever decides to actually pursue the technology to recycle nuclear waste, it will take 20 years to develop. Based on this knowledge they have suggested that the current stockpile of spent nuclear fuel should be buried without any thought as to its retrieval in the future.
Officials from Oak Ridge involved in the report said that, "based on the technical assessment, about 68,450 metric tons or about 98 percent of the total current inventory by mass, can proceed to permanent disposal without the need to ensure retrievability for reuse or research purposes." The remaining two percent will be used for research into recycling and storage technologies.
22 Signs That Barack Obama Is Transforming America
Into A Larger Version Of North Korea
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
If there is one country in the world that you would not want to live in, it would be North Korea. Unfortunately, the United States of America is becoming more like North Korea with each passing day. North Korea is a totalitarian police state hellhole where the state rules supreme, the "leader" is lavishly worshipped, no dissent is tolerated, and the government micromanages everything. America is supposed to be the opposite of that, but now Barack Obama is implementing his version of "change" and he has promised to engage in the "remaking" of this nation and to transform it "brick by brick". A tremendous "cult of personality" has been built up around Obama, and under his leadership the U.S. government has become larger and more repressive than ever before. But do we really want to "change" America so that it more closely resembles totalitarian regimes such as North Korea, communist China, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany? After all, all of those regimes have a nightmarish history of brutality and death. Even today, there are starving North Koreans that are eating their own children. Is that really where we want to end up as a nation?
Gun background checks surged in last 6 weeks
By Emily Jane Fox - CNN.com
Gun sales soared at the end of last year, and the trend has continued into 2013.
Since 1998, eight of the 10 highest days for gun background checks have taken place since the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, according to the FBI.
Background checks are the most reliable way to track the number of gun sales, and data from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System show that over the last 6 weeks, these checks have reached their highest levels in fifteen years.
Gun Control: A Failed American Experiment
By Timothy Birdnow - AmericanThinker.com
The United States has had gun control from its founding. And the results have been dreadful.
Constitutional attorney Edwin Viera Jr.points out that:
Georgia's Slavery Act of 1765, for example, explained itself on the rather blatant theory of legalistic oppression that
"Slavery has been introduced and allowed in His Majesty's Colonies in America and * * * Power over such Slaves ought to be settled and limited by positive Laws, so that the Slaves may be kept in due Subjection and Obedience * * * [.][5]"
Police Chief: Within A Generation,
Guns Will Be Taken Off The Streets
By Gregory Gwyn-Williams, Jr. - CNSNews.com
San Diego Police Chief, William Lansdowne said in an interview that the implementation of new gun laws will take guns off the streets of America within a generation.
According to San Diego 6, Lansdowne said that it may take a generation but guns will eventually be taken off the streets through new laws like Senator Dianne Feinstein's proposed assault weapons ban:
Lew Rockwell: Obama Has Gone Too Far
Alex welcomes Ron Paul's former congressional chief of staff and constitutional lawyer Lew Rockwell to give his take on the ensuing all out frontal assault on personal sovereignty.
Who's Faking It? Pentagon "Cyber-Warriors"
Planting "False Information on Facebook"
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich - GlobalResearch.ca
On November 22, 2012, the Los Angeles Times published an alarming piece of news entitled "Cyber Corps program trains spies for the digital age". The "cyber-warriors" who are headed for organizations such as the CIA, NSC, FBI, the Pentagon and so on, are trained to stalk, "rifle through trash, sneak a tracking device on cars and plant false information on Facebook [emphasis added]. They also are taught to write computer viruses, hack digital networks, crack passwords, plant listening devices and mine data from broken cellphones and flash drives."
Not surprisingly, less than a month later, it was rumored that Iran 's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei had started a Facebook page. The style and content of the site ruled out its authenticity, but the State Department was amused. In spite of the potential for alarm, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland jokingly expressed Washington 's curiosity to see how many "likes' Khamenei would receive. This is no joking matter. Any message on this page would be attributed to Khamenei with a potential for dangerous ramifications.
Cyber Corps program trains spies for the digital age At the University of Tulsa school, students learn to write computer viruses, hack digital networks and mine data from broken cellphones. Many graduates head to the CIA or NSA.
By Ken Dilanian, Washington Bureau - LATimes.com
TULSA, Okla. — Jim Thavisay is secretly stalking one of his classmates. And one of them is spying on him.
"I have an idea who it is, but I'm not 100% sure yet," said Thavisay, a 25-year-old former casino blackjack dealer.
Stalking is part of the curriculum in the Cyber Corps, an unusual two-year program at the University of Tulsa that teaches students how to spy in cyberspace, the latest frontier in espionage.
Students learn not only how to rifle through trash, sneak a tracking device on cars and plant false information on Facebook. They also are taught to write computer viruses, hack digital networks, crack passwords, plant listening devices and mine data from broken cellphones and flash drives.
Would this air rifle (22 shots in 30 seconds)
be considered a semi-automatic today? Girandoni air rifle as used by Lewis and Clark. A National Firearms Museum Treasure Gun.
Lewis and Clark's secret weapon - a late 18th Century .46 cal. 20 shot repeating air rifle by Girandoni , as used bin the Napoleonic Wars. A Treasure Gun from the NRA National Firearms Museum.
Drones: 13 things you need to know
from Congress's new report A new Congressional report lays out in vivid detail the danger drones could pose for personal privacy. Here's everything you need to know.
DigitalTrends.com
Starting in 2015, the skies above the United States will become infiltrated by a rare creature: drones. Also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones are currently forbidden from flying in U.S. airspace above 400 feet, unless the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides a license. But thanks to a bill passed by Congress early this year to make these licenses easier to get, drones will likely become a part of everyday life for Americans.
Fighting Climate Change Could Come at a High Price
By: Mark Koba, Senior Editor - CNBC.com
President Barack Obama is making climate change a key issue in his second term, but the cost of cutting the nation's carbon footprint is likely to place a heavy burden on average Americans—and the U.S. economy.
Trying to be energy efficient and cutting greenhouse gases might slow the growth of the U.S. gross domestic product anywhere from two to four percentage points each year over the next 10 years due to potential job losses, manufacturing slowdowns and switching energy sources, according to research from the Stern Review on the Economics of Social Change.
Chernobyl's Role in the Fall of the Soviet Union
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
The Soviet Union was destroyed by a nuclear explosion, an idea that is supported by non-other than Mikhail Gorbachev himself, the architect of its dismantling.
On the 26th of April 1986, poorly trained technicians decided to undertake a systems test of reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A surplus of energy surged into the reactor which exploded, instantly killing workers in the immediate vicinity and exposing others at the plant to deadly levels of radiation.
Huge New Slick at Site of BP's 2010 Gulf Oil Spill The oil is still there, 33 months after the explosion.
GlobalResearch.ca
In Louisiana, we are blessed to have a one-woman environmental protection agency by the name of Bonny Schumaker. A retired NASA physicist and pilot, Schumaker has found a way to merge her love of all creatures and her passion for flying to create an amazing operation called On Wings Of Care. She flies animal rescue missions but since 2010 has also devoted a lot of her energy toward helping her fellow citizens learn the truth about the aftermath of BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster.
When the authorities wanted to restrict the public's access to the site of the massive spill, Schumaker and her flights have documented both the scope of the spill and the extent of damage to marine life — and she hasn't let up. In August 2011 and again in October 2012, her photographic evidence has forced BP, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other agencies to acknowledge and to investigate new sightings of fresh oil sheens near where BP's rig blew up and sank. We're still not satisfied with BP's response to the problem, and we're concerned that the oil may actually be coming from fissures under the sea.
20130127- OWOC Flyover of Gulf of Mexico Macondo & vicinity
20130127- Sunday afternoon, On Wings Of Care flyover of the Gulf of Mexico Macondo area -- scene of the 2010 April BP disaster and recent sheen sightings since September 2012. Compared to the sheen we documented last Sunday, Jan 20, today the surface slicks in this area were over 7 nautical miles long! This is no small slick anymore.
See the full article with photos here:
Here Come The Drones,
Or The True Reason For The Mali Incursion
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Given our recent discussion (here and here) of the rising importance of Africa in the world's power and money echelons, it is not entirely surprising that the NY Times reports that US military command in Africa is actively preparing to establish a drone base in northwest Africa to increase "unarmed surveillance missions on the local affiliate of Al Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups" that American and other Western officials say pose a growing menace to the region. It would appear Niger will be the most likely place for the base - from which officials envision flying only unarmed surveillance drones though, of course, they have not ruled out conducting missile strikes at some point if the threat worsens. "This is directly related to the Mali mission, but it could also give Africom a more enduring presence for I.S.R.," one American military official said Sunday, referring to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Perhaps, actually scratch the "perhaps", what is really happening is the US now has a drone base with which to supervise Chinese expansion in Northweast Africa, anda drone fleet to use defensively and offensively as it sees fit.
Google releases detailed map of North Korea, gulags and all
by Chico Harlan - WashingtonPost.com
Until Tuesday, North Korea appeared on Google Maps as a near-total white space — no roads, no train lines, no parks and no restaurants. The only thing labeled was the capital city, Pyongyang.
This all changed when Google, on Tuesday, rolled out a detailed map of one of the world's most secretive states. The new map labels everything from Pyongyang's subway stops to the country's several city-sized gulags, as well as its golf courses, hotels, hospitals and department stores.
CONFIRMED? MASSIVE EXPLOSION AT IRAN NUCLEAR FACILITY
by JOEL B. POLLAK - Breitbart.com
A report of a massive explosion at Iran's Fordo nuclear facility, first published by World Net Daily last week and based on an Iranian source, has apparently been confirmed by Israeli officials speaking to the London Times.
World Net Daily's Reza Khalili reported on Jan. 24 that a massive act of sabotage had taken place at Fordo:
An explosion deep within Iran's Fordow nuclear facility has destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground, according to a former intelligence officer of the Islamic regime.
China to introduce gold exchange-traded funds
China News.Net
China's securities regulator has published provisional rules for the operation of gold exchange-traded funds (ETF), paving the way for introducing such business into the country's financial market.
There is no specific timetable yet for the listing of gold ETFs, or mutual funds traded on stock exchanges that track the price of gold and have most of their assets invested in gold, according to an official from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
China's Yi Warns on Currency Wars
as Yuan Close to 'Equilibrium'
By Jeff Black & Zoe Schneeweis - Bloomberg.com
China's foreign-exchange regulator urged Group of 20 nations to improve collaboration to avoid any so-called currency wars while signaling he's comfortable with the value of the yuan.
On a global level, there needs to be "better communication and coordination" on foreign exchange among the G-20, Yi Gang, who is also a deputy governor of China's central bank, said in an interview at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 26. "Right now, it is pretty much close to the equilibrium level," he said, referring to the Chinese currency's exchange rate.
Jim Sinclair About Gold: Do Nothing To Confuse The Shorts
GoldSilverWorlds.com
When Jim Sinclair (JSMineset) talks you better listen carefully. He is one of the most experienced investors in the gold industry. He has made a fortune with gold trading in the 70′s and is now running a royalty based gold company in Africa.
In a two part series to his subscribers he explains his prospects for gold. More importantly he advices what every "gold investor" should do and explains the current market dynamics. Hence he puts the recent sudden price take downs and the 1.5 year consolidation into perspective.
Jim Sinclair confirms once again that the gold price fundamentals and ongoing currency wars underwrite a recovery in the gold price. We can expect a move to new highs soon. The core of his message is the following:
My guess is that 2013 and 2014 are going to be big up year for the precious metals, but we still have to contend with the central planners and the various government policies, which have been actively trying to keep the gold and silver prices from reaching fair value. The central planners are losing the war. They may win an occasional battle or two, but they're losing the war, and eventually gold and silver are going to go higher.
So predicts James Turk, founder and Chairman of GoldMoney.com.
From James' perspective, gold is not an investment. It's a sterile asset, meaning it does not generate income. What it is, is money. Its function is to store wealth.
If China likes silver, maybe we should too
By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch.com
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Silver's drawing more and more attention as an investment these days, especially from China.
That appetite has made silver bulls giddy and lifted prices closer to a record.
"Investment demand, not industrial demand, is what drives silver prices right now," said Mark Thomas, author of email-alert service provider SilverPriceAdvisor.com. "World investment demand is starting to really pick up."
Why can't Germany get its gold back?!
Interview with David Morgan
David Morgan from The Silver Report chats with Cambridge House Live anchor Bridgitte Anderson about silver, gold and the global economy. Taped at Cambridge House International's Vancouver Resource Investment Conference in January 2013.
There will be long-term demand for commodities
Casey Research's Chief Metals & Mining Investment Strategist Louis James chats with Cambridge House Live anchor about a myriad of issues pertaining to economics and mining. Taped in January 2013 at Cambridge House International's Vancouver Resource Investment Conference.
Fed Pushes Into 'Uncharted Territory' With Record Assets
By Joshua Zumbrun & Jeff Kearns - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's unprecedented bond buying pushed the Fed's balance sheet to a record $3 trillion as he shows no sign of softening his effort to bring down 7.8 percent unemployment.
The Fed is purchasing $85 billion of securities every month, using the full force of its balance sheet to stoke the economic recovery. The central bank began $40 billion in monthly purchases of mortgage-backed securities in September and added $45 billion in Treasury securities to that pace this month.
Peter Schiff: Coming debt crisis
will make 2008 look like a Sunday school picnic
A best-selling author and one of the world's most in-demand financial pundits, Peter Schiff is interviewed by Cambridge House Live anchor Bridgitte Anderson about the U.S. debt situation, potential collapse of U.S. dollar and his prediction of $5000 gold. Taped at Cambridge House International's Vancouver Resource Investment Conference in January 2013.
America's major problem is unlimited spending
Commentary: A rational, national debate is in order
By Diana Furchtgott-Roth - MarketWatch.com
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — I felt better about Uncle Sam's fiscal situation when I read Rex Nutting's report that "spending is already coming down." But then I checked the numbers and it was déjà vu all over again. America's budget problems are as real as ever.Read Nutting's column: "It's time to stop whining about spending cuts."
What's worse, President Obama in his inaugural address appeared oblivious to fiscal problems. He listed new spending programs, but no cuts. Yet America's major problem is unlimited spending and a Congress that sees no need to trim federal outlays.
The Failing Pretense of Growth
By Wolf Richter - ZeroHedge.com
Hasbro, the second largest toymaker in the US behind Mattel, confessed that it would miss fourth-quarter revenue estimates. Christmas wasn't kind. Despite "double digit growth in our emerging markets business," as CEO Brian Goldner said, revenues fell by 2% for 2012 and by 3.8% for the quarter. But 4% inflation, preferably more, would have covered up that debacle.
The consequences are brutal. There will be a pile of restructuring charges, and 10% of the people will be axed—a collective punishment that the Romans used to dish out to lackadaisical legionnaires. They called it "decimation" (Latin for "removal of the tenth"). One in ten soldiers, determined by drawing lots, would be stoned or clubbed to death by his buddies. It did wonders for morale, and the whole empire collapsed.
The Debt Tax for Americans Grows Ever Larger
By Evan Feinberg - The Hill
The Fiscal Cliff debate ultimately came down to a narrow choice between two options: tax increases or massive tax increases. Given the size of government spending, however, both of these options always assumed a third: government continuing to take out more loans that will have to be repaid by taxing future generations.
Make no mistake, that's why the American people are being asked to once again take on more debt by increasing Congress' borrowing authority. Politicians have maxed out their credit card of $16.4 trillion, and the recently agreed to tax hikes do little to nothing to prevent the sea of red ink drowning our government.
Preparing for a Perfect Storm Stagnation in the developed world, uncertainty in China, and political instability in the Middle East could make for a rough 2013.
By Nouriel Roubini - Slate.com
The global economy this year will exhibit some similarities with the conditions that prevailed in 2012. No surprise there: We face another year in which global growth will average about 3 percent, but with a multispeed recovery—a subpar, below-trend annual rate of 1 percent in the advanced economies, and close-to-trend rates of 5 percent in emerging markets. But there will be some important differences as well.
Painful deleveraging—less spending and more saving to reduce debt and leverage—remains ongoing in most advanced economies, which implies slow economic growth. But fiscal austerity will envelop most advanced economies this year, rather than just the Eurozone periphery and the United Kingdom. Indeed, austerity is spreading to the core of the Eurozone, the United States, and other advanced economies (with the exception of Japan). Given synchronized fiscal retrenchment in most advanced economies, another year of mediocre growth could give way to outright contraction in some countries.
'Dr. Doom's' risks for the global economy
Nouriel Roubini says instability in the Middle East, geopolitical disputes in Asia, and fiscal drags in Europe and the U.S. are still major risks.
George Soros: U.S. needs more stimulus
George Soros says that Washington needs to spend more on projects that could pay for themselves like infrastructure and education.
How Iceland Overthrew The Banks:
The Only 3 Minutes Of Any Worth From Davos
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
"Why do we consider banks to be like holy churches?" is the rhetorical question that Iceland's President Olafur Ragnar Grimson asks (and answers) in this truly epic three minutes of truthiness from the farce that is the World Economic Forum in Davos. Amid a week of back-slapping and self-congratulatory party-outdoing, as John Aziz notes, the Icelandic President explains why his nation is growing strongly, why unemployment is negligible, and how they moved from the world's poster-child for banking crisis 5 years ago to a thriving nation once again. Simply put, he says, "we didn't follow the prevailing orthodoxies of the last 30 years in the Western world." There are lessons here for everyone - as Grimson explains the process of creative destruction that remains much needed in Western economies - though we suspect his holographic pass for next year's Swiss fun will be reneged…
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson Iceland president
'Let banks go bankrupt'
Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson tells Al Jazeera's Stephen Cole that Europe should let banks that are ran "irresponsibly" go bankrupt.
Speaking at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Grimsson also held his country as a model of economic recovery after its near-collapse four years ago.
"We didn't follow the traditional prevailing orthodoxies. And the end result four years later is that Iceland is enjoying progress and recovery."
When will the markets turn on the U.S.?
Economist and chairman of UBS Axel Weber says the U.S. 'can kick the can down the road,' but at some point needs to resolve its debt issues.
European cap-and-trade market takes a nose dive
By Michael Bastasch - DailyCaller.com
The European Union's cap-and-trade system took a huge hit on Thursday, with carbon prices plummeting a record 40 percent after a panel rejected a plan to delay emission permit sales to alleviate the overabundance of permits already in the system.
"The market is panicking, really," Daniel Rossetto, managing director of Climate Mundial, told Bloomberg, adding that traders fear that Europe's carbon emissions market won't continue past 2020.
Austerity forcing Europe recession - Soros
Billionaire George Soros says Europe 'remains in a trap' with France being vulnerable due to the lack of reforms they've made.
Financial Reform's Unfulfilled Promises
By Wallace Turbeville - PolicyShop.com
The General Accounting Office has issued a report on the progress of the regulatory agencies as they implement the Dodd-Frank Act financial reforms. It is a depressing read. Fewer than half of the 236 rules required by the act have been adopted. There are not even proposed rules that the public can read and comment on for almost a quarter of the required rulemakings. Congress set deadlines for implementation of about two-thirds of the required rules. The regulators missed 89% of those deadlines.
Ryan: Bill Clinton would have solved fiscal crisis already
By David Eldridge - The Washington Times
Rep. Paul Ryan thinks President Obama could learn a thing or two from one of his predecessors in the White House, Bill Clinton.
Mr. Ryan, appearing in a wide-ranging interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," said Mr. Clinton would have sat down with Republicans and hammered out a deal on the fiscal crisis facing the country.
Tim Geithner's legacy: an unpopular bailout
that helped save the economy
By Zachary A. Goldfarb - WashingtonPost.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner sat around a conference room table with his advisers as they relayed the concerns of banks protesting President Obama's push for new rules for Wall Street.
Geithner, widely thought to be a friend of the financial industry, did not lend a sympathetic ear.
"F--- the banks," he said, according to people familiar with the episode.
Geithner's Legacy: The "0.2%" Hold $7.8 Trillion,
Or 69% Of All Assets;
And $212 Trillion Of Derivative Liabilities
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
As of this morning Tim Geithner is no longer Treasury Secretary. And while Tim Geithner's reign of clueless pandering to the banks has left the US will absolutely disastrous consequences, an outcome that will become clear in time, the most ruinous of his policies is making the banks which were too big to fail to begin with, so big they can neither fail nor be sued, as the recent fiasco surrounding the exit of Assistant attorney general Lanny Breuer showed. Just how big are these banks? Dallas Fed's Disk Fisher explains.
Rep. Paul Ryan says he thinks 'sequester is going to happen'
By Jonathan Easley - TheHill.com
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) predicted Sunday that "the sequester is going to happen," and blamed Democrats for not producing an alternative set of spending reductions to circumvent the across-the-board cuts.
"We think these sequesters will happen because the Democrats have opposed our efforts to replace those cuts with others and they've offered no alternative," Ryan said on NBC's Meet the Press.
Republicans think the sequester gives them leverage.
They're wrong.
by Ezra Klein - WashingtonPost.com
Now that Republicans have delayed the debt ceiling for three months, their next point of attack, they say, are the deep spending cuts in the so-called "sequester." House Speaker John Boehner told the Wall Street Journal editorial board that the sequester is "as much leverage as we're going to get." He meant that to sound reassuring to conservatives. But I can't figure out why they're reassured.
The problem with the GOP's plan to use the sequester as leverage is evident as soon as you stop using the vague term "sequester" and instead call the policy what it is: A bunch of very dumb — but extremely Democrat-friendly — spending cuts.
House Republicans Are the Real Reason
Entitlements Can't Be Cut
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
One of the developments of the past few years that's so peculiar that few people have really gotten their heads around it is the way in which conservative members of the House of Representatives have emerged as the key institutional roadblock to large cuts in American social insurance programs.
Fed waits for job market to perk up
By Alan Wheatley, Global Economics Correspondent
LONDON | Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:05pm EST
(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's ultra-loose monetary policy is a root cause of the "currency wars" that some see as a looming threat to the worldeconomy, but don't expect the U.S. central bank to signal a shift back to normal any time soon.
The Fed, whose policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee concludes a two-day meeting on Wednesday, said just last month that it expects to keep short-term interest rates exceptionally low until the U.S. unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent, inflation permitting.
SHILLER: All This Housing Optimism Is Way Too Premature
Henry Blodget and Lucas Kawa - BusinessInsider.com
We sat down with Professor Shiller in Davos to get his take on the future of the housing market.
* * * Henry Blodget: Everybody in the U.S. seems convinced that the housing market is going to come roaring back, it's going to save the economy, house prices are going to rise, houses are a great investment again. Are they right? Professor Shiller: First of all, I challenge your statement a little bit. The Pulsenomics survey of experts – they had 105 experts in their December survey – and not one of them predicted a return to the boom that we had. The most optimistic had a real return for the next 4–5 years of something like 6 percent
US to go into recession: Danielle Park
Danielle Park, the author of "Juggling Dynamite" chats with Cambridge House Live anchor Bridgitte Anderson about global economics and the junior mining sector. Taped at Cambridge House International's Vancouver Resource Investment Conference in January 2013.
Lessons Conservatives Need to Learn Obama is a formidable foe.
He means to change the country and crush the GOP.
By Peggy Noonan - PatriotPost.us
Two lessons on how conservatives and Republicans might approach the future, and a look at the meaning of Barack Obama.
Lesson one: Golf star Phil Mickelson this week complained about taxes -- "I happen to be in that zone that has been targeted both federally and by the state" -- and suggested he may leave California. Before anyone could jump down his throat, he abjectly apologized: He didn't mean to hurt anyone, he shouldn't have said it, taxes are a "personal" issue.
Gov. Walker: Conservatism thriving in states
By Seth McLaughlin - The Washington Times
Despite taking their lumps in the November election, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Saturday that Republicans should be "optimistic" about the future because the conservative movement is thriving on the state level.
Mr. Walker told the crowd gathered here for a National Review Institute summit in Washington that Republicans now control the governorships in 30 of the 50 states and nearly half of the state legislatures — putting them in a position to make "bold" moves on tax, entitlement and education policy.
Recipe for Conservative Revival
By George Will - PatriotPost.us
WASHINGTON -- Happy days are not here again, but they are coming for conservatives. Barack Obama -- with the lowest approval rating (according to Gallup, 50 percent, four points lower than that of the National Rifle Association) of any re-elected president when inaugurated since the Second World War -- has a contradictory agenda certain to stimulate a conservative revival.
Consider his vow to expend political capital on climate change. The absurdity of the Kyoto approach -- global climate treaties agreed to by 190 nations -- is now obvious even to most former enthusiasts. Obama can propose cutting U.S. fossil fuel emissions (just 16 percent of the global total) with a carbon tax or cap-and-trade scheme, but Congress will pass neither. So he will be reduced to administrative gestures costly to job growth, and government spending -- often crony capitalism -- for green energy incommensurate with his rhetoric.
Social Security's disability trust fund
could fail to cover all benefits early as 2016
By Jim Angle - foxnews.com
As President Obama faces pressure on the left to defend federal entitlement programs from the benefit cuts that the Republicans say are necessary to keep the programs solvent decades down the road, one part of Social Security could fall short of paying out full benefits within a few years -- even while Obama is still president.
Over the long term, Social Security and Medicare have promised tens of trillions of dollars more in benefits than the nation can pay for under current policies. But Social Security's disability trust fund is in even worse shape, and current estimates say by 2016 it won't have enough money to pay full benefits.
Tennessee lawmaker's bill
would cut welfare benefits if children fail in school
By Eric Owens - DailCaller.com
A Tennessee state senator has introduced legislation that would reduce welfare benefits for parents if their children fail to make "satisfactory academic progress" in school, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Knoxville Republican Stacey Campfield says his proposed law — SB132 — is a step toward "breaking the cycle of poverty" because it would motivate parents on the dole to become more involved in helping their children learn.
Get ready for health-care reform changes New insurance rules will soon change costs, coverage
By Elizabeth O'Brien - MarketWatch.com
Not entirely sure what's in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act? You're hardly alone. Only the most die-hard of policy wonks could claim mastery of the sprawling health-care legislation, which was written by five different congressional committees and runs to nearly 1,000 pages.
For the rest of us, now is a good time for a refresher, because the next 12 months will bring significant changes, particularly for small-business owners, the currently uninsured and self-employed people with pre-existing conditions—a group that includes more baby boomers than younger workers.
ACLU takes on the DEA
for seeking prescription records without a warrant
By Eric W. Dolan - RawStory.com
The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking to block the Drug Enforcement Administration from obtaining prescription records without a warrant in Oregon.
The state of Oregon filed suit against the DEA last year after the agency sought to access the Oregon Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), a database of prescription records for certain drugs. The ACLU and its Oregon affiliate hope to join the lawsuit on behalf of patients and doctors.
Eric Cantor: Spending is 'the problem'
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says he hopes Congress can work together to cut massive government spending due to health care costs.
Driving Older Americans Into Debt How Out-of-Pocket Medical Costs
Drive Even Insured Older Americans Into Debt
By David Callahan - PolicyShop.com
One obvious way to reduce the deficit is to squeeze Medicare recipients by forcing them to pick up more of the tab for their healthcare costs. And any number of proposals floating around in Washington would do exactly that.
The problem, though, is that older Americans covered by Medicare are already spending a lot on healthcare -- and there's growing evidence that these costs are driving them into debt or poverty.
10 states have banned the surcharge... Credit Card Surcharges Could Begin Today
By Rich Smith - Fool.com
Today, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, is a day that may live in infamy. Or it may not. Really, it all depends on how retailers decide to play things.
Last year, as you may recall, MasterCard and Visa settled a long-running legal battle against a group of retailers who had been complaining about alleged "swipe-fee" price-fixing by the card giants. Along with the banks that issue their branded cards, the defendants agreed to pay merchants more than $7.2 billion to settle the dispute.
…. 10 states -- California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas -- have banned imposition of the surcharge.
Postage Rate Increase Info on the 2013 USPS Postage Rate Increases
Stamps.com
On January 27, 2013 the U.S. Postal Service® will implement a postage rate increase for all mail classes including First Class Mail®, Priority Mail and Express Mail along with many special services.
Summary of the 2013 USPS postage rate increase:
The U.S. Has An Even Larger Gap
Between The Rich And The Poor Than Downton Abbey Does
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
There are two very different Americas today. In one, the stock market is soaring, high end homes are selling briskly, big banks and hedge funds are rolling in money as if the last financial crisis never even happened, and life is really, really good. In the other America, good jobs are incredibly scarce, incomes are declining, and poverty is skyrocketing to levels that we have never seen before. The gap between the wealthy and the poor in America is getting wider with each passing day. In fact, it is my contention that the U.S. has an even larger gap between the rich and the poor than Downton Abbey does. If you have never seen Downton Abbey, you really should. It is one of the most extraordinary shows to appear on television in years. It is a drama set in the UK which follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants throughout the early part of the 20th Century. It can be a bit jarring to watch servants wait on their masters hand and foot and refer to them by such titles as "Lord" and "Lady", but the truth is that in many ways there is more inequality today than there was back then. As far as people living in the worst areas of cities such as Detroit and Cleveland are concerned, the socialites that live on Fifth Avenue in New York City or in multi-million dollar homes out in the Hamptons might as well be from another planet. If you have lots of money, America is still a really great place to live. If you barely have any money, America can be really cold and cruel. Sadly, our politicians continue to pursue policies that make things even better for those working for the establishment in places such as Washington D.C. and Manhattan, and worse for all the rest of us.
Obama's Declaration of Collectivism
By Lawrence Kudlow - PatriotPost.us
One of the least remarked upon aspects of President Obama's inaugural speech was his attempt to co-opt the Founding Fathers' Declaration of Independence to bolster his liberal-left agenda.
Sure, the president quoted one of the most important sentences in world history: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
* * * * *
Chinese want America's assets for their debt…
Gov's goal to bankrupt America and Americans... Obama's Soviet Style Plan to Destroy America Revealed
On today's worldwide broadcast, Alex talks with author and journalist Jerome Corsi in-studio. Alex and Mr. Corsi will talk about Obama's second term agenda and Dr. Jim Garrow's claim that Obama is using a "litmus test" to determine who in the military will fire on U.S. citizens. Corsi is the author of numerous books including, America for Sale: Fighting the New World Order, Surviving a Global Depression, and Preserving USA Sovereignty and Where's the Birth Certificate?: The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President.
The Obama administration is quietly allowing China to acquire major ownership interests in oil and natural gas resources across the U.S….
Fed increase surveillance of Google users by 33 percent in 2012
By Josh Peterson - DailyCaller.com
Federal government requests for Google user data continue to rise year by year, and 2012 was no different, according to Google's newly released biannual Transparency Report.
Government requests for Google user data have risen 70 percent since 2009, and the U.S. government has led the way each year. 40 percent of user data requests came from the U.S. government in 2012.
Anonymous Hacks Department Of Justice,
Threatens To Release Secret DOJ Information,
Warns "There Will Be Chaos"
By Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Nearly two years ago, the hacktivist group Anonymous made waves around the fringes of financial media by announcing "Operation Empire State Rebelion" whose goal was to "engage in a relentless campaign of non-violent, peaceful, civil disobedience until Ben Bernanke steps down and the Primary Dealers within the Federal Reserve banking system be broken up and held accountable for rigging markets and destroying the global economy effective immediately." Needless to say nothing came out of it, and OperationESR was promptly forgotten as Anonymous had apparently met its match in the face of the Fed and the Primary Dealers.
Unlocking Your Mobile Phone Is No Longer Legal
BY DAVID KRAVETS - Wired.com
Mobile phones purchased beginning Saturday can no longer be legally unlocked by U.S. consumers to enable them to work on different networks.
The reason, as we reported three months ago, was that the U.S. Copyright Office is no longer granting unlocking an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA makes it illegal to "circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access" to copyrighted material, in this case software embedded in phones that controls carrier access.
AT&T Pays $1.9 Billion to Verizon for More Spectrum
By Paul Ausick - 247WAllSt.com
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) announced this morning that it is acquiring wireless spectrum in the 700 MHz B band from Verizon Wireless for $1.9 billion. The spectrum covers 42 million people in 18 states, according to AT&T's announcement. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone PLC (NASDAQ: VOD).
The sale is related to the deal Verizon made to gain federal government approval for its $3.9 billion purchase of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum from SpectrumCo. SpectrumCo is a joint venture of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), BrightHouse Networks and Cox Communications Inc.
These are really early days for 3-D printing Such devices are still weird and alien to our lives
By John C. Dvorak - MaketWatch.com
BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) — The most interesting technology of the 21st century may be what is called additive manufacturing, better known as 3-D printing. It's fascinated me since I first saw this in mid-1997 and did not know then what to make of it.
Unlike a device that does machining, the 3-D printer is just the opposite. With machining, you take a large block of material and carefully remove pieces (by milling usually) until you get what you want. The 3-D printer uses various liquids and powders and builds up the object from nothing; it literally "prints" the object.
11 Body Parts Defense Researchers Will Use to Track You
BY NOAH SHACHTMAN AND ROBERT BECKHUSEN - Wired.com
Cell phones that can identify you by how you walk. Fingerprint scanners that work from 25 feet away. Radars that pick up your heartbeat from behind concrete walls. Algorithms that can tell identical twins apart. Eyebrows and earlobes that give you away. A new generation of technologies is emerging that can identify you by your physiology. And unlike the old crop of biometric systems, you don't need to be right up close to the scanner in order to be identified. If they work as advertised, they may be able to identify you without you ever knowing you've been spotted.
Biometrics had a boom after 9/11. Gobs of government money poured into face and iris recognition systems; the Pentagon alone spent nearly $3 billion in five years, and the Defense Department was only one of many federal agencies funneling cash in the technologies. Civil libertarians feared the worst as face-spotters were turned on crowds of citizens in the hopes of catching a single crook.
Nature's Capital Is The Limiting Resource
By Paul Craig Roberts
Only in science fiction can humans escape the consequences of destroying their own habitat. In Robert A. Heinlein's Time Enough For Love, the "Great Diaspora of the Human Race" began "more than two millennia ago" and has spread to more than "two thousand colonized planets." The once "lovely green planet" Earth is a slum planet barely able to support life where only the poorest live, Earth's natural capital having been consumed over two thousand years ago. Humans have found the ability to rejuvenate themselves and to live almost endless lives, but they are unable to rejuvenate the planets whose natural capital they devour. Humans have not encountered "one race as mean, as nasty, as deadly as our own." As homo sapiens use up the environments of colonized planets, "human intergalactic colony ships are already headed out into the Endless Deeps," leaving their ruins behind them.
Keiser Report: Plunderers Pumping Pelf (E398)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the American legal system that authorizes plunder, a moral code that glorifies it and a financial system that profits from it. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Professor Steven A. Ramirez, a former Enforcement Attorney at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, about the broken social contract, when that contract got broken and how to mend it.
Obama EPA kills power plant, 3,900 jobs in Texas
By Conn Carroll - WashingtonExaminer.com
Chase Power, the parent company behind the $3 billion Las Brisas coal power plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, announced yesterday that it was cancelling the project.
"Chase Power … has opted to suspend efforts to further permit the facility and is seeking alternative investors as part of a plan of dissolution for the parent company," Chase CEO Dave Freysinger told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
The terrifying mindset of Secretary Clinton
By Joseph Curl - WashingtonTimes.com
Her words are already long gone from the daily flow; in fact, they never really resonated at all, were all but ignored by the mainstream media, and were characterized more as a feisty in-your-face comeback than what they truly were.
And what they truly were was horrifying — but at the same time a deep insight into the Democratic mindset, as well as a peek at what may be coming in 2016.
Leading Democrat: Gun control faces uphill climb
AP Staff Writer - WashingtonExaminer.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who's leading the push to restore an assault weapon ban, acknowledged on Sunday that the effort faces tough odds to pass Congress and she blamed the nation's largest gun-rights group.
Feinstein, D-Calif., on Thursday introduced a bill that would prohibit 157 specific weapons and ammunition magazines that have more than 10 rounds. The White House and fellow Democrats are skeptical the measure is going anywhere, given lawmakers who are looking toward re-election might fear pro-gun voters and the National Rifle Association.
Sen. Feinstein:
Passing gun-control legislation is 'hardest' challenge
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Sunday that she will push her assault-weapons ban as an amendment if it doesn't get into the package that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) allows on the floor.
Reid has said he will allow an open amendment process for gun-control legislation on the Senate floor — which gun-control proponents fear could weaken a final bill — but Feinstein said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that she would also force a vote on renewing the assault-weapons ban.
Is gun ownership Christian?
By Lisa Miller - WashingtonPost.com
According to the startling results of a survey released last week by the Public Religion Research Institute, 57 percent of white evangelicals live in homes where someone owns a gun (compared, for example, with 31 percent of Catholics.) And more startling, even after 20 first-graders were slaughtered in Connecticut at the hands of a madman with an assault rifle, 59 percent of white evangelicals continue to oppose tighter restrictions on gun laws.
An obvious question occurs in light of these results: How do such Christians reconcile their stalwart commitment to the Second Amendment with their belief in a gospel that preaches nonviolence? The Christian Lord allowed himself to be crucified rather than fight the injustice of the death sentence imposed on him. "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also," he says, in the Gospel of Matthew. The Bible is mute on the matter of guns, of course, but it is impossible to imagine that Jesus would find anything good to say about them.
McChrystal: Women will serve in,
improve special-forces units
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal predicted Sunday that women will eventually become part of special operations units like the Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, saying that including female servicemembers could improve the elite groups' operations.
McChrystal, the former U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that he supported the move from the Pentagon this week to lift the ban on women serving in combat.
North Korea's Kim vows 'important state measures'
after new U.N. sanctions
By Ashish Kumar Sen-The Washington Times
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed Sunday to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures" that could include conducting another nuclear test and launching more long-range rockets to retaliate against new U.N. sanctions pushed by the United States.
At a meeting with senior military and Communist Party officials, Mr. Kim "advanced specific tasks to the officials concerned," the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. It didn't say what measures were planned.
North Korea Will Defend Itself Against U.S. Hostility, Kim Says
By Paul Tighe & Saeromi Shin - Bloomberg.com
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to defend his country against hostility from the U.S. after the totalitarian state said last week it will test a nuclear weapon.
Kim supported government statements that "powerful physical countermeasures would be taken to defend" the dignity and sovereignty of the nation, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a report yesterday. Kim expressed the resolution to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures," KCNA said, without elaborating.
North Korea threatens war with South over U.N. sanctions
By Jack Kim
SEOUL | Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:27pm EST
(Reuters) - North Korea threatened to attack rivalSouth Korea if Seoul joined a new round of tightened U.N. sanctions, as Washington unveiled more of its own economic restrictions following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month.
In a third straight day of fiery rhetoric, the North directed its verbal onslaught at its neighbor on Friday, saying: "'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration of war against us."
Egypt's Mursi Declares State of Emergency
Amid Mounting Unrest
By Tarek El-Tablawy & Salma El Wardany - Bloomberg.com
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi declared a state of emergency and curfew in three provinces wracked by days of unrest that have left almost 50 dead, and said he was ready to take additional steps to protect the nation.
In a late-night televised address yesterday, Mursi said attacks on civilians and state installations won't be tolerated and that he had ordered security forces to deal with transgressors with "all firmness and strength" to halt further violence. The Islamist leader also said he was calling on leaders of political parties to gather for a national dialogue today -- an offer his opposition has so far largely shunned.
Israeli Troops Swap Guns for Computers
as Cyber Attacks Increase
By Gwen Ackerman - Bloomberg.com
At an army base outside Tel Aviv, soldiers sit in front of screens glued to scrolling colored computer code, keyboards at the ready to deflect attacks.
They're Israel's cyber defense team in training, among the uniformed men and women learning how to stalk hackers and pounce on virtual enemies as the state shields everything from ministry websites to the systems running the Tel Aviv stock market.
Israel Deploys Missiles as Netanyahu Sees Syria Collapse
By Jonathan Ferziger & Calev Ben-David - Bloomberg.com
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel must prepare for the threat of a chemical attack from Syria as the army deployed its new Iron Dome anti- missile system near the border with its northern neighbor.
Netanyahu told members of the Cabinet during the weekly meeting in Jerusalem today that Israel faces dangers from throughout the Middle East. Top security officials held a special meeting last week to discuss what may happen to Syrian stocks of chemical weapons amid the civil unrest there, Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told Army Radio.
Israel warns of attack on Syrian chemical weapons
AP StaffWriter - WashingtonExaminer.com
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel could launch a pre-emptive strike to stop Syria's chemical weapons from reaching Lebanon's Hezbollah or al-Qaida inspired groups, officials said Sunday.
The warning came as the military moved a rocket defense system to a main northern city, and Israel's premier warned of dangers from both Syria and Iran.
Israel threatens Syria strike if rebels get chemical arms
By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM | Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:33am EST
(Reuters) - Any sign that Syria's grip on its chemical weapons is slipping as it battles an armed uprising could trigger Israeli military strikes, Israel's vice premier said on Sunday.
Silvan Shalom confirmed a media report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had last week convened a meeting of security chiefs to discuss the civil war in Syria and the state of its suspected chemical arsenal.
Henry Kissinger warns of Iran nuclear crisis
in 'very foreseeable future'
By Agence France-Presse - RawStory.com
Israeli officials said Thursday that military action against Iran needed to stay on the table, as former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger warned of a crisis over Tehran's nuclear ambitions in the "very foreseeable future".
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the threat of military action was vital to efforts against Iran's nuclear programme.
Germany's Gold Delusion
By Simon Johnson - Project-Syndicate.org
WASHINGTON, DC – Germany's gold is on the move. For the first time since official gold transactions became more transparent, the Bundesbank has given notice that a significant portion of its holdings will be transferred home from France and the United States. Ostensibly, this is just a matter of monetary housekeeping. But why now?
One possibility is that German policymakers believe that we are approaching an every-country-for-itself scenario – and only gold guarded by one's own police is worth anything.
Faber to Shiller:
"You Keep Your U.S. Dollars and I'll Keep My Gold"
BY MARK O'BYRNE - FinancialSense.com
….Bloomberg reported that Credit Suisse says gold holders may have withdrawn gold from the euro zone due to the region's debt crisis. They noted the Bundesbank comment about capacity becoming available in its own vaults in Germany.
The World Economic Forum is into its second day in Davos, Switzerland, and with the theme of 'Resilient Dynamism' it appears a good time to announce or spin positive news in Europe such as a slight growth in consumer morale and confidence.
Russia c.bank to keep buying gold
By Darya Korsunskaya
DAVOS, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The Russian central bank will continue to buy gold as it seeks to diversify its foreign reserves away from paper assets it views as risky, First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday.
The Bank of Russia has built up the world's fourth-largest foreign reserves, worth $530 billion, by buying oil export dollars to keep the rouble competitive. The hoard includes two rainy-day budget funds that guard against fiscal shocks.
Groupthink in Davos: Financial Crisis Over
By Peter Coy - Bloomberg Businessweek.com
The hive mind of Davos has concluded that the financial crisis is done, finished. The new worry: a bubble in the credit markets.
There is no official declaration, or even a formal survey. But the chatter at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is about the end of the financial crisis that began in 2008 and dragged on through last summer's spike in Spanish and Italian government bond yields. "There's a crystallization of thought that the financial crisis is over," says Scott Minerd, managing partner and chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners, a Santa Monica (Calif.) firm with about $160 billion under management.
Debt-to-GDP and Misdiagnosing a Bubble Economy's Ills
BY TIM IACONO - FinancialSense.com
A few economists seem to be catching on, but not nearly enough…
About a year ago, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard wondered whether too much faith was being placed in what models say economic growth should be but, as detailed in When Models Trump Common Sense, he was rebuffed by nearly the entire establishment (or at least "a small army of bloggers with PhDs in economics")
Congratulations, America: Austerity,
Not Default, Is the Only Threat Now The debt ceiling showdown is essentially over. But another manufactured crisis is stalking the recovery.
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
We are not deadbeats! We are not deadbeats! We are not, well, you get the point.
With the Treasury fast running out of "extraordinary measures" to keep the government from hitting the debt ceiling, and consequently defaulting on its obligations (and maybe the debt too), House Republicans voted to "suspend" the debt ceiling until May 19 -- which, as the Bipartisan Policy Center points out, means raising the debt ceiling until at least August. That's right: a three-month suspension is actually a six-month increase. Remember, there are really two limits when it comes to the debt limit. The first is when the Treasury "hits" the debt ceiling, and the second is when the Treasury really hits the debt ceiling. In other words, the former is when the Treasury has to resort to accounting shenanigans, those "extraordinary measures," to avoid the debt limit, and the latter is when those accounting shenanigans are no longer enough. The Republican plan suspends the debt ceiling until May 19, at which point 1) it will be raised by as much as the government borrows between then and now (probably $450 billion), and 2) the clock will re-set on the Treasury's extraordinary measures. Default day won't come until early August.
Recession 2013: Can We Avoid It?
By DIANE ALTER, Contributing Writer, Money Morning
The U.S. economy is currently two-for-two in its attempts to skirt recession 2013.
The first came after we narrowly avoided a tumble over the fiscal cliff with a down-to-the-wire deal on New Year's Day. The second came Wednesday with the passage of a three-month extension on raising the debt ceiling.
Had we not averted one or the other, the Congressional Budget Office warned on numerous occasions that a recession in 2013.
But we are not out of the woods just yet, even though the odds may have changed.
Misinterpreting the Dow Theory
BY CLIF DROKE - FinancialSense.com
Dow Theory is one of the oldest forms of technical market analysis. The theory was originally devised by Charles Dow, founder of the Wall Street Journal, over 100 years ago. While there are six major tenets of the Dow Theory, the most famous one states that both the Dow Jones Industrials and the Dow Jones Transportation Average must confirm each other in order for a bull market to be legitimate.
Many analysts utilize Dow Theory in an attempt to forecast the economy. Although one of Dow Theory's six major tenets states that the averages discount the business outlook, the theory isn't always the crystal ball that many of its adherents believe it to be. For instance, an extended rally in the Dow Transports doesn't always forecast a rosy economy. There are times when movements in the Transports can be quite deceptive.
The looming currency war
By Nicholas Wapshott - Reuters.com
Are we about to be sucked into a currency war? As the world economy continues to splutter, countries are looking for ways to break out of the mire. One way of gaining popularity is to promote growth through making exports cheap. The key to an export-led recovery is to devalue a national currency, thereby lowering the prices of exports. By allowing its currency price to slide, a nation can launch a surreptitious trade war against its commercial rivals. Western nations have for years accused China of taking an unfair trade advantage by keeping its currency, and therefore export prices, artificially low. By allowing their currencies to devalue, Western countries are fighting back.
Fed balance sheet size hits record in latest week
(Reuters) - The size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet reached a record, Fed data released on Thursday showed, due to the central bank's purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities that are part of its unconventional policy aimed at supporting economic growth.
The Fed's balance sheet - a broad gauge of its lending to the financial system - stood at $2.994 trillion on January 23, up from $2.946 trillion on January 16.
Keiser Report: Burgers, Banksters & Blackholes (E397)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the Brits offended by the horsemeat in their burgers and yet silent on the disgusting black holes of toxic debts inside taxpayer owned banks. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Pulitzer award winning journalist, Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica.org about big banks like Wells Fargo using accounting tricks very similar to those used by Enron, including off balance sheet entities, black box trading, black box loans and black hole financing.
Obama picks ex-prosecutor to head SEC Renominates recess appointee
to be consumer protection chief
By Susan Crabtree and Tim Devaney - The Washington Times
Bracing for tougher enforcement of rules governing Wall Street in President Obama's second term, several business groups warily welcomed the president's nomination Thursday of Mary Jo White, a former U.S. attorney for Manhattan who made her name prosecuting terrorists, to head the `.
Mrs. White, a partner at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York, served during the Clinton administration as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, overseeing a string of high-profile white-collar crime cases. If confirmed by the Senate, she would succeed Elisse Walter, who took over as acting SEC chairman when Mary Schapiro stepped down last month.
The Eclipse of British Reason
By Joschka Fischer - Project-Syndicate.org
BERLIN – When placed under too much strain, chains tend to break at the weakest link. Figuratively speaking, the same applies to the European Union. So the entire world quite naturally assumed that any process of EU disintegration would start primarily in the crisis-ridden European south (Greece, first and foremost). But, as British Prime Minister David Cameron has now demonstrated, the European chain is most likely to break not at its weakest link, but at its most irrational.
Soros: End costly drug war by 'trial and error'
By Cheryl K. Chumley-The Washington Times
George Soros said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the West ought to end its war against drugs because jailing violators would save money.
Soros also said that global efforts to fight the drug trade has upset political stability, according to a Guardian story.
"Drug policy has endangered political stability and security in many countries," Mr. Soros reportedly said. "Incarceration is hugely expensive. The cost of alternatives is smaller than the cost of incarceration."
George Osborne interviewed in Davos 2013 (24Jan13)
Conservative chancellor George Osborne is interviewed about the UK economy while visiting Davos to get his latest orders from the bankers on how to contrinue collapsing the UK economy to benefit bankers.
Merkel Endorses Other People's Austerity Angela Merkel tells Davos austerity must continue German chancellor says current high unemployment
in Europe is price of competitiveness
By Graeme Wearden and Larry Elliott - The Guardian
Angela Merkel has insisted there can be no let-up in the painful economic reforms being driven across Europe, despite union leaders warning that the risk of social unrest in southern European countries is increasing.
In a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, Merkel insisted it was vital to keep driving down labour costs to make Europe more competitive.
You Can't Hide From Facebook Graph Search
By Mathew Ingram - Bloomberg Businessweek
It often seems as though Facebook's main purpose is to remind us continually of how much we have chosen to share with the world about our online behavior—whether we realize it or not. The latest lesson along those lines comes from the social network's new "graph search," which sounds at first like a fairly boring feature of interest only to marketers. Like much of whatFacebook (FB) does, however, it is also a warning sign: If you were counting on certain things about yourself staying not so much private as obscure or hidden from view, those days are effectively over.
College Degree, No Class Time Required University of Wisconsin to Offer a Bachelor's to Students Who Take Online Competency Tests About What They Know
By CAROLINE PORTER - WSJ.com
David Lando plans to start working toward a diploma from the University of Wisconsin this fall, but he doesn't intend to set foot on campus or even take a single online course offered by the school's well-regarded faculty.
Instead, he will sit through hours of testing at his home computer in Milwaukee under a new program that promises to award a bachelor's degree based on knowledge—not just class time or credits.
Union membership sees sharp decline
By Cheryl K. Chumley-The Washington Times
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that union membership rates have fallen off sharply in the past year, from 11.8 percent of the workforce to 11.3 percent.
This is the lowest level since the 1930s, BLS finds.
In terms of head counts, union membership has fallen by 400,000 workers to 14.4 million, the Associated Press reports.
Hardest hit? Teachers unions, according to the report.
Why Old Age Could Kill American Unions
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the union membership rate in America continued its long, painful collapse in 2012, falling to 11.3 percent of all workers, its lowest level since the 1930s. As the AP notes, 30 years ago, 20 percent of all workers were in unions. In 1935, when President Roosevelt enshrined collective bargaining rights in the National Labor Relations Act, the rate was 13.2 percent.
For all intents and purposes, organized labor has been blasted back to its pre-modern era.
Kansas considers cutting out income tax
By Cheryl K. Chumley-The Washington Times
Kansas lawmakers, led by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, introduced a bill Wednesday that would eventually end the state's income tax.
It's an example of Kansas' "leading edge of the conservative economic and political movement," and should serve as a model for other Republican-led states, Kansas Rep. Tom Sloan said, according to one media report.
Big Government 2.0
By Cal Thomas - PatriotPost.us
Bill Clinton isn't often wrong when it comes to politics, but his assertion in his 1996 State of the Union Address that "the era of big government is over" was a bit premature. In light of President Obama's Second Inaugural Address, the era of big government has just begun.
The reliably liberal columnist Dana Milbank of The Washington Post exhibited refreshing honesty when he wrote of Obama's speech, "...it failed to rise to the moment."
Obama's Forced Collectivism His nonsense inauguration speech
and why Tocqueville would think he's French.
By MATT PURPLE - Spectator.org
President Obama's inauguration speech was a giant dollop of collectivist nonsense.
Apparently determined to seize the Constitution from conservatives, the president spent much of his address making pointed references to the Founding Fathers and our history. America's success, he declared, sprang not from our individual freedoms, but from a peculiar kind of collectivism:
"[W]e have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today's world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we'll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people."
Obama unbound
By Charles Krauthammer - WashingtonPost.com
The media herd is stunned to discover that Barack Obama is a man of the left. After 699 teleprompted presidential speeches, the commentariat was apparently still oblivious. UntilMonday's inaugural address, that is.
Where has everyone been these four years? The only surprise is that Obama chose his second inaugural, generally an occasion for "malice toward none" ecumenism, to unveil so uncompromising a left-liberal manifesto.
"The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, 'till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole People, is sacredly obligatory upon all." --George Washington (1796)
In 1776, an extraordinary group of Patriots signed our Declaration of Independence, thereby affirming their unalienable right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as "endowed by our Creator," not man. A decade later, their Liberty won at great cost, our Founders enshrined that Liberty in the form of our Constitution.
As written and ratified, our Constitution stipulates in its preface that it is "ordained and established" by the people to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." To that end, it established a Republic, not a popular democracy, which is to say it affirmed the primacy of Rule of Law over the rule of men.
Judge Napolitano: Obama The Champion
At Trying To Get Around The Constitution
"If you believe in his vision of a federal government that can right any wrong and regulate any behavior and make everybody equal, then you celebrated the speech yesterday. But if you believe that the Constitution not only constitutes, not only creates the government, it restrains the government, then you didn't like what you heard yesterday," said Napolitano, adding that Obama is "the champion at trying to get around the Constitution."
Guns and Freedom Evidence from 59 countries that gun control
is a threat to human liberty.
By DOUG BANDOW - Spectator.org
For four years the Obama administration ignored the issue of gun control, seeing it as a political loser. However, the tragic school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut created an opening for those who long sought to restrict gun ownership. Yet Congress should look before it legislates, since gun rights generally correspond to the liberties fundamental in a free society.
Four years ago Dave Kopel of the Independence Institute, William & Mary economist Carlisle Moody, and author Howard Nemerov published an article assessing the relationship between guns and freedom ("Is There a Relationship Between Guns and Freedom? Comparative Results From 59 Nations"). Coming to a simple conclusion is impossible: guns are widely accessible in Israel, Switzerland, and U.S., as well as Lebanon, Ivory Coast, and Somalia.
Two-thirds of U.S. weapons owners
would 'defy' a federal gun ban
By Jennifer Harper - The Washington Time
An interesting little factoid has emerged from a new Fox News poll of U.S. voters: Personal sentiments are strong and defiant among many U.S. gun owners.
Question 46 in the wide-ranging survey of more than 1,000 registered voters asks if there is a gun in the household. Overall, 52 percent of the respondents said yes, someone in their home owned a gun. That number included 65 percent of Republicans, 59 percent of conservatives, 38 percent of Democrats and 41 percent of liberals.
Sen. Feinstein introduces sweeping ban
on military-style assault weapons
By Alexander Bolton
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and a group of Senate Democrats on Thursday introduced legislation to ban the sale and manufacture of more than 150 types of semi-automatic weapons with military-style features.
The legislation also bans magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition and requires people who already own assault rifles to use secure storage and safety devices and bars them from selling high-capacity clips.
Feinstein rolls out proposal to ban assault weapons
By David Sherfinski-The Washington Times
Flanked by law enforcement officials and facing victims of gun violence, Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday announced that she is reintroducing a bill that bans more than 150 types of military-style, so-called assault weapons — the piece of President Obama's gun-control agenda that faces the steepest climb through Congress.
The legislation bans the sale, manufacture, transfer and importation of more than 150 of the weapons. It provides exemptions for more than 2,200 hunting and sporting rifles; guns manually operated by bolt, pump, lever or slide action; and weapons used by government officials, law enforcement and retired law enforcement.
State senator wants parents to tell schools if they own guns
ConnectMidMissouri.com
A Missouri state senator wants the gun control debate to include more responsibility for parents.
St. Louis Democrat Maria Chappelle-Nadal said she thinks parents should be required to store guns safely. She added that parents should be held accountable if their children use unsafely-stored weapons illegally.
MO SENATOR'S BILL WOULD FORCE PARENTS
TO REPORT GUN OWNERSHIP TO SCHOOLS
Breitbart.com
FOX 2 News: The sad story of a twelve year old who shot and killed another child with his grandfather's unlocked gun is just one example that is motivating Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal to call for sanctions against careless parents and guardians of minors. The democrat's proposed bill targets an often lethal mix; guns and unsupervised kids in what Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal calls "Urban Core" areas."I wholly believe in the Second Amendment but the Second Amendment does not say that a 12-year old can shoot a 12-year old. There is no protection for that so what we are trying to to do here address is what is happening in our urban cities." said State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal – (D) University City.
'TURN 'EM ALL IN': FEINSTEIN'S ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN
GRABS HANDGUNS, SHOTGUNS
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
Senator Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) seemingly endless pursuit of a ban on "assault rifles" since the Sandy Hook tragedy has now led to the introduction of her "Assault Weapons Ban of 2013"--a bill that not only bans "assault rifles," but numerous handguns and shotguns too.
Here's a question: When did handguns and shotguns become "assault rifles"?
They didn't, but Democrats see this as their big chance to take away as many guns as they can, and they're not about to pass that chance up.
The Peaceful Transfer of Mobocracy Not all revolutions involve coups.
By GEORGE NEUMAYR - Spectator.org
Casting about for something positive to say on Inauguration Day, pols and pundits fell back on the cliché that America exhibits the "peaceful transfer of power." But that's not much of a consolation if it results in revolution anyways. Most revolutions are not against state power but with it. So it goes with Obama's, as he leaves the old forms in place but fills them with new revolutionary meanings.
The disturbing hollowness of Obama's inauguration derives from this more subtle form of revolution. All the usual trappings of tradition were on display but at the service of a revolutionary ideology antithetical to them. Obama swore to uphold the Constitution, by which he meant his lawless reading of it. He invoked God-given rights, by which he meant man-made ones.
Obama's Regulatory Rampage Fasten your seatbelts, because the courts and Congress
won't be able to slow it down much
BY ADAM J. WHITE - WeeklyStandard.com
Despite all of the White House speechwriters' labors on the Inaugural and State of the Union Addresses, their attempt to define the tone of the president's second term is unlikely to improve upon the president's own words, a year ago: "Where Congress is not willing to act, we're going to go ahead and do it ourselves." It would be "nice" to work with Congress, he conceded, but he and his regulators were ready to act unilaterally.
That threat echoed the White House press secretary's own warning, just weeks earlier, that although Congress ought to act to improve the economy, the president "can also act independently—or, rather, administratively, and exercise his executive authority to benefit the American people in other ways. And he will continue to do that." The White House called this the "We Can't Wait" initiative.
John Kerry's Opening Statement at Confirmation Hearing
Secretary of state nominee emphasizes importance of cleaning up America's fiscal problems to strengthen its position as global leader.
Senator John Kerry said today in his opening statement in his confirmation hearing for Secretary of State before the Senate that he will do his best to implement "President Obama's vision for the world" by giving "a voice to the voiceless."
Women in Harness?
BY WILLIAM KRISTOL - WeeklyStandard.com
President Obama has released a statement supporting Secretary of Defense Panetta's decision on women in combat units! "Today, by moving to open more military positions—including ground combat units—to women, our armed forces have taken another historic step toward harnessing the talents and skills of all our citizens." Indeed, the president is confident this decision "will strengthen our military, enhance our readiness, and be another step toward fulfilling our nation's founding ideals of fairness and equality."
Obama Ignores Deadly Risks to Women in Combat Gender radicalism's attack on the military
claims another victory.
By Arnold Ahlert - PatriotPost.us
It didn't take long for the Obama administration to advance a pernicious piece of its promised radical agenda. Two days after the president laid out his far-left vision during the inauguration, senior defense officials announced that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will lift the military's ban on women serving in combat. The move overturns a 1994 provision that prohibited them from being assigned to ground combat units. Panetta has given the various service branches until 2016 to come up with exemptions, and/or make any arguments about what roles should still reman closed to women. Thus, another bit of gender radicalism has been shoved down the nation's throat through executive fiat -- and this one is sure to have deadly consequences.
Big Taxes, Big Oil
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
A policy report from the scholars at The Brookings Institution finds that a surge in U.S. oil and natural gas production is a "bright spot" in the nation's economy. In December, the U.S. Energy Department noted that oil production was at its highest level in 15 years. For natural gas, the story is much the same given advancements in extraction technology. Because of this, the researchers at Brookings called on the White House to embrace the boom given lingering economic woes. Their recommendation on taxes, however, is likely to raise hackles from industry supporters.
Low Energy Light Bulbs Not So "Green" After All?
By Professor Chris Rhodes - OilPrice.com
Making choices about the kind of light bulbs we should be using, on the simple basis of energy consumption, and hence carbon emissions, may be a little short-sighted. Thus, the old fashioned incandescent bulbs are no longer commonly on sale, though there is something of a black market in them, due to the poorer quality of light given out by their alternatives - low-power CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) and LEDs (light emitting diodes).
Shell and Ukraine Finalize $10 Billion Shale Gas Contract
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
Ukraine has very nearly stepped out from under the shadow of Russia and its dependency on Natural gas supplies from Gazprom, by today signing a $10 billion deal to develop domestic shale gas in conjunction with Royal Dutch Shell.
In both 2006 and 2009 Russia and Ukraine cashed over the prices that Russia was charging, leading to severe disruptions to gas flowing to, and through, the Ukraine. Bulgaria and Slovakia were left without gas supplies in the middle of winter as Russia stopped its gas flow through Ukrainian pipelines. A new long term contract between Ukraine and Russia, signed by Yulia Tymoshenko in 2009, for the supply of natural gas has also been a huge point of conflict, as Ukraine believes the terms are hugely exploitative; Yulia Tymoshenko is serving time in jail for abuse of office over the terms of the contract that she agreed to and signed.
Google Report Shows 'Disturbing Growth
in Government Surveillance' Most recent Transparency Report from web giant
reveals
136% increase in user data requests from US since 2009
By Andrea Germanos, staff writer - CommonDreams.com
Google has released its newest semiannual Transparency Report on Wednesday, which shows a "steady increase in government requests" for user data and marks a "disturbing growth in government surveillance online."
The report from the web giant, which discloses the number of requests it receives from governments and courts worldwide, shows that user data requests are up 70 percent since 2009, with a total of over 21,000 user data requests from over 33,000 users or accounts in the second half of 2012.
Russia urges North Korea to abide by nuclear, missile rules
(Reuters) - Russia urged North Korea on Wednesday to adhere to restrictions on its nuclear and missile programs, after the U.N. Security Council expanded existing sanctions against Pyongyang over a defiant rocket launch last month.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's remarks added to pressure on Pyongyang to abide by Security Council resolutions which banned Pyongyang from conducting further ballistic missile and nuclear tests.
U.S. sanctions North Koreans over weapons proliferation
(Reuters) - The United States slapped economic sanctions on Thursday on two North Korean bank officials and a Hong Kong trading company that it accused of supporting Pyongyang's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. move was linked to sanctions imposed by the United Nations against North Korea on Wednesday, which prompted an immediate threat by North Korea to boost its military and nuclear capabilities.
North Korea said it's set to carry out nuclear test,
aim weapons at U.S.
By Ashish Kumar Sen-The Washington Times
North Korea said on Thursday that it is poised to carry out a nuclear test and fire more long-range rockets in the direction of the U.S., but did not offer any time frame for its plans.
"We do not hide that the various satellites and long-range rockets we will continue to launch, as well as the high-level nuclear test we will proceed with, are aimed at our arch-enemy the United States," North Korea's National Defense Commission said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim threat shows no change in North Korea
By Ashish Kumar Sen-The Washington Times
The Obama administration rebuked North Korea on Thursday for its threat to conduct its third nuclear test and launch long-range rockets designed to "target against the U.S.," with the White House calling it "needlessly provocative."
Pyongyang's belligerent proclamation came in response to a U.N. Security Council resolution, approved unanimously on Tuesday, that imposes new sanctions for the communist nation's nuclear activities, warns of "significant" action if North Korea conducts another nuclear test and condemns its unexpectedly successful rocket launch in December.
White House warns against North Korea nuclear test
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
The White House on Thursday said North Korea was being "needlessly provocative" after Pyongyang threatened to conduct its third nuclear test.
"North Korea's statement is needlessly provocative, and a test would be a significant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
North Korea to target U.S. with nuclear, rocket tests
By Ju-min Park and Choonsik Yoo
SEOUL | Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:47pm EST
(Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its "sworn enemy".
The announcement by the country's top military body came a day after the U.N. Security Council agreed to a U.S.-backed resolution to censure and sanction North Korea for a rocket launch in December that breached U.N. rules.
Germans think gold is money… Central Banks Repatriate Gold:
How Will This Affect Investors?
By Bernice Napach - Finance.Yahoo.com
Gold is rebounding. News that the Bank of Japan set a 2% inflation target and is buying 13 trillion yen worth of assets ($146 billion) rallied gold prices Tuesday, to near a one-month high of $1,697.80 set last week.
That's not surprising since gold, more than any other commodity, rises and falls along with changing government policies globally.
Davos leaders uneasy over glut of easy money
By Paul Taylor
DAVOS, Switzerland | Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:57pm EST
(Reuters) - The world is awash in easy money, with consequences that are starting to worry some central bankers and business leaders at the DavosWorld Economic Forum (WEF), though so far inflation fears seem overdone.
With developed world government finances constrained by huge debts and deficits, central banks have pumped trillions of dollars into the system to try to revive sluggish economies, combat deflation and prop up weak banks.
The Unloved Dollar Standard
By Ronald McKinnon - Project-Syndicate.org
PALO ALTO – Since World War II's end, the US dollar has been used to invoice most global trade, serving as the intermediary currency for clearing international payments among banks and dominating official foreign-exchange reserves. This arrangement has often been criticized, but is there any viable alternative?
The problem for post-WWII Europe, mired in depression and inflation, was that it lacked foreign reserves, which meant that trade carried a high opportunity cost. To facilitate trade without requiring payment after each transaction, the Organization for European Economic Cooperation created the European Payments Union in 1950. Supported by a dollar-denominated line of credit, the EPU's 15 Western European member states established exact dollar exchange-rate parities as a prelude to anchoring their domestic price levels and removing all currency restrictions on intra-European trade. This formed the keystone of the hugely successful European Recovery Program (the Marshall Plan), through which the US helped to rebuild Europe's economies.
"We're going to kill the dollar" The Fed's Plan B
by MIKE WHITNEY - CounterPunch.org
"How do you solve a problem when you're running a 10% fiscal budget deficit? You are not going to get growth without private sector credit demand. The government's idea right now is that we're going to export our way out of this, and when I asked a senior member of the Obama administration last week how are we going to grow exports if we will not allow nominal wage deflation? He said, "We're going to kill the dollar." Kyle Bass interview.
House approves debt-limit extension,
presses Senate to pass budget
By Pete Kasperowicz - TheHill.com
The House on Wednesday approved a bill extending the nation's debt limit, raising pressure on the Senate to pass its first budget in nearly four years.
The House approved the No Budget, No Pay Act, which also includes a measure withholding senators' pay until they complete that work, in a 285-144 vote.
Among Republicans, 33 voted against it to protest the absence of specific spending cuts alongside suspending the nation's borrowing limit. But they were more than offset by the 86 Democrats who voted for the measure.
Senate Dems to move budget through committee
for first time in four years
By Erik Wasson - TheHill.com
Senate Democrats on Wednesday said they will move a budget resolution through the Budget Committee and onto the Senate floor for the first time in four years.
Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said the decision had nothing to do with the House's debt-ceiling bill, which would withhold senators' pay if they failed to pass a budget by April 15. The "no budget, no pay" bill is scheduled for a vote on Wednesday.
"No Budget No Pay" Passes the House,
Minus 33 Republican Votes
By David Weigel - Salon.com
It's a statement of just how driven the current House GOP conference is that the vote for "No Budget, No Pay," the some-strings-attached debt limit hike, was treated like a landslide. Only 33 Republicans opposed it. Had Democrats withheld their votes, as they did on "Plan B" and other Boehner-saving measures, the bill would have gone down. But 86 of them voted with Boehner (68 more than needed) and the bill passed.
Deficits Ain't Debt
by Bruce Krasting - ZeroHedge.com
Lots of talk about "deficits" of late. I'm not sure what a deficit really means. Consider the Clinton years. The economy was good, there were no wars or disasters, the deficits were small, there were a few years where there was a budget surplus. - Aaaah - The debt exploded during those "good" years. The cumulative deficit for the Clinton years was only $327Billion, but the debt rose by $1.56 Trillion (475% more debt than deficits).
The deficit is a component of the debt. But it is not the only driver of debt. The following chart is the difference between the reported deficit, and the increase in debt going back to 2000.
Has The Debt Jubilee Already Started?
BY JOHN RUBINO - FinancialSense.com
There are three fairly radical ideas floating around the monetary policy world right now. The first is economist Ellen Brown's belief that governments should stop borrowing money and simply create the currency they need, thus bypassing central banks and government bond markets. The second is Australian economist Steve Keen's debt jubilee, in which governments give newly-created money to individuals with which to pay back their debts, in the process resetting the system with lower leverage. The third is that trillion dollar platinum coin thing, where Washington just conjures that much money out of thin air and uses it to evade statutory debt limits — which looks like an ad hoc mash-up of the first two ideas.
Take the money and run... Withdrawn: $114 Billion From Big U.S. Banks
By Nick Summers - Businessweek.com
More than $114 billion exited the biggest U.S. banks this month, and nobody's quite sure why.
The Federal Reserve releases data on the assets and liabilities of commercial banks every Friday. The most current figures, covering the first full week of 2013, show the largest one-week withdrawals since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Even when seasonally adjusted, the level drops to $52.8 billion—still the third-highest amount on record, and one for which bank experts and analysts were reluctant to give a definitive explanation.
Oldest Bank In The World Plunges, Halted
As Chairman Resigns In Aftermath Of Latest Derivatives Fiasco
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Last week, following documentation from Deutsche Bank (and Nomura), it became clear that Italy's Monte Paschi (BMPS) bank (the oldest in the world) has engaged in derivatives with the German and Japanese banks in order to save itself during the financial crisis. The derivatives, according to Bloomberg, were done off-market and allowed the booking of large upfront gains which covered losses optically that the bank faced as European liquidity dried up completely - the offsetting 'losses' are now coming due. Today, amid growing outcry over the 'deal', the former head of BMPS has resigned. Bloomberg reports that Giuseppe Mussari, now Italy's top banking lobbyist, was the Chairman of BMPS during the derivative deal period. BMPS shares were halted after plunging dramatically as investors are still unclear of the extent of losses it faces on derivatives. If that was not enough chicanery, there is a twist in that none other than Mario Draghi, as Director of the Bank of Italy, would have had to vet Mussari (and his banks' regulated books) during this period - as BMPS accumulated what is obviously undocumented derivatives positions to intentionally obscure losses. Once again, years later, it seems the truth comes out - and of course we would expect no-one to go to jail - and the lying in Europe (then and now) continues unabated - as the reality of financial system health remains hidden from view.
The Tangled Relationship Between Wealth & Money And why we're focusing on the wrong economic 'fixes'
by John Michael Greer - PeakProsperity.com
….Money is a system of abstract tokens that complex societies use to manage the distribution of goods and services, and that's all it is. Money can consist of lumps of precious metal, pieces of paper decorated with the faces of dead politicians, digits in computer memory, or any number of other things, up to and including the sheer make-believe that underlies derivatives and the like. Important differences separate these various forms of money, depending on the ease or lack of same with which they can be manufactured, but everything that counts as money has one thing in common – it has only one of the two kinds of economic value.
Art Cashin On The Only Sane Voice At The Fed
by Tyler Durden -ZeroHedge.com
We have discussed Dallas Fed's Richard Fisher's money-where-his-mouth-is perspective on the world before and the (sadly) non-voting member is among UBS' Art Cashin's most respected and candid of the FOMC. A glance through the transcripts that Art highlights below should both make readers sick at the constant pollyanna-ish nature of Fisher's comrades and perhaps more confident that his insights will be listened to more astutely 'the next time' as he noted at the time "No amount of rewriting of history will exonerate us". Once again, after reading these transcripts, do we really believe that central bankers are omnipotent? or incompetent?
Cameron Calls for Referendum on Europe
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said he will seek a mandate to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the European Union at the next election in 2015 and will then call a referendum on membership of the EU in 2017 if he wins. Heard on the Street's Simon Nixon explains
David Cameron's Euro-Nemesis
By Peter Sutherland - Project-Syndicate.org
LONDON – Unlike some in Britain's Conservative Party, Prime Minister David Cameron has not previously given the impression of being obsessed with Europe. He demonstrated no enthusiasm for the European Union, but he appeared clearly less exercised by its supposed iniquities than many Tories are.
This view of Cameron's position is now difficult to sustain. His long-gestating speech on Europe, although containing elements that many might share, also sows the seeds for a prolonged and acrimonious debate – and not just in Britain. Conservatives in the House of Commons (and in the wider party) want to be reassured that their leader shares their antagonism for the entire European integration process. They have not forgotten or pardoned his "treachery" in refusing to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, signed by his predecessor, Gordon Brown. With his speech, that reassurance may now have been given.
Merkel hints at European deal for Cameron Angela Merkel has said she is prepared to consider renegotiating Britain's membership of the EU in the wake of David Cameron's landmark speech pledging an in-out referendum by 2017.
By Robert Winnett - Telegraph.co.uk
The Prime Minister wants to negotiate the return of some powers from Brussels to Britain, possibly within a new treaty.
The revised relationship would then be the subject of a referendum in which Mr Cameron would campaign for Britain to remain a member — if the Conservatives win the next election.
The Untouchables:
How the Obama administration
protected Wall Street from prosecutions A new PBS Frontline report examines a profound
failure of justice that should be causing serious social unrest
By Glenn Greenwald - Guardian.co.uk
PBS' Frontline program on Tuesday night broadcast a new one-hour report on one of the greatest and most shameful failings of the Obama administration: the lack of even a single arrest or prosecution of any senior Wall Street banker for the systemic fraud that precipitated the 2008 financial crisis: a crisis from which millions of people around the world are still suffering. What this program particularly demonstrated was that the Obama justice department, in particular the Chief of its Criminal Division, Lanny Breuer, never even tried to hold the high-level criminals accountable.
Goldman Sachs Not Liable for Failed $580 Million Deal
By Janelle Lawrence - Bloomberg.com
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) won a $580 million negligence suit over its role as adviser to speech- recognition pioneer Dragon Systems Inc. in a doomed merger, one of its biggest victories in a string of claims by dissatisfied clients since the financial crisis.
A federal jury in Boston today rejected the claims of Dragon's founders Jim and Janet Baker and two other shareholders that Goldman Sachs failed to properly vet Belgium-based Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV. The all-stock deal in June 2000 was rendered worthless months later when the fraud at Lernout & Hauspie was exposed and the company filed for bankruptcy.
Goldman Sachs Made $400 Million
Betting On Food Prices In 2012
While Hundreds Of Millions Starved
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Why does it seem like wherever there is human suffering, some giant bank is making money off of it? According to a new report from the World Development Movement, Goldman Sachs made about 400 million dollars betting on food prices last year. Overall, 2012 was quite a banner year for Goldman Sachs. As I reported in a previous article, revenues for Goldman increased by about 30 percent in 2012 and the price of Goldman stock has risen by more than 40 percent over the past 12 months. It is estimated that the average banker at Goldman brought in a pay and bonus package of approximately $396,500 for 2012. So without a doubt, Goldman Sachs is swimming in money right now. But what is the price for all of this "success"? Many claim that the rampant speculation on food prices by the big banks has dramatically increased the global price of food and has caused the suffering of hundreds of millions of poor families around the planet to become much worse. At this point, global food prices are more than twice as high as they were back in 2003. Approximately 2 billion people on the planet spend at least half of their incomes on food, and close to a billion people regularly do not have enough food to eat. Is it moral for Goldman Sachs and other big banks such as Barclays and Morgan Stanley to make hundreds of millions of dollars betting on the price of food if that is going to drive up global food prices and make it harder for poor families all over the world to feed themselves?
Keiser Report: Threshold of Tyranny Passed
(E396, ft. Alex Jones)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the closing of the American mind as intellectual troublemakers like Aaron Swartz are locked up for decades rather than set free to innovate. They look at the two tier justice system in which these intellectual troublemakers are persecuted while political benefactors on Wall Street are allowed to commit an endless array of financial crimes without any fear of prosecution. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Alex Jones about his appearance on Piers Morgan's show on CNN. They also discuss the targeting of activists and the role of new media taking on the dinosaurs of media.
The Conventional Wisdom
About Government Health Care Spending Is Wrong
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
This sentence is a pithy summary of the centrist conventional wisdom about taxes, spending, debt, and health care:
"The political impasse facing the U.S. arises from one simple reality: Americans want an increasing government contribution to health care, but don't want to pay for it."
That's James Hamilton, an economic professor at the University of California, San Diego, at his excellent Econbrowser blog. It's an utterly reasonable-sounding judgment that can lead you to the wrong conclusion. Health care isn't just a government spending problem. It's an everybody's-spending problem.
The Real Reason for the Decline of American Unions
By Kris Warner - Bloomberg.com
Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual summary of unionization in the U.S. It reports that in 2012, the union-membership rate of wage and salary workers was 11.3 percent, compared with 11.8 percent in 2011. The trend has been downward for some time: Fifty years ago, the figure was almost 30 percent.
It's conventional wisdom that the post-industrial workforce doesn't want to be unionized. Butsurvey data show that workers' desire to join unions has been growing since the 1980s, and a majority of nonunion workers would now vote for union representation if given the opportunity. So if workers want unions, why is unionization falling?
The Unexpected Boom in US Oil Production
By Robert Rapier - OilPrice.com
A few years ago, I made the observation that the best thing that could happen to mitigate against some of the potentially severe consequences of peak oil was for oil prices to rise, and remain high in the years before oil production peaked. That would have the effect of encouraging conservation, as people adapted to a world in which oil is no longer cheap. High oil prices would also incentivize oil production, which would have the effect of preventing steep declines in global oil production — which some had predicted would lead to severe economic crisis or possibly economic collapse.
We have certainly seen both conservation and increased oil production, but I have been really surprised by some of the details of how it has happened.
Can OPEC Maintain High Oil Prices into the Future?
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
OPEC is probably the single most powerful organisation in the oil industry, able to influence the price of oil to help its member states; however a review by Bassam Fattouh and Lavan Mahadeva of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies suggests that whilst OPEC is able to influence prices in the short term, it has less success over the long term.
That leaves the question as to whether OPEC will be able to maintain oil prices of around $110 a barrel for the coming decade or so? The answer … unlikely.
Obama Once Again Delays Keystone XL Decision
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
In an ever increasing show of cowardice President Barack Obama has once again avoided making any decision about the fate of the Keystone XL pipeline, instead deciding to delay his verdict until later in the year.
Obama has always promoted himself as a strong supporter of action against climate change and therefore this decision is seen as a ley test as to his real commitment to the environment; however, he is stalling through fear of angering the powerful supporters of the project, now claiming that climate change is in fact just one of a host of priorities that he had promised to address during his second term.
US State Department delays Keystone pipeline decision
By Timothy Gardner and Andrew Quinn - Trust.org
WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The Obama administration has delayed a decision on TransCanada Corp's rerouted Keystone XL oil pipeline until after March, even though Nebraska's governor on Tuesday approved a plan for part of the line running through his state.
"We don't anticipate being able to conclude our own review before the end of the first quarter of this year," said Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman at the State Department, which had previously said it would make a decision by that deadline.
Report Estimates Battle Against Climate Change
will Cost $700 Billion a Year
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
A new report written by the Green Growth Action Alliance in conjunction with the World Economic Forum (WEF), has estimated that around $700 billion a year must be invested in a variety of low carbon projects around the world in order to prevent climate change and secure the development of the green economy.
The vast sum of capital required will be invested in clean energy infrastructure, sustainable and low carbon transport, and energy efficiency improvements for buildings, all with the aim of limiting the global average temperature increase to less than two degrees above pre-industrial levels.
Does China Plan To Establish "China Cities"
And "Special Economic Zones" All Over America?
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
What in the world is China up to? Over the past several years, the Chinese government and large Chinese corporations (which are often at least partially owned by the government) have been systematically buying up businesses, homes, farmland, real estate, infrastructure and natural resources all over America. In some cases, China appears to be attempting to purchase entire communities in one fell swoop. So why is this happening? Is this some form of "economic colonization" that is taking place? Some have speculated that China may be intending to establish "special economic zones" inside the United States modeled after the very successful Chinese city of Shenzhen. Back in the 1970s, Shenzhen was just a very small fishing village, but now it is a sprawling metropolis of over 14 million people. Initially, these "special economic zones" were only established within China, but now the Chinese government has been buying huge tracts of land in foreign countries such as Nigeria and establishing special economic zones in those nations. So could such a thing actually happen in America?
How the Vatican built a secret property empire
using Mussolini's millions
Papacy used offshore tax havens to create £500m international portfolio, featuring real estate in UK, France and Switzerland
By David Leigh, Jean François Tanda and Jessica Benhamou - The Guardian
Few passing London tourists would ever guess that the premises of Bulgari, the upmarket jewellers in New Bond Street, had anything to do with the pope. Nor indeed the nearby headquarters of the wealthy investment bank Altium Capital, on the corner of St James's Square and Pall Mall.
But these office blocks in one of London's most expensive districts are part of a surprising secret commercial property empire owned by theVatican.
Donald Trump Exploring Improbable Ways
He Might Buy the New York Times
By Joe Hagan - NYMag.com
Donald Trump has spent a lot of time in the last year trying to make news, first with his birther obsession, and more recently demanding comedian Bill Maher pay him $5 million. (Maher offered the sum for proof Trump wasn't the "spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan." Trump released his own birth certificate and threatened to sue Maher for the money.)
Now Trump is exploring ways to make news in a more literal way: by acquiring the New York Times. According to sources familiar with the situation, Trump has engaged in more than one meeting to discuss how he might buy the Grey Lady. Details of Trump's strategy remain scant. And it seems unlikely, to say the least, that the Sulzberger family, which controls the company's voting shares, would welcome his offer.
Let elderly people 'hurry up and die', says Japanese minister Taro Aso says he would refuse end-of-life care and would 'feel bad' knowing treatment was paid for by government
By Justin McCurry in Tokyo - Guardian.co.uk
Japan's new government is barely a month old, and already one of its most senior members has insulted tens of millions of voters by suggesting that the elderly are an unnecessary drain on the country's finances.
Taro Aso, the finance minister, said on Monday that the elderly should be allowed to "hurry up and die" to relieve pressure on the state to pay for their medical care.
How to Give the U.S. Ultrafast Internet
By Susan Crawford - Bloomberg.com
Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, made an important speech last week calling for at least one "gigabit city" in all 50 states by 2015. For the U.S. to maintain its leadership in innovation, he said, a critical mass of communities must have networks capable of ultrahigh Internet-access speeds.
The U.S. lags far behind Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Australia and many other developed countries that have made ultrafast networks a priority. Unless we act, new ideas for using such networks will come from those countries -- not the U.S. As Genachowski said, "Ensuring the U.S. has a strategic bandwidth advantage -- ultrafast, high-capacity, ubiquitous broadband -- is critical to our global competitiveness."
Print-to-Order Service Helps 3-D Designer
Revive Forgotten Figurines
BY JOSEPH FLAHERTY - Wired.com
Toy designer Wayne Losey's articulating, snap-to-build ModiBots are an example of how 3-D printing can bring life to products and toys that didn't have the commercial success needed to keep them on store shelves.
Some toys are destined for the trash bin (hello, Rock Lords), but for the playthings that are unfairly granted a short run in the stores, 3-D printers can add a new chapter to their story. ModiBots is the exact definition of this, an evolution of a toy design that had unfulfilled promise after a short-lived launch.
House Democrats propose opening gun makers to civil liability
By Pete Kasperowicz - TheHill.com
House Democrats on Tuesday proposed legislation that would ease current law to allow people to file civil law suits against gun manufacturers and others in the industry when they act irresponsibly.
The Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act, from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), would amend the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). According to Schiff, that 2005 law gives gun manufacturers, distributors and gun dealers immunity from most civil negligence and product liability actions.
Schiff said his bill is needed to allow suits to go forward when these entities are found to be negligent, or for product liability issues.
NRA's LaPierre: Obama making 'mockery' of nation's freedoms
By Meghashyam Mali - TheHill.com
National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre on Tuesday offered a sharp critique of President Obama's second inaugural address, warning that his agenda threatened to make a "mockery" of the nation's constitutional freedoms.
In a speech in Reno, Nev., which the nation's most prominent gun-rights lobby billed as a "major response" to the president's address, LaPierre pressed his attack on Obama's push for stricter gun laws in the aftermath of last month's deadly Newtown, Conn., mass shooting.
Hillary Clinton issues forceful defence
over handling of Benghazi attack Angry senators accuse secretary of state of incompetence but Clinton insists she did not withhold information from US public
By Chris McGreal - Guardian.co.uk
Hillary Clinton faced accusations of incompetence, evasion and obfuscation by angry Senators at a hearing into the deaths of the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in Benghazi last year.
Although the US secretary of state was roundly praised for her "extraordinary" work as she prepares to leave office, she came under strong criticism over her handling of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on September 11.
Hillary Clinton Rebuts GOP Charges During Libya Testimony
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered an unwavering defense Wednesday of the Obama administration's response to the 2012 assaults on U.S. government posts in Benghazi, Libya.
Clinton shows emotion and flashes of anger
in Benghazi testimony
By Julian Pecquet - TheHill.com
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed emotion and flashes of anger on Wednesday as she delivered long-awaited testimony on the terrorist attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya.
Making one of her final appearances as the nation's top diplomat, Clinton sparred with Senate Republicans who accused the administration of misleading the public about the chain of events that preceded the Sept. 11 killings.
Rand Paul To Hillary Clinton: I Would Have Fired You
During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Congressional testimony regarding what she knew about the attack on an American consulate in Benghazi last year, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took the opportunity of his question to bluntly attack Clinton's negligence in the months preceding the attack. Paul thanked Clinton for taking culpability for "the worst tragedy since 9/11," but noted that, if he had been President of the United States at the time of the attack and had learned that Clinton failed to read some key diplomatic cables before that event, he would have relieved her of her post.
Hillary Clinton's Finest Hour and a Half
By Margaret Carlson - Bloomberg.com
Today's long-awaited congressional hearings on the attack of the U.S. mission in Benghazi,Libya, were the second time in my many years covering Hillary Clinton that I saw her cry. The first time, at a coffee shop in New Hampshire in January 2008, she wept for herself, worn down to a nub by a losing presidential campaign.
This time her tears were for others as she talked about standing beside the president at Andrews Air Force Base when the flag-draped coffins of the Americans killed in Libya were returned.
Cuba's mystery fiber-optic Internet cable stirs to life
By Marc Frank
HAVANA | Tue Jan 22, 2013 5:26pm EST
(Reuters) - An undersea fiber-optic cable that promises to bring Cuban Internet and phone communications into the 21st Century stirred to life this week, two years after it was laid betweenVenezuela and the Caribbean island.
Financed by the Venezuelan government, the ALBA-1 cable under the Caribbean was laid with much fanfare in 2010 and connected to Cuba in February 2011. Since then it has been dormant and the government silent as to why.
Panetta Said to Be Ending U.S. Combat Ban for Women
By Tony Capaccio & David Lerman - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Defense Department plans to lift its ban on women serving in direct combat roles, opening hundreds of thousands of military jobs to them for the first time.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made the decision on the recommendation of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to a defense official, who asked not to be identified in advance of a planned announcement.
A Visual History Of Gold
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
With Gold inching back up towards the $1700 mark once again following yet another central bank's promise to flush the world with fiat currency, we thought some reflection on the history of Gold was useful. From its rareness and malleability to its multi-millenial nature as a store of wealth, Visual Capitalist's infographic takes us from the Egyptians to the Chinese and on through the US Gold Rush to the current 'vaults' of gold being questioned currently.
The Coming Debt Limit Drama: Government Wins, We Lose
BY RON PAUL - FinancialSense.com
Last week President Obama bluntly warned Congress that he will not negotiate when it comes to raising the statutory debt limit. If Republicans attempt to use a debt ceiling vote to win concessions on spending from the White House, Mr. Obama threatens simply to raise the limit by executive order or other unilateral action.
This is business as usual in Washington. Democrats literally do not believe we have a deficit and debt problem, and reliably propose greater borrowing and spending. Republicans talk a good game when it comes to government debt, but have no credibility to argue against deficits or abuses of executive power. Brinksmanship ensues, and ugly compromises are reached at the 11th hour. We all lose as the endless borrowing and money printing further erode our dollar and our economy.
GOP Moves to Suspend Debt Ceiling Until May
By: Eamon Javers - CNBC.com
House Speaker John Boehner indicated Tuesday that Republicans will vote on an extension of the federal debt ceiling to allow Treasury to borrow money until mid-May. The move would reverse the order of a series of expected debt and spending fights in Washington, an effort designed to put the GOP on more sound political footing.
The Speaker said the measure would be tied to a provision that would suspend the pay of lawmakers if they do not agree to a budget by April 15th. A vote is expected Wednesday.
"I think the American people understand that you can't continue to spend money that you don't have," Boehner said.
U.S. debt limit vote set for Wednesday; Obama likely to sign
By Mark Felsenthal and David Lawder
WASHINGTON | Tue Jan 22, 2013 7:04pm EST
(Reuters) - A measure to extend the U.S. debt limit for nearly four months moved closer on Tuesday to a vote and the White House said the president would sign the bill if it cleared Congress, easing uncertainty that could have threatened the U.S. economy.
The debt limit "suspension," which would allow the government to borrowmoney until May 19, is due to come to a vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday without amendments.
White House Says House Debt Plan De-Escalates Debate
By Lisa Lerer & Kathleen Hunter - Bloomberg.com
The Obama administration said it welcomes a move by House Republicans to vote tomorrow on lifting the nation's debt ceiling through mid-May as a de-escalation of the fiscal debate.
The measure "lifts the immediate threat of default and indicates that congressional Republicans have backed off an insistence on holding the nation's economy hostage to extract drastic cuts in Medicare, education and other programs," President Barack Obama's budget office said in a statement.
Obama's Declaration of Political War In his second inaugural address,
Obama makes clear that it's fight night in America.
By JOHN R. GUARDIANO - Spectator.org
Most great and memorable inaugural addresses are imbued with a spirit of charity and magnanimity. There is a clear sense that the president is speaking not for one political party or faction, but rather for the nation as a whole.
Thus in his first inaugural address, Jefferson declared, "We are all Republicans; we are all Federalists." In his second inaugural address, Lincoln, likewise, spoke of "bind[ing] up the nation's wounds" And Reagan urged us to "work and act together, not as members of political parties, but as Americans."
Fed's Balance Sheet Grows Above $3 Trillion
BY SOBER LOOK - FinancialSense.com
Total assets of Fed's balance sheet broke through $3 trillion last week, hitting a new high, as securities purchases are stepped up (including treasuries).
And for the first time since this program was launched it is starting to have a material impact on bank reserves (the dynamic component of the monetary base), which spiked last week.
Why Stimulus Has Failed
By Raghuram Rajan - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW DELHI – Two fundamental beliefs have driven economic policy around the world in recent years. The first is that the world suffers from a shortage of aggregate demand relative to supply; the second is that monetary and fiscal stimulus will close the gap.
Is it possible that the diagnosis is right, but that the remedy is wrong? That would explain why we have made little headway so far in restoring growth to pre-crisis levels. And it would also indicate that we must rethink our remedies.
BEFORE THE FALL: DISASTER MYOPIA AT THE FED
Posted by John Cassidy - NewYorker.com
Like many other journalists who write about the Federal Reserve, I spent Friday morning reading the policy discussions that took place inside the central bank in 2007, as the global financial system teetered on the brink of collapse. Under a commendable policy of glasnost, introduced by Alan Greenspan and extended by Ben Bernanke, the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-making arm, now releases full transcripts of its deliberations after a delay of five years.
Covering eight meetings (four of which lasted two days each) and three emergency conference calls, the newly released transcripts run thousands of pages—a boon for future historians, as well as for reporters looking for nuggets to enliven their Twitter feeds. For anybody interested in what turned out to be the biggest financial crisis since the nineteen-thirties, it is fascinating to relive the Fed's internal debates, as it grappled with the collapse of the market for subprime mortgage bonds and its ramifications for Wall Street and the broader economy.
Jens Weidmann: "Monetary policy can only buy more time"
by Richard Field - TYIllc.blogspot.com
From a Telegraph article, Jens Weidmann, president of Deutsche Bundesbank, observed that it was "wrong and dangerous" to rely on the central banks because "monetary policy can only buy more time".
Please re-read the highlight text as Mr. Weidmann makes the very important point that monetary policy is not the right tool for fixing the problems that led to the financial crisis.
Japan has shown this to be true for the last 2+ decades. The EU, UK and US have shown this to be true since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2007.
The question is 'using the time that the central banks buy at great expense, what needs to be done to resolve the financial crisis?'
The Economic Fundamentals of 2013
By Nouriel Roubini - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – The global economy this year will exhibit some similarities with the conditions that prevailed in 2012. No surprise there: we face another year in which global growth will average about 3%, but with a multi-speed recovery – a sub-par, below-trend annual rate of 1% in the advanced economies, and close-to-trend rates of 5% in emerging markets. But there will be some important differences as well.
Painful deleveraging – less spending and more saving to reduce debt and leverage – remains ongoing in most advanced economies, which implies slow economic growth. But fiscal austerity will envelop most advanced economies this year, rather than just the eurozone periphery and the United Kingdom. Indeed, austerity is spreading to the core of the eurozone, the United States, and other advanced economies (with the exception of Japan). Given synchronized fiscal retrenchment in most advanced economies, another year of mediocre growth could give way to outright contraction in some countries.
Pimco's Bill Gross warns QE will make discount bonds 'road kill' Pimco co-founder Bill Gross is ringing a new alarm about the perils of the Federal Reserve's monetary exuberance.
By Laura Mandaro - MarketWatch.com
Bonds generally are issued at par, or face value. But there's a popular category of discount bonds called zero-coupon bonds, which are issued below face value and don't make regular interest payments. They've had a turbulent 12 months as the Fed extended its quantitative easing program but gave a more precise sense of when it could end. Pimco's own exchange-traded fund, the Pimco 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury Index ETF, returned 60% in 2011 but ended 2012 with a 1% return. Zero coupon bonds are more sensitive to interest rate changes than other bonds.
Beggar Thy Currency Or Thy Self?
By Mohamed A. El-Erian - Project-Syndicate.org
NEWPORT BEACH – Not many countries nowadays seek a strong exchange rate; a few, including systemically important ones, are already actively weakening their currencies. Yet, because an exchange rate is a relative price, all currencies cannot weaken simultaneously. How the world resolves this basic inconsistency over the next few years will have a major impact on prospects for growth, employment, income distribution, and the functioning of the global economy.
Japan is the latest country to say enough is enough. Having seen its currency appreciate dramatically in recent years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new government is taking steps to alter the country's exchange-rate dynamic – and is succeeding. In just over two months, the yen has weakened by more than 10% against the dollar and close to 20% against the euro.
BoE's Mervyn King: banks not healthy until
private investors willing to fund without central bank support
by Richard Field - TYIllc.blogspot.com
In his speech at the CBI Northern Ireland mid-winter dinner, Bank of England governor Mervyn King laid out the number one policy to pursue that would complement monetary stimulus was restoring confidence in the banks.
He then described a test for when this confidence had been restored. Confidence had been restored when private investors were willing to "provide them with funds at reasonable spreads over Bank Rate without central bank support".
Medicare Cuts for Readmissions to Target Large Hospitals
By Stephanie Armour - Bloomberg.com
Large U.S. teaching hospitals such as those affiliated with major universities are more likely to be penalized under a U.S. program linking Medicare pay cuts to higher rates of patient readmission, research suggests.
About 67 percent of 3,282 hospitals studied will receive lower payments for providing care to patients in Medicare, the U.S. government's health program for the elderly and disabled, as a result of the policy that took effect on Oct. 1, according to a research letter published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Major teaching hospitals are more likely to be highly penalized, which the authors define as being in the top half of penalized hospitals.
Another Walker Vindication Government unions lose in court again.
WSJ.com
The last few years haven't been great for limited government, though Wisconsin is an exception. After the made-for-MSNBC protests, a failed bid to turn over the state Supreme Court and a failed recall election, Governor Scott Walker's public union reforms still stand. And now the spurious constitutional challenges have guttered out in federal appeals court.
On Friday a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court upheld the law in its entirety. Two judges rejected the claims of the Wisconsin Education Association Council and six other government unions that Mr. Walker violated the Equal Protection clause and the First Amendment, while a third judge—David Hamilton, nominated by President Obama—concurred in part and dissented in part.
SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE SECOND AMENDMENT?
Posted by Jeffrey Toobin - NewYorker.com
Does the Second Amendment prevent Congress from passing gun-control laws? The question, which is suddenly pressing, in light of the reaction to the school massacre in Newtown, is rooted in politics as much as law.
For more than a hundred years, the answer was clear, even if the words of the amendment itself were not. The text of the amendment is divided into two clauses and is, as a whole, ungrammatical: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The courts had found that the first part, the "militia clause," trumped the second part, the "bear arms" clause. In other words, according to the Supreme Court, and the lower courts as well, the amendment conferred on state militias a right to bear arms—but did not give individuals a right to own or carry a weapon.
Do Gun Control Laws Control Guns? Or are they the real killer?
By THOMAS SOWELL - Spectator.org
The gun control controversy is only the latest of many issues to be debated almost solely in terms of fixed preconceptions, with little or no examination of hard facts.
Media discussions of gun control are dominated by two factors: the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment. But the over-riding factual question is whether gun control laws actually reduce gun crimes in general or murder rates in particular.
Inauguration 2013: Inaugural prayer drops 'under God'
By KEVIN ROBILLARD | Politico.com
Civil rights legend Myrlie Evers-Williams on Monday quoted the Pledge of Allegiance during her invocation at President Barack Obama's second Inauguration without saying "under God" but mentioned God and Jesus throughout the prayer.
"We now stand beneath the shadow of the nation's capital, whose golden dome reflects the unity and democracy of one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all," Evers-Williams said.
Fred Barnes: Obama's Inaugural Intentions The president reached out to Democratic interest groups. Republicans? Not so much.
By FRED BARNES - WSJ.com
President Obama wants more government. In his second inaugural address, he masked the message with phrases like "collective action" and doing "things together." But these were stand-ins—euphemisms, really—for a bigger and more ambitious federal government. That's the unmistakable goal of his second term, and his inaugural address was devoted to his determination to achieve it.
Mr. Obama paid lip service to reducing "the size of our deficit." This was followed by a crucial "but" as he went on to defend a series of programs he is unwilling to cut, including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. "These things do not sap our initiative," he declared. "They strengthen us."
Obama backs Republicans into a corner
By JOE SCARBOROUGH | Politico.com
Barack Obama's second inaugural address was a declaration to Washington and the world that Age of Reagan is over. No hand was extended to a battered Republican Party by Mr. Obama. Instead, the liberal president pushed his left-leaning agenda to a divided America.
As disappointing as his speech was to me, it made perfect political sense that the president would look at the political roadmap in front of him and step on the gas. Polling shows that more than 70 percent of Americans like Obama, 52 percent approve of his performance as president, only 26 percent support the GOP's performance, only 18 percent approve of how Republican Speaker John Boehner does his job, and only 9 percent still have nice things to say about the tea party.
United States of Crisis Seen Costing Jobs, Wasting Money
By Julie Hirschfeld Davis - Bloomberg.com
With the stroke of his pen the day after New Year's, President Barack Obama extended a $5 billion farm subsidy program that he opposes and many farmers say they no longer need.
The day before, the U.S. Senate and House -- where there is broad agreement that the direct farm payments program should be scrapped -- both voted to keep the money flowing as part of a last-minute agreement to avert most of more than $600 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts slated to take effect this month.
New Housing Fears: Home Prices Are Rising Too Fast
By: Diana Olick - CNBC.com
"For Sale" signs may seem like an eyesore to neighbors on any given local street, but the lack of them is a much bigger problem.
Just 1.82 million homes were listed for sale in December, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is a 22 percent drop from a year ago and the lowest supply since May of 2005, when words like "boom" and "bubble" followed the word "housing." At the current sales pace it would take just 4.4 months to sell those homes.
Home prices up 'unsustainable' 5.9% in 2012 Real-estate data provider
projects home values to rise 3.3% this year
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch.com
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The value of American homes climbed 5.9% in 2012, the largest annual gain since the summer of 2006, or near the peak of the housing bubble, according to data released Tuesday by real-estate information provider Zillow Inc.
The final three months of 2012 marked five consecutive quarters of U.S. home value appreciation, and the near 6% annual jump is roughly double the historical average that has home values climbing about 3% a year, Zillow said.
Existing Home Sales Unexpectedly Fall 1 Percent
Reuters - CNBC.com
U.S. home resales unexpectedly fell in December as fewer people put their properties on the market, although not by enough to derail the boost housing will likely provide to the economy this year.
The National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday that existing home sales dropped 1.0 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million units.
That was still the second highest rate of sales since November 2009, when a federal tax credit for home buyers was due to expire.
Chinese Politicians Are Buying Billions In U.S. Real Estate
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Back in September, we explained that when it comes to "boom" in US real estate, there are three key driving forces: i) the Fed's monetization of mortgage backed securities whose impact however is at best to stabilize the demand floor (and judging by the recent collapse in refi activity even that is questionable), ii) an implicit subsidy as banks keep millions of units on their books (to get a sense of how much check out at the chart in "Six Month + Delinquent Mortgages Amount To More Than Half Of Bank of America's Market Cap") in some phase of the foreclosure process, and away from clearing in the market, and perhaps most importantly, iii) the fact that the NAR can legally launder offshore money courtesy of being exempt from anti-money laundering provisions. This allows billions in ill-gotten offshore cash, sourced primarily from Russia and China, to be "invested" in US real-estate, with no cost or pricing discrimation and without any questions asked from any authorities. Because, sure enough, the final result can be spun as a "boom" in real estate by the administration and the banks so very invested in reflating the housing bubble.
Americans want Made in USA label Made in USA makes comeback as a marketing tool
Oliver St. John, USA TODAY
It's becoming downright American to make stuff in America.
Small manufacturers, craftsmen and retailers are marketing the Made-in-USA tag to score do-gooder points with consumers for employing stateside, says Margarita Mendoza, founder of the Made in America Movement, a lobbying organization for small manufacturers.
It's working: Over 80% of Americans are willing to pay more for Made-in-USA products, 93% of whom say it's because they want to keep jobs in the USA, according to a survey released in November by Boston Consulting Group. In ultra-partisan times, it's one of the few issues both Democrats and Republicans agree on.
Facebook may be making you hate life, study says
By Deborah Netburn - LATimes.com
Are you jealous of everyone you know? If so, it might be time to take a break from Facebook.
Scrolling through photos of other people's vacations, joyful family moments and awesome nights out may be a threat to your sense of personal happiness, say a team of German researchers in a new studytitled "Envy on Facebook: A hidden threat to users' life satisfaction?"
And if you are the type of person who lurks on Facebook without contributing much yourself, chances are your sense of life satisfaction is even lower, the researchers found.
New Service Allows People to Text Strangers
Using License Plate Number
By Elizabeth Harrington - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – Don't like the way that car is parked? A new service allows individuals in San Francisco to anonymously send text messages to strangers through their license tag numbers.
"Helping neighbors avoid the pitfalls of parking in San Francisco," says CurbTXT, which allows people who sign up for the service to avoid receiving nasty notes on their vehicles.
Nebraska governor approves Keystone pipeline
By Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman notified President Obama on Tuesday that he has approved the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline to traverse his state, a crucial step toward reviving the project one year after it was delayed by the Obama administration.
The Republican governor wrote in a letter to Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that he has approved a revised route for the Canada-to-Texas pipeline, which his office said would avoid the environmentally sensitive Sandhills region, but will cut through the High Plains Aquifer.
Nebraska Governor Appoves Alternative Route Of Keystone XL Pipeline: Will Buffett/Obama Give The Green Light?
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
One of the more contentious issues in the past year for America's environmentalists was the (successful) blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline over fears that it would contaminate the Ohallala aquifier in the Sandhill region of Nebraska, a major source of groundwater, and an issue over which none other than the president was quite vocal just about a year ago when he killed the idea. At least that was the pre-spun, socially accepted reason (for the real one read below). It is now time to revisit the fate of this critical pipeline following today's news that the Nebraska governor has approved a new route for the pipeline, one which avoids the most sensitive area in the Sandhills. The response from the opponents has not been late in coming: "Governor Heineman just performed one of the biggest flip-flops that we've in Nebraska political history," said Jane Kleeb, executive director of the group Bold Nebraska. And now it will be up to Obama, whose second inauguration speech had a dedicated segment to clean energy, to kill or let it go through. Since the decision will once again be about politics, the outcome is all but certain, but at least it will provide yet another theatrical sideshow to add to all the others emanating from DC these days. After all it is all about distraction.
Why Shale Oil is not the Game Changer
we Have Been Led to Believe - Part 2
Where We Are, in Three Simple Charts
By Chris Martenson - OilPrice.com
One narrative that is being heavily marketed right now is that the shale plays are true game-changers and there's really nothing to worry about for the foreseeable future. Heck, the story says that the U.S. will soon exceed Saudi Arabia in oil production and become energy independent, that it has so much natural gas that it might as well build export terminals, and that there's 100 years of natural gas just waiting to be used.
Unfortunately, none of this is really true. Here's how I can make the case for that assertion using just three charts.
Clouds Over Obama's Second Term
By Patrick J. Buchanan - CNSNews.com
Rarely have second terms lived up to the hopes and expectations of presidents or their electorates.
FDR's began with an attempt to pack the Supreme Court by adding new justices and a second Depression of 1937. He was rescued only by the war in Europe in 1939 and the GOP's nomination of "the barefoot boy from Wall Street," Wendell Willkie.
What can be called Harry Truman's second term was a disaster.
From Kill Romney to Kill the Constitution An Orwellian inaugural address
and a backwards march to another failed utopia.
By JEFFREY LORD - Spectator.org
Backwards, march!
Yesterday's declaration by President Obama, signaling with his inaugural address that he intends to turn America around and march it backwards to the glory days of failed leftism — making of America one gigantic society of beggars — raises the central and obvious point.
It's the damage, stupid.
So how much damage can the American left do over the next four years?
Really. Seriously.
How much damage can the far-left-wing do with a re-elected Obama presidency?
President Obama dodges 'hard choices' on entitlements
By CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN | Politico.com
President Barack Obama insisted four years ago that the nation must make "hard decisions" to preserve entitlement programs.
But on Monday, the "hard choices" he spoke of on health care and the deficit came with a major caveat: He's not willing to give up much.
"The commitments we make to each other — through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security — these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us," Obama told the cheering crowd as he launched his second term. "They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great."
Rep. Charlie Rangel on Guns:
'Some of the Southern Areas Have Cultures
that We Have to Overcome'
By Craig Millward - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), speaking on "MSNBC Live" on Jan. 16 said that "some of the southern areas have cultures that we have to overcome" when it comes to gun control.
Rangel was asked by anchor Thomas Roberts whether new gun control measures passed in New York State should serve as models for other states:
"If you're proud of what New York has done, obviously there is not going to be any perfect policy or perfect law that everybody is going to agree on from both sides saying that this is key perfection but do you think that New York, and what has been done in this state, could be used as a role model for other states that would like to enact something of New York's model?"
Unbiased? 18 of 20 Top Newspapers
Push Gun Control in Editorials Major papers demonize NRA, call for more gun bans.
By Liz Thatcher - MRC.org
• Neutral Journalism: Of top 20 circulating newspapers, 18 pushed gun control in editorials from Dec. 15, 2012 to Jan. 11, 2013.
• Pushing Gun Control: 97 percent of the gun editorials (89 out of 92) promoted gun control or attacked the NRA.
At one time, newspapers were America's source for news and current events. Today it's a completely different story. While President Obama has declared a push to ban or limit types of guns, the nation's major newspapers are nearly unanimous in their support of gun control. The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and other most-popular papers led the list.
Utah Sheriffs Warn Obama:
'No Federal Official Will Be Allowed'
To Take Our Constituents' Gun Rights
By Gregory Gwyn-Williams, Jr. - CNSNews.com
A group of Utah sheriffs sent a letter to President Barack Obama last week stating that they will not enforce any new gun laws they believe to be unconstitutional.
28 of the 29 sheriffs in Utah signed off on the letter with only the Salt Lake County Sheriff, Jim Winder, opting out.
Summit County Sheriff David Edmunds says, "We are prepared to trade our lives in defense of the constitution of the United States."
America's Unconfirmed Hostages
By Christopher R. Hill - Project-Syndicate.org
DENVER – The United States Constitution, which turned 225 years old last summer, is a remarkable document: the provisions of a text written in the eighteenth century continue to guide twenty-first-century governance. We will be reminded of the implications of that in the coming weeks, as President Barack Obama fills senior positions in his second-term administration. In many cases, the process will not be pretty.
Article II of the Constitution stipulates presidential powers that require the "advice and consent of the Senate," including the nomination of senior officials. Probably nobody, 225 years ago, had any idea that the number of officials deemed to require Senate confirmation would eventually exceed 1,400, or that Senate confirmation would involve a vetting process that often takes years to complete.
Davos: Too soon to celebrate Why Davos matters The euro survived. Washington is expected to muddle through its fiscal crises. China is heading for a soft landing, and markets and corporate earnings are recovering.
By Mark Thompson - CNN.com
Nearly five years after the banking meltdown, the world economy is back on track, right?
As policymakers and senior executives fly off for a week of brainstorming and partying in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, they may be tempted to pat themselves on the back.
Yet many are more pessimistic about the future than they were 12 months ago, according to a survey by the World Economic Forum, host of the annual Davos shindig from January 23 to 27. Clouds over Davos include anemic growth, rising social tensions and increased volatility in emerging markets.
Davos Shows Army Ready for Worst in War Game Operation Davos is on a war footing.
By Leigh Baldwin & Zoe Schneeweiss - Bloomberg.com
As snipers fan out over the rooftops of the Alpine resort and the Swiss army rolls miles of barbed wire through the town, officers have more than the security of Mario Draghi and Lloyd Blankfein in mind. They are also preparing for a worst-case scenario: European chaos sparked by a collapse of the euro.
At their annual exercise in September, the Swiss army drilled for a conflict between two fictitious neighboring states in crisis. The challenge was figuring out how to turn Switzerland into a fortress that could keep out the flood of refugees a conflict would send its way.
A New Year of Global Conflict (from Davos)
By Javier Solana and Ian Bremmer - Project-Syndicate.org
DAVOS – In today's world, identifying and managing hotspots is not simply a matter of pulling out a map, spotting the wildfires, and empowering diplomats to douse the flames. To understand today's major conflicts and confrontations, we must recognize important ways in which global political conditions enable them.
Conflicts are much more likely to arise or persist when those with the means to prevent or end them cannot or will not do so. Unfortunately, this will be borne out in 2013.
After Davos: Global Calm, or Profound Change?
By: Steve Liesman - CNBC.com
World leaders begin their meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos tomorrow under highly unusual circumstances: unlike the past six years, there does not appear to be an immediate financial crisis aflame.
The world looks, for the moment, to be in a state of precarious stability.
It is not as if the world lacks for brewing economic trouble or burning concerns about monetary and fiscal policy. And the key question for world leaders to answer here is whether this is a false calm or the beginning of a real change that is connected to current policy.
Philippines to Challenge China's Maritime Claims at UN Tribunal
By Daniel Ten Kate & Joel Guinto - Bloomberg.com
The Philippines plans to challenge China's maritime claims before a United Nations-endorsed tribunal, a move that may raise tensions as the two nations vie for oil, gas and fish resources in contested waters.
"The Philippines has exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China," Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters in Manila yesterday. "To this day, a solution is elusive. We hope the arbitral proceedings shall bring this dispute to a durable solution."
The Coming Oil War in Iraq: Part II
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
The Turkish energy minister confirmed that oil was flowing again through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline from northern Iraq following an attack on the transit network. The separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past, though Ankara was reluctant to point fingers for the latest incident. Though the southern Turkish provinces have experienced violence since the 1980s, the latest attack may be a sign of the growing frustration with the disputes pitting the central government in Iraq against the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.
"Oil flow is continuing without problems through the pipeline," said Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz in a statement Monday.
House Republicans unveil measure
to suspend the debt ceiling until May 19
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
House Republicans on Monday unveiled legislation that will suspend the debt ceiling until May 19, setting the stage for a floor vote as soon as Wednesday.
While past measures to address the debt limit have simply increased the borrowing cap, the House bill would actually suspend the debt limit until May 19. On that date, the debt limit would be automatically increased from $16.4 trillion to accommodate whatever additional borrowing the Treasury had done during that time frame.
Who Will Replace Ben Bernanke? Handicapping the Contenders to Replace Bernanke
By Simon Johnso - Bloomberg.com
Over the past four years, the Federal Reserve has become the most important branch of government. It has acquired unprecedented powers over almost all aspects of American life. It has also become much more politicized than at any time in living memory. Expect further attacks on its independence and integrity at election time. The spirit of Andrew Jackson lives on.
And now we see clear signals that the Fed is likely to have a new chairman soon. Who will run the central bank and what does the choice of top leadership mean for the country?
End The Fed, Or Celebrate Its Existence? Reflections On Our Central Bank's 100th Anniversary
By James Dorn - Forbes.com
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Federal Reserve System. There will be many events commemorating the signing of the Federal Reserve Act in December 1913. Many of those events will be occasions for celebrations by Fed officials and staff, but should the public celebrate a century of central banking?
At the annual meeting of the American Economic Association in San Diego earlier this month, Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff told a large audience that the Fed has been a "remarkably successful institution." During Q & A, Mark Skousen, author of The Making of Modern Economics, asked why the Fed failed to predict the financial crisis and the Great Recession—but Rogoff failed to answer. Later in that session, Donald Kohn, former vice chairman of the Fed, acknowledged that the Fed had made mistakes and should exercise humility. Yet, he is a firm believer in discretion rather than rules.
All Roads Lead To Inflation The real worry is inflation As investors realize the market's deflation phantoms aren't real, they'll notice a potentially fearful rise in inflation. That will give the bond market jitters.
By Bill Fleckenstein - MSN Money
Earlier this week, outgoing Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker attempted to jawbone the euro lower when he said that, "the euro foreign-exchange rate is dangerously high."
So we now live in a world where not only are central banks intent on producing inflation, but the G-7 industrialized countries also all want their currencies lower. Paradoxically, the conclusion of the bond market is to worry about deflation when the logical result is inflation.
Inflation Hawks Are Waging War
Against Their Own Hallucinations The golden phantom menace.
By Zachary Karabell - TheAtlantic.com
….At the Federal Reserve -- legally mandated guardian of price stability and responsible for monitoring and containing inflation -- the president of the Richmond Fed, Jeffrey Lacker, has been warning that the current policy of very low interest rates and expansion of the balance sheet is almost certain to spark inflation in the near future.
In Europe, those views are even more deeply held. The German Bundesbank -- still seared by memories of hyperinflation in the 1920s and the collapse of political order that gave rise to the Nazis -- remains ever vigilant. Its president, Jens Weidman, is strongly opposed to many of the recent sovereign bailouts to preserve the euro on the grounds that good money chasing bad will spark inflation.
The Sovereign Debt Bubble Will Continue To Expand
Until – BANG – The System Implodes
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Why are so many politicians around the world declaring that the debt crisis is "over" when debt to GDP ratios all over the planet continue to skyrocket? The global economy has never seen anything like the sovereign debt bubble that we are experiencing today. The United States, Japan, and nearly every major nation in Europe are absolutely drowning in debt. We have heard a lot about "austerity" over in Europe in recent years, but debt to GDP ratios continue to rise in Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal. In general, most economists consider a debt to GDP ratio of 100% to be a "danger level", and most of the economies of the western world have either already surpassed that level or are rapidly approaching it. Of course the biggest debt offender of all in many ways is the United States. The U.S. debt to GDP ratio has risen from 66.6 percent to 103 percent since 2007, and the U.S. government accumulated more new debt during Barack Obama's first term than it did under the first 42 U.S. presidents combined. This insane sovereign debt bubble will continue to expand until a day of reckoning arrives and the system implodes. Nobody knows exactly when that moment will be reached, but without a doubt it is coming.
Economic Spring After The Debt Showdown? Economic Face Off
By Irwin Stelzer - WeeklyStandard.com
Take heart: There is more going on than meets the naked ear. Yes, the mud-slinging contest that has replaced serious policymaking in Washington continues, with President Obama the clear winner last week when he told a nationally televised press conference that House Republicans "have suspicions about whether government should make sure that kids in poverty are getting enough to eat..." This assessment of the motives of those who want to cut spending came while the capital was preparing for tomorrow's second inauguration of Barack Obama. No search for comity just yet.
bond bubble looming Five red flags for municipal bond investors
By John Wasik
CHICAGO | Fri Jan 18, 2013 11:43am EST
(Reuters) - There is a bubble forming in the municipal bond market, and millions of investors could be impacted if it bursts.
In the coming months, as Congress and the White House wrestle over the next budget, debt ceiling and new sources of revenue, volatility is likely to roil the muni market. Skittish investors had triggered a minor sell-off in December. Yet despite a 1.2-percent loss in the last month, the Barclays Municipal Bond Index gained 6.8 percent overall in 2012.
EU officials want governments to share bank bailout pain
BY BENJAMIN FOX - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - National governments should pay their own contribution to recapitalize ailing banks alongside funding from the eurozone's bail-out fund, according to a paper by EU officials.
Eurozone finance ministers are expected to discuss the plans when they convene on Monday (21 January) for their first Eurogroup meeting of 2013.
For their part, officials in the EU Council in an informal "Issues Note"leaked on Friday by the Wall Street Journal, propose that banks should be eligible for direct support only if national governments are unable to put up the cash themselves or if their failure is of systemic importance to either the member state or the eurozone as a whole.
Italy set to run balanced budget, says minister
BY BENJAMIN FOX - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - The Italian economy will run a balanced budget in 2013 before returning to growth the following year, the country's outgoing finance minister has told the European Parliament.
Speaking with MEPs on the Parliament's Economic committee on Monday (21 January), Finance Minister Vittorio Grilli said that "we expect to have a current account surplus by 2014".
Spain's bankers to strike as job cuts loom
(Reuters) - Workers at three of Spain's bailed-outbanks will stage strikes in coming weeks as they fight mass layoffs, unions said on Monday, spreading industrial unrest to a sector where walkouts have so far been rare.
Spain was forced to ask Europe for up to 100 billion euros ($132.9 billion) to help its weakest banks last year and four of the lenders it took over, including Bankia (BKIA.MC), have to cut thousands of jobs and shrink their balance sheets as a condition of their rescue.
Swiss ANGER - people are waking up The Swiss turn on the super-rich
By Emma Thomasson
(Reuters) - In February 2008, Thomas Minder, a Swiss businessman whose family-owned company is best known for its old-fashioned herbal toothpaste, attacked his banker, UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel, as if he were a form of stubborn plaque. At a shareholders' meeting in Basel, he stormed the podium as Ospel addressed the crowd. Ospel's bodyguards grappled with Minder and wrestled him away before he could land his symbolic blow — he was trying to hand the embattled head of Switzerland's largest bank a bound copy of Swiss company law, which codifies corporate temperance.
"Gentlemen, you are responsible for the biggest write-downs in Swiss corporate history," Minder had railed just a few minutes before, referring to UBS's loss of $50 billion during the subprime meltdown that prompted it to seek a government bailout. "Put an end to the Americanization of UBS corporate philosophy!"
President defends Medicare, Medicaid in inaugural address
By Sam Baker - TheHill.com
President Obama used his inaugural address Monday to defend popular but expensive entitlement programs, including Medicare.
Obama said it is imperative to reduce healthcare costs, but he made clear that he's not on board with Republican plans to dramatically cut Medicare and Medicaid.
Entitlement programs "do not make us a nation of takers," Obama said, rejecting part of the principle underlying the push to cut entitlements, particularly Medicaid.
Universal health care and gun control
caused the holocaust Episode 2
The Million mom march: an organization of angry liberal women like Rosie O'hitler who want nothing more to strip you of your constitutional rights, particularly your second amendment rights. There was another Million mom march almost a century ago, in Kiev 1942 in a place called Babi Yar. There, Jews who were disarmed of their weapons and their rights by socialists were marched to their deaths. They paid the price for gun control. Liberals would love nothing more than to let it happen again here.
Universal healthcare & gun control
caused the holocaust episode 3
Universal healthcare has always been in America. It was used during a dark forgotten time in our history that liberals want to ressurect. Eugenics. Learn how Hitler and liberals will use psychiatry to make dissent and oppostion a disease and how liberal Germans branded Jews and the weak as walking diseases. Universal healthcare will euthanize the disabled while declaring liberal oppenents mentally ill and social lepers. And you will see the construction of concentration camps, Germany's ultimate universal healthcare facilities for "curing" the undesirable.
Obamacare alternative at a discount Traveling for healthcare, but not that far
By Chris Taylor
NEW YORK | Fri Jan 18, 2013 11:16am EST
(Reuters) - For Jim Kucera, the pain was just getting worse. The salesman from New Hope, Minnesota, needed a hip replacement urgently, but the cost of treatment would also be painful: Lacking health insurance, he would have to pay out of pocket.
At first, Kucera looked abroad at countries like Israel and India, where he figured he could get the procedure done for about $30,000, a bargain compared with the $50,000 or more that American hospitals would likely charge.
But he balked at the long distances involved and the potential for in-flight health problems.
Then, he came across the encouraging idea of being a medical tourist closer to home - right here in the United States.
Arizona to tax hospitals to pay for Medicaid
By BY BOB CHRISTIE, AP - CNSNews.com
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has built a political career in standing up to the federal government over everything from immigration to health care. So she surprised almost everyone when she announced last week that she not only plans to push for an expansion of the state's Medicaid program under the federal health care law — she plans to fund it by raising taxes.
A conservative Republican, Brewer is believed to be the first governor to publicly come up with a way to fund the controversial Medicaid expansion. Not even California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat in a state that largely supports the new federal health plan, has figured out how to pay for a boosted Medicaid plan.
Mission told not to feed the homeless in Seattle city parks
BY BRANDI KRUSE - MyNorthwest.com
The Bread of Life Mission, which has served the homeless community in Pioneer Square for more than 70 years, said the city has directed them to stop feeding the hungry in downtown parks.
On the third Saturday of every month for the past three years, volunteers for the mission have handed out meals at places such as City Hall Park. The offering was in addition to the three meals a day they serve inside their building at 97 South Main Street.
Anonymous likens Obama gun control policy to Hitler
By Josh Peterson - DailyCaller.com
Hacktivist group Anonymous has now spoken out against President Barack Obama's intentions to enact wider gun control in the U.S.
In a 15-minute YouTube video, which first appeared on the social network two weeks ago, Anonymous criticized the Obama administration's leveraging of violent gun crime to achieve its goal to control guns.
William Bratton: The Real Cures for Gun Violence William Bratton, the once (and possibly future) New York police commissioner, on the president's gun-control plans and the need for 'certainty of punishment.'
By DAVID FEITH - WSJ.com
New York
The last time America had a gun-control debate was the early 1990s, and it was followed by the great two-decade-long decline in American crime. The irony is that gun control had very little to do with that decline.
William Bratton did. Serving as New York City's top cop for 27 months from 1994 to 1996, he helped turn around a violent, crime-ridden city with policies that later were adopted nationwide and across the globe. The 65-year-old now runs a consulting business and a tech firm that focus on law enforcement, and in a recent chat he puts the gun debate in the context of policies that really have made America safer.
The Institutionalization of Tyranny
By Paul Craig Roberts
Republicans and conservative Americans are still fighting Big Government in its welfare state form. Apparently, they have never heard of the militarized police state form of Big Government, or, if they have, they are comfortable with it and have no objection.
Republicans, including those in the House and Senate, are content for big government to initiate wars without a declaration of war or even Congress' assent, and to murder with drones citizens of countries with which Washington is not at war. Republicans do not mind that federal "security" agencies spy on American citizens without warrants and record every email, Internet site visited, Facebook posting, cell phone call, and credit card purchase. Republicans in Congress even voted to fund the massive structure in Utah in which this information is stored.
Google Declares War on the Password
BY ROBERT MCMILLAN - Wired.com
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — Want an easier way to log into your Gmail account? How about a quick tap on your computer with the ring on your finger?
This may be closer than you think. Google's security team outlines this sort of ring-finger authentication in a new research paper, set to be published late this month in the engineering journal IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine. In it, Google Vice President of Security Eric Grosse and Engineer Mayank Upadhyay outline all sorts of ways they think people could wind up logging into websites in the future — and it's about time.
Brave new network:
Why I hope Apple never releases a smart watch
By Brent Simmons - Macworld.com
Imagine walking alone in the woods—listening to the birds, watching squirrels scurry up the trees, letting your thoughts and feet wander. Nobody can see you. Even the satellites can't take a picture of you through the canopy of leaves.
You're alone, and it's delightful.
Then, breaking the spell, your wrist buzzes to let you know you've got email and some Facebook messages. One is from a friend asking why you're walking alone in the woods—he knows where you are because he used Find My Friends.
...almost frightening in its ability to personalize potential questions Facebook's Bold, Compelling and Scary Engine of Discovery:
The Inside Story of Graph Search
BY STEVEN LEVY - Wired.com
….It will be interesting to see what happens once people do understand how the photos, interests, and personal details they share on Facebook are now part of a new product that may cause that data to be viewed more often and by people who otherwise might not have encountered it. Will this encourage people to share more so they can express themselves more widely and maybe even entice desirable new connections? Or will it lead them to share less and batten down their privacy settings so that new eyes won't include them in a search-graph roundup? "The user base might bifurcate between the people who don't want to be found and those who really do," predicts Elliot Schrage, Facebook's vice president of communications and public policy, who points out that Facebook will give users those choices. "It will be fascinating to see what the percentages are — and the demographics."
Stealth Wear: An Anti-Drone Hoodie and Scarf No, really, this garment might fool
the infrared cameras mounted on drones.
By Alexis Madrigal - TheAtlantic.com
Continuing his run of fascinating art that plays with thwarting the technological tools of the surveillance state, Adam Harvey has released a new collection of "counter surveillance garments and accessories." Called Stealth Wear, the line is a collaboration with fashion designer Johanna Bloomfield.
Launched in London yesterday, a city blanketed by police cameras, the garments nominally are "anti-drone," in that they reduce one's thermal profile, which can be seen in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The infrared cameras mounted on drones, therefore, can see the heat of bodies, even in the dark.
Gesture Controls and Supercars Reborn:
The Best of the Detroit Auto Show
BY DAMON LAVRINC - Wired.com
With CES in our rearview mirror, we headed east to Detroit for the second most important trade show of January: the North American International Auto Show. And one automaker utterly dominated.
General Motors kicked things off the night before with the unveiling of the all-new, seventh-generation Corvette, and after that, everything else was an afterthought. But there were a handful of other concepts and production models that deserve time in the limelight. So if you didn't follow our two live-blogs from the show floor, here are the most important debuts straight from the Motor City.
bill to abolish presidential term limits
By Patrick Howley - DailyCaller.com
New York Democratic Rep. Jose Serrano reintroduced a bill in Congress on Friday to repeal the 22nd Amendment, which places term limits on the U.S. presidency.
The bill, which has been referred to committee, would allow Barack President Obama to become the first president since Franklin Roosevelt to seek a third term in office.
Transcript And Audio:
Barack Obama's Second Inaugural Address The remarks of President Obama,
as released by The White House and prepared for delivery:
NPR.org
Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:
Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional — what makes us American — is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Obama calls on nation to seize its moment 'together,
as one people'
By Amie Parnes - TheHill.com
President Obama began the second term of his presidency Monday by seeking common ground and calling for the country to come "together as one nation, as one people."
"America's possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; and endless capacity for risk and gift for reinvention," Obama said his second inauguration address. "My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it together."
Obama's speech lauds government, dismisses opponents
By Neil Munro - DailyCaller.com
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's second inauguration speech promised a sharply ideological second term where the "the people" will use government to accomplish the tasks that he declared cannot be accomplished by individuals.
"No single person can train all the math and science teachers we'll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores," he declared in a 2,103-word speech that included numerous campaign-style jabs at his political opponents.
Obama Toasts Lawmakers at Congressional Luncheon
President Barack Obama told lawmakers in a toast at the Capitol Monday that he's confident they can act together to make a difference for the country's children, "and our children's children."
Obama: 'Irony of the presidential office'
is the humility it teaches
By Justin Sink - TheHill.com
President Obama told congressional leaders at his inaugural luncheon Monday that the "irony" of being president was the humility that came with attempting to implement an agenda.
"I know that former President Carter, President Clinton, they understand the irony of the presidential office, which is the longer you're there, the more humble you become, and the more mindful you are that is beyond your powers individually to move this great country," Obama said.
Obama's Inaugural: If God 'Truly' Created Us Equal,
Homosexual 'Love' is Equal as Well
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama opened his second inaugural address by quoting the statement from the preamble to the Declaration of Independence that all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights."
He then went on to say that if men were in fact created equal, then homosexual "love" must be equal as well.
If we're all in this together, why the battle plan? Confident Obama lays out battle plan
as he launches second term
By Matt Spetalnick and Anna Yukhananov
WASHINGTON | Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:44pm EST
(Reuters) - A confident President Barack Obamakicked off his second term on Monday with an impassioned call for a more inclusive America that rejects partisan rancor and embraces immigration reform, gay rights and the fight against climate change.
Obama's ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol was filled with traditional pomp and pageantry, but it was a scaled-back inauguration compared to the historic start of his presidency in 2009 when he swept into office on a mantle of hope and change as America's first black president.
Obama's Startling Second Inaugural
By James Fallows - TheAtlantic.com
This was the most sustainedly "progressive" statement Barack Obama has made in his decade on the national stage.
I was expecting an anodyne tone-poem about healing national wounds, surmounting partisanship, and so on. As has often been the case, Obama confounded expectations -- mine, at least. Four years ago, when people were expecting a barn-burner, the newly inaugurated president Obama gave a deliberately downbeat, sober-toned presentation about the long challenges ahead. Now -- well, it's almost as if he has won re-election and knows he will never have to run again and hears the clock ticking on his last chance to use the power of the presidency on the causes he cares about. If anyone were wondering whether Obama wanted to lower expectations for his second term ... no, he apparently does not.
Obama, CEO Inaugural Address: Some Quick Reflections,
and What Obama Did Not Say
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Like many others I listened to President Obama's second Inaugural Address today.
There were of some higher moments, broader themes, and an emphasis on the positive. I struggled to find 'the memorable phrase' that would be repeated and quoted in the particular. I have one or two candidates.
Perhaps time will sift one out of this speech, but over all this struck me as an address from a manager like a CEO, and not a political leader. But that does sound a bit petty. Not every Presidential inaugural address is memorable.
Obama: Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security Make Us 'Free'
By Fred Lucas - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama seemed to reject entitlement reform in his second Inaugural address Monday, even saying Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security "free us to take the risks that make this country great."
"We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit," Obama said. "But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future for we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few.
Climate change moves to forefront
in Obama's second inaugural address
President's affirmation of climate science – more prominent than in the campaign – wins praise from environmental groups
By Suzanne Goldenberg - Guardian.co.uk
Barack Obama said more about climate change in his inauguration speech – and expressed it more forcefully – than he did at any point in the 2012 election campaign and during much of his first term.
Climate change occupied a significant chunk of Monday's speech, and Obama did not stint on the language, suggesting it was a religious and patriotic duty to deal with the challenge.
Obama Promises to Act on Climate Change
By Siobhan Hughes and Keith Johnson - WSJ.com
President Barack Obama vowed to "respond to the threat of climate change," using his second inaugural address to press an environmental agenda that Republicans blocked in his first term.
"We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations," Mr. Obama said. "Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms."
Gold Getting That Old Shiny Look Again
By DoctoRx - DailyCapitalist.com
Nothing really has gone wrong with the fundamental gold story since it reached its current price in the summer of 2011. This period was, as we remember, one of feigned panic amongst the media that the United States would actually default on its Treasury obligations. The more fundamental story was that a few domestic and international rating agencies had taken one of the 'A's from the U.S.'s credit rating. In any case, gold had been rising fairly steadily and kept on doing so, accelerating to slightly about $1900/ounce a few weeks after those news items hit. Then the Fed fooled the markets and did not institute a formal QE 3. Instead, it opted for Operation Twist. Very shortly after gold peaked, when bullish sentiment was so rampant that JPM's analyst was predicting $2500/ounce by yearend, I wrote a post titled Gold on Hold; The New Play May Be in Munis.
Is The Gold Price Dependent On China?
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
China now buys more gold than the Western world:
Does that mean, as some commentators are suggesting, that future price growth for the gold price depends on China? That if the Chinese economy weakens and has a hard landing or a recession that gold will fall steeply?
There's no doubt that the run-up that gold has experienced in recent years is associated with the rise in demand for gold from emerging markets and their central banks. And indeed, the BRIC central banks have been quite transparent about their gold acquisition and the reasons for it.
Zhang Jianhua of the People's Bank of China said:
No asset is safe now. The only choice to hedge risks is to hold hard currency — gold.
Mind-Bending Idiocy Is The Reason
We Don't Have A Gold Standard Today
By Nathan Lewis - Forbes.com
One of the strangest things about "Triffin's Dilemma" is not that Robert Triffin said something in the mid-1960s, but rather that people still take this stuff seriously a half-century later. It's basically nonsense. But, it seems that, in fifty years, nobody has appeared to call a spade a spade. It just shows the very low level of understanding that has characterized these issues for over half a century.
For the last hundred and fifty years, some countries have operated gold standard systems using a "reserve currency" as a reserve asset. In practice, they don't actually hold the currency – base money – but rather government bonds denominated in that currency. Before 1914, this was mostly British government bonds, and after 1944 it was U.S. Treasury bonds.
Keiser Report: Welcome Home German Gold (E395)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the currency war masquerading as a 'storage plan,' the Bond Kings threatening the gold repatriating Germany with having a Libya done to them and the Mexican taco stand in Florida advising customers to invest in silver. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Doug Casey of CaseyResearch.com about German gold, Glenn's Gulch and future war.
German Gold Grab Could Call into Question
the "Full Faith and Credit" of the U.S.
By Jeff Uscher - MoneyMorning.com
The recently publicized move by the German central bank to bring its gold home is sending a major message about trust in the United States.
The bank holds 45% of its 3,396 tons of gold in the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, and wants to reduce those holdings to 37%. It also plans to take back all of its 11% of holdings currently stored at the Banque de France in Paris.
Doug Casey: "We Are Living In The Middle
Of The Biggest Bubble In History."
By Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
The recovery since the 2008 financial crisis is just an illusion created by the papering-over of our insolvency by central-bank printing. Doug Caseyadds that the current state is akin to being "in the eye of the hurricane thanks to this 'cover'" and believes the printing which will ultimately lead to very high inflation once bank lending starts to pick up again. This excellent interview moves from Casey's view of a looming loss of confidence in the dollar (and the impact of mass repatriation) to what must the Keynesians be thinking as the "apparency of prosperity" remains all that we have to lift animal spirits. With an eye to gold (and non-western central banks behavior towards it as they realize "the USD is just an unsecured liability of a bankrupt government"), he evaluates the likelihood of a western economic collapse in 2013 and what that would imply for an implicit gold standard in the world. From Austrian economist Hans Herman-Hoppe's view of a post-Keynesian-crash era to his potential triggers for this collapse (such as gold-energy barter and non-dollar blocs), Casey succinctly reminds us that there is not just one asset-class bubble but that "we are living in the middle of the biggest bubble in history."
Previous Corporate Hoarding of Cash
May Soon Become a Big Positive Corporate cash will offset Fed removing punch-bowl
BY SY HARDING - FinancialSense.com
For a number of years politicians and analysts have bemoaned the fact that U.S. corporations were hoarding cash to an unprecedented degree, refusing to invest it for future growth that might have helped the economy recover from the back-to-back recessions of 2001 and 2008. Lagging business investment has continuously been tagged as one of the major factors stifling the economy.
Depending on whose numbers you believe, corporations are sitting on a record $2 trillion to $4 trillion in idle cash, earning only today's minimal interest.
The World Is In Trouble... The United States is in Trouble
by Mark J. Grant, - ZeroHedge.com
We make more than we've ever made, we owe more than we've ever owed, and we have less than we've had in decades which is distributed to those that did not earn the money. This is a working definition of Trouble. The stock market is at an all-time high while the financial condition of the country has seriously deteriorated. We are printing $90 billion a month of little green pieces of paper while the Democrats yell at the Republicans to up the debt ceiling as they want to spend even more money to promote social welfare programs. We cannot afford the bills that we have now and we are being asked to add more to them. This is a recipe for disaster and I am reminded of those months right before the financial crisis of 2008/2009 where no documentation loans for Real Estate flourished and easy money was the normal course of things.
Federal Reserve was blind to crisis in 2007
By Annalyn Kurtz - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Federal Reserve officials were largely unaware of the financial crisis brewing in 2007, until they found themselves in the middle of it, transcripts released Friday show.
The more than 1,300 pages offer the most comprehensive look at the Federal Reserve's deliberations, leading up to the start of the Great Recession in December 2007. It's the central bank's policy to release full transcripts with a five year lag.
Did the Fed Just Admit QE3 Has Been a Major Failure?
By DAVID ZEILER - MoneyMorning.com
After four years of quantitative easing programs, including QE3 just last fall, U.S. Federal Reserve officials have started voicing doubts about its effectiveness and concerns that it is distorting the markets.
And it's not just the Fed's hawks, such as Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, speaking out against the bond-buying extravaganza.
Doves like Atlanta's Dennis Lockhart and moderates like Kansas City's Esther George have expressed concerns about QE3 as well.
Without Deep Spending Cuts,
Republicans Lose the House in 2014
By Lawrence Kudlow - PatriotPost.us
OK, it's official. According to the Treasury Department, the U.S. debt jumped to $16.1 trillion in 2012 from $14.8 trillion in 2011. That's a $1.3 trillion deficit for the last year. Remarkable. During President Obama's first term, the federal debt rose by roughly $6 trillion.
Now, if they are bold, House Republicans will take advantage of these dismal numbers. Bold means bold spending cuts, as in cut spending like there's no tomorrow. Bold means implementing the $1.2 trillion spending sequester. Bold means an absolute rock-solid commitment to spending cuts.
The Trillion Dollar Trick
By PETER D. SCHIFF - MoneyMorning.com
The birth, and the apparent death, of the trillion dollar platinum coin idea may one day be recalled as a mere footnote in the current debt crisis drama.
The ultimate rejection of the idea - which was to use a loophole in commemorative coinage law to mint a platinum coin of any denomination - by both the President and the Federal Reserve seems to offer some relief that our economic policy is not being run by out-of-touch academics and irresponsible congressmen.
Politicians Already Committed to Inflation
-Catherine Austin Fitts
Catherine Austin Fitts of Solari.com says the real fight over the fiscal cliff is how we are going to pay for the mess. Fitts thinks, "Politicians have already committed to inflation." Fitts predicts, "The chances of another financial collapse are very small because every time we come up to a moment where a financial collapse starts to be a real risk, what happens? We get war."
Will Europe's Fiscal Compact Work?
By Jeffrey Frankel - Project-Syndicate.org
CAMBRIDGE – At the start of 2013, the eurozone's "fiscal compact" entered into force, owing to its ratification on December 21 by a 12th country, Finland, a year after German Chancellor Angela Merkel prodded eurozone leaders into agreement. The compact – technically called the Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union – requires member countries to introduce laws limiting their structural government budget deficits to less than 0.5 % of GDP (or less than 1% of GDP if their debt/GDP ratio is "significantly below 60%"). So, will this new approach work?
Spain Recession Scars Exposed
as Jobless Seen Reaching 6 Million
By Angeline Benoit - Bloomberg.com
Spain's scars from the slump that overshadowed Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's first year in office will emerge this week as data shows the toll on economic output that may have kept as many as 6 million people out of work.
Spanish trade figures due today will be followed by house- price data tomorrow showing if theproperty market endured a fourth year of declines. The Bank of Spain may also release its estimate for fourth-quarter gross domestic product, and the data will culminate in jobs figures on Jan. 24, forecast by economists to show a record 26 percent of Spaniards unemployed.
China's risky new money supply New tool-kit needed for China's funding surge
By Craig Stephen
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Investors have always needed a different tool-kit when it comes to deciphering China's monetary policy. Now it needs another update as new funding sources explode.
Traditionally in China's state-driven economy, monetary policy has been about the quantity of money rather than interest rates. Whereas in the U.S. all eyes are on the Fed's rate policy, in China, it's typically loan quotas that make the headlines.
Health Care Act's Death Star?
By George Will - PatriotPost.us
WASHINGTON -- A willow, not an oak. So said conservatives of Chief Justice John Roberts when he rescued the Affordable Care Act -- aka Obamacare -- from being found unconstitutional. But the manner in which he did this may have made the ACA unworkable, thereby putting it on a path to ultimate extinction.
This plausible judgment comes from professor Thomas A. Lambert of the University of Missouri Law School, writing in Regulation quarterly, a publication of the libertarian Cato Institute. The crucial decision, he says, was four liberal justices joining Roberts' opinion declaring that the ACA's penalty for not complying with the mandate to purchase health insurance is actually a tax on not purchasing it. With this reasoning, the court severely limited the ability of the new health care regime to cope with its own predictable consequences.
Obama's Health Care Problem
By John C. Goodman - PatriotPost.us
President Obama made a remarkable statement to John Boehner in the middle of their negotiations leading up to the fiscal cliff. "We don't have a spending problem," the president said. We have "a health care problem."
To put this in perspective, almost every economist familiar with the federal government finances views our national health care problem as a spending problem. In fact, it is THE spending problem. If the federal government were not buying health care, we wouldn't have a long term deficit.
Facebook Graph Search Is A Disruptive Minefield
Of Unintended Consequences
By Anthony Wing Kosner - Forbes.com
I was not at the Facebook announcement in Menlo Park on Tuesday, so I neither drank the KoolAid nor felt compelled to respond immediately. I'm glad I waited. Facebook's new Graph Search feature is both a bigger and a smaller story than what most observers were expecting. On the one hand, this will now be an integral part of the product, a third pillar, as Zuckerberg described it, along with the newsfeed and timeline. On the other hand, for consumers, this is somewhat of a product in search of a use-case. I don't think that users have been clamoring for this—but marketers have.
Caterpillar Punked By Chinese Fraud,
To Write Off Half Of Q4 Earnings
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Fraudulent Chinese corporations are nothing new - we have been warning about them since late 2010, spurring the creation of a cottage industry focused exclusively on unmasking such public reverse merger companies (and generating trading profits along the way). One company, however, which apparently was completely unaware of the now pervasive and proven for the past two years Chinese corporate fraud, is US industrial titan Caterpillar. This was made clear when, after hours on Friday night naturally, the company revealed that it had been misled by "deliberate, multi-year, coordinated accounting misconduct" at a subsidiary of a Chinese company it acquired last summer, leading it to write off most of the value of the deal. In the process it would also take a $580 million, or $0.87 cent charge to earnings, which would wipe out more than half its expected earnings of $1.70 for the fourth quarter of 2012. One wonders, however, is there more to this story than just a case of a gentle, naive board duped by fraudulent, evil, cunning "Chinamen" which may have watched one too many episodes of Autonomy does Hewlett Packard?
Malicious Software Threatens U.S. Power Plants
By John Daly - OilPrice.com
In America's energy industry, batted by last year's Hurricane Sandy, can be added a new threat – computer malware, an ominous portent for the U.S. power grid.
Apparently, in October 2012 a computer malware virus invaded a turbine control system at a U.S. power plant, when a technician "unknowingly" inserted an infected USB computer drive into the network, keeping a plant off line for three weeks according to a Voice of America report.
Energy exports: The untapped U.S. option
By REP. MIKE POMPEO | Politico.com
Historically, we have lived in a nation of energy dependence. Dependence on others for our heating and electricity, and for our fuel for transportation. Yet today, for the first time in generations, we no longer need to view ourselves as living in a country of energy scarcity. The U.S. will soon overtake Saudi Arabia in hydrocarbon production. According to the Energy Information Administration, our nation is scheduled to have an energy surplus by 2030. We will create millions of jobs this decade right here in the United States simply by allowing that to happen. The only thing that can truly derail this staggeringly enormous opportunity for wealth creation: politicians and bureaucrats in Washington.
Do You Want To Scare A Baby Boomer?
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
If you want to frighten Baby Boomers, just show them the list of statistics in this article. The United States is headed for a retirement crisis of unprecedented magnitude, and we are woefully unprepared for it. At this point, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers are reaching the age of 65 every single day, and this will continue to happen for almost the next 20 years. The number of senior citizens in America is projected to more than double during the first half of this century, and some absolutely enormous financial promises have been made to them. So will we be able to keep those promises to the hordes of American workers that are rapidly approaching retirement? Of course not. State and local governments are facing trillions in unfunded pension liabilities. Medicare is facing a 38 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. The Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. Meanwhile, nearly half of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement. The truth is that I was being incredibly kind when I said earlier that we are "woefully unprepared" for what is coming. The biggest retirement crisis in history is rapidly approaching, and a lot of the promises that were made to the Baby Boomers are going to get broken.
CEOs' proposal: Raise retirement age to 70
By Matthew Heimer - MarketWatch.com
In the endless-loop battle over the federal deficit, whether and how to reduce spending on Social Security and Medicare remains one of the most combustible topics. The Business Roundtable, a group of more than 170 of the nation's chief executives, has now spelled out its own stance on entitlement reform, and its headline proposal is: Americans need to wait longer for retirement benefits. Most notably, the group advocates raising the Medicare and Social Security eligibility ages to 70, up from the current 65 for Medicare and 66 or 67 for full benefits for Social Security.
CFPB's Mortgage Crackdown It's great that the bureau is making it harder to buy a house.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was one of the most-hyped elements of the major financial regulation overhaul Congress enacted in 2010. Most of the regulation was too technical for the public to comprehend, but the CFPB had a media-savvy celebrity spokesperson in Elizabeth Warren, who turned it into a focal point for progressive activists. Yet since its creation, the CFPB has been relatively quiet.
But new rules on "qualified mortgages" issues last week, plus stricter regulation to protect against abuses by mortgage services announced today, change all that. Housing and housing finance are a major economic sector, and new proposals to crack down on abusive practices will have real benefits to consumers. At the same time, industry advocates are correct when they say the CFPB's plans will make it harder for some people to get home loans. That's a price worth paying if it produces a more honest, more stable mortgage market.
American Airlines Repainting Deck Chairs on the Titanic
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
The travails of American Airlines have been covered fairly extensively on this blog, and I'm happy to report that for now the situation with the pilots is under control. That said, it continues to be the case that the bankrupt airline's management is showing an irrational level of resistence to the sensible option of merging with US Airways. I'm not certain that would be a sensible business move for US Airways, but it's something US Airways wants to do, it's something American's unions want to do, and it would certainly put American in a stronger financial position.
Is Bank of America
Driving Legitimate Gun Dealers Out of Business? MFI-Miami Is Getting Reports Of BofA
Seizing The Bank Accounts Of Firearms Dealers
Steve Dibert, MFI-Miami.com
A new and interesting twist has risen from the heated debate about guns in America since the Sandy Hook massacre. The largest bank in the U.S. has apparently been freezing the bank accounts of legitimate firearms dealers across the U.S. According to an email I received from Joe Sirochman, the owner of American Spirit Arms in Scottsdale, Arizona, the reason was pretty clear and blunt. After countless hours of trying to talk to someone at Bank of America, he was told by a customer service manager, that his accounts were frozen because, " We believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the Internet."
Do You Support "Individual Freedoms"?...
Dan Norcini - SilverBearCafe.com
Then guess what - according to a study done by a West Point "Think Tank" funded by none else than your own taxpayer money, America needs to be warned against you and those like you! Think I am making this idiocy up? This is an excerpt from the article:
A West Point think tank has issued a paper warning America about "far right" groups such as the "anti-federalist" movement, which supports "civil activism, individual freedoms and self-government."
The report issued this week by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., is titled "Challengers from the Sidelines: Understanding America's Violent Far-Right."
BILL CLINTON: GUN CONTROL PUSH
BRINGING BACK THE TEA PARTY
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
When Republicans won historic landslide victories in 1994, it was due in large part to the fact that a relatively moderate Democrat Party had promoted and passed an "Assault Weapons Ban" (AWB) which cut across the grain of gun owners of all parties and all walks of life.
Fast forward to 2013, gun owners of all walks of life exist in even greater numbers, and the Democrat Party is showing them even greater disrespect.
AMERICANS RALLY NATIONWIDE AGAINST STRICTER GUN CONTROL MEASURES — HERE ARE THE PICTURES
(TheBlaze/AP) — Concerned citizens gathered in state capitals nationwide Saturday to rally against stricter gun control measures, days after President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping package of federal gun control proposals.
Roughly 800 people turned out in Austin, Texas, many carrying signs with messages like "An Armed Society is a Polite Society" and "The Second Amendment Comes from God." Police in Connecticut said about 1,000 people showed up on the capitol grounds in Hartford, about 50 miles from the site of last month's mass shooting at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School. Roughly 2,000 turned out in New York.
RELOAD: SECOND AMENDMENT RALLIES HIGHLIGHT CONSERVATIVE POTENTIAL IN OBAMA'S SECOND TERM
by JOEL B. POLLAK - Breitbart.com
Thousands rallied across the nation yesterday in support of Second Amendment rights, and conservatives were reminded that Barack Obama's second term presents a unique opportunity to rebuild. Our principles of individual liberty and constitutional government may be a minority creed, but they are still the best principles to have. Even liberals find them compelling--when they are not hypnotized by the Obama cult of personality.
The conservative movement should aim high. Its long-term political goal should be to achieve what Republicans never have done, and Democrats have enjoyed several times: a filibuster-proof majority. The only way to restore the nation's original constitutional vision, and to renew its rapid economic growth and global leadership, is to push those changes through. The left is not shy about coveting such power; neither should we be.
Barrasso: Senate vote
on Obama gun-control proposals unlikely
By Kevin Bogardus - TheHill.com
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said Sunday that he does not believe President Obama's gun-control proposals will be brought to the Senate floor for a vote.
Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Barrasso said election worries among Democrats will sideline legislation that could restrict gun ownership.
Obama has called on Congress to institute universal background checks for all gun sales as well as bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, among other items.
Obama gun order triples Cabinet agencies required to track guns
By Paul Bedard - WashingtonExaminer.com
President Obama is tripling the number of Cabinet agencies with gun control law enforcement responsibilities in his new bid to track guns, adding six agencies to the three typically included--Justice, Homeland Security and Defense.
Section 1.e of his executive order released Wednesday adds State, Treasury, Interior, Agriculture, Energy, and Veterans Affairs. It reads: "For purposes of this memorandum, 'Federal law enforcement agencies' means the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, the Interior, Agriculture, Energy, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security, and such other agencies and offices that regularly recover firearms in the course of their criminal investigations as the President may designate."
Obama Picks Ultimatums Over Optimism to Start Second Term
By Julianna Goldman - Bloomberg.com
When Barack Obama held his first prime-time news conference as president, the financial crisis was at its peak and not a single Republican had voted for his economic stimulus bill. So he pleaded for their partnership.
"I am the eternal optimist," he said Feb. 9, 2009 in the East Room of the White House, wearing a red tie. "I think that, over time, people respond to civility and -- and rational argument."
Obama sworn in for second term during White House ceremony
By Kevin Bogardus - TheHill.com
President Obama was sworn in for his second term on Sunday, accompanied by his family in a short ceremony in the White House.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Obama in the Blue Room, as the swearing-in was watched by a press pool and broadcast by cable networks.
Obama followed presidential precedent in choosing Roberts as chief justice to administer the oath of office to him.
Obama Says Inauguration
Is a Symbol of How Democracy Works
By Hans Nichols & Jamie Coughlin - Bloomberg.com
President Barack Obama said his inauguration is a symbol of democracy and a reminder that "we're all in this together," as he began a weekend of festivities by helping renovate aWashington elementary school.
"This is really what America's about, this is what we celebrate," Obama said to other volunteers, after helping paint a bookshelf at the school today in Northeast Washington.
The inauguration is "a symbol of how our democracy works and how we peacefully transfer power," he said. "But it should also be an affirmation that we're all in this together."
Out-of-town cops sworn in for inauguration
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 2,000 police officers from across the country have been sworn in ahead of Monday's presidential inauguration.
The officers were sworn in as deputy U.S. marshals during a training session Sunday at American University. The oath, administered by the U.S. marshal for the District of Columbia, authorizes them to work security for the event. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier attended the ceremony.
Rand Paul: GOP must 'evolve and adapt'
By MACKENZIE WEINGER | Politico.com
Sen. Rand Paul said on Sunday that he will make a decision on a 2016 presidential run within two years and plans to be a force in the refashioning the Republican party regardless of whether he seeks the Oval Office.
"We will continue to pursue and, you know, try to make that decision over the next two years or so," the Kentucky Republican told WABC Radio's Aaron Klein when asked about a potential White House bid.
In the meantime, Paul said, he will "try to be part of the national debate" and added that he hopes to play a major role in directing the future of the Republican Party.
Madeleine Albright: Hillary Clinton to decide on her own
By KEVIN CIRILLI | Politico.com
Madeleine Albright said Sunday that after serving as secretary of state, she hit the spa to relax but added Hillary Clinton will have to make up her own mind about what's best.
"What I did — it was interesting — I read the newspapers and was very happy that I didn't have to make the decisions," Albright told POLITICO at The Daily Beast's Bipartisan Brunch in Washington.
"And then I went to a spa," quipped Albright, who served in Bill Clinton's administration.
Eric Schmidt's daughter details North Korea visit
By Emily Jane Fox - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
More details about Google chairman Eric Schmidt's surreptitious trip to North Korea emerged this weekend in a blog post by Schmidt's daughter and traveling companion, Sophie.
She posted her impressions on a Google Sites page, sharing details of what the nine-person delegation, led by and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, saw on theircontroversial visit. Eric Schmidt confirmed the page's authenticity to news site Quartz. A Google representative did not return a call seeking comment.
The younger Schmidt described a "very, very cold" and "very, very strange" journey overseen by a pair of official minders -- two, she wrote, "so one can mind the other."
Algeria Gas Plant Seizure Ends as Militants, Hostages Die
By Salah Slimani & Salma El Wardany - Bloomberg.com
The Algerian government warned that the death toll could rise after reporting that 23 hostages and 32 terrorists died in the four-day standoff that ended Jan. 19 at a natural-gas plant.
The dead may have included as many as six Britons and five Norwegians. One American, Frederick Buttaccio of Katy, Texas, was killed. Citizens of Colombia, France, Japan and Malaysia were also either reported dead or missing. With no authoritative word on the total number of hostages or attackers killed, another 25 unidentified burned bodies were found, Ennahar television said yesterday on its website.
Bloody Algeria hostage crisis ends
after 'final' assault, officials say
By Laura Smith-Spark and Joe Sterling, CNN.com
(CNN) -- Algerian troops ended a hostage crisis at a remote gas facility Saturday with one last, bloody assault, Algerian and Western officials said, after three days of chaos and confusion left dozens dead and fanned fears of a new terror front in Africa.
At least 23 hostages and 32 "terrorists" were killed around the sprawling facility in eastern Algeria's desert, the Algerian interior ministry said Saturday. Some 685 Algerian workers and 107 foreigners have been freed, it said.
The Limits of China's Consumer Revolution
By Zhang Monan - Project-Syndicate.org
SHANGHAI – China's economy is at a crossroads. As 2013 begins, foreign and domestic observers alike are asking which path the country's economic development should take in the next decade. How can China ensure stable and sustainable growth in the face of significant internal and external challenges, including slowing medium- and long-term growth, rising labor costs, and growing inflationary pressure?
Japan Warns It May Fire On Chinese Aircraft Over Disputed Islands; China Retorts: "There Will Be No Second Shot"
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
A week ago we reported that following what China said was a response to counter "Japanese military aircraft disrupting the routine patrols of Chinese administrative aircraft" over the East China Sea, the world's most populous country (and one which has the largest, 2.25 million strong, standing army) scrambled several jets and put its military on high alert. Now, it is the turn of Japan, and its brand new militant and nationalistic government, to "retaliate" and escalate tensions by one more notch, in the process crashing any hope that Chinese imports of Japanese goods may resume, and obviating the ongoing temporary plunge in the yen (which while doing nothing to boost exports to this 20% trading partner, has made imports so expensive, inflation in the past two months has already soared well above the 2% target for various key goods as previously reported).
A new Gold Standard is being born
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The world is moving step by step towards a de facto Gold Standard, without any meetings of G20 leaders to announce the idea or bless the project.
Some readers will already have seen the GFMS Gold Survey for 2012 which reported that central banks around the world bought more bullion last year in terms of tonnage than at any time in almost half a century.
They added a net 536 tonnes in 2012 as they diversified fresh reserves away from the four fiat suspects: dollar, euro, sterling, and yen.
No Matter what Happens with the US Debt Crisis,
Gold will Come out Shining
By Tim Iacono - OilPrice.com
I don't know if anyone else is calling the debate over the U.S. debt that is now heating up in Washington a crisis, but, based on how the two sides have staked out their positions on raising the debt ceiling and the looming budget problems that will immediately follow in the unlikely event that the debt ceiling is raised in a timely fashion, there doesn't seem to be any reason to delay any longer in applying that moniker.
Currency Wars Should Provide Support for Precious Metals
BY SOBER LOOK - FinancialSense.com
As nations see Japan's success in weakening the yen (see discussion), some begin to take notice. Emerging markets nations often attempted to devalue their currencies in the past in order to improve competitiveness. But these days developed economies are doing it as well. This morning the Russians called these policies "currency wars", which is a good way to describe the latest developments. And such policies are not limited to Japan.
Bloomberg: - The alert from the country that chairs the Group of 20 came as Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker complained of a "dangerously high" euro and officials in Norway and Sweden expressed exchange-rate concern.
H.R. 73: To abolish the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks, to repeal the Federal Reserve Act, and for other purposes.
House Republicans weighing short-term debt limit increase
by Rosalind S. Helderman and Ed O'Keefe - WashingtonPost.com
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — House Republicans are weighing a plan to raise the nation's legal borrowing limit for just a few months, a move that could shift debate over the debt ceiling into March, when Congress will face other major fiscal decisions, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday.
But, speaking to reporters at the annual House Republicans retreat at Williamsburg's storied Kingsmill Resort, Ryan said Republicans are still in intense discussions about how to approach the difficult question of raising the debt ceiling. He said House leaders were using closed-door sessions Thursday to educate their own members, many of them itching for a fight with President Obama over the debt limit, about the potential consequences of failing to raise the limit.
The Legacy of Timothy Geithner
By Simon Johnson, Economix NYTimes.com
"Too big to fail is too big to continue. The megabanks have too much power in Washington and too much weight within the financial system." Who said this and when?
The answer is Peggy Noonan, the prominent conservative commentator, writing recentlyin The Wall Street Journal.
As Timothy F. Geithner prepares to leave the Treasury Department, most assessments focus on how his policies affected the economy. But his lasting legacy may be more political, contributing to the creation of an issue that can now be seized either by the right or the left. What should be done about the too-big-to-fail category of financial institutions?
IMF chief Lagarde: We can't 'relax' on global rebound
By Tim Devaney-The Washington Times
In her first major speech of the new year, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday called for "all sides to pull together" in Washington to solve the country's debt and growth problems, saying the world's leading economies must follow through on fiscal and market reforms to avoid slipping back into recession.
"My sense is that we have stopped the collapse," she told reporters at IMF headquarters in the District. "We should avoid the relapse, and we cannot relax."
AT&T Records $10 Billion Pension Charge
By Nick Turner - Bloomberg.com
AT&T Inc. (T), the largest U.S. phone company, recording a $10 billion fourth-quarter charge for its pension plan and said smartphone subsidies put pressure on profit in the period.
The company lowered its expected long-term rate of return for the pension to 7.75 percent, citing "continued uncertainty" for the stock market and the U.S. economy, according to a filing today.
Social Security teetering on the 'debt cliff'
By Andy Landis - MarketWatch.com
The fiscal cliff may be behind us, but the "debt cliff" looms ahead.
That's the federal debt ceiling that Congress must raise in the next four to eight weeks, or have the U.S. fail to pay its bills. Some in Congress demand spending cuts that equal any increase in the debt ceiling; some seem willing to risk default.
Programs on the block include Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. For Social Security, two dangers surface.
CEOs prose benefit cuts for elderly Business Groups Propose Raising Age for Entitlement Benefits
By Heidi Przybyla - Blooomberg.com
The Business Roundtable, which represents chief executives of major U.S. companies, proposed shoring up Social Security and Medicare by raising the eligibility age without increasing taxes on income subject to the Social Security payroll tax.
For Social Security, the group's plan released today in Washington would gradually raise the retirement age to 70 from 67, scale back benefits for wealthier recipients and switch to a method of calculating inflation that would result in lower cost- of-living payments for current and future retirees.
Credit Swaps in U.S. Decline;
JPMorgan Sells $6 Billion of Bonds
By Madhura Karnik - Bloomberg.com
A gauge of U.S. corporate credit risk fell after housing starts jumped to a four-year high and jobless claims declined.
The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade Index, a credit-default swaps benchmark that investors use to hedge against losses or to speculate on creditworthiness, decreased 1.1 basis points to a mid-price of 87.6 basis points at 5:09 p.m. in New York, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. The measure has declined from 89.6 on Jan. 14, the highest level this month.
Deutsche Bank Derivative Helped Monte Paschi Mask Losses
By Elisa Martinuzzi & Nicholas Dunbar - Blooomberg.com
Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) designed a derivative for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA at the height of the financial crisis that obscured losses at the world's oldest lender before it sought a taxpayer bailout.
Germany's largest bank loaned Monte Paschi (BMPS) about 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in December 2008 through the transaction, dubbed Project Santorini, according to more than 70 pages of documents outlining the deal and obtained byBloomberg News. The trade helped Monte Paschi mitigate a 367 million-euro loss from an older derivative contract with Deutsche Bank. As part of the arrangement, the Italian lender made a losing bet on the value of the country's government bonds, said six derivatives specialists who reviewed the files.
Keiser Report: Devil's Deadly Derivatives (E394)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the risk of toxic derivatives, annoying neighbors and Glenn Beck's 'libertarian' paradise. They also discuss the belief that markets can predict stock prices, which they can't . . . unless they're rigged, which they are. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Nick Dunbar, author of The Devil's Derivatives and Inventing Money and journalist at Bloomberg, about the Escher painting that is the global derivatives market where bankers are trading an option on an option that is a bet upon a bet upon a bet on a bet on a bet upon which there may be no collateral.
Taxpayer money used to pay for $222K renovation
to official's bathroom
WSBTV.com
By Scott MacFarlane, Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Channel 2 Action News has obtained photos of a costly renovation of a government official's bathroom.
Channel 2's Scott MacFarlane secured images inside the office at the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Interior Department.
The renovation was done on the interior secretary's private office bathroom. The bathroom is approximately 100 square feet and cost about $222,000 to renovate, making it more expensive that many homes.
Dysfunction Capital of U.S. Moves to Illinois
By Tim Jones - Bloomberg.com
Three brawling Illinois Democrats are presiding over a fiscal muck that has made the state the new archetype of dysfunction as longtime champion California last week projected its first surplus in a decade.
Years of indecision, gridlock and mismanagement have produced a $97 billion pension-funding deficit and more than $9 billion in unpaid bills, saddling Illinois with the nation's lowest rating from Moody's Investors Service. As a result, taxpayers are paying more to borrow, and the state's ability to provide essential services is withering as annual retirement obligations devour more money.
50 Shocking Questions That You Should Ask
To Anyone That Is Not A Prepper Yet
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Share this list of shocking questions with everyone you know that needs to wake up. Sometimes asking good questions is the best way to get someone that you care about to understand something. When I attended law school, I became very familiar with something called "the Socratic method". It is a method that has been traditionally used in law schools all over the United States. Law professors will bombard their students with questions, and the goal is to stimulate critical thinking and allow students to discover the answers for themselves. Many times those of us that can see what is happening to this country get frustrated when we try to get others to see what is so apparent to us. But instead of preaching to them, perhaps asking questions would be more helpful. When you ask someone a question, they are almost forced to think about what you just said and come up with a response. And without a doubt, the fact that America is in decline is undeniable. Those that would choose to blindly have faith in the system are foolish, because it is glaringly obvious that the system is failing. Our economy is heading for collapse and the world around us is becoming more unstable with each passing day. So it shouldn't be a surprise that the number of preppers in the United States is absolutely exploding. Some estimates put the number of preppers in the U.S. as high as 3 million, and the movement continues to explode.
Don't Confuse My Heartfelt Convictions With Racism
By Charlie Daniels - CNSNews.com
Being born in the Deep South when the Jim Crow laws were in full force and seeing, firsthand, the cruelty and downright stubborn foolishness of segregation and all it's attendant inequities, I have a very vivid and candid impression of what the word "racist" really means.
Having lived through those days and, on my own, shook off the yoke of racial prejudice that was once so firmly ingrained in me, I deeply resent the careless and reckless use of the word by people who are merely trying to be insulting, having absolutely no idea of the gravity of it's meaning.
US Army Completes World's Largest
Low Concentration Solar Plant
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
The US Army has just put its new White Sands Missile Range Solar Power System online, making it the largest low concentration solar power plant in the world. The plant cost $16.8 million to develop, has a capacity of 4.1MW, more than double the previous record holder, and is made up of over 15,000 solar modules spread out across 42 acres.
Low concentration solar systems are not as efficient as high concentration versions, but they are far cheaper to construct, especially when real estate is cheap and plentiful. The White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico covers 3,200 square miles so land was not an issue to the Army, and thanks to a power purchase agreement they didn't actually have to pay any money upfront.
Oil Exports, Politics and Propaganda
By Jen Alic - OilPrice.com
Iran is one of the world's top fuel oil exporters, despite sanctions; the US is poised to overtake Saudi Arabia in terms of "hydrocarbon" production; Pakistan has enough oil to become a second Dubai …
It's a propaganda race to see who can come out on top—at least in the media. Muddling through media reports that are definitively political along an East-West divide can be confusing. So let's look at it without the political compass.
Why Shale Oil is Not the Game Changer
We Have Been Led to Believe - Part 1
By Chris Martenson - OilPrice.com
There has been a very strong and concerted public-relations effort to spin the recent shale energy plays of the U.S. as complete game-changers for the world energy outlook. These efforts do not square up well with the data and are creating a vast misperception about the current risks and future opportunities among the general populace and energy organizations alike. The world remains quite hopelessly addicted to petroleum, and the future will be shaped by scarcity – not abundance, as some have claimed.
This series of reports will assemble the relevant data into a simple and easy-to-understand story that has the appropriate context to provide a meaningful place to begin a conversation and make decisions.
The War Between the Amendments
By Victor Davis Hanson - PatriotPost.us
The horrific Newtown, Conn., mass shooting has unleashed a frenzy to pass new gun-control legislation. But the war over restricting firearms is not just between liberals and conservatives; it also pits the first two amendments to the U.S. Constitution against each other.
Apparently, in the sequential thinking of James Madison and the Founding Fathers, the right to free expression and the guarantee to own arms were the two most important personal liberties. But now these two cherished rights seem to be at odds with each other and have caused bitter exchanges between interpreters of the Constitution.
The $500,000 inauguration fantasy weekend Big Spender: Worth a king's ransom
to attend Obama's swearing-in?
By Charles Passy - MarketWatch.com
The pitch
It's oath-taking time for Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., and the Presidential Inaugural Committee is promising visitors a memorable experience, saying the upcoming event "will attract people from across the country and all over the world to once again be part of history." But for those seeking a party with a little more panache — and a lot more exclusivity — there are options aplenty for indulging in the ultimate inaugural weekend.
An Imperial President
By Cal Thomas - PatriotPost.us
One definition of "imperial" on dictionary.com is, "of the nature or rank of an emperor or supreme ruler."
At his news conference Monday, a petulant, threatening and confrontational President Obama spoke like an emperor or supreme ruler. All that was missing was a scepter, a crown and a robe trimmed in ermine.
This president exceeds even Bill Clinton in his ability to evade, prevaricate and dissemble. I didn't think that possible.
Not only did he supply long answers to relatively easy questions, but much of what he said bore no relation to reality.
WHOLE FOODS CEO:
OBAMACARE WORSE THAN 'SOCIALISM,' IT'S 'FASCISM'
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was doing an interview on NPR's Morning Edition when the subject of his 2009 Wall Street Journal op ed calling Obamacare Socialism came up. Mackey doubled down now referring to the President's health care law as "fascism."
Weapon Makers See Danger in Cooperating Over Safety
[Google title for free article pass]
By GARY FIELDS - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON—One of the biggest challenges facing the Obama administration as it seeks to overhaul gun laws will be winning the cooperation of the firearms industry. Gun makers see a danger in working with the government that can be summed up in one name: Smith & Wesson.
In 2000, Smith & Wesson, then a subsidiary of the U.K.'s Tomkins PLC, signed an agreement with the Clinton administration to escape potentially ruinous lawsuits over the cost of gun violence filed by municipalities and counties. Among other things, the company promised to bar any sale of its products without a background check. It also agreed to install locks on all its guns and to develop high-tech firearms that could be fired only by their owner.
'America's Largest' Gun Shop:
Stop 'Whining To Other Gun Owners' And Take Action
By Joe Schoffstall - CNSNews.com
Hyatt Gun Shop in Charlotte, N.C, which calls itself "America's largest independently owned gun store," is urging gun rights advocates to "take action today" and push back against gun control measures before people "give away" their rights.
A Washington Examiner column reporting the call to action says, "Hyatt has turned part of its retail webpage over to the plea for action."
The post on the Hyatt website calls supporters of the 2nd Amendment stop complaining and take action by contacting their members of Congress before any more measures are taken:
Why Obama Gives Video Game Violence a Pass For the Left, the entertainment industry is sacrosanct.
By Arnold Ahlert - PatriotPost.us
Using children whose letters pleading for gun control were released to the Associated Press as props for his political theater, President Obama unveiled a panoply of sweeping proposals aimed at ostensibly curbing gun violence. Included in those proposals were 23 executive orders that run the gamut from unnecessary, in that they don't really require an executive order to carry out, to those that come perilously close to violating privacy and infringing on states' rights. Bowing to constitutional reality, the president further noted that congressional approval is required for the more restrictive measures. "To make a real and lasting difference, Congress must act," Obama said. "And Congress must act soon." Thus, the president has focused on most every factor related to lawful gun use. Conspicuously absent from the conversation are violent video games and other aspects of the sacrosanct entertainment industry.
Rand Paul on Gun Control Executive Order:
Obama is Not 'King' - CBN News 1/14/2013
"I'm against having a king," Paul said. "I think having a monarch is what we fought the American Revolution over and someone who wants to bypass the Constitution, bypass Congress -- that's someone who wants to act like a king or a monarch."
"I've been opposed to executive orders, even with Republican presidents. But one that wants to infringe on the Second Amendment, we will fight tooth and nail," he continued.
"And I promise you, there'll be no rock left unturned as far as trying to stop him from usurping the Constitution, running roughshod over Congress," he vowed. "And you will see one heck of a debate if he decides to try to do this."
Why President Obama might choose to lose on guns
By GLENN THRUSH - Politico.com
President Barack Obama — hardheaded architect of many grand but flawed compromises in his first term — has always preferred winning ugly to losing nobly.
Over the years, Democrats have jokingly referred to what they call the "Obama rule," enshrining the president's practice of not forcing legislative action on anything, no matter how noble, that can't pass both houses.
Obama: U.S. will be 'judged' on guns Defends list of executive orders
as 'first task' to keep children safe
By David Sherfinski and Dave Boyer-The Washington Times
President Obama set up the first major fight of his second term on Wednesday as he vowed to directly confront gun rights supporters and called on average Americans to back him in his bid to limit ammunition and semi-automatic firearms sales, expand background checks to all gun purchases and encourage doctors to ask certain patients whether they own guns.
Speaking little more than a month after the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Mr. Obama unveiled his proposals surrounded by victims' families and four children who had written him letters fearing they or their families could be the next targets of gun violence.
Guns and freedom
By Judge Andrew Napolitano - JudgeNap.com
The right of the people to keep and bear arms is an extension of the natural right to self-defense and a hallmark of personal sovereignty. It is specifically insulated from governmental interference by the Constitution and has historically been the linchpin of resistance to tyranny. And yet, the progressives in both political parties stand ready to use the coercive power of the government to interfere with the exercise of that right by law-abiding persons because of the gross abuse of that right by some crazies in our midst.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, he was marrying the nation at its birth to the ancient principles of the natural law that have animated the Judeo-Christian tradition in the West. Those principles have operated as a break on all governments that recognize them by enunciating the concept of natural rights.
'Gun Culture' -- What About the 'Fatherless Culture'?
By Larry Elder - PatriotPost.us
The face of gun violence is not Sandy Hook. It is Chicago.
In 2012, President Barack Obama's adopted hometown had 506 murders, including more than 60 children. Philadelphia, a city that local television newscasters frequently call 'Killadelphia," saw 331 killed last year. In Detroit, 386 people were murdered.
Since 1966, there have been 90 school shootings in the U.S., with 231 fatalities. Yes, Sandy Hook shocked us. But the odds of a child being killed at a school shooting are longer than the odds of being struck by lightning.
Doctors as snitches for guns? REID'S OBAMACARE AMENDMENT BLOCKS
USING DOCTORS TO COMPILE GUN REGISTRY
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
When Obama signed his 23 Executive Orders this morning, #16 was to clarify that Obamacare "does not prohibit doctors [from] asking patients about guns in their homes." Yet it must be understood that even if they ask these questions, they can't compile their answers into a list which they then pass on to the government.
This prohibition comes courtesy of Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
When Obamacare was being debated in the Senate in 2010, Reid inserted an amendment that forbids the government from using doctors to compile information for a gun registry.
Dem hopefuls see political gain in gun fight
By MAGGIE HABERMAN and ALEXANDER BURNS - Politico.com
The "It" issue energizing the Democratic base heading into the 2012 election was gay marriage — whether President Barack Obama would ultimately support the concept, whether the first statewide ballot initiatives supporting it would pass and whether the party could channel the passion around this latest cultural barrier into electoral gains.
Religious Prohibition for Guns The Religious Left is all fired up — and half-cocked —
about its new opportunity.
By MARK TOOLEY - Spectator.org
In a testimony to America's ongoing religiosity, virtually every public debate has religious voices arrayed on both sides. But typically religious voices of the left are more intensely focused on detailed politics because of their greater faith in perfecting society through politics. Gun control debates since the horrific Newtown murders exemplify this confidence, with the Religious Left certain that gun control is the main answer.
And no Religious Left campaign is complete without Sojourners activist Jim Wallis. He joined several dozen clergy and other religionists at a January 15 press conference at the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill to urge gun control legislation and to denounce the National Rifle Association. They claimed to represent 80 million Americans, which might be news to many within their supposed constituency. Particularly repugnant to Wallis et al. apparently was NRA chief Wayne LaPierre's suggestion of armed guards at schools.
New Massachusetts Gun Law Revealed:
One Gun A Month, Seven Round Mag Limit, Etc.
by Robert Farago - TheTruthAboutGuns.com
Massachusetts Governor Patrick's office has released the text of An Act To Strengthen and Enhance Firearms Laws in the Commonwealth [Click here for the text of the bill. Click here for the Governor's Press Release touting the civilian disarmament package]. TTAG legal eagle Chris Dumm parsed the laws and provided the following bullet points. Make the jump for the key text change on magazine capacity.
Anonymous -- Response To Obama's 2013 Gun Control Policy Please share this video with your family, friends, and co-workers. Most of all, share with people who are anti-gun. Please explain to them that losing the 2nd Amendment is not just about guns, but that it will open the door to the future restrictions of the Rights of ALL Americans.
Tell them to imagine what it would be like to lose the Right to Free Speech, or the Freedom of Religion. Explain to them that history has proven many many times that once a government starts restricting the Rights of their people, it quickly becomes easier to do so, and impossible to stop once it has started. Show them unbiased research.
Also explain to them that by restricting Law Abiding citizens from owning firearms, their safety will be placed further into jeopardy by even bolder criminal acts. Let them know that even though they themselves may not choose to own or carry a firearm, by the fact that other law abiding people do choose to arm themselves, it does actually make them safer. Criminals who commit their crimes now, do so with the full knowledge that there is a strong possibility they will run into a gun owner. And criminals choose their victims based on this knowledge. They try to choose victims who are unlikely be armed. But once criminals know the public is disarmed, they will be able to commit even more violent crimes with NO FEAR that a victim might have the ability to fight back.
Alaska: Gas Rich, but No Longer Relevant
By Jen Alic - OilPrice.com
The natural gas boom in the US has rendered Alaska's otherwise bountiful reserves less relevant. Never fear, Japan may turn out to be an alternative market for Alaskan gas.
Of course, all of this depends on whether the US decides to go ahead with natural gas exports, an increasingly controversial issue.
This week, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski will broach the subject in Japan, as her state reels from its new market irrelevance in the US.
US diplomat Kurt Campbell warns North Korea on nuclear test
Agence France-Presse in Seoul - SCMP.com
The top US diplomat for East Asian affairs warned North Korea yesterday against any "provocative" act, as concerns grow that Pyongyang might be preparing a nuclear test.
"We are very clear in our position that provocative steps are to be discouraged," assistant secretary of state Kurt Campbell said in Seoul when asked about nuclear test speculation. He was in Seoul to meet with top officials, including president-elect Park Geun-hye.
US pivot sparks Asian arms race
By Richard Heydarian - ATimes.com
MANILA - Against the backdrop of renewed large-scale US military sales to Asian allies, and with newly re-elected US President Barack Obama choosing the region as his first official foreign destination, regional maritime disputes between China and Southeast Asian states are poised to intensify in the months ahead.
Under the new leadership of Xi Jinping, China has progressively buttressed its maritime claims across the South and East China Seas on both diplomatic and military fronts. Other Pacific powers, namely Japan and India, have also begun to deepen their strategic engagements with Southeast Asian partners, including through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) multilateral mechanisms.
Japan plays down territorial dispute
with China over Diaoyu Islands To protect its business interests,
Tokyo is trying hard not to inflame the situation with Beijing
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo - SCMP.com
The notion that a territorial row between China and Japan is escalating appears to be lost on the Japanese side of the equation.
Despite reports this week that China is planning to carry out a thorough geographical survey of the disputed Diaoyu Islands - known as the Senkakus in Japan - little public attention is being paid to the dispute.
Faded war wounds still raw in Asia
By Francesco Sisci - ATimes.com
In analyzing how the legacy of World War II and the Cold War impacts on European and Asians countries today, it is only fair for this author, as an Italian, to start with Italy. The country was the third and weakest member of the Axis nations defeated in World War II, yet it emerged from the conflict still claiming it had won at least half of it.
In 1943, half of the country switched sides, allying with the Americans and organizing partisan guerrillas. The myth was that these forces contributed to the total victory against Hitler; the reality is that Italy felt - and still feels - weak on both sides of history. We were weak as allies of the Germans (we contributed to their defeat) and weak as allies of the Americans (we didn't contribute significantly to their victory).
High-stakes stand-off between Japan and China
won't come to war Trefor Moss says while a skirmish resulting from miscalculation is entirely possible, a war between China and Japan over disputed islands is not, because there's just too much to lose
By Trefor Moss - SCMP.com
Let's spare a moment to feel absolutely terrified. China and Japan, with all the forethought of two angry bulls, appear to be spoiling for a fight with the potential to wreck East Asia.
A Sino-Japanese war would be calamitous for both countries, win or lose, and for the rest of us besides. Even so, some respected observers are warning that the brinkmanship of 2012, far from cooling heads in Beijing and Tokyo, was only a prelude to full-bore hostilities later this year.
Algeria the cradle of Islamist militants in North Africa Algeria is the birthplace
of many North African Islamist extremists
By Edward Cody - WashingtonPost.com
PARIS — Algeria gave birth to most of the hardened Islamist militants who over the past two decades have created the well-armed North African extremist movements that arefighting France from desert redoubts in Mali and took the Western hostages at an Algerian gas production site near Libya.
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, 40, the one-eyed chieftain whose gunmen captured the American and other hostages Wednesday, is a prime example. Born in Algeria in 1972, he departed for combat in Afghanistan while still a teenager and returned two years later, having lost his left eye and earning the nickname "one-eye."
Algerian Forces Surround Gas Facility
after Terrorist Group Takes Hostages
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
At 4.30am local time, armed men infiltrated a facility located in the Ain Amenas gas field in south-eastern Algeria, close to the border with Libya, and took the workers hostage, according to the state run Algerian Press Service.
The attack began when three vehicles of armed men attempted to ambush a bus carrying employees from the site to a nearby airport. The attack was driven off, at which point the group headed towards the facility's living quarters where the hostages were taken.
Some hostages are reported killed in Algerian operation
By Anthony Faiola - WashingtonPost.com
LONDON – The Algerian government on Thursday launched a high-stakes military strike against Islamist militants who took scores of hostages including Americans at an international gas complex in the Sahara, with reports on the ground suggesting a tragedy of some scale had unfolded in the desert.
Details from the remote outpost near Algeria's border with Libya remained sketchy, with conflicting accounts nevertheless indicating a potentially significant number of casualties among hostages and captors.
Algeria hostages killed, as EU talks of 'evil' in Mali
BY ANDREW RETTMAN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Reports say several hostages were killed when the Algerian army stormed the Tigantourine gas plant in the south-east of the country on Thursday (17 January).
The operation came after militants seized the facility - which housed workers from EU states as well as Japan, Norway and the US - following French air strikes on Islamic extremists in neighbouring Mali.
The Mauritanian news agency, ANI, said 34 hostages and 14 militants died, while other reports gave lower numbers.
Iran Navy to Deploy to Mediterranean
RIAN.ru
MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - Iran will deploy a fleet of warships to the Mediterranean Sea, Navy chief Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said on Wednesday.
"The Navy's 24th fleet of warships will patrol the north of the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, Bab-el-Mandeb, the Red Sea, Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea for three months and will even sail as far as southeastern Asian countries," Sayyari was quoted by Press TV as saying.
The 23rd fleet of warships will return to the country next week, he added.
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
By Burt Prelutsky - PatriotPost.us
My title refers to the title of a popular song during World War II. Today, as we know, both pieces of advice are frowned upon in left-wing circles. The irony is that at the very same time that Obama and his favorite Munchkins are doing their level best to disarm Americans, the same crowd is gift-wrapping 20 F-16 fighter jets and sending them to the Muslim Brotherhood, the folks running the show in Egypt.
Now a sane person might wonder why liberals trust our sworn enemies more than they do law-abiding American citizens. But once you begin asking liberals to make sense, you might as well start expecting dogs to write sonnets and horses to compose concertos.
Stop Funding Egypt & Defend Israel
Petition - ACLJ.org
Egypt's anti-Israel and anti-American Muslim Brotherhood government is implementing Shariah Law. Its new constitution strips religious liberty from Egypt's Christians and is on the verge of passing. In response, the Obama Administration is going to give Egypt 20 new American-made F-16 fighter jets and 200 new American-made tanks.
The ACLJ is demanding that President Obama suspend all aid to Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood. All support must be cut off until Congress can certify that such aid supports U.S. national security and the security of the Israeli people.
Obama v. Israel, cont'd
By DONOVAN SLACK - Politico.com
The White House is not denying a report that President Obama repeatedly said that "Israel doesn't know what its own best interests are."
The comment, reported in a Bloomberg View column by Jeffrey Goldberg on Monday, came after the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced it would advance plans for settlements in the West Bank following recognition by the United Nations in November of the Palestinan Authority as an observer "state."
Gold prices could rise in the first quarter of 2013: Barclays Despite the rollercoaster start to the year for gold, the first quarter still could hold supportive elements for gold prices.
LONDON (Commodity Online): Despite the rollercoaster start to the year for gold, the first quarter still could hold supportive elements for gold prices, said Barclays in a daily commodity snippet.
According to Barclays, the U.S. fiscal cliff issues are far from fully resolved, the debt ceiling vote is set to coincide with the deadline for the agreement on spending cuts and despite the tax deal, Moody's has said it was not enough to remove the risk of a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.
Bundesbank Repatriates Gold Shows Importance of Possession or Allocated Storage
BY MARK O'BYRNE - FinancialSense.com
Gold climbed $10.50 or 0.63% in New York yesterday and closed at $1,678.90/oz. Silver surged to a high of $31.382 in Asia before it fell back to $31.02 in London, but it then rose to as high as $31.503 in New York and finished ended with a gain of 1.06%.
Gold was flat and close to a 2 week high it hit in the prior session, while platinum reversed early losses but was also trading sideways.
Here's What Happened
the Last Time the U.S. Defaulted on Its Debt The debt ceiling and glitchy word-processors do not mix well
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
Once upon a time, Congress didn't want to raise the debt ceiling, and sent the country into default. It was bad, and we shouldn't do it again. The end.
Oh, you wanted to hear the rest of the story? Okay, here it is. Back in 1979, Congress waited, and waited, and waited to lift the debt ceiling, because Congress never likes taking responsibility for the tax and spending decisions it's already made. Now, Congress usually does the right thing after it's exhausted every other possibility, at least when it comes to paying our bills, and this debt limit increase was no exception. Congress did raise it right before defaulting on our obligations would have been unavoidable ... but that didn't let us avoid defaulting on our debt. At least not $120 million or so of it. That's because the logistically and technologically-challenged Treasury couldn't get the checks out in time on such short notice. AsDonald Marron of the Tax Policy Center explains, the Treasury got swamped with an inordinately high demand for Treasury bills, which it couldn't meet due to a word-processing error. So we defaulted on some of them.
What if Congress Doesn't Raise the Debt Ceiling? If the government doesn't pay its bills on time, a 7 percent drop in GDP will be just the start of our problems.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
What exactly will happen if Congress and the Obama administration don't reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling by late February, when the Treasury Department will run out of money to pay federal bills? Nobody knows—and that's exactly what's so terrifying about it.
Some Republicans, led by Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, have tried to characterize the running up against the debt ceiling as a form of government shutdown similar to what happened during the Bill Clinton-Newt Gingrich appropriations disputes of the mid-'90s. In the Cornyn view, the only difference is that the shutdowns of the '90s only affected discretionary spending (not Social Security payments, or "essential" government services). Hitting the debt ceiling would impair all government spending, including forcing us to default on payments to bondholders. Hence there's some Republican support for an idea from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) to pass a billspecifically giving bond payments prioritization in the queue.
Debt ceiling: Is Social Security at risk?
By Jeanne Sahadi - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The standoff over the debt ceiling, likely to come to a head next month, threatens to stiff a lot of people owed money by the government. Among them: more than 55 million Social Security recipients.
Many recipients rely on their monthly checks to make ends meet. And the economy benefits from their spending that money.
Federal Reserve's perilous gamble The Fed's big dollar gamble Ben Bernanke's low interest rate policy has driven down the dollar. America's trading partners aren't happy.
By Allan Sloan - Fortune.com
FORTUNE -- What do Rogaine and the Federal Reserve's economic-stimulus policies have in common? No, it doesn't involve Ben Bernanke's or Alan Greenspan's hairlines. Give up? The answer: side effects.
Rogaine, as you may know, was originally developed as a blood pressure medication but was "repurposed" because it had the side effect of promoting hair growth. The two Fed side effects we'll discuss today -- prospective currency wars with some major trading partners, and a reduction in the federal budget deficit -- are far less known than Rogaine's. But, with all due respect to follicularly challenged males, they're a lot more important.
Peter Schiff Reveals CPI Propaganda
By Calculating Real Price Inflation
GoldSilverWorlds.com
In a recent newsletter update and video message, Peter Schiff explains how the official price inflation measurement is not reflecting the daily reality. That is because since the 1970′s the preferred government inflation metrics have changed thoroughly. Beginning in the early 1980′s the methodologies were altered to compensate for a variety of consumer behavior. The new "chain weighted CPI" for instance incorporates changes in relative spending, substitution bias, and subjective improvements in product quality. If you simply focus on price, especially on those staple commodity goods and services that haven't radically changed over the years, the underreporting of inflation becomes more apparent.
Inflation Propaganda Exposed
The CPI is no longer a tool to accurately measure inflation, but an instrument of propaganda the government uses to hide accelerating inflation from the public and financial markets. Modest CPI increases over the past several years do not reflect an absence of inflation, but a design flaw in the index that fails to fully capture the magnitude of price increases. Central bankers drawing economic conclusions regarding inflation and monetary policy based on this highly flawed data point are making a major policy error.
Federal Reserve official wants more stimulus
By Annalyn Kurtz - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
One member of the Federal Reserve wants the central bank to stimulate the economy even more.
Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said Tuesday that he believes the Fed is still not doing enough to bring the unemployment ratedown.
Russia Says World Is Nearing Currency War as Europe Joins
By Simon Kennedy & Scott Rose - Bloomberg.com
The world is on the brink of a fresh "currency war," Russia warned, as European policy makers joined Japan in bemoaning the economic cost of rising exchange rates.
"Japan is weakening the yen and other countries may follow," Alexei Ulyukayev, first deputy chairman of Russia's central bank, said at a conference today in Moscow.
Yen Rises as Officials Step Up Currency War Rhetoric
By John Detrixhe - Bloomberg.com
The yen strengthened against the dollar for a second day after its 5.5 percent drop over the past month prompted criticism from leaders around the world that recent exchange-rate moves have been excessive.
Japan's currency pared gains as risk appetite improved and stocks erased losses. The yen rose earlier after touching a 30- month low on Jan. 14 as the nation's policy makers moved to boost inflation and spur growth. A gauge of volatility increased to a four-month high as Russia's central bank said the world's leading economies are on the brink of a "currency war." South Africa's rand rose from the weakest level this year.
The Really, Really Big Picture Not Enough Net Energy for Economic Growth
BY CHRIS MARTENSON PHD - FinancialSense.com
There has been a very strong and concerted public-relations effort to spin the recent shale energy plays of the U.S. as complete game-changers for the world energy outlook. These efforts do not square up well with the data and are creating a vast misperception about the current risks and future opportunities among the general populace and energy organizations alike. The world remains quite hopelessly addicted to petroleum, and the future will be shaped by scarcity – not abundance, as some have claimed.
Treasuries Rise for Fourth Day on Debt-Limit Talks
By Susanne Walker & Daniel Kruger - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries rose for a fourth day on speculation political wrangling between President Barack Obama and lawmakers over the U.S. debt ceiling will curb economic growth, fueling demand for the safety of debt.
Ten-year yields touched the lowest level in two weeks as the World Bank cut its global-growth forecast, saying austerity and high unemployment will weigh on developed nations. U.S. government debt remained higher after a report showed inflation remains at bay, allowing theFederal Reserve to add monetary stimulus without triggering a surge in prices. The Fed bought $1.47 billion of Treasuries as part of its program to cap borrowing costs.
New Bank Has No Branches, Just an App
And Thinks You'll Volunteer to Pay for It
BY MARCUS WOHLSEN - Wired.com
The company that made prepaid debit cards for the "unbanked" ubiquitous has a new venture: a bank. But Green Dot (GDOT) isn't planning on opening any branches. To visit this bank, you have to open up the app.
Green Dot's GoBank, announced this week in San Francisco, attempts to push mobile banking forward by making banking mobile-only. And the company seems to believe the GoBank app will delight account holders so much that they will voluntarily pay for the privilege of using it.
French Socialists leaders send mixed signals In French malaise, a broader source of risk The government seems torn between its socialist pedigree and more market-friendly policies — and it risks falling behind other nations that have put more business-friendly practices in place.
By Howard Schneider - WashingtonPost.com
As France's socialist government raised taxes on the wealthy and threatened to nationalize a steel plant last year, neighboring Spain reveled in the news that exports were rising and several auto plants would be expanded by their owners.
It was a small sign of what could become a defining trend in the euro zone. The most troubled nations, including Spain, have slashed wage costs and overhauled labor and social rules in an effort to become more competitive.
French autoworkers protest Peugeot Citroen workers occupy,
largely shut down plant that automaker is abandoning
AP- WashingtonPost.com
PARIS — Hundreds of Peugeot Citroen workers occupied a French factory scheduled to be sold off, largely shutting down production on Wednesday in a protest against planned layoffs at the struggling automaker.
The Aulnay plant near Paris has been at the center of a battle over the future of France's largest automaker. The company announced last year that it planned to cut 8,000 jobs and close Aulnay as it struggles to compete in Europe's stagnant car market. The company reported a €819 million ($990 million) loss in the first half of 2012; it will announce its full-year results next month.
Keiser Report: Whore-der of JP Morgan (E393)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the fact that markets don't kill economies, banksters kill economies. They also discuss JP Morgan's copper ETF in London and Blythe Masters, the well known hoar-der of commodities. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to David Hales about the economics of bit torrent and the future of peer to peer banking.
Small Business Hates Obama's Washington
BY FRED BARNES - WeeklyStandard.com
President Obama, take note. Small business owners think Washington has become increasingly hostile in recent years to free enterprise and thus to job creation, a survey conducted last week found. And his policies are part of the problem.
Sixty percent of small business owners said the president's health care program will have a "negative impact" on their businesses this year. This includes owners of businesses who are Democrats (53 percent), independents (79 percent) and Republicans (79 percent).
Small Business Hates Obama's Washington
BY FRED BARNES - WeeklyStandard.com
President Obama, take note. Small business owners think Washington has become increasingly hostile in recent years to free enterprise and thus to job creation, a survey conducted last week found. And his policies are part of the problem.
Sixty percent of small business owners said the president's health care program will have a "negative impact" on their businesses this year. This includes owners of businesses who are Democrats (53 percent), independents (79 percent) and Republicans (79 percent).
$5 million entitlement rip-off 21 people charged in unemployment fraud scheme
By Annalyn Kurtz - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Three people were arrested in California Tuesday for collecting fraudulent unemployment and disability benefits. To date, a total of 21 people have been charged in the $5 million scheme.
According to federal prosecutors, the conspiracy centered around a family claiming to operate several farm labor companies in Northern California. They sold fake pay stubs to other people in the community and used their companies to report false wages to the government.
Krugman: Food Stamps Are the New Soup Kitchens
By Fred Lucas - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – Liberal economist Paul Krugman, a New York Times columnist, called food stamps the "soup kitchens of the modern depression," at a time when federal spending on food stamps has climbed to a record $80.4 billion.
"We have in some ways made things more civilized, but also more invisible," Krugman said Friday during an interview with Bill Moyers on "Moyers & Company" on PBS.
Brownback: Keep full sales tax, cut income taxes further Brownback tells lawmakers he hopes to scale back state government and spending while growing jobs.
BY BRAD COOPER - The Kansas City Star
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback swung for the fences Tuesday night, calling for even deeper income tax cuts while holding onto a penny sales tax that was intended to bridge the state through the recession.
The Republican chief executive told lawmakers he wants to slash income taxes for the state's lowest wage earners by more than a third while keeping the current state sales tax rate at the current level of 6.3 cents on the dollar.
Nebraska governor is latest to propose ending state income tax
(Reuters) - Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman on Tuesday became the second Republican governor in the last week to propose ending his state's income tax, saying he wants to make Nebraska more competitive with its neighbors by eliminating the tax on both individuals and corporations.
Heineman said that if a complete elimination of the two taxes could not be passed, he would push to lower rates on both individuals and corporations. He promised to make up the lost revenue by reducingbusiness exemptions to the sales tax.
Line in the Sand
BY GEOFFREY NORMAN - WeeklyStandard.com
The head of the AARP has stated clearly where his organization stands on the matter of cutting entitlements. As Kate Ackley reports in Roll Call:
The influential seniors' lobby AARP issued a warning Tuesday for members of Congress and Obama administration officials looking to narrow the deficit: Don't do it with cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
The warning was delivered in Washington (where else?) in a speech to the National Press Club by AARP CEO Barry Rand, whose organization claims to speak for 38 million Americans over the age of 50. Which leads one to wonder why anyone able to retire at 50 needs help from organized lobbying muscle.
Malicious virus shuttered U.S. power plant -DHS
By Jim Finkle
Jan 16 (Reuters) - A computer virus attacked a turbine control system at a U.S. power company last fall when a technician unknowingly inserted an infected USB computer drive into the network, keeping a plant off line for three weeks, according to a report posted on a U.S. government website.
The Department of Homeland Security report did not identify the plant but said criminal software, which is used to conduct financial crimes such as identity theft, was behind the incident.
Obama: Money Power's Point Man
by Stephen Lendman - Veteran's Today
Throughout his tenure, Obama's done what supporters thought impossible. He's governed to the right of George Bush.
He mocks rule of law principles and other democratic values. He prioritizes wars on humanity. He's waging multiple direct and proxy ones. War on terror subterfuge disguises them.
He plans more. He's sending US special forces to 35 African countries. They already infest most others. CIA elements operate everywhere. They come to destabilize and disrupt, not help.
A Message To The 'Left' From A 'Right Wing Extremist'
By Brandon Smith - Alt-Market.com
Some discoveries are exciting, joyful, and exhilarating, while others can be quite painful. Stumbling upon the fact that you do not necessarily have a competent grasp of reality, that you have in fact been duped for most of your life, is not a pleasant experience. While it may be a living nightmare to realize that part of one's life was, perhaps, wasted on the false ideas of others, enlightenment often requires that the worldview that we were indoctrinated with be completely destroyed before we can finally resurrect a tangible identity and belief system. To have rebirth, something must first die…
Disinviting God to the Inauguration The left demands an event without the Bible or prayers.
By GEORGE NEUMAYR - Spectator.org
Liberals booed God at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte last year after skittish party officials reinserted a mention of him in the platform. Nothing has changed since then. The latest secularist push of the party is to remove God from the inauguration. Prominent liberals are questioning the use of the Bible for the presidential oath and the use of prayers in the ceremony.
They have already made some progress in their demands. In 2009, Obama upset them by selecting vaguely conservative pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation. But this year Obama has chosen a non-minister and unimpeachably liberal figure to deliver it — the widow of Medgar Evers.
Politics - limelight & sport for the well-to-do Freshmen in Congress worth $1 million more than you
By Tami Luhby - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The median net worth of the freshmen lawmakers in Congress is $1 million more than the typical American household, according to a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Some 94 new senators and representatives joined Congress, and their estimated medianwealth stood at $1.07 million at the end of 2011, according to data collected from personal financial disclosure forms. The typical American household is worth $66,740.
GOP: Obama gun move is power grab
By Mike Lillis - TheHill.com
Republicans criticized President Obama's sweeping new strategy on gun violence Wednesday as an assault on the Second Amendment and an executive branch power grab.
While the response from the National Rifle Association and Speaker John Boehner's office was muted, other Republicans quickly lashed out at Obama, foreshadowing a tough fight on Capitol Hill.
FLASHBACK – Charlton Heston:
British Searched Americans' Homes
'To Take Away the Firearms'
By Michael W. Chapman - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) -- Charlton Heston, a former actor and president of the National Rifle Association, who died in 2008, strongly defended the 2nd Amendment in a BBC interview in 1997, stressing that the first thing the British did when they sensed Americans would revolt against King George's oppressive taxes and authoritarian rule was to search "as many houses as they could and take away the firearms."
In the 1997 interview on the BBC's HARDtalk, host Tim Sebastion said, "Charlton Heston, a lot of people would say they fail to understand your views on guns, for instance, your promotion of the National Rifle Association."
Our Gov't Cannot Stand In The Way
Of Law-Abiding Citizens Using Legal Firearms For Self-Defense
By Rick Santorum - CNSNews.com
President Obama's gun control recommendations fall far short in addressing the real issue here - putting an end to gun violence.
While the president did propose some reasonable measures, I'm disappointed, yet not surprised, to see so much emphasis on gun control and not enough on key contributors to mass shootings - mental illness and the impact of the entertainment industry's glorification of violence.
Poll: Obama approval rises,
as does public support for gun control
By Jonathan Easley - TheHill.com
President Obama's approval rating has seen a modest jump in favorability over the last month, as the public seems to have warmed to the idea of stricter gun laws, a new survey found.
According to a Time-CNN survey released Wednesday, 55 percent said they approve of the job the president is doing, against 43 who said they disapprove. Obama's job approval was at 52 percent in the same poll conducted in late December, a marked increase from his first term, when he generally tracked in the 40 percent range.
Obama Announces 23 Actions to Tighten Gun Control,
Demands Congress Act
By Fred Lucas - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama said Wednesday he would issue 23 executive actions for tighter gun control, including beefed-up enforcement of background checks and more resources for schools, public health and law enforcement officials. He also demanded that Congress pass a new assault weapons ban and institute a universal background check for all gun purchases.
"In the month since 20 precious children and six great adults were taken from us at Sandy Hook Elementary, more than 900 of our fellow Americans have reportedly died at the end of a gun, 900 in the past month," Obama said at a White House event with four children on the stage with him, and members of Congress and cabinet officials in the audience. "Every day we wait, that number will keep growing."
List of executive actions Obama plans to take
as part of anti-gun violence plan
FOXNews.com
The following is a list, provided by the White House, of executive actions President Obama plans to take to address gun violence.
1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
Obama unveils new restrictions
on assault weapons, ammunition
By Justin Sink and Mike Lillis - TheHill.com
President Obama called Wednesday for Congress to approve new bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips in response to a string of deadly mass shootings.
"If there is even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if even one life can be saved, we have an obligation to try," Obama said.
Obama Seeking Assault Weapon Ban With Expanded Checks
By Lisa Lerer & Heidi Przybyla - Blooomberg.com
President Barack Obama unveiled the most ambitious gun-control agenda in decades today, announcing a $500 million package of legislative proposals and executive actions aimed at curbing firearms violence, from mass shootings to street crime.
The president, counting on a shift in public opinion since the shooting rampage at a Connecticutelementary school last month, challenged Congress to mandate background checks for all gun buyers, ban high-capacity ammunition clips, and reinstate a ban on sales of assault weapons.
Hiding Behind the Children Why Obama is exploiting them to gain support for gun control.
By AARON GOLDSTEIN - Spectator.org
During the last press conference of his first term in office, President Obama pledged to take "executive action" to reduce gun violence in response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last month.
The President told reporters, "If there is a step we can take that will save even one child from what happened in Newtown, we should take that step."
When Obama unveils his gun control proposals today at the White House, he will be surrounded by children.
White House Scolds NRA for Gun Ad Calling Obama Hypocrite
By Mark Silva - Bloomberg.com
The White House today rebuffed a National Rifle Association ad labeling President Barack Obama an "elitist hypocrite" on the issue of gun control, his chief spokesman calling the ad "repugnant and cowardly."
Hours before the president announced an agenda for curbing gun violence following last month's shooting at a Connecticut school, the NRA criticized Obama's attempts to limit access to assault weapons because his own children have armed protection.
New Evidence that the NRA
Might Be Just Another Corporate Front The CEO of America's largest gun maker holds
an influential leadership role at the firearm lobby.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
For an organization that looms so large over American politics, it's oddly difficult to say what the National Rifle Association really is, or who it represents. The group purports to have four-million members and touts itself as the populist defender of American gun rights. Yet, as I wrote last month, it has also received millions of dollars in donations from the firearms industry over recent years, some of which have been tied directly to gun and ammo sales.
At Least $4.5 Billion in New Spending for Gun Control
BY JIM SWIFT - WeeklyStandard.com
President Obama and Vice President Biden revealed their proposed reforms intended to reduce firearms related violence.
The proposal contains a mix of executive actions, regulations, and calls for Congress to act legislatively. The total package will cost at least $4.5 billion in new spending.
Among the new spending the president proposed:
Attack On Sovereignty
By Paul Craig Roberts
Those concerned about "The New World Order" speak as if the United States is coming under the control of an outside conspiratorial force. In fact, it is the US that is the New World Order. That is what the American unipolar world, about which China, Russia, and Iran complain, is all about.
Washington has demonstrated that it has no respect for its own laws and Constitution, much less any respect for international law and the law and sovereignty of other countries. All that counts is Washington's will as the pursuit of hegemony moves Washington closer to becoming a world dictator.
The Third Force
by Preston James, Ph.D. - Veteran's Today
IS THERE A MYSTERIOUS AND SUPERIOR THIRD FORCE THAT IS COVERTLY MANIPULATING THE WORLD THROUGH A SMALL NUMBER OF SUPER-ELITES WHO RUN THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL NATIONS ?
Is this THIRD FORCE non-human or alien and are the major world powers being separately controlled by this entity in different dress inside each nation state's highest echelons of government? Is there an overall coordinated purpose of this THIRD FORCE to create a NWO Globalist One-World Tyranny?
Why OPEC is Worried About the U.S. Congress
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in its report for January said the United States in 2013 may post the highest oil supply increase among non-member states. U.S. oil production should increase by 490,000 barrels of oil per day this year to reach an average of 10.4 million bpd. OPEC said much of the production increase should come from more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and the oil boom under way in North Dakota. Production from member states Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, declined. Riyadh said recently it wasn't trying to manipulate the commodities market and, given the downbeat assessment of the U.S. economy, it may be congressional leaders that eventually face the ultimate blame for economic woes despite the oil boom.
Al-Qaida-linked militants seize BP complex
in Algeria, take hostages in revenge for Mali
AP - WashingtonPost.com
ALGIERS, Algeria — As Algerian army helicopters clattered overhead deep in the Sahara desert, Islamist militants hunkered down for the night in a natural gas complex they had assaulted Wednesday morning, killing two people and taking dozens of foreigners hostage in what could be the first spillover from France's intervention in Mali.
The Algerian army has surrounded the complex and about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from the coast, there is no obvious way for the kidnappers to escape in their four wheel drive vehicles with their hostages.
American kidnappings in Algeria a 'terrorist attack,' says Panetta
By Carlo Muñoz - TheHill.com
The kidnapping of several U.S. citizens in Algeria on Wednesday was clearly a "terrorist attack" by al-Qaeda affiliated extremist groups in the region, in possible retaliation for the ongoing French counterterrorism offensive in West Africa, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
The Americans were among the nearly 400 hostages taken after gunmen stormed a BP-operated oil field located near Algeria's border with Libya. Members of Islamic militant "Masked Brigade" and the "Signers in Blood," claimed responsibility for the raid.
Chuck Hagel: "Palestine in Chains"
Secretary of Defense and Likely New President
By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor - Veteran's Today
The video below is the kind of straight talk Americans haven't heard since the murder of John F. Kennedy, not from Americans at least. For the staff here at Veterans Today, those who know war like Hegel does, real war, not 'fatass Pentagon war" but the real thing, his clear language, the language the Times of Israel seems to hate is music to our ears.
Germany wants its gold back; platinum pops February gold rises $11,
helped in part by rising Japan inflation outlook
By Barbara Kollmeyer and Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Goodbye, Big Apple. Adieu, Paris. It seems the Bundesbank could finally be ready to bow to some longstanding public pressure and bring its foreign gold reserves home.
Germany's Handeslblatt newspaper claimed Monday night that the Bundesbank has developed a new strategy that involves fewer gold bars flung afar. It seems the original reason for holding its gold at the New York Federal Reserve and other central banks — in places for decades as a measure of security — no longer holds up. The central bank's press office said a news conference is planned for Wednesday morning, and the topic will be gold reserves.
It Begins: Bundesbank To Commence
Repatriating Gold From New York Fed
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
In what could be a watershed moment for the price, provenance, and future of physical gold, not to mention the "stability" of the entire monetary regime based on rock solid, undisputed "faith and credit" in paper money, German Handelsblatt reports in an exclusive that the long suffering German gold, allofficial 3,396 tons of it, is about to be moved. Specifically, it is about to be partially moved out of the New York Fed, where the majority, or 45% of it is currently stored, as well as the entirety of the 11% of German gold held with the Banque de France, and repatriated back home to Buba in Frankfurt, where just 31% of it is held as of this moment. And while it is one thing for a "crazy, lunatic" dictator such as Hugo Chavez to pull his gold out of the Bank of England, it is something entirely different, and far less dismissible, when the bank with the second most official gold reserves in the world proceeds toformally pull some of its gold from the bank with the most. In brief: this is a momentous development, one which may signify that the regime of mutual assured and very much telegraphed - because if the central banks don't have faith in one another, why should anyone else? - trust in central banks by other central banks is ending.
What Will Gold Do This Year? What standard of living would you like to maintain?
BY JEFF CLARK - FinancialSense.com
As we turn the calendar over, there are probably two dominant questions on the minds of most precious-metals investors: Will gold and silver have a better year than the last two? And will gold stocks finally break out of their funk?
2012 was an interesting year for our favorite metal. On one hand, gold was up only single-digit percentages for the second consecutive year: 8.3%, after rising just 9.1% in 2011. It was also outperformed by the S&P 500 Index, though this was the first time since 2004 and only the third since 1999. On the other hand, the price has now risen 12 consecutive years, overshadowing most other bull markets in modern history.
Misunderstanding Gold Demand
BY ROBERT BLUMEN - FinancialSense.com
Most gold market research is based on the premise that the supply side of the market can be characterized by the quantity supplied and demand side by the quantity demanded. The specific cause and effect relationship between these two variables and price is often unstated; and perhaps rightfully so: is it not obvious that a greater quantity demanded is the cause of a higher price, and that a greater quantity supplied is responsible for a lower price?
No.
Greece Looks to Develop a Gold Boom,
but at the Cost of the Environment
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
Greece is entering its sixth year of recession, and needles to say it is still in big trouble. Under massive pressure from its three main creditors, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission, it has worked to reduce the number of hurdles that projects need to overcome in order to gain approval. Many Greeks are fearful that this reduction will only lead to shortcuts that in the long run will harm the environment and cost far more to the people.
Why The Silver Manipulation MUST End
by Ted Butler - GoldSilverWorlds.com
….First, let me define all manipulations as being commodity price manipulations, as opposed to manipulations of other things. We have documented experience in such commodity market manipulations over the past decades, including copper, soybeans, potatoes and even silver in 1980, to the upside. All these previous manipulations did end and ended dramatically, but I admit that doesn't prove conclusively, by itself, that such manipulations must end.
What I think mandates that all commodity price manipulations must end is the law of supply and demand. Actually, this law would be better termed the law of supply and demand and price, because supply and demand are balanced by the fulcrum of price. If a price is set artificially too high, eventually supply increases and demand decreases to the point where the price must collapse. Likewise, if a price is set artificially too low (as I allege in silver), eventually supply is reduced and demand is increased to the point where the price must explode.
CO-OPs were supposed to replace the public insurance option. Now they are dead. In 'fiscal cliff' deal, a blow to Obamacare
Posted by Sarah Kliff - WashingtonPost.com
When Congress struck a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, it also dealt a quiet blow to President Obama's health overhaul: The new law killed a multibillion-dollar program meant to boost health insurance competition by funding nonprofit health plans.
The decision to end funding for the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans has left as many as 40 start-ups vying for federal dollars in limbo. Some are considering legal action against the Obama administration, after many spent upwards of $100,000 preparing their applications.
Trillion Dollar Battle: Print, Baby, Print!
BY AXEL G MERK - FinancialSense.com
While the introduction of a trillion-dollar coin has been shrugged off as nonsense, there are plenty of nonsensical concepts employed in our monetary system. Here we'll shed light on a few of them.
Governments - or their central banks - can print a $100 bill. The value of such a piece of paper is worth exactly as much as the supply and demand of a currency dictates. Dollar bills are legal tender for payment of debt, but if someone does not like that the $100 bill is not backed by anything, then anyone is free to decline a $100 bill in exchange for services, and barter instead.
"He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example, builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example, builds with one hand and pulls down with the other." -- Francis Bacon
The growth in the MZM and M2 money supplies are very strong, almost remarkably so given the very slack growth in employment and GDP.
So why do we not see any serious inflation in prices? Or real gains in employment for that matter.
As an aside, I think some of the more 'modern' and aggressively modified measures of price inflation, like chained CPI, do not measure price inflation at all, but the consumer behaviour of product substitution under increasingly trying circumstances as people cope by reducing their standard of living. That is a measure of gradual deprivation, not inflation.
GEITHNER: US COULD DEFAULT BY FEBRUARY
WITH 'SEVERE' CONSEQUENCES
by WILLIAM BIGELOW - Bretibart.com
Barack Obama has trotted out Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to claim that if the GOP refuses to raise the debt ceiling, the results will be catastrophic and that he has been using "extraordinary measures" to keep the U.S. economy afloat:
Treasury currently expects to exhaust these extraordinary measures between mid-February and early March of this year... If Congress does not act to extend borrowing authority, all of these payments would be at risk. This would impose severe economic hardship on millions of individuals and businesses across the country. It should also be noted that default would increase our borrowing costs and damage economic growth and therefore add to future budget deficits, not decrease them.
Obama: U.S. Has Become Too Big to Fail Bam's 'magical' debt-limit answer
By John Podhoretz, New York Post
President Obama has an interesting negotiating strategy when it comes to the "debt ceiling" — the point in time when the federal government has borrowed every cent Congress allows it to borrow. In a press conference yesterday, he declared he simply won't negotiate with Republicans on the issue.
Congress authorized spending; in fact, he said, it ordered him to spend this money (by means of legislation that could only become law if he affixed his signature to it). Therefore, Congress simply must allow the Treasury Department to go out and get more. No preconditions.
Fitch warns on U.S. rating as debt ceiling fight looms
By Marc Jones and William James and Daniel Bases
LONDON/NEW YORK | Tue Jan 15, 2013 5:48pm EST
(Reuters) - The United States faces a "material risk" of losing its AAA status if there is a repeat of the wrangling seen in 2011 over raising the country's self-imposed debt ceiling, credit ratings firm Fitch said on Tuesday.
The United States scraped up against its $16.4 trillion debt ceiling on December 31 and is now employing special measures to meet its financial obligations. The Treasury Department said those steps could be exhausted by mid-February.
Hitting the debt ceiling would be much worse
than a government shutdown
Posted by Ezra Klein - WashingtonPost.com
Repeat after me: Breaching the debt ceiling is not the same thing as a government shutdown.
A lot of Republicans seem to believe it is, or at least seem to be trying to believe that it is, and for good reason. Taking the debt ceiling hostage is a tricky political play. On the one hand, the appeal is that breaching the debt ceiling is so dangerous that the Obama administration can't possibly let it happen. That's where the leverage comes from. On the other hand, unleashing economic chaos unless you get your way is a tactic more closely associated with Bond villains than successful political parties.
Treasury taps retiree fund to push off debt limit
(Reuters) - The Treasury said on Tuesday it was temporarily tapping the retirement funds of government workers to avoid hitting the $16.4 trilliondebt ceiling, adding retirees would nonetheless continue to receive benefits.
The Treasury has said it can only stave off default through such extraordinary measures until around mid-February to early March.
The Big, Bad Secular Bear Is Still Lurking We entered 2013 on a bull run with a generally optimistic outlook. But there's reason to believe the great bear market that began in 2000 is likely still with us.
By Jim Jubak - MSN Money
'Tis the season to make forecasts for stock markets in 2013.
But this year I think a focus on the course of markets in 2013 risks missing the forest for the trees. Two longer-term questions are much more important to investors than whether the indexes finish 2013 flat with the end of 2012, or up (or down) 10%.
Those questions? Is the cyclical bull market that began in 2009 due to end this year or next?
A Modest Proposal for Jacob Lew:
Acknowledge Three Simple Facts about U.S. Fiscal Reality
by Robert Pollin - BackToFullEmployment.org
In a reasonable world, in which we recognized the culpability of big-time D.C. politicians and bureaucrats who allowed Wall Street hyper-speculation to run wild and eventually cause the 2008-09 crash and Great Recession, Jacob Lew would be understood as a terrible choice as President Obama's second-term Treasury Secretary, replacing Timothy Geithner. The outstanding journalist Robert Sheer gives us the basic background in a recent Nation article. Sheer writes:
I suppose that he can't be much worse than Timothy Geithner, but that should be scant cause for cheer over the news that the president has nominated Jack Lew as Treasury secretary. Both championed the financial deregulation craze of the Clinton administration, and both are acolytes of Robert Rubin, the former Clinton Treasury secretary who unfettered Wall Street greed and then took his own considerable cut of the action.
Federal Welfare Spending
to Skyrocket 80 Percent in Next Decade
BY DANIEL HALPER - WeeklyStandard.com
Federal welfare spending will skyrocket 80 percent over the next decade, according to new analysis by the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee. Here's a chart, provided by the committee, detailing the growth in spending: [see chart]
"This chart displays projected federal spending on federal welfare programs over the next ten years, based on data from the Congressional Research Service and Congressional Budget Office," the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee explains. "These figures do not count state contributions to federal welfare programs (primarily on low-income health assistance) which brought total welfare spending in FY2011 to more than $1 trillion – dwarfing any other budget item including Medicare and Social Security, and totaling enough to mail every household in poverty a check for 60k each year."
Euro-zone debt crisis enters challenging new phase Commentary: Central bankers win battle, but not the war
By Satyajit Das - MarketWatch.com
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Rallying European stocks and bonds reflect a growing belief that both the euro zone and the European Central Bank are at last taking the correct policy actions to combat the region's debt crisis.
But it is premature to claim victory.
The financial resources remaining to deal with the crisis may be insufficient. The amounts available have not changed for almost two years, with little appetite among "permanent creditors" such as Germany for increasing commitments.
World Bank trims growth forecast
By Howard Schneider - WashingtonPost.com
The World Bank has sharply reduced its estimate of global economic growth in 2013, projecting that the downturn in Europe and the United States' fiscal problems will continue to weigh on investment and spending.
The bank said it expects the world economy to expand 2.4 percent this year, compared with 3 percent growth it had forecast as of June.
401(k) breaches undermining retirement security for millions
By Michael A. Fletcher - WashingtonPost.com
A large and growing share of American workers are tapping their retirement savings accounts for non-retirement needs, raising broad questions about the effectiveness of one of the most important savings vehicles for old age.
More than one in four American workers with 401(k) and other retirement savings accounts use them to pay current expenses, new data show. The withdrawals, cash-outs and loans drain nearly a quarter of the $293 billion that workers and employers deposit into the accounts each year, undermining already shaky retirement security for millions of Americans.
35 Statistics About The Working Poor In America
That Will Blow Your Mind
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
In America tonight, tens of millions of men and women will struggle to get to sleep because they are stressed out about not making enough money even though they are working as hard as they possibly can. They are called "the working poor", and their numbers are absolutely exploding. As a recent Gallup poll showed, Americans are more concerned about the economy than they are about anything else. But why are Americans so stressed out about our economic situation if things are supposedly getting better? Well, the truth is that unemployment is not actually going down, and the real unemployment numbers are actually much worse than what is officially being reported by the government. But unemployment is only part of the story. Most American workers are still able to find jobs, but an increasing proportion of them are not able to make ends meet at the end of the month. Our economy continues to bleed good paying middle class jobs, and to a large degree those jobs are being replaced by low income jobs. Approximately one-fourth of all American workers make 10 dollars an hour or less at this point, and we see them all around us every day. They flip our burgers, they cut our hair and they take our money at the supermarket. In many homes, both parents are working multiple jobs, and yet when a child gets sick or a car breaks down they find that they don't have enough money to pay the bill. Many of these families have gone into tremendous amounts of debt in order to try to stay afloat, but once you get caught in a cycle of debt it can be incredibly difficult to break out of that.
Technology and the Employment Challenge
By Michael Spence - Project-Syndcate.org
MILAN – New technologies of various kinds, together with globalization, are powerfully affecting the range of employment options for individuals in advanced and developing countries alike – and at various levels of education. Technological innovations are not only reducing the number of routine jobs, but also causing changes in global supply chains and networks that result in the relocation of routine jobs – and, increasingly, non-routine jobs at multiple skill levels – in the tradable sector of many economies.
Plumbing Company Sues HHS Mandate, "A Drain on Freedom"
by Alliance Defending Freedom
A Missouri-based plumbing products manufacturer is the latest company to challenge the Obama administration's abortion pill mandate in court.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and allied attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Monday on behalf of Sioux Chief Manufacturing Co. against the mandate, which forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception under threat of heavy penalties.
Oklahoma faces federal takeover of water
By Brooks Hays - Gimby.org
The federal government will assume control over water regulations in Oklahoma this summer unless the state spends $2 million to come into compliance with water quality standards.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets water quality rules and states enforce them. Oklahoma's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has been unable to implement a number of regulations pertaining to microbial pathogens and disinfection byproducts adopted in 2005 and 2006.
"Once those three new rules were in place, we knew we did not have the resources to implement those, and EPA determined they would continue implementing those until we got the funding in place," Shellie Chard-McClary, director of DEQ's Water Quality Division, recently told StateImpact.
Obama Admin Still Trying to Force
Bible Publisher to Obey HHS Mandate
by Steven Ertelt - LifeNews.com
The Obama Administration is still trying to enforce its abortion pill mandate against a Bible publisher which filed a lawsuit against it.
The mandate has generated massive opposition from pro-life groups because it forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception under threat of heavy penalties.
Control Politicians, Not Guns
By Cal Thomas - PatriotPost.us
If laws were enough to deter criminal behavior prisons would be empty.
The latest effort to "control" guns in America is as likely to deter someone intent on breaking the law as outlawing lust would affect one's libido. What's in a heart can't be controlled by restricting what's in a hand.
Following the Newtown tragedy, President Obama vowed to seek the passage of an assault weapons ban and hastily assembled an administration-wide gun control task force, an effort that amounts to little more than a political act designed to impress what Rush Limbaugh calls "low-information voters." Government must be seen doing something to keep mad men from shooting children and moviegoers, even if that something will likely prove ineffective.
End of Private Sale and Transfer of Firearms BIDEN: FIGHT CRIME BY KEEPING GRANDPAS
FROM GIVING GRANDSONS THEIR GUNS
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
Speaking with reporters after meeting with various groups about gun violence last week, VP Biden made it clear that part of the gun control he and President Obama are pursuing includes not simply ending gun shows, but ending the transfer of firearms.
While the focus on gun shows is par for course for gun-grabbers, the focus on ending gun transfers is new and it poses one of the greatness threats to liberty in our time.
Here's what Biden said after meeting with the various groups: "I'm going to focus primarily on [the recommendations] that relate to gun ownership...Not just close the gunshow loophole but total, universal background checks, including private sales."
Where each state stands on gun-control legislation STATES ON GUNS Where the states stand on guns and violence as legislatures meet this year in the aftermath of mass killings. The District of Columbia, which already has strict gun laws, has no plans to further tighten them.
USAToday.com
Reporters from USA TODAY and Gannett news operations nationwide reached out to governors and legislatures in each state to learn what gun-related proposals might be in the works.
MEDL Mobile releases NRA:
Practice Range iPhone application to help teach gun safety Summary: There is a lot of discussion about guns at the moment after the recent horrific mass murders in Newtown, CT. The NRA is part of these discussions and a new iPhone application that focuses on gun safety was released that maybe should have been shelved for another month or two.
By Matthew Miller - ZDNet.com
I read on CNET today that a new iPhone application, NRA: Practice Range (iTunes link), was released by MEDL Mobile that includes NRA safety, training, and education resources along with a target practice shooting game. Given the horrific tragedy just a month ago in Newtown the timing for this release is probably not the best, but it does focus on the educational aspects of the NRA.
If you check out the free game you will see it is one of the least violent shooting games you can find to play (along the lines of the old duck hunting games we played on consoles) and it is more geared towards educating gamers on safe use of weapons rather than shooting people, aliens, zombies, or other creatures.
According to the description on iTunes, this new [FREE] application provides the following:
SAFETY, TRAINING & EDUCATION NRA: Practice Range puts the National Rifle Association's broad scope of resources in the palm of your hand – with 2nd Amendment newsfeeds, gun law information centers & educational materials you can access anywhere, anytime.
Obama to unveil broad gun plans Wednesday
By Philip Rucker - WashingtonPost.com
President Obama will unveil a sweeping set of gun-control proposals at midday Wednesday, including an assault weapons ban, universal background checks and limits on the number of bullets that ammunition clips can hold, according to sources familiar with the plans.
The announcement, which press secretary Jay Carney said is scheduled for about 11:45 a.m. at the White House, is also expected to include a slate of up to 19 executive actions that the Obama administration can take on its own to attempt to limit gun violence.
TEXAS TO JOIN WYOMING:
FELONY CHARGES FOR ENFORCING NEW GUN CONTROL
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
Texas state representative Steve Toth is filing legislation for a "Firearms Protection Act" similar to that which we saw in Wyoming.
This law will make "any federal law banning semi-automatic handguns or limiting the size of gun magazines unenforceable within the state's boundaries."
Not only will this put Texas shoulder-to-shoulder with Wyoming in making it a felony for anyone--including federal agents--to try to enforce new gun control, but according to the Tenth Amendment Center it is in perfect harmony with the actions of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, "who has already filed over twenty-three lawsuits against the federal government."
BULLY PULPIT: OBAMA PUSHES 'EXECUTIVE ACTION' ON GUNS
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbart.com
In the final press conference of his first term, President Barack Obama stood behind the bully pulpit and proceeded to bully. First and foremost, of course, he bullied on gun control:
My understanding is the vice president's going to provide a range of steps that we can take to reduce gun violence. Some of them will require legislation, some of them I can accomplish through executive action. And so I will be reviewing those today, and as I said, I will speak in more detail to what we're going to go ahead and propose later in the week. But I'm confident that there are some steps that we can take that don't require legislation and that are within my authority as president, and where you get a step that, has the opportunity to reduce the possibility of gun violence, then I want to go ahead and take it.
White House Assault Weapons Ban Drawing Opposition
By Lisa Lerer & Heidi Przybyla - Bloomberg.com
President Barack Obama will unveil tomorrow a package of proposals to cut gun violence, including a ban on sales of assault weapons that faces opposition in Congress even as a majority of the public backs it.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will be joined by children who wrote the president expressing their concerns following the mass shooting last month at a Connecticut school for the announcement, scheduled for 11:45 a.m. at the White House, Jay Carney, the president's chief spokesman, said.
NRA targets iPhone with shooting game Following the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., and the NRA's defensive posture, the group has unveiled its own target shooting game.
by Lance Whitney - CNET.com
The National Rifle Association has launched a mobile shooting game amid furor over gun violence.
NRA: Practice Range is designed for iPhone and iPad users who want a little virtual target practice. The free game offers a variety of handguns and rifles that you can use to shoot at targets indoors or outdoors. Simply pick your weapon of choice and then tap the screen to fire at the targets.
The indoor level is easiest as the targets don't move, while the two outdoor levels require you to shoot at skeets and other moving targets.
Congress has a Constitution problem —
many don't understand document
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
Each of them takes an oath to defend the Constitution, but many House lawmakers either don't understand the founding document or don't take its precepts seriously, according to an analysis by The Washington Times that studied the constitutional backing that representatives submitted for each of the more than 3,000 bills they introduced in 2011.
Under rules that the new Republican majority put into place, each House member introducing a bill must cite specific parts of the Constitution that they think grant Congress the authority to take the action they are proposing.
Governments no longer need to build dossiers on citizens; people will provide an abundance their own data using popular social media. Governments and big business, alike, will USE information provided and compiled from ALL resources, possibly, without knowledge or permission of members. It will come down to… are you in the photograph? You will be singled out, whether you like it or not… then sliced and diced by very sophisticate algorithms designed to draw conclusions about you and your purchasing preferences, among other details about your life. The bottom line is making money on your data, using your profile, places you frequent, and friends with whom you associate online and in real life. It's more like voluntary, self-imposed, surveillance.
Facebook's Bold, Compelling and Scary Engine of Discovery:
The Inside Story of Graph Search
BY STEVEN LEVY - Wired.com
….For years now, Facebook watchers have wondered when the company would unleash the potential of itsunderpowered search bar. (Nobody has feared this day more than Google, which suddenly faces a competitor able to index tons of data that Google's own search engine can't access.) They have also wondered how a Facebook search product might work. Now we know. Graph Search is fundamentally different from web search. Instead of a Google-like effort to help users find answers from a stitched-together corpus of all the world's information, Facebook is helping them tap its vast, monolithic database to make better use of their "social graph," the term Zuckerberg uses to describe the network of one's relationships with friends, acquaintances, favorite celebrities, and preferred brands.
Facebook's new 'Graph Search' could be social game changer Social network unleashes data trove
behind its 1B worldwide users
By Sharon Gaudin - Computerworld.com
Computerworld - Facebook today took the wraps off a new search tool that could be a game changer for social networking, according to one analyst.
Basically, Facebook is unleashing the collective knowledge and opinions of its one billion users around the world.
"Facebook Graph Search has the potential to really change the game over time," said Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group. "The power of Graph Search comes from Facebook's sheer size. The more data there is to search and map, the more valuable the results. It can make Facebook a much more valuable tool.
Facebook search feature targets dating sites
by: Jennifer Van Grove - Times247.com
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced Graph Search at a press event today at the company's Menlo Park headquarters, billing it as a new way find people, photos, places and interests that are most relevant to Facebook users.
Graph Search is the social network's response to its massive base of 1 billion users, 240 billion photos, and 1 trillion connections. The tool is meant to provide people the answers to their to their questions about people, photos, places, and interests. …
With graph search, Facebook joins the dating game The site's new search engine is tailor made for matchmaking
By Quentin Fottrell
Mark Zuckerberg wants to set you up on a date. The new "graph search" feature the Facebook chief executive unveiled Tuesday has great potential as an online matchmaker, the company says.
At a media event at its campus in Menlo Park, Calif., on Tuesday, Zuckerberg demonstrated how the search feature could helps its 1 billion users find people based on their interests, photos and places they've been. Tom Stocky, Facebook's director of product and the force behind the new feature, then showed how singles could search through data on their "friends of friends who are single." The feature "allows people to use the graph to make new connections," Facebook said in a statement.
Facebook loses 1.4 million active users in U.S. The social network may be reaching a saturation point
By Quentin Fottrell - MarketWatch.com
Maybe people got tired of their friends and family over the holidays, or perhaps they resolved to do a digital detox for the New Year. Either way, Facebook has been a bit quieter lately.
The number of Americans using Facebook fell by nearly 1.4 million in early December, according to new data from social media monitoring company SocialBakers. While Facebook has more than 167 million users in the U.S. and 1 billion worldwide, the recent drop in monthly active users is still akin to losing the entire population of San Antonio, Texas. "Facebook is possibly getting to a point where the less engaged part of the audience doesn't visit every 30 days," says SocialBakers CEO Jan Rezab.
Instagram User Numbers Down;
Updated Terms of Service in Effect This Week
BY ALEXANDRA CHANG - Wired.com
Instagram's updated Terms of Service and Privacy Policy takes effect Saturday, the company reminded its users in e-mails sent Tuesday. At the same time, AppStats data shows the photo-sharing app has lost around 42 percent of its daily active users in the last month.
Instagram had a bumpy end of the year after unveiling a new TOS that included an updated advertising policy. Many interpreted the update to mean Instagram could sell users' photos and information to advertisers. Users went nuts, some quit Instagram altogether, and the company said it was all a misunderstanding before reverting to its 2010 advertising policy.
Facebook Is Quietly Making a Killing With Ads That Pursue You
BY RYAN TATE - Wired.com
Wall Street wants Facebook to find a new source of aggressive growth, and the social network appears to have done just that — with ads that follow you from site to site and remember you for lengthy periods of time.
Facebook publicly launched its Facebook Exchange ad-bidding network less than three months ago and has been testing it only since June. But the system is already shaking up the ad business, say partners who have been on the exchange since the beginning, delivering a huge volume of users with a strong propensity to click on ads and helping advertisers follow those users for longer periods of time than is possible under competing systems. In the process Facebook is giving Google, long the undisputed leader in the so-called "retargeting business," a run for its money.
How Google and Facebook Will Make the Leap to Lightspeed
BY CADE METZ - Wired.com
One early morning in 2011, somewhere behind the curtain at the world's most popular social network, a Facebook engineer pressed a single button and brought down the entire operation.
This unnamed engineer didn't necessarily make a mistake. He just decided to run the kind of software task the social networking giant runs all the time. He ran a "Hadoop job," a way of analyzing data. The trouble is that Facebook analyzes data generated by hundreds of millions of people. This data is stored across thousands of machines inside the company's data centers, and when you analyze it, all those servers must talk to each other.
Four New Developments Leading Canada's Biofuel Revolution
By Biofuels Digest - OilPrice.com
Strong biofuels flight results, advances in algae, new commitments in venture capital and revived interest from the Canadian Navy.
Biofuels are off to a fast start in 2013 in Canada.
Canada's been known for years as the home of several important technology players – Iogen, for one; but more recently, Greenfield Ethanol has been aiming at cellulosic biofuels, while Ensyn is on the verge of commercializing its drop-in fuels technology, and Enerkem has become globally prominent for its waste-to-biofuels technology. Upstream, companies like Agrisoma have been developing high-value feedstock options.
White House shoots down petition to build Death Star
Obama Administration says construction of the universe's ultimate weapon would be cost-prohibitive and not in keeping with its policy of galactic peace.
by Steven Musil - CNET.com
The White House has rejected a proposal to build a Death Star, saying that in addition to its prohibitive construction costs, the current administration does not advocate destroying other planets.
Today's lighthearted official statement came in response to a petition posted in November to the White House's We The People platform that called for the administration to begin construction of a moon-size military battlestation armed with a planet-destroying superlaser by 2016. The petition, which attracted well more than the minimum 25,000 signatures necessary for a response from the White House, suggested that such a project could give the nation's economy a much-needed boost:
The Empire writes back: Galactic Empire responds
to White House rejection of Death Star petition
By Emi Kolawole - WashingtonPost.com
If you thought the blowback against the White House for its rejection of the petition to have the government build a Death Star was over, you are sorely mistaken.
The Galactic Empire via the official Star Wars blog has responded in a news release with the following statement reading, in part:
The overwhelming military superiority of the Galactic Empire has been confirmed once again by the recent announcement by the President of the United States that his nation would not attempt to build a Death Star, despite the bellicose demands of the people of his tiny, aggressive planet.
A New Middle East Crisis in the Making
By Claude Salhani - OilPrice.com
A demographic time bomb is clicking away in the Middle East with the creation of a new refugee problem as the continuing civil war in Syria is seeing the numbers of Syrians fleeing their country rise to a staggering 600,000. For a country with a population of only 15 million those are frightening numbers, indeed.
To put things in perspective this means that one out of every 25 Syrian has become a refugee. Compared to the population of the United States it would mean that more than 12 million Americans would have been affected. To the outsider numbers are sanitized and don't portray the human sufferings. It is hard to relate to numbers be it 600 or 600,000. Those are just cold statistics. Unless we know someone who is among those 600,000, then of course the issue becomes a personal one. As Josef Stalin, the former Soviet dictator used to say, a single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.
Exclusive: Secret State Department cable:
Chemical weapons used in Syria
Posted By Josh Rogin - ForeignPolicy.com
A secret State Department cable has concluded that the Syrian military likely used chemical weapons against its own people in a deadly attack last month, The Cable has learned.
United States diplomats in Turkey conducted a previously undisclosed, intensive investigation into claims that Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad used chemical weapons, and made what an Obama administration official who reviewed the cable called a "compelling case" that Assad's military forces had used a deadly form of poison gas.
Four to six weeks until default Secretary Geithner Sends Debt Limit Letter to Congress
byTranscripts Editors - DailyKos.com
January 14, 2013
The Honorable John A. Boehner
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Speaker:
I am writing to provide additional information regarding the extraordinary measures Treasury has undertaken in order to avoid default on the nation's obligations.
Treasury currently expects to exhaust these extraordinary measures between mid-February and early March of this year. We will provide a more narrow range with a more targeted estimate at a later date. Any estimate, however, will be subject to a significant amount of uncertainty because we are entering the tax filing season, when the amounts and timing of tax payments and refunds are unpredictable. For this reason, Congress should act as early as possible to extend normal borrowing authority in order to avoid the risk of default and any interruption in payments…
Bernanke: Get rid of the debt ceiling
By Annalyn Kurtz - Money.CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is not a fan of the U.S. debt ceiling, an arbitrary borrowing limit set by Congress.
"I think it would be a good thing if we didn't have it," Bernanke said, speaking at the University of Michigan on Monday.
But he added that the chances seem slim that Congress would ever get rid of it. "I don't think that's going to happen," he said.
The United States officially hit its $16.394 trillion legal debt limit on Dec. 31. As a result, until the debt ceiling is raised, Treasury is not allowed to borrow new money to help it pay all the country's financial obligations.
At presser, Obama demands Congress raise $16.4T debt limit
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
President Obama at a Monday press conference demanded that Congress raise the nation's $16.4 trillion debt ceiling.
Obama said raising the ceiling was about paying for bills the Congress has already rung up, and he argued it would be disastrous for the economy — which he said is showing signs of lifting off — to not raise the debt limit.
US Won't Sell Its GOLD Debt ceiling: Selling gold isn't the answer
By Emily Jane Fox - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The idea of minting a $1 trillion platinum coin as a way to avoid the U.S. debt ceiling is officially off the table.
But what about selling the nation's deep gold reserves?
After all, the U.S. Treasury has 261.5 million ounces of the precious metal in Fort Knox, Kentucky. With gold selling at roughly $1,655 an ounce, the government has $432 billion worth of the shiny metal just collecting dust.
Sorry, middle class. The VAT may be inevitable. If the government fails to enact structural reforms in spending, an entirely new source of revenue will be needed. The most likely one is a value-added tax that would crush the middle class.
By Shawn Tully - CNN.com
FORTUNE -- You can't blame middle-income Americans for wondering whether the new "fiscal cliff" deal really protects them from big tax increases in the future. That's essentially what President Obama promised in championing the hike in rates for high-earners signed into law on January 2. Still, the politicians and pundits keep talking about how our steep deficits and mountainous debt will rise even after the new revenue is counted. So it's only natural for the folks to ask the obvious question: Now that the affluent are paying far more, where's the extra cash supposed to come from?
4 Ways to Avert the Debt Ceiling
(And the Most Likely Option Is the Scariest) Here's why Ben Bernanke killed the platinum coin,
and what it means for the debt-ceiling showdown
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
The coin will not be minted.
At least, not in anything remotely close to 13-digit denominations. As Ezra Klein of the Washington Postreports, the Treasury and Federal Reserve have ruled out creating a trillion-dollar coin, which was a real possibility thanks to a crazy loophole, to stop us from defaulting on our obligations if the debt ceiling isn't raised. It's Congress or bust, when it comes to paying our bills on time.
Double trouble: House GOP eyes default, shutdown
By JIM VANDEHEI, MIKE ALLEN and JAKE SHERMAN - Politico.com
House Republicans are seriously entertaining dramatic steps, including default or shutting down the government, to force President Barack Obama to finally cut spending by the end of March.
The idea of allowing the country to default by refusing to increase the debt limit is getting more widespread and serious traction among House Republicans than people realize, though GOP leaders think shutting down the government is the much more likely outcome of the spending fights this winter.
Bernanke says raising the debt ceiling is critical
By Jonathan Spicer
ANN ARBOR, Michigan | Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:24pm EST
(Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday urged U.S. lawmakers to lift the country's borrowing limit to avoid a potentially disastrous debt default, warning that the economy was still at risk from political gridlock over the deficit.
Likening Congress to a family arguing that it can improve its credit rating by deciding not to pay its credit card bill, Bernanke said that raising the legal borrowing limit was not the same as authorizing new government spending.
The Federal Reserve
Shows Barack Obama Who The Real Boss Is
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Barack Obama has greatly expanded the powers of the presidency during his time in the White House, but there is one institution that he simply will not mess with. There is one organization that is considered to be so sacred in Washington D.C. that Obama will not dare utter a single negative word against it. That organization is the Federal Reserve. Even though he has shown that he is unafraid to pick a fight with just about everyone else in Washington, Obama flat out refuses to criticize the Fed and he even reappointed Ben Bernanke for another term as Fed Chairman even though Bernanke has a track record of failure that would make the Chicago Cubs look good. Perhaps Obama is aware of what has happened to other presidents that have chosen to tangle with the Fed. In any event, it has become clear that Obama submits to anything that the Fed says without question, and the controversy over the "trillion dollar coin" is another perfect example of this. For weeks, there has been much speculation in the mainstream media about the possibility that the Obama administration may print up a one trillion dollar coin that it would use to keep paying the bills of the federal government if an agreement to raise the debt ceiling is not reached. But on Saturday the Federal Reserve killed that idea, and we shouldn't be surprised by that because under no circumstances will the Fed ever accept a threat to their monopoly over money creation in the United States. If the Federal Reserve had allowed Obama to print up a debt-free trillion dollar coin, that would have set a very dangerous precedent for the Fed.
Paul Krugman Schools Peggy Noonan,
Calls Debt Ceiling Negotiations 'Hostage Taking'
by Purple Priestess - DailyLos.com
This morning on "This Week" Paul Krugman refused to bow to the usual pundit-talk, telling fellow round table members that the GOP's tactic on the debt ceiling is "hostage taking" and should not be allowed. Krugman defended the President's position on the battle against complaints by columnist Peggy Noonan, who said that she thought Obama should be "sitting down and talking" to Republican Congressional leaders.
Ignoring the obvious retort – he HAS sat down with them and they won't cooperate –Krugman told Noonan:
"This is hostage taking, this is walking into a room and saying, 'I've got a bomb, give me what I want or I'll blow up this room.' This has never happened before and should not be allowed to happen."
Obama press conference:
No 'ransom' for raising debt ceiling
By JENNIFER EPSTEIN - Politico.com
President Barack Obama on Monday repeated his call for deficit reduction but warned against the potentially catastrophic effect on the economy by tying cuts to raising the debt ceiling.
"While I'm willing to compromise and find common ground over how to reduce our deficit, America cannot afford another debate with this Congress over how to pay the bills they've already racked up," Obama said in the East Room of the White House at what aides have billed as the final news conference of his first term. "To even entertain the idea of this happening, of America not paying its bills, is irresponsible. It's absurd."
Bernanke downplays inflation risk of QE3 Worst thing Fed could do would be to hike rates prematurely
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday played down the fears of some more hawkish central bankers and investors that the Fed's aggressive bond-buying program will lead to higher inflation.
"I don't believe significant inflation is going to be the result of any of this," Bernanke said in a speech at the University of Michigan.
Obama Warns of 'Haywire' Markets If U.S. Debt Ceiling Hit
By Julianna Goldman & Margaret Talev - Bloomberg.com
President Barack Obama warned Congress against using the debt ceiling as leverage in the spending debate, saying "markets could go haywire" and government payments, from Social Security checks to military salaries, will be held up if the limit isn't raised.
Republican lawmakers "will not collect a ransom" if they delay increasing federal borrowing authority, Obama said today at a White House news conference. "There are no magic tricks here. There are no loopholes. There are no easy outs."
Treasury Yields Rise From Lowest in Week Amid Debt Debate
By Cordell Eddings & Susanne Walker - Bloomberg.com
Treasury 10-year yields rose from the lowest level in a week as President Barack Obama said the full faith and credit of the U.S. is not a "bargaining chip" as he called for debt-ceiling action by Congress.
Yields on benchmark notes rose after Obama said during a press conference in Washington that failure to lift the debt limit threatens to push the economy into recession. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said the Fed will need to keep buying assets "well into" the second half of the year to combat unemployment as the central bank purchased $1.47 billion of Treasuries in the first of daily buybacks this week.
Mortgage Bonds Slump as Fed's Buying Boost Fades:
Credit Markets
By Jody Shenn - Bloomberg.com
After posting their worst returns since 1999, government-backed mortgage bonds are starting 2013 with losses on speculation the end of Federal Reserve purchases is in sight and as homeowner refinancing roils the market.
The slump spans from new low-coupon securities the U.S. central bank is targeting to bonds backed by higher-rate loans more damaged by refinancing, the biggest portion of the $5.3 trillion market. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch index has lost 0.19 percent this month after returning 2.59 percent in 2012.
Gold up 0.5%; platinum ends at three-month high Market awaits Fed hints on policy;
platinum nears parity with gold
By Myra P. Saefong and Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures settled higher Monday, as the market looked to this week's speeches by Federal Reserve officials for hints on their next move regarding U.S. monetary policy.
Climbing platinum futures, meanwhile, moved near price parity with gold on supply concerns ahead of financial results and a review of operations from Anglo American Platinum Ltd.. The world's largest producer was beset by strikes last year at its South African mines.
Goldman Sachs And The Big Hedge Funds
Are Pushing Leverage To Ridiculous Extremes
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
As stocks have risen in recent years, the big hedge funds and the "too big to fail" banks have used borrowed money to make absolutely enormous profits. But when you use debt to potentially multiply your profits, you also create the possibility that your losses will be multiplied if the markets turn against you. When the next stock market crash happens, and the gigantic pyramid of risk, debt and leverage on Wall Street comes tumbling down, will highly leveraged banks such as Goldman Sachs ask the federal government to bail them out? The use of leverage is one of the greatest threats to our financial system, and yet most Americans do not even really understand what it is. The following is a basic definition of leverage from Investopedia: "The use of various financial instruments or borrowed capital, such as margin, to increase the potential return of an investment." Leverage allows firms to make much larger bets in the financial markets than they otherwise would be able to, and at this point Goldman Sachs and the big hedge funds are pushing leverage to ridiculous extremes. When the financial markets go up and they win on those bets, they can win very big. For example, revenues at Goldman Sachs increased by about 30 percent in 2012 and Goldman stock has soared by more than 40 percent over the past 12 months. Those are eye-popping numbers. But leverage is a double-edged sword. When the markets turn, Goldman Sachs and many of these large hedge funds could be facing astronomical losses.
Small Firms to Remain Missing Link in U.S. Expansion: Economy
By Alex Kowalski & Jeanna Smialek - Bloomberg.com
Small companies will probably remain a missing element of the current U.S. expansion as their role in driving growth continues to wane, according to economists at Citigroup Inc. (C)
Payrolls at firms with fewer than 500 employees accounted for less than 50 percent of the total workforce for the first time in 2008 during the recession and have barely recovered, according to their research. After hovering close to 50 percent, small businesses' share of gross domestic product began dropping in 2001 to reach about 45 percent in the latest available data.
We Are Witnessing The Slow, Tortuous Death
Of The American Worker
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Once upon a time, the U.S. economy produced a seemingly unending supply of good paying jobs that enabled American workers to buy homes, raise families and live the American Dream. But now all of that has changed. Over the past several decades, there have been some fundamental shifts in our economy that have steadily eroded the value of the American worker. Thanks to incredible advances in robotics, computers and other fields of technology, many economic activities that once required a tremendous amount of manpower now require very little. Nothing is going to reverse those technological advances, so the jobs that have been lost as a result are now gone forever. But there are millions of other good jobs that we have lost that we could have done something about. Over the past couple of decades, millions upon millions of American jobs have been shipped overseas. Thanks to a whole host of "free trade" agreements that our politicians promised would be very good for our economy, U.S. workers have now been merged into a global labor pool with hundreds of millions of workers on the other side of the globe that live in countries where it is legal to pay slave labor wages.
Which Economies Are Set to Soar in 2013?
By Michele Lin - OilPrice.com
As the European Union mulls another year of economic stagnation and the United States a year of lack lustre and uncertain economic recovery, will emerging markets take the lead in global economic recovery?
The year 2012 ended on relatively flat note. The United States had the world on its toes as its leaders negotiated a crucial last minute budget deal, narrowly avoiding automatic budget cuts and tax hikes that had the potential to send the world's largest economy into recession. But even with that out of the way, failure to raise the debt ceiling and, on a large scale, rein in government spending, would keep another generation of Americans trapped in a vicious spiral of unsustainable debt and decline.
Drastic tax changes only way to save middle class 90% top rates, and no breaks for outsourcing jobs
By Marcus D. Pohlmann
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (MarketWatch) — The midnight hour deal struck in Washington raised taxes for the wealthiest Americans, amid conservative protests that it would discourage the wealthy from investments that could add badly needed jobs to the sagging American economy. The squabble ignores a much larger economic problem, however, and that problem is the steady demise of the American middle class over the past several decades.
The U.S. had a large and vibrant middle class as recently as the 1950s and 1960s, at a time when organized labor was at its strongest and there existed one of the most progressive tax structures in the nation's history.
New round of LBOs? Dell Said to Be in Buyout Talks With Private-Equity Firms
By Serena Saitto & Jeffrey McCracken - Bloomberg.com
Dell Inc. (DELL), the personal-computer maker that lost almost a third of its value last year, is in buyout talks with private-equity firms, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Round Rock, Texas-based Dell is discussing going private with at least two firms, said one of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The discussions are preliminary and could fall apart because the firms may not be able to line up the neededfinancing or resolve how to exit the investment in the future, the people said.
Dell Lifts on Buyout Rumor
By Olivia Oran - TheStreet.com
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of PC maker Dell(DELL_) rose by about 2.5% in mid-afternoon trading on revived rumors that CEO Michael Dell would make a bid to buy his company from shareholders.
Maverick Capital Management CEO Lee Ainsle said Tuesday during the Value Investing Conference that the CEO is frustrated with the company and could look to buy the computer maker, or issue a special dividend,Marketwatch reported.
Blackstone snaps up Dell M&A chief Dave Johnson
AltAssets.net
Dave Johnson, the head of M&A at Dell, is understood to be leaving the New York-listed technology giant to join the private equity operations of Blackstone.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news, which was confirmed by Dell on Monday.
Johnson, who had been the senior vice president and head of corporate strategy at Dell, was labeled the "busiest man in tech" last year by an analyst after sealing three deals in as many days.
Dell's David Johnson takes senior post at Blackstone
By Jim Finkle
BOSTON | Mon Jan 7, 2013 5:26pm EST
(Reuters) - Michael Dell has lost of one of the key lieutenants he recruited to help him turn around his ailing computer company.
David Johnson, Dell Inc's senior vice president for corporate strategy, has left to take a senior position with investment company Blackstone Group LP, according to Dell spokesman David Frink.
Dell Shares Soar On Going Private Suggestion
BY David Zielenziger - IBTimes.com
Shares of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), the No. 3 PC maker, soared nearly 9 percent Monday after an analyst suggested the company might tap its cash pile for a leveraged buyout. They rose another 2.5 percent on Tuesday.
At the Monday close, shares of Dell were at $10.06, up 42 cents, after touching $10.49 earlier, after Bill Shope, an analyst for Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), suggested the buyout option. On Tuesday, they rose another quarter to $10.31.
Why Dell won't go private The company needs to transform,
but here's why going private doesn't make sense.
By Shelley DuBois - Fortune.CNN.com
back in June when, at the Sanford C. Bernstein investor conference, CEO and founder Michael Dell, well, mentioned that he had considered that strategy.
Then earlier this month, CFO Brian Gladden poured some gas on the flames when he said the debate was still alive in Austin, sayingthat Dell (DELL) had spent "a whole lot of time thinking about this," but "it's not something we think is going to happen anytime soon." To listen to the message from Dell's C-Suite is to hear that privatizing is discussed and seriously considered. (But a few weeks after the talk, a spokesperson tried to temper the discussion, saying: "There is no ongoing plan, or exploration of taking the company private.")
Postal Delay in Congress Hastens Risk of Mail Stoppage
By Angela Greiling Keane & Kathleen Hunter - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Postal Service, set to run out of operating cash in October, still can't get Congress to act with any urgency to help solve its problems.
Competing Senate and House proposals to help resolve Postal Service finances expired when the old Congress left Jan. 3, and two senators who've pushed for a postal overhaul retired. The post office now must persuade lawmakers focused on broader fights on the deficit and spending to pass a law to let the agency cut costs and plug losses.
Small Firms Gear Up for Obamacare How small firms are gearing up for health reform Legions of small and midsize businesses that don't offer health insurance have to quickly come up with a game plan. Here's what some are thinking.
By Elaine Pofeldt - Fortune.com
FORTUNE -- Lenny Verkhoglaz wishes he could provide health insurance to the nearly 300 home care aides he employs at Executive Care, based in Hackensack, N.J. No such luck.
Verkhoglaz hasn't been able to muster enough participation among his employees to qualify for the group plans he's considered so far. These plans require 75% of employees to participate. Many of his workers, who mainly assist clients with nonmedical tasks, earn a modest income ($10-14/hour) and aren't interested in contributing part of the premiums, he says.
American Express cuts signal end of era in travel
By ROBIN SIDEL And ANDREW R. JOHNSON
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The belt tightening in American corporations that made relics of pension plans, in-house cafeterias and even many holiday parties is squeezing another victim: American Express Co.'s travel business.
Responding to the rise of do-it-yourself policies that ask employees to book work trips online rather than calling an AmEx travel agent, the New York company is trimming its corporate-travel operation.
Microsoft keeps calm, issues emergency IE update 'Classic example of incident response,'
argues security professional
By Gregg Keizer - Computerworld.com
Computerworld - Microsoft today shipped an emergency update for Internet Explorer (IE) to stymie attacks that have been occurring since at least Dec. 7.
The "out-of-band" update -- the label for a security fix outside a vendor's normal schedule -- was expected by experts, who last week predicted Microsoft would issue a fix for the IE flaw before the next Patch Tuesday on Feb. 12.
Homeland Security warns Java still poses risks after security fix Summary: UPDATED: After a security fix to patch Java 7 from a massive security vulnerability, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has reiterated its warning that Java still poses risks.
By Zack Whittaker - ZDNet.com
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has reiterated its warning to Java users that the widely used Web plug-in still poses risks for Internet users, even after Oracle patched the software to prevent hackers from exploiting a zero-day vulnerability.
It comes as some security experts are warning that the new software -- Java 7 (Update 11), which was released on Sunday -- may not actually protect against hackers attempting to remotely execute code on user machines.
We're in a Post-PC world going mobile Tablets, smartphones and TVs upstage PCs at CES
PC makers made fewer product announcements than in past years
By Agam Shah - Computerworld.com
IDG News Service - PCs were upstaged by tablets, smartphones and TVs at this year's International CES show, with some companies maintaining a smaller presence or holding back product announcements for a later date.
There were fewer product announcements from PC makers compared to previous years, with some companies waiting for the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Feb. 25-28.
Why some websites
don't work properly in your favorite browser
By Marco Tabini - MacWorld.com
It never fails: No matter which browser you use, and how well you keep up with its updates, sooner or later you end up finding a website that doesn't quite work the right way. Even more frustratingly, bugs and defects always seem to crop up more often on sites that tend to push the limits of what can be done with a browser, with activities like printing, interactivity, and complex animations frequent targets of malfunctions and misfirings.
It's easy to blame Web developers for being lazy and allowing these problems to occur, but the reality is that the Web has become a complex, well, web of technologies and competing interests that are, sometimes, at odds with the goal of writing software that works across as many platforms as possible.
Biden: W.H. readies 19 executive actions on guns
By REID J. EPSTEIN - Politico.com
The White House has identified 19 executive actions for President Barack Obama to move unilaterally on gun control, Vice President Joe Biden told a group of House Democrats on Monday, the administration's first definitive statements about its response to last month's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Later this week, Obama will formally announce his proposals to reduce gun violence, which are expected to include renewal of the assault weapons ban, universal background checks and prohibition of high-capacity magazine clips. But Biden, who has been leading Obama's task force on the response, spent two hours briefing a small group of sympathetic House Democrats on the road ahead in the latest White House outreach to invested groups.
N.Y. Assembly Speaker Silver:
'We Are Going To Ban Assault Weapons' Among New Laws, Gun Owners
Would Have To Renew License Every 5 Years
NewYork.CBSLocal.com
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – The New York State Legislature was poised Monday night to pass the first gun control measure following the Newtown school massacre. This as the vice president was set to unveil federal proposals to end gun violence on Tuesday.
Albany lawmakers have reportedly ironed out the kinks, allowing them to enact new gun control measures in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting. Assuming the new bill passes, it will turn into the toughest set of gun control laws in the country.
Kenyan Oil, Hot and Getting Hotter:
Interview with Taipan's Maxwell Birley
By James Stafford - OilPrice.com
Kenya has become the hottest oil and gas venue in East Africa since big discoveries were made in the country's virgin oilfields last April. All eyes are on Kenya in 2013 to see how quickly--and economically they can develop those discoveries into production.
Nairobi based Taipan Resources Inc. (TPN-TSXV; TAIPF-PINK) is the 4th largest acreage owner in Kenya, and is getting ready to carry out seismic on Block 2B. They recently attracted Maxwell Birley as CEO. Mr. Birley has been instrumental in discovering more than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent in his 30-year career—much of it in Africa and Asia.
Why you should Ignore
any Long-Term Forecasts of Cheap Crude
By Kurt Cobb - OilPrice.com
Here's the short version of why forecasts of low long-term oil and natural gas prices are almost certainly wrong: It costs more than that to get the stuff out of the ground. Only two things could actually lead to low long-term prices: 1) Somebody could invent and deploy some genuinely brand new technology that makes it really cheap once again to get oil and gas out of the ground or 2) we could have a deep and grinding deflationary depression that brings demand for oil and natural gas down so much that prices collapse.
MIT Develop New Material
which can Generate Energy from Water Vapour
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
MIT engineers have developed a new polymer film which can take advantage of the chemical energy in a water gradient and turn it into mechanical energy; which in turn can then be converted into electricity.
The film is made from an interlocking network of polypyrrole, which forms a hard but flexible matrix that provides structural support, and polyol-borate, which is a soft gel that swells when it absorbs water.
The End of Labor:
How to Protect Workers From the Rise of Robots Technology used to make us better at our jobs. Now it's making many of us obsolete, as the share of income going to workers is crashing, all over the world. What do we do now?
By Noah Smith - TheAtlantic.com
Here's a scene that will be familiar to anyone who's ever taken an introductory economics course. The professor has just finished explaining that in economics, "efficiency" means that there are no possible gains from trade. Then some loudmouth kid in the back raises his hand and asks: "Wait, so if one person has everything, and everyone else has nothing and just dies, is that an 'efficient' outcome?" The professor, looking a little chagrined, responds: "Well, yes, it is." And the whole class rolls their eyes and thinks: Economists.
I'm unemployed and hopeless
There's only so much rejection a person can take. Meet 5 unemployed Americans who want to work, but are beyond fed up with the weak job market and feel hopeless.
Money.CNN.com
Press fear Obama private swearing in
By DYLAN BYERS - Politico.com
The White House Correspondents Association is strongly urging the Obama administration to allow press access to the president's official swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20, following indications from inauguration committee officials that the event could potentially be closed to the press.
"Mindful of the historic nature of this occasion, we expect the White House will continue the long tradition of opening the President's official swearing-in to full press access, and we as an organization are looking forward to working with the administration to make that happen," Ed Henry, the Fox News correspondent and president of the White House Correspondents Association, said in a statement.
Obama Said to Consider Morgan Stanley's Porat at Treasury
By Hans Nichols - Bloomberg.com
President Barack Obama is considering two women for senior economic positions, weighing Ruth Porat, chief financial officer at Morgan Stanley (MS), for deputy Treasury secretary and Wal-Mart Foundation President Sylvia Mathews Burwell for budget director, according to people familiar with the matter.
For the number two position at Treasury, Porat would bring deeper market experience than Jack Lew, Obama's choice for Treasury secretary, according to two people. She would also provide gender balance on an economics team dominated by men, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters that haven't been publicly announced.
Snares strewn on Obama's path
as he pushes second-term agenda
By Amie Parnes - TheHill.com
President Obama has been on the offensive since his reelection but landmines lie in his path that could detonate in the short and medium term, depleting his political capital and perhaps even undermining his legacy.
With memories of his November win over Mitt Romney still fresh, Obama routed Republicans in the fiscal-cliff deal just concluded. Democrats are now readying for battle on everything from the debt ceiling to gun control.
Gun Limits Sought in States in Defiance of Firearms Lobby
By William Selway - Bloomberg.com
Democratic governors and lawmakers in at least 10 U.S. states are seeking new restrictions on guns and ammunition after last month's school shooting in Connecticut, challenging the firearms lobby's political clout.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, last week called for making his state's gun laws the toughest in the nation with restrictions that include a ban on sales of high- capacity ammunition magazines. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, also a Democrat, wants background checks on private gun sales.
RUGER FIREARMS TO FEDS: 'DO NOT PASS MORE GUN LAWS'
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
Not only does Ruger Firearms make some of the best weapons in the word, they are also leading in the fight to stop the asinine gun control push coming from Obama/Biden and Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).
To to do this, Ruger has put up a website titled "Take Action Now," where gun owners and 2nd Amendment supporters can easily sign and submit a letter to state and federal level government officials to tell them clearly: "Do NOT pass more gun laws."
EPIC FLIP-FLOP:
ANTI-KYOTO HAGEL TO LEAD
OBAMA'S 'GREEN' DEFENSE DEPARTMENT?
by JOEL B. POLLAK - Breitbart.com
Chuck Hagel's nomination as Secretary of Defense has provoked opposition due to his perceived hostility towards Israel, his posture of appeasement towards Iran, and his objection to the successful Iraq surge. He supports global nuclear disarmament, having signed onto the "Global Zero" campaign. He has also been criticized for past comments on gays, remarks about a "Jewish lobby," and a no-exceptions policy on abortion.
Yet the most difficult position for Hagel to overcome might be climate change. In 1997, then-Sen. Hagel (R-NE) co-sponsored a resolution with Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV)against the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The resolution rejected any climate treaty, such as Kyoto, that did not include developing countries and that "would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States." It passed unanimously (95-0).
Colorado Enacts Tough New Fracking Measures
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
The state government in Colorado announced that it enacted some of the most stringent laws related to oil and natural gas operations in the country. New regulations require energy companies to conduct before-and-after samples of groundwater wells in the state to determine what impact, if any, exploration has on water quality. The rules follow a decision by the U.S. government to wait another 8 months before it closes the comment period for a study on the possible contamination of water supplies from fracking operations in Wyoming. While Colorado officials cloaked their statements in cautious language, the regulations suggest lawmakers are starting to catch up with the debate over the U.S. oil and natural boom.
Egyptian President Calls Jews 'Sons of Apes and Pigs';
World Yawns
By Jeffrey Goldberg - TheAtlantic.com
Earlier this month, the Middle East Media Research Institute posted video taken in 2010 of Egypt's current president, Mohamed Morsi, calling Jews the "descendants of apes and pigs."
The Jerusalem Post provided this summary of his remarks:
"... Morsi denounced the Palestinian Authority as a creation of "the Zionist and American enemies for the sole purpose of opposing the will of the Palestinian people." Therefore, he stressed, "No reasonable person can expect any progress on this track."
Illinois To Start Tracking Gold Transactions
GoldSilverWorlds.com
Last year the Illinois senate passed a bill called SB3341 or "Precious Metal Purchasing Act." The bill is still pending approval of the house. However, it is likely just a matter of time until the act is approved. In essence, the bill obliges persons in the business of purchasing precious metals to obtain proof of ownership, create a record of sale and verify the identity of the seller. It is also prohibited to pay for the precious metals in cash. All payments have to be carried out electronically. The precious metals dealer also has to keep records for sale for at least one year or even up to 5 years if the transaction value is over 500$. Furthermore, all collected information has to be reported to the local law enforcement agency.
Gold Market Turns To China For Support
By Tim Iacono - SeekingAlpha.com
….Late in the week, better-than-expected trade figures from China spurred hopes of stronger demand for raw materials, leading to a precious metals advance. This persisted until higher-than-expected inflation in China was reported on Friday, prompting buyers to turn into sellers on fears that rising prices may limit the government's ability to provide more stimulus for the world's second-largest economy that now appears to be rebounding.
But, without a doubt, the most important gold-related news to emerge from China last week was of surging gold imports. As has been the case over the last year, demand from China is likely to play a key role in supporting metal prices and, eventually, pushing prices up and out of their recent trading range.
Report commissioned by World Gold Council
hints at the war against gold
By: Chris Powell - GoldSeek.com
A report commissioned by the World Gold Council for the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum in London, written by the chairman of the forum's advisory board, Meghnad Desai, more or less acknowledges what we've never seen the gold council acknowledge, the most important aspect of gold's place in the international financial system -- that is, that there is a war against gold.
"Most crucial with respect to the role of gold," Desai writes in his introduction, "the previously dominant Western economies have attempted to dismantle the yellow metal's monetary role, and -- for a variety of reasons -- this has comprehensively failed."
Breaking News: OMFIF Report
Advocates the Official Remonetization of Gold
BY JOHN BUTLER - FinancialSense.com
In a report published today, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), a global organization of central banks and sovereign wealth funds, recommends that gold be remonetized for use as international money, alongside major currencies. OMFIF gives a number of reasons for this but they boil down it to gold's historical role in establishing and maintaining confidence and stability in international monetary relations. Such confidence and stability have dramatically declined as a result of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, to the detriment of the global economy. Falling back on the solid foundation of gold is the best available way to eventually move forward with healthy and sustainable growth in global trade, to all countries' mutual benefit, and to bring an end to the escalating 'currency wars' that increasingly threaten the global economy.
Gold Closer To Become Officially Money … Again
Gold Silver Worlds
A new paper published by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) describes how gold is ready to become officially part of the monetary system … again. In order to stabilize the world monetary system, in the light of a deteriorating global currency war and the lack of a real alternative world reserve currency, gold is the only alternative currency that is ready to take on a leading role. One thing is for sure, it is the ONLY time tested currency as ALL paper based money systems have failed in history. Although the Renminbi is a candidate to play an leading role in the future, it is not ready to take up that role yet. One thing will be proven once again: Gold was money and gold continues to be money, although we temporarily somehow "forgot" in it in the West.
Why Gold Is Not In A Bubble: Interview With Egon Von Greyerz
By Fabrice Drouin Ristori - SeekingAlpha.com Fabrice Drouin Ristori: We are here in Zurich with Egon von Greyerz, founding member and manager of Matterhorn Asset Management and Goldswitzerland.com. Thank you for having us. Can you tell us when did you decide to invest in physical gold and silver, and why did you take this decision in the past? Egon von Greyerz: Well, back in 2002, we saw that the world was in a mess. Governments were running deficits, banks were increasing credit at an enormous amount, and we thought that for our investors wealth protection was absolutely critical. At that time, gold was $300, the low had been a couple of years earlier at $250, but we considered that gold was the best way to protect the assets of our clients from the destruction of paper money that we saw coming in the ensuing years. So that's why we advised our clients to put up to 50 percent of their assets into gold, into physical gold.
Public U.S. gold audit petition hits White House website GATA and other gold cartel conspiracy theorists are hoping a gold reserve audit petition filed on the White House website will draw more public attention to their cause.
Author: Dorothy Kosich - MineWeb.com
RENO (MINEWEB) -
The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) and other advocates--who argue the quantity of gold held by the world's central banks, international bullion banks, and future exchanges is overstated--are backing a petition demanding an assayed public audit of the U.S. gold reserve, published Wednesday on the White House petitions website.
The petition reads: "As of 12/31/2012, the US Treasury claims to hold 261 million ounces of gold at Denver, Fort Knox, West Point and at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This bullion was last subjected to a full physical audit in 1953."
Silver Demand set for Dramatic climb to Historic High in 2013
Commodity Trade Mantra - SilverBearCafe.com
Silver Investment has so far been one of the most popular market moves of 2013. Silver seems set to achieve a new all-time price record in 2013 on a relentless and historic climb reaching as high as $55 to $64 an ounce. The out-of-proportion Gold to Silver ratio which should move back down is one of the best reasons why Silver will rise faster than Gold. Higher investment demand as paper money loses value & at the same time Gold Prices lose their biggest support – the Ultra loose monetary policy of many central Banks, especially the US Federal Reserve, namely the QE. Higher industrial demand will give Silver a double sided edge as it's used for solar panels, lighting, electronics and much more.
Silver Forecast Is $90 In 2013?
Silver Strageties - SilverBearCafe.com
The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's December meeting "sucked all of the oxygen out of the room for gold bulls - and if not for the reversal in silver, I believe the sell-off in gold would be more pronounced," said Steve Roy, Chief Technical Analyst for Equity Management Academy.
Gold's weakness was set off by Thursday's release of the minutes from the Fed's last meeting, which showed that several Fed officials thought the central bank would be able to slow or stop its bond purchases - a method of increasing monetary stimulus that goes beyond low interest rates - well before December 2013.
Peter Schiff Interviews Marc Faber
On What Will Happen in 2013 - CNBC 1/10/2013
Marc Faber, editor of the "Gloom, Boom & Doom Report," offers up his predictions for the coming year. With Peter Schiff, Euro Pacific Capital, CNBC's Mandy Drury and the Futures Now Traders, Rich Ilczyszyn at the CME and Anthony Grisanti at the Nymex.
Reid to Obama: OK to skip Congress on debt ceiling
By MANU RAJU and JOHN BRESNAHAN - Politico.com
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other top Democrats are putting new pressure on the White House to circumvent Congress to boost the nation's debt ceiling if no bipartisan agreement can be reached.
In a strongly worded letter to President Barack Obama obtained by POLITICO, Reid and his leadership team argue that failing to raise the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling would threaten the full faith and credit of the United States. Reid and Sens. Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer and Patty Murray asserted that Obama "must make clear that you will never allow our nation's economy and reputation to be held hostage."
$3 Trillion Reasons Why the Fed Won't End QE
BY CHRIS PUPLAVA - FinancialSense.com
Markets had a mini riot at the start of the year with the release of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) December meeting minutes. As many are now aware, the Fed changed course and tied its zero-interest-rate-policy (ZIRP) to economic measures, stating the Fed would keep rates near zero as long as unemployment remained above 6.5% and inflation below 2.5%. To help achieve sustainable growth and to foster full employment the Fed embarked on what some call QE4 in which it added to the $40B/month mortgage debt purchase program (QE3) by announcing an additional $45B/month of Treasury purchases. The combined $85B/month asset purchase will add more than $1 trillion to the Fed's balance sheet to the tune of $4 trillion total by the end of the year.
Federally Assistance Or Just A Hedge Fund?
Jim Sinclair - SilverBearCafe.com
The early morning operation took place today taking gold off the $1704 level. Many of us are convinced that what we are seeing has Federal assistance. That means to us that the Fed is lending gold to the gold banks to facilitate the operation. Because of that there is a fear of taking on the operation.
I got a call last evening from a friend in the huge private hedge managed money telling me that we have all been bamboozled. The size of hedge funds today can easily mimic what would be considered Federally sponsored. The Fed is quite pleased, but is not the infinite power behind the bear operation that started at $1800.
Keiser Report: Bums & Bloodsuckers (E391)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss austerity sandwiches and fraud multipliers in the City of London. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Satyajit Das, author of Extreme Money, about MMT or Modern Money Tricks and about whether or not the people of Europe will ever rise up and stop the never ending bailout of banker crimes.
PAYROLL TAX HIKE SPARKS SHOCK, OUTRAGE
by WYNTON HALL - Breitbart.com
On Friday, millions of Americans began getting a taste of higher taxes as the expiration of the payroll tax holiday took a bigger bite out of their paychecks, leaving them with less cash in their wallets.
Gabriella Hoffman, a 21-year-old nonprofit worker, told Fox News that the tax hike will mean about $780 less in annual take home pay:
As a newly-graduated person, someone coming straight out of college, I don't like the idea of having less money coming to me due to the selfish interests of people in Congress who don't have any interest in reducing our financial problems. This is an impediment for future economic growth. It's going to make it harder for young people like myself to get married, find a better job, you name it.
The Fiscal Cliff: An Opportunity Avoided
BY BUD CONRAD - FinancialSense.com
The label "the fiscal cliff" evoked the fear that something terrible was about to happen if the previously legislated spending cuts and tax increases came into effect. From my point of view, our nation's deficits and debt are growing at an alarming rate and need to be cut back. The reason these laws were enacted was to offer markets some hope that we would eventually work toward eliminating our serious deficits. But the prevailing opinion that such drastic decreases in our deficit would slow our economy and bring recession created the impression that this "cliff" must be avoided.
Treasury, Fed rule out trillion-dollar coin in debt-ceiling fight
By ELIZABETH TITUS and DONOVAN SLACK - Politico.com
The Obama administration actually took it seriously — the idea of minting a $1 trillion platinum coin to avoid a debt-ceiling crisis.
But it would only have worked if the Federal Reserve, where it would be deposited, agreed to recognize its worth.
And the Fed, an independent agency, was not on board.
Treasury, Fed kill idea of $1 trillion platinum coins
to avert debt crisis
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON | Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:09pm EST
(Reuters) - So much for the $1 trillion platinum coin idea.
The U.S. Treasury Department said on Saturday it will not produce platinum coins as a way of generating $1 trillion in revenue and avoiding a battle in Congress over raising the U.S. debt ceiling.
The idea of creating $1 trillion by minting platinum coins has gained some currency among Democrats in recent days as a way of sidestepping congressional Republicans who are threatening to reject a necessary increase in the debt ceiling unless deep spending cuts are made.
Treasury says 'no' to trillion-dollar coin
By Don Lee - LATimes.com
WASHINGTON -- The trillion-dollar coin isn't going to save the day.
The U.S. Treasury says it won't mint the coin as a way of escaping the debt-ceiling crisis. The Federal Reserve also nixed the plan.
Even though the platinum coin idea started as something of a joke, it caught on in the blogosphere and gained some notable supporters such as Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman.
With platinum coin rejected,
how about upvaluing the gold reserve instead?
GATA.org
Congress' refusal in 2011 to raise the debt ceiling unless the White House agreed to large spending cuts brought the United States close to the brink of a debt default and dealt the weak recovery a setback.
Another crisis is brewing as the United States is expected to reach its authorized debt limit of $16.4 trillion in February.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that with the platinum coin question resolved, the pressure is on congressional Republicans now to act to raise the debt ceiling.
Inflation Propaganda Exposed
The CPI is no longer a tool to accurately measure inflation, but an instrument of propaganda the government uses to hide accelerating inflation from the public and financial markets. Modest CPI increases over the past several years do not reflect an absence of inflation, but a design flaw in the index that fails to fully capture the magnitude of price increases. Central bankers drawing economic conclusions regarding inflation and monetary policy based on this highly flawed data point are making a major policy error.
Even Goldman Says China Is Cooking The Books
by Tyler Durden -ZeroHedge.com
That China openly manipulates its economic data, especially around key political phase shifts, such as one communist regime taking over for another, is no secret. That China is also the marginal economic power (creating trillions in new loans and deposits each year) in a stagflating world, and as such must be represented by the media as growing at key inflection points (such as Q4 when Europe officially entered a double dip recession, and the US will report its first sub 1% GDP in years) as mysteriously reporting growth even without open monetary stimulus (something we have said the PBOC will not engage in due to fears of importing US, European and now Japanese inflation) is critical for preserving hope and faith in the future of the stock market, is also very well known. Which is why recent market optimism driven by "hope" from Alcoa that China is recovering and will avoid yet another hard landing, and Chinese reports of a surge in Exports last week, are very much suspect. But no longer is it just the blogosphere that is openly taking Chinese data to task - as Bloomberg reports, even the major banks: Goldman, UBS and ANZ - are now openly questioning the validity and credibility of the goalseek function resulting from Bloomberg:
Nearly one-third of U.S. homeowners have no mortgage Those who own homes outright include retirees and a surprisingly high percentage of young adults, real estate website Zillow finds.
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
What mortgage meltdown?
While millions of Americans have suffered the angst of lost homes, equity and pride, nearly a third of the nation's homeowners have no mortgage at all, according to an estimate released Thursday by real estate website Zillow.
Flu outbreak hits businesses hard
By Parija Kavilanz - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
With the Detroit auto show kicking off next week, salon owner George Nikollaj can't afford to let the flu knock out even one of his 50 stylists.
"Next to the holidays, the auto show gives us a ton of business every year, " said Nikollaj.America's biggest auto show typically boosts his quarterly revenue by an additional 20%.
But Nikollaj, who co-owns 6 Salon, two Detroit-area high-end salons that cater to about 250 customers daily, is worried.
The situation is a double-whammy for his business. "In the last two weeks I've had six stylists sick with the flu. And we had a dozen cancellations last Saturday from customers feeling sick," he said.
Let's "Clean Sheet" Our Failed Approach To Entitlements
By Nathan Lewis, Contributor - Forbes.com
I often say that most problems today, around the world, are conservative problems: getting government spending into line, reforming tax systems, implementing a Stable Money framework, reforming entitlement programs so that they do more but cost less, cutting needless government headcount, reviewing regulatory frameworks that have become bloated from a constant addition of new measures, and so forth.
A Pimp for Obamacare Feels the Pain Next time, be more careful what you wish for.
By DAVID CATRON - Spectator.org
When I began writing about the menace of increased federal involvement in our medical delivery system, I was surprised to discover that some doctors actually supported it. These misguided medicos represented only a small minority of practicing physicians, and most were profoundly ignorant about health care economics, but the "M.D." following their names provided them with a façade of credibility. A number of these people took advantage of their illusory expertise in health care policy to launch blogs which they used to promote their notions of "health reform" and extol the virtues of government-run health care in general.
Among them was an ER physician who writes under the nom de plume "Shadowfax." This particular "docblogger" stands out in my memory because he was peculiarly uninformed about the nuances of the issue and yet utterly dismissive of anyone, including other physicians, who attempted to make him understand that he would one day regret advocating an increased government role in medicine. I occasionally crossed swords with him myself, but it was an exercise in futility. Like most soi disant progressives, this self-satisfied sawbones couldn't imagine that he might be on the wrong side of this or any other issue.
Obama's HHS Mandate:
Defeated in 10 of 14 Court Cases So Far
by Steven Ertelt - LifeNews.com
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the many pro-life groups that have been fighting the pro-abrotion HHS mandate in court, tell LifeNews that the Obama adminsitration has been defeated in 10 of 14 court cases, so far.
Although the cases are all in the lower court stage and the battle have been the kinds of early skirmishes that typically take place in long legal battles, ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman is encouraged.
Hobby Lobby Forced to Change Health Insurance
to Avoid Mandate Fines
by Steven Ertelt - LifeNews.com
Hobby Lobby, the Christian craft company, has been forced to alter its employee health insurance plan in order to avoid millions of dollars in fines each and every day it refuses to comply with the HHS mandate.
The mandate compels religious employers to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions for their employees in their health insurance plan. Late Thursday, in a statement, Hobby Lobby attorney Peter Dobelbower said the company will shift the plan year for employee health insurance that will delay the implementation date of the plan from January 1, so it does not coincide with the HHS mandate.
OBAMACARE WILL CREATE TWO AMERICAS FOR HEALTHCARE
by KEN KLUKOWSKI - Breitbart.com
If Obamacare survives the 2016 election after it is fully implemented, there will be two healthcare systems in America from which our citizens will choose.
As former Ohio Treasurer Ken Blackwell and I explained months ago, the fifty states can freely choose whether to participate in two central pillars of Obamacare. Conservative governors will be glad in the end, if they hold true to their principles to reject this big-government takeover of healthcare.
ObamaCare Will Make
The Maddeningly Complex Tax Code Even Worse
IBD Editorial
Fiscal Policy: The tax code is so hideously complex that even the IRS is complaining about it. Too bad President Obama is about to make it far worse.
In her latest annual report, IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson spells out just how mind-bogglingly complicated our tax laws have become. Some examples:
Obamacare Medicaid Expansion:
States Should Be Realistic, Not Optimistic
By Alyene Senger - Heritage.org
Months since the Supreme Court ruling that made the Obamacare Medicaid expansion optional, the state costs associated with expansion still remain highly uncertain—making expansion a dicey course for states and their budgets.
Indeed, states should not lose sight of the fact that the original Medicaid expansion was coercive for a reason. As Nina Owcharenko, director of Heritage's Center for Health Policy Studies, points out, "The fact that the authors of Obamacare felt the need to threaten states with total defunding tells you that they knew many states would resist expanding their programs—even with 100 percent federal funding."
Braces for the Kids Just Got More Expensive:
Obamacare Tax Hike Case Study
American For Tax Reform - ATR.org
In 2013, the tax increases in Obamacare will increasingly conspire against kitchen-table family healthcare decisions.
As just one example, below are some of the taxes that will impact the purchase of dental braces:
Obamacare Medical Device Tax: As of Jan.1, Obamacare imposes a new tax of 2.3 percent on medical device manufacturers, including those who make dental braces. The tax is imposed on gross sales -- even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. While the tax will be paid to the IRS by the manufacturer, the tax will be passed along as a higher cost of the product, ultimately to be borne by the parent buying the braces for their child. With the cost of braces being as high as $7,625 this new tax could raise the cost of these braces by $175.
Supreme Court ruled that ACA is a tax Obamacare is All About Death and Taxes
By Alan Caruba - CanadaFreePress.com
Prior to the November elections, I received an email that was chilling. It was about the new Obamacare rules. Before I discuss the Obamacare taxes that are kicking in this year and next, I want to share excerpts from it.
The email was from an individual whose son-in-law has a brother who is a surgeon at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. It is ranked high among American hospitals. This is what he related:
* * * * *
Time Out: Lindsey Williams - Obama Care Impact
Time Out Productions presents former ARCO / Alaskan Oil Pipeline Chaplain Lindsey Williams. On this program he discusses the impact Obama Care is having on companies across the USA
From doctor who is dropping out - 50% of my patients will die on operating table if Obamacare rules are followed... 40% of medical practitioners are quitting… state will define diagnosis and dictate remedy regardless of what doctor thinks
Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes: Listed by Size of Tax Hike
Americans For Tax Reform - ATR.org
Obamacare law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses
WASHINGTON, DC -- Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses. Arranged by their respective sizes according to CBO scores, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, their effective dates, and where to find them in the bill.
The Social Security System Is Already Broke
Free S--t "Disabled" Army Massing Its Forces
By James Quinn - ZeroHedge.com
Whenever I hear a liberal MSM talking head say that Social Security is not a problem, I want to throw something at the TV. Obama and Romney both declared the Social Security system sound. They lied to the American people that it will only require minor tweaks to keep it solvent for a hundred years. Liberals hate math. The Social Security System has an unfunded liability of $18 trillion. This means our politicians have promised $18 trillion more than they can possibly pay out. I guess $18 trillion is trivial to a liberal minded person like Krugman or Obama. Lucky for them that 99% of all Americans don't understand what unfunded liability even means. The chart below gives the gory details. The Social Security system had a negative cashflow of $47.8 billion last year, after running a $48 billion deficit the year before. You may notice that 77% of this deficit was created by the SSDI program, where the depressed masses gather after their 99 weeks of unemployment run out. Do you have a headache? Are you depressed because liquor stores don't accept food stamps? Did you pull a muscle getting on your government provided rascal? Trouble hearing your Obama phone? Then you are eligible for SSDI.
Better Than Human:
Why Robots Will — And Must — Take Our Jobs Imagine that 7 out of 10 working Americans
got fired tomorrow. What would they all do?
BY KEVIN KELLY - Wired.com
It's hard to believe you'd have an economy at all if you gave pink slips to more than half the labor force. But that—in slow motion—is what the industrial revolution did to the workforce of the early 19th century. Two hundred years ago, 70 percent of American workers lived on the farm. Today automation has eliminated all but 1 percent of their jobs, replacing them (and their work animals) with machines. But the displaced workers did not sit idle. Instead, automation created hundreds of millions of jobs in entirely new fields. Those who once farmed were now manning the legions of factories that churned out farm equipment, cars, and other industrial products. Since then, wave upon wave of new occupations have arrived—appliance repairman, offset printer, food chemist, photographer, web designer—each building on previous automation. Today, the vast majority of us are doing jobs that no farmer from the 1800s could have imagined.
Disable Java in your browsers! Warning: Java Exploit Potentially Affecting More Than 850 Million Computers
By Alex Fitzpatrick - Mashable.com
Security experts are recommending computer users disable or uninstall Java following the discovery of a zero-day Java exploit which allows hackers to take control of vulnerable Macs, PCs and Linux computers.
The exploit takes advantage of a vulnerability left open in Java 7 Update 10, released in October of last year. It works by getting Java users to visit a website with malicious code that takes advantage of a security gap to take control of users' computers.
Facebook's Sponsored Stories Settlement
Means It's Facebook's Turn To Pay You
HuffingtonPost.com
After Facebook's IPO turned early employees into overnight billionaires, many users demanded to know when they would get paid for all the sharing that had made the social network a success.
Wait no more: Facebook has started notifying some users that they could get up to $10 from the company.
This isn't Facebook's way of saying "Thanks for all the vacation photos from Cancun," but rather a payout in a class action lawsuit concerning Facebook's "Sponsored Stories" ads that reached a preliminary settlement late last year.
Keiser Report: Lunatics & Lubricants (E392)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss all the Asos in the headlines, the ten dollar Facebook profiles being used to promote 55-gallon tubes of personal lubricant and Japan lathering Europe with monetary lubricant in the form of ESM bond purchases. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Reggie Middleton about the education debt bubble, the collapsing collateral value of a university degree and the reason that French debt is trading higher than UK debt.
FCC promises to free up spectrum for 35 percent faster WiFi
By Josh Peterson - DailyCaller.com
WiFi speeds of up to 35 percent faster than current speeds may soon be available, a top Obama official announced Wednesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the FCC would soon be leading a government-wide effort to increase nationwide WiFi speeds by allocating 195MHz of the 5Hz band currently already in use by federal and non-federal workers.
Time Out: Lindsey Williams - The 10 Agendas Of 2013
Time Out Productions presents former ARCO / Alaskan Oil Pipeline Chaplain Lindsey Williams. On this program he discusses the 10 major agenda items the elite have for the year 2013 and beyond.
Location: 39.6 N, 76.1 E What Did Google Earth Spot in the Chinese Desert?
Even an Ex-CIA Analyst Isn't Sure
BY NOAH SHACHTMAN - Wired.com
Late last month, former CIA analyst Allen Thomson was clicking through a space news website when he noticed a story about a new orbital tracking site being built near the small city of Kashgar in southwestern China. Curious, he went to Google Earth to find it. He poked around for a while, with no luck. Then he came across something kind of weird.
To Predict Crimes,
'Minority Report' Precog-Like Software Tested
By Jill Pantozzi - Mashable.com
More and more lately, we're witnessing technologies from our favorite sci-fi films and television shows getting closer to reality. The latest is like something from Minority Report — it's a new kind of software meant to predict the actions of criminals.
Police in Baltimore and Philadelphia are already using the software to prevent murders, and Washington D.C. is next on the list. Don't worry, no one is keeping psychics in a pool. Well, not that we're aware of ….
As NSA Pairs With Banks To "Fight Hackers",
Will It Also Gain Access To Every American's Financial Secrets?
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Just because there was not enough encroachment by the government into virtually every corner of private life, here is another "collaboration" that will further enmesh big brother into every aspect of private life, in this case private financial life, because as the WaPo reports, "major U.S. banks have turned to the National Security Agency for help protecting their computer systems after a barrage of assaults that have disrupted their Web sites, according to industry officials. The attacks on the sites, which started about a year ago but intensified in September, have grown increasingly sophisticated, officials said. The NSA, the world's largest electronic spying agency, has been asked to provide technical assistance to help banks further assess their systems and to better understand the attackers' tactics."
SOROS: 13 NEW GUN LAWS NEEDED NOW
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
George Soros' Center for American Progress (CAP) has published a list of 13 new pieces of legislation they claim we need right now, in the wake of the crime at Sandy Hook Elementary.
As you will see, these proposals--like others from liberals--would not have stopped the shooting from taking place: they would not even have hindered it. But they would make it harder for law abiding citizens to get the guns they need to defend their lives and families.
KENTUCKY SHERIFF TO FEDS:
'YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO PULL GUNS
OUT OF JACKSON COUNTY'
by AWR HAWKINS - Breitbart.com
As I wrote on Jan. 11, Jackson County Kentucky Sheriff Denny Peyman has made it clear that gun laws which violate the United States Constitution or the Kentucky Constitution will not be enforced in his county.
On Jan. 12, he followed this up with a press conference in which he explained that a Sheriff's powers are predominant over the powers of federal and state agents. When he says these things he drives gun-grabbers batty because he says them with the conviction that rests on knowledge, and he has no intention of backing down.
During the press conference, he took time to explain his powers as sheriff:
Sen. Murphy: Congress ready for ban on assault weapons
By Sean Lengell-The Washington Times
Sen. Chris Murphy on Sunday said there is growing momentum in Congress for a ban on so-called assault weapons, saying lawmakers' attitudes toward gun control have changed significantly in the wake of last month's shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn.
"This issue is going to continue to move," Mr. Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, said on CNN's "State of the Union. "I do think that even in the Democratic caucus you see members like [Sens.] Joe Manchin and Mark Warner who previously probably never would have considered a ban on assault weapons or high-capacity magazine clips now coming to the table."
Obama faces 'limited' options
on executive action on gun violence
By Mike Lillis - TheHill.com
The Obama administration's vow to tackle gun violence – with Congress, or without – has sparked an uproar from conservative Republicans and has left Democratic gun reformers eager to learn what the White House has up its sleeve.
Vice President Joe Biden is expected to propose legislative solutions to what President Obama has called the nation's gun-violence "epidemic" as early as Tuesday, but he says he's also eying executive orders empowering the administration to take action without congressional approval.
Wyoming lawmakers introduce bill
to nullify federal gun control measures, jail federal agents
By Gregg Re - DailyCaller.com
This week, Wyoming lawmakers introduced a bill banning the federal government from enforcing an assault weapons ban or a prohibition on high-capacity magazines in the state, calling the effort an attempt to "take the Second Amendment seriously."
The bill, which is sponsored by eight Wyoming state representatives and two state senators, calls for federal agents who attempt to enforce those measures to be imprisoned for at least one year and up to five years, and fined a maximum of $5,000.
Manchin: Gun efforts should focus on culture of 'mass violence'
By Brendan Sasso and Meghashyam Mali - TheHill.com
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) on Sunday said that stand-alone restrictions on gun control would not pass Congress unless lawmakers also addressed the broader culture of "mass violence."
Manchin said that the tragic shooting in an elementary school in Connecticut last month had "changed the dialogue" and that lawmakers needed a "comprehensive approach" to gun violence, during an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Precedent Teaches Us The Left Really Wants ALL Our Guns
By Charlie Daniels - CNSNews.com
When the Supreme Court, or any other court for that matter, makes a ruling in a case they first look for precedent, in other words to see if there has been a court decision rendered on the same subject in the past and usually defer to the old decision in ruling on the case.
The greatest teacher in life is experience; it only takes one time of burning your fingers on a hot stove to know that you never want to touch another one.
Sheriff's Office wants to fly drones over Orange County skies
By Dan Tracy, Orlando Sentinel
The Orange County Sheriff's Office is experimenting with two surveillance drones that it hopes to turn loose over Metro Orlando skies this summer.
Sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson would not reveal specific uses for the drones, larger versions of which are known for flying over tribal regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan to drop bombs on suspected terrorists.
Pentagon shifts tactics,
takes steps to prepare for sequestration
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
The Pentagon did an about-face on sequestration this week, taking concrete steps — including a hiring freeze and a delay in awarding some contract awards — more than six weeks before the across-the-board spending cuts are scheduled to hit.
The moves announced by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were a significant shift for the Defense Department compared to the approach ahead of the initial Jan. 2 sequestration deadline, when Pentagon officials did not officially start planning for the cuts until December.
Inaugural committee reveals more donors
By DONOVAN SLACK - Politico.com
The presidential inaugural committee is revealing the identities of nearly 600 more donors who have pitched in to help fund the inauguration festivities.
The list updated late Friday includes 577 more individuals and two more corporations: Southern Company Services, an Atlanta-based electricity producer; and United Therapeutics, a Maryland-based biotech company.
Why Stealing a $1 Trillion Coin
Isn't Worth the Price of a Getaway Van
BY SARAH MITROFF - Wired.com
Set aside the national existential implications of minting a $1 trillion coin to pay America's obligations because Congress can't get it together to raise the debt ceiling. What if the world's most valuable piece of metal gets stolen before we can pay our nation's bills? Or what if presumptive Treasury Secretary Jack Lew gets thirsty on the way to stash the $1 trillion trinket in the Federal Reserve, and he deposits the wrong coin in the soda machine? The coin return never works.
We asked former director of the U.S. Mint, and the guy who helped draft the law that makes the trillion-dollar-coin possible, Philip Diehl, how this could all go down – from the actual minting of the $1 trillion platinum coin, to what could happen if a super-villain snatched the sucker. (He doesn't think Lew would mistakenly buy a soda with it.)
$1T Coin No Way to Restore Investor Faith
By Michael Casey, MarketWatch.com
By Michael Casey
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — By now you have probably heard of the frenzied Twitter debate unleashed by the suggestion that the U.S. government deposit a freshly minted $1 trillion coin at the Federal Reserve as a ploy to sidestep its debt-ceiling standoff with Congress.
Well, let me add one more voice to it: These arguments are bad for the dollar — but not for the reasons that concern many of the idea's critics.
The True Significance of the $1 Trillion Coin
BY DETLEV S SCHLICHTER - FinancialSense.com
Under President Obama the debt of the United States government has grown by about 50%, and now stands at close to $16 trillion. Every year, the US government spends between $1.2 and $1.5 trillion more than it takes in. Every day that financial markets are open the US government has to borrow an additional $4 billion.
The pathetic fiscal cliff 'compromise' of last week has proved the most cynical students of the political elite correct in that there is not a snowball's chance in hell that Washington will ever get this under control.
Lew Would Complete Transformation
of Obama's Economic Team
By JACKIE CALMES - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — President Obama announced his choice of Jacob J. Lew to be the secretary of the Treasury on Thursday, saying that he has "worked and succeeded in some of the toughest jobs in Washington." The selection of Mr. Lew, the White House chief of staff and a former budget director, is a change that would complete the transformation of Mr. Obama's economic team from the big-name economists and financial firefighters hired four years ago to budget negotiators ready for the next fiscal fights in Congress.
Jack Lew nomination hits snag
as Republican vows 'aggressive' opposition Senior senator Jeff Sessions has accused treasury secretary nominee of dishonesty as Obama confirms appointment choice
By Ewen MacAskill in Washington - Guardian.co.uk
The Obama administration's hopes that the US Senate would swiftly confirm Jack Lew as treasury secretary were dealt a blow on Thursday when a senior Republican accused the president's nominee of dishonesty.
In his formal nomination announcement, Barack Obama urged the Senate to confirm Lew quickly, describing him as a man capable of forging bipartisan, principled compromises.
Lew-for-Geithner Switch Ends Era of Tight Fed-Treasury Ties
By Rich Miller, Jeff Kearns & Ian Katz - Bloomberg.com
Timothy F. Geithner's replacement by Jack Lew as Treasury secretary will end a period of unusually strong ties between the department and the Federal Reserve. For the Fed, the result may be less insulation from critics, yet greater influence in financial market regulation.
Geithner worked closely with Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in fighting the financial crisis and cleaning up its aftermath, first as head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and then as Treasury secretary. Going through the "searing experience of the panic together" created a bond between the two that "you get from that kind of combat," Geithner said in a 2010 interview.
Why No Glass-Steagall II?
By Barry Eichengreen - Project-Syndicate.org
MANILA – Eighty years ago this month, Ferdinand Pecora, the cigar-chomping former assistant district attorney for New York City, was appointed chief counsel for the US Senate Committee on Banking and Currency. In subsequent months, the hearings of the Pecora Commission featured many sensational revelations about the practices that led to the 1930's financial crisis.
Treasurys fall after global data, good auction
U.S. sells $13 billion in 30-year bonds at lowest yield since May
By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices ended lower on Thursday, pushing yields up for the first day in four, resuming losses which followed Chinese data, bond auction in Spain and comments from the European Central Bank chief reduced investors' interest in U.S. debt.
Bonds briefly pared losses after the government auction of 30-year bonds garnered good demand from investors, in part thanks to the highest yield offered since May.
What A Record $220 Billion "Deposit" Injection
To Kick Start To The 2013 Market Looks Like
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
When people talk about "cash in the bank", or "money on the sidelines", the conventional wisdom reverts to an image of inert capital, used by banks to fund loans (as has been the case under fractional reserve banking since time immemorial) sitting in a bank vault or numbered account either physically or electronically, and collecting interest, well, collecting interest in the Old Normal (not the New ZIRPy one, where instead of discussing why it is not collecting interest the progressive intelligentsia would rather debate such trolling idiocies as trillion dollar coins, quadrillion euro Swiss cheeses, and quintillion yen tuna). There is one problem, however, with this conventional wisdom: it is dead wrong.
Fed's Bullard Sees Difficulty Tying QE to Economic Levels
By Joshua Zumbrun - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said it may be difficult to tie the central bank's $85 billion monthly bond purchases to numerical levels of unemployment and inflation.
After settling a debate over how long to hold interest rates near zero, Fed officials are discussing when to halt their purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. At its December meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee agreed to hold the target interest rate near zero so long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and inflation stays below 2.5 percent.
Washington Hands the Economy a Barbell
BY DAVID KOTOK - FinancialSense.com
Washington has handed an economy now struggling to get back on its feet a barbell instead of a helping hand—a tax barbell. With much hoopla and political posturing, the United States' political leadership raised the income taxation on the "rich," as the White House likes to call them. But without a word, the White House and the Congress also raised income taxation on the working poor and lower middle class. That is the effect of the payroll tax (2%) hike.
Jim Grant Exposes "The Bureau Of Money Materialization"
And A Submerging America
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Jim Grant spends exactly the correct amount of time (zero) discussing the "urban myth' of the trillion dollar coin in this brief interview on CNBC; instead deciding to try and strike up some intelligent understanding of the dire situation we face. By providing context for our massive 16 trillion dollar debt (360 million pounds of $100 bills), and explaining how exponential the idiocy has become, Grant brings us full circle as he explains to the money-honey that once upon a time our debt was backed by gold, and "there was only so much gold and so many dollars," thus limiting our exuberance, but "now we have neither the gold covering the dollar nor do we have interest rates constraining us [thanks to Bernanke et al.]; the only thing remaining to constrain us is some sort of civil discussion, a numerate discussion about the debt," which it appears the bespectacled and bow-tie-bound bond brain-box hopes is possible. "The debt has increased twice as fast as federal receipts," he warns, adding correctly that "theUnited States is truly submerging."
Central banks must switch off the printing presses
before it's too late Only a year to go now. Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has let it be known that he won't be seeking a third term once his present one expires in January 2014, and few can blame him.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
The last seven, crisis-ridden, years would already have completely finished off a lesser man. The poor chap must be exhausted.
It is perhaps still too early to be passing judgments on his reign, but on one level it certainly doesn't seem so bad, given the challenges faced. Bernanke has arguably done better than central bankers in Europe, Britain and Japan in terms of his crisis response. US GDP is back above pre-crisis levels, unlike the UK, and is continuing to grow at a reasonable, if quite modest, rate.
The Return of Mercantilism
By Dani Rodrik - Project-Syndicate.com
CAMBRIDGE – The history of economics is largely a struggle between two opposing schools of thought, "liberalism" and "mercantilism." Economic liberalism, with its emphasis on private entrepreneurship and free markets, is today's dominant doctrine. But its intellectual victory has blinded us to the great appeal – and frequent success – of mercantilist practices. In fact, mercantilism remains alive and well, and its continuing conflict with liberalism is likely to be a major force shaping the future of the global economy.
ECB rules out stimulus despite record jobless and fiscal squeeze The European Central Bank has dashed hopes of further stimulus to pull the eurozone out of recession and fight record unemployment, deeming the economy strong enough to heal itself.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Mario Draghi, the ECB's president, said the financial landscape has been transformed, citing a sharp drop in bond yields across the EMU periphery, a stock market rally and recovery of bank deposits in Greece and Spain. Capital flight has begun to reverse.
He even spoke of "exuberance" creeping into pockets of the credit system, with leveraged buy-outs and private equity deals becoming frothy - the first warning by the ECB of an incipient bubble as the fresh cycle gathers momentum.
By The Numbers: 20 Facts
About
The Collapse Of Europe That Everyone Should Know
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The economic implosion of Europe is accelerating. Even while the mainstream media continues to proclaim that the financial crisis in Europe has been "averted", the economic statistics that are coming out of Europe just continue to get worse. Manufacturing activity in Europe has been contracting month after month, the unemployment rate in the eurozone has hit yet another brand new record high, and the official unemployment rates in both Greece and Spain are now much higher than the peak unemployment rate in the United States during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The economic situation in Europe is far worse than it was a year ago, and it is going to continue to get worse as austerity continues to take a huge toll on the economies of the eurozone. It would be hard to understate how bad things have gotten - particularly in southern Europe. The truth is that most of southern Europe is experiencing a full-blown economic depression right now. Sadly, most Americans are paying very little attention to what is going on across the Atlantic. But they should be watching, because this is what happens when nations accumulate too much debt. The United States has the biggest debt burden of all, and eventually what is happening over in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Greece is going to happen over here as well.
Forward to North American Union, for Europe's Sake
By Clive Crook - TheAtlantic.com
Opinion polls in Britain show rising anti-EU sentiment. Prime minister David Cameron is promising a speech later this month to lay out his thinking on a new treaty, with a referendum to follow. He thinks Britain should stay in the Union, but says exit is imaginable in certain circumstances.
China, ECB, Currencies, and Commodities
BY RYAN PUPLAVA CMT - FinancialSense.com
Today, we got the ECB meeting and the Chinese trade metrics – both of which were bullish catalysts for commodities. The effects of both announcements today were effective in bidding up the euro and supplying the market with U.S. dollars. Some of the other risk-on currencies were also helped by the currency action today, but to a lesser extent. The chart on the euro has developed into a late-stage bottom. Upon breaking out, the implications on the dollar and commodities would be rather bullish. Such a signal could finally confirm a new long-term downtrend in the dollar. Such a condition in the market is a far cry from the predicted collapse of the euro so many had predicted in 2012.
Iran hacking banks Bank Hacking Was the Work of Iranians, Officials Say
By NICOLE PERLROTH and QUENTIN HARDY - NYTimes.com
SAN FRANCISCO — The attackers hit one American bank after the next. As in so many previous attacks, dozens of online banking sites slowed, hiccupped or ground to a halt before recovering several minutes later.
But there was something disturbingly different about the wave of online attacks on American banks in recent weeks. Security researchers say that instead of exploiting individual computers, the attackers engineered networks of computers in data centers, transforming the online equivalent of a few yapping Chihuahuas into a pack of fire-breathing Godzillas.
The latest foreclosure horror: the zombie title
By Michelle Conlin
COLUMBUS, Ohio | Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:58pm EST
(Reuters) - Joseph Keller doesn't expect he'll live to see the end of 2013. He blames the house at 190 Avondale Avenue.
Five years ago, Keller, 10 months behind on his mortgage payments, received notice of a foreclosure judgment from JP Morgan Chase. In a few weeks, the bank said, his three-story house with gray vinyl siding in Columbus, Ohio, would be put up for auction at a sheriff's sale.
The 58-year-old former social worker and his wife, Jennifer, packed up their home of 13 years and moved in with their daughter. Joseph thought he would never have anything to do with the house again. And for about a year, he didn't.
Then it started to stalk him.
Yes, Money Does Buy Happiness: 6 Lessons
from the Newest Research on Income and Well-Being For a long time, we knew that there was a happiness plateau, a point where more money basically stopped buying greater satisfaction. Maybe we were wrong.
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Fittingly or ironically, the dismal science has a lot to say about happiness.
The classic economic story about money and well-being goes something like this. Money buys happiness, sure, but only up to a point. Once basic needs are taken care of, extra money has diminishing (or non-existent) returns. Perhaps richer people use their money to move to richer areas, where they no longer feel rich. Perhaps relative income -- how much you have compared to your friends -- is matters much more thanabsolute income -- how much money you have, period.
Economists call it the "Easterlin Paradox." You call it the "Keeping Up With the Jones' Principle."
American Express to Cut 5,400 Jobs
LOS ANGELES (AP) — American Express said Thursday that it will slash about 5,400 jobs, mainly in its travel business, as it seeks to cut costs and transform its operations as more of its customers shift to online portals for booking travel plans and other needs.
The job cuts will be partly offset by jobs that the company expects to add this year.
Jobless claims rise, but jobs market recovery intact
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:18pm EST
(Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, but details of the report suggested the jobs market continued to grow at a moderate pace.
Other data suggested the economy remained on a steady growth path, with sales at wholesalers rising by the most in more than 1-1/2 years in November, keeping inventories balanced.
What's ahead for Social Security in 2013 Reform and the coming debt-ceiling debate
By Andrea Coombes - MarketWatch.com
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)—If there's any good news for retirees and near-retirees in the coming debate over government spending and the U.S. debt ceiling, it's that lawmakers may bypass changes to the Social Security program.
That's a good thing because, while Social Security's future shortfall needs to be addressed at some point, the down-and-dirty political wrangling expected in the next couple of months may not be the best moment for levelheaded reform of the nation's retirement system—a system that provides an essential backstop for millions of retirees. (For example, the system provides the majority of income for 65% of elderly beneficiaries, and it keeps about 14 million elderly people out of poverty.)
Rep. Becerra to Obama, Democratic leaders:
Don't mess with Social Security
By Mike Lillis - TheHill.com
Breaking with the White House and other Democratic leaders, the head of the House Democratic Caucus suggested this week that he'll oppose any budget package that includes Social Security cuts.
Both President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have signaled a willingness to support a move to index future Social Security updates to the so-called chained consumer price index (CPI), which would reduce projected benefits over the long term.
Boston flu outbreak prompts mayor
to declare public health emergency Mayor Tom Menino urges residents to get vaccinated as city confronts 700 confirmed cases amid fears of nationwide danger
By Adam Gabbatt in New York - Guardian.co.uk
The city of Boston has declared a public health emergency as fears of a nationwide flu outbreak intensify.
Mayor Thomas Menino urged residents to get vaccinated against flu, as the city scrambled to deal with 700 confirmed cases so far – compared to just 70 cases during the whole of last year's flu season.
The move came as experts warned that the current flu strain is one of the worst in the past 10 years. Data Google's Flu Trends indicator, which has proved a reliable indicator of outbreaks, shows higher flu activity than at any point in the previous six years.
A Metaphor for Obama
By Robert J. Shiller - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW HAVEN – As US President Barack Obama begins his second term, he needs a simple way to express his vision and policies for the economy – a metaphor around which support for his policies might crystallize, thereby boosting his administration's political effectiveness. So, what makes a successful metaphor work?
The 2008 Obama campaign used the slogan "Change we can believe in." But "change" is not a metaphor for a new government: it does not stand for any policies. Nor does "Hope" or "Yes we can!"
From Russia, with love (and good advice) PRAVDA: Americans never give up your guns
By Stanislav Mishin - Pravda.ru
These days, there are few things to admire about the socialist, bankrupt and culturally degenerating USA, but at least so far, one thing remains: the right to bear arms and use deadly force to defend one's self and possessions.
This will probably come as a total shock to most of my Western readers, but at one point, Russia was one of the most heavily armed societies on earth. This was, of course, when we were free under the Tsar. Weapons, from swords and spears to pistols, rifles and shotguns were everywhere, common items. People carried them concealed, they carried them holstered. Fighting knives were a prominent part of many traditional attires and those little tubes criss crossing on the costumes of Cossacks and various Caucasian peoples? Well those are bullet holders for rifles.
Biden's Gun Plan Draws NRA Ire
By COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON And GARY FIELDS - WSJ.com
Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday he would recommend the White House push for broad measures to stem gun violence, citing growing support for tighter background checks on gun purchasers, restrictions on high-capacity clips and other moves.
But the National Rifle Association delivered a swift rebuke following a meeting with Mr. Biden, saying the administration was gearing up for an attack on gun ownership.
Biden Hints at Outlawing Unregulated 'Private' Gun Sales Closing "the gun show loophole."
WeeklyStandard.com
Vice President Joe Biden, in remarks today before a meeting on guns, suggested the Obama administration is seriously considering outlawing unregulated "private" gun sales:
Eric Holder: Gun Owners Should 'Cower' in Shame Like Smokers
By NB Staff - NewsBusters.org
The hot new video at MRCTV.org is 1995 footage of Attorney General Eric Holder, when he was the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. In his remarks before the Woman's National Democratic Club, broadcast by CSPAN 2, Holder said people should be ashamed to own guns, just the way that cigarette smokes now "cower outside of buildings" to smoke.
NRA accuses White House of 'attack' on 2nd Amendment rights
By Justin Sink - TheHill.com
The National Rifle Association said Thursday it was "disappointed" by its meeting Thursday with Vice President Biden, accusing the Obama administration of using the time to "attack the Second Amendment."
The statement, issued shortly after the conclusion of the conference, deflated any prospect of an unlikely alliance between the White House and the gun lobby group as President Obama looks to push a set of new gun regulations in the coming month.
Biden draws NRA ire in drive against gun violence
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:51pm EST
(Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden butted heads with the powerful National Rifle Association on Thursday in his drive to reduce U.S. gun violence, drawing complaints from the lobby group that the White House is trying to limit constitutionally protected gun rights.
Biden sat down for about an hour and a half of talks with an NRA representative and officials from other gun owners' groups after telling reporters he is likely to recommend background checks for all gun buyers and a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips.
Video game lobby CEO set to meet with Biden on gun violence
By Jennifer Martinez - TheHill.com
Entertainment Software Association CEO Mike Gallagher and other video game industry representatives will meet with Vice President Biden on Friday as President Obama's gun violence task force prepares to release its policy recommendations next week.
The Entertainment Software Association represents video game companies in Washington and counts Electronic Arts and Microsoft as members. The video game industry has been criticized for producing first-person shooter games, such as "Call of Duty" and "Medal of Honor Gunfighter," and other violent content in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month.
NRA vows to fight Biden's gun control taskforce in Congress Lobby group emerges from meeting with vice president to say White House has 'agenda to attack the second amendment'
By Adam Gabbatt in New York - Guardian.co.uk
The National Rifle Association, the strongest pro-gun lobby group in theUnited States, on Thursday set the stage for a bitter congressional battle over stricter gun controls, accusing vice president Joe Biden of having "an agenda to attack the second amendment".
Emerging from a meeting with Biden's gun control taskforce, representatives of the NRA said the vice president had been too eager to discuss laws clamping down on gun control, and less keen to talk about the non-legislative measures it prefers.
Can America Survive If Americans No Longer Agree
On A Core Set Of Shared Values?
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
What does America stand for? That question is a lot more complicated than you might think. Our Founding Fathers established a Republic that was based on a set of shared values that were embodied in the text of the U.S. Constitution. But today, many of our politicians openly disregard the Constitution whenever they want and it has become fashionable to mock the U.S. Constitution. For example, the New York Times recently published a piece by Georgetown University Professor Louis Michael Seidman entitled "Let's Give Up On The Constitution" in which he publicly called the Constitution "archaic" and "downright evil". This is a man that has been teaching constitutional law to the next generation of lawyers at one of the top universities in the nation for nearly 40 years. Unfortunately, Seidman is not an aberration. The truth is that law schools all over America are absolutely packed with professors that teach that we should consider the U.S. Constitution a "living, breathing document" that must "evolve" as society evolves. They also teach that when we find something in the Constitution that does not work for us today that we should just ignore it. In fact, in his New York Times article Seidman insisted that "constitutional disobedience" is "as old as the Republic". But if we can just ignore the U.S. Constitution whenever we want, where does that leave us? Should we be able to ignore all laws when they are not convenient for us?
Minority Report in real time… U.S. Cities Relying on Precog Software to Predict Murder
BY KIM ZETTER - Wired.com
Who needs the freaky precogs of Minority Report to predict if someone's likely to commit murder when you have an algorithm that can do it for you?
New crime-prediction software used in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and soon to be rolled out in the nation's capital too, promises to reduce the homicide rate by predicting which prison parolees are likely to commit murder and therefore receive more stringent supervision.
Citing privacy, critics target drones buzzing over USA Just another tool in the homeland security toolbox, or do domestic drones encroach on citizens' liberties?
Judy Keen, USA TODAY
Backlash against the domestic use of drones is building.
Congress and at least 10 state legislatures could consider bills this year that would limit the use of the camera-equipped, unmanned aircraft in the USA.
Elio Motors' ultra fuel efficient 84 mpg 3-wheeler
by Susmita Baral - GreenerIdeal.com
Elio Motors has purchased a former General Motors assembly plant near Shreveport, Louisiana. Elio—which produces fuel efficient three wheeled cars that can go at 84 mpg on a highway—will begin production at this new facility in mid-2014 and is speculated to hire 1,500 employees by 2015.
For those unaware, the Elio retails for a mere $6,800 and features three airbags, power windows and air conditioning, two seats, a central driving position, front wheel drive, 60 mpg average, and a three-year 36,000-mile warranty. What's more, a preliminary test gives the vehicle a 5-star safety rating.
Maker of high-mileage 3-wheel vehicles buys former GM plant
By Ben Klayman
DETROIT | Thu Jan 3, 2013 2:39pm EST
(Reuters) - Elio Motors has agreed to purchase a former General Motors Co (GM.N) assembly plant near Shreveport, Louisiana and will use it to build three-wheeled vehicles that it says will get more than 80 miles on a gallon of gasoline, the company said on Thursday.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed in a joint press release from Elio and Racer Trust, which owns properties GM disposed of in its bankruptcy. The deal is expected to close in the spring.
Obama Faces a Tough Task
to Put a Million EVs on the Road by 2015
By Futurity - OilPrice.com
The Obama administration's goal of putting a million plug-in electric vehicles on the roads by 2015 may be a tough sell, say researchers.
But, the new study does find that consumers are more receptive to buying electric cars in some cities, including San Jose/San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston.
Researchers surveyed more than 2,300 adult drivers in 21 large US cities in the fall of 2011. They found that the perceived drawbacks of electric vehicles outweigh the advantages for most consumers.
Google's Eric Schmidt says
North Korea must open up to internet as visit ends Search company boss says delegation told Pyongyang regime that future prosperity hinges on allowing greater freedoms
By Justin McCurry in Tokyo
and Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing - Guardian.co.uk
Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, has warned North Koreathat it risks continued isolation and economic decline unless it quickly loosens its grip on access to the internet.
Speaking in Beijing at the end of a four-day visit to North Korea with Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, Schmidt said the regime would fall even further behind the rest of the world unless it widened access to the internet and mobile phones among its 24 million people.
Keeper of the Kill Lists
by RAY McGOVERN - CounterPunch.org
As Washington's pundit class sees it, Defense Secretary-designee Chuck Hagel deserves a tough grilling over his hesitancy to go to war with Iran and his controversial detection of a pro-Israel lobby operating in the U.S. capital, but prospective CIA Director John Brennan should get only a few polite queries about his role helping to create and sustain Dick Cheney's "dark side."
During the upcoming confirmation hearings of these two nominees for President Barack Obama's national security team, we all may get a revealing look into the upside-down world of Washington's moral and geopolitical priorities, where too much skepticism about rushing to war is disqualifying and complicity in war crimes is okay, maybe even expected.
The Rise of Israel's Far-Right A different Israel after January 22 The elections will almost certainly yield a leadership that firmly rejects Palestinian statehood and adamantly champions settlement expansion — not so much because the electorate is swinging heavily to the right, but because the right has already swung heavily to the far right
By David Horovitz - TimesOfIsrael.com
You may wish to celebrate. You may be plunged into despair. But signs are the country to which you will wake up on January 23 will be a different Israel.
Sixty-five years after those who spoke for the local Arabs rejected a Jewish state, this will likely be an Israel that has voted to reject a Palestinian state — prompted by a combination of the Palestinians' intransigence, doubletalk, hostility and terrorism, and of Israeli Jews' security fears, historic connection and sense of religious obligation.
Top U.S. General Says Stopping
a Syrian Chemical Attack Is 'Almost Unachievable'
BY SPENCER ACKERMAN AND NOAH SHACHTMAN - Wired.com
If Syrian dictator Bashar Assad decides to use his chemical weapons, there won't be a thing the U.S. military can do to stop him, America's top military officer conceded on Thursday. Nor will the U.S. step into a "hostile" atmosphere, with or without Assad, to keep those chemicals under control.
It's been a month since U.S. intelligence learned that Assad's forces were mixing some of their precursor chemicals for sarin gas, as Danger Room first reported. The Syrian military even loaded aerial bombs with the deadly agent. Assad hasn't used the weapons — yet. Should he change his mind, there's little chance the U.S. would know it before it's too late to stop the first chemical attack in the Mideast in over 20 years.
Afghan MPs warn against total pullout of US troops Disaster and civil war will follow if all US forces leave after 2014, leaders warn, as Obama and Karzai prepare to hold talks
Staff and agencies - Guardian.co.uk
Afghan politicians have reacted with alarm to a White House announcement that it is considering a complete withdrawal of US troops after 2014, warning that disaster and civil war would follow.
The Obama administration has said it is considering the so-called "zero option" of a complete pullout despite earlier recommendations from the top military commander in Afghanistan to keep soldiers there to help the government.
U.S., Afghanistan have reached "last chapter"
in war aim: Panetta
(Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday that the two countries had reached the "last chapter" in their effort to establish a sovereignAfghanistan that can provide for its own security.
After a formal welcoming ceremony at the Pentagon, Panetta told Karzai that 2013 would mark an important turning point in the war, with Afghan forces due to begin taking the lead role in providing security across the country while coalition troops offered support and training.
Turkey Overtakes Norway as the Largest Oil Producer in Europe
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
Turkey has passed Norway as the largest producer of oil in Europe. According to Bloomberg it fielded 26 drilling rigs at the end of 2012, and the Turkish Energy Ministry says that number has already increased to 34 rigs. Spending on oil and natural gas exploration last year was at $610 million, compared with $42 million a decade earlier.
This rush to find new sources of hydro carbon is fuelled by the rapidly expanding economy. Turkey's economy is growing at 3.5% a year, around twice as fast as most advanced economies, and second only to China.
Iran's Real Threat to the West
By Claude Salhani - OilPrice.com
Since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 much has been said about the threat the mullahs who control the country pose to international oil markets.
A large portion of the world's oil transits through the strategic Straits of Hormuz a narrow body of water separating Iran from Oman. At its narrowest point Hormuz measures less than thirty miles. The oil is carried aboard giant super tankers, easy targets of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard specially created naval unit. Equipped with small, rapid and highly manoeuvrable vessels, heavy machine guns and missiles, the Guards, who have been training for years on how to attack these tankers could quite easily block the Straits and paralyze the flow of international oil supplies.
Public safety, gun safety not mutually exclusive
by Kevin Foley - Marietta Daily Journal
Wayne LaPierre made the most of his two media appearances following the mass murder in Newtown, Conn. The NRA spokesman told Americans to buy more guns, which just happen to be the products sold by the companies his outfit represents.
He called for arming every teacher and putting armed police in the nation's 98,000 public schools. That's a potential windfall for the gun and ammunition industries.
LaPierre made his exploitative sales pitch even as the babies of Sandy Hook School were being laid to rest. It was a macabre spectacle that ignored the gun debate's central question.
What about public safety?
Gun control debate a national threat?
It has been over three weeks since the tragic incident at Sandy Hook Elementary took place in Newton, Connecticut. Right after the shooting, Americans across the country cried out for stricter gun laws to prevent another heartbreaking event. On the other hand, though, some people argue that if teachers were allowed to carry guns at school this could have all been prevented. But according to a study by Texas A&M University, when "Stand Your Ground" laws are passed homicide cases increase. Neil McCabe, a senior write for Human Events Online, sounds off.
Excerpts:
"In American, we don't pre-punish crime. It's already against the law to kill people - homicide. If you look at Kennesaw, GA, a place where every household is required to own a firearm… you saw break-ins, and those kinds of things, violent crime, drop precipitously…"
"Criminals don't go to places where they think there are going to be armed citizens…"
GUN-GRABBING LEGISLATION SWEEPS NATION
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbart.com
Remember when the left pretended they liked the Second Amendment? That's passé. Today, Democrats around the country are preparing for a big gun grab, the likes of which the Republic has never before seen. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has actually publicly pitched all-out gun confiscation (or alternatively, forced gun buybacks), is now preparing grandiose new legislation designed to strip New Yorkers of "assault weapons," as well as restrict the size of magazines. In the only provision actually designed to reduce crime, Cuomo will also propose harsher penalties for using a gun in the commission of a crime.
Cuomo recognizes that what's he's doing is politically divisive. But in today's America, he also recognizes that he'll be rewarded by the media for cramming down political divisive gun control, even if it does nothing to stop violence. "It's a very divisive topic," said Cuomo. "There's a lot of energy on both sides. Some people are vehemently against, some people think we're out of our minds for not passing it … Gun control is highly political, politically contentious situation. It is polarizing."
Needed: 'Well-regulated militia' — and guns
by Kevin Foley - Marietta Daily Journal
BOZEMAN, Mont. — "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed," it says here in my copy of the Constitution.
Let's put that statement into context: The year is 1783. "Arms" are single shot, muzzle loaded pistols and muskets. Militias — citizen soldiers armed with these weapons — played a crucial role in the fight for liberty.
Obama Weighs Executive Order on Guns as NRA, Wal-Mart Join Talks Biden Vows Action on Guns as NRA, Wal-Mart to Join Talks
By Lisa Lerer & Julie Bykowicz - Bloomberg.com
President Barack Obama will consider using executive orders among the steps to curb gun violence following last month's mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, Vice President Joe Biden said.
"The president and I are determined to take action," Biden said at the start of a meeting with gun-control advocates and representatives of victims. He didn't specify what administrative measure Obama might take.
BIDEN: OBAMA WILL BYPASS CONGRESS FOR GUN CONTROL
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbart.com
Vice President Joe Biden, who has been charged by President Obama with running the task force to prevent situations like the Sandy Hook massacre, announced that he wouldn't be raising legislative solutions at all.
Instead, he said that President Obama might simply declare his preferred gun policy the law of the nation.
Talking to the drooling press, Biden announced, "The president is going to act. There are executive orders, there's executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet. But we're compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action that we believe is required."
Personal experience shouldn't drive policy
by Bill Maxwell - Marietta Daily Journal
Elected officials and other leaders who have the power to make life-and-death decisions for the rest of us should be guided by a commitment to objectivity when they make policy.
Too many, however, including U.S. presidents, ignore or reject objective information that is available to them. They turn to personal relations, personal experiences, political loyalties and raw emotion for answers and for justifications to act.
Bill Clinton crashes CES to talk politics and the Internet The former president speaks briefly about technology and a lot about hot-button issues like gun control
By James Niccolai - Computerworld.com
IDG News Service - Former President Bill Clinton made a surprise appearance at the International CES on Wednesday, where he talked a little about technology and a lot about hot-button political issues like the environment and gun control.
Clinton was greeted by rousing applause when he appeared toward the end of Samsung's CES keynote, and at the end of his speech a portion of the audience gave him a standing ovation.
Concealed weapons everywhere could trigger some problems
by Don McKee - Marietta Daily Journal
Folks in Cobb County are getting armed in record numbers after the mid-December massacre of 26 people including 20 children at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., by a lone gunman.
The rate of applications last month for permits to carry concealed weapons reached numbers unprecedented so far as probate court officials can recall. There were 1,212 applications in December — almost double the 642 in December 2011, Probate Judge Kelli Wolk told the Marietta Daily Journal. Of that number, 843 followed the Dec. 14 Newton massacre.
Libyan Gun Control Policies
Left Guards Unarmed at U.S. Compound in Benghazi
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - The gun control policies of the post-Gaddafi government in Libya delayed the arming of bodyguards for U.S. diplomats in that country and left the local guard force hired to watch over the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi unarmed, according to internal State Department memos and written testimony by the State Department officer who was in charge of the department's security in Libya until six weeks before the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks.
"Our long term security plan in Libya was to recruit and deploy an armed, locally hired Libyan bodyguard unit," State Department Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in written testimony.
Gun-control crowd using Gabby Giffords as a mascot
By Charles Hurt - WashingtonTimes.com
What does it tell you when a new group founded to clamp down on gun-ownership rights announces its formation by trotting out the celebrity victim of a crazed gunman?
It means the group does not really wish to have a serious and open discussion about the complex and troubling factors that have led to the explosions of mass violence we have seen in recent years committed by increasingly unstable, psychopathic outcasts.
Here Is a List of -All the Assholes Handsome Law-Abiding Citizens Who Own Guns- Some People in New York City
By John Cook - Gawker.com
Last month, the Journal News sparked a firestorm of protest when it published a mappable database of every licensed gun owner in Westchester and Rockland counties, north of New York City. The paper obtained the data—which New York state law explicitly and unambiguously demands be made public—through open records requests. The reaction was swift and furious—gun rights and privacy advocates published the names and addresses of the paper's editors in retaliation, and the paper (ironically) hired armed guards to protect against threats.
One weird reaction came from TV wraith Ann Coulter, who told Fox News' Sean Hannity last week: "If we're producing lists of gun permit owners, I want them for Manhattan. I want to know how many rich liberals with their body guards have gun permits." You're in luck, Ann. I happened to have just such a list in my filing cabinet. Here it is.
US suffers far more violent deaths than any other wealthy nation It's not the frequency of the attacks that stands out --
it's the lethality
BY KEVIN FREKING, ASSOCIATED PRESS - Salon.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States suffers far more violent deaths than any other wealthy nation, due in part to the widespread possession of firearms and the practice of storing them at home in a place that is often unlocked, according to a report released Wednesday by two of the nation's leading health research institutions.
Gun violence is just one of many factors contributing to lower U.S. life expectancy, but the finding took on urgency because the report comes less than a month after the shooting deaths of 26 people at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
Central Banks Ease Future Liquidity Standards
for Globe's Big Banks
BY BILL WITHERELL - FinancialSense.com
International banks had reason to celebrate Monday when they received a somewhat unexpected New Year's gift from their regulators. The central bank governors and heads of supervision that oversee the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision agreed to a very substantial softening of prospective global liquidity standards. This development is bullish for the international banks and for the global economy and markets.
These standards, first drafted in 2010 in the wake of the global financial crisis, are an important part of the so-called Basel III accord and have the objective of assuring that major banks have sufficient liquidity to weather future financial storms. Over the past two years, banks have argued strenuously that the draft standards were too strict, probably unworkable, and certain to have significant negative effects on banks' willingness to lend and hence on economic growth. The regulators have now responded to those concerns, but the extent to which they have loosened the standards was unexpected.
White House won't fully rule out $1 trillion coin idea
By Robert Schroeder - MarketWatch.com
White House press secretary Jay Carney laughed on Wednesday when he was asked about the idea to mint a $1 trillion coin as a way of getting around the U.S. debt ceiling. But he didn't entirely take it off the table.
"The only option," Carney told reporters, is for Congress to "do its job" and raise the debt limit.
The Trillion Dollar Coin – This Is How Money Dies
BY TIM IACONO - FinancialSense.com
….Anyway, the basic argument in favor of creating such a coin is that, though it's absurd, it's equally as absurd as the GOP holding the nation hostage to the debt ceiling since the new debt that requires the raising of said ceiling is simply covering expenses that have already been authorized by Congress.
That's a nice argument and, sadly, we seem to have reached a new level of absurdity in the nation's capital when it comes to budget matters, but it misses more important points about trust and the nature of money.
Paul Krugman as Pontius Pilate
And maybe the next U.S. Treasury Secretary.
By ANDREW B. WILSON - Spectator.org
I join Hollywood actor Danny Glover in urging the president to appoint a truly robust progressive — the New York Times columnist and former economist Paul Krugman — as the next U.S. Treasury Secretary. Nothing would do more to cement the confederacy of dunces that the president is gathering around him as his second-term cabinet.
In an April 24, 2012 New York Times blog post one wag titled "Why I Don't Write About Israel," Krugman, who is Jewish, played the part of Pontius Pilate in publicly washing his hands of any sense of personal responsibility, or any real remorse, for the calamity that will surely follow for the Israeli people if Iran or Hamas succeed in getting their hands on nuclear weapons. This is how the professional gadfly and author of The Conscience of a Liberal explains his craven and disingenuous silence on Israel/Palestine:
Obama to tap Lew for Treasury
By Susan Crabtree-The Washington Times
President Obama will nominate White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew to replace outgoing Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner this week, according to multiple reports Wednesday that cited sources familiar with the nomination process.
The long-expected move would force Mr. Obama to find a new chief of staff, which would be the first part of a major reshuffling of White House staff.
Who Is Jack Lew, Obama's Nominee for Treasury Secretary? The current White House chief of staff is a bookish, private man, but he's also an outspoken liberal with a mind for the intricacies of numbers and budgets
By David Graham - TheAtlantic.com
President Obama will nominate Jacob Lew to be the next Treasury secretary, replacing Tim Geithner, who's retiring. The nomination has long been expected: Lew is a budget whiz and a close confidant of the president who has served for the past year as White House chief of staff. Here's your cheat sheet on the man who's likely to take over the Treasury.
JACK LEW BAGGED $950,000 BONUS
AFTER CITIGROUP BAILOUT
by WYNTON HALL - Breitbart.com
In the wake of the financial meltdown, President Barack Obama derided Wall Street bonuses as "obscene," calling them examples of "fat cats who are getting awarded for their failure."
But now, Mr. Obama has announced that he will nominate as his next Treasury secretary Jack Lew, a man who in 2009 bagged a $950,000 bonus after his bank, Citigroup, received billions in a taxpayer-funded bailout.
Chinese Government Ignores Appeals
To Halt Investment Fraud, Says SEC
By Teresa Rivas - Barron's
American investors have lost billions of dollars to investment scams in China, but that nation's government appears uninterested in stopping the frauds, according to the Security and Exchange Commission.
In an interview with ABC News, outgoing Chairman Mary Schapiro said that Chinese officials have rebuffed U.S. calls to work together to quash the scams, which she termed one of the biggest runs of alleged investment swindles in recent memory.
CIB busts fake investment group, bring fraud charges
China Post news staff
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) cracked down an investment group and its ringleader surnamed Zhao (趙) over charges of fraud, the CIB said.
The group had been attracting capital from unsuspecting victims during the period between October and December of 2011, who then fell prey to the promises of high-yield returns for their investment in the booming biotechnology and DNA testing industry, according to a CIB press release.
The Eurozone's Agenda in 2013
By Edmond Alphandery - Project-Syndicate.org
PARIS – European Union leaders concluded 2012 with a landmark agreement that places all eurozone banks under a single supervisor. But the difficult negotiations that led to the agreement eclipsed European Council President Herman Van Rompuy's recent report, Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union, which calls for unity far beyond a banking union. Although "no door was closed," in the words of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, EU leaders have clearly refused, at least for now, to hold a serious discussion about deeper integration.
JPMorgan Will Contribute $2 Billion to U.S. Home Lending Accord
By Dawn Kopecki - Bloomberg.com
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the largest U.S. bank, will pay borrowers $2 billion in the form of mortgage relief and direct cash payments to settle home-loan abuse claims with regulators.
The bank will make a cash payment of $753 million and set aside $1.2 billion toward foreclosure prevention efforts as part of an $8.5 billion deal with 10 banks and their regulators announced Jan. 7, JPMorgan said in a regulatory filing today.
California Cities Sue Banks Over Libor Rates, Law Firm Says
By Karen Gullo - Bloomberg.com
Eight California counties and public entities sued UBS AG (UBSN), Barclays Plc (BARC) and 20 other banks alleging they lost millions of dollars because the financial institutions manipulated the benchmark Libor rate.
The plaintiffs claim they were cheated out of higher interest payments on investments such asinterest-rate swaps and corporate bonds tied to Libor.
When Will Interest Rates Rise Again?
BY CLIF DROKE - FinancialSense.com
Recently I was asked a question that I suspect has been on many investors' minds. Here's the question: "Is it possible that the bond market will be the market to tumble into 2014, and as it does, the general market decline is mitigated by the rotation of money out of bonds and into stocks?"
Here's my answer: Anything is possible in today's upside-down world. As my late friend and mentor Bud Kress used to ask, "Does anything surprise you anymore?" But I'd have to say here – and I firmly believe Bud would echo this sentiment – if there's any validity to the 120-year Kress cycle, a sustainable rising interest rate trend isn't likely until after October 2014.
Municipal Bonds' Treatment
in Jeopardy With Debt Ceiling: Taxes
By Stephen Joyce - Bloomberg.com
A reprieve the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market received in the U.S. budget agreement last week may be only temporary.
The deal extended several types of narrowly focused bond- related activities, such as funding school renovations or paying for construction projects in New York near the area of Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It revised the alternative minimum tax, and without that, some types of bonds could have been unattractive to tens of millions of taxpayers. It didn't eliminate the tax exemption on municipal bond income, an idea contemplated by lawmakers.
Morgan Stanley Said to Cut 1,600 Investment-Banking Jobs
By Michael J. Moore - Bloomberg.com
Morgan Stanley, the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, plans to eliminate about 1,600 jobs from its investment bank and support staff in coming weeks, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The cuts total about 6 percent of the New York-based company's institutional securities group, which includes investment banking and trading units, and support staff, the person said, asking not to be identified because the decision hasn't been made public. About half the reductions will be in the U.S., the person said.
Fast-Food Worker Hours Cut, New Health Care Law Blamed
By Lauren Squires - WOWT.com
A fast-food chain is slashing employee hours so franchise owners don't have to pay health benefits. Around 100 local Wendy's workers have learned their hours are being cut. A spokesperson says a new health care law is to blame.
"Thirty-six to 37 hours a week." That's how many hours T.J. Growbeck works at the 84th and Giles Wendy's restaurant. The money he earns helps him pay for the basics, but that's not the case for all his co-workers. "There are some people doing it trying to get by."
USDA declares drought disaster in much of Wheat Belt
(Reuters) - The government declared much of the central and southern Wheat Belt a natural disaster area on Wednesday due to persistent drought that imperils this year's winter wheat harvest.
In its first disaster declaration of the new year, the Agriculture Department made growers in large portions of four major wheat-growing states - Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas - eligible for low-interest emergency loans.
The four states grew one-third of the U.S. wheat crop last year. Kansas was the No. 1 state at 382 million bushels.
New data show 1 in 4 children on food stamps in FY 2011
By Caroline May - DailyCaller.com
One in four children in America participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, in fiscal year 2011, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture and U.S. Census Bureau.
The USDA's "Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Households: Fiscal Year 2011" shows that in 2011, 19.9 million children, or people under 18, received food stamp benefits.
Groupthink America Why has everything turned out so wrong?
By LISA FABRIZIO - Spectator.org
Recent events in our nation have baffled those of the conservative stripe; none more so than the decisions made by our fellow Americans this past November. The reelection of Barack Obama, seemingly trailing in the polls up to the last days, was the most frustrating; but there were others that were even more disturbing. For the first time, voters in several states endorsed laws permitting homosexual marriage while others approved the recreational use of marijuana.
The reelection of President Obama in the face of high unemployment, low housing values and general economic misery can perhaps be explained away as another triumph for the cult of popularity, but what of the rest? How to explain these abrupt turnabouts in the attitudes of Americans? Has the electorate really and truly taken a turn to the left; and if so, why? One answer may lie in cyberspace.
Gerald Celente - Lew Rockwell Show - January 4, 2013
Gerald Celente talks to Lew Rockwell about economic crises, wars, and some good developments.
Now the Government Wants to Track and Tax Your Mileage
BY KEITH FITZ-GERALD - MoneyMorning.com
I love Oregon so much I gladly put up with its hypocritical governor, its out of control budget, its quirky liberal tendencies, its high personal income taxes, its hopelessly anti-business environment, and its progressive health care system.
But here's where I have to put my foot down: Oregon officials are now proposing a special per- mile tax on "gas-sipping" drivers.
Frustrated by the drop in tax revenue collected at the pump as drivers shift to more fuel- efficient hybrids and pure electric cars, Oregon legislators now want to make up the difference by sticking it to anyone who's willing to pay more for energy efficiency.
Little Canada man videotaped sheriff's deputies,
and got charged for it
By Emily Gurnon - TwinCities.com
Andrew Henderson watched as Ramsey County sheriff's deputies frisked a bloody-faced man outside his Little Canada apartment building. Paramedics then loaded the man, a stranger to Henderson, into an ambulance.
Henderson, 28, took out his small handheld video camera and began recording. It's something he does regularly with law enforcement.
But what happened next was different. The deputy, Jacqueline Muellner, approached him and snatched the camera from his hand, Henderson said.
"The tax issue is finished. Over. Completed. That's behind us."
— Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
"The hard fact is that nothing could have arrested what actually happened…"
— British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on the Nazi invasion of Austria
"Our affairs have come to such a pass that there is no escape without running risks."
So said a resolute Winston Churchill as, still out of favor with his own Conservative government, he stood up in the House of Commons in March of 1938 to protest the government's passive response to the occupation and annexation of Austria by Adolf Hitler's Germany. Or, as it is known to history, the "Anschluss."
$1 million donations wanted for Obama inauguration
By JACK GILLUM, NEDRA PICKLER
AND STEPHEN BRAUN, AP - CNSNews.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Planners of President Barack Obama's second inauguration are soliciting high-dollar contributions up to $1 million to help pay for the celebration in exchange for special access.
The changes are part of a continuing erosion of Obama's pledge to keep donors and special interests at arm's length of his presidency. He has abandoned the policy from his first inauguration to accept donations up to only $50,000 from individuals, announcing last month that he would take unlimited contributions from individuals and corporations.
Is Obama pulling another Rick Warren? Four years ago, Obama enraged liberals at his inauguration --
this year's benediction choice could be bad too
BY ALEX SEITZ-WALD - Salon.com
In 2008, a newly-elected progressive president threw a bone to the evangelical community that was still deeply suspicious of him by picking pastor Rick Warren to give the benediction at his inauguration. The choice for the ceremony — which was otherwise populated by civil rights leaders and social justice heros — turned out to be a faux pas.
Progressive activists, who had just worked hard to elect Barack Obama, were "deeply disappointed" with the choice of a pastor who had a long record fighting against homosexuality and abortion rights. "How the hell did Rick Warren get inauguration tickets?" Salon's then-Washington Correspondent Mike Madden asked in December of 2008.
Rick Warren admits membership in good standing
in Council on Foreign Relations – CFR MEGAPASTOR RICK WARREN'S DAMASCUS ROAD EXPERIENCE
by Joseph Farah - WND.com (11.20.2006)
WASHINGTON – Rick Warren, the superstar mega-church pastor and bestselling author of "The Purpose Driven Life," had a Damascus Road experience last week – and like Saul of Tarsus, one of the after-effects appears to be blindness.
Warren went to Syria and could find no persecution of Christians. He could find no persecution of Jews. He could find no evidence of extremism. He could find no evidence of the sponsorship of terrorism.
The Illuminati's Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
Builds a global spirituality (One World religion) Occult theocracy
By Texe Marrs
Having temporarily failed to usher in its new global order by military force, the Illuminati has now decided to unleash a far greater power in pursuit of its wicked, dictatorial goals: The power of Global Spirituality.
To achieve this, the Illuminati's premier political and economic organ, the socialistic, pro-Zionist Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), has elevated to membership two key operatives, two men who are at the helm of America's most influential Christian evangelical groups. I refer to Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Community Church in California, and Dr. Richard Land, reigning religious potentate and poobah of the massive Southern Baptist Convention.
Muzzling Military Chaplains Obama forces them to bow to his agenda.
By GEORGE NEUMAYR - Spectator.org
One of the items on Obama's second term agenda is to root out traditionally Christian chaplains from the military. He sees them as bigots unworthy of conscience protections. Like Chick-fil-A, they don't uphold Obama's "values."
Obama's mouthpieces in the military have already blurted this out. In 2010, Admiral Michael Mullen told a Christian chaplain who opposed the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that "If you cannot get in line, resign your commission." That same year Lieutenant General Thomas P. Bostick, the Army's deputy chief of staff in charge of personnel, said military members who dissent from Obama's gay rights agenda should "get out."
The World in 2030
By Joseph S. Nye - Project-Syndicate.org
CAMBRIDGE – What will the world look like two decades from now? Obviously, nobody knows, but some things are more likely than others. Companies and governments have to make informed guesses, because some of their investments today will last longer than 20 years. In December, the United States National Intelligence Council (NIC) published its guess: Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds (PDF).
Microsoft will pull trigger on emergency IE patch Uptick in attacks, bypasses of recommended workarounds will force Microsoft to fix flaw criminals already using to hijack Windows PCs
By Gregg Keizer - Computerworld.com
Computerworld - Microsoft will issue an emergency update to patch a vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE) in the next two weeks to fix a flaw criminals have been using for more than a month, researchers said Tuesday.
The company will move on the IE6, IE7 and IE8 bug before the next regularly-scheduled Patch Tuesday because of increasing attacks and proof that temporary workarounds can be circumvented.
Intel CTO says we're watching rebirth of the PC We're just years away from phones, PCs, cars acting like colleagues, says Justin Rattner
By Sharon Gaudin - Computerworld.com
Computerworld - LAS VEGAS -- Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner says we're watching the transformation of the PC.
Rattner, who is attending the International CES show, said the traditional PC couldn't survive in the age of the gadget. He said we're in the midst of the rebirth of the PC.
"It's absolutely a time of dramatic change," Rattner told Computerworld. "I think what we're watching is the transformation of the PC into an Internet device. It was demanded of the PC. You could not be a classical PC in the age of the smartphone and the tablet and these other Internet-connected devices. The PC is the last to be unleashed from the traditional tethers that kept it a PC and not truly an Internet device."
6 reasons not to buy a smartphone
By Sheyna Steiner - Bankrate.com
Smartphones are taking over the cellphone market. In the first quarter of 2012, 44 percent of the U.S. population had smartphones, according to research by Google and Ipsos MediaCT released in May 2012.
Are smartphone holdouts behind-the-times Luddites, or are there actually good reasons to resist the siren song of technology? After all, purposely forgoing a smartphone when it's time to get a new phone is a tough sell. "I think the reasons for not getting a smartphone are getting pretty few and far between," says Scott Stein, a senior editor at CNET.com.
Is now the time to draw the line in the sand and say no to 24/7 connectivity and nearly all of the information in the world literally in your pocket? Where will it end?
Only you can decide. Here are a few considerations.
CES 2013: Five technologies Apple users should watch
By Jonny Evans - Computerworld.com
CES 2013: Apple [AAPL] isn't at the show, but there's a selection of new solutions in discussion at or around the show that may get picked up by Cupertino's I/O execs who have been seen prowling the exhibition floor. These include better wireless, more responsive displays, and much more.
….The company also has a series of patents detailing ways in which fingerprint or iris scanning may be used to secure its devices. While these focus on phones, I can't help but feel such protection might also be invaluable on Macs, particularly laptops. Of course, news that Intel's new processors are already capable of support for facial recognition systems adds a little grist to the Mac rumor wish list/unicorn hunt.
NFC remains a euphemistic term which could more accurately be used to describe expectation of Apple's future adventures in the development of payment systems. Pass Book is the current iteration, but it's pretty clear NFC hasn't changed the world, even where it is available. Why?
People are resistant to migrate to virtual currency; and are also concerned at the security implications of having their entire life stashed inside a mobile device.
With this in mind, security needs to be sufficiently robust to convince customers that payment systems are safe to use.
The Second Nuclear Age
By Paul Bracken - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW HAVEN – North Korea's launch of a long-range missile in mid-December was followed by a flurry of global condemnation that was almost comical in its predictability and impotence. But the launch underscored a larger reality that can no longer be ignored: the world has entered a second nuclear age. The atomic bomb has returned for a second act, a post-Cold War encore. This larger pattern needs to be understood if it is to be managed.
The contours of the second nuclear age are still taking shape. But the next few years will be especially perilous, because newness itself creates dangers as rules and red lines are redefined. This took at least ten years in the first nuclear age, and this time may be no different.
In Spanish, they say Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres - "Tell me with whom you walk and I will tell you who you are."
When United States President Barack Obama walked into the East Room in the White House on Monday evening with former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel, his nominee for defense secretary, that was the thought that came to mind. It was a short walk, which nonetheless had precipitated in its anticipation much animated debate in the Washington circuit.
Hagel is an extraordinary person for the US president to walk with at this point in America's trajectory as the world's lone superpower with a military budget that outstrips the rest of the world combined.
Islam 'Helped to Shape' CIA Nominee John Brennan's World View
By Patrick Goodenough - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – As a college student in the 1970s, John Brennan, President Obama's nominee for CIA director, traveled in Indonesia where – he recalled in a speech in New York in 2010 – "despite my long hair, my earring and my obvious American appearance, I was welcomed throughout that country, in a way that is a reflection of the tremendous warmth of Islamic cultures and societies."
Brennan's Feb. 13, 2010 address to a meeting at the Islamic Center at New York University, facilitated by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), provided an insight into his views on Islam, a faith which he said during the speech had "helped to shape my own world view."
US Mint Sells Massive 3.9 Million Ounces Of Silver Coins
In First Few Days Of 2013, Triple December's Total
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Just a few days ago we noted the massive surge in physical gold coin sales from the US Mint, with silver surprisingly lagging. Today, we see an even more dramatic surge in the sales of physical Silver Coins in the first week of January,which in a few short days hit 3.94 million oz, already surpassing the entire December total of 1.64 million ounces. It seems that the paper-to-physical currency rotation is gathering pace even as, or thanks to the trillion dollar platinum coin mercifully ending its 15 minutes of page-clicking, ad revenue infamy.
"If Just 1%Of Japanese Pension Assets Shift Into Gold, The Gold Market Would Explode"
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Last night we reported that in the encroaching attempt to globalize the fiat ponzi regime, in Japan's latest rush to crushTM (sounds even better than race to debase) its currency it would proceed to monetize even more debt, only not its own debt - a strategy that has failed miserably to stimulate inflation for the past 30 years - but that of Europe.
So far so good, and perfectly expected in a monetary lunatic asylum in which coining money without an appropriate collateral backing is actually considered sound monetary policy by Nobel prize winners.
2013: Beginning of Long-Term Recession?
BY GAIL TVERBERG - FinancialSense.com
We have been hearing a lot about escaping the fiscal cliff, but our problem isn't solved. The fixes to date have been partial and temporary. There are many painful decisions ahead. Based on what I can see, the most likely outcome is that the US economy will enter a severe recession by the end of 2013.
My expectation is that credit markets are likely see increased defaults, as workers find their wages squeezed by higher Social Security taxes, and as government programs are cut back. Credit is likely to decrease in availability and become higher-priced. It is quite possible that credit problems will adversely affect the international trade system. Stock markets will tend to perform poorly. The Federal Reserve will try to intervene in credit markets, but if the US government is one of the defaulters (at least temporarily), it may not be able to completely fix the situation.
Why 2013 Will End in a Severe Recession
By Gail Tverberg - OilPrice.com
We have been hearing a lot about escaping the fiscal cliff, but our problem isn't solved. The fixes to date have been partial and temporary. There are many painful decisions ahead. Based on what I can see, the most likely outcome is that the US economy will enter a severe recession by the end of 2013.
My expectation is that credit markets are likely see increased defaults, as workers find their wages squeezed by higher Social Security taxes, and as government programs are cut back. Credit is likely to decrease in availability and become higher-priced. It is quite possible that credit problems will adversely affect the international trade system. Stock markets will tend to perform poorly. The Federal Reserve will try to intervene in credit markets, but if the US government is one of the defaulters (at least temporarily), it may not be able to completely fix the situation.
To Democrats, deficits no longer matter
By Ed Rogers - WashingtonPost.com
This is a long piece, but bear with me. This is a topic that could define our next political era.
One revelation resulting from the fiscal cliff talks and agreement appears to be that President Obama and the Democrats will not support any meaningful debt relief or effort to balance America's books during President Obama's second term. It appears the Democrat Party has completely decoupled the idea that government expenditures are in any way tied to government income. Obviously, there are a few Democrats who believe in balanced budgets, but they are mostly outside the Administration, were elected to office years ago or are in academia. Today's Democrats are comfortable with the new reality that the government is the borrower, the lender, and the money printer in one closed loop. I guess the good news is that we are no longer as desperate for the Chinese to buy our debt.
If Obama Can Just Create A Trillion Dollar Coin,
Then Why Do We Have To Pay Taxes?
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
If Barack Obama can "solve" the debt ceiling crisis by printing up some trillion dollar coins, then why does the federal government need our money? As another debt ceiling showdown approaches, many in the liberal media are suggesting that if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling that Obama should just have the U.S. Treasury create a trillion dollar platinum coin and use it to pay our bills. It sounds crazy, but many notable voices (including Paul Krugman of the New York Times) are supporting this idea. But if the federal government has had the power to create trillion dollar coins out of thin air all this time, then why do we have to pay taxes? Not only that, why do we have a national debt? If the federal government can just create money whenever it wants, then why does the federal government ever have to borrow it from others? The U.S. Constitution actually grants Congress the power to "coin money", so why is the Federal Reserve doing it?
Everything You Need to Know About the Crazy Plan
to Save the Economy With a Trillion-Dollar Coin The only thing we have to fear
is fear of the trillion-dollar coin itself
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
It is the single most important comment in the history of Internet comments. Probably.
Back in the summer of 2011, as House Republicans threatened to force us to default on our obligations, a commenter on Cullen Roche's blog, Pragmatic Capitalism, suggested an inventive way around the debt ceiling: a trillion-dollar coin.
Ah, the debt ceiling. It's the ludicrous credit limit Congress has given itself, which could force us into default. Here's why it makes no sense. Imagine you were a high-earner living beyond your means, and your credit card company came to you offering to pay you to expand your line of credit -- but you said no! You've made a resolution not to increase your total debt anymore, no matter how attractive the offer. That's a fine resolution, but, remember, you're still living beyond your means. Uh-oh. You still have all your old bills to pay, but now you don't have the money to pay them all. Pretty soon, your credit card notices you're not paying all your bills, and jack up your interest rate. This is the worst personal-finance plan ever, and it's what House Republicans are saying they'll do to the economy by holding the debt limit hostage to their demand for deep spending cuts.
How big would a $1 trillion platinum coin be?
By Ritchie King and David Yanofsky - Quartz
Mint the coin. Mint it.
The proposal that the president should order the US Treasury to mint a trillion-dollar platinum coin—a ploy to sidestep the debt ceiling, which will prevent further borrowing sometime in February—has generated a ton of hype and garnered some support online. Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman is for it, as is Business Insider's Joe Weisenthal. Others, like The Guardian's Heidi Moore and Quartz's Tim Fernholz, consider the idea absurd.
Debt Limit Showdown Spurs Debate On Trillion-Dollar Coin
By Ian Katz - Bloomberg.com
The looming showdown between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans over raising the $16.4 trillion federal debt limit has made alternatives including minting a trillion-dollar coin or invoking a constitutional amendment to pay the bills part of the political debate.
So far, the Obama administration isn't participating.
The proposal for the Treasury Department to mint a platinum coin worth $1 trillion and deposit it at the Federal Reserve to give the U.S. enough money to pay its debts has been advanced by Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New YorkDemocrat, and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman. Representative Greg Walden, an Oregon Republican, said yesterday he would introduce legislation to block any such move.
KRUGMAN'S TRILLION-DOLLAR FANTASY
BY JOHN HINDERAKER - PowerlineBlog.com
If you doubt whether the Left has gone around the bend, all you have to do is read Paul Krugman. Today, on the New York Times web site, Krugman argued that President Obama should circumvent the debt ceiling by having the Treasury Department mint a trillion-dollar coin, which would then be handed over to the Federal Reserve, thereby freeing up a trillion dollars in additional borrowing. Apparently this was a serious proposal:
Should President Obama be willing to print [sic] a $1 trillion platinum coin if Republicans try to force America into default? Yes, absolutely.
Why Stop at a $1 Trillion Coin?
BY MICHAEL SHEDLOCK - FinancialSense.com
There is a lot of crazy talk out there regarding the minting of a $1 trillion coin to get around the debt ceiling.
Today Paul Krugman hopped on the $1 trillion bandwagon in his New York Times article Be Ready To Mint That Coin.
Should President Obama be willing to print a $1 trillion platinum coin if Republicans try to force America into default? Yes, absolutely. He will, after all, be faced with a choice between two alternatives: one that's silly but benign, the other that's equally silly but both vile and disastrous. The decision should be obvious.
REPUBLICAN PUSHES BILL
TO KILL TRILLION DOLLAR PLATINUM COIN
by WYNTON HALL - Breitbart.com
On Monday, Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) said he will introduce a bill to stop a scheme floated by some liberals to mint a trillion dollar platinum coin to bankroll the federal government's runaway spending spree.
"Some people are in denial about the need to reduce spending and balance the budget," said Rep. Walden. "This scheme to mint trillion dollar platinum coins is absurd and dangerous, and would be laughable if the proponents weren't so serious about it as a solution. I'm introducing a bill to stop it in its tracks."
Mint the Coin The silly but totally legitimate loophole that lets the Obama administration avert the debt-ceiling showdown with a $1 trillion platinum coin.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
As you probably know, sometime in late February or early March the government's authority to borrow money will run out, rendering the Treasury unable to pay everyone all the money they're owed. Conservatives have vowed to use this leverage to force the president to agree to spending cuts he wouldn't otherwise sign, a replay of a move they pulled off in 2011. Already Republicans such as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) are trying to lay the groundwork by describing an exhaustion of borrowing authority as a kind of government shutdown rather than what it really is, a congressionally-induced default on legally valid claims Congress has already enacted.
Keiser Report: Wealth & Wage Extinction (E389)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the economics of wealth and wage extinction. They talk about hunger wages, household income and the hedge funds reaping huge profits off this wealth and wage extinction. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Captain Paul Watson on a ship in the Southern Ocean in Antarctica fighting the economics of extinction as practised by the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Fed's Lacker warns inflation could pick up next year
By Rick Rothacker
COLUMBIA, South Carolina | Tue Jan 8, 2013 5:33pm EST
(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's latest stimulus plan will not do much to boost growth and raises the risk of inflation next year, Richmond Fed Bank President Jeffrey Lacker said on Tuesday, echoing remarks he made last week.
"It is unlikely that the Federal Reserve can push real growth rates materially higher than they otherwise would be, on a sustained basis," he said in a speech to a business group.
After the Debt-Ceiling Breach:
What Day 1 in Default America Might Look Like The consequences of default are so awful, it's impossible to imagine Washington not raising the debt limit by March. And yet, here we are again, waiting and debating the un-debatable.
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
On December 31, the United States hit the debt ceiling. What, you didn't feel it? Well, no, you didn't, and neither did I. For that, we can thank "extraordinary measures," the extraordinarily vague term Washington uses to describe the various way the Treasury department can move around money to keep us from straight-up defaulting on our promised payments. But extraordinary only lasts so long. These measures buy us about six weeks -- basically until Valentine's Day. After six weeks, the United States government will be living hand to mouth on cash and daily revenue, and it's hours or days before ... DEFAULT.
Rise Above - Two Outcomes to Debt Ceiling Debate
BY LANCE ROBERTS - FinancialSense.com
"RISE ABOVE: THE DEBT THREAT" is the banner on CNBC. Really? Do we really need another 8 weeks of intrigue, countdowns and the proliferations of discussions over another Congressional event? Before we get into the two possible outcomes of the debt ceiling debate let me clarify a few things that makes this whole drama absolutely pointless other than scaring the crap out of people:
The U.S. is a sovereign currency issuer and as such will not default on its debt obligations.
The debt ceiling will be raised as Republicans, as repeatedly demonstrated, will likely fold to political pressure.Tax revenue, on a monthly basis, far exceeds the level of interest payments on the debt - the U.S. will only default if the idiots in Washington CHOOSE to default.
Deja Broke: Presenting The Treasury's Options
To Continue Pretending The US Is Solvent
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
The debt limit was formally reached last week, and we expect the Treasury's ability to borrow to be exhausted by around March 1 (if not before) and while CDS are not flashing red, USA is at near 3-month wides. Like the previous debt limit debate in the summer of 2011, the debate seems likely to be messy, with resolution right around the deadline. That said, like the last debate we would expect the Treasury to prioritize payments if necessary, and Goldman does not believe holders of Treasury securities are at risk of missing interest or principal payments. The debt limit is only one of three upcoming fiscal issues, albeit the most important one.Congress also must address the spending cuts under sequestration, scheduled to take place March 1, and the expiration of temporary spending authority on March 27. While these are technically separate issues, it seems likely that they will be combined, perhaps into one package. This remains a 'very' recurring issue, given our government's spending habits and insistence on its solvency, as we laid out almost two years ago in great detail.
The Post-Crisis Crises
By Joseph E. Stiglitz - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – In the shadow of the euro crisis and America's fiscal cliff, it is easy to ignore the global economy's long-term problems. But, while we focus on immediate concerns, they continue to fester, and we overlook them at our peril.
The most serious is global warming. While the global economy's weak performance has led to a corresponding slowdown in the increase in carbon emissions, it amounts to only a short respite. And we are far behind the curve: Because we have been so slow to respond to climate change, achieving the targeted limit of a two-degree (centigrade) rise in global temperature, will require sharp reductions in emissions in the future.
We've Already Done $2.4 Trillion in Deficit Reduction
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
Washington, D.C. hasn't gotten the grand bargain that poobahs (wrongly) think America needs. But a very useful analysis from Michael Linden and Michael Ettlinger shows how much deficit reduction has already been enacted in a series of smaller deals.
Federal government balanced its books in December
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
The federal government came within a whisker of running a budget surplus in December, according to a preliminary estimate Tuesday that underscored some good news for the federal budget.
The Congressional Budget Office said the government took in about $270 billion in revenue and spent about that amount. Accounting for shifts in the timing of payments, the deficit would have been $17 billion — which is still the best in five years.
Keiser Report: Deadly Deflation (E390)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the butch welfare Queens in Virginia, Maryland and DC who rely on the 'untouchable' Pentagon budget. They also discuss the US deploying both its FMDs -- "financial extortion", "monetisation" and "devaluation" -- to finance its debt and deficit requirements and its troops to 35 African nations. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Dan Collins of TheChinaMoneyReport.com about the petro-yuan, China's gold and the problem with the fact that nobody in Africa wants to buy America's opium - credit default swaps.
With U.S. fiscal problems unresolved,
treasured AAA rating may fall off cliff
By Patrice Hill-The Washington Times
The United States looks increasingly likely to lose its gold-plated AAA credit rating in the next few months amid warnings by Wall Street rating agencies that last week's $650 billion "fiscal cliff" deal did not go far enough to reduce $1 trillion deficits and stabilize the debt.
Moody's Investors Service, in particular, warned last week that more stringent spending cuts or tax increases will be needed in the next round of budget negotiations if the U.S. is to avoid a second major downgrade of its rating — one that would definitively kick the nation out of the exclusive club of AAA-rated nations.
Why Bailouts Will Continue Until the Big Banks Are Broken Up
By Robert Reich - Truthdig.com
TARP—the infamous Troubled Assets Relief Program that bailed out Wall Street in 2008—is over. The Treasury Department announced it will be completing the sale of the remaining shares it owns of the banks and of General Motors.
But in reality it's not over. The biggest Wall Street banks are now far bigger than they were four years ago when they were considered too big to fail. The five largest have almost 44 percent of all US bank deposits.
The Trends to Watch in 2013 Probabilities are becoming more certain
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
Rather than attempt to predict the unpredictable – that is, specific events and price levels – let's look instead for key dynamics that will play out over the next two to three years. Though the specific timelines of crises are inherently unpredictable, it is still useful to understand the eventual consequences of influential trends.
In other words: policies that appear to have been successful for the past four years may continue to appear successful for a year or two longer. But that very success comes at a steep, and as yet unpaid, price in suppressed systemic risk, cost, and consequence.
AIG might sue the US government for bailing it out. Here's why that's even more ridiculous than it sounds
By Gwynn Guilford - Quartz
The board of insurance company American International Group (AIG) may join a $25-billion lawsuit against the government for ripping off shareholders, the New York Times reports. This after it only just paid back the $182.3 billion that the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) offered as a stabilizing fund in 2008, netting the government a $22.7 billion profit.
Make that $182 billion with interest. As AIG reminded everyone in its "Thank You, America" ad during a football game on New Year's Day, the total price tag was $205 billion, "paid to America from AIG."
Lawmakers Warn A.I.G. Not to Join Lawsuit Against U.S.
BY MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED - NYTimes.com
As the board of the American International Group weighs whether to join a shareholder lawsuit against the United States government, several lawmakers have a simple message for the bailed-out insurer.
Don't do it. Don't even think about it.
With A.I.G. having fully repaid its $182 billion bailout only weeks ago, the prospect of the company trying to claw back some of the $22 billion in profit that its rescue generated for shareholders doesn't sit right with several members of Congress.
AIG's Board Meets Tomorrow To Discuss
Whether To Sue the U.S. for Bailing It Out
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
You may have seen ads recently from AIG, the bailed-out insurance giant, "thanking" the American people for our financial assistance and celebrating AIG's re-emergence as a wholly private company. But on Wednesday, the company's board of directors is going to meet to consider suing the United States on the grounds that the terms of the bailout were too onerous.
Jamie Dimon doubtful for Treasury Secretary opening
By Jim Kim - FierceFinance.com
With new cabinet selections yet to be made, the Washington rumor mill is as active as ever.
The notion that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon might be in the running for Treasury Secretary has yet to be put to bed. Policymic has published a profile of Dimon, pegged to the idea that he is a indeed a candidate to take over the department.
This idea has been floated before, and the reaction was somewhat less than enthusiastic. Dimon would likely make a fine Treasury Secretary. He would have no problem goading fellow CEOs into some sort of action if he had too, just as Hank Paulson, formerly CEO of Goldman Sachs, was able to do in the financial crisis.
How European Banks Could Mess Everything Up The latest way European banks could (still) mess everything up
By Simone Foxman, Quartz
It's been a year since the European Central Bank (ECB) all but bailed out the euro zone's banks. In December 2011 and February 2012 the ECB provided them with a total of €1.02 trillion ($1.34 trillion) in the form of three-year cheap loans, as a way to encourage them to lend more to businesses, consumers and each other.
These long-term refinancing operations (LTROs) included one necessary caveat: if they wanted to, banks could repay the money a year or more into the operation and get out of the deal. At the time, this was a way to convince investors that they wouldn't be stuck holding euros if the currency collapsed altogether. It also gave stronger banks the flexibility of getting out if they wanted to explore other deals. This moment is now at hand: Banks that took part in the first LTRO can start repaying the ECB after Jan. 30.
Goldman Sachs Said to Be
Part of Fed-Led Foreclosure Settlement
By Jesse Hamilton & Cheyenne Hopkins - Bloomberg.com
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Morgan Stanley and two other banks may agree as soon as this week to settle claims over botched foreclosures in an accord similar to one reached with 10 loan servicers yesterday, two people briefed on the discussions said.
The agreement, also involving HSBC Holdings Inc. (HBC) and Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY), would end case-by-case reviews of foreclosures under earlier accords with the biggest mortgage servicers, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The Federal Reserve-led discussions specified at least $1.5 billion in cash and assistance for borrowers, one of the people said.
Secret Goldman Team Sidesteps Volcker After Blankfein Vow
By Max Abelson - Bloomberg.com
Sitting onstage in Washington's Ronald Reagan Building in July, Lloyd C. Blankfein saidGoldman Sachs Group Inc. had stopped using its own money to make bets on the bank's behalf.
"We shut off that activity," the chief executive officer told more than 400 people at a lunch organized by the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., slicing the air with his hand. The bank no longer had proprietary traders who "just put on risks that they wanted" and didn't interact with clients, he said.
The Cliffs of 1984 "Slavery Is Freedom" and "Tax Hikes Are Tax Relief"
are the new mantras.
By RALPH R. REILAND - Spectator.org
So we didn't go over the fiscal cliff and instead got a deal that delivers no cuts in government spending, raises taxes on "the rich" (the definition of which consistently changes), expands the size and role of government, keeps the red ink flowing at record levels, and provides disincentives to economic growth and job creation — and, for good measure, raises taxes on nearly everyone who isn't rich.
The bill, absurdly entitled the American Tax Payer Relief Act, is a tax-hiking measure that transfers money and power from the private sector to the increasing dysfunctional government sector.
Major Companies Push the Limits of a Tax Break
By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI - NYTimes.com
It began more than 90 years ago as a small tax break intended to help family farmers who wanted to swap horses and land. Farmers who sold property, livestock or equipment were allowed to avoid paying capital gains taxes, as long as they used the proceeds to replace or upgrade their assets.
Over the years, however, as the rules were loosened, the practice of exchanging one asset for another without incurring taxes spread to everyone from commercial real estate developers and art collectors to major corporations. It provides subsidies for rental truck fleets and investment property, vacation homes, oil wells and thoroughbred racehorses, and diverts billions of dollars in potential tax revenue from the Treasury each year.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Sued in Maryland for Unpaid Taxes
By Andrew Zajac - Bloomberg.com
Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac were sued for unpaid transfer taxes by a Maryland county, which argued in a federal court filing that the home-mortgage finance companies can't claim a government exemption from property fees.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren't qualified for the exemption because they have been federally chartered, publicly traded, private-stock corporations since March 31, 2003, according to the complaint filed by Montgomery County yesterday in U.S. District Court in Beltsville, Maryland.
Detroit mayor: Takeover decision could come Friday
By COREY WILLIAMS, AP - The Sacramento Bee
DETROIT -- A review team scrutinizing Detroit's poor finances could make a recommendation this week that will help determine whether there's a state takeover of the city, Mayor Dave Bing said Tuesday.
Snyder appointed the team last month after Detroit was slow to fulfill promises to the state in a deal that allowed the city to avoid having an emergency manager take over its finances.
Small-business confidence down to 'recession levels'
By Tim Devaney-The Washington Times
The fiscal cliff put a choke hold on the economy in December, according to a survey of business confidence, and many small companies expect it to get worse in the foreseeable future.
Following November's historically low report from the National Federation of Independent Business, the organization's Small Business Optimism Index edged up less than one point to 88. That's the second lowest reading since March 2010, and it came at a time when business usually peaks for the holidays. The disappointing results led the NFIB to refer to the survey as a "recession-level reading."
Corker plans new bill on entitlement reform
By Pete Kasperowicz - TheHill.com
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday he would take a stab at entitlement reform in a new bill to be introduced later this month, saying some effort needs to be made in the absence of leadership from President Obama.
"In our nation's history, the best way big problems have been solved is through presidential leadership," Corker said Tuesday. "[I]n the absence of a president who will lead on this issue, one constructive way to start tackling our financial deficit and the fiscal deadlines we face this quarter ... is to begin legislating on entitlements in areas where there has been strong bipartisan consensus in Congress as well as White House support: chained CPI adjustments and Medicare means testing."
Doctor Shortage Becoming Crisis Under Obamacare
By Nick Tate - NewsMax.com
If it feels like you're spending more time in the waiting room of your doctor's office these days, it's not your imagination. Family doctors are busier than ever. For many people, it is becoming difficult to even find a doctor, say experts who blame Obamacare for accelerating the nation's doctor shortage.
According to a new analysis by the Association of American Medical Colleges:
The United States now is now facing a dire shortage of some 9,000 primary care doctors - including general internists, family doctors, geriatricians, and pediatricians.
Time Out: Lindsey Williams - Obama Care Impact
Time Out Productions presents former ARCO / Alaskan Oil Pipeline Chaplain Lindsey Williams. On this program he discusses the impact Obama Care is having on companies across the USA as we are only days into 2013.
The Role of 'Educators' Creating a mindset that undermines American society.
By THOMAS SOWELL - Spectator.org
Many years ago, as a young man, I read a very interesting book about the rise of the Communists to power in China. In the last chapter, the author tried to explain why and how this had happened.
Among the factors he cited were the country's educators. That struck me as odd, and not very plausible, at the time. But the passing years have made that seem less and less odd, and more and more plausible. Today, I see our own educators playing a similar role in creating a mindset that undermines American society.
Clearwire Gets Unsolicited Bid From Dish
By Nick Turner - Bloomberg.com
Clearwire Corp. (CLWR), the wireless-network operator that agreed to be bought out by Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) last month for $2.97 a share, received an unsolicited offer from Dish Network Corp. (DISH) for $3.30.
Dish has offered to acquire up to all of the outstanding shares of Clearwire, which is majority-owned by Sprint, Bellevue, Washington-based Clearwire said today in a statement. The company's board will discuss the proposal with Dish, though it's made no decision to reconsider the Sprint offer.
IRS will accept tax returns starting Jan. 30
By Tami Luhby - CNN.com
Your tax refund may not be so delayed after all.
The Internal Revenue Service will start processing tax returns for the vast majority of filers on Jan. 30. The agency had planned to open the tax season on Jan. 22, but had to push back the date because Congress took until New Year's Day to pass needed tax provisions.
The IRS then had to reprogram its computers and forms to reflect the late changes. The dithering on Capitol Hill forced the agency to print tax forms last month with lines marked as "reserved" as placeholders for the pending legislation.
Radio host Alex Jones blows up at CNN's Piers Morgan, TSA
By Keith Laing - TheHill.com
A heated on-air confrontation between broadcaster Alex Jones and CNN's Piers Morgan on Monday night capped a day of attention-getting controversy for the conservative radio host, who had earlier complained of being unfairly targeted by the Transportation Security Administration.
Jones's website InfoWars.com accused the TSA of detaining him — as he attempted to board his flight to New York to be interviewed by Morgan — because he refused to remove his shoes at a security checkpoint.
Biden, NRA to meet on guns
By Justin Sink and Daniel Strauss - TheHill.com
Vice President Biden will meet this week with the National Rifle Association and a variety of other groups as his task force on guns intensifies its efforts.
Biden will meet Wednesday with gun-safety organizations and shooting victims groups and on Thursday will meet with gun ownership organizations and sportsmen who use guns recreationally, according to the White House.
Cuomo Close To Announcing Sweeping New Gun Control Laws Governor Working On Deal That Would Go
After Assault Weapons, Magazines
YONKERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — A deal to give New York one of the toughest gun control laws in the nation is being negotiated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who, sources said Tuesday, is hoping to announce the plan Wednesday during his State of the State speech in Albany.
Cuomo hopes to jump-start the 2013 legislative session with a big deal that could dramatically alter gun control laws across the state.
Highly placed sources told CBS 2's Marcia Kramer that Cuomo is negotiating with Assembly and Senate leaders for a package of gun control laws that would be a dramatic response to the gun violence besetting the nation, including the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly launch battle
against gun lobby: No more 'fear'
By Josh Levs, CNN.com
(CNN) -- Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly have launched what they hope will mark a new era in the battle over gun rights in America.
On the second anniversary of a mass shooting in Arizona that wounded Giffords and killed six others, the couple launched a political action committee, Americans for Responsible Solutions, along with a website calling for contributions to help "encourage elected officials to stand up for solutions to prevent gun violence and protect responsible gun ownership."
Teachers In Ohio, Texas Flock To Free Gun Training Classes
By KIM PALMER and JIM FORSYTH, Reuters - The Hartford Courant
School teachers in Texas and Ohio are flocking to free firearms classes in the wake of the Connecticut elementary school massacre, some vowing to protect their students with guns even at the risk of losing their jobs.
In Ohio, more than 900 teachers, administrators and school employees asked to take part in the Buckeye Firearms Association's newly created, three-day gun training program, the association said.
Man accidentally shoots wife
with concealed gun while dining in Lenexa
AP - Police say a man accidentally shot his wife at a Lenexa restaurant when his concealed weapon discharged.
Lenexa police say the man had a small-caliber handgun in his pocket while dining at the Longbranch Steakhouse last week. Officer Dan Friesen says the man reached into the pocket and accidentally discharged his weapon. His wife was treated and released at a hospital for a wound in the leg.
House Democrat: 'Majority' of NRA members
would back stricter gun laws
By Jonathan Easley - TheHill.com
The House Democrat elected to replace former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) on Monday said he believes the majority of National Rifle Association (NRA) members would back new gun-control laws.
"There are a lot of NRA members in this country, and we have significant evidence to suggest that they are not all opposed," Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) said Tuesday on CNN. "In fact, there may well be a majority who are in favor of some limitations on the assault weapon availability."
Gun Appreciation Day
By Jennifer Harper-The Washington Times
OK, mark the date, for it will surely spark an outcry in the gun-control community. A coalition of gun rights and conservative groups have declared Jan. 19 to be "Gun Appreciation Day" and are urging Americans nationwide to visit local gun ranges and purveyors to show support for the Second Amendment. Yes, the date falls two days before President Obama's second inauguration, and yes, organizers say "Gun Appreciation Day" is expected to rival "Chick-fil-A Day" as a public statement of protest against government policies.
America Is Being Systematically Transformed
Into A Totalitarian Society
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
If someone were to ask you for an example of a "totalitarian society", how would you respond? Most Americans would probably think of horribly repressive regimes such as the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Communist China, East Germany or North Korea, but the truth is that there is one society that has far more rules and regulations than any of those societies ever dreamed of having. In the United States today, our lives are governed by literally millions of laws, rules and regulations that govern even the smallest details of our lives, and more laws, rules and regulations are constantly being added. On January 1st, thousands of restrictive new laws went into effect all over America, but most Americans have become so accustomed to the matrix of control that has been constructed all around them that it does not even bother them when even more rules and regulations are put into place. In fact, a growing number of Americans have become totally convinced that "freedom" and "liberty" must be tightly restricted for the good of society and that "the free market" is inherently dangerous. On the national, state and local levels, Americans continue to elect elitist control freaks that are very eager to tell all the rest of us how to run virtually every aspect of our lives.
Freshman ND lawmaker 1 of many eyeing bills
to set standards for law enforcement drone use
AP - WashingtonPost.com
FARGO, N.D. — A freshman lawmaker from North Dakota is one of numerous state legislators around the country suggesting regulations to limit the use of unmanned planes for law enforcement, an effort that's gaining bipartisan support and fostering unlikely political alignments.
The bill proposed by Republican State Rep. Rick Becker, of Bismarck, stems from the 2011 arrest of a Lakota farmer during a 16-hour standoff, an event that sparked national debate. State courts held up law enforcement's use of a drone to help a SWAT team apprehend Rodney Brossart, but Becker says there should be safeguards in place to make sure the practice isn't abused.
Meet the One-Handed Man
Behind America's Most Dangerous Mail-Order Kits
BY BRAD CHACOS - Wired.com
Meet America's mad professor. For nearly 40 years Bob Iannini, founder of Information Unlimited, has been mail-order mentor and parts supplier to electronics hobbyists willing to take on some of the most dangerous DIY projects in the world.
Need kits, plans or supplies for a Tesla coil? Pick a size — Information Unlimited carries itty bitty 2-foot science-project-type Tesla coils, all the way up to terrifying 6.5-foot, 2-million-volt monstrosities. More practical consumers can pick up laser components, bug zappers and high-voltage transformers and switches. If that doesn't tickle your fancy, Iannini offers a massive EMP blaster gun kit capable of disrupting electronics or igniting explosive fuels with a radiating electromagnetic pulse — a pre-assembled unit will set you back just $32,000.
First 1TB USB flash drive coming soon Kingston said its new DataTraveler USB drives
will support transfer read speeds of up to 240MBps
By Jay Alabaster - Computerworld.com
IDG News Service - Kingston Technology will soon launch the world's first 1TB flash drive, a USB 3.0 device that is likely to cost more than most computers do.
The company said its "DataTraveler HyperX Predator" will go on sale this quarter, and it is for "users who work with large video or graphics files, or gamers who like to travel with their entire library."
C.E.S. 2013: Panasonic's TVs Can Recognize a Face
By ROY FURCHGOTT - NYTimes.com
Panasonic's new product introductions at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas touch on what is becoming a common theme —–making your TV do the work of finding shows you want to watch.
The company announced a feature called "My Home Screen" that will show a viewer customized suggestions of TV shows, streaming shows and Internet content, all on one screen. The idea is to put all of the content in one place so a viewer does not have to search separately for TV shows and video on demand, for instance. Each family member can have a personalized screen, and will not have to sign in — the higher-end Panasonic TVs will have a built-in camera that will use face recognition to determine whose preferences to display.
Help Wanted: Astronauts Needed for Mars Colony
BY NADIA DRAKE - Wired.com
Mars One, a nonprofit organization based in the Netherlands, intends to establish a human settlement on Mars in 2023.
They need astronauts.
Anyone on planet Earth can apply if they meet the basic requirements. But obviously, the job isn't for just anyone.
Today, Mars One released its application criteria. Among other virtues, astronaut candidates must have "a deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self-reflection and ability to trust. They must be resilient, adaptable, curious, creative and resourceful." And be at least 18 years old (no maximum age has been set).
U.N. wants to use drones for peacekeeping missions
By Colum Lynch - WashingtonPost.com
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations, looking to modernize its peacekeeping operations, is planning for the first time to deploy a fleet of its own surveillance drones in missions in Central and West Africa.
The U.N. Department of Peacekeeping has notified Congo, Rwanda and Uganda that it intends to deploy a unit of at least three unarmed surveillance drones in the eastern region of Congo.
The action is the first step in a broader bid to integrate unmanned aerial surveillance systems, which have become a standard feature of Western military operations, into the United Nations' far-flung peacekeeping empire.
Oil Tanker Collides with San Francisco Bay Bridge
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
Yesterday at 11.20am an oil tanker collided with San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP)had chartered the tanker to carry crude oil from Southern and Central America up to the US West Coast.
The tanker, the Overseas Reymar, was damaged above the water line, and there was no breach to the hull. The day before it had unloaded 350,000 barrels of crude at Royal Dutch Shell's Martinez refinery, and the California Emergency Management Agency was pleased to announce that no oil spilt due to the collision.
Hillary Clinton to testify on Benghazi on Jan. 22
By BOBBY CERVANTES - Politico.com
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will likely testify Jan. 22 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the deadly U.S. Consulate attack in Benghazi, the panel's top Republican said Tuesday.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said on MSNBC that he has spoken with Clinton's chief of staff and said she seems "anxious" to testify on the Hill, following weeks of hospital visits after a concussion.
The Transition Beyond Strategic Nuclear War
By Gregory R. Copley - OilPrice.com
The world is now well advanced in transition to the age beyond strategic nuclear weapons. It may be, from the standpoint of military descriptors, a transition to the age of cyber weapons. Equally, it may be too early to say. But rarely in history are such great watersheds so visible, except in hindsight; watersheds which affect all of the world's human population.
We are entering such an age of cratometamorphosis: the total reorganization of society. It is beginning to be recognized as such. The extent of the change remains unexplored, and part of this change is the transition beyond the age of nuclear weapons.
Money for Nothin' Writing Checks for Free
William H. Gross - Pimco.com
It was Milton Friedman, not Ben Bernanke, who first made reference to dropping money from helicopters in order to prevent deflation. Bernanke's now famous "helicopter speech" in 2002, however, was no less enthusiastically supportive of the concept. In it, he boldly previewed the almost unimaginable policy solutions that would follow the black swan financial meltdown in 2008: policy rates at zero for an extended period of time; expanding the menu of assets that the Fed buys beyond Treasuries; and of course quantitative easing purchases of an almost unlimited amount should they be needed. These weren't Bernanke innovations – nor was the term QE. Many of them had been applied by policy authorities in the late 1930s and '40s as well as Japan in recent years. Yet the then Fed Governor's rather blatant support of monetary policy to come should have been a signal to investors that he would be willing to pilot a helicopter should the takeoff be necessary. "Like gold," he said, "U.S. dollars have value only to the extent that they are strictly limited in supply. But the U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost."
Ending the Era of Ponzi Finance
BY JOHN MAULDIN - FinancialSense.com
There is a level of (let's call it) discomfort among investors and business people everywhere I go in the world now. It is becoming increasingly palpable with each passing month. The overriding sentiment seems to be, "That which cannot be sustained will not be."
We live in a world that is premised on economic structures that are now unsustainable, and that is a word we are going to hear used more and more this year. Unsustainable. It will be a theme in my writing, not only in my annual forecast issue, which will be out in a few days, but throughout the year. But just because things are unsustainable does not mean the end of the world for you and me. It is just that our world will change. Our job is to make sure that we manage the transition.
US banks agree $18.5bn settlements
in effort to clean up mortgage crisis Deal is good news for regulators and the banks who want to put the housing crisis behind them, but it's less so for homeowner
By Heidi Moore in New York - Guardian.co.uk
Ten US banks announced two huge settlements worth a total of $18.5bn on Monday, in the latest moves to clear up claims relating to the mortgage crisis that foreshadowed the meltdown of the American economy.
Bank of America agreed to pay $10bn to Fannie Mae, the national mortgage guarantor, to settle claims that Bank of America sold Fannie Mae bad loans for 10 years, ending in 2008. As part of the agreement, Bank of America will also buy back $6.75bn of bad mortgage loans. All the money will go straight to Fannie Mae, which will then be forced to hand it straight to the US government. The US Treasury, exasperated with continued losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, long ago barred either of the mortgage giants from keeping any profits.
Biggest lenders take a hit over mortgage market collapse
By Tim Devaney-The Washington Times
The U.S. banking industry suffered two big hits Monday stemming from the collapse of the housing bubble, with 10 banks and mortgage lenders agreeing to pay $8.5 billion in a settlement with federal regulators, while Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America agreed to a separate settlement with Fannie Mae over bad housing loans that its controversial lending subsidiary sold to the federal housing finance giant.
$1trillion Platinum coins to pay US debt: Outrageous but legal
Commodity Online
There is a new proposal to pay off the national debt of US and it's not using USD, gold, silver or copper but with something outrageously different: Platinum $1 trillion coins!
Platinum becomes an option to pay the national debt because there are strict regulations in US about how paper, gold, silver and copper money may get minted, but there no regulations on platinum.
Hence, supporters including Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) say that President Barack Obama should order that a couple of platinum trillion-dollar coins be minted and then have the coins deposited in to the Fed so that the debt ceiling issue be settled from thence as bills are paid from there.
The Debt Ceiling and the $1 Trillion Coin
By 24/7 Wall St.
All the attention paid to avoiding the fiscal cliff may have obscured an even more important legislative failure. Congress did not act to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by the end of 2012, and, thus, we face once again the turmoil that led to a downgrade of U.S. debt in the late summer of 2011.
This time is different, though - really. There is serious talk about a silly idea - the U.S. Treasury could mint a $1 trillion platinum coin, deposit the coin in the Federal Reserve bank, and thus continue to spend the money that Congress has already appropriated. Sure, it is silly, but it has the advantage of being a clean and simple solution to another acrimonious fight and possibly another damaging hit to the U.S. debt rating.
Krugman joins the $1 trillion coin brigade
by Steve Goldstein - MarketWatch.com
Paul Krugman, the liberal economist who pens a widely read column for the New York Times, on Monday joined the calls for the U.S. to mint a $1 trillion platinum coin as a way around the debt ceiling.
The idea is that the treasury secretary can take advantage of a loophole allowing him to mint a platinum coin of any denomination. Print a $1 trillion coin, and — presto — there's a $1 trillion in spare capacity under the debt ceiling. Plus, since the coin isn't going to make it into circulation, it should not be inflationary. And further, it still leaves Congress in control of the purse.
Issues 2013
BY DOUGLAS NOLAND - FinancialSense.com
"The Federal Reserve is heading in the wrong direction. What the central bank describes as 'unconventional monetary policy' is creating dangerous bubbles in asset markets that will lead to higher future inflation and is supporting the explosive growth of the national debt." Martin Feldstein, Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2013.
The Real Deficit Argument
By E.J. Dionne, Jr. - Truthdig.com
Should our politicians dedicate themselves to solving the problems we face now? Or should they spend their time constructing largely theoretical deficit solutions for years far in the future to satisfy certain ideological and aesthetic urges?
This is one of the two central choices the country faces at the beginning of President Obama's second term. The other is related: Will the establishment, including business leaders and middle-of-the-road journalistic opinion, stand by silently as one side in the coming argument risks cratering the economy in an effort to reverse the verdict of the 2012 election? Yes, I am talking about using the debt ceiling as a political tool, something that was never done until the disaster of 2011.
Here Comes the Debt Ceiling
BY JOHN RUBINO - FinancialSense.com
The fiscal cliff was always going to end with a whimper because that was the obvious path of least resistance. In the end, simply avoiding big tax increases and spending cuts while adding a few more trillion to the coming decade's deficit was rewarded by the markets with a huge rally. Everybody went home happy, or at least still in possession of their political office.
Dear Steve Liesman:
Here Is How The US Financial System Really Works
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Earlier today, Bill Frezza of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and CNBC's Steve Liesman got into a heated exchange over a recent Frezza article, based on some of the key points we made in a prior post "A Record $2 Trillion In Deposits Over Loans - The Fed's Indirect Market Propping Pathway Exposed" in which, as the title implies, we showed how it was that the Fed was indirectly intervening in the stock market by way of banks using excess deposits to chase risky returns and general push the market higher. We urge readers to spend the few minutes of this clip to familiarize themselves with Frezza's point which is essentially what Zero Hedge suggested, and Liesman's objection that "this is something the banks don't do and can't do."
Finance and Decadence
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
When a society falls into decadence all spheres of activity are affected. The degradation that comes with decadence gradually undermines morality and religion as well as finance and politics. Decadence typically does not infect one branch of human activity. It affects all branches of activity. Looking at the ongoing decline of our economic system, one might question the idea that we are experiencing a normal cycle of "corrections" and downturns. Some say we are entering into a "super-cycle."
Economists Use Shoddy Data All too often, economists' and policymakers' theories
are based on terrible statistics.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
Economists are a smart bunch, and in San Diego over the weekend for the annual meeting of the American Economic Association lots of impressive analytical chops were on display. Sometimes, though, the analysis seems to badly overreach the data. A well-attended panel discussion about whether economics is hopelessly riven by ideological disagreement, for example, proceeded even though the IGM Chicago survey it's based on isn't even close to being a statistically valid survey. And the issue recurs even outside the realm of such "fun" discussions and infects much more sober research. No grand theory is going to be much better than the data it's based on, and the underlying quality is often distressingly poor.
In "fiscal cliff" bill,
White House was key to corporate tax breaks
By Patrick Temple-West, Marcus Stern and Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON | Mon Jan 7, 2013 8:04pm EST
(Reuters) - As the Congress rushed last week to approve a "fiscal cliff" tax bill that raised incometaxes on the wealthy, Washington lobbyists were fretting over a drama that was playing out within the negotiations: whether the bill would include about $64 billion in tax breaks for businesses.
The bill extended several tax breaks backed by both parties, including $14.3 billion in credits for research and development projects for thousands of U.S. businesses. But it also had other provisions - breaks for companies involved in wind energy, auto racing, rum, Hollywood films and much more.
Obama supporters shocked, angry at new tax increases
By Joseph Curl - WashingtonTimes.com
Sometimes, watching a Democrat learn something is wonderful, like seeing the family dog finally sit and stay at your command.
With President Obama back in office and his life-saving "fiscal cliff" bill jammed through Congress, the new year has brought a surprising turn of events for his sycophantic supporters.
Washington's Hegemonic Ambitions
Are Not in Sync With Its Faltering Economy
By Paul Craig Roberts
In November the largest chunk of new jobs came from retail and wholesale trade. Businesses gearing up for Christmas sales added 65,700 jobs or 45% of November's 146,000 jobs gain. With December sales a disappointment, these jobs are likely to reverse when the January payroll jobs report comes out in February. Family Dollar Stores CEO Howard Levine told analysts that his company's customers were unable to afford toys this holiday season and focused instead on basic needs such as food. Levine said that his customers "clearly don't have as much for discretionary purchases as they once did."
The Death Knell of the Economic Recovery
BY CLIF DROKE - FinancialSense.com
Call it the "shot heard round the world." Its aim was ostensibly to reduce the U.S. budget deficit, its effect was tantamount to a bullet in the chest of the consumer recovery.
Last week the U.S. working class was hit with a significant payroll tax increase, a blow which couldn't have occurred at a worse time. Just as the economic recovery was starting to gain some traction, our elected officials took the proverbial wind out of its sails by raising taxes. A tax increase is the last thing needed when the economic undercurrents are deflationary, as they are now. This measure will eventually beget even more deflation as consumers reign in spending once they see their paychecks diminished courtesy of the U.S. Congress.
The Hoax of Entitlement Reform
By Robert Reich - Truthdig.com
It has become accepted economic wisdom, uttered with deadpan certainty by policy pundits and budget scolds on both sides of the aisle, that the only way to get control over America's looming deficits is to "reform entitlements."
But the accepted wisdom is wrong.
Court to hear 2 days of arguments on gay marriage
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will hear two days' worth of arguments over laws affecting gay marriage during the last week of March.
Justices on Monday announced they will hear arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry on March 26 and United States v. Windsor on March 27.
The first case involves California's constitutional amendment that forbids same-sex marriage. The second concerns a federal law that denies gay couples who legally marry the right to obtain federal benefits available to heterosexual married couples. The court scheduled one hour's worth of arguments on each day. Justices still can extend the amount of time given to arguments in each case, however.
High court rejects Medicare challenge
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has turned away a challenge from former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and other Social Security recipients who say they have the right to reject Medicare in favor of continuing health coverage from private insurers.
1.8 Million New Jobs in 2012: Where Did They Come From?
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
If nothing else, the U.S. job market has become remarkably consistent.
In 2011, the country added a modest 1.84 million jobs, largely in professional and business services, health care, the food industry, manufacturing, and retail.
The Daily Caller Social Experience
By Betsi Fores - DailyCaller.com
Amid persistent high unemployment and a disconcerting economic outlook, ten states will raise their minimum wages this year. But economists looking for improving jobs numbers may be disappointed, since other recent minimum wage increases have corresponded with job losses for the least experienced and youngest workers who earn hourly wages.
Rhode Island will have the largest increase, by 35 cents per hour, making its new minimum wage $7.75 per hour. It is expected to directly affect 11,000 workers with annual pay increases of about $510 each.
Zombie Nation
By Bill Bonner - DailyReckoning.com
Creating and sustaining a nation of zombies is expensive.
Large sections of the US population have been turned into zombies. Retirees. Medicare dependents. Food stamp recipients. Disabled people. They are not necessarily bad people. They are not necessarily dishonest or lazy. But rather than add to wealth, they consume it. And when you have too many of them, your society consumes more wealth than it produces and you are on the road to The Downside.
State of Fear
By Chris Hedges - Truthdig.com
Shannon McLeish of Florida is a 45-year-old married mother of two young children. She is a homeowner, a taxpayer and a safe driver. She votes in every election. She attends a Unitarian Universalist church on Sundays. She is also, like nearly all who have a relationship with the Occupy movement in the United States, being monitored by the federal government. She knows this because when she read FBI documents obtained by thePartnership for Civil Justice Fund(PCJF) through the Freedom of Information Act, she was startled to see a redaction that could only be referring to her. McLeish's story is the story of hundreds of thousands of people—perhaps more—whose lives are being invaded by the state. It is the story of a security and surveillance apparatus—overseen by the executive branch under Barack Obama—that has empowered the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to silence the voices and obstruct the activity of citizens who question corporate power.
Google's next search engine
could know your needs better than you do
By Josh Peterson - DailyCaller.com
A search engine that could tell you want you want to know before you ask it a question may be on the horizon, thanks to Google's most recent addition to its team.
Reknowned inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, known for his theories on artificial intelligence technologies, is Google's new director of engineering, TechCrunch reported Sunday.
3D Systems' Outsized Machine
Does Multicolor Prints as Big as Your Head
BY MIKE SENESE - Wired.com
3D Systems, the industrial 3-D printing giant, is expanding its desktop line of printers with the oversized, multicolor-printing CubeX printers.
The printers, announced today at CES, promise an oversized print platform that can output objects up to 10.8″ x 10.45″ x 9.5″, more than twice the build volume of printers from other manufacturers such as the Makerbot Replicator 2. The line offers from one to three print heads to allow for colorful printouts, although information about the ability to blend the filaments into additional colors was not released.
Yahoo Mail Endures Another Hacking Vulnerability
By Arik Hesseldahl - AllThingsD.com
If you're seeing a spike in people apologizing via their Facebook and Twitter feeds about how their email accounts have been hacked in recent days, there's a better-than-average chance that the email account in question is on Yahoo Mail.
Over the weekend there was a lot of buzz about a cross-site scripting vulnerability recently discovered in Yahoo Mail. It's the subject of astory by TheNextWeb that's getting a lot of traffic today.
In Apple's War on Taxes, Surrender Costs $28 Billion
BY RYAN TATE - Wired.com
With the U.S. Senate reportedly finishing an investigation into how Apple and others dodge taxes, and with Apple fighting for an officially sanctioned tax holiday, it's worth taking stock of Apple's tax liabilities. Dealing with the tax man, it turns out, could cost the company upward of $28.5 billion or send it on a shopping spree abroad.
Why Facebook Data Tends to Condemn You in Court
BY RYAN TATE - Wired.com
U.S. courts have a structural bias against "guilty" verdicts, but when it comes to Facebook data the situation is reversed: Social media activity is more readily used to convict you in a court of law than to defend you.
That's because prosecutors generally have an easier time than defense attorneys getting private information out of Facebook and other social networks, as highlighted in an ongoing Portland murder case. In that case, the defense attorney has evidence of a Facebook conversation in which a key witness reportedly tells a friend he was pressured by police into falsely incriminating the defendant.
2013: The year Gigabit Wi-Fi arrives Summary: No more idle chit-chat, Gigabit Wi-Fi, thanks to 802.11ac, is on its way to your home and corporate networks.
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols - ZDNet.com
Las Vegas – Last year, Broadcom started shipping 802.11ac chipsets, which could reach 1.3Gbps speeds. Shipping routers and systems that could support 802.11ac, however, remained scarce. In 2013, that will all change. The day of Gigabit Wi-Fi is here.
That's because 802.11ac is finally seeing broad adoption. At CES Cisco/Linksys, D-Link, and Netgear are all releasing new 802.11ac compatible routers. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who's anyone in networking who isn't already shipping, or are about to ship, 802.11ac gear.
Identity thieves go shopping for Apple products
By Mitch Lipka
Mon Jan 7, 2013 1:53pm EST
(Reuters) - Carol Stuber was going through her mail and stumbled on a bill that made no sense - $3,300 for goods purchased from Apple using an instant-approved financing plan. "I said, 'What the heck is this?" she recalls.
Stuber, 70, a longtime tax preparer of Westbury, New York, had not applied for any credit plan or received any merchandise from the company.
Nuclear Security Helicopters
Testing Radiation Levels Above DC Area
Washingotn.CBSLocal.com
WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – Helicopters have been conducting radiation tests above portions of the Washington, D.C. area using remote gamma radiation sensing technology.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has been flying the radiation missions since Dec. 27, 2012 and they will continue until next Friday, Jan. 11. The flights have been conducted during daylight only, and the pilots fly about 80 miles per hour at 150 feet above the approximately 70-square mile radiation assessment area.
The Real Reason the Natural Gas Industry
Hates Matt Damon's New Movie
By Kurt Cobb - OilPrice.com
Matt Damon's new fictional movie about natural gas development in a rural township was being lambasted by the natural gas industry even before it premiered. And yet, the film shows no tanker trucks laden with toxic fracking fluid. It depicts no roughnecks descending on a small town unprepared for the influx of new workers. It features no ghastly wastewater ponds and not even one drilling pad or derrick. In fact, drilling has yet to begin in the fictional township of McKinley.
Aurora shooting suspect 'was out of it' after arrest,
police officer tells court James Holmes, accused of killing 12 people in Colorado cinema, was not showing normal emotions, says arresting officer
By Matt Williams in New York - The Guardian
The man accused of shooting dead 12 people inside a Colorado cinema was relaxed but "out of it" in the moments after the massacre, a court has heard .
James Holmes, who is alleged to have sprayed the audience of a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises with bullets, wounding 58 people, appeared unmoved as he "stared into space", the police officer who arrested Holmes told the hearing.
White House squares up for fight with NRA
over sweeping gun reforms Biden taskforce will aim to strengthen federal monitoring of gun sales, close loopholes and ban semi-automatic weapons
By Ed Pilkington in New York - The Guardian
The Obama administration is reportedly preparing to confront the might of the National Rifle Association and its gun-supporting allies in Congress with a sweeping package of proposals for tighter firearms controls that would go beyond previous attempts to combat gun violence.
An article in the Washington Post claimed on Sunday that a White House taskforce led by the vice president, Joe Biden, is looking at a range of proposals that would beef up federal monitoring and checks on all gun sales, seek to improve systems to prevent mentally-ill people acquiring weapons and introduce new penalties for carrying guns near schools. The taskforce, which was set up in the wake of the 14 DecemberNewtown school shooting, in which 20 children and six school staff were killed, is expected to present its proposals to President Obama later this month.
When They Come For Your Guns, You Will Turn Them Over
By Jim Karger - DailyReckoning.com
"When they come for my gun, they will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands," is a common refrain I often hear from the Neo-Cons when there is a threat, credible or otherwise, that the US government is going to take their firearms.
And, when I hear this crazy talk, I agree with them openly. "You are right. They will pry your gun from your cold dead hands," which I often follow with the question, "And where will that leave you except face down in a pool of your own blood [in] the middle of the street, just another dead fool resisting the State?"
Religion Predictions for 2013 Not just in America, the religious left
will increasingly be left behind.
By MARK TOOLEY - Spectator.org
America remains overwhelmingly religious in a world that is largely growing more religious, with fast growing Christianity increasingly competing for souls with Islam globally, especially in Africa but also Asia. Religion will be a top news maker in 2013 no less than in 2012. Here are some projections of likely stories this year.
OBAMA'S HAGELIAN IMPERATIVE
BY PAUL MIRENGOFF - PowerlineBlog.com
Presidents define themselves in large measure by the fights they pick, especially if these fights create tension with members of their own party or base. By nominating Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense, President Obama has picked a fight that most would consider unnecessary, and that fight puts him in tension with some Democratic Senators and a portion of his base.
He thus defines himself. Not as a president who wants to tilt away from Israel and away from confrontation with Iran; Obama can (and I would argue has) defined himself that way without nominating Hagel. Rather, he defines himself as wanting publicly to stick it to Israel and its strongest U.S. supporters – to rub their faces in his redirection of U.S. policy. As Lindsey Graham says, this is an "in your face" nomination.
Dropping the Hagel Bomb Obama, Israel, and Chuck Hagel's nomination.
By BEN STEIN - Spectator.org
You really cannot, in fairness, blame President Obama for naming "Chuck" Hagel, one of the most clearly anti-Israel, anti-Semitic members of the Senate (or ex-members in his case) to be Secretary of Defense. President Obama has not changed his views on Israel since his first speech at the Democrat convention in 2004, when he made it clear that his sympathies in the Middle East lay with the Palestinians. In a way, you have to admire his consistency. Of course, he has to pay lip service to Israel when he visits Miami Beach, but how he must laugh at the audiences that applaud him.
He is a charter member of the Chicago angry black man entity, and they — including former pals Jeremiah Wright and Minister Farrakhan — have little love for the Jews. So, again, his contempt for Israel and for Jews is not a surprise.
HAGEL THE KYOTO-SLAYER
BY STEVEN HAYWARD - PowerlineBlog.com
So far most of the critical discussion about Chuck Hagel for SecDef is that he said mean things about homosexuals, or is hostile to Israel, if not in fact anti-Semitic. So far I'm curious that people on the Left in particular are forgetting Hagel's key role in derailing the egregious Kyoto Protocol in its infancy. He was the key person behind the "Byrd-Hagel" resolution in the Senate in 1997 denouncing the Kyoto treaty in the draft form that existed at the time. The Byrd-Hagel resolution was essentially a missile aimed at the Clinton administration that said Don't even think of bringing this crap treaty to the Senate if it doesn't include India and China. It passed by a vote of 97 – 0; think of who was included in that vote for this to happen—such prominent "climate deniers" as Babs Boxer and John Kerry.
US Sailors Sue Over Fukushima Radiation
By Jen Alic - OilPrice.com
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) lied about the dangers of radiation exposure, according to eight US sailors involved in disaster relief operations following the March 2011 Fukushima meltdown.
Now the sailors are suing the Japanese company—the owner of the power plant that ended in the world's biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Israel to build 43-mile security fence in Golan Heights Israel is to build a 43-mile security fence along the armistice line of the occupied Golan Heights to prevent incursions by Islamist militants currently fighting against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
By Robert Tait in Jerusalem - Telegraph.co.uk
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced the move four days after another barrier, aimed at keeping out illegal migrants from Africa, was completed along Israel's frontier with Egypt.
"We intend to stretch an identical fence, with some necessary changes due to the different conditions, along the Golan Heights," he told the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting.
Iran Targets Dissidents With 30,000-Strong Spy Army
BY ROBERT BECKHUSEN - Wired.com
In February 2010, Iranian spies had Tehran's most wanted man in their sights. Their target, Sunni Islamist militant Abdolmalek Rigi, had killed an Iranian general and was responsible for a string of terrorist attacks in Iran from across the Pakistani border. After Rigi boarded a commercial flight to Dubai that took him through Iranian airspace, secret agents on board appeared, ordered the plane to land, and then arrested Rigi. He was later executed.
Iran Spent $25 Billion in 2012 to Retain its Position in OPEC
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
As Western sanctions have started to take real effect on Iran's oil exports its production volumes have been reduced sharply throughout 2012, which allowed Iraq to overtake Iran as the second largest producer in OPEC.
Iran's oil minister, Rostam Qasemi, said that in order to try and maintain a decent position in the OPEC table, and keep the corresponding influence that the position brings, Iran has had to invest $25 billion on upstream oil and gas production since last March, and will need to keep this level of investment up in the future.
Are Most Americans Utterly Blind About Gold? Yes.
Written by Gary North - TeaPartyEconomist.com
Gold was under $300 an ounce in 2001. It is now over $1650. Still, the vast majority of Americans have never even seen a gold coin, even though they are produced by the U.S. Mint, and have been for 30 years.
The economics of gold and silver in 2013
By Alasdair Macleod - GoldSeek.com
The New Year should see some major changes in how gold and silver are regarded in the West, if it becomes obvious that confidence in government-issued money as a medium of exchange might be misplaced. This concern is for the moment essentially limited to economists of the Austrian School.
Whether they are right or wrong only time will tell; but it is worth considering their basic argument, which goes something like this. The role of money in a transaction is to act as the objective element, which is the way people automatically think: hence an item or an asset costs so-many-dollars; if the price changes, it is normally assumed it is the value of the item or asset that has altered, not the purchasing power of the money. The moment ordinary people become alive instead to the possibility that prices are rising because the value of money is falling, the currency is doomed.
Gold Market Update
By: Clive Maund - GoldSeek.com
Just who does the Fed think it is kidding, making noises about choking off QE and Treasury purchases? Any serious attempt to do this at the eleventh hour would crash both the bond and stock markets and send interest rates skyrocketing, and they know it – it would be like the Captain of the Titanic grabbing a bullhorn and announcing "You see that Iceberg over there? – we're going to head straight at it" – actually he might as well have, for all the difference it made. So it almost looks like they were engaging in a bit of "tree shaking" for their crony pals, especially with respect to the resource sector. In any case, when it comes to QE they have got some serious competition this year with Japan entering the fray as the new big QE kid on the block, so it hardly looks like they are going to bow out of the QE game at this stage. There is something tragi-comic about the way most investors hang on to the Fed's every word, as if they were gods instead of what they really are which is an elite racket who have painted themselves into a corner after years of malfeasance.
TREASURY MULLS COINING $1 TRILLION LOOPHOLE
by MIKE FLYNN - Bretibart.com
To get an indication of how much some in the pundit class are dreading the looming fight over the debt ceiling, consider the latest daft idea to get around the nation's borrowing limit. A great swathe of the on-line world is abuzz with the notion of the Treasury Department "minting" a trillion dollar platinum coin, walking it over to the Fed to deposit in the government's account and go on merrily to borrow another trillion dollars. No negotiations, no cuts and no vote by Congress.
This scenario is possible because, while US law limits Treasury's ability to print currency and mint coins, the law is silent about coins minted from platinum. So, while the law prescribes the manner by which Treasury can mint coins made out of gold, silver and, it doesn't contain any provisions for coins made from platinum.
Why We Must Go Off the Platinum Coin Cliff
By Josh Barro - Bloomberg.com
I'm glad to see Representative Jerrold Nadler lending his support to the idea that PresidentBarack Obama should avert a debt-limit crisis by issuing large-denomination platinum coins, as permitted by 31 USC § 5112.
In case you're not familiar with this idea: In general, the Treasury Department is not allowed to just print money if it feels like it. It must defer to the Federal Reserve's control of the money supply. But there is an exception: Platinum coins may be struck with whatever specifications the Treasury secretary sees fit, including denomination.
THE TRILLION DOLLAR COIN,
AND 5 OTHER BIZARRE CURRENCY IDEAS
by JOEL B. POLLAK - Breitbart.com
The trillion dollar coin is now apparently being taken seriously as an alternative way for the Obama administration to cover the gap between borrowing and spending by simply adding to the resources of the U.S. Treasury, and without convincing Congress to raise the debt ceiling. Through a legal loophole that permits the government to mint platinum coins, President Barack Obama could produce a $1 trillion platinum coin, and bank it.
If he did so, the trillion dollar coin would join several other currency gimmicks that have been used--often by third-world kleptocracies, like California--to shore up failing fiscal systems and cover up massive spending and debt. The U.S. has tended to avoid such currency games, aware that international creditors do not take them seriously. (The failure of the Continental currency in the Revolution also inspired the gold and silver clause in the Constitution, which prevents states from printing money to pay debts.)
'US dollar will collapse in 2013
A prominent economist tells Press TV that the United States so-called fiscal cliff is more like a 'bottomless pit of debt' that the country is diving into. He also added that the United States risks collapsing of dollar in 2013. US President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill backed by the Senate that averted the so-called fiscal cliff, the White House says. Obama signed the 'American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012' on Wednesday, the White House said in a statement. On January 1, the House of Representatives voted 257 to 167, approving the bill, which consists of raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while exempting others who earn less than $450,000 a year. It will also put off 109 billion dollars in budget cuts for two months.
DEMS ON DEBT CEILING: NO CUTS, MORE TAXES
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbart.com
With the fiscal cliff deal signed into law, the nation's attention now turns to the debt ceiling debate, scheduled to hit in the next two months. As America reaches the debt ceiling yet again – an unbelievable $16.4 trillion debt ceiling needs another increase in order to allow us to borrow more cash to pay our bills – Republicans insist that we finally begin dealing with our spending problem. That, of course, was the purpose of the fiscal cliff deal in the first place: to preserve as many of the Bush tax rates as possible, consider tax rates a finished issue, and move on to spending cuts. As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on ABC's This Week, "The tax issue is finished, over, completed. That's behind us. Now the question is: what are we going to do about the biggest problem confronting our country and our future? And that's our spending addiction."
Not so fast.
What's Next? Reforming Corporate Taxes and Entitlements We've raised taxes.
Eventually we'll have to close the deficit from the other side.
By David Rohde - TheAtlantic.com
Nancy Pelosi, of all people, got it right Thursday morning. In an interview broadcast on National Public Radio, the liberal House Minority Leader agreed that spending cuts and entitlement reforms are necessary.
"The size of our deficit is an immorality, we should not be heaping those responsibilities onto the future," Pelosi said, sounding oddly Republican. "Finding reductions, subjecting every federal dollar spent to harsh scrutiny as to whether the taxpayer is getting full value for the dollar, is very important. And that holds true in defense as well as on the domestic side."
Republican Sen. McConnell
rules out more taxes in U.S. fiscal fight
By Vicki Allen
WASHINGTON | Sun Jan 6, 2013 2:13pm EST
(Reuters) - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday ruled out raising tax revenues on top of the tax hike on the wealthy in the "fiscal cliff" deal, and said the full focus must now be on spending cuts to curb U.S. deficits.
But Democrats said they would push for a "balanced" approach of more tax revenue from the rich as well as spending reductions as Congress headed toward another fiscal battle in March over raising the federal debt ceiling.
FISCAL CLIFF TAX HIKE TO HIT $30,000 WORKER
HARDER THAN $500,000 EARNER
by WYNTON HALL - Breitbart.com
Last week, President Barack Obama said that under his fiscal cliff deal "more than 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses will not see their income taxes go up."
But according to new figures from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, that's not so—by a long shot.
In fact, the income taxes of 70% of Americans will rise. Middle-class workers making between $30,000 and $200,000 will pay up to $1,784 more, a larger percentage increase than for those earning between $200,000 and $500,000.
Congress Sells America Down the River to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff
In a disgraceful show of political expediency, Congress put its own political self-interest ahead of the national interest. They "saved" us from a contrived crisis of their own making, only to condem us to a far more horrific fate when the real crisis arrives. This one will come not because we went over the fiscal cliff, but because we avoided doing so. Going over the fiscal cliff merely represented a small downpayment on the solution. By failing to make it, the ultimate price we will inevitably pay will be that much higher.
Monetary Malpractice Dysfunctional Markets
BY GORDON T LONG - FinancialSense.com
One of the first axioms of analysis is: "Garbage In, Garbage Out"! If your data is flawed, everything you do with it and the decisions stemming from it are flawed and dangerous to your financial health. Experienced analysts will often be found relentlessly checking, rechecking and validating their inputs and assumptions.
If only our economists and the sell side analyst community were this diligent. But then it isn't their money. Only a year-end bonus for the 'extras' in their life is at risk.
Pelosi: More tax revenues must be part of next deficit deal
By Mike Lillis - TheHill.com
Pushing back against the Republicans' deficit-reduction strategy, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said this weekend that more tax revenues – not just spending cuts – must be a part of Congress's effort to rein in deficits.
Pelosi said the tax hikes in the recent "fiscal-cliff" deal are a start, but don't go far enough to generate the revenues the government needs to run the country effectively.
Tax Code May Be the Most Progressive Since 1979
CNBC.com
WASHINGTON — With 2013 bringing tax increases on the incomes of a small sliver of the richest Americans, the country's top earners now face a heavier tax burden than at any time since Jimmy Carter was president.
The last-minute deal struck by the departing 112th Congress raised taxes on a handful of the highest-earning Americans, with about 99.3 percent of households experiencing no change in their income taxes. But the Tax Policy Center estimates that the average family in the top 1 percent will pay a federal tax rate of more than 36 percent this year, up from 28 percent in 2008. That is the highest rate since 1979, at least.
Obama says U.S. can't afford
more showdowns over debt, deficits
By Jeff Mason
HONOLULU | Sat Jan 5, 2013 10:54am EST
(Reuters) - Fresh from the long legislative fight to prevent a "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts,President Barack Obama warned on Saturday that the United States could not afford further budget showdowns this year or in the future.
Obama, who returned to Hawaii for a family vacation shortly after the House of Representatives passed a compromise bill on Tuesday, said in his weekly radio and Internet address that the new law was just one step toward fixing the country's fiscal and economic problems.
Keiser Report: Hierarchy of Fraud (E388)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the newly knighted, Sir Hector Sants, the catastrophic ambition of global bank fraud and the merger of the police state and the banks in the suppression of Occupy Wall Street. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to 'the Thomas Jefferson of the internet,' John Perry Barlow about his new website, pressfreedomfoundation.org, started with John Cusack and Daniel Ellsberg and dedicated to circumventing financial blockades and, thus, enabling donations to such groups as WikiLeaks and others dedicated to transparency and journalism.
Beware Burst of the Bond Bubble in 2013
By Hibah Yousuf, CNNMoney.com
After three decades of declines, interest rates are near rock bottom, and many Wall Street experts think the bond bubble may be about to burst.
In fact, nearly 40% of the 32 investment strategists and money managers surveyed by CNNMoney think that interest rates will begin to rise in 2013, and another 30% say the shift will begin in 2014.
Fed hawks hint at early end to bond buying
SAN DIEGO (CNNMoney)
Three Federal Reserve officials stressed Friday that moderate economic growth in 2013 may push the central bank to stop its controversial asset purchases before the end of the year.
A day earlier, minutes from the Fed's December meeting hinted that some Fed members believe the central bank should halt its asset purchases as early as this year. Several of those members revealed themselves and clarified their opinions on Friday.
OBAMACARE LAYOFFS, HIRING FREEZES BEGIN
by WYNTON HALL - Breitbart.com
Obamacare opponents warned that forcing companies employing 50 or more full-time workers to buy healthcare would prompt employers to slash jobs and worker hours. And that's exactly what's happening,says one of President Barack Obama's favorite economists, Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics.
"It will have a negative impact on job creation" this year, says Mr. Zandi.
The Obamacare employer mandate doesn't go into effect until January 1, 2014, but the government requires businesses to track worker schedules for three to 12 months in advance. That means many employers plan to get a jump start on avoiding Obamacare's $2,000 per-worker fine by firing workers now, reducing employee hours, or replacing full-time employees with part-time workers.
House and Senate working quietly
to avoid government shutdown
By Erik Wasson - TheHill.com
Washington is facing the threat of three major fiscal disasters in the coming months — but a government shutdown after March 27 may be the least likely of them to occur.
House and Senate appropriators have been quietly working behind the scenes for months to craft 12 compromise annual spending bills to avoid a shutdown that is slated to occur when the current six-month stopgap spending bill expires.
Geithner's planned departure puts Obama in tough spot
By Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 4, 2013 6:22am EST
(Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's plans to leave near the end of January put the White House in a tricky spot, depriving the Obamaadministration of its longest-serving economic adviser for its next fiscal showdown with Congress.
Geithner, who spent his years as Treasury secretary battling the financial crisis and then fighting with Republican lawmakers in 2011 over raising the U.S. debt ceiling, has wanted to leave government service for some time.
The Stealth Tax Hike Why the new $450,000 income threshold is a political fiction.
WSJ.com
Anyone still need a reason to abandon "grand bargains" and deals negotiated between this President and GOP Congressional leaders? Here it is: The revival of two dormant provisions of the tax code means the much ballyhooed $450,000 income threshold for the highest tax rate is largely fake.
The two provisions are the infamous PEP and Pease, which aficionados of stealth tax increases will recognize immediately as relics of the 1990 tax increase. Those measures, which limit deductions and exemptions for higher-income taxpayers, expired in 2010. The Obama tax bill revived them this week. It isn't going to be pretty.
Goldfinger Would Envy Latest Taxpayer Shakedown
By Simon Johnson - Bloomberg.com
It has become fashionable to despair of our supposed recent lack of technological progress. All the big inventions of modern society -- jet engines, television, nuclear weapons -- were on the scene by the early 1960s.
Proponents of this view should watch the classic James Bond movie "Goldfinger." Made in 1964, this entertaining (and politically incorrect) thriller features an egomaniac financier intent on irradiating the U.S. government's official gold holdings to drive up the price and make what he estimates will be a profit of about $180 million (about $1.3 billion in today's money).
Lenders Said to Be Near Deal Over Foreclosure Claims
By: Jessica Silver-Greenberg, NYTimes.com - CNBC.com
A $10 billion settlement to resolve claims of foreclosure abuses by major lenders is expected to be announced on Monday, several people with knowledge of the discussions said Sunday, after weeks of negotiations between federal regulators and 14 banks.
The settlement follows a sweeping deal in February between state attorneys general and five large mortgage lenders, and covers abuses like flawed paperwork and botched loan modifications, these people said.
Welfare recipients take out cash at strip clubs,
liquor stores and X-rated shops
By KATE BRIQUELET - NYPost.com
They're on the dole — and watching the pole.
Welfare recipients took out cash at bars, liquor stores, X-rated video shops, hookah parlors and even strip clubs — where they presumably spent their taxpayer money on lap dances rather than diapers, a Post investigation found.
A database of 200 million Electronic Benefit Transfer records from January 2011 to July 2012, obtained by The Post through a Freedom of Information request, showed welfare recipients using their EBT cards to make dozens of cash withdrawals at ATMs inside Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn; the Blue Door Video porn shop in the East Village; The Anchor, a sleek SoHo lounge; the Patriot Saloon in TriBeCa; and Drinks Galore, a liquor distributor in The Bronx.
85,000 MICHIGAN FOOD ASSISTANCE CARD HOLDERS
LEFT WITHOUT FUNDS
by WARNER TODD HUSTON - Breitbart.com
Michigan officials reported that "human error" was the cause of 85,000 recipients of state food assistance finding no money deposited to their state-issued debit cards on Friday.
Michigan's Department of Technology, Management & Budget spent all day Friday attempting to correct the error and get the state aid credited to the Bridge Card debit cards, but officials could not say for sure when all 85,000 recipients would have access to their allotments.
Federal Food Stamp Program Spent Record $80.4B in FY 2012
By Patrick Burke - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) -- During fiscal year 2012, the U.S. government spent a record $80.4 billion on food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a $2.7 billion increase from FY 2011. (Fiscal year 2012 ran from Oct. 1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2012.)
According to the Monthly Treasury Statement that summarizes the receipts and outlays of the federal government, $80,401,000,000 went towards SNAP during FY 2012, which was a $2.7 billion increase from $77,637,000,000 in FY 2011.
Health Insurers Raise Some Rates by Double Digits
By: Reed Abelson, NYTmes.com - CNBC.com
Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration's health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers.
Particularly vulnerable to the high rates are small businesses and people who do not have employer-provided insurance and must buy it on their own.
Why Investors such as Jim Rogers and George Soros
are Interested in Farmland
By Zachary Fillingham - OilPrice.com
Farmland has two important attributes that set it apart from most other investments. The first is obvious: its inelastic demand. Humans need food to survive, it's just a question of what food they eat. Second are the various political and environmental factors that continue to whittle away at an already-finite supply of global farmland: factors like climate change, urbanization, farmland degradation, and erosion. According to the WWF, one-third of the world's arable land has been destroyed since 1960 by erosion and other types of degradation. Though we've heard it all before that 'they aren't making any more land,' it turns out that we are also good at ruining what little we have.
Don't Burn Your Books—Print Is Here to Stay The e-book had its moment, but sales are slowing.
Readers still want to turn those crisp, bound pages
By NICHOLAS CARR - WSJ.com
Lovers of ink and paper, take heart. Reports of the death of the printed book may be exaggerated.
Ever since Amazon introduced its popular Kindle e-reader five years ago, pundits have assumed that the future of book publishing is digital. Opinions about the speed of the shift from page to screen have varied. But the consensus has been that digitization, having had its way with music and photographs and maps, would in due course have its way with books as well. By 2015, one media maven predicted a few years back, traditional books would be gone.
Heitkamp: Reported Obama gun-control proposals 'extreme'
By Meghashyam Mali
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) on Sunday panned the White House's reported gun-control proposals as "extreme."
In an interview with ABC's "This Week," the senator said that while she was open to a broad discussion on ways to prevent gun violence in the wake of December's tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn., she doubted that the administration's likely proposals would garner support on Capitol Hill.
Facebook's Questionable Policy
on Violent Content Toward Women
BY LAURA HUDSON - Wired.com
Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities offers numerous guidelines regarding appropriate speech and user safety, including an admonition that "you will not bully, intimidate, or harass any user" and that "you will not post content that: is hate speech, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence."
But that hasn't stopped countless users on the social media site from making comments, posting images and starting pages that promote the rape and abuse of women. And in many cases, it doesn't mean that Facebook has any intention of stopping them, either.
'Shell-shocked' lawmakers shy away
from online piracy in new Congress
By Jennifer Martinez - TheHill.com
Nearly a year after a wave of online protests killed two anti-piracy bills, lawmakers are skittish about moving forward with legislation aimed at cracking down on websites that illegally distribute copies of movies and music.
The House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Senate's Protect IP Act (PIPA) grabbed national attention when Wikipedia, Reddit and scores of other websites went dark on Jan. 18 to protest the bills. The public outcry over the bills led lawmakers to pull their support, and spurred others who were previously quiet on the anti-piracy measures to speak out in opposition.
Inconvenient Truths About Al Jazeera Al Gore's due diligence must have missed the on-air party,
with cake, for a deadly terrorist.
By L. GORDON CROVITZ - WSJ.com
Al Gore and his co-investors just sold liberal cable channel Current TV to Al Jazeera, the network bankrolled by the emir of Qatar. How much in carbon offsets does Mr. Gore need to balance his estimated $100 million from the sale to an oil sheik?
But there's a more serious issue here than hypocrisy. Current's owners could have simply said they sold to the highest bidder, with the emir paying an estimated $500 million for a network with viewership of only 22,000. Instead they glorified Al Jazeera.
Obama to tap Hagel for defense secretary
By Kristina Wong-The Washington Times
President Obama will nominate former Sen. Chuck Hagel to replace Leon E. Panetta as secretary of defense as early as Monday, an administration source told The Washington Times on Sunday.
Mr. Hagel, of Nebraska, who retired from the Senate in 2008, would be the second Republican to serve as the Obama administration's defense secretary. Robert M. Gates, who left the post in July 2011, was a holdover from the George W. Bush administration.
Sen. Graham blasts Hagel pick
as an 'in your face nomination' from Obama
By Meghashyam Mali
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday expressed dismay at reports President Obama would tap former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) for Secretary of Defense, calling it an "in your face" selection.
"I like Chuck Hagel. He served with distinction in Vietnam as an enlisted man -- two Purple Hearts. But quite frankly Chuck Hagel is out of the mainstream of thinking on most issues regarding foreign policy," said Graham in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union."
Defense industry fears sequester delay won't stop Pentagon cuts
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
The defense industry is worried last week's budget deal on taxes could damage its negotiating position for the next "fiscal cliff" deadline two months from now, when across-the-board spending cuts would take effect.
The deficit debate is shifting from taxes toward spending cuts and the debt limit, where there will be more of a focus on new cuts to the Pentagon.
Middle East's Largest Refuelling Station
Struggles
Due to Iran Sanctions
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
The Middle East's biggest ship refuelling station, at the port of Fujairah in the UAE, may soon have to start charging higher costs as the West's sanctions against Iran start to restrict supplies of fuel oil.
Fuel oil is a residue that is removed during the refining of crude oil, and is used as fuel for ships and power plants.
Fujairah depends on Iran to supply nearly a third of the one million metric tonnes of fuel that it buy and sells each month, but as the sanctions curb Iran's export volumes, the majority of the fuel will be shipped to the port of Singapore, as the preferred customer, because it buys four times as much fuel as Fujairah.
Egypt says it seized US-made missiles near Gaza
EL-ARISH, Egypt – Egyptian authorities seized six U.S.-made missiles in the Sinai Peninsula Friday that security officials said were likely smuggled from Libya and bound for the Gaza Strip.
Libya's 2011 uprising and subsequent civil war left the country awash in weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and other munitions. Since the end of the country's eight-month conflict, smugglers have transferred some of the weapons to Islamic militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which has faced a security vacuum since the country's own uprising, and from there onward in underground tunnels to neighboring Gaza.
'Saudi Arabia facing Egypt-style revolution'
A political analyst says that the protests in Saudi Arabia is a challenge for Al Saud and any neglect for the demand of the people or disregard for their voices will have a ramification on the stability of the country.
The comments came after demonstrators took to the streets in the holy city of Mecca and the central city of Buraidah, calling for the downfall of the Saudi regime. They also demanded the release of political prisoners.
Netanyahu pledges to build fortified fence
along Israel-Syria border Israel's prime minister expresses concerns that violence may spill over, or worse, that Assad will fall and be replaced by Islamic extremists armed with chemical weapons.
AP - Haaretz.com
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Sunday to build a fortified fence along the frontier with Syria, warning that radical Islamist forces have taken over the area.
Israel has largely stayed out of the civil war that has engulfed Syria and killed more than 60,000 people, but it is concerned that violence could spill over into Israel.
The Region: Is Israel losing support? This isn't really about Israel, it's about the liberal Democratic intellectual (or pseudo-intellectual) upper middle class milieu claiming Israel is wantonly throwing away support by acting irrationally.
By BARRY RUBIN0 - JPost.com
There's been a strange phenomenon building in the past few weeks that's been puzzling me. But I've just figured it out. Various people – there are many examples so you can insert your own – have been writing that Israel is making some big mistake. It is losing support, especially liberal and American Jewish support, they explain, because of the way it's been behaving.
What's puzzling about this is that nothing has actually happened to imply that any great opportunity is being missed that might justify this attitude. There has been no recent turn toward peace by the Palestinian Authority; no great new idea promising a breakthrough; no change in personalities that offers some shocking new opportunity.
The real player in the power struggle
among Israel's top military brass: Iran The dispute over an Israeli campaign against Iran provided the backdrop to the clash between the Barak camp - Defense Minister Ehud Barak and members of his bureau - and then-IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi and his associates.
By Amir Oren - Haaretz.com
The word "Iran" barely appears in the state comptroller's report on the Harpaz affair, but that word - along with human nature - is the main player in this scandal. The furor only appears to revolve around a forged document meant to discredit a candidate for Israel Defense Forces chief of staff.
The dispute over an Israeli campaign against Iran provided the backdrop to the clash between the Barak camp - Defense Minister Ehud Barak and members of his bureau - and then-IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi and his associates. It also influenced the standing of the generals whose candidacy for chief of staff after Ashkenazi's retirement was considered in 2010.
Iran Unveils Copycat Arsenal
BY DAVID AXE - Wired.com
Iran's newest gunship helicopter, unveiled Wednesday, might look awfully familiar to aviation historians. And it's not unique in that regard. Almost all of Iran's "new" weaponry — including jet fighters, 'copters, warships, tanks, missiles and other equipment — is a copy of a much older American, British, Russian, Chinese or North Korean design.
But that doesn't mean all of Tehran's weapons suck. Far from it. While some of the sillier Iranian gear is obviously meant mostly for fleeting propaganda purposes, the main hardware is grounded in experience and hardship. Driven by desperation and shaped by the isolation that comes with widening external sanctions, Tehran's copycat arsenal could contain a few nasty surprises for the U.S. and its allies in the unlikely event that tensions over Iran's nuclear program come to blows.
2 months until next budget crisis? A prominent economist known as 'Dr. Doom' says the country's budget dispute will come roaring back soon.
By Kim Peterson - Money.MSN.com
We have some breathing room after lawmakers made a fiscal cliff deal on New Year's Day. But the country is far from OK. In fact, one well-known economist says another crisis will hit in two months.
Without Congressional action, the country will see $110 billion in spending cuts commence on March 1, writesNew York University professor Nouriel Roubini in the Financial Times. And just as those spending cuts hit, the U.S. will hit the debt ceiling. "That is only the beginning," he added.
Nouriel Roubini is not an optimist
By Tom Bemis - MarketWatch.com
Nouriel Roubini doesn't think much of this week's fiscal cliff deal.
The NYU prof and chairman of Roubini Global Economics wrote in the FT late Wednesday that another Washington crisis will arrive shortly, when the debt ceiling has to be raised and the spending cuts deferred by this week's deal are slated to kick in.
But even a resolution of those disputes won't end Washington's agony.
Republicans question Obama's use of autopen to sign 'cliff' bill
By Dave Boyer-The Washington Times
President Obama signed the "fiscal cliff" bill into law early Thursday via autopen while vacationing in Hawaii, the third time in his presidency that he has used the controversial method to approve legislation.
The White House sent out an email notice to reporters at 12:12 a.m. Thursday Washington time (7:12 p.m. Wednesday in Hawaii) saying simply that Mr. Obama had "signed into law" the bill that raises taxes on households earning more than $450,000 per year. The measure, which consumed Capitol Hill in the waning days of 2012, also preserves tax cuts for most families, extends expiring jobless benefits and delays for two months across-the-board spending cuts in most defense and domestic programs.
Ryan: Now we 'focus on spending'
by: Alex Pappas - Times247.com
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan on Thursday defended his vote for the last minute fiscal cliff legislation that passed Congress this week, saying he supported it to "get this issue behind us, … prevent this massive tax increase and … focus on spending now."
The 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee acknowledged in an interview with a Milwaukee radio host that he realized he would be criticized for his vote to extend tax cuts for most Americans while raising taxes on the wealthy, but said it was the best deal Republicans could get under the circumstances.
FOMC Minutes More Concerned With Asset Purchases
Than Markets Discounted
By JON C. OGG - 247WallSt.com
The Federal Open Market Committee has released its minutes of the December 2012 FOMC meeting. Without regurgitating the entire report, the minutes appear to be a bit more cautious regarding easing and asset purchases than what the market might have indicated so far this week. The reason is clear: the fiscal cliff has been averted (if you call the agreement that) and that changes the entire bias here. We would note that since a resolution has been reached on th fiscal cliff that the concerns brought up regarding uncertainty and policy risks are now dated.
The $13.6-Trillion Man:
Geithner Sets All-Time Record
for Spending by Treasury Secretary
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who reportedly will leave office at the end of this month, is already responsible for spending and borrowing more money than any of his predecessors as secretary of the Treasury.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Geithner on Jan. 26, 2009. Between February 2009, the first full month of Geithner's tenure, and the end of November 2012, the last full month for which federal spending records are available, the U.S. Treasury dispensed approximately $13.582319 trillion.
Geithner Said to Plan Departure Before Debt Ceiling Deal
By Hans Nichols - Bloomberg.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner finds himself in a familiar position: eager to resume life outside government and facing contentious negotiations with Congress over raising the federal debt ceiling.
The last time he was in this predicament, in June 2011, President Barack Obama persuaded him to stay. This time, Geithner has indicated to White House officials he wants to carry through with his plan to leave the administration by the end of this month, even if a deal on the debt limit isn't in place, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Geithner to leave at end of Jan.
By Peter Schroeder
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is reportedly planning to leave the Obama administration at the end of January, likely before Congress addresses the debt limit.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that the president's economic point man has told the White House he is planning to leave, with White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew the leading candidate to replace him, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Fed becoming worried about stimulus side effects
By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa
WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 3, 2013 4:27pm EST
(Reuters) - Federal Reserve officials are increasingly concerned about the potential risks of the U.S. central bank's asset purchases on financial markets, even if they look set to continue an open-ended stimulus program for now.
In a surprise to Wall Street, minutes from the Fed's December policy meeting, published on Thursday, showed a growing reticence about further increases in the central bank's $2.9 trillion balance sheet, which it expanded sharply in response to the financial crisis and recession of 2007-2009.
Pimco's Gross warns of 'inflationary dragons'
By Laura Mandaro - MarketWatch.com
Pimco bond chief Bill Gross has long warned about the perils of the Federal Reserve's massive monetary stimulus.
He's at it again for the new year, reminding investors that there's a real cost to all that quantitative easing:
The future price tag of printing six trillion dollars' worth of checks comes in the form of inflation and devaluation of currencies either relative to each other, or to commodities in less limitless supply such as oil or gold.
Fed sees bond buying ending this year Several officials say well before December, others think all year
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — There was a general sense among Federal Reserve officials that their bond-buying program would last, at most, until the end of the year, according to the minutes from their meeting last month that were released on Thursday.
"Several" Fed officials thought that the central bank would be able to slow or stop the purchases well before December 2013. Read commentary: Fed says it's running out of bullets.
A "few" members said that the plan would likely be needed until about the end of the year.
Jon Hilsenrath's 589 Word Instanalysis Of The Fed Minutes
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
It took the WSJ's Jon Hilsenrath, who one more time is modestly relevant in a world in which QE is implied until infinity or until the Fed loses all control of the money creation process, 12 whopping minutes to release a 589-word article analyzing the FOMC minutes. At least we know one of the people who had the embargoed version hours ago. We are confident he did not leak their content to anyone. Hilsenrath's prepared take: "A new fault line has opened up at the often-divided Federal Reserve: When to halt the bond-buying programs that are adding $85 billion a month of Treasury and mortgage securities to the central bank's assets. Minutes of the Fed's Dec. 11-12 policy meeting showed that officials were divided about when to halt the programs, with a few wanting to continue them until year-end, several others wanting to end the programs well before then and some wanting to halt them right away. While exposing the rift, the minutes left little clear indication which course the central bank would choose. In its official policy statement, it has been saying since September that it would continue the bond-buying programs until the job market substantially improves... It is a hugely consequential decision for the Fed and likely the next big challenge for Ben Bernanke in what could be his final year at the helm of the central bank, where he has been chairman since 2006."
Fiscal cliff deal protects family tax breaks
By Blake Ellis - CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Families who have been worried about losing thousands of dollars worth of tax breaks this year can stop panicking.
The fiscal cliff deal extends four key tax credits that benefit parents. The Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit are safe for five more years, while the Child Dependent Care Tax Credit will be permanently extended.
McCONNELL: A DEBT-CEILING FIGHT WITH OBAMA
WHETHER HE WANTS IT OR NOT
by WILLIAM BIGELOW - Breitbart.com
Mitch McConnell is gearing up for a massive battle with Barack Obama over the debt limit. He wrote in a Yahoo op-ed that there is going to be a fight with Obama "whether he wants it or not." The present $16.4 trillion debt ceiling is the line in the sand for Republicans now; as McConnell wrote,
The president may not want to have a fight about government spending over the next few months, but it's the fight he is going to have, because it's a debate the country needs … For the sake of our future, the president must show up to this debate early and convince his party to do something that neither he nor they have been willing to do until now. Over the next two months they need to deliver the same kind of bipartisan resolution to the spending problem we have now achieved on revenue — before the eleventh hour.
Euro crisis as it happened: fiscal cliff deal euphoria wanes
By Juliette Garside and Nick Fletcher - Guardian.co.uk
IMF warning
Good morning, and welcome to our coverage of the key events in the global economic crisis.
After a new year's rally in European and US stock markets, the International Monetary Fund has moved to temper the euphoria.
The global lender has welcomed the temporary deal to avoid the fiscal cliff but says "more remains to be done" to avoid derailing America's fragile economic recovery.
Obama slouches toward Europe
by: Lawrence Kudlow - Times247.com
One cheer out of a potential three is all anyone can logically give the fiscal-cliff deal. On the day after the bargain was clinched, the stock market gave a 300-point cheer. So be it. ...
It's a European economic model. It's the exact reverse of supply-side economics. You can't tax your way into prosperity or a balanced budget. The economic pie grows smaller. Government grows bigger. Redistribution and government dependency grow more powerful and pervasive.
Spain Plunders 90% Of Social Security Fund
To Buy Its Own Debt
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
With Spanish 10Y yields hovering at a 'relatively' healthy 5%, having been driven inexorably lower on the promise of ECB assistance at some time in the future, the market has become increasingly unsure of just who it is that keeps bidding for this stuff. Well, wonder no longer. As the WSJ notes, Spain has been quietly tapping the country's richest piggy bank, the Social Security Reserve Fund, as a buyer of last resort for Spanish government bonds - with at least 90% of the €65 billion ($85.7 billion) fund has been invested in increasingly risky Spanish debt. Of course, this is nothing new, the US (and the Irish) have been using quasi-government entities to fund themselves in a mutually-destructive circle-jerk for years - the only difference being there are other buyers in the Treasury market, whereas in Spain the marginal buyer is critical to support the sinking ship. The Spanish defend the use of pension funds to buy bonds as sustainable as long as it can issue bonds - and yet the only way it can actually get the bonds off in the public markets is through using the pension fund assets. The pensioners sum it up perfectly "We are very worried about this, we just don't know who's going to pay for the pensions of those who are younger now," or those who are older we would add.
Greeks ditch Euro Euros discarded as impoverished Greeks resort to bartering
Communities set up local currencies and exchange networks in attempt to beat the economic crisis
By Helena Smith in Volos - Guardian.co.uk
It's been a busy day at the market in downtown Volos. Angeliki Ioanitou has sold a decent quantity of olive oil and soap, while her friend Maria has done good business with her fresh pies.
But not a single euro has changed hands – none of the customers on this drizzly Saturday morning has bothered carrying money at all. For many, browsing through the racks of second-hand clothes, electrical appliances and homemade jams, the need to survive means money has been usurped.
Greek debt crisis 'far from over' Country faces year of destiny, with doubts about survival of government and of its eurozone membership as austerity bites
By Helena Smith in Athens - Guardian.co.uk
In the three years that Greece has been engulfed by the drama of its debt, crises have come and gone. But the next 12 months are likely to be more critical yet with politicians and pundits predicting that 2013 will ultimately define whether Athens remains in the eurozone. For once, Greeks are in accord with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who, adding to the prevailing pessimism, emphasised in her new year address that the worst crisis to ravage Europe since the second world war "is far from over".
Treasuries Are World's Worst-Performing Bonds Before Jobs
By Wes Goodman - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries were the world's worst performing bonds as economists said a report today will show the U.S. unemployment rate held at the lowest level since 2008.
Government securities maturing in 10 years and longer handed investors a 3.34 percent loss in the past month, the biggest decline of 144 bond indexes tracked by Bloomberg and the Federation of Financial Analysts Societies. Treasuries tumbled this week as lawmakers passed a budget to avert taxes and spending cuts that threatened to throw the economy into a recession, while Federal Reserve policy makers said they will probably end their monthly debt purchases in 2013.
What's Inside America's Banks? Some four years after the 2008 financial crisis, public trust in banks is as low as ever. Sophisticated investors describe big banks as "black boxes" that may still be concealing enormous risks—the sort that could again take down the economy. A close investigation of a supposedly conservative bank's financial records uncovers the reason for these fears—and points the way toward urgent reforms.
By Frank Partnoy and Jesse Eisinger - TheAtlantic.com
The financial crisis had many causes—too much borrowing, foolish investments, misguided regulation—but at its core, the panic resulted from a lack of transparency. The reason no one wanted to lend to or trade with the banks during the fall of 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed, was that no one could understand the banks' risks. It was impossible to tell, from looking at a particular bank's disclosures, whether it might suddenly implode.
For the past four years, the nation's political leaders and bankers have made enormous—in some cases unprecedented—efforts to save the financial industry, clean up the banks, and reform regulation in order to restore trust and confidence in the American financial system. This hasn't worked. Banks today are bigger and more opaque than ever, and they continue to behave in many of the same ways they did before the crash.
JPMorgan and BofA Get Delay
in Rule Isolating Derivatives Trades
By Silla Brush - Bloomberg.com
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Bank of America Corp.won a delay of Dodd-Frank Act requirements that they wall off some derivatives trades from bank units backed by federal deposit insurance.
Commercial banks including the Wall Street firms may get as long as an additional two years -- until July 2015 -- to comply with the rules, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a notice yesterday. The provision was included in Dodd- Frank, the 2010 financial-regulation law, as a way to limit taxpayer support for risky derivatives trades.
Want to Understand Money?
BY LEW ROCKWELL - FnancialSense.com
….As an American monetary historian Rothbard traced the party politics, the pressure groups, and the academic apologists behind the various national banking schemes throughout American history. As a popularizer of monetary theory and history he showed the public what government was really up to as it took greater and greater control over money. As a business cycle expert he wrote scholarly books on the Panic of 1819 and the Great Depression, finding the roots of both in artificial credit expansion. And while the locus classicus of monetary theory in the tradition of the Austrian School is Ludwig von Mises' 1912 work The Theory of Money and Credit, the most thorough shorter overview of Austrian monetary theory is surely chapter 10 of Rothbard's treatise Man, Economy and State.
My Name is Cash America's growing underground economy —
a necessity in the age of Obama.
By BILL CROKE - Spectator.org
Barter is as old as human history. According to a story in the Wall Steet Journal, it is yet practiced as a facet of the 21st century global economy. Germany, for example, "sends coal to Brazil for coffee, and imports cattle from Denmark in return for agricultural implements. Finland sends timber to the U.K. for coal. Argentina trades grain to Spain for railway equipment." And so on.
Farmers markets and yard sales are certainly popular in small town America. Every summer weekend in Texas features some 200 towns with farmers markets. Here in Salmon, Idaho, three summertime produce markets are a welcome respite from the tyranny of our single grocery store. The local radio station has a morning weekdays show called "Swap Shop," where goods and services are noted, and listeners call-in with their own for-sale items, queries, and promotion of services. The common theme is the lack of a middleman, and transactions in cash or barter. This time of year firewood is a big commodity. And following a recent heavy snowstorm here, I shoveled an elderly lady's driveway, walks, and wooden back deck. Roughly one hour's labor: $12; and since she was pleased with my work, a bonus cup of coffee.
Cracking the 2013 tax code
A guide to the changes wrought by the fiscal-cliff deal
By Bill Bischoff - MarketWatch.com
Early in the morning of January 1, Congress finally got around to dealing with the tax part of the fiscal cliff drama by passing what is inaccurately named the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Thanks to the demise of the so-called payroll tax holiday, all workers will pay higher taxes this year, but the new law cancels federal income tax increases that would have resulted in added misery for just about everyone. The bad news is that higher-income folks will face higher rates.
Here's a detailed summary of the most-important changes for individual taxpayers.
Payroll Tax Holiday Is Dead
Home Foreclosures, Shadow Inventory Continue to Fall
By Paul Ausick - 247WallSt.com
In the month of November, 55,000 U.S. homes were foreclosed, down from 59,000 in October and down from 72,000 in November 2011, according to research firm CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX). While an improvement, the number of foreclosures is still well above the 2000-2006 average of 21,000 foreclosures per month. CoreLogic notes that since September 2008, some 4 million foreclosures have been completed in the U.S.
Hopes high for strong jobs report to open year
By Vicki Needham - TheHill.com
Economists are expecting a strong jobs report to open the year, with some expecting the economy added 200,000 jobs in December.
That would be the most the economy has added in a single month in nearly a year, and would suggest solid economic growth despite worries the last two months about the "fiscal cliff."
Hopes were bolstered by a survey of private businesses released Thursday by ADP that found firms hired 215,000 workers in December. The ADP survey also boosted its estimate for November by 30,000.
65 Percent Of Americans Believe
That 2013 Will Be A Year Of Economic Difficulty
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Do you believe that economic trouble is coming in 2013? If so, you have a lot of company. According to a brand new Gallup poll that was just released, 65 percent of Americans believe that 2013 will be a year of "economic difficulty" while only 33 percent of Americans believe that 2013 will be a year of "economic prosperity". Gallup has been asking this question for a lot of years, and the percentage of Americans that are anticipating economic difficulty in the year ahead has not been this high since the early 1980s. And without a doubt, there are a whole lot of reasons to be deeply concerned about the economy as we head into the new year. But it isn't just 2013 that Americans are pessimistic about. According to the new Gallup poll, 50 percent of all Americans believe that the best days of America are behind us, and only 47 percent of all Americans believe that the best days of America are ahead of us. Those are very sobering numbers. Half the country believes that it is only downhill from here for the United States. Unfortunately, they are exactly right. Things are rapidly going to get worse for our economy and for our nation as a whole. We are going to start reaping the consequences of decades of very foolish decisions, and the pain is going to be immense.
Unilever sells Skippy peanut butter brand
to Hormel, maker of Spam Hormel hopes that £433m acquisition of brand sold in over 30 countries will boost the US group's activities in China
Agence France-Presse - The Guardian
Unilever has agreed to sell its Skippy brand of peanut butter to US group Hormel Foods – the maker of Spam – in an all-cash deal worth £433m ($700m), the company has announced.
The transaction is expected to be finalised early this year "subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions", Unilever said.
Annual sales of Skippy, which was launched in 1932 and is available in over 30 countries, are around $370m. In 2012, Hormel posted total sales of $8.2bn
Gun checks soar 39 percent, set new record: FBI
By David Ingram
WASHINGTON | Wed Jan 2, 2013 5:02pm EST
(Reuters) - The number of FBI background checks required for Americans buying guns set a record in December, indicating that more people may purchase one after the Connecticut school massacre stirred interest in self-defense and prompted renewed talk of limits on firearms, according to FBI data.
The FBI said it recorded 2.78 million background checks during the month, surpassing the mark set in November of 2.01 million checks - about a 39 percent rise.
Gun Rights Advocates:
'There Will Be Resistance' to Gun Control
By Jon Street - CNSNew.com
(CNSNews.com) - The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has said that it will be "on the front lines of [the] resistance" to President Obama's efforts to curb gun violence through gun control.
"President Obama was absolutely correct when he told NBC's 'Meet the Press' Sunday that 'there will be resistance' to his extremist proposal to ban the most commonly-owned and popular rifles in America," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.
Illinois Democrats Lose Bid to Pass Firearms Confiscation Bill
By Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
Democrats in the Illinois Senate have failed to gain enough support for legislation that would have outlawed 50 percent of long guns on the market in the state and would have confiscated weapons owned by citizens.
On Wednesday, we reported that Illinois Senate President John Cullertonplanned to introduce a draconian bill that would have effectively banned all modern firearms, criminalized their owners, and subjected their guns to confiscation by the Illinois State Police.
Is There a New Internet Bubble Blowing? New Internet bubble? Not so fast
By Paul La Monica - CNNMoney.com
Call them the dot-com survivors.
AOL (AOL), Amazon.com (AMZN), eBay (EBAY), Priceline (PCLN) and Yahoo (YHOO) were all major players at the height of Internet insanity in the late 1990s. They are all still around today -- and their stock prices are soaring again, bringing back some uncomfortable memories of the bursting of the tech bubble in 2000.
Apple's iPad kills the netbook;
will MacBook Air devour notebooks next?
By Jonny Evans - Computerworld.com
Apple [AAPL] and its iPad have destroyed the netbook industry with Acer and Asus ending production of the things. It's an inflection point as we enter the Post-PC age -- now get ready for next-gen MacBooks to devour what's left…
Most vendors have quietly ended netbook production since the iPad's launch. They attempted to take a slice of the tablet market, but failed, with most early iPad competitors ending up in landfill after being returned by disappointed retailers. Today Apple dominates the sector with Amazon and Samsung fighting over the scraps.
The Political Economy of 2013
By Mohamed A. El-Erian - Project-Syndicate.org
NEWPORT BEACH – Watching America's leaders scramble in the closing days of 2012 to avoid a "fiscal cliff" that would plunge the economy into recession was yet another illustration of an inconvenient truth: messy politics remains a major driver of economic developments.
In some cases during 2012, politics was a force for good: consider Prime Minister Mario Monti's ability to pull Italy back from the brink of financial turmoil. But, in other cases, like Greece, political dysfunction aggravated economic problems.
The Worst Politicians Money Can Buy
BY BILL FLECKENSTEIN - FinancialSense.com
The disgusting soap opera over the misnamed "fiscal cliff" finally ended on New Year's Day with tax hikes (mostly aimed at the so-called "1%"), and next to no spending cuts. In others words, it was about what I had suggested might occur after we saw the election results. The economic impact is still going to be negative, as the restored payroll tax will affect consumer spending.
It Probably Won't Be a Cliff-Hanger.
Abandoned and Betrayed Republican ship, dead in the water, needs a mutiny.
By JAMES P. GANNON - Spectator.org
After the McConnell sell-out and the Boehner betrayal, after the disgraceful abandonment of principles and conservative values by the Washington Republican establishment, what is the proper response from outraged conservative believers in limited government and fiscal responsibility?
I have been sitting here on the morning after the New Years's Day capitulation by Capitol Hill Republicans, trying to answer that question for myself.
House chooses Boehner as speaker again despite dissent
By Thomas Ferraro and Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 3, 2013 8:14pm EST
(Reuters) - Despite a rocky few weeks during the "fiscal cliff" fight, John Boehner won re-election as speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday and will again lead Republicans as they take on the White House over federal spending.
Boehner defeated House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi 220-192 in a vote on the opening day of the 113th Congress and vowed to use his second term to shrink the national debt of $16 trillion to prevent it from "draining free enterprise."
John Boehner re-elected House speaker
in spite of Republican dissent Speaker wins 220 votes to Pelosi's 192 to prevent second ballot, but nine GOP members of 113th Congress vote against him
By Ewen MacAskill in Washington - The Guardian
John Boehner, the speaker of the House of Representatives, survived a re-election vote when the new Congress met for the first time Thursday, in spite of deep ideological divisions within his own Republican party that have left him badly wounded.
In contrast with 2010 when he won the unanimous support of his own party, a small group in the GOP registered their unhappiness with him. He has lost a lot of support over his handling of the fiscal cliff negotiations, and other issues.
BOEHNER'S SECOND CHANCE: NO COMPROMISE
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbart.com
Today, Speaker of the House John Boehner received a second chance. After ramming through a fiscal cliff deal that made conservatives shudder – income taxes increased on everyone making more than $400,000 per year, the payroll tax cut expired, unemployment insurance was extended, and pork was ladled by the bucketful into law – Boehner came under heavy fire. But conservatives recognized that the true test of Boehner's conservatism is yet to come: the debt ceiling debate.
The fiscal cliff deal was the culmination of a deal made in 2011 about the debt ceiling. That deal was the truly awful one for conservatives: it enshrined $1.2 trillion in cuts into law, but stated that if a magical supercommittee of Congressmembers could not agree on what to cut, a pre-set across-the-board spending cut would take place beginning January 1, 2013. Meanwhile, the Bush tax rates were set to expire on that same date. This was the so-called fiscal cliff.
'Public Service Was Never Meant To Be An Easy Living,'
$223,500/Year House Speaker Declares
By Craig Bannister - CNSNews.com
"Public service was never meant to be an easy living," Rep. John Boehner declared to his colleagues after being reelected to his $223,500/year post as House Speaker.
Addressing the House after his reelection, Rep. Boehner (R-Ohio) said: "Public service was never meant to be an easy living. Extraordinary challenges demand extraordinary leadership."
Return of the real Obama
By Charles Krauthammer - WashingtonPost.com
The rout was complete, the retreat disorderly. President Obama got his tax hikes — naked of spending cuts — passed by the ostensibly Republican House of Representatives. After which, you might expect him to pivot to his self-proclaimed "principle" of fiscal "balance" by taking the lead on reducing spending. "Why," asked The Post on the eve of the final fiscal-cliff agreement, "is the nation's leader not embracing and then explaining the balanced reforms the nation needs?"
Because he has no interest in them. He's a visionary, not an accountant. Sure, he'll pretend to care about deficits, especially while running for reelection. But now that he's past the post, he's free to be himself — a committed big-government social democrat.
Obama's New Year's Resolution: Protect the Status Quo
By Amy Goodman - Truthdig.com
Amidst the White House and congressional theatrics surrounding the so-called fiscal-cliff negotiations, a number of bills were signed into law by President Barack Obama that renew some of the worst excesses of the Bush years. Largely ignored by the media, these laws further entrench odious policies like indefinite detention, warrantless wiretapping and the continued operation of the U.S. gulag in Guantanamo. The deal to avert the fiscal cliff itself increases the likelihood that President Obama may yet scuttle an unprecedented cut in the Pentagon's bloated budget. It's not such a happy new year, after all.
Our Decadent Democracy
By George Will - PatriotPost.com
WASHINGTON -- Connoisseurs of democratic decadence can savor a variety of contemporary dystopias. Because familiarity breeds banality, Greece has become a boring horror. Japan, however, in its second generation of stagnation is fascinating. Once, Japan bestrode the world, jauntily buying Rockefeller Center and Pebble Beach. Now Japanese buy more adult diapers than those for infants.
America has its lowest birth rate since at least 1920 -- family formation and workforce participation (which last year hit a 30-year low) have declined in tandem. But it has an energy surplus, the government-produced overhang of housing inventory is shrinking and the average age of Americans' cars is an astonishing 10.8 years. Such promising economic indicators, however, mask America's democratic decadence, as explained by the Hudson Institute's Christopher DeMuth (The Weekly Standard, Dec. 24):
Italy's web guru tastes power
as new political movement goes viral Roberto Casaleggio's Five Star Movement aims to pioneer 'new, direct democracy' and annihilate traditional party politics
By John Hooper in Milan - Guardian.co.uk
"It's like Jesus Christ and the apostles," said Roberto Casaleggio. "His message, too, became a virus."
With a shaggy mane of black, grey and silver hair that reaches to his shoulders, Casaleggio himself would make a good messiah. As it is, he is perhaps the most distrusted man in Italian politics: the web guru who, in just over three years, has turned a comedian's fan club into Italy's second biggest political force; an eminence grise with seemingly magical powers who has never before allowed himself to be interviewed by a newspaper.
The U.S. Intelligence Community's New Year's Wish
By Tom Engelhardt - Truthdig.com
Think of it as a simple formula: if you've been hired (and paid handsomely) to protect what is, you're going to be congenitally ill-equipped to imagine what might be. And yet the urge not just to know the contours of the future, but to plant the Stars and Stripes in that future has had the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) in its grip since the mid-1990s. That was the moment when it first occurred to some in Washington that U.S. power might be capable of controlling just about everything worth the bother globally for, if not an eternity, then long enough to make the future American property.
Defense budget may be delayed due to 'cliff'
By Carlo Munoz - TheHill.com
The Pentagon could postpone delivery of the department's fiscal 2014 budget to Congress, which could arrive on Capitol Hill as late as March, as DOD and White House officials try to cope with the fallout from the recent "fiscal cliff" deal.
Pentagon leaders were "not ruling out" delaying their FY14 budget past the initial February deadline, DOD press secretary George Little told reporters on Thursday.
"We need to define a timeline in the coming weeks," Little said, noting that DOD budget officials were working "aggressively" with members of the White House's Office of Management and Budget to lock in that time line.
Google's Schmidt Urged by U.S. Not to Visit North Korea
By Sangwon Yoon - Bloomberg.com
Google Inc. (GOOG) Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt may travel to North Korea over opposition from the U.S. State Department, becoming the highest-profile businessman to visit the isolated nation since Kim Jong Un succeeded his father as leader just over a year ago.
Schmidt is planning a "private" visit to North Korea, South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai Young told reporters yesterday, confirming a report by the Associated Press, which said the 57-year-old executive would accompany former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Cho said South Korea doesn't have details of the delegation or timing of any travel.
Dynastic Asia
By Kishore Mahbubani - Project-Syndicate.org
SINGAPORE – To the extent that culture matters in politics, the recent spate of leadership changes in Northeast Asia suggests that Asian societies are more tolerant – if not supportive – of dynastic succession. South Korea's recently elected president, Park Geun-hye, is the daughter of Park Chung Hee, who ruled the country from 1961 to 1979. China's incoming president, Xi Jinping, is the son of Xi Zhongxun, a former vice premier. Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is the grandson and grandnephew of two former Japanese prime ministers, and the son of a former foreign minister. Kim Jong-un is the son and grandson of his two predecessors in North Korea.
Gold rises as Congress passes budget deal
By Wallace Witkowski and Polya Lesova, MarketWatch.com
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold and other metals futures rose on Wednesday, as investors bought commodities and stocks after Congress passed budget legislation to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.
Gold for February delivery settled up $13, or 0.8%, at $1,688.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touching an earlier session high of $1,695.40.
Ten Things You Should Know About the Cliff Deal (So Far)
By Paula Dwyer - Bloomberg.com
It was a nail-biter, but almost no one expected otherwise. Congress on Jan. 1 finally voted to avoid most of the $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that threatened to send theU.S. economy into the Dumpster. Technically, the U.S. went over the fiscal cliff. But, like in the Road Runner cartoons (an apt metaphor in more ways than one), lawmakers stopped the anvil from crushing us in mid fall.
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly From The Fiscal Cliff Deal
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The fiscal cliff deal contains more bad news than it does good news. Yes, the tax increases on the middle class could have been much worse, and we should be thankful that Congress at least did something for the middle class. Unfortunately, they didn't do enough. Every American worker is going to pay higher taxes next year as a result of this deal. The fiscal cliff deal represents the biggest tax increase in 20 years, and it is also projected to increase the U.S. national debt by an additional 4 trillion dollars over the next decade. In the final analysis, U.S. government finances are still wildly out of control and we are all going to be paying higher taxes. Not a whole lot to be excited about, and nothing has really been fixed for the long-term. Our politicians have kicked the can down the road once again, but someday they will run out of road and all of this debt will absolutely crush us. And of course a lot of our politicians didn't even really know what they were voting for. The fiscal cliff bill was more than 150 pages long, and our Senators got the bill into their hands just 3 minutes before they voted on it. So none of them actually read the bill. But that is the way things work in America today. The blind are leading the blind and everyone is mindlessly hoping that everything will turn out okay somehow.
Tax Cuts and Duplicity The next Republican middle class tax cut is in the works,
come hell or high fiscal cliff.
By PETER FERRARA - Spectator.org
Neither President Obama nor any other Democrat ever proposed any middle class tax cut in the fiscal cliff negotiations. All that was ever discussed is continuation of the same middle class income tax rates that have been in effect for 12 years now.
Those income tax rates reflect a middle class tax cut that was adopted by a Republican Congress and a Republican President 12 years ago, which virtually all Congressional Democrats voted against at the time. That is why they are called the Bush tax cuts. President Obama told us when he was running s office that the Republicans only cut taxes for the rich. But now all we have heard is about how we can't let the Bush tax cuts for the middle class expire.
Small-Business Tax Incentives Survive the Deal
By ROBB MANDELBAUM - NYTimes.com
Most of the discussion about the last-minute legislation to avert sharp tax increases for 2013 has concentrated on the Bush tax cuts — their permanent extension for most Americans and their expiration for a very few. But the bill also renews dozens of other income-tax provisions for individuals and businesses through a series of provisions that the legislating class calls "extenders." And though advocates for small businesses were concerned that legislators might overlook their interests in the high-pressure negotiations, it turns out that their pessimism was unfounded. Nearly all of the most important provisions won a reprieve through at least this year. (It just goes to show that an old temporary tax credit almost never dies, it just becomes an extender.)
Congress Passes Cliff Deal Hard-Fought Bill Averts Broad Tax Hikes,
Spending Cuts, but Puts Off Major Issues
By JANET HOOK, COREY BOLES and SIOBHAN HUGHES - WSJ.com
Congress broke a rancorous stalemate Tuesday to pass legislation designed to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. But the compromise bill, which blocked most impending tax increases and postponed spending cuts largely by raising taxes on upper-income Americans, left a host of issues unresolved and guaranteed continued budget clashes between the parties.
U.S. stocks vaulted higher on the first day of the new year, joining a global equity rally after Congress's last-minute agreement on the deficit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 235 points, or 1.8%, to 13338, for a second consecutive day of triple-digit gains.
House Vote on Fiscal Cliff Bill
Breaks GOP 3-Day Pledge to Read the Bill
By Matt Cover - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – When the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a Senate bill to avoid the fiscal cliff around 10:45 PM on Tuesday, it violated its pledge to allow three days for the public to read the legislation, a promise House Republicans made to voters before the 2010 elections.
The House passed the bill with a vote of 257-167 in evening on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the Senate had drafted and passed the bill close to 2:00 AM Tuesday morning.
• The Bush-era income tax cuts become permanent for the majority of workers while they expire for so-called "top" earners. The break is at $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. That's approximately double Obama's campaign level and 80% more than his preferred "married couples rate" according to various sources. Dividend tax rates and capital gains rates for top earners will rise to 23.8% while personal exemptions and itemized deductions that are presently in force expire for individuals earning more than $250,000 and married couples earning more than $300,000. The alternative minimum tax is now fixed to avoid snagging still more middle class households.
• Expanded unemployment benefits will continue.
• Automatic spending cuts are deferred for two months.
• A two percent payroll tax cut expires.
• Estate taxes will get an inflation indexed exemption of $5 million or more and taxes will top out at 40%.
3 Budget Battles Ahead for White House, Congress Liked the fiscal cliff? You'll love these coming attractions
By Robert Schroeder - MarketWatch.com
So, the fiscal cliff brawl is finished. Washington is breathing easy, right?
Wrong. Three more budget-related battles are looming just over the horizon, meaning lawmakers and the White House – not to mention the markets — are already buckling up for the next bumpy ride.
First off, the U.S. debt ceiling. The government reached its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit on Monday, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has begun taking what he calls extraordinary measures to delay further borrowing. But he can only do that until late February or early March.
The Winners and Losers in the Fiscal-Cliff Deal Surprise! The rich and the elderly win again.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
Senate Democrats and Republicans reached a deal to undo the majority of the so-called "fiscal cliff" by extending most of the Bush tax cuts while levying Clinton-era rates on households with more than $450,000 in income. The sequester cuts agreed to as part of the 2011 deal on the debt ceiling will be delayed for two months and perhaps ultimately replaced by some other package. But the details packed into this deal reveal the real winners and losers:
Winners
Rich people: Raising the threshold for higher taxes from $250,000 to $450,000 is a big tax cut for all kinds of rich people, not just those with adjusted gross incomes between the two figures. That's because taxes are assessed on marginal income, meaning that even if you make $600,000 or even $1 million a year you still have a very large share of your income that's taxed at a lower rate thanks to this deal.
How will economic history judge Bernanke?
James Pethokoukis - AEI
Odds are Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke almost certainly won't seek to be appointed to another four-year term in 2014. So 2013 represents his final lap around the track.
How will economic historians judge his tenure running the central bank? To some degree that verdict depends on whether the Fed can exit its low-interest rate policy and reduce its ginormous balance sheet in a way that prevents rising inflation or a sharp economic slowdown.
ENOUGH REPUBLICANS WILLING TO UNSEAT SPEAKER BOEHNER
by MATTHEW BOYLE - Breitbart.com
American Majority Action spokesman Ron Meyer told Breitbart News late Tuesday that enough House Republicans have banded together in an effort to unseat House Speaker John Boehner from his position--they just need a leader to take up the mantle.
"At least 20 House Republican members have gotten together, discussed this and want to unseat Speaker Boehner--and are willing to do what it takes to do it," Meyer said. "That's more than enough to get the job done, but the one problem these guys face is they need a leader to coalesce behind."
Despite 'Cliff' Deal's Cuts, Your Taxes Are Going Up
AP - CNBC.com
While the tax package that Congress passed New Year's Day will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase, most of them will still end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.
That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent a temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax from expiring. In 2012, that 2-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year.
The Fiscal Cliff Deal: It's Better Than It Looks
By E.J. Dionne, Jr. - Truthdig.com
WASHINGTON—To be deemed a serious analyst at the moment seems to require a lot of hand-wringing and sneering over how awful Congress looked over the last few days as it rushed a fiscal cliff deal into law.
So permit me to burn my membership card in the League of Commentators and Pundits.
Of course, there was much wrong about how Congress, particularly the House of Representatives, dealt with the best-known deadline in recent political history. A better deal was available weeks ago. But in the end, some very important and positive things happened.
Dollar turns up on 'cliff' deal
By Deborah Levine and Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch.com
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The dollar turned up against the euro and stayed higher versus the Japanese yen on Wednesday after Congress passed a bill to avoid much of the fiscal-cliff tax increases and delayed spending cuts threatening U.S. economic growth.
The dollar moved much lower in Asian and European trading after U.S. lawmakers passed a bipartisan deal to stave off tax increases for most Americans, which sent equities up sharply.
Congress Deal Averting Tax Increase Curbs Risk to States
By William Selway - Bloomberg.com
The agreement passed by Congress to keep taxes from increasing on most U.S. workers in 2013 eases a threat to states and cities only now emerging from the fiscal crisis brought on by the eighteen-month recession.
A day after the income-tax rate increases kicked in, the House of Representatives approved a Senate bill to block higher levies on everyone earning less than $400,000 and delay automatic budget cuts. State and local government officials had said inaction would deal a setback to the economy, hammering revenue and undermining a newfound financial stability.
Bipartisan House Backs Tax Deal Vote as Next Fight Looms
By Richard Rubin, Roxana Tiron & James Rowley - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. House passed a bill undoing income tax increases for more than 99 percent of households, giving a victory to President Barack Obama even as Republicans vowed to fight him in coming weeks for spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.
The 257-167 vote just after 11 p.m. yesterday capped a tension-filled final push as Republicans balked at a bipartisan Senate bill. House Speaker John Boehner ordered a vote even though 151 of 236 Republicans, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor, ultimately voted no. Obama said he'd sign it into law.
Why the Obama Tax Hikes Have Only Just Begun
By James Pethokoukis, AEI
When an economy is booming and jobs are plentiful, a "do no harm" approach to public policy will suffice. If GDP were expanding at a 4% annual rate, the unemployment rate were at 5%, and the national debt were low, then the fiscal cliff deal might be tolerable rather than terrible. While it won't create any jobs or add to growth — just the opposite in fact — and it will only cut the national debt by a rounding-error amount, passage does avoid an across-the-board income tax hike and probable recession.
So that's something. But good enough? Not really. Avoiding major unforced errors is necessary but insufficient when you're way behind in the game.
Academic Economists React: Shortfalls of Fiscal Cliff Deal
By Phil Izzo - WSJ.com
Economists from academia and think tanks weigh in on the deal to avert the fiscal cliff.
–The deal appears to offer no entitlement reforms, no tax reform, and higher marginal tax rates. After all the public discussion over the past couple years of what a good fiscal reform would like, it is hard to imagine a deal that would be less responsive to the ideas of bipartisan policy wonks. –Greg Mankiw, Harvard University
The Next Fiscal Cliff Don't celebrate yet—
the next budget crisis is just two months away.
By Matthew Yglesias - Slate.com
The fiscal cliff is dead—but the era of semi-permanent fiscal policy crisis is still with us. Indeed, if anything, the resolution of the cliff has simply served to set up a quantitatively smaller but qualitatively much more terrifying cliff two months from now. That's when the country once again reaches a crisis over the lapsing of the Treasury Department's authority to borrow money.
Lawmakers clash over federal debt ceiling
By Zachary A. Goldfarb - WashingtonPost.com
Only hours after Congress adopted a bill to avert the "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and spending cuts, lawmakers on Wednesday began to clash over the limit on federal borrowing, inaugurating the next phase of Washington's permanent fiscal war.
Republicans said they will press their demand that spending be reduced dramatically in exchange for allowing any more U.S. borrowing. But President Obama and top Democrats insisted that their goal of raising the $16.4 trillion federal debt ceiling is non-negotiable.
When the Deficit Will Be Fixed
By BRUCE BARTLETT - NYTimes.com
The Holy Grail for budget hawks is the "grand bargain" – some combination of tax increases and entitlement reforms that will get the deficit on a sustainable track, permanently. On paper, it always looks simple – relatively small adjustments to the growth path of revenues or big spending programs like Medicare or Social Security compound over time into big savings.
The problem, of course, is getting Congress to act, because of what economists call a time-inconsistency problem. The Congress that raises taxes and cuts benefits will suffer politically, while the benefits of lower deficits will accrue to future Congresses.
Moody's: More action needed to avoid credit rating downgrade
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
Moody's Investors Service announced Thursday that a compromise to avoid the "fiscal cliff" is not enough to protect the nation's AAA rating, calling for further action from policymakers.
It said a deal over raising the debt limit, which could include new spending cuts, tax hikes and entitlement reforms, could determine whether the nation's credit rating is downgraded.
When Governing Means Lurching Between Phony Crises
By Clive Crook - Bloomberg.com
The vote last night in the House of Representatives brought to a close the latest Washington master class in dereliction of duty. After a few days of arguing about who won or lost, we can move on to the next manufactured crisis.
In itself, not much of a surprise, the fiscal-cliff deal avoids most of the tax increases and postpones almost all of the spending cuts that were about to be triggered. Throughout this farce, financial markets had refused to believe that the U.S. government would inflict a recession rather than strike a budget agreement, especially because they knew that, all posturing aside, the distance between the two parties was small. Markets wobbled but didn't collapse.
Despite Cliff Deal: 'Nothing Really Has Been Fixed'
AP - CNBC.com
An emergency deal reached after weeks of rancorous negotiations will keep the U.S. from driving off the "fiscal cliff," but higher taxes and continued political bickering in Washington threaten to shake the fragile economy well into 2013.
A bill passed by Congress late Tuesday averts widespread tax increases and delays spending cuts that had threatened to take a bite out of the economy.
Cliff Resolved - Deficit Set To Explode
BY LANCE ROBERTS - FinancialSense.com
In a stunning turn of events the Republican controlled House of Representatives passed the Senate's bill to raise taxes with no cuts to spending. In my post earlier today I detailed the various tax increases, and few spending cuts, that was passed by the Senate. I also stated that:
"There are two big issues with the current bill that will keep it from passing in the House without substantial amendments:
• The cuts to spending are too small ($15 billion) relative to $620 billion in tax hikes over the next decade, and;
• There are no measures to control future spending.
Panetta: 'Cloud of sequestration' remains
By Jeremy Herb - TheHill.com
Congress prevented the worst possible outcome for the Pentagon with its "fiscal cliff" deal by delaying across-the-board spending cuts, but the "cloud of sequestration remains," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.
Panetta issued a statement Wednesday urging Congress to eliminate the threat of sequestration by passing balanced deficit reduction, after the fiscal-cliff deal delayed the across-the-board spending cuts to the Pentagon for two months.
U.S. economy to row against austerity tide in 2013
By Jason Lange
WASHINGTON | Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:52pm EST
(Reuters) - Washington has steered clear of severe austerity measures for now, reducing the risk ofrecession, but a clutch of U.S. tax hikes will nevertheless be a drag on economic growth this year.
The U.S. Congress approved a deal late on Tuesday to scale back some $600 billion in scheduled tax hikes and government spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff."
Europe's Next Great Mistake
by Harold James - Project-Syndcate.org
PRINCETON – In constructing Europe's monetary union, political leaders did not think through all of the implications, which led to major design flaws. Worse, they do not appear to have learned from that experience, for they are about to take the same approach to the monetary union's political analogue.
The logic of the financial crisis is driving Europeans toward greater integration, which implies new mechanisms for political expression. Well before the crisis, the European Union was widely perceived to be suffering from a "democratic deficit." Now, with many Europeans blaming the EU for painful austerity measures, that complaint has grown more powerful – and Europe's political leaders believe that they must act now to address it.
The Dangerous Blindspots of Clueless Keynesians
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
The Keynesian model is a Cargo Cult, mired in a distant, romanticized past where Central Planning, intervention and manipulation were solutions rather than the root of the economy's fatal disease.
If we want to trace today's policy failures back to the source, we find ourselves at Richard Nixon's famous statement that "We are all Keynesians now." The fundamental Keynesian project is that the Central State and Central Bank should manage market forces whenever the market turns down.
IRS Looks to Force Obamacare on Employers Who Cut Staff Employers Must Offer Family Care, Affordable or Not
By ROBERT PEAR - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — In a long-awaited interpretation of the new health care law, the Obama administration said Monday that employers must offer health insurance to employees and their children, but will not be subject to any penalties if family coverage is unaffordable to workers.
The requirement for employers to provide health benefits to employees is a cornerstone of the new law, but the new rules proposed by the Internal Revenue Service said that employers' obligation was to provide affordable insurance to cover their full-time employees. The rules offer no guarantee of affordable insurance for a worker's children or spouse. To avoid a possible tax penalty, the government said, employers with 50 or more full-time employees must offer affordable coverage to those employees. But, it said, the meaning of "affordable" depends entirely on the cost of individual coverage for the employee, what the worker would pay for "self-only coverage."
The fiscal cliff cuts $1.9 billion from Obamacare. Here's how.
by Sarah Kliff - WashingtonPost.com
The fiscal cliff deal is, obviously, mostly about preventing the fiscal cliff and stopping a wave of huge spending cuts. At the same time, legislators did find ways to make some relatively important health policy changes too. They include everything from raising Medicare doctor's pay, repealing a part of the Obamacare and cutting over a billion from the law's funding. Let's get right to it.
Obamacare loses $1.7 billion in funding.
50 Predictions For 2013
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Are you ready for a wild 2013? It should be a very interesting year. When the calendar flips over each January, lots of people make lots of lists. They make lists of "resolutions", but most people never follow through on them. They make lists of "predictions", but most of those predictions always seem to end up failing. Well, I have decided to put out my own list of predictions for 2013. I openly admit that I won't get all of these predictions right, and that is okay. Hopefully I will at least be more accurate than most of the other armchair prognosticators out there. It is important to look ahead and try to get a handle on what is coming, because I believe that the rest of this decade is going to be extraordinarily chaotic for the U.S. economy. The false bubble of debt-fueled prosperity that we are enjoying right now is not going to last much longer. When it comes to an end, the "adjustment" is going to be extremely painful. Those that understand what is happening and have prepared for it will have the best chance of surviving what is about to hit us. I honestly don't know what everybody else is going to do. Many of the people that don't see the coming collapse approaching will be totally blindsided by it and will totally give in to despair when they realize what has happened. But there is no excuse for not seeing what is coming - the signs are everywhere.
Goodbye, Medicare:
How the Fiscal-Cliff Deal Endangers U.S. Entitlements Democrats maneuvered themselves into making the Bush tax cuts permanent, putting Medicare and Social Security at risk in the long run
By James Kwak - TheAtlantic.com
Decades from now, January 1, 2013 will be remembered sealed the fate of Medicare--as well as Medicaid, food stamps, and perhaps even Social Security.
The tax bill passed by Congress this weekend rolls back the Bush tax cuts for income above $450,000 for households but makes them permanent below that threshold. Somewhere, George W. Bush is smiling ... if he realizes that he won.
'Fiscal cliff' deal repeals part of 'Obamacare'
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times
Tucked inside the "fiscal cliff" deal is a provision repealing the CLASS Act, a giant unfunded mandate that was part of President Obama's health care law.
The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program was a priority of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and was designed to create a program for long-term care for the functionally disabled.
Budget Deal Will Push Up Unemployment
By: Peter Morici - CNBC.com
Friday, forecasters expect the Labor Department to report the economy added 155,000 jobs in December—substantially less than is needed to pull unemployment down to acceptable levels.
The tax and spending package passedby the Senate and House provides little prospects of improvement, as the U.S. economy continues to suffer from insufficient demand and will continue growing at a subpar 2 percent a year.
Civil servants put on paid administrative leave
can get stuck in an ill-defined limbo
By Lisa Rein - WashingtonPost.com
Paul Brachfeld, the inspector general for the National Archives, planned to ring in the new year with his wife with a relaxed visit to their vacation home near Bethany Beach, Del. In October, the couple took a cruise to Puerto Rico. Brachfeld runs every morning in Silver Spring, hikes with Spree, his Jack Russell terrier, in the woods most afternoons and catches up with his adult daughters in the evening. All while collecting his $186,000 government salary.
Missouri Company Wins Its Battle
Against Obama HHS Mandate
by Joe Ortwerth, Steven Ertelt - LifeNews.com
A second business owner in the state of Missouri has won its battle against the Obama HHS mandate as a federal court granted it a reprieve from the Obama Administration's contraceptive and abortion drug mandate.
The U.S. District Court for Western Missouri issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the law against American Pulverizer Company of St. Louis. The firm is owned by Paul and Henry Griesedieck and members of the family are pro-life Christians who don't want to be forced to pay for drugs for their employees that may cause abortions.
Fracking Activities Enter Urban Areas
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
Fracking in many ways has been the saviour of the US. It has created a boom in natural gas production, and also allowed oil production to increase massively. As a result it is a fairly popular amongst the US population, especially those in areas which are benefitting the most such as Texas and North Dakota. However it will be interesting to see just how long that popularity lasts now that fracking activities are moving from remote countryside locations to urban areas, close to people's homes.
Colorado's gender-gap reversal defies 'war on women'
By Valerie Richardson-The Washington Times
DENVER — Colorado's Debbie Brown, a savvy former Republican campaign operative, made it her mission in 2012 to disarm the biggest guns in the Democrats' "war on women" strategy.
Even though President Obama won the state, Mrs. Brown's efforts made Colorado the only swing state where Republican challenger Mitt Romney reversed the gender gap and won more support from women than men — an effort Mrs. Brown said should be a template for Republicans in future elections.
Can the Bakken Reach 1 Million Barrels a Day?
BY KEITH SCHAEFER - FinancialSense.com
Can the Bakken produce one million barrels a day of oil?
If so, it would join an elite group of oil fields able to produce at that rate. Only six other fields, including Saudi Arabia's famed Ghawar field, have ever topped 1 million barrels per day–they are Burgan (Kuwait), Cantarell (Mexico), Daqing (China) and Samotlor (Russia) and Kirkuk (Iraq).
The Founding Fathers of Participatory Fascism
Mises Daily: by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
One of the themes of Murray Rothbard's writings on the nature of the state is that state power ultimately depends on the perpetuation of a body of beliefs and superstitions about the benevolence and necessity of the state, and the alleged evils of private property, free enterprise, individual liberty, and the civil society. Because the citizens always outnumber any ruling class by many orders of magnitude, they must somehow be made to acquiesce in the ruling class's plundering of their society in the name of "progress," "nationalism," "the greater good," "socialism," or whatever.
Beatings, imprisonment, torture, and mass murder are time-tested tools of the state, but they can be very costly and can instigate a revolution. Therefore, relentless propaganda is often relied upon instead to secure the power and privileges of the state and statists.
2013: The Tenther Movement Hits its Stride
by Michael Boldin - TenthAmendmentCenter.com
When Department of Justice attorney John Walsh recently referred to marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington State as attempts to nullify federal law – yes, he used the word nullify – I thought something amazing had just happened.
After 17 years of states resisting federal laws on weed, the DOJ is now recognizing these efforts for what they are. Nullification.
I wonder who's going to be next in DC. Maybe the Department of Homeland Security?
Email from JQ:
[excerpts: If you're concerned about what is happening in D.C. Then I would suggest you start building a fire under your State politicos… The States have the right to tell D.C. to take a flying leap... Congress has totally abandoned it's duty to reign in Executive Branch power grabs (on steroids) for over a decade. It will fall on the States to draw a line in the sand...]
Governor Brewer,
The Federal Government is out of control. They have allowed us to fall into third world levels of corruption. Where our laws are selectively enforced, i.e. Naked Shorting, FraudClosure, SIV's / CDO's , High Frequency Trading, etc. We might as well be in England during the last days of the Roman Empire. The emperor has us over extended in every address space and he's writing checks that he can't cash. It will be up to the States to instill some sanity and justice to counter balance the madness that permeates D.C. May, I suggest that AZ study the feasibility of a AZ State Bank. N.D. appears to be doing very well. Plus, AZ should also be ready to stand by it's X Amendment rights in the event of more oligarchic Federal edicts... I'm sending a copy of this to everyone I know.
Warm Regards,
JQ [full name removed for privacy]
Cave Creek, AZ
Where's the outrage??? NEW YORK TIMES:
THROW OFF BONDAGE OF 'EVIL' CONSTITUTION
by KEN KLUKOWSKI - Breitbart.com
The biggest liberal newspaper in the country has printed a column from a top progressive scholar calling on the American people to ignore the Constitution with its "evil provisions," revealing the far-left agenda for what it is and making sense of several major actions of the Obama administration.
Those who love liberty and our Constitution need to speak up and be heard. The Constitution is the cornerstone of the United States of America as a nation. It holds us together, gives us our national identity, and is the surest safeguard against an all-powerful government.
FDR: Advice to Young Progressives
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
It is interesting to compare Franklin Roosevelt's advice to the Young Democrats of his day, to the actions and politicies of the present Democratic President.
"From the beginning, democracy has meant progress and its battle ever since Jefferson's time has been a steady conflict with the forces of reaction and special favors. Every time the policies involving greater opportunities for the common man have triumphed, our political enemies have sought to minimize those policies and to neutralize the decisions of the people. Today is no exception to that classical course of events.
TD Hale's Dreams Tell the Future of America
BY JAMES BAILEY - z3News.com
The following is a transcript of an interview with Pastor TD Hale fromCalvary Christian Center in Galipolis, Ohio. In the interview, Pastor Hale describes the details of two dreams that he received from the Lord. The first dream was on December 28, 2011. The second dream was the very next night.
Global Crystal Ball:
What's Going to Happen Around the World in 2013? Some appropriately less-than-confident conjecture
about what the new year might have in store
By Armin Rosen - TheAtlantic.com
If you want a sense of just how hopeless it is to attempt to forecast major international events, consider this February 4, 2011 news report of a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, where a high-ranking CIA official was asked about the Agency's anticipation of the uprising in Egypt, which had started just a few days earlier. From the report, it's unclear whether even the President of the United States understood the potential for Hosni Mubarak's ouster, even after massive popular protests had seized much of the country. Even the most earth-shattering global events are difficult and sometimes impossible for the ostensibly most well-informed of governments and organizations to anticipate--indeed, they are difficult to anticipateas they are happening.
HEZBOLLAH JOINING CARTELS IN MEXICO'S WAR
by BRANDON DARBY - Breitbart.com
The Mexican Drug War has killed an estimated 60,000 people since 2006, but the violence has stayed out of the minds of most US citizens. That is about to change as Islamic extremist groups setting up shop in Mexico.
The House Committee on Homeland Security released a November 2012 report that reveals Islamic terror organizations and networks are indeed exploiting profits from narcotics, and the ease of weapons attainment, and the vast technological abilities of Mexican and other southern cartels that are thriving in Mexico's lawlessness, along with other southern regions. The report, titled A Line In The Sand: Countering Crime, Violence, and Terror at the Southwest Border, details the growing involvement of Iran and Hezbollah in Mexico and other countries south of the southern US border.
Netanyahu the Palestinian
By Alex Joffe - Project-Syndicate.org
PHILADELPHIA – In January, Israeli voters will go to the polls for an election that promises to hand Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a renewed mandate. Few prospects are more loathsome to the Israeli left, US President Barack Obama's administration, most European leaders, or many American Jews.
But no one regards the prospect of another Netanyahu government with more anguish than the Palestinians. In the Arab-Israeli conflict's long, tortured history, they have reviled no Israeli prime minister – with the possible exception of Ariel Sharon – more than Netanyahu. The reason is simple: he is one of them.
U.S. Allies Ignore Washington's Iran Sanctions
By John Daly - OilPrice.com
Since the U.S. began its "global war on terror" in late 2001 in the wake of al Qaeda's U.S. attacks, two of its most stalwart Muslim allies have been Turkey and Pakistan. Since then Turkey has provided the Pentagon access to its massive aerial facility in Incirlik, a crucial component in both Iraq and Afghanistan, along with providing troops to the NATO led and U.S. commanded International Assistance Security Force currently battling the Taliban in the latter.
Pakistan has also provided crucial infrastructure logistical assistance to ISAF forces.
But there are now policy divergences between Washington, Ankara and Islamabad over Iran's civilian nuclear program, which both the U.S. and Israel maintain masks a covert program to develop nuclear weapons, a charge that Tehran strongly denies.
The Imperial Dream of the Muslim Brotherhood
By Felix Imonti - OilPrice.com
The end will justify the means to unite the Islamic peoples into a world of virtue and prosperity to where the Muslim Brotherhood says that it will bring them. Egypt is their launching platform. The entire Islamic world is their objective.
If they were running for office in the United States or any European country on their economic platform of job creation, the sanctity of private property, and a social safety net, they will likely win. It all sounds perfect. Then, you learn that you have just voted for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Iran warns foreign planes near Strait of Hormuz
AP Foreign - Guardian.co.uk
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's navy issued dozens of warnings to foreign planes and warships that approached its forces during a five-day sea maneuver near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a semi-official news agency reported Tuesday.
Mehr quoted Adm. Amir Rastgari, spokesman for the exercise, as saying that naval and air defense forces on 30 occasions warned off reconnaissance planes, drones and warships belonging to "extraregional forces" that approached the drill, using a term that the Islamic Republic commonly employs to refer to the militaries of the U.S. and its allies.
House approves 'fiscal cliff' deal; bill headed to Obama's desk
By Russell Berman and Pete Kasperowicz - TheHill.com
The House late Tuesday night voted to approve a sweeping tax deal to prevent the most significant effects of the "fiscal cliff," overcoming Republican resistance to raising income tax rates on the wealthiest earners.
The 257-167 vote culminated a day of high drama in the Capitol, as Republican leaders considered and then quickly abandoned a plan to attach steep spending cuts to a measure passed overwhelmingly by the Senate early Tuesday morning.
House passes 'fiscal cliff' bill
By Lori Montgomery and Rosalind S. Helderman - WashingtonPost.com
The House late Tuesday gave final approval to a Senate-backed bill that will let taxes rise for the richest Americans, shield the middle class from tax hikes and extend emergency unemployment benefits, ending Washington's long drama over the "fiscal cliff."
The dramatic vote followed a wild day in which the critical measure was assumed for several hours to be headed for defeat because of widespread Republican objections. The vote was 257 to 167, with 85 Republicans joining with nearly all of the chamber's Democrats.
Congress approves 'fiscal cliff' deal in bipartisan vote
By Stephen Dinan and Sean Lengell-The Washington Times
After briefly pumping the brakes, House Republicans were poised Tuesday night to pass the deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" despite deep misgivings about hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending included in the compromise foisted on them by Senate Republicans and the White House.
The Senate ratified the deal early Tuesday morning in an 89-8 vote, and the House followed suit later in the day, voting 257-167 in favor of the deal — though Republicans were nearly two-to-one opposed to it.
- - - - - - - - - -
Final fiscal-cliff hurdle: 218 votes in House Outlook for passage remains uncertain: No vote set
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch.com
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A bipartisan deal to avert the fiscal cliff that passed the Senate in the wee hours of Tuesday morning was being scrutinized by both parties in the House of Representatives, but no timetable for any vote on the measure had yet been set.
House Speaker John Boehner was meeting with his Republican colleagues behind closed doors to go over the agreement.
House Wavers on Cliff Compromise
By COREY BOLES and JANET HOOK - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON—House lawmakers meeting for a rare New Year's Day session emerged from lengthy closed-door meetings without embracing a Senate-passed budget deal that avoids the so-called fiscal cliff.
Republicans said party members are upset that the agreement does little to reduce federal spending, suggesting they may try to change an agreement that just hours earlier cleared the Senate in an 89-8 vote. The deal would boost income-tax rates for the first time in 20 years, maintain unemployment benefits and delay spending cuts that were part of the fiscal cliff.
Senate-Passed Deal Means Higher Tax on 77% of Households
By Richard Rubin - Bloomberg.com
The budget deal passed by the U.S. Senate today would raise taxes on 77.1 percent of U.S. households, mostly because of the expiration of a payroll tax cut, according to preliminary estimates from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington.
More than 80 percent of households with incomes between $50,000 and $200,000 would pay higher taxes. Among the households facing higher taxes, the average increase would be $1,635, the policy center said. A 2 percent payroll tax cut, enacted during the economic slowdown, is being allowed to expire as of yesterday.
House Republicans blast Senate 'cliff' bill
By Pete Kasperowicz - TheHill.com
Several Republicans took to the House floor Tuesday afternoon to slam the Senate-brokered "fiscal cliff" bill that was passed earlier in the morning, calling it a rush job that raises taxes and delays most of the spending cuts planned for this year.
"So we find ourselves again with a bill that reflects not financial wisdom, but the seductive spirit that pervades this town," Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.) said.
House GOP looks to amend 'fiscal cliff' deal
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
House Republicans are balking at the "fiscal cliff" deal the Senate passed early Tuesday morning and are looking at ways to amend it rather than accept it as is.
"I expect it to be amended," Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas Republican, said as he emerged from an all-hands meeting of House Republicans that began at 1 p.m. Tuesday and still was running more than an hour later.
House Republicans to Seek Spending Cuts in Budget Bill
By Roxana Tiron, James Rowley & Heidi Przybyla - Bloomberg.com
U.S. House Republicans oppose the Senate's budget bill and will seek to insert spending cuts, jeopardizing a bipartisan effort to undo $600 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts that take effect starting today.
"I do not support the bill," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia told reporters as he left a private meeting of House Republicans today in Washington.
Fiscal cliff deal in balance
as House of Representatives weighs options Hopes of avoiding tax rises for majority of Americans reside with Republicans as prospect of Tea Party rebellion lingers
By Ewen MacAskill in Washington - Guardian.co.uk
The fate of a deal to resolve America's fiscal cliff crisis hung in the balance on Tuesday, in spite of an overwhelming vote in the Senate hours earlier in favour of a compromise bill aimed at ending the long-running saga.
President Barack Obama hailed the Senate vote and called on the House of Representatives to act "without delay". But senior figures in the House, where the Republicans have a majority, expressed dissatisfaction with the deal and it was unclear on Tuesday what its fate would be.
Paul, Lee, Rubio Vote No on 'Fiscal Cliff' Deal
that Hikes Taxes, Puts Off Spending Cuts
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah, and Marco Rubio of Florida were among only eight senators who voted at 1:39 a.m. on Tuesday against a "fiscal cliff" deal that increased taxes on Americans making over $250,000 but suspended the spending cuts that were set to automatically take effect under the terms of the deal President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner made in August 2011 when they increased the federal government's debt limit by $2.4 trillion.
On Monday, the federal government once again hit its debt limit, having borrowed all of the additional $2.4 trillion authorized by the Obama-Boehner deal.
Deal or No Deal: A Tax Hike for Every Working American Payroll tax hike.
BY DANIEL HALPER - WeeklyStandard.com
Deal or no deal, taxes are increasing for every single working American. And it appears no "fiscal cliff" proposal or provision being offered by the White House, Democrats, or Republicans will alter this fact.
The tax every working American will be hit with? The payroll tax increase.
"That means that the paychecks for more than 160 million Americans will be 2 percent smaller starting in January, as the payroll tax will jump from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent. And a huge number of those hit will be middle class or working poor (Two-thirds of those in the bottom 20 percent would be affectedby a payroll tax hike.)," describes the Washington Post.
Graham: 'Save the powder' for debt ceiling fight
by: Bobby Cervantes - Times247.com
Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday urged House Republicans to "save their powder" for the debt ceiling fight in a few months, instead of getting blamed for holding out on the Senate-backed fiscal cliff deal and then "fold like a cheap suit."
"Do the best you can, make it (the cliff deal) better if you can, but here's reality: Right now all tax rates have gone up on all Americans," the South Carolina Republican said.
Republican Cole Predicts House to Pass Senate Budget Bill
By Roxana Tiron, James Rowley & Heidi Przybyla - Bloomberg.com
A House Republican said he expects the chamber to pass the Senate's tax and spending measure unchanged tonight with a "substantial" bipartisan vote.
"Let's accept the wins that we have and live to fight another day," Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
House Speaker John Boehner offered fellow Republicans two options, including allowing a vote on the Senate bill if party members don't show they have a majority vote to amend it with spending cuts.
Cantor opposes Senate-passed fiscal cliff bill
by: Andrew Taylor - Times247.com
The No. 2 Republican in the House leadership says he opposes a Senate-passed measure to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.
Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor told reporters after a two-hour closed-door meeting Tuesday with his GOP lawmakers that he did not support the bill.
Cantor opposes Senate-passed fiscal cliff bill
by: Andrew Taylor - Times247.com
The No. 2 Republican in the House leadership says he opposes a Senate-passed measure to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.
Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor told reporters after a two-hour closed-door meeting Tuesday with his GOP lawmakers that he did not support the bill.
Say Yes to the Mess
BY WILLIAM KRISTOL - WeeklyStandard.com
The fiscal cliff deal that the Senate passed early this morning is ridiculous in too many ways to count. There seem to be no figures from the Congressional Budget Office and only "very preliminary" figures from the Joint Tax Committee about the real spending and revenue implications. The two month delay of the sequester will make actual governance even more difficult (how is the Pentagon supposed to plan for the rest of the year?). The sequester delay is funded by a gimmick with retirement savings tax rules that is a caricature of what has become of Washington legislation and policy making. Working Americans making less than $400,000 will be shocked when they find that, contrary to promises from both parties, their taxes are in fact going up (the payroll tax). And we will face another cliff when we hit the debt ceiling and the sequester again in two months.
House Republicans balk at "fiscal cliff" deal
By Rachelle Younglai and Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON | Tue Jan 1, 2013 4:25pm EST
(Reuters) - Washington's last-minute scramble to step back from a "fiscal cliff" ran into trouble on Tuesday as Republicans in the House of Representatives balked at a deal to avert a budget crisis.
Republican leaders in the House said they might try to change the bill approved by the Senate which voted to raise taxes on the wealthy in a late-night show of unity.
House plans to act on cliff deal
By JAKE SHERMAN and CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN - Politico.com
Speaker John Boehner is leaving the fate of the Senate-passed fiscal cliff deal in the hands of the House Republican Conference.
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) vote-counting operation is kicking into full gear on Tuesday night — after the country has officially gone off the cliff — to gauge whether 218 Republicans would support amending the Senate bill with a package of spending cuts.
Keiser Report: Year of Banking Death Penalty (E387)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the two big themes for 2013: the execution of the too big to fail outlaw banks and the death of the Bretton Woods engineered fiat and faith debt based system as nations around the world ask for the return of their gold. They also talk to several Keiser Report guests about their predictions for 2013, including predictions from Rob Kirby on JP Morgan's collapse, Mitch Feierstein on JP Morgan's copper ETF, Ned Naylor-Leyland on the CFTC investigation into silver manipulation and the Yes Men's Andy Bichlbaum on the Global Spring.
Senate-passed 'fiscal cliff' agreement in trouble in House
By Erik Wasson, Russell Berman and Molly K. Hooper - TheHill.com
The Senate's New Year's Eve compromise on the "fiscal cliff" hit major turbulence in the House on Tuesday, and the Republican majority is likely to try to amend the bill and send it back to the Senate, House Republicans said.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told his conference he is flatly opposed to the Senate bill without more spending cuts, members said as they emerged from a nearly two-hour Republican meeting in the Capitol.
Mind Over Matter?
BY BRIAN PRETTI CFA - FinancialSense.com
From year end 2006 to the present, the top six central banks globally have printed close to $12 trillion in new money. Quite the feat given that they started with a collective balance sheet of $5 trillion. And it's not over yet, not by a long shot. One question I have heard again and again over this period is "where's the inflation?" Academically, the printing of money iscurrency debasement. Perhaps you'll remember from your college economics class the definition of inflation as being too much money chasing too few goods. This is exactly why the printing of money has historically been associated with the concept and often reality of price inflation.
The Ongoing War: After the Battle Over the Cliff,
the Battle Over the Debt Ceiling
By Robert Reich
"It's not all I would have liked," says Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, speaking of the deal on the fiscal cliff, "so on to the debt ceiling."
Regardless of what happens in the House of Representatives (at this moment, it's still a cliff-hanger), the battle over the fiscal cliff is only a prelude to the coming battle over raising the debt ceiling – a battle that will likely continue through early March, when the Treasury runs out of tricks to avoid a default on the nation's debt.
Keiser Report: Banker Infestation (E386)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert argue over whether things are looking better or worse for the American worker. While Stacy argues that the return of some manufacturing is a sign that wealth creating jobs may return to the US, Max counters that the system is so corrupt that the chances of labor getting any cut of the wealth is nil and that the Internet giants will prevent the rise of a powerful decentralized economy online. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to Professor Jonathan Feldman about the Global Teach-In and about a boycott and short sale campaign and creating an industrial policy for America because right now the US even outsources some military production to China.
Senate Democrats will reject House changes
to tax bill, aides say
By Alexander Bolton - TheHill.com
Senate Democratic leaders say they will reject any House effort to amend a fiscal cliff deal that passed the upper chamber with overwhelming support on New Year's Day.
"The House Republicans have two choices: cut their losses and pass the deal now, or else put up a fight they cannot win and pass the same deal a few days now after being further humiliated," said a Senate Democratic leadership aide.
Obama presses House of Representatives to pass 'fiscal cliff' deal
Agreement expected to encounter opposition from conservatives in the Lower House
By TIM WALKER - Independent.co.uk
President Barack Obama has pressed the House of Representatives to vote in favour of a Senate-backed deal that would avert the swingeing cuts and soaring tax rates of America's so-called "fiscal cliff".
The country officially passed its deadline for an agreement on new budget legislation at midnight on New Year's Eve, but after Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell brokered a last-minute agreement, the Senate approved it overwhelmingly at 2am this morning, by 89 votes to eight.
Why Riyadh Cares about the "Fiscal Cliff"
By Daniel J. Graeber - OilPrice.com
Oil revenue made up more than 90 percent of the total revenues for Saudi Arabia despite a steady decline in production. With a choppy 2012 drawing to a close, the Saudi finance minister said the kingdom had run a multibillion-dollar budget surplus. Despite a tense economic year, the ailing Saudi king, for his part, said there was "plenty of wealth" in the kingdom. Production from non-OPEC members could put a strain on Riyadh's budget for next year, however. And, should lawmakers in the United States fail to reach a budget deal before markets re-open Wednesday, oil prices could slump further on concerns of a recession from the world's top oil consumer.
CBO: 'Fiscal cliff' deal
carries $4 trillion price tag over next decade
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
The Senate deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" will add roughly $4 trillion to the deficit when compared to current law, according to new numbers from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The CBO determined Tuesday that the package, hammered out late Monday evening by Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would — over the next decade — come with a $3.9 trillion price tag.
Keiser Report: Next American Revolution (E385)
(ft. Gerald Celente)
In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss Hank Paulson sightings in Chicago and the Boxing Day presents for the global peasants from the global elite, including 45 bad banker apples (at UBS) and an attempt to part the people of India from their gold hoard. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to trends forecaster, Gerald Celente of TrendsResearch.com about the next American Revolution and Nehru jackets.
Fiscal cliff: America goes to the brink,
but millions already fell into poverty Whatever the outcome of the political haggling, Congress has failed the 50 million Americans below the bread line
By Heidi Moore - Guardian.co.uk
The one comfort of government incompetence is that it is never a surprise: it is, if anything, a starting point for the public's expectations of Washington.
Still, even that certainty doesn't pay the bills, and that is a problem for 2.1 million Americans who have been out of work for more than 27 weeks and will be cut off from unemployment insurance tonight. No matter what happens, the fiscal cliff talks have been a failure: Congress will not achieve a "grand bargain" to save Americans from the brunt of ill-considered, sweeping tax hikes and government spending cuts.
This dysfunctional system
has just kicked the can down the road President Obama has too often seemed disdainful
not only of the recalcitrant House,
but of the entire legislative process
By RUPERT CORNWELL - Independent.co.uk
Americans can rarely have held their politicians in greater contempt, and rightly so. The agreement that pulls the country back from the brink of the so-called "fiscal cliff" is no more than a feeble, last-ditch palliative. And even that assumes the House of Representatives will follow the Senate in a bipartisan vote to ratify the deal (which at the time of writing was no sure thing.)
Some observers have glibly asserted that the stalemate is precisely what the country's founding fathers envisaged, with the constitution's elaborate system of checks and balances. But Messrs Washington, Jefferson, Madison and the rest could never have imagined so colossal a collective abdication of responsibility by the people's elected representatives.
Perspective on the Deal
By Paul Krugman - NYTimes.com
To make sense of what just happened, we need to ask what is really at stake, and how much difference the budget deal makes in the larger picture.
So, what are the two sides really fighting about? Surely the answer is, the future of the welfare state. Progressives want to maintain the achievements of the New Deal and the Great Society, and also implement and improve Obamacare so that we become a normal advanced country that guarantees essential health care to all its citizens. The right wants to roll the clock back to 1930, if not to the 19th century.
Krauthammer: Cliff deal 'surrender'
By BOBBY CERVANTES - Politico.com
The Senate-passed fiscal cliff bill that House Republicans now are debating is a "complete rout for Democrats" and '"complete surrender" for the GOP, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer said Tuesday.
"Look, there are a lot of conservatives in the Republican caucus in the House who hate the bill for good reason. This is a complete surrender on everything," he said about the ratio of tax hike to spending cuts.
US Steel Industry Set to Grow on the Back of the Shale Boom
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
Hydraulic fracturing of shale rock across the US has led to a huge boom in natural gas production and a subsequent surplus in supply over demand. This has led gas prices to fall by as much as 50% in just two years, "triggering an avalanche of industrial expansion plans," according to Pehlivanova and Wang of Barclays.
The first industry that grew as a direct result of the shale boom was the chemical industry. After years of decline the cheap costs of natural gas enabled chemical manufacturers to slash their costs and become much more profitable and competitive. Shares in LyondellBasell Industries NV have more than doubled since its bankruptcy back in 2010, and it is just one of several chemical giants to invest billions of dollars to develop plants around the Gulf of Mexico to take full advantage of the cheap gas.
Stock market will blindside investors in 2013 Commentary: Optimist or pessimist, black swans will get you
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Investors, it's time to retest your 2013 strategic computer, your brain. Are you an Optimist who listens to the noisy Wall Street's media bulls? Or are you naturally a perennial skeptical Pessimist who never trusts Wall Street and likely every other so-called expert predicting the future of the economy, the market, the world.
Let's look past the typical avalanche of noisy predictions into the insanity that's ahead in 2013. First, the final phase of the 2008 crash that the Pessimist sees coming. Then, the stock market's surprising 2012 trouncing of the New Normal's predicted single-digits returns.
Safeguard Your Phone from Malware A Modern Cellphone Is Really a Small Computer and,
Like Its Bigger Brethren, It Needs Protection
By BONNIE CHA - WSJ.com
If you think that only computers can get viruses, think again.
According to a report by research group Juniper Networks, JNPR +1.50% hackers are increasingly targeting smartphones and other mobile devices with malicious software (also known as malware) to gain access to personal information. The threat is still small in comparison to computers, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take precautions to protect your smartphone.
Gun Owners Like Me Are Not The Problem
And Taking Our Guns Away Won't Reduce Gun Crime
By Charlie Daniels - CNSNews.com
On Friday 12/28/12, I raised the flag in my back yard to full mast. I had it lowered to half mast in honor and respect for the innocent citizens of Newtown, Connecticut who were brazenly, wantonly and uselessly gunned down by a demonically motivated individual, a coward who didn't even have the courage to shoot it out with others who also had guns.
Out of deference to the bereaved family members, I wanted to hold off entering the resulting battle that was sure to come over gun control and, in keeping, I offer my very deepest condolences to people who are suffering something I cannot not even begin to fathom.
Oil ship runs aground in Alaska Drill ship, the Kulluk, carrying about 155,000 gallons of fuel, drifted in stormy weather before being driven on to rocks
By Reuters - Guardian.co.uk
A large drill ship belonging to the oil company Shell has run aground offAlaska after drifting in stormy weather, company and government officials said.
The ship, the Kulluk, broke away from one of its tow lines on Monday afternoon and was driven, within hours, on to rocks just off Kodiak Island, where it grounded at about 9pm Alaska time, officials said.
Shells Arctic Nightmare Continues
as Tow Lines Snap on Drill Rig
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
Shells attempts to explore for oil in the Arctic has been hit by delays and problems since the start, and even after the drilling season has finished things refuse to pass smoothly.
Shell (NYSE:RDS.B) used the Kulluk conical drilling rig to bore the first half of an exploratory well in the Beaufort Sea in Alaska, and then began towing it back to a safe harbour in Seattle where it would receive basic maintenance. Little did they know of the nightmare that would ensue.
David Cameron sets free trade agreement as his G8 priority PM to push for Europe-US deal despite problems of past muted response in Washington and his vulnerable position in the EU
By Juliette Jowit and Ewen MacAskill - The Guardian
David Cameron has made the establishment of a free trade agreement between Europe and the US a key priority during the UK's leadership of the G8 group of richest nations this year.
In a letter to fellow national leaders in the group, whose economies make up more than half the world's output, the prime minister said expanding free trade was one of three areas he wanted them to focus on.
North Korea Picks Stronger Economy,
South Ties as Top 2013 Tasks
By Sangwon Yoon - Bloomberg.com
North Korea's Kim Jong Un named improving the economy and better relations with South Korea as top policy goals for his second year as leader, signaling he may ease his country's confrontational approach toward Seoul.
"The building of an economic giant is the most important task that comes to the fore in the present stage of building a thriving socialist country," Kim said today in a New Year address carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. "The reunification of the country is the greatest national task that brooks no further delay."
North Korean leader, in rare address,
seeks end to confrontation with South
By Jack Kim
SEOUL | Tue Jan 1, 2013 3:04pm EST
(Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an end to confrontation between the two Koreas, technically still at war in the absence of a peace treaty to end their 1950-53 conflict, in a surprise New Year's broadcast on state media.
The address by Kim, who took power in the reclusive state after his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011, appeared to take the place of the policy-setting New Year's editorial published annually in the past in leading state newspapers.
Syria's Oil Now a Target of Civil War
By Claude Salhani - OilPrice.com
It was only a matter of time before Syria's oil industry, sagging as it may be, became a target in the country's civil war, a conflict that is rapidly devastating Syria's infrastructure and economy. The latest casualty is now Syria's modest oil industry, already suffering from lack of modernization.
In two separate incidents in the past couple of days rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad have announced the capture of an oil pumping station in the northern part of the country in what was described as fierce fighting that raged over several days, and have blown up a natural gas pipeline in the eastern part of the country.
CONGRESS THROWS WORST NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY
IN THE WORLD - UPDATE: BIDEN CRASHES
by JOEL B. POLLAK - Bretibart.com
If you're not having as much fun as you expected this New Year's Eve, take some comfort in the fact that the nation's politicians are even more miserable. They just failed to avert the "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts, and they're still stuck in Washington, D.C. anyway. The entire country hates them, they hate each other, and yet they're fated to ring in 2013 together, drowning their sorrows in wonton soup at the Hunan Dynasty.
The Democrats were thought to be less afraid of going over the cliff than the Republicans. Yet they seem just as upset. The Senate may yet vote tonight on a deal that will raise taxes on those making $450,000 per year, among other provisions, while putting off the sequester for two months until the details of spending cuts can be worked out. House members are being told to stick around, lest they be called in for a vote sometime on Jan. 1.
Obama, Republicans reach deal on fiscal cliff;
Senate vote expected tonight
By Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane - WashingtonPost.com
President Obama and Senate Republicans reached a sweeping deal late Monday that would let income taxes rise significantly for the first time in more than two decades, fulfilling Obama's promise to raise taxes on the rich and averting the worst effects of the "fiscal cliff."
Vice President Biden arrived at the Capitol just after 9 p.m. to explain the details of the pact he negotiated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). A Senate vote on the package could be held by 10:30 p.m., beating a midnight deadline, Democratic aides said. The Republican-controlled House will begin considering the bill on Tuesday, with a final vote expected in the next day or two.
Over the 'fiscal cliff' we go — for one day Senate, Obama reach deal; House will wait to vote
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
Congress careened over the edge of the "fiscal cliff" Monday, with a final deal proving elusive to avoid the across-the-board tax increases slated to begin Tuesday and spending cuts that kick in a day later.
The White House and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the top Republican in the talks, said they had agreed on raising tax rates on the wealthy and were pressing for a late-night vote in the Senate. But House Republicans had already announced they wouldn't vote until New Year's Day at the earliest — after the midnight deadline — and adjourned before 7 p.m.
McConnell: Agreement reached
to postpone sequester two months
By Alexander Bolton - TheHill.com
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has told GOP colleagues that negotiators have agreed to postpone the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester for two months.
The agreement could pave the way for Senate passage of legislation to avoid the biggest parts of the so-called "fiscal cliff." But it still needs to be approved by the Senate Democratic caucus, whose members are grumbling about the details.
OBAMA DEMONSTRATES THE VIRTUE OF THE SEQUESTRATION
BY PAUL MIRENGOFF - PowerlineBlog.com
President Obama has just completed his highly partisan remarks on fiscal cliff negotiations to a highly partisan crowd at the White House. If Obama actually wants a deal, he should hope that no Republican legislators were watching. And one can now better understand why Speaker Boehner became so frustrated after dealing on a sustained basis with this arrogant man.
Stripping away Obama's self-serving cheap shots at Congress — which some Republican members may find difficult to do — Obama basically told us that spending cuts are going to have to be "balanced." And he made it clear that by this he means, in part, that spending cuts will have to balanced by additional revenue increases beyond those achieved by the increases in tax rates for the wealthy that will be part of the impending deal (assuming it is consummated).
America just breached its debt ceiling US To Officially Go Over The Fiscal Cliff
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
As we forecast back in November, it is now official that the House will not vote on any deal out of the Senate, assuming there is one which there won't be of course, later today, which means America will officially slide off the Fiscal Cliff. And now cue everyone being very hopeful and optimistic a deal will get done momentarily, if not sooner, in 2013. Of course, we all know just how far optimism takes America's dysfunctional Congress. The biggest irony in all of this is that the only winners today were the much hated "1%"-ers, whose taxes may or may not go up, who just got to book major year end profits on this last minute ramp. The remainder of America's population can quietly look forward to 2013 with "hope" and "optimism" that in 2013 Congress will finally stop being dysfunctional. Good luck. Oh, and before we forget, America just breached its debt ceiling: now the pillaging of various government retirement funds begins.
Geithner Tells Congress U.S. Reaches Debt Limit
By Kasia Klimasinska - Bloomberg.com
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner told Congress that the U.S. hit its statutory debt limit, necessitating emergency steps announced last week as a way to keep funding the government and avoid default.
Geithner said he had issued a "debt issuance suspension period" for the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, effective today and to last until Feb. 28, 2013. The letter said the Treasury was taking similar action for the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund.
Next fight… the Debt LIMIT Congress to punt political football again
rather than tackle problem
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times
Washington on Monday was poised to do what it does best: invent a half-solution to a full problem while punting the toughest questions for later and setting up more deadline drama.
It's the latest in a string of deals over the past two years that couples small movement on spending with an agreement to revisit the issue soon, which is what led to the "fiscal cliff" in the first place.
Treasury says US has reached $16.4 trillion borrowing limit
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
The U.S. government reached its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit on Monday, according to the Treasury Department.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner informed congressional leaders in a letter Monday that the government has begun employing "extraordinary measures" to avoid default as it bumps up against the borrowing cap.
Geithner said his agency is beginning a "debt issuance suspension period."
Behold The Brains Behind Ben Bernanke's Binary Black Box
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
When it comes to the decisions made by a group of academics behind closed doors to keep the stock market in nominal terms up at all costs (nevermind such trivial matters as the jobless rate, inflation, i.e., all those things they are tasked with), one would think they are all based on the bubblicious ramblings of one Ben Bernanke, or Charles Evans, or even one Janet Yellen. One would be very wrong.
As it turns out the real decisions that determine the value of paper money (laughable as it is), and thus billions of people in the world, are all in the virtual hands of the following three entities: Ferbus, Edo and Sigma.
Both sides get wins in tax deal
By Erik Wasson - TheHill.com
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Vice President Biden have reached a deal on the tax portions of a "fiscal cliff" agreement
