Powerstroke Nation : economy

Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts

Sunday, December 7, 2008

The Destructive World of "Troubled Assets": Paulson shoots another arrow into the heart of the Economy

The announcement in the last few days of a deal reached between the U.S. Treasury and the moribund insurance giant, A.I.G. provides a very lucid insight in to the nefarious and destructive world of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, otherwise known as T.A.R.P..Not only have A.I.G. received $152 billion to date and subsequently reported a third quarter loss of $25 billion, now they are to be cleared of their obligation on $53 billion worth of toxic credit default swaps. U.S. taxpayers are now on the hook for $205 billion courtesy of an institution which played in the Wall St. casino that passes for a "Financial Sector" and lost. Under the "Free market" system, so expounded upon by Government and Wall St. alike, A.I.G should be in chapter 11. Bailing out A.I.G and other failing institutions does absolutely nothing to address the fundamental issues at hand.

The economy is in crisis because unemployment and overarching debt levels pushed thousands of families in to the untenable situation where they did not earn enough to cover their debts. This burst the real estate bubble inflated by Alan Greenspan, crashed real estate prices, consumer spending and manufacturing. What we are seeing now is the inevitable result of lack of Financial regulation, lax monetary policy and a symbiosis between Government and the Financial industry. The mortgages taken out by buyers had been bundled into complex financial instruments; Mortgage backed securities. The latter along with Credit default swaps and derivatives set the stage for a global financial meltdown. The Glass-Steagal act of 1933 had been conceived to prevent the Banking sector from indulging in high risk investments to protect the depositors of these institutions. This was repealed at the end of the Clinton Administration through the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 which opened the gates to financial destruction. With the stroke of a pen, the financial services sector was given the power to literally bring down an economy

The most urgent matter for Treasury to address is the toxic derivatives market. The notional amount of outstanding derivatives, as noted by the Bank of International settlements, comes close to $512 trillion. This represents a figure that is impossible to settle and is the real Armageddon which Banks are preparing for by hoarding the cash that they have received through the T.A.R.P..Unless this time bomb is defused by bringing the undeclared positions on the table, the duration and gravity of this crisis can only increase. As the underlying assets of these instruments crumble the Banks' exposure to counterparty risk increases and will lead to the inevitable collapse of even more banks and reduce the availability of investment credit even more. The underlying assets include interest rates, mortgages, foreign exchange rates, credit ratings on companies and even creditworthiness of entire countries. This is the level of insanity that has passed for "Leveraged Investment"

With over $3 trillion of taxpayer money injected in to Banks, insurance companies, commercial paper, Fannie and Freddie what has come back to benefit the dying economy ? A reduction in lending, increased interest rates on credit card payments and further losses for these same institutions. No big surprise as the real economy has never stopped it's nosedive. Does the Treasury really not realise that there is no point in investing in companies that have no chance of redemption ? By handing over Americans' hard earned tax dollars and indebting future generations, the Treasury has been engaging in the biggest transfer of wealth in Human history. The U.S. is now the biggest debtor on the planet and the rest of the world has noticed. China, Japan and the Oil kingdoms that buy U.S. debt are losing faith and it's only a matter of time until they turn off the tap.

Friday, November 28, 2008

American Food System Fertilized With Industrial Chemical Melamine

Weve talked about the pervasive industrial chemical melamine appearing in Chinese food from its domestic supplies of milk to its exports of wheat gluten found anywhere from pet food to chicken feed. Weve also covered how new tracking measures are being implemented to improve food safety (see New Tracing System To Improve Safety of [...]

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The Nation: Maybe Nader was Right. Return of the Wall St. Hustlers

By Robert Scheer | November 26, 2008
The Nation

Maybe Ralph Nader was right in predicting that the same Wall Street hustlers would have a lock on our government no matter which major party won the election. I hate to admit it, since it wasn't that long ago that I heatedly challenged Nader in a debate on this very point.

But how else is one to respond to Barack Obama's picking the very folks who helped get us into this financial mess to now lead us out of it? Watching the president-elect's Monday introduction of his economic team, my brother-in-law Pete said, "You can see the feathers coming out of their mouths" as the foxes were once again put in charge of the henhouse. He didn't have time to expound on his point, having to get ready to go sort mail in his job at the post office, but he showed me a statement from Citigroup showing that the interest rate on Pete the Postal Worker's credit card was 28.9 percent, an amount that all major religions would justly condemn as usurious.

Moments earlier, Obama had put his seal of approval on the Citigroup bailout, which his new economic team, led by proteges of Citigroup Executive Committee Chairman Robert Rubin, enthusiastically endorsed. A bailout that brings to $45 billion the taxpayer money thrown at Citigroup and the guarantee of $306 billion for the bank's "toxic securities" that would have been illegal if not for changes in the law that Citigroup secured with the decisive help of Rubin and Lawrence Summers, the man who replaced him as Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration.

Continue.

Happy Thanksgiving to Dr. Paul and everyone on the DP!

Very few things have altered the course of my life. The standards like marriage, children, etc.... you grow to anticipate.

Things like Dr. Paul just sort of blind-side you. I've had my beliefs all my life but no one (in politics) has ever spoken to them with any conviction or understanding until I heard Dr. Paul describe himself as "the champion of the Constitution".

I remember asking my brother, who makes me look mainstream, if this guys was the 'real deal'. He assured me he was.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Spending the Economy into Oblivion

“With news this week that Congress is poised to consider a new stimulus package, I am forced to again ask a question that seems silly in Washington: How will we pay for this?”“While a few Members of Congress have raised the issue, it certainly was not the primary concern of the House Budget Committee when [...]

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Monday, July 14, 2008

Victory in Iowa!!! One delegate's story.

I thought I would brag a little about one of the alternate delegates to the RNC who won her spot the hard way, my wife.

For months now my wife has been calling delegates from our district. We designed, printed, and sent out two mailers (have you ever stuffed, sealed, addressed, and stamped 1600 envelopes?). She was actually getting some pretty good feedback and we both thought she had a chance.

Being amateurs, I guess we did not understand GOP politics in Iowa.

Oregon Delegates Update!

Just wanted everyone to know that in Oregon we elected 3 delegates and 4 alternates to the national convention (out of 27). We were to have 4 of each, but the GOP put out a competing slate and one of their "Ron Paul" delegates got through. Fortunately, we did get the other three.

Congratulations Oregonians for Ron Paul!

For Liberty!

Feds Trying to Prevent Bank Run After Indy Mac Collapse

Bush tells Israel to go ahead and bomb Iran? Gives "Amber Light"

Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when youre ready, the official said.

Ron Pauls entire speech at the R3volution March in DC on July 12th

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/wa... Ron Paul
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/wa... Ron Paul
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/wa... Ron Paul
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/wa... Aimee allen
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12

The rest will be posted over the next 12 hours....

Please enjoy...and pass around to all those who enjoy RON PAUL.....

Saturday, July 12, 2008

MP3 | Ron Paul vs. Secretary Treasurer Paulson

July 10, 2008 -
Ron Paul House Finance Committee questions Secretary Treasurer Paulson (8 min)
www.ronpaulaudio.com
July 09, 2008 - Ron Paul House Floor On Blockade/Iranian Missile Tests (6 min)
July 09, 2008 - Ron Paul Foreign Affairs Committee Iran Policy Hearing and Q&A (11 min)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Ron Paul Reagan and Goldwater Platform Video

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Today's Headlines from the Second Great Depression

Updated daily at Depression2.tv Because the second great depression will not be televised. It will be brought to you live.

NYT Video: Behind Rice Shortage - Australia's Drought
Video: The Fabulous Life of John McCain
Iacocca: This is America, not the damned 'Titanic'
Kunstler: Blind Spot
UPS, FedEx Decline Signals No Imminent Rebound From Recession
Gas Hits $3.50 - Little Sign of Relief in Sight
Wage Erosion Cutting Deeper in US
FT: Road to Ruin. America Ponders the Depths of Downturn
The New Ghost Towns of Minnesota
China Overtakes US as World's Second Biggest Exporter
Can Bernanke Stop the Credit Crunch?
Island Nation of Japan Runs Out of Butter. A Dire Warning for Us All
Business Week: There is No Gas Shortage. But Powerful Interests Want You to Believe There is.
Fannie & Freddie: The Trillion Dollar Ticking Time Bomb

Ron Paul speech on Tax Strike, Freedom Rally, Washington DC, nationwide protest.

Ron Paul speech on Tax Strike, Freedom Rally, Washington DC, nationwide protest.

As predicted, MSM failed to broadcast the news….here it is, straight from DC….sorry the audio in the first portion is muffled….I attempted to add the text portions as best as I could hear …More footage to come, I was in a hurry to get this one of Ron Paul posted….

It was a wonderful historic and patriotic event…. the Revolution is just beginning!