Economic Consideration...

Anyone who has read this blog in the past understands that our typical view on the world's economy is dreary. RCTV has recently posted a video on the subject:



While Mr. Voris may mention a tinge of keynesian economics in the video to support his premise, his overall point is sound, and should be taken into strong consideration.

Back in September of 2010 we posted a link to a video titled: "Cost of Abortion." As was noted in the above embedded Vortex episode some generous individuals have donated funds to RCTV in order to promote the "Cost of Abortion" video to the US House of Representatives, the US Senators, and the Canadian Parliament.

RCTV has links on their website on how you can also contact these officials to send them online links to the video. Please do this.

History of Thanksgiving Day

Some interesting notes on the history of how the day came about:

Signed by Washington on October 3, 1789 and entitled "General Thanksgiving," the decree appointed the day "to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God."

While there were Thanksgiving observances in America both before and after Washington's proclamation, this represents the first to be so designated by the new national government.

After their first harvest, the colonists of the Plymouth Plantation held a celebration of food and feasting in the fall of 1621. Indian chiefs Massassoit, Squanto and Samoset joined in the celebration with ninety of their men in the three-day event.

The first recorded Thanksgiving observance was held on June 29, 1671 [50 years later] at Charlestown, Massachusetts by proclamation of the town's governing council.

[...]

Later, on October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for the observance of the fourth Tuesday of November as a national holiday.

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the third Thursday of November (to extend the Christmas shopping season and boost the economy). After a storm of protest, Roosevelt changed the holiday again in 1941 to the fourth Thursday in November, where it stands today. 

Federal Wage Freeze

Federal employees will not receive any pay increases for two years, Obama administration officials announced on Monday. President Obama's proposed pay freeze for 2011 and 2012 will apply to all civilian workers, including Defense Department employees, but not military personnel.

Federal civilian employees... I welcome you to a taste of what the rest of the economy has been going through for a few years now. I am sorry that you have to join in all the fun, but it was bound to happen sometime. If you can ignore inflation for the moment... just be glad that you are not yet seeing pay cuts in addition to your wage freeze.

According to an administration statement, the two-year pay freeze will save $2 billion for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, $28 billion over the next five years, and more than $60 billion over the next decade.

The projected savings of $60 Billion over 10 years hardly seems like it will bring the government back into "fiscal responsibility." It is as if this drop in the bucket will magically remove the mortgage crisis, or the private bank bailouts, or the massive amounts of quantitative easing taking place.

From the White House Fact Sheet:

Because of the irresponsibility of the past decade, [Really only the last 10 years?!?] the President inherited a $1.3 trillion projected deficit upon taking office and an economic crisis that threatened to put the nation into a second Great Depression. He moved quickly to get the economy moving again. Now, the economy is growing,[How is that?] and we have gained private sector jobs for the past 10 months.[Again, How is that?] But families and businesses are still hurting, and our top priority is making sure that we are doing everything we can to help boost economic growth and spur job creation.[Oh I see... wait no I don't.]

Now, we need to turn our attention to addressing the massive deficits we inherited and the unsustainable fiscal course that we are on. Doing so will take some very tough choices. Just as families and businesses around the nation have tightened their belts so must their government.[By of course helping the families of federal workers to tighten their belts.] That must be done in a targeted way that focuses our investments in what works and in what will lay the foundation for job creation and economic growth for years to come while cutting back elsewhere in our budget.

Most people have a hard time seeing problems in the economy until they are directly effected by those problems. Maybe this will wake a large portion of our population up.

Saul Alinsky on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development

The Vortex today... Usually I can watch the video and provide some sort of commentary that gives a reason on why you want to watch it. I have watched it three times now... and I really don't know where to begin.

I suppose I can say that it is a lead in to the new CIA (Catholic Investigative Agency) production on Saul Alinsky and his relation to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). If you don't know who Saul Alinsky is... you should. Among many things, Alinsky wrote Rules for Radicals which stressed that activists must be "people committed to change" and goes on to discuss how to lull the middle class into calmly accepting changes. Here is another quote from the book:

Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history... the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom.

The quote of course is a salute to Lucifer... I am not saying that one could make that assumption... I am saying that very specifically the book is opened with this dedication specifically to Lucifer.

Please watch today's Vortex (embedded below) and then make a decision to sit down and watch RCTV's documentary. (Follow up episodes can also be found at the website.)



Please see: Saul Alinksy on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development

Hello 1400

http://www.24hgold.com/

Change is what they want...

I was thinking about the elections earlier this week. It seems that politicians have caught on to the new buzz word that equates with "electable."

Citizens recognize something is wrong with our country, and that something needs to be different. However, it seems that the majority of citizens are willing to accept anything that resembles a chance at something different. This is very dangerous, and has a great potential to lead our country to its ruin. Many (but not all) voters are being lead down a hidden path by the piper who can best play the tune of change.

Who owns your mortgage?

By now you should have heard about the foreclosure fraud. Keep in mind that even if you are not risk for foreclosure this may still effect you. These "documentation problems" have the potential "to cloud title on not just foreclosed mortgages but on performing mortgages."

The mortgage is still owed, but there's going to be a problem figuring out who actually holds the mortgage, and they would be the ones bringing the foreclosure. You have a trust that has been getting payments from borrowers for years that it has no right to receive. So you might see borrowers suing the trusts saying give me my money back, you're stealing my money. You're going to then have trusts that don't have any assets that have been issuing securities that say they're backed by a whole bunch of assets, and you're going to have investors suing the trustees for failing to inspect the collateral files, which the trustees say they're going to do, and you're going to have trustees suing the securitization sponsors for violating their representations and warrantees about what they were transferring.

The SEIU currently has a webpage that helps you to create a form letter to send to your mortgage lender. I would not recommend submitting your personal data to the SEIU, but the form letter generated is well written.

To: Mortgage Lending Department
Subject: Request for original mortgage note and additional information

Dear [NAME OF LENDER]:

This is a qualified written request under Section 6 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). I own the property at the address listed above, and your bank services my mortgage.

Over the last several weeks there have been many stories documenting the problem that banks are foreclosing on homes without proof that they own the loan. I have learned that in many cases, banks like yours do not even know who owns the loans you service. Employees at several leading banks have admitted to rubber stamping tens of thousands of foreclosures every month, without even checking to make sure that the bank had a legal right to proceed with foreclosure. In some cases, banks allegedly falsified mortgage documents to cover up their mistakes. There have been reports of two banks trying to foreclose on the same home, banks foreclosing on homeowners who were current on their payments, and even of a bank foreclosing on a home where the homeowner had never taken out a mortgage to begin with. This is not merely a "technical problem"--it is the difference between having a warm bed at night and being out on the street.

As a homeowner and a customer of your bank, I am horrified. I had always believed that it I played by the rules, I would be protected, but now I know that banks like yours think the rules don't apply to them.

To protect myself and my family, I need to know who owns my mortgage. Within sixty days, I would like to know the name, address, and phone number of the bank or investor that owns my mortgage. Furthermore, in light of the recent allegations of foreclosure fraud, I demand to see the original mortgage note proving ownership over my home loan. If you fail to produce a mortgage note proving that you have a right to collect my mortgage payments, I will be forced to consider all options available to me to ensure that my family and my home are protected.

I ask that I receive my response in writing. I understand that under Section 6 of RESPA you are legally required to acknowledge my request within twenty business days and must try to resolve the issue within sixty days.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Guaranteed Retirement Account

Most of you are familiar with Aesop's fable The Ant and the Grasshopper. The story is about the hard working ants who prepare for the hard winter, while the grasshopper plays and sings. Winter comes and the grasshopper starves to death.

Today's fable is slightly different. The ant still works hard in preparation for the winter. The honey bee is added as a character to the story. The honey bee is like the ant... working hard in preparation for the winter, but as Fall approaches, the honey bee's winter stores are robbed leaving hardly enough for winter survival. The ants comes by unscathed from robbers, but harvest was light. The grasshopper is still focused on playing and singing with little care to the upcoming winter... but it is because he knows that the ants and the bees will be required to share with him.

Say goodbye to your retirement accounts. If to date you managed to miss the effects of the economy stealing a large portion of you nest egg, the government now plans to utilize your funds for the sake of the rest of the community.

In a nutshell, under the GRA [Guaranteed Retirement Account] system government would seize private 401(k) accounts, setting up an additional 5% mandatory payroll tax to dole out a "fair" pension to everyone using that confiscated money coupled with the mandated contributions. This would, of course, be a sister government ponzi scheme working in tandem with Social Security, the primary purpose being to give big government politicians additional taxpayer funds to raid to pay for their out-of-control spending.

From written hearing testimony (PDF / HTML) submitted by Economic Policy Institute (EPI) Vice President Ross Eisenbrey:

We need a comprehensive solution that addresses interrelated problems. For example, a system that places most of the burden for retirement saving on individuals will always have to wrestle with the problem of pre-retirement loans and withdrawals (simply plugging these leaks will not work, because many workers would stop contributing to the system). A system that relies on tax incentives to promote individual retirement savings will necessarily tend to favor high-income workers who can afford to save more and who benefit the most from these tax breaks. Conversely, a truly universal system would need to shield low-income workers from out-of-pocket costs or wage cuts. EPI has published and advocated what we feel would be an excellent national supplemental retirement plan, the Guaranteed Retirement Account which was authored by Prof. Teresa Ghilarducci, Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School for Social Research.

If you would like to read more on the topic see New Lame Duck Threat to Bailout Union Pensions.

Firefighters let home burn

Gene Cranick of Obion County and his family lost all of their possessions in the September 29 fire, along with three dogs and a cat.

Mr. Cranick called 911 after the fire started but the fire department would not respond. Mr. Cranick had failed to pay an annual $75 fee to cover fire protection for rural residents.

Firefighters did eventually show up, but only to fight the fire on the neighboring property, whose owner had paid the fee.

It is an interesting story for sure. Immediate thoughts might be: "If the firefighters where there, why didn't they help the Cranick family?"

Firefighting is not free. There is a cost associated, and the annual $75 fee is a small price to pay for insuring that those services are available when needed. (Keep in mind that many locations include support of firefighting with the collected taxes... this location required a separate annual fee.) Another option would be to simply charge the individual for the cost involved to fight the fire... which would be significantly more than $75. Paying the annual fee amount the day of a fire does not make much sense, because then no one would end up paying enough to cover the fire fighting costs.

A strong parallel can be made to health care. Health care is not free. There is a cost associated, and insurance rates are a small price to pay for insuring that those services are available when needed. (Keep in mind that some countries include payment for health care via taxation... for the most part in America, we pay for health care individually.) Another option would be to simply charge the individual for the cost involved to provide the health insurance... which would be significantly more than typical insurance rates. Paying the insurance rates on the day of an emergency (or with a pre-existing condition) does not make much sense because then no one would end up paying enough to cover the health care costs.

Comments?

A country paying off its debt

This coming Sunday (October 3rd, 2010) Germany will pay the last of its debt / war reparations from World War I. On June 28th 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end the war between the German Empire and the Allied Powers. Articles 231-238 of the Treaty involved payment reparations to certain countries. In 1919, this amount totaled approximately $31.4 Billion. Compared with today's dollar value, that amount can equate anywhere from $1900 Billion ($1.9 Trillion) to $5000 Billion ($5 Trillion).

To say the least, this impossible amount of debt had an impact on the German economy. One solution was for the government to print its way out of debt. In a few short years German banknotes had lost so much value, that they were used as wallpaper. This Hyperinflation combined with the effects from the American Depression sent the German economy in a downward spiral.

The German Workers' Party that had formed at the end of World War I changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) in 1920. The conditions of war torn Germany and its failing economy set the stage for this Nazi party's rise to power.

Anyone reading this should be able to recognize parallels with our current governments economic actions, and what road this may be leading us down.

John Paulson on Inflation

John Paulson's Scary Speech makes some interesting points on our inflationary economy. I do however question his time line, and his bullish take on the housing market.

The Basics of Resilience

Chris Martenson presented a seven part article entitled What Should I Do? The Basics of Resilience. Martenson writes:

It can feel pretty personally overwhelming to learn about all the economic, environmental, and energy challenges in store for us for the rest of this century. There's plenty of work to be done by governments and businesses, sure—but what about preparing yourself and your family for this quickly changing world? The choices seem overwhelming. Where does one begin?

[...]

This article is part of a series on personal preparation to help you answer the question, "What should I do?" Our goal is to provide a safe, rational, relatively comfortable experience for those who are just coming to the realization that it would be prudent to take precautionary steps against an uncertain future. Those who have already taken these basic steps (and more) are invited to help us improve what is offered here by contributing comments, as this content is meant to be dynamic and improve over time.

The seven part article is divided up by the following topics:

• Part 1 – Getting Started
• Part 2 – Water
• Part 3 – Storing Food
• Part 4 – Growing & Preserving Food
• Part 5 – Health & First Aid
• Part 6 – Heat, Power & Communications
• Part 7 – Protecting Wealth

Would you like to make money?

Would you like to make money? Not by working hard, or selling a product or an idea.... I mean would you like to create currency? Would you like to be able to grow money on trees and harvest an endless supply?

This is a two part video from Mike Maloney that was recorded at the 8th International Banking Forum in Sochi, Russia.

The purpose of the conference was for bankers from around the world to meet and discuss the current state of the global economy, the banking system, and strategies for protecting their personal wealth (hence the speaking spot for Mike).

The first morning passed without too much fuss as each speaker gave an introduction and a brief talk on his or her area of expertise. However, by the end of the day...it became obvious that something was definitely wrong. After speaking with many of the attendees, Mike was alarmed to find that practically none of the international bankers understood our present monetary system. Most had no idea how currency is created! Here at wealthcycles.com, we've often wondered exactly how well modern day bankers understand the worldwide predicament that we find ourselves in. Ladies and gentlemen, our worst fears have been confirmed - the lights are on, but there's nobody home.

Mike's presentation on personal protection of wealth changed overnight, into one of basic education on our monetary system. How can anybody take the role of wealth protection (or running an economy!) seriously unless they can see the massive storm that lies ahead?

The Wizard of Oz

In 1964 Henry Littlefield wrote about an interpretation of The Wizard of Oz (children's novel) in the American Quarterly. Littlefield's interpretation was that the story was actually a parable on populism. There is, of course, obvious debate on whether or not it was Frank Baum's intent to write a parable on this subject.

Baum certainly saw the results of the frightful depression which had closed down up on the nation in 1893. Moreover, he took part in the pivotal election of 1896, marching in "torch-light parades for William Jennings Bryan". Martin Gardiner notes besides, that he "consistently voted as a democrat...and his sympathies seem always to have been on the side of the laboring classes." No one who marched in even a few such parades could have been unaffected by Bryan's campaign. Putting all the farmers' hopes in a basket labeled "free coinage of silver," Bryan's platform rested mainly on the issue of adding silver to the nation's gold standard. Though he lost, he did at least bring the plight of the little man into national focus

[...]

Not understanding the magic of the Silver Shoes, Dorothy walks the mundane -- and dangerous -- Yellow Brick Road. The first person she meets is a Scarecrow. After escaping from his wooden perch, the Scarecrow displays a terrible sense of inferiority and self doubt, for he has determined that he needs real brains to replace the common straw in his head. William Allen White wrote an article in 1896 entitled "What's the Matter With Kansas?". In it he accused Kansas farmers of ignorance, irrationality and general muddle-headedness. What's wrong with Kansas are the people, said Mr. White.[18] Baum's character seems to have read White's angry characterization. But Baum never takes White seriously and so the Scarecrow soon emerges as innately a very shrewd and very capable individual.

In any case, this possible parable is an interesting read. The interpretation lends insight into some of the political happening taking place during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Others(PDF) have also given similar accounts that mirror Littlefield's interpretation.

Other inks of interest:
The Wizard of Oz: A Parable on Populism
Littlefield's Interpretation

Under the poverty line

In reference to 2009 Obama said: "Last year we saw the depths of the recession, including historic losses in employment not witnessed since the Great Depression."

But hey... its unlikely that we are headed for a "double dip recession."

The US Census Bureau defines poverty as any family of four living on less than $22K a year. 1 in 7 Americans are under this poverty line.

Inflation into perspective

Most people know enough about inflation to recognize the effect that goods and services increase in price over time. Typically the change in the consumer price index (CPI) is used to represent current inflation in the United States. For a moment in this article let us assume that the methods for computing the CPI are accurate and reasonable.

Some employers attempt to compensate for inflation by adjusting salaries, by giving inflationary raises at the end of the year, however many employers do not. Many people currently concerned with the economy have taken investments and placed them into a stagnant bank account earning fractions of a percent in interest. Let look at an example for those who have stagnant savings (let us assume they have saved one year worth of their salary) and for those folks who do not get an inflationary raise every year.

Leaving out job benefits, assuming 52 weeks a year, 3 weeks paid time off, and 5 day work weeks... each day of work equates to approximately 0.4% of a year's salary. If inflation goes up 1% a person will have essentially need to work 2-1/2 extra days of time in order to equate the previous year's value. The person with savings will essentially have lost 2-1/2 days worth of pay. 2% increase is approximately one work week (5 days) of value lost. 5% is almost 2-1/2 weeks.

Some alternative inflation charts show us currently at 8.5% inflation (4 weeks of work). Now multiply this over a period of a few years... those who have one year worth of salary (or more) in stagnant savings for more than 3 years, have essentially lost 1/3 of their purchasing power. To carry the illustration further, some projections suggest that the United States is headed for 20% inflation (2-1/2 months of work.)

The reality is not this simplified. Various products are affected in different ways (and at different times) by inflation. I post this exercise to help people realize that while the $dollar$ amount may not be changing from year to year... the value is.

Goodbye light bulb

The Washington Post had an article earlier this week on the the closing of the last major GE factory that manufactures incandescent light bulbs.

The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s. The remaining 200 workers at the plant here will lose their jobs.

[...]

During the recession, political and business leaders have held out the promise that American advances, particularly in green technology, might stem the decades-long decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as the lighting industry shows, even when the government pushes companies toward environmental innovations and Americans come up with them, the manufacture of the next generation technology can still end up overseas.

Tungsten, bad mortgages or carbon credits: which is the best scam?

As Anon just reported, the Bangladesh Bank just acquired 10 metric tons of gold. Or did they?

There are reports on the web that some very sophisticated counterfeiters have constructed thousands of gold-plated tungsten bars which look, weigh, and measure the same as an ordinary 400 oz gold bullion bars. In other words, the unscrupulous and proficient counterfeiter could convert $270 of tungsten and a few ounces of gold into a bar which cannot be easily distinguished from the approximately $480,000 real thing.

But that's actually a lot of work to only make a few billion. What would be better is if you could make tens or hundreds of billions of dollars like Goldman Sachs and Magnatar did when they (1) created super-risky collateralized debt obligations (CDO) from sub-prime mortgages and then (2) bought credit default swaps which paid out many times their portion of the CDO when the CDO defaulted. How slick is that? No precision manufacturing of physical products or inventory management to worry about!

But who has time to scrap over a few billion when there are trillions to be made selling air? Imagine how much money you could make if (1) you could simply make "credits" from nothing, (2) sell them to people for the right to create/emit carbon dioxide, and then (3) charge an overhead fee when people sell those excess credits to one another? That's exactly what will happen when the "cap and trade" bill passes. And of course, none other than Goldman Sachs is there to reap the profits...

I think the gold-plated tungsten peddlers have the most honest business going of the three.

10 Metric Tons to the Bangladesh Bank

The IMF sold 10 metric tons of gold to the Bangladesh Bank on September 9th. Total sold to date is around 222 metric tons of the total 403.3 metric tons that the IMF is attempting to dump what they probably don't have on the economy raise money to help "boost the Fund's capacity to provide concessional loans to low income countries."

Side note... a 10 metric ton solid gold cube would have dimension of about 2'-8" on all sides.

The Economic Boycott

A couple good articles on "The Economic Boycott: Is It Moral? Does It Work?" and "History Of The Economic Boycott." The common misconceptions listed under the first article was particularly interesting:

The boycott will make no difference.

LDI has documented over 231 corporations that have pledged to no longer support Planned Parenthood. To understand how corporations might see the results of a boycott, look at the economic effects on a larger scale. Suppose just 250,000 boycotters vowed to spend their money elsewhere and they redirected a small figure of $15 per week. That would amount to $3.75 million per week or $195 million a year. That amount is enough to stand any business executive's hair on end and change philanthropic policy.

Boycotts punish the innocent employees of a targeted corporation.

LDI does not suggest that people cease working for boycott targets unless their job directly influences corporate profits (cashier at a supermarket versus insurance salesman). Those who remain employed by a boycott target are encouraged to work from the inside to change the philanthropic policy. In many cases, corporations that stopped funding Planned Parenthood did so due to pressure from inside as well as outside the company. The goal is not to punish the employees but to change corporate behavior. If the friendly Christian door-to-door salesman wants you to buy a boycotted product, respectfully explain your commitment to the pro-life cause and urge the salesman to ask the parent corporation to stop funding Planned Parenthood.

The Boycott List is overwhelming. It is impossible to keep up and if everything were to be boycotted, we would go naked and hungry.

Boycotting companies on The Boycott List is not as overwhelming as it might first appear. The Boycott List comes with a handy Checkbook List. The Checkbook List is a checkbook-size version of The Boycott List and includes the names of corporations and products/services one may encounter while outside the home. Simply read over the Checkbook List and highlight those products/services you may use. Be sure to put the Checkbook List in your car, pocketbook, or checkbook so it is handy when you leave home.

No one who has been a faithful participant in the boycott has gone naked, hungry or unsheltered. In most cases there are competing products that can be bought in place of those on The Boycott List. CFP guidelines clearly indicate that one should not forgo purchase of a product for which there is serious need and no substitute. The Boycott List is not a call to extreme sacrifice. It is an opportunity to join with like-minded people to encourage the elimination of corporate funding of Planned Parenthood. We are asking you to be a good steward of the resources God has given you.

Boycotting is a strong-armed, political tactic that is tantamount to extortion.

It might be that some understand "boycotting" as meaning something other than it actually does. You might be more comfortable with the term "economic non-cooperation" or "smart shopping." You will shop, support, or buy from companies based on a set of consistent guidelines and principles. That is your right as a consumer and is neither political nor strong-armed.

The LDI boycott is not extortion because neither you nor the organization calling for the boycott has anything to gain financially. On the other hand, pro-abortion groups sometimes threaten corporations with a boycott if they end funding. Such a boycott does constitute extortion (morally, if not legally) because they are demanding monetary gain.

What harm is really being done?

Besides the actual destruction of preborn children through abortion, the anti-Christian and immoral teachings by Planned Parenthood have a devastating impact on young men and women. (For example, one common educational tactic of Planned Parenthood is "desensitizing." The goal is to break down inhibitions about sex so indoctrination can occur more readily accepted. In reality this tactic desensitizes the conscience and reduces the sanctity of the sexual relationship, while actually arousing interest in the topic.) It is important to remember that, in the eyes of God, abortion is murder.