Tag: Funding

Saudis: Their Luck Holds

I have been harping on the fact that the Saudis are ass deep in the funding of terrorism……but few listen and few care….but here is a post that will help clear things up…..

Source: Saudis, Butt Covered….Period! – In Saner Thought

The US is not the only country that protects Saudi Arabia from any blow back because  of their ties to terrorism and its funding……

It appears as if the UK is pulling a US and refusing to make public a report that condemns the Saudis for their part in terrorism……

The British government has announced that it would not publish in full its report on the sources of “funding of extremism” in Britain, prompting opposition charges it was trying to protect its ally Saudi Arabia.

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said on Wednesday that though some “extremist organisations” were receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars, she had decided against publishing the review in full.

“This is because of the volume of personal information it contains and for national security reasons,” she said in a written statement to parliament.

Source: UK refuses to publish report on ‘funding of extremism’ | UK News | Al Jazeera

It makes sense…the Saudis have all the money they need to buy all the friends they can afford…..and when you have the two biggest on the UN Security Council in your pocket then there is little hope that they will be made to pay for their actions…….

Obama would not release a report then we know that this president is a bigger wimp then Obama and now the UK is following suit…..chance of curtailing terrorist money will never happen as long as we protect the worse of the worse…..

Ain’t capitalism grand?

BTW…..we recently signed a deal to give the Saudis 16.5 billion in arms and such and it seems to have hit a snag in the Congress…so what are the Saudis to do?

They turn to another player…..Russia……

Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed an arms deal Monday valued at $3.5 billion, general director of Russian state-owned corporation Rostec Sergei Chemezov said in an interview with Tass news agency.

The deal will be finalized during King Salman’s next visit to Russia, which could take place by the end of the year, the Kommersant newspaper reported.

Russia is the world’s second largest weapons exporter with total sales exceeding $15 billion annually.

Source: Russia, Saudi Arabia Sign $3.5bn Arms Deal | World Affairs Journal

The Saudis will get their arms…….

Do We Need the DHS? | Cato Institute

During the recent cock-up about funding of DHS….many questions were asked and few actually answered……but the one BIG question that needs an answwer urgently is……do we really need DHS?

This is a white paper from the CATO Institute……with whom I seldom agree…..but they asked and answered that one burning question…

Check it out and let me know what you think about the question…….

 

Do We Need the DHS? | Cato Institute.

DHS: Pulling Out All Stops

Yep……the country waits on abetted breath….will we be or will we not be protected by DHS?  Will Congress do the right thing or will it play its usual game?

To prove how much we need DHS and its multi-billion dollar payroll…..we have had new arrests around people wanting to go over to the dark side–ISIS……and now this comes to light……..

US prosecutors yesterday presented declassified al-Qaeda documents obtained after the 2011 raid of Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound at the trial of a man charged in a British terrorism plot. The al-Qaeda documents, read by the FBI linguist who translated them from Arabic, were presented at the trial of Abid Naseer and discussed terror attacks in Britain and Russia, including plans to bomb a pipeline or the US embassy in the latter country. Naseer, who’s from Pakistan, has pleaded not guilty and is defending himself in federal court in Brooklyn. Naseer headed a British al-Qaeda terror cell that in 2009 was part of a broader conspiracy to commit attacks in the United Kingdom, New York, and Denmark, prosecutors have charged.

The documents discuss a range of al-Qaeda business, from operational tactics to training methods and suggestions on how to avoid detection by law enforcement. One letter suggests that attacking the continental US “in its heartland … has the most significance” and “cannot be compared” to an attack outside the country. The goal of an attack would be “to pressure 300 million Americans” to make their elected officials end the US war against al-Qaeda and its goal of establishing an Islamic state, the letters said. None of the letters mentioned Naseer by name. Also yesterday, top FBI counterterror official Alexander Otte testified that he traveled to Afghanistan and managed the handling of evidence recovered after the bin Laden raid, saying that he saw bin Laden’s body after it was returned to a military hangar. “I knew who he was, and I recognized him immediately,” he said.

Our need is great and our dependency is greater…….

Funny how all this is just now coming to light….just when the fate of DHS is on the chopping block………I do not believe in coincidence…..

What say you?

Ever Hear Of Land Value Taxation?

A New Year and a new beginning—so why not do something new?  Nothing that governments are doing sdeem to help gain the revenue they need for much needed programs.  And at the same time heap a pile of stuff onto the taxpayer.  Why not look for a better answer?

I recently posted this on my Mississippi blog, Gulf South Free Press, as a possible answer to the shortfall in tax revenues.  It would also be something to consider for the nation.  The news in at least 43 states is dire, they are scrambling for funds for projects, to the point of asking the Feds to get involved.  LVT would save the states and their programs.

LVT?  What is that, Professor?  I am glad you asked.

In the strict public policy application, Land Value Taxation (also known as split-rate real property taxation, and two-tiered real property taxation) is a type of real property taxation.  Whereas the typical real property tax taxes both land and the improvements on the land at the same rate, land value taxation taxes land at a higher rate while simultaneously reducing, or even eliminating, the tax on improvements.

The major points of a LVT:

•           A shift to LVT, even when structured in a revenue-neutral manner, usually results in net tax reductions for the vast majority of residents.

•           The problem of inaccurate or radically higher assessments is reduced because of the reduction in reliance on the building portion of the property tax.

•           The damage that taxes like sales and income taxes do to working families and local commerce can be lessened.

•           By reducing or eliminating the tax on improvements, there is a greater incentive to build, to build with higher quality materials, to maintain, to avoid blight, and to redevelop economically depressed areas.

•           Cities are almost always on the “short end of the stick” when economic development dollars are handed out.  This program helps achieve the same goals with no public investment.

•           When cities DO get permission to give out tax abatements, they lead to a revenue loss to the community with no assured payoff later.  LVT is purely revenue neutral to the city.  There is no tax shifting to citizens and property owners who have already done their bit.

•           A tax on land also has the advantage of being a “value capture tax.”  A new public works project may make adjacent land go up considerably in value, and thus, with a tax on land values, the tax on adjacent land goes up.  Thus, the new public improvements would be paid for by those most benefited by the new public improvements — i.e., those whose land value went up most.

•           A tax on land has been shown to result in better land use patterns and more in-fill development.  This has the benefit of reducing sprawl.

•           Several Nobel Prize winners in economics have stated their approval of government revenue being raised from taxes on land.

•           Support for LVT cuts across political lines.  Free-market economists like how it reduces distortions in economic decision-making.  Environmentalists like how it reduces sprawl and helps fund public transportation.  Developers appreciate how it makes new homes more affordable for their customers.  Citizens like the reduction in taxes.

Ad valorem taxes are increasing nationally.  The assessments were made when the market value of real estate was hugh and now that it has lost almost 40% of its value, people will be paying a higher rate until the next assessment.

These days of uncertain times, it is a new thinking that is needed….and LVT is that new thinking.

I would like to thank Henry George and urbantools.org for the ideas in this post.  For years I have advocated the LVT and now it seems that it is time for action, not begging.

The Promise Of Health Care

The Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that many of the health care proposals championed by President-elect Barack Obama and other Democrats would carry a high price tag and would generate only modest savings.

The budget office, an influential voice in the work of Congress, analyzed 115 options, including proposals to expand coverage and slow the growth of health spending.

Some of the options, including proposals to increase taxes on cigarettes and nondiet soft drinks, are sure to meet stiff political opposition.

One bright spot in a generally bleak picture was the estimate of potential savings from a requirement for doctors and hospitals to use health information technology, including electronic medical records, as a condition of participating in Medicare.

Such a requirement could save the federal government $7 billion in the first five years and a total of $34 billion over 10 years, by reducing medical errors and avoiding unnecessary tests and procedures, the budget office said. It “would also lower health insurance premiums in the private sector,” the report said.

Without action by Congress, the report said, health costs will continue to soar, the number of people without insurance will rise by nearly one million a year, to a total of 54 million in 2019, and spending on health care will increase to 25 percent of the gross domestic product in 2025, up from 16 percent in 2007.

But Mr. Obama and other Democrats have not been precise about the cost of their proposals, nor have they said in detail how they would pay for them. One of the Democrats’ favorite proposals, rolling back tax cuts for high-income people, is already scheduled to occur in 2011, so, under the bookkeeping rules used by Congress, it would not produce a windfall of new revenue.

Mr. Obama and many other Democrats want the government to negotiate with drug manufacturers to get lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries.

The Congressional Budget Office said such negotiations “would produce small if any savings” because the government would not have enough leverage to secure significant discounts beyond those already obtained by private insurance companies that manage the Medicare drug benefit.

But the budget office said Medicare could save $110 billion in the next 10 years if Congress simply imposed a form of price controls, requiring drug makers to provide the government with a 15 percent rebate, or discount, on brand-name drugs covered by the new Part D of Medicare.

The federal government could save $12 billion in the next decade if it established a procedure for approval of generic versions of expensive biotechnology drugs, the report said. It did not estimate the additional savings for consumers and employers, which could be substantial.

So, health care voters, will you get the “universal” system anytime soon?  Do not look for it or hpld your breath.

The Economy And Emergency Readiness

From an article in USA Today.

The economic crisis is jeopardizing the nation’s ability to handle public-health emergencies and possible bioterrorist attacks, according to government leaders and a new report.

Federal and state governments are cutting programs that help communities respond to disease outbreaks, natural disasters and bioterrorism incidents, and that “could lead to a disaster for the nation’s disaster preparedness,” a report released Tuesday warns.

If emergency medical supplies are not maintained or if hospitals can’t handle a huge influx of patients, the result will be more deaths and illnesses, Levi said.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff underscored the concerns in an interview Tuesday with USA TODAY editors and reporters. His top concern, Chertoff said, is a “mass event: a big outbreak of plague or some other kind of biological weapon or a nuclear explosion.”

Chertoff said it’s difficult for government and private agencies to spend money to prepare for major attacks “because you’re asking people to invest in something that they haven’t seen yet — or haven’t seen since the anthrax attacks of 2001. Therefore, it seems less urgent than, how do we repair the schools today.”

The economic crisis in the USA could undo years of investment, planning and research, the trust said.

Is There No End To This Parade?

The U.S. government is prepared to provide more than $7.76 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers after guaranteeing $306 billion of Citigroup Inc. debt yesterday. The pledges, amounting to half the value of everything produced in the nation last year, are intended to rescue the financial system after the credit markets seized up 15 months ago.

The unprecedented pledge of funds includes $3.18 trillion already tapped by financial institutions in the biggest response to an economic emergency since the New Deal of the 1930s, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The commitment dwarfs the plan approved by lawmakers, the Treasury Department’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Federal Reserve lending last week was 1,900 times the weekly average for the three years before the crisis.

When Congress approved the TARP on Oct. 3, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson acknowledged the need for transparency and oversight. Now, as regulators commit far more money while refusing to disclose loan recipients or reveal the collateral they are taking in return, some Congress members are calling for the Fed to be reined in.

Most of the federal guarantees reduce interest rates on loans to banks and securities firms, which would create a subsidy of at least $6.6 billion annually for the financial industry, according to data compiled by Bloomberg comparing rates charged by the Fed against market interest currently paid by banks.

Not included in the calculation of pledged funds is an FDIC proposal to prevent foreclosures by guaranteeing modifications on $444 billion in mortgages at an expected cost of $24.4 billion to be paid from the TARP, according to FDIC spokesman David Barr. The Treasury Department hasn’t approved the program.

Wait! Did I Miss Something?

Here’s a safe bet for uncertain times: A lot of banks won’t survive the next year of upheaval despite the U.S. government’s $700 billion plan to restore order to the financial industry.

The biggest question is how many will perish and how they will be put out of their misery — in outright closures by regulators scrambling to preserve the dwindling deposit insurance fund or in fire sales made under government pressure.

Enfeebled by huge losses on risky home loans, the banking industry is now on the shakiest ground since the early 1990s, when more than 800 federally insured institutions failed in a three-year period. That was during the clean-up phase of a decade-long savings-and-loan meltdown that wound up costing U.S. taxpayers $170 billion to $205 billion, after adjusting for inflation.

The government’s commitment to spend up to $700 billion buying bad debts from ailing banks is likely to save some institutions that would have otherwise died, but analysts doubt it will be enough to avert a major shakeout

The banking outlook looks even gloomier through the prism of Bauer Financial Inc., which has been relying on data filed with the FDIC to assess the health of federally insured institutions for the past 25 years.

Based on its analysis of the June 30 numbers, Bauer Financial concluded that 426 federally insured institutions are grappling with major problems — about 5 percent of all banks and S&Ls.

About 15 percent of the banks on Bauer’s cautionary list have more than $1 billion in assets. Not surprisingly, the troubles are concentrated among banks that were the most active in markets where free-flowing mortgages contributed to the rapid run-up in home prices that set the stage for the jarring comedown. By Bauer’s reckoning, the largest numbers of troubled banks are in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Minnesota.

Let me see….they get $700 billion and they cannot save the banks….then where is this money really going?

How To Pay For Universal Health Care?

This is one idea to consider.

How would free education and free medical care be paid for? Right now, each year billions of dollars go into the pockets of already wealthy capitalists. That’s one source of money to pay for these changes. Right now much of our tax dollars go to making repayments on the national debt, billions of dollars a year, and this is another source of money—if the banks and other financial institutions are nationalized, then the democratic political structure can rationally decide on realistic repayment options and interest rates, freeing up much of this money for public benefits. Another source is that, contrary to the common claim that private business can do everything cheaper, many things can be done more cheaply by government, by pooling resources, by maximizing economies of scale, by eliminating unnecessary paperwork. Before you guffaw, since government right now causes much unnecessary paperwork, let me point to a program that works well. In Washington State, the state provides worker’s compensation benefits—provides the insurance for workplace injuries. Private insurance companies, on top of their profits, run about 20% administrative costs. Since they are banned from operating in the state (except for large employers who can set up their own programs under certain conditions), and the state thus covers everyone, they keep the administrative costs to about 2%! In years when the state’s investments are paying well, the program has actually returned money to the state treasury, since there are no profits and since administrative/paperwork costs are so low. No doubt many government programs don’t work this way, but it is possible, especially when they are not set up to provide profits to the private sector. This is another source of billions.

There are no easy answers to this problem.  However, none of the candidates from either party is offering “universal” health care.  Some try to paint it as so but it is not universal.