Tag: Banks

Critics Of The OWS

I have written about the expansion of the OWS……and the demands that have been on the website…..and the advice about those that would hijack the movement….and now I would like to pass on some of the criticism of the movement…..NO!  I am not talking about the criticism from idiots that would not inform….but instead criticism that I have found from seasoned activists….

First we have the Repub leadership calling the protests a “MOB” and saying that they are killing our democracy by pitting American against American……..and of course there is the voice of the Right…FOX News…..they have been critical……so there is a critical outlook by some……to me there is NOTHING wrong with protests especially when politicians are not doing what we pay them to do….govern!

Please remember….these are NOT my criticism but those of others……below from an article written by Lee Rogers…….

Most of these useful idiots protesters know absolutely nothing about how the global financial system works and know less than nothing about the central banking systems of the world.  Central banks like the Federal Reserve System and the European Central Bank have been setup by design to implement a debt based monetary system that has been used to turn the vast majority of people into debt slaves.  They create money out of nothing and then charge interest on top of the money they create out of nothing through loans.  Even the United States government borrows money from this system and because of that they have to implement draconian tax schemes on the people just so they can pay back the interest on the debt.

What’s ironic about this whole situation is that a central banking system is in fact a major plank of the Communist Manifesto as is a graduated income tax both of which have been fully implemented in the United States for almost 100 years now.  With this in mind you would think that these Communist protesters would have nothing to protest because the ideologies which they claim to be in support of have actually been in use for a very long time.  Unfortunately because these people are so ignorant and stupid they have no idea that the ideologies they are promoting are the very cause of the problems they are suffering from.

The protesters are at least correct about one thing and that’s the fact that the big banks and brokerage firms on Wall Street are certainly part of the problem.  Many of these organizations in a real free market system would be out of business if it wasn’t for the bailouts they received back in 2008.  The only reason they are still in existence is because of their insider links to the highest levels within both the Federal Reserve System and the United States government.  The fact that these organizations get multi-billion dollar bailouts is proof that we do not operate in a true free market system and is the reason why power and wealth has been centralized in the hands of fewer and fewer people.  Small and medium sized business would never receive bailouts even a fraction the size of the bailouts these high profile banking interests received and this fact alone shows that we are in the midst of a predatory monopolist economic system that favors the few and not the many.

It is unfortunate that these protesters are entirely off base as to what the main problem is and also entirely off base as to what the real solution to the problem is. The real problem is the phony debt based money that originates from the Federal Reserve System which allows these powerful insiders to manipulate the economy and bailout their buddies if they get in trouble.  An institution that sets rules as to how money is created and dumped into the economy should be at the very center of this debate and it is laughable that these protesters don’t even consider it an important issue.  The real solution does not exist within collectivist ideologies but instead exists within true free market principles and within a monetary system not based around centralized control and debt.  Unfortunately, convincing these useful idiots of these principles may prove to be next to impossible.

Once again….do not shoot the messenger….I am just passing on what others see as some short falls in the movement…….to me…the whole Fed Reserve thing has the smell of a Libertarian thought……what do you think?

I believe that a lack of specifics means that all the protesters see the same thing…unfairness in the political system…..no matter what bitches they may have individual….they want the government returned to the people where it is suppose to be and out of the hands of special interests…..Just my thought.

I cannot close without mentioning another critic of the OWS movement…he is everyone’s favorite bobble head……..a man that knows no bounds when he opens his mouth….my hero and yours….Glenn Beck…..

“Capitalists, if you think that you can play footsies with these people, you’re wrong. They will come for you and drag you into the streets and kill you…they’re Marxist radicals…these guys are worse than Robespierre from the French Revolution…they’ll kill everybody.”

I too am concerned….I mean all those crazies with their guns at these protests…….OH CRAP!…..that was last year and it was the Tea Party….Never mind!

Was Perry Right?

Recently Gov. Perry of Texas and presidential candidate accused Bernanke of treason or that his actions were treasonous…..many pundits condemn his statement as amateur swagger….that it was a rookie mistake on the first couple of days on the campaign trail…and as much as it pains me…..(pause here for grimacing)……he could be right.

What!  Prof. Chuq is siding with Perry?

Sorry, but Perry does have a point in his statement…..

The Federal Reserve is quietly continuing with one of the many outrageous bank-bailout programs it initiated during the financial crisis–the one in which it pays big banks interest on their “excess reserves.”

What are “excess reserves”?

Money that the banks have but aren’t lending out–money that banks are just keeping on deposit at the Fed.

The Fed is paying banks 0.25% interest on this money.

0.25% interest may not sound like much, but it’s more than the banks are paying you to keep money in your savings or money-market account. It’s also more than you’ll earn if you lend the Federal government money for 2 years.Why on earth is the Fed paying banks not to lend? Well, back in the financial crisis, the Fed wanted to find ways to secretly bail out the banks without it being screamingly obvious to every American that that was what it was doing. And this particular bailout program was one of the more successful ways it discovered of doing that. Over the past few years, this program has secretly funneled about $10 billion in risk-free cash (rough estimate) directly to the banks, just for being banks and not lending. Don’t you wish you could get in on that game?

The Fed pays banks about $4 billion of interest a year on that money–the money the banks aren’t lending. And bankers get big bonuses based on that interest, for being so smart as to not lend money and instead just take the free interest from the Fed.Source:BI

Read the entire piece at Business Insider and then say that you cannot understand the frustration that Perry may feel….personally, I think the Perry is an idiot and most likely never heard of the piece in BI….but beyond all that…..we are still being screwed by the Banksters and we are smiling all the time…..how smart are we?

But let me add……I think Prick….my bad……Rick Perry is an idiot…he is a self-serving little toad…Just so there is NO confusion of what I really think of this arrogant snake……if he wins the election in 2012,  I will look for property in Nova Scotia…….why?  All is lost for this country!

“Foggy Bottom” Math

First of all….nope….not a porn movie…….Foggy Bottom was the original name of the tract of land that Washington D.C. sits on today….

Next, this new “deal” that the two parties and their Tea Party alternates have come up with is NO compromise……the math does not add up…….second, explain to me and the world how gutting government will induce massive prosperity……..third, you realize that the so-called caps are BS, right?  There is NOTHING in the deal that requires or mandates future Congresses uphold the caps…..it is just a way to get attention and to do nothing while appearing to do a lot…….

Prof. Micheal Hudson was said….

“You know that the debt kerfuffle is as staged as melodramatically as a World Wrestling Federation exhibition…. The reality, of course, is that [the eldery] are being led to economic slaughter…

It is a con. Mr. Obama has come to bury Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, not to save them…

When governments are run by the rich, it is called oligarchy… we are seeing a lapse back into neo-feudalism. The difference, of course, is that this time around society is not controlled by military grabbers of the land. Finance today achieves what military force did in times past. Instead of being tied to the land as under feudalism, families today may live wherever they want – as long as they take on a lifetime of debt to pay the mortgage on whatever home they buy.

And instead of society paying land rent and tribute to conquerors, we pay the bankers. Just as access to the land was a precondition for families to feed themselves under feudalism, one needs access to credit, to water, medical care, pensions or Social Security and other basic needs today – and must pay interest, fees and monopoly rent to the neo-feudal oligarchy that is now making its deft move from the United States to Ireland and Greece.

The U.S. Government has spent $13 trillion in financial bailouts since Lehman Bros. failed in September 2008. But Mr. Obama warns that thirty years from now, the Social Security fund may run a $1 trillion deficit. It is to ward it off that he urges dismantling the plans for such payments now. It seems that the $13 trillion used up all the money the government really has. The banks and Wall Street firms have taken the money and run. There is not enough to pay for Social Security, Medicare or other social spending…

The exercise turns out to be a not-so-divine comedy. Mr. Obama offers a plan that looks very Republican. But the Republicans say no. There is an illusion of a real fight…

The Obama administration is now deep into its Orwellian rhetorical phase…

Wall Street knows that to get sufficient Congressional votes to roll back the New Deal, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, a Democratic president needs to be in office. A Democratic Congress would block any Republican president trying to make the kind of cuts that Mr. Obama is sponsoring. But Congressional Democratic opposition is paralyzed when President Obama himself – the liberal president par excellence… – acts as cheerleader for cutting back entitlements and other social spending.” [read full report]

Sadly, I see a group of people in Washington, I refuse to call them representatives, because they are not representing anyone but themselves, that would allow the country to self-destruct to get their way……….Obama is doing as much if not more harm than the Repubs could ever come up with in their narrow minded thought process……

The American people have a better grasp on where the country needs to spend and where it needs to cut……this from a recent survey…….

Full report(PDF)
American Public Shows How it Would Cut the Budget Deficit

The biggest difference in spending is that the public favored deep cuts in defense spending, while the administration and the House propose modest increases. However, the public also favored more spending on job training, education, and pollution control than did either the administration or the House. On average the public made a net reduction of $146 billion–far more than either the administration or the House called for.The public also showed readiness to increase taxes by an average of $292 billion–again, far more than either the administration or the House.

On average, the public cut defense spending by 18%, reducing it by $109 billion. By contrast, the president’s proposal increases defense spending by 4% and the House calls for increasing it 2%. For intelligence agencies the public cut 15%, while the administration says the agencies would grow, though at a slower pace.

The most dramatic differences were for job training and higher education. The public increased job training a whopping 130%, while the House cut it by a stark 47%. The administration nicked it 3%. For higher education, the House cut it 26%, the administration increased it 9% and the public increased it 92%.

Read the full report and see just how outta touch Washington is….and then keep that in mind when they want your vote next year……

At least it shows that the American people have a better grasp of basic economics than do the wankers in Washington that we elected to run the country……shows we need to pay better attention next time around…….

The American political system as it is today makes me desire a cleansing shower……..I feel dirty!

A More Austere Greece

Greece has lots of problems, along with several other countries in the EU and some even say that the US is looking at major economic problems….Greece has erupted in violence….again.

I have been writing about the problems and some of the solutions that the IMF will look for and some of the other choices that Greece must come to terms with and soon……..

I wrote a piece the other day about what the IMF will most likely demand of Greece…..http://bit.ly/mEUNw0……and today there is another post on the austerity politics ….all are related to the happenings in Greece….

But if Greece is to save itself from financial ruin what must it do?

In an article written by Wayne Madson…..

What lies in store for Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Italy, and, in short order, the United States, is the wholesale sell-off of public property to private corporations at bargain basement prices. What the despots who gather in their secretive lairs at Davos, Cernobbio, Bilderberg, and G8/G20 are bringing about is a world where no property is owned by the state, which by default means the people. Total corporate control over every facet of life equals extreme fascism.What is occurring in Greece is a bellwether for what will befall other nations in Europe, as well as the United States, if the bankers get their way. And in Greece, the people know how generations of investments by the taxpayers are being turned over to vampire capitalists who have the full backing of the International Monetary Fund, European Commission, and the European Central Bank.

The European and global bankers have demanded that the Greek government sell off entirely or assume a minority stake in a number of state enterprises and utilities.

For example, this year global capitalists are slated to acquire 84 percent of OTE, the Greek telecommunications provider. In addition, private bankers will assume 66 percent ownership of the Greek Postal Savings Bank; 51 percent of the National Lottery; 60 percent of the Salonika Water Authority; 68 percent of DEPA, the natural gas utility; and 25 percent ownership of the ports of Piraeus and Salonika.

Next year, the capitalist grab for public property increases in intensity with Athens International Airport coming under 79 percent private ownership. The global capitalists will also obtain 100 percent ownership of the Egniata toll motorway; 60 percent of Hellenic Post; 66 percent of OPAP, the state-run video-lotto and online sports betting firm; 73 percent of the Athens Water Authority; 83 percent of DEI, the Greek Electric Authority; and 51 percent of the Greek Regional Airports Authority.

There you are……an all out assault on the public sector…….an attempt to make everything and I mean everything is controlled by the private sector….everything will be for profit and NOTHING will be based on need or society’s needs….not a bad deal…..one gets to control the public sector for pennies on the dollar………..and NO one can see why the people are pissed off?  What is the first thing companies do when they buy another company?  (pause here for reflection)…..do not hurt yourself…..they fire people and shit can benefits…..and this what the whole world is looking at when the people scream about austerity…….

What part of any of this austerity crap is good for the people?  Where will it improve their lives?

Happy days are here again!

Is This NOT Important?

I realize that Wisconsin situation and the horrible quake and tsunami are breaking stories and the world needs to hear them….but on the same hand there are things happening in news that are just as important….if not more so…..in a couple of months the two mentioned above will be replaced by other issues and most likely other disasters…..

There are things that the media will cull out of  the story board….why?  Most media outlets are owned and operated by corporate interests and some stories are not at all flattering and in as such will be either not reported or glazed over quickly and then move on…….Newser has reported on such a story……

A trove of leaked documents apparently reveals that Bank of America may have been involved in a scheme to bilk homeowners—a claim the bank rigorously denies. Hacker group Anonymous, which leaked the documents, says that more damning information is on the way, reports Business Insider. The emails, which allegedly come from an ex-employee of BoA subsidiary Balboa Insurance, apparently show the bank, insurance providers, and mortgage brokers all knew of a scheme to cancel people’s insurance agreements, forcing homeowners to buy much more expensive mortgage insurance far above normal requirements. Often, this would also lead to home foreclosures. Anonymous put BoA in its crosshairs last December after the bank cut off contributor payments to WikiLeaks. The hacker group has created bankofamericasucks.com,and promises to post more damning leaks. Bank of America, however, called the leaked materials non-foreclosure related clerical and administrative documents, telling Reuters: “We are confident that his extravagant assertions are untrue.”

And yet, this is somehow NOT important enough to be covered in its entirety…..WHY?

The best answer is……the media, the government and the country are ruled by special interests and the people are there only to service them….for the people NOTHING!

Must We Save The Whole World?

The Arab world is going to Hell in a hand basket!  The media has finally decided that something may be a story there….when it was Tunisia it was a spot on the news with little commentary….but NOW it is Egypt and by God the world has to pay attention……and it is spreading to Yemen and Jourdan….two more American client states……it could effect OIL and we know Americans would have DTs if that were the case……

But a little reported story of another of America’s client states is just a smear on a news crawler……Afghanistan.  What is the big deal there…I mean besides a costly war that is killing and maiming people shittin’ and goin’?

From a report in the NYT….

Fraud and mismanagement at Afghanistan’s largest bank have resulted in potential losses of as much as $900 million — three times previous estimates — heightening concerns that the bank could collapse and trigger a broad financial panic in Afghanistan, according to American, European and Afghan officials.  The extent of these losses make it clear that keeping the bank afloat — something the government has said it is determined to do — would require large infusions of cash from an already strained budget.

Infusion of cash?  What does that mean?  Will we American taxpayers being helping another set of bankers get richer?  And where did the bulk of the $900 million come from?  What in that country is worth $900 million short of the poppy fields, that is?

How much of the missing cash came on the backs of American taxpayers?  How will the Congress hide their large infusion of cash to Afghanistan?  Since the GOP is all ahead full with their slashing and demonize social programs….which ones will be effected by any help to Afghanistan?  Maybe education, God knows it is not that important in the first place….maybe you Medicare….or your Social Security…….who will be effected in the country’s rush to prop up another bank…only this one will be in Afghanistan and not on Wall Street….

Can Y’all Hear Me Now?

I have been one of those people that have been blaming Clinton and his Boyz and banks for the economic crisis we are in now…..some say it is NOT justified…..but I say….WAKE UP!

In a recent report from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission the findings just add to my disgust with what politicians allowed to happen to our country…..

“The crisis was the result of human action and inaction, not of Mother Nature or models gone haywire,” the report said.

“The captains of finance and the public stewards of our financial system ignored warnings and failed to question, understand and manage evolving risks within a system essential to the well-being of the American public.

The damning report criticised the extent of the financial deregulation overseen by the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan.

It concluded that the crisis was caused by a number of factors:

  • Failures in financial regulation, including the Federal Reserve’s failure “to stem the tide of toxic mortgages”
  • A breakdown in corporate governance that led to “reckless” actions and excessive risk taking by financial institutions
  • Households taking on too much debt
  • A lack of understanding of the financial system on behalf of policymakers
  • Fundamental breaches in accountability and ethics “at all levels”.

It added that “collapsing mortgage-lending standards” and the packaging-up of mortgage-related debt into investment vehicles “lit and spread the flame of contagion”.

Points one and two were covered by Glass-Steagall aand the last one was a screw up by the people that were in Washington…..

And then there is a very predictable reaction to the report…….Only the six Democrat members of the 10-strong commission, set up in May 2009, endorsed the report’s findings.  Kinda like saying …”it is not our fault”….where is the responsibility?  Oh sorry….that pertains to us humans…not our politicians……some of the causes according to the dissenting GOPers…..

The GOP report said: “All these factors were supplemented by government policies … that subsidized homeownership but created hidden costs to taxpayers and the economy. Elected officials of both parties pushed housing subsidies too far.”

CREDIT BUBBLE. A credit bubble caused by global capital flows into the United States and Europe from China and other developing nations reduced interest rates and encouraged risky lending. “U.S. monetary policy may have contributed to the credit bubble but did not cause it,” says the dissent.

HOUSING BUBBLE. A housing bubble emerged that was caused by “many factors,” including population growth in “Sand States” such as Arizona, Florida, Nevada and California.

SUBPRIME LENDING. Subprime mortgage lending exploded and was often deceptive and confusing, fueled by cheap credit. Leading lenders were Countrywide, Washington Mutual, Ameriquest and HSBC Financial. This amplified the housing bubble.

And I have a flash for y’all….it will happen again…..the reform that the prez is so proud of has NOT addressed the problems that were the cause of our financial grief…….keep in mind….I WILL say…”I Told You So”……

Are Banks The Anti-Christ?

The Anti-Christ?  an interesting word…..people have being seeing this boogey man since the term was first used….people, places and things have been accused of being this problem….so I thought I would join in the fun…..

If you listen to the news or read a newspaper or site, then you are well aware of what is being said about the banks….stuff like……and we can throw the Fed in there also…….

  • It concentrated the nation’s financial strength in a single institution.
  • It exposed the government to control by foreign interests.
  • It served mainly to make the rich richer.
  • It exercised too much control over members of Congress.
  • It favored northeastern states over southern and western states.
  • Banks are controlled by a few select families.
  • Banks have a long history of instigating wars between nations, forcing them to borrow funding to pay for them.

You have heard all the accusations…..and the way they are behaving they seem to be true….but look at the list again….see anything unusual?

No?  Those accusations are not something made up a couple of weeks or months ago….but rather back in the 1830’s or so….those were the arguments that Andrew Jackson made as a justification to why he vetoed the charter of the national bank……

Interesting, huh?

Seems that after about a 170 years not much has changed when it comes to banks…they were screwing the American people then and they are screwing us NOW!

Of course they are NOT the anti-Christ….but if one looks for a villain in the current economic crisis…..the look no further than the big banks….and what they have gained from taxpayers money……

When will we ever learn?

Party Like It Is 1999!

Yes, I know…you can hear Prince spouting and strutting his stuff……get over it!

We are in the midst of a crushing economic crisis….well crushing if you work for a living…not so much if you are one of the hotshots on Wall Street……the news is great….well the news is skewed to appear great…..

You tell me…the wealthy are buying diamonds, luxury cars and organic dog food……Main Street is buying second hand clothes, taking the bus and eating dog food….yeah…things are truly looking up for us stiffs….

Real unemployment is sitting at about 15%….some unemployment benefits will be lost……wages are being driven down……benefits are being lost……homes are underwater……and Xmas is gonna be a bit thin for most of America…especially on Main Street……but there is good news….

well only if you are wealthy you have this to look forward to…..

Wall Street reforms were supposed to force financial firms to better align pay with performance. That doesn’t seem to be happening this year. Profit-wise the second quarter was a disappointing one for many of the large banks. After what was by all measures an amazing profit rebound in 2009, this year has been a dud. For most firms, Wall Street bottom lines are supposed to be about what they were a year ago. Some firms may even see profit drops. Not much to reward workers for, at least not a record levels as the Journal predicts, you would think. To be sure, banks have yet to make their final decisions on what they will pay in year-end checks. But the early indication is the firms plan on paying their employees well despite their ho-hum bottom line performance. A recent survey of financial firm professionals said they expect higher pay in 2010 than they received a year ago. “If the object of Wall Street pay reform was to make bonus payouts less risky, then I think that has been achieved,” says Johnson, who cites clawbacks and other pay provisions that have sought to remove the incentive for deals that create short-term profits, but can leave the firms open to much bigger losses in the future. “But if the object was to reduce the absolute level of pay on Wall Street, then I think reform has been much less successful.”Read more: http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2010/10/12/wall-street-deja-vu-lackluster-profits-equals-record-bonuses/#ixzz173cHRlME 

Wait! There is more……

Despite lingering concerns about the economy, a new report from American Express Business Insights says luxury sales are up, gaining 9% in the second quarter.

While spending in each of the four categories it analyzed increased, furniture and home furnishings showed the biggest improvement — up 21% — followed by sales at luxury department stores, which rose 15% in the quarter. (Women powered those department stores sales, making 69% of purchases. And 22% of all charges came from shoppers ages 36 to 45.)

While sales also rose in the apparel and accessories (up 9%) and jewelry sectors (up 12%), the report says growth slowed in each of those categories as the quarter progressed, indicating renewed fears about the fledgling recovery. Jewelry sales gained only 3% in June, for example, the smallest increase in the last eight months.

So you see…if you are wealthy all looks pretty good….if you are struggling….then the economy does not have the same appearance as it does with some others…..and then the big fight over tax cuts…..this holds NO promise for the middle class……and the jobs that are promised if the wealthy get their extension of tax cuts will not be coming any time soon…if they do…then the whole thing was just a set up to help Repubs win elections….and if that is the case then these BASTARDS need to be executed…kinda of what the Right wants to do to Assange……

Vatican’s Banking Problem

It seems that the Vatican just cannot keep its nose clean from one year to the next…..it was part of the Nazi conspiracy in the 40’s and then came the sexual abuses of the last several decades and then there was the gay porn thing from last year….where several of the Pope’s personal choir was engaging in a gay escort business…..and just when you thought you had heard it all about the Vatican…there comes a story like this….

Italian authorities seized euro23 million ($30.18 million) from a Vatican bank account Tuesday and said they have begun investigating top officials of the Vatican bank in connection with a money laundering probe.

In Tuesday’s case, police seized the money from a Vatican bank account at the Rome branch of Credito Artigiano Spa, according to news agencies ANSA and Apcom. The bulk of the money, euro20 million ($26.2 million), was destined for JP Morgan in Frankfurt, with the remainder going to Banca del Fucino.

According to the reports, the Vatican bank had neglected to communicate to financial authorities where the money had come from. The reports stressed that Gotti Tedeschi wasn’t being investigated for laundering money himself but for a series of alleged omissions in financial transactions.

The Vatican bank, located in a tower just inside the gates of Vatican City, isn’t a typical bank. Its stated mission is to manage assets placed in its care that are destined for religious works or works of charity. But it also manages ATMs inside Vatican City and the pension system for the Vatican’s thousands of employees.

The bank is not open to the public. Depositors are usually limited to Vatican employees, religious orders and people who transfer money for the pope’s charities.

The Pope wears Prada and blesses new Ferraris….seems it is just an extension of the greed and avarice that is consuming the rest of the financial world….go figure…

“One man’s theology is another man’s belly laugh.”
Robert A. Heinlein