“Cold, hard numbers?” THE REALITY – HAD TO ADD THESE FROM MY ARCHIVES-
2012, 2013…
Category: Economy
My take on this issue… “Just the facts, M’aam”
The figures below don’t sinc with my “reality” – The so called 40 hr work week annual wages can be ascertained by multiplying your wage (if paid by the hr) by 2080 hrs.
At $8.25 X 2080 it equals $17,160 per year. However, my “at will” employers have varied my hrs for a number of dubious reasons. Currently, I’m fortunate if I get 32 hrs; which equals $12,870. This is BEFORE “Uncle Sam” takes his bite, and before SS taxes take their bite. Divide that by 12 (months) it comes out to $1072.50 per month. My Rent is $499.00, my auto insurance is $410 per 6 months (a service charge is incurred by having to pay $102.50 per 4months instead of being able to make an annual payment). My rate is tied into having Apt ins. @$142; paid @ 40.50 a month, or it would be higher. My Gas expense due to site/schedule changes made, has increased by $50. per month; so monthly gas expense is $75. My utilities, (rent covers gas so I don’t have heating expenses) electric equals about $25. per month. My internet/phone charges equal $50. per month. Total = $751.50. This leaves precious little for food, and there is NO “discretional” income for things like preventative maintenance for my vehicle, ME, (no health coverage) or other things that are quaintly referred to as S— happens. Amazingly enough, if the Min wage IS raised to $9.00; my employers would pay me $9.25 per hr. (I was making $8.00 per hr before the last change) At this rate I could manage to keep body and soul together, even with far less than full time hrs. The guy from CATO in his $1000 suit and six figure income can go pound sand.
It remains to be seen if HE will prevent my becoming in deep debt. People like me exist. They don’t “live”. Use the link provided to view video.
Top Reason to Raise the Minimum Wage: It’s 30% Below 1968 Level After Inflation
By Bernice Napach | Daily Ticker – Fri, Mar 1, 2013 12:51 PM EST
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/top-reason-raise-minimum-wage-30-below-1968-175114921.html
In his State of the Union Address President Obama proposed raising the minimum wage to $9.00 an hour, declaring that “in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.”
A full-time worker making the minimum wage today would earn roughly $14,500 a year—about 40% below the $23,550 poverty line for a family of four.
Given that gap, about 19 states have set a minimum wage above the federal minimum—including at least 10 that raised it the beginning of this year and more states are considering increases.
On Capitol Hill Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative George Miller (D-CA) this week announced plans to introduce a bill to raise the national minimum wage to $10.10 in just over two years after passage and adjusting it for inflation after that. If the minimum wage of $1.60 per hour in 1968 had been adjusted for inflation it would be close to $10.30 today—or 30% higher than the current rate.
Not everyone agrees that raising the minimum wage would help minimum wage workers.
Dan Mitchell, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian Washington, D.C. think tank, tells The Daily Ticker “If you increase the price of something by 24%…In all likelihood you’re pricing them out of a job….it will cause job losses. The federal government shouldn’t put people out of work.”
Mitchell assumes that all the increases in the minimum wage would be passed onto consumers, who in turn will reduce their purchases. “If McDonalds raises their hamburger prices 33% they will sell fewer hamburgers… If the government raises the price of low-skilled labor by 33% there will be less low-skilled labor being hired.”
But Senator Harkin, in a recent USA Today op-ed, writes that raising the minimum wage “would create at least 100,000 jobs through increased consumer spending” by “putting additional money in the hands of consumers who will spend it right away in their local communities.”
Economists generally agree that the economy gets more bang for the buck putting money into the hands of lower income workers rather than higher-income earners. Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics, who has advised Senator John McCain during his presidential bid in 2008 as well as President Obama, says the so-called multiplier effect of emergency of unemployment benefits, for example, is 1.52—meaning $1.52 spent by consumers for every dollar’s worth of government stimulus and 1.27 for the employee payroll tax cut vs. a 0.25 multiplier for an income tax cut for wealthy Americans. As part of the deal to avoid going off the fiscal cliff the employee payroll tax cut was eliminated but unemployment benefits were extended.
Another reason to raise the minimum wage: record inequality in the U.S. now.
“Company owners and wage earners are doing incredibly well, “ says The Daily Ticker’s Henry Blodget. “Everybody else is getting hammered. Why isn’t it a good idea to force companies to pay their workers more?….The vast majority of the country is paid almost nothing…Most of the people who work for Wal-Mart (WMT) are poor.”
Blodget says Harkin and Miller’s plan to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 in a few years is simply indexing it to inflation, taking it back to where it was more than 40 years ago. “That doesn’t seem too extreme.”
Tell Us What You Think!
“If a task is once begun, never leave it till it’s done. Be the labor great or small, do it well, or not at all.”
Think about the person behind that mindset. Would that person punish someone for taking initiative, and doing the right thing? Would they encourage wasteful habits instead? H— no, they wouldn’t.
The author recounting Rand Paul’s efforts, talks about the other mindset; one that might well be the reason for the expression “No good deed goes unpunished”. I am saddened to note that this mindset seems to be the rule, not the exception in America. It is not new, indeed, it has always been around among those who would manipulate, and subvert those who exhibit moral straightness, integrity, honesty, and other righteous qualities.
The person behind “If a task…” was my maternal grandmother; long deceased. I was about eight years old when on one of her rare visits, she had me memorize it. She, and others like them, gave birth to the group of people who have been referred to as “The Greatest Generation”. “X”
US Senator Trims Office Budget and Returns $600,000 to US Treasury
by Dave Jolly
There is no doubt in my mind that our senators and congressmen have no sense of responsibility when it comes to being good stewards of our taxpayer money. They spend our dollars as if there is no tomorrow and it means nothing to them, after all, the money is allocated to them so why not spend it?
One senator is trying to set an example for the rest of the Capital Hill crowd, but his actions will likely go unnoticed or even make him a pariah among his peers. Rand Paul, (R-KY) has managed his senate office budget very closely. He has controlled spending and cut wherever possible. They tracked everything from travel expenses, to computers, paper, ink cartridges and every other office expense. In the process, he has reduced his office spending by $600,000 this past year. The year before it was $500,000 he saved.
So what did Paul do with the excess money? He returned it to the US Treasury. In the past two years, he has returned $1.1 million to the Treasury. In a press conference, Paul says that one of the problems with Congress and many sectors of the private world is that they are taught to spend every dime allocated to them. If they don’t spend it all, they won’t get as much money the next year.
It’s that way in the private sector as well. My dad worked for a utility as a foreman. Every year they were allocated so much money for the renovation and repairs of the local canal system. Dad developed a way to renovate twice as much canal for less money and his renovations lasted longer than the others. In one year, he saved just over $1 million. His reward was a royal butt chewing by his boss and his boss’s boss. He was told to spend every penny that was allocated to him or else.
Paul encourages all government employees to cut spending where they can. He also advocates establishing a bonus system to reward those who do save significant amounts of spending.
Coming down to the wire… In a previous blog on the national debt, a pie chart showed that we still do not have a revenue problem; if we cut the ******** spending, and used a chunk of revenue to pay down the debt to reduce interest, the U.S. could regain solvency. Now, in the near future, we will come to the place where we are only able to pay the interest, not the debt. Looking like the hyperinflation experienced by the Weimar Republic may be just around the bend. Bread – $200 per loaf?
During the first half of 1922, the Mark stabilized at about 320 Marks per Dollar.
Below: A medal commemorating Germany’s 1923 hyperinflation. The engraving reads: “On 1st November 1923 1 pound of bread cost 3 billion, 1 pound of meat: 36 billion, 1 glass of beer: 4 billion.” [Deutchmarks]
John Ransom
I hate to interrupt Obama’s “We Don’t Have a Spending Problem” World Tour. But reality intervened on Tuesday as the Congressional Budget Office released a report that says that the budget deficit will grow through 2023 and “will eventually require the government to raise taxes, reduce benefits and services, or undertake some combination of those two actions,” reports CBSNews- and all of that just to cover interest payments.
“In its annual Budget and Economic Outlook,” writes CBSNews, “the CBO said debt held by the public will be bigger by 2023 than in any year since 1951 and will be at 77 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2023, far above the 40-year average of 39 percent of GDP. As a result, the CBO report said, the federal government’s interest costs ‘will be very high’ and will be rising. Interest costs will more than double by the end of the ten-year forecasting period.”
The CBO projects that interest rates on the Ten-Year Treasury Note will rise from 2.1 percent currently, to 5.2 percent in 2017.
In December, the Treasury Department reported that total interest bearing debt owed by the government carried an interest rate of 2.523 percent. Last year’s interest payments on that debt totaled $360 billion. If interest rates overall reflect the CBO’s forecast for the benchmark, interest rates payments alone will reach one trillion dollars by 2017.
Just current debt would require interest payments of 2.5 times 2012 levels or $890 billion. You can add another $100 billion in interest costs for deficits accumulated between 2013 and 2017.
http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/images/pubs-images/43xxx/43907-land-SumFigure1.png
If interest rates cooperate, interest on the national debt will be the third largest line item in the budget by 2017, after pensions and healthcare, topping defense spending, education, welfare and likely even Obama’s vacation budget.
If interest rates don’t cooperate and they become infected by inflation, or silly things like…I don’t know…RISK anyone?… then look for interest payments to be the top and biggest line item in any budget.
So technically Obama doesn’t have a spending problem.
Obama will be out of office by 2017, so yeah, HE doesn’t have a problem spending all that borrowed money. It’s all of us suckers who have to live in the country after he’s done with it who will have to make the choice between cat food and really large interest payments on the national debt.
The other thorny problem with the CBO forecast is that after this year the report is contingent upon the economy growing “at its maximum sustainable level.”
The CBO pegs GDP growth as modest this year-again- but bets the farm that GDP growth will hit “3.4 percent in 2014 and an average of 3.6 percent a year from 2015 through 2018.”
No offense to the folks at the CBO, but really they should let politico-comedian David Letterman report economics and go to writing jokes full-time. Since 2000, the US economy has grown above 3 percent only twice, 2004 and 2010. With 2 years of getting hits and the other years striking out, that’s not even a batting average.
That’s a disaster.
No doubt higher government spending could give the economy a temporary boost, as it did in the third quarter of 2012, just in time to save Obama’s re-election campaign. But we’ve plunged from an annual rate of 3.1 percent growth in the third quarter to recessionary activity in the 4th quarter. If government spending was all that it was cracked up to be, wouldn’t the third quarter have kick-started the economy, rather than killing it?
While idiots like Ezra Klein of the Washington Post argue that government spending needs to be much, much higher and payrolls for the federal government need to be expanded rather than contracted, the result would be catastrophic.
As it is, if we do nothing and let current federal tax rates and spending drift, we’ll spend more on interest than we do on education.
And Democrats, you have a problem: Tell them in 2017 how much you care about kids.
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/johnransom/2013/02/06/uh-obama-we-have-a-problem-interest-expense-to-hit-1-trillion-in-4-years-n1506075/page/full/
Townhall Columnists Larry Kudlow
Without Deep Spending Cuts, the Republicans Lose the House in 2014
Larry Kudlow
Okay, it’s official. According to the Treasury Department, the U.S. debt jumped to $16.1 trillion in 2012 from $14.8 trillion in 2011. That’s a $1.3 trillion deficit for the last year. Remarkable. During President Obama’s first term, the federal debt rose by roughly $6 trillion.
Now, if they are bold, House Republicans will take advantage of these dismal numbers. Bold means bold spending cuts, as in cut spending like there’s no tomorrow. Bold means implementing the $1.2 trillion spending sequester. Bold means an absolute rock-solid commitment to spending cuts. A new Rasmussen survey shows that 62 percent of Americans favor across-the-board spending cuts. That includes every program of the federal government, according to the survey.
So Republicans can persuade the public about bold spending cuts. They can make it their key message and central marketing strategy. If they don’t, they risk losing the House in 2014.
Voters are smart. Another Rasmussen poll shows that 68 percent of Americans say cutting government spending is the solution to our economic problems. Support for cutting government spending has generally remained in the high 60s to low 70s over the past couple of years. Voters realize full well that a private, free-enterprise economy that holds on to more of its hard-earned money while the government share of the economy shrinks is pro-growth. Limited government is a tax cut.
Unlike the recent fiscal-cliff tax-hike deal, we need to let successful earners, investors, and risk-takers keep more of what they earn as an incentive to remain the activists who drive the economy. Of course, Obama wants another $1 trillion in taxes. But Republicans must just say no. (While they’re at it, the GOP should cut tax rates for large and small businesses to 25 percent.)
As an extension to this hard-line spending message, the GOP must make it clear that spending cuts equal economic growth. Think Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, and James Buchanan — all Nobel prize winners who argued that less spending means more growth.
And the GOP should stop paying people not to work as part of their spending-cut campaign. With unemployment falling modestly in the last couple of years, food stamps have exploded by 7.2 million recipients. That’s 10,000 per day, according to Ohio University professor Richard Vedder, even in an expanding economy. Social Security disability payments also have exploded. So have long-term, extended-unemployment benefits.
It’s this simple: If you pay people not to work, they won’t work. And if they won’t work, the economy won’t grow.
This is part of the spending-cut message. The GOP has to repeat this message again and again.
Now, we know President Obama is against spending cuts. In his debt-ceiling speech this week, all he did was demonize the Republican party, saying the GOP is making America a deadbeat nation. Obama continues to blame Republicans for throwing old folks, young people, military troops, and others under the bus. Sheer demagoguery. Awful, divisive, non-compromising, non-leadership rhetoric.
But the GOP can make hay on this with a strong spending-cut, shrink-the-government message. With no gimmicks, please. It’s okay to extend the debt-ceiling increase for another three months (as announced by Paul Ryan and the Republican leadership in Williamsburg, Va., this week).
It’s also okay to use a continuing resolution to force short-term spending cuts, and maybe even get some long-term spending-cut plans going. Perhaps even the Democrats, who haven’t passed a budget in 1,360 days, will finally put one out in response to these Republican House measures.
But the idea of allowing the borrowing limit to expire, and using some kind of prioritization of payments while the government runs out of money, will not only damage the current economy, it will absolutely sink the Republican party for the 2014 midterm elections.
The bipartisan Policy Center projects that on March 1, the U.S. government will receive $20 billion in revenues to cover $84 billion in committed spending to obligations like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ benefits, military pay, and so forth and so on. Sure, we can cover the interest on the debt, which is only about $20 billion a month. But what about these other commitments? And how would such a dysfunctional approach look to world financial markets and credit-rating agencies?
That’s why gimmicks like this should not be used. They will snatch political defeat from the jaws of a potential spending-cut victory.
But the moral of this story is that congressional Republicans must develop an effective spending-cut message. And that message should be linked to economic growth and job creation. If they do that, they will help the economy and their political futures. If they don’t, they’re going to lose the House and undermine the economy.
I think it’s that simple.
I’m Aaron DeHoog , the financial publisher at Newsmax.
And what I have to discuss with you now is the most serious threat to both our country and your financial security that I’ve ever come across.
Because it could eradicate your life savings . . . your investments . . . and your entire net worth.
Today, I Want You to
Imagine the Unimaginable.
What if a man with the highest government clearance at the Pentagon and CIA . . .
Who has access to some of the most sensitive military and economic intelligence, who regularly briefs the Treasury, and who has testified before the Senate and House of Representatives . . .
Walked into your office, sat down, and with a calm voice that did not waver, gave you the following warning . . .
“An Economic Pearl Harbor
Is about to Strike America.”
And this was not something he said without understanding its gravity.
Because — as you’ll soon learn — the CIA enlisted him to investigate the last direct attack on our country and economy: 9/11.
And this time he believes the outcome could be as severe as the Great Depression, as our already fragile financial system collapses, and the wealth of tens of millions of innocent Americans who aren’t prepared is decimated in the blink of an eye from the onslaught.
For example, the $50 trillion lost in the recession would be just a drop in the bucket.
Picture $100 trillion vanishing from Main Street America and our economy.
Picture investment accounts crumbling into ashes . . . impoverishing even the wealthiest . . . as the stock market suddenly plunges 50% . . . with no floor in sight.
Picture inflation hitting extreme levels that make the 1970s look like a pleasant memory . . . as what’s left of the dollar is eradicated.
The struggle to afford gas and food could cause conflict and stress to overcome our society.
Now, Imagine You Are Me.
And this is what has just been described to you.
Who would you tell?
And what would you do at that very moment to protect you and your family’s financial security?
That’s what I want to discuss with you today.
Now before I go further, let me tell you about the man who delivered this warning to me, so you can understand with complete clarity why you need to take this seriously.
His name is James Rickards.
And he is a top security adviser to the Pentagon . . . CIA . . . Department of Defense . . . and the Director of National Intelligence.
He is also a powerful lawyer and investment banker, who has spent over 35 years on Wall Street.
While much of his work is classified, I am permitted to tell you that his focus is on identifying threats that may strike our economy, financial markets, and average Americans.
This oftentimes places him behind enemy lines in some very dangerous areas of the world including Nigeria, Liberia, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan.
His rather unique skillset is the main reason that James Rickards has been called upon by our great nation to intervene directly in some of recent history’s most important events.
For example, the U.S. government placed him in the heart of the negotiations to free 52 innocent Americans during the Iran hostage crisis that endured for 444 straight days from 1979 through 1981.
But that was just the beginning . . .
As you probably remember, in 1998 the large hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management almost single-handedly destroyed our economy when its trillion-dollar exposure to risky investments threatened to unleash . . .
A financial catastrophe not seen in the previous 60 years.
A few years later, James Rickards’ expertise in Middle Eastern financing, and his ability to operate in secrecy, resulted in top CIA officials placing him in the center of an investigation into one of our nation’s darkest hours.
I’m referring to . . . September 11, 2001.
The CIA enlisted Rickards to examine terrorist ties to a large block of insider trading that occurred on Wall Street prior to the attack . . .
Because of the direct loss of innocent lives, we don’t often stop to think that 9/11 was also a strike on our economy as well.
In fact, Osama bin Laden even stated this was one of his top priorities on numerous occasions.
All in all, it’s believed we lost $6.4 trillion when you factor in the loss in market wealth, plus the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that followed.
For obvious security reasons, James Rickards did not discuss the specifics of his work investigating the 9/11 financial paper trail in great detail with me.
But he did say that what he uncovered angered him.
And he decided to do his part to ensure it will never happen again.
So in the years that followed, he developed and then implemented a system the national intelligence community could use to decipher clues emanating from Wall Street.
Clues that could help provide an early warning of a coming economic crisis. And it wasn’t long before his worst fears came to reality.
You see, in 2005 he started getting signals that our economy and financial markets had become unstable and had reached a code red status.
So he began briefing the Treasury on a regular basis.
But When, to Their Surprise, James Rickards
Started Pointing Fingers at THEM and the FEDERAL RESERVE . . . His Message Fell on Deaf Ears.
Look, it’s hard for anyone to tell their boss that they are the problem, let alone stand up in front of our government and do it.
But that’s exactly what James Rickards boldly did.
His concerns reached a boiling point at a Treasury meeting when he declared that Ben Bernanke had become more dangerous to the national and financial security of the United States . . . than al-Qaeda.
They didn’t listen.
Well, we all know what happened next when the recession struck.
And now Rickards is seeing those code red warnings again.
But this time the signals are TWICE as strong . . .
And they are exposing a frightening revelation . . . that could bring down many powerful people.
You see, James Rickards uncovered evidence that suggests for the last few years the American government and Federal Reserve have been covertly working together to deliberately commit calculated, and unspeakable economic aggressions against not only other nations, but American citizens . . .
So he rushed to testify about his findings before both the Senate and House of Representatives.
However, when Congress heard that the blame didn’t fall on a Middle Eastern country or on a corrupt Wall Street firm . . . or a terrorist group. . .
But instead fell on the leaders of America — some of whom were present at the time of his testimony . Well, as you can imagine, they didn’t like his message.
So James Rickards turned to the Pentagon.
And shortly after he shared this intelligence with them . . .
The Pentagon brought him to a top-secret facility in Maryland — their Warfare Analysis Laboratory — to re-create a startling scenario of exactly what could erupt in our future . . .
As an “Economic Pearl Harbor”
Is Unleashed on Our Country.
All from a financial war our leaders started.
And a global counterattack nobody on Capitol Hill, at the Treasury, or at the Federal Reserve was prepared for . . .
Now if that wasn’t frightening enough, wait until you hear this.
Everything could eventually escalate into military conflicts against China, Iran, Russia, or possibly an unknown enemy.
Because, it has happened before.
And right now, history is being ignored.
What James Rickards briefed the Pentagon and Congress on, and later shared with me in our private meeting is called a global Currency War.
And It’s a War We
Are Going to Lose.
Unfortunately, Rickards had already learned a hard lesson that sometimes Washington, D.C., ignores the national intelligence community.
So with no other choice, he is now stepping out of the shadows to play the role of whistleblower.
And that is why James Rickards came to the Newsmax office to speak with me.
Because he knows that Newsmax has the power, and therefore the responsibility, to warn the public.
As you are probably aware, Newsmax has built a strong reputation for exposing the stories the mainstream media oftentimes ignore until it’s too late.
It was Newsmax that traveled to Moscow to meet with the former president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to discuss a coming war with Iran . . .
Well before it was a top headline in the newspapers.
It was Newsmax that sat down with former President Bill Clinton to expose China’s growing energy dominance . . .
And the threat of a future tax siege on the American public . . .
And it was Newsmax that years ago warned of the cyber attacks we’ve begun to see now.
So it goes without saying that we don’t take the threat of an “economic Pearl Harbor” striking America lightly.
Which is why we investigated and vetted it thoroughly.
So, let me ask again, imagine you are me.
Who would you tell?
And what would you do at that very moment to protect you and your family’s financial security?
After all, the scenario James Rickards described to me was truly unimaginable.
But with his background — with his credibility — and with the evidence he provided to me . . . he was not somebody to be ignored.
But I knew that if I was going to warn the public — to warn you — I would have to assemble a team of experts who could provide you with the exact details on what is about to unfold . . . and more importantly, how to protect yourself.
I assembled a team of experts
to provide you with the exact details that are about to unfold. |
So to “out this story” I commissioned an Emmy Award-winning director to follow James Rickards and a team of economists that includes . . .
The chairman of Forbes Media, Steve Forbes.
Global market specialist Sean Hyman . . .
And Bob Wiedemer, the author of the New York Times best-selling book Aftershock . . .
Together they investigated and exposed this unimaginable threat to your net worth and our country.
The documentary is called Declassified: America’s Coming “Economic Pearl Harbor.”
And I’m now going to show you never-before-seen footage from this film so that you can understand what’s at stake.
And why this Currency War has become such a large concern of the Pentagon, CIA, and entire national intelligence community.
Worth the read. Two items, Both on on debt; not becoming Greece, and how Obama’s economic policies are mirroring those of the European Union.
http://godfatherpolitics.com/7546/greece-tells-america-wake-up-now/
Includes Ryan video – lost generation “The unemployment rate of youth in Italy and Greece is over 50 percent. They’re losing a whole generation of people. If we copy and follow European economics, we will copy and follow European results.”
Democrats pumped subprime mortgage market, triggering banking collapse
by 
In the current narrative presented by Democratic Party operatives, the banking industry collapse of September 2008 was caused by tax cuts under George W. Bush and supply-side economics tracing back to the era of Ronald Reagan.
The narrative, however, ignores the personal responsibility Barack Obama and Democratic Party operatives played in creating the subprime mortgage market, beginning with the passage of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977.
The 2008 banking collapse was triggered by a series of failures in the mortgage-backed securities market resulting from massive defaults in the subprime mortgage market and derivatives supporting the mortgage market that caused Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns to go bankrupt. Financial giants such as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch and AIG threatened to follow suit, as detailed by the Guardian of London.
As WND reported in May 2009, Obama himself played a role as an activist lawyer in Chicago, representing ACORN in the 1994 case Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Federal Savings Bank. In the case, ACORN pressed Citibank to make more loans to marginally qualified African-American applicants “in a race neutral way.”
ACORN Housing, then a nationwide organization with offices in more than 30 cities, used the Citibank litigation to push the group’s radical agenda to get subprime homebuyers mortgages under the most favorable terms available.
Community Reinvestment Act of 1977
The Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA, was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 with the goal of forcing banks to provide credit to businesses and homeowners with poor credit.
The CRA’s purpose was to stop banks from “red-lining,” or refusing to lend to people in low-income areas because the risk of the loan not being repaid was too high.
Even though lending to people with poor credit is inherently risky, the Carter administration was intent on forcing banks to accept a social responsibility to provide credit to homeowners and businesses in low-income neighborhoods. >>>> PLEASE see my comment below – “X” <<<<
The CRA was super-charged during the Clinton administration with a set of new rules that allowed subprime mortgages to be securitized.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech to the Community Affairs Research Conference in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 2007, noted a 1992 law passed during the Clinton administration expanded the CRA market by requiring the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to securitize “affordable housing loans,” a euphemism widely understood to mean low-income housing loans.
MUCH MORE AT http://www.wnd.com/2012/09/obama-suffers-amnesia-blaming-bush-for-economy/
While WND has a point, the -admittedly lengthy- explanation of the Community Reinvestment Act is another reason for the expression “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” . Without going to the site, here is an excerpt from the Enforcement section of this act, that appears to have been neglected, let alone the many changes made after its enactment: (underline my emphasis)
“The law, however, emphasizes that an institution’s CRA activities should be undertaken in a safe and sound manner, and does not require institutions to make high-risk loans that may bring losses to the institution.[3][4] An institution’s CRA compliance record is taken into account by the banking regulatory agencies when the institution seeks to expand through merger, acquisition or branching. The law does not mandate any other penalties for non-compliance with the CRA.[6][9]“
Some time ago, I mentioned an old friend who I referred to as “center left”; fed up with the Dems, he is a registered Independent voter. I would not want to face off with him in a debate. For example, from a conscience point of view, (not trusting banks) he sides with the “occupy” movement. Unlike many libs, the expression “don’t confuse me with the facts” doesn’t apply here. The only sad part in all this is (my opinion) due to legalistic teachings in the corporate church, he has become an agnostic. But -thank God- he hasn’t comitted the unpardonable sin; so there is still hope. I haven’t seen him for over thirty years, have known him from my teens.
I had received a petition via e-mail from him in regard to the use of fracking in NY state. It was my time to feel as I had in the late 60′s. A good example of my concern, and this blog, is the Cuyahoga River. At one time it was one of the most polluted rivers in the United States. The reach from Akron to Cleveland was devoid of fish. Lest any of you have forgotten - From Wikipedia:
The 1969 Cuyahoga River fire helped spur an avalanche of water pollution control activities resulting in the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA).
Since I am conservative, the thought trend is that it’s about time to cut to the chase, and start tapping our own oil and gas resources; that rabid environmentalists had helped hamstring everything by getting Gov’t to enact this regulation and that.
However, I was also a bit perturbed; this is in an area of great population density, reliant on many nearby reservoirs. Allegations in regard to the safety of this supply, as well as other concerns, in the use of this technology is only part of the story.
NOTE- Today (5-15) he sent this item, exactly what I was looking for: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2011-12-31/united-states-export/52298812/1#.T7L3y5lF5JM.email
This link is one of a few references to fracking in NY that I found using the Startpage search engine; apparently some people in the area have allowed mining on their land and are paid royalties, but haven’t been notified of violations.
The Marcellus Shale formation, has locals both for and against the mining operations. Just seems weird that a big reserve is located there. I feel as if I was living under a rock -so to speak- just didn’t know that a large operation, enough to cause controversy, was being conducted… some on farmland?!
Fracking in New York: Risk vs. Reward (see video)
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/news/2012/04/27/n-fracking-violations-no-answers.cnnmoney
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/09/us/new-york-fracking/
So there are two sides to every story. The resulting dialogue between us is rather lengthy. I don’t to expect all of you to read through it; safe to say, other issues were brought up, and … I decided to just put out some information on oil, and associated findings I investigated after my friends objections to the fracking issue. His accusation was that gas was our #2 EXPORT. I didn’t exactly find what is referred to as “empirical evidence”; however, here are some facts that are both frustrating, and a reminder of the profit motive being ahead of everything else. YOU decide:
The Bakken is the spark so that we can (potentially) make ourselves independent of foreign oil. However, shale oil, was only remotely economically feasible till recently. Fracking doesn’t necessarily mean that this substantial resource will lower oil prices, given the cost of recovery, and refining. It is merely an opportunity to obtain local petroleum resources. Moreover:
As regards the Bakken, I found an ugly item. The Williston basin is just a part of the Bakken sucess; but check this out:
Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) has agreed to purchase Brigham Exploration Co (NASDAQ: BEXP), a Texan company that has a large stake in the Williston Basin in both North Dakota and Montana.
The Norwegian giant offered Brigham $4.4 billion, or $36.50 per share, for the company and its assets.
As the Wall Street Journal reports, this deal will include Brigham’s 375,000 acres in the Williston Basin as well as 40,000 acres elsewhere.
Statoil is looking to expand its stake in unconventional resources in the United States, and as Chief Executive Helge Lund said, this will be the perfect opportunity to do so.
Statoil already has a stake in Chesapeake (NYSEL CHK), giving it access to the Marcellus shale, -This is the NY and PA area folks- and it is working with Talisman (NYSE: TLM) in the Eagle Ford shale.
Helge Lund is excited about what this brings to the company, as he told Reuters:
“Marcellus is primarily dry gas, Eagle Ford is a combination of dry gas and liquids and this [Brigham’s assets] is oil. We now have a good, deep position in the U.S. in unconventionals.”
Reuters further reports that Brigham’s production in the Williston Basin is 21,000 barrels per day. It has the potential, however, to increase to a daily production between 60,000 and 100,000 barrels.
Brigham was up 19.81% at noon trading to $36.38 on Monday.
No argument - corporations have no conscience.
FROM REUTERS, this item:
US Oil Import Bill to Top $400 billion this Year, Says Petroleum Intelligence Weekly
* Reuters is not responsible for the content in this press release. < note the date as well as their cute disclaimer… ”X”
Fri Mar 7, 2008 6:00pm EST
NEW YORK–(Business Wire)– With the run-up in oil prices over the past four years, the United States is paying dearly for its dependence on imported oil, Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW) reports in its latest issue. The US oil import bill last year came to some $327 billion, and should easily top $400 billion this year. That’s an increase of some 300% since 2002, according to PIW. Last year, PIW reckons that the US paid out a record $245 billion for about 10 million barrels per day of crude oil imports, and another $82 billion for about 3.5 million b/d of imported oil products. This year it looks like paying out even more, with domestic crude production continuing to fall, demand for imports of high-priced transport fuels remaining strong, and oil prices around 30% higher year-on-year so far in 2008. The increase to an estimated $440 billion for 2008 is based on an average $90 per barrel crude oil price for the year. In 2002, before the current bull market for oil began, US oil imports cost less than $103 billion.
Folks, there is too much speculating on oil, (thanks wall st) which does not help with the continual price fluctuations. The recent excuse for the ($4.17 per gal in my local area as of 5-14) price is several refineries that shut down to change over to the “summer mixture”. Effin CA!
U.S. Dep’t of Commerce International Trade Admininistration
Top U.S. Export markets – Free Trade Agreement, Country Fact Sheets (PDF file)
http://trade.gov/publications/pdfs/tm_091208.pdf
Unfortunately, dated 2008; This showed well over ten countries, (I didn’t keep count) many “third world”, from about $250 million to several billion in gas ["refined petroleum"] being #1 or 2; though other categories, such as Aircraft, Semiconductors and other computer items, Pharmaceuticles, Diamonds, and weird – Gold to Switzerland and the UK- are all high on the list. We export considerable food items.
The PDF is lengthy, and the Country Fact Sheets are at 90 degrees, making reading problematic; zooming blurs the print when enlarging for better viewing, so I compiled a list:
2007 Bar graph; so amounts are approximate, and change in % from 2006; # 1 for perspective. M = million, B= Billion.
Refined Petroleum Exports to:
Bahrain – $17 M, +3614% 4th on list. #1 Passenger vehicles, 120Mil +32%
Dominican Republic – 2.4 B; +28% #1 on list
Colombia – $250M, +43% 4th on list #1 Corn, 530Mil +41%
Israel – $300M, +56% 4th on list # 1 Diamonds, 4.9B +21%
“Nafta Region” - Canada and Mexico are the first and second largest export markets for U.S. goods:
$9B, +23% 4th on list #1 Motor Vehicle Parts, 27B +4%
Panama - Just short of 1.2B +37% #1 on list
Peru – $500M, +83% #1 on list
Singapore – 1.5B 3rd on list #1 Integrated Circuits, $3.75B +26%
——- Country fact sheet———– +, – % to hard to read so are omitted.
Argentina – $300M 2nd on list #1 ADP [Automatic Data Processing] Machines, $340Mil
Canada – $3.5B, 6th on list #1 Motor Vehicle Parts, $18B
Chile - Just short of $1.6B, #1 on list
Ecuador – $590M, #1 on list
Guatemala – $650M, #1 on list
Honduras – $740M, #1 on list
Mexico – $5.5B, 2nd on list #1 Motor Vehicle Parts $8B
Nigeria – $75M, #1 on list
Other countries listed, no petroleum exports noted.
As U.S. Exports Soar, It’s Not All Soybeans
By FLOYD NORRIS Published: February 11, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/business/economy/12charts.html?_r=1
EXCERPT: American exports of goods rose 21 percent in 2010 to $1.28 trillion, as the world trading system shook off the effects of the financial crisis, according to figures released on Friday.
[But this link - U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis- dated Mar 2012, actually shows a deficit: "In March, the goods deficit increased $6.5 billion from February to $67.6 billion.."]
I didn’t find out that oil is #2; but it is “way up there”. I wasn’t able to find a more recent Dep’t of Commerce list, but my friend wasn’t blowing smoke. What I DID find:
Looking for the ranking of gas in our tally of exports; I found this (search cue “U.S. second largest export”) http://blogs.cbn.com/thewebblog/archive/2009/01/22/americas-second-largest-export.aspx Not what I expected.
it might surprise you; it did me… also, its dated 1-21-2009.
Porter Stansberry – “Republicans–be careful what you wish for”
The following is, of course, a secular viewpoint. Christians can read between the lines.
To avoid the long, drawn out spiel, click off the tab, and click on ”stay on the pg” pop up, to read this economic commentary. This is an excerpt. For the entire analysis. here is the URL:
http://pro.stansberryresearch.com/1304EOAPWAUP/LPSIP4VB/
This Upcoming Event Could Ruin Barack Obama’s Entire Presidency
And it would result in some of the most dramatic changes to ordinary American life in more than 50 years.
Hello. My name is Porter Stansberry.
Fourteen years ago, I founded Stansberry & Associates Investment Research. It has since become the largest firm of its kind in the world. We specialize in financial research, and serve hundreds of thousands of paid subscribers in more than 120 countries.
You may know of our firm because of the work we did over the last several years – helping investors avoid the big disasters associated with Wall Street’s collapse.
We warned people to avoid Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, General Motors and dozens of other companies that have since collapsed.
We even helped our subscribers find opportunities to profit from these moves by shorting stocks and buying put options. To my knowledge, no other research firm in the world can match our record of correctly predicting the catastrophe that occurred in 2008, and the rebound that has occurred since then.
The video presentation we created three years ago, to explain the financial crisis, and our thoughts on what would happen next, has become the most-watched on-line financial video in history, as far as we can tell.
But that’s not why I created this follow-up presentation.
I reference our success and experience with Wall Street’s latest crisis because we believe there is an even bigger crisis lurking –something that will shake the very foundation of America.
I know that to most people, the situation seems to be getting better. Stocks have recovered nearly all their losses. Real estate has rebounded. Unemployment and bankruptcies have dropped. But here’s the thing:
And that is why I’ve spent a significant amount of time and money in the past few months preparing this presentation.
In short, I want to talk about a specific event that will take place in America’s very near future… which could actually bring our country and our way of life to a grinding halt.
This looming crisis is related to the financial crisis of 2008… but it is infinitely more dangerous, as I’ll explain in this letter.
As this problem comes to a head, I expect there will be a near-complete shut-down of the American economy. Life as we have known it for more than 40 years will essentially cease to exist. Our governments on both the Federal and State level will shut down. Banks will not open. Businesses will at least temporarily shutter their doors. I expect we’ll see martial law, enforced by the U.S. military.
Believe me, I don’t make this prediction lightly and I have no interest in trying to scare you.
I’m simply following my research to its logical conclusion.
I did the same when I tracked Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s accounting. Also with General Motors, Lehman Brothers and the rest. And when I began giving this warning in 2006 no one took me very seriously… not at first. Back then, most mainstream commentators just ignored me.
And when I presented my case and exposed the facts at economic conferences, they got angry. They couldn’t refute my research… but they weren’t ready to accept the enormity of its conclusions either.
That’s why, before I go any further, I have to warn you…
What I am going to say is controversial. It will offend many people… Democrats, Republicans, and Tea Partiers, alike. In fact, I’ve already received dozens of pieces of hate mail.
And… the ideas and solutions I’m going to present might seem somewhat radical to you at first… perhaps even “un-American.”
My guess is that, as you read this letter… you’ll say: “There’s no way this could really happen… not here.”
But just remember:
No one believed me four years ago when I said the world’s largest mortgage bankers – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – would soon go bankrupt.
And no one believed me when I said GM would soon be bankrupt as well… or that the same would happen to General Growth Properties (the biggest owner of mall property in America).
But again, that’s exactly what happened.
No one believed me in 2011 when I said the crisis would cause “riots in the streets.” Then came the protests in Wisconsin, and the Occupy Wall Street movement all over the country.
And that brings us to today…
The same financial problems I’ve been tracking from bank to bank and from company to company for the last six years have now found their way into the U.S. Treasury. I’ll explain how this came to be. What it means is critically important to you and every American…
The next phase in this crisis will threaten our very way of life.
The savings of millions will be wiped out. This disaster will change your business and your work. It will dramatically affect your savings accounts, investments, and retirement.
It will change everything about your normal way of life: where you vacation… where you send your kids or grandkids to school… how and where you shop… the way you protect your family and home.
I’ll explain how I know these events are about to happen. You can decide for yourself if I’m full of hot air.
As for me, I’m more certain about this looming crisis than I’ve been about anything else in my life.
I am literally afraid for my family’s future, and I have taken drastic steps to prepare for what I know must inevitably happen next.
I know that debts don’t just disappear. I know that bailouts have big consequences. And, unlike most of the pundits on TV, I know a lot about finance and accounting.
And this is all coming to a head much, much sooner than most Americans think.
Of course, the most important part of this situation is not what is happening… but rather what you can do about it.
In other words… Will you be prepared when the biggest financial crisis in America in more than 50 years, hits?
Don’t worry, I’m not organizing a rally or demonstration. And I’ve turned down every request to run for political office.
Instead, I want to show you exactly what I’m doing personally, to protect my family, and to protect and perhaps even grow my money, and how you can prepare as well.
You see, I can tell you with near 100% certainty that most Americans will not know what to do when commodity prices – things like milk, bread and gasoline – soar. They won’t know what to do when banks close… and their credit cards stop working. Or when they’re not allowed to buy gold or foreign currencies. Or when food stamps fail… or their Social Security checks come to a halt.
In short, our way of life in America is about to change – I promise you. In this letter I’ll show you exactly what is happening, and why it is inevitable.
Again, you can challenge every single one of my facts and you’ll find that I’m right about each allegation I make.
Then, I hope you’ll take action for yourself.
Will you act now to protect yourself and your family from the catastrophe that’s brewing right now in Washington D.C.?
I hope so. And that’s why I wrote this letter.
I’m going to walk you through exactly what I am doing personally, and what you can do as well. I can’t promise you’ll emerge from this crisis completely unharmed – but I guarantee you’ll be a lot better off than people who don’t follow these simple steps.
But I’m getting ahead of myself just a bit.
Let me back up and show you in the simplest terms possible what is going on, why I am so concerned, and what I believe will happen in the next 12 months…
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