World Wide Protest: we still protect the wealthy

MoonHowler

Over the weekend, former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski spoke the following when he accepted the Jury du Prix Tocqueville Prize in France:

The foregoing observation is especially relevant to our understanding of the challenge facing contemporary America.  Though a democracy, it is becoming a country of socially ominous extremes between the few super rich and the increasingly many who are deprived.  In America today the top 1% of the richest families own around 35% of the entire nation’s wealth, while the bottom 90% own around 25%.   It should be a source of perhaps even greater concern that the majority of all currently serving Congressmen and Senators, and similarly most of the top officials in the executive branch, fall in the category of the very rich, the so-called top 1%.

At the same time, though still a unique super-power, America finds it difficult to cope with the consequences of the increasingly accelerating global changes that are spinning out of control, both on the socio-economic and on the geopolitical levels. Socio-economically, the world is becoming a single playing-field in which 3 dynamic realities increasingly prevail:  globalization, “internetization”, and deregulation. 

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Who are those Occupy Wall Street Protesters?

MoonHowler


By now, everyone is familiar with the Wall Street protesters.  All sorts of folks have commented on who they are and billing them as anti capitalists.  I am not so sure that is correct.  The protesters have not delivered their message well.

From CNN.com:

To be fair, the reason why some mainstream news journalists and many of the audiences they serve see the Occupy Wall Street protests as incoherent is because the press and the public are themselves. It is difficult to comprehend a 21st century movement from the perspective of the 20th century politics, media, and economics in which we are still steeped.

In fact, we are witnessing America’s first true Internet-era movement, which — unlike civil rights protests, labor marches, or even the Obama campaign — does not take its cue from a charismatic leader, express itself in bumper-sticker-length goals and understand itself as having a particular endpoint.

So who are these protesters?  We do we think vs what do we know?   Are these simply people who want reform?  Wall Street isn’t innocent so they should not be playing the victim.  Is CNN right in its assessment?

 

 

 

 

Bringing Back the Jobs

MoonHowler

It all started with a tweet from an SMU student to ABC news asking for help finding Made in America products for her dorm room.  It seems that the college catalog for dorm shopping  had NO products that were made in America.  So the search began.

Diane Sawyer reported some amazing figures.  If colleges and universities had Made in America  products in the catalogs they provide the nearly 3 million new students entering college this year, a half million jobs would be created.  $46 Billion dollars are spent each year to outfit new rooms.  Over 800 colleges use this  catalog and all the schools got money back for distributing the catalogs to incoming freshmen. 

Will the colleges switch?  Probably only if students and taxpayers insist!  Why are we peddling foreign made products?

Good job ABC News for ferreting out this glaring problem.  Good for SMU for agreeing to change.  No one had asked.  Therefore, no one knew.

National Debt–a visual

MoonHowler

From the Boston Globe:

So why is President Obama the villain in all of this?    At what point are the Republicans going to admit their culpability in extreme debt over 8 years?  Any time it is brought up, Obama is accused of trying to blame Bush.  Well…we need to stop blaming anyone.  However, facts are facts. 

Financing 2 wars and a drug program and cutting taxes caused the problem.  There was more going out than coming in.  It is a relatively simple math problem.  I liked having a tax cut.  Who wouldn’t?  But it contributed largely to our current situation, given our expenditures during the Bush years.  Let’s all just be honest where it came from and come up with solutions to fix the problem rather that racing right up to the edge of the cliff over ideology. 

The S & P also needs the American people to collectively give it the finger.  Where was that agency before the Crash of 2008?  Obviously playing switch. 

 

Tea Party candidate appears to be in debt

MoonHowler

Tea Party Senate candidate Jamie Radtke apparently isn’t practicing what she preaches.  On Friday she  stated on her website that she was running for office because of the fiscal “ineptitude, mismanagement and irresponsibility” of the nation’s current leaders.  However, it appears her own house isn’t in order.

According to the Washington Post:

The larger problem for Radtke emerges further down in her report. As of June 30, she had $46,000 in the bank and $84,000 in debt. While about $6,000 of that total is money Radtke owes to herself for campaign expenses, roughly $70,000 is money she owes to various consulting firms.

Asked for comment, Radtke’s campaign turned its guns against Allen.

“Here are the facts: When this campaign is over, Jamie’s debt will be paid and gone,” said Radtke spokesman Chuck Hansen. “Meanwhile, the $3.1 trillion in debt George Allen voted for while senator is still on our books.”

It’s not uncommon for campaigns to owe money to vendors, but it’s relatively rare for candidates to have more debts than money in the bank. And given that Radtke isn’t nearly as well-known among Virginia voters as Allen is, it’s widely assumed in state political circles that she will have to improve her fundraising if she hopes to mount a strong challenge in the GOP primary.

I don’t care if the lady is in debt or not.  Campaign financing is obscene to me anyway.  It takes one’s breath away.  But isn’t Ms. Radtke a little on the hypocritical side to be in debt herself all while telling us that the current national leaders are inept, irresponsible and mismanage their financial  responsibilities?

Radtke needs to learn to run with the big dogs or stay on the porch.   She also needs to tell her IT staff to check for code error mistakes on the website.  Ouch.

Republicans don’t necessarily support Republican leadership

MoonHowler

Washington Post:  [Emphasis Mine]

Nationally, Republicans are widely critical of their party’s leadership in the debt talks. Nearly six in 10 in the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll say GOP leaders are not doing enough to compromise with Obama on deficit issues.

Half of the Republicans surveyed in the poll said the best way to reduce the deficit is by an exclusive focus on cutting federal spending, but nearly as many accept new taxes as part of the mix. Most Republicans support higher taxes on those earning $250,000 and up annually and on oil and gas companies.

Obama made that pointFriday night after Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Cantor abandoned the talks, saying “There are a lot of Republican voters out there who are puzzled as to why it couldn’t get done. Because the fact of the matter is the vast majority of the American people believe we should have a balanced approach.”

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McDonnell gets a reality check on the debt ceiling

MoonHowler

Rachel Maddow has given us a little history on Bob McDonnell’s tenure in Virginia and how he has gravitated towards the centrist position on raising the debt ceiling:

 It isn’t so much that McDonnell is a centrist. It is that he got kicked in the teeth with the reality of what will happen to Virginia should August 2 happen without legislation. 

Are you prepared for Virginia, with its pride in fiscal responsibility, to be one of the first off the cliff and lose its Triple A bond rating?  I, for one, am not. 

Tea-jaddists are not winning the war of words with anyone but their base and I hear that is getting a little shakey.  There is a certain arrogance in assuming that one knows all the answers to not just the US economy but also to the global economy. 

Dodd-Frank, a year later…and the debt ceiling

MoonHowler

What’s to not like? This questions is usually answered as ‘job killer.’ I have been thinking about this ‘job killer’ on every street. I have been told that if income taxes go up just 1% on millionaires, it will kill jobs. Instead, I am supposed to like having the budget cuts on the backs of the middle class and on seniors with both medicare and social security.Read More

Congress gets it: Geithner whips out his pocket Constitution

MoonHowler

 

After President Obama said he wasn’t going to second guess the Supreme Court Justices, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was not as shy to put on his constitutional law professor hat:

Huffington Post:

At a Politico Playbook breakfast on May 25, Geithner was asked by host Mike Allen about the negotiations over default and the debt ceiling.

“I think there are some people who are pretending not to understand it, who think there’s leverage for them in threatening a default,” Geithner said. “I don’t understand it as a negotiating position. I mean really think about it, you’re going to say that– can I read you the 14th amendment?”

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Geithner Warns Sen. Johnson On Debt Ceiling

MoonHowler

Fr0m Huffingtonpost.com :

Geithner was responding to a letter Johnson sent President Barack Obama in May, signed by 22 other Senate Republicans, that argued the government would have enough revenue to continue functioning if the government hit the debt ceiling and suggested the White House should make contingency spending plans for that event.

Geithner said in his letter that many members of the GOP, including Speaker of the House John Boehner, acknowledge that raising the debt ceiling is the responsible thing to do, and he quoted Boehner saying, “I think raising the debt limit is the responsible thing to do for our country, the responsible thing for our economy … if we were to fail to increase the debt limit, we would send our economy into a tail spin.”

Geithner also noted that Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a favorite of the Tea Party, said in 2010: “You don’t have much choice if you charge something on your credit card. You have to pay for it, and that’s effectively what this debt limit is … we’ve already spent the money. The question is now, do we shut down the government or do we fund what we’ve already done?

Even conservative icon President Ronald Reagan spoke out against playing with the debt limit, according to Geithner. Reagan wrote in 1983: “This country now possesses the strongest credit in the world. The full consequences of a default — or even the serious prospect of default — by the United States are impossible and awesome to contemplate. Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and on the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can ill afford to allow such a result. The risks, the costs, the disruptions, and the incalculable damage lead me to but one conclusion: the Senate must pass this legislation before the Congress adjourns.”

Why is this a political issue?  I don’t want to hear something stupid  Obama supposedly said 5-6 years ago.  It doesn’t really matter.  In fact, it is irrelevant.  Let’s put politics aside and do what needs to happen for the good of the country.  The money has already been spent.   If every American gave $5 bucks a month, think how we could reduce the debt.  Why shouldn’t we pay for it?  It is we who reaped the benefits.

 

 

 

 

Warner warns of calamity if Washington won’t act on debt

MoonHowler

From the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., said Friday that he feels like someone walking around Washington with a sign that says, “The end is near. We’ve got to act.”

During a stop in Richmond, Warner expressed disappointment that budget deficit talks led by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had collapsed Thursday when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., walked away, blaming differences over taxes.

“People are still playing political games,” Warner said. “The idea that we can solve this on one side of the balance sheet is a fundamental lack of basic Econ 101.”

Warner, who has for months been working toward a solution with a bipartisan group of senators known as the “Gang of Six,” said Thursday’s developments gave new urgency to that effort, which has languished since Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., departed weeks ago.

“We’ve still got a few items outstanding, but if we can’t get those finalized, we ought to at least present what we have,” Warner said, adding he hopes they can do so in the next week.Read More

Social Security makes $6.5B in overpayments

MoonHowler

USAToday.com

WASHINGTON — Social Security made $6.5 billion in overpayments to people not entitled to receive them in 2009, including $4 billion under a supplemental income program for the very poor, a government investigator said Tuesday.

In all, about 10 % of the payments made under the agency’s Supplemental Security Incomeprogram were improper, said Patrick P. O’Carroll Jr., the Social Security inspector general.

Error rates were much smaller for retirement, survivor and disability benefits, which make up the overwhelming majority of Social Security payments, O’Carroll told a congressional panel.

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Too Big to Fail–Tonight HBO @ 9

MoonHowler

Trailer: Too Big to Fail

Tonight is the premiere of Too Big to Fail, the story of our near-financial disaster in 2008. The film airs on HBO at 9 pm and is billed as the definitive story of what really happened during this crisis. It should provide interesting discussion as we watch the financial status of not only our nation, but our own personal wealth hover on the brink of disaster.  It does open the vault on the financial crisis we so nearly avoided. 

More about tonight’s film:

Should Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns have been rescued?  Should everyone in financial trouble have been allowed to fail?  What would the repercussions from that be?

Public Broadcasting: A ‘luxury’ we can’t do without

MoonHowler

Often PBS Television comes into the sights of some Republicans for defunding.  This year is no exception.  Already the speeches are being made with various people holding Kermit and Big Bird puppets.  TV commercials are beginning to pop up on shows on PBS.  What disturbs me is why PBS.  I can’t see what’s not to like.

Most people don’t give a rat’s ass about the politics of PBS, if there are any.  Most people just like NOVA, Antiques Road Show, Masterpiece, and American Experience.  There are numerous kids shows, some entertainment and some educational.  At least 2 or 3 generations grew up on shows like  Sesame Street and the Electric Company.  These shows were on the airwaves.  No cable was needed.  Poor kids got some solid education, even if their parents didn’t have cable or if there were no satellite TV. 

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Stampeding Bulls! Buy Everything!

MoonHowler

Huffington Post:

Investors will continue to ride the speediest rally in U.S. stocks since the Great Depression despite growing concerns that the market is overbought and due for a correction.

Wall Street posted its third consecutive week of gains with the S&P 500 now up 6.8 percent for the year and more than 20 percent in just six months

Regardless of where the stocks start off in the morning, they crawl upwards by afternoon.  Analysts expect a correction but they aren’t sure when.  There seems to be a tendency for more and more investors to buy.  

But there is a perceptible level of anxiety in the market. Trading volume has been exceptionally low recently and the CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, Wall Street’s so-called fear gauge, is up on the week despite the gains in stocks.

So what does all this mean?  Are lots of people buying now?  What is spurring this buying spree?  I sure hope we aren’t headed for another downturn.

Pat.Herve’s link on 401K