The Cynical Economist

Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization’s collapse - Tegeler, 57, has turned her home in rural Virginia into a “survival center,” complete with a large generator, portable heaters, water tanks, and a two-year supply of freeze-dried food that her sister recently gave her as a birthday present.

Davos elites to seek reforms of ‘outdated’ capitalism - Economic and political elites meeting this week at the Swiss resort of Davos will be asked to urgently find ways to reform a capitalist system that has been described as “outdated and crumbling.” Gee see who say the capitalism is outdated and crumbling – the people that  greatly benefited from it. Capitalism isn’t the problem

Obama to Draw an Economic Line in State of the Union -  President Obama will use his election-year State of the Union address on Tuesday to argue that it is government’s role to promote a prosperous and equitable society, drawing a stark contrast between the parties in a time of deep economic uncertainty.

The Secret Document That Transformed China - This is A MUST READ. Explains exactly why the communism doesn’t work and why you should oppose the Obamas ideas that the government should make us equally poor. 

In theory, the government would take what the collective grew, and would also distribute food to each family. There was no incentive to work hard — to go out to the fields early, to put in extra effort, Yen Jingchang says.

“Work hard, don’t work hard — everyone gets the same,” he says. “So people don’t want to work.”

In Xiaogang there was never enough food, and the farmers often had to go to other villages to beg. Their children were going hungry. They were desperate.

Take take take - Corporations and citizens have become addicted to handouts — turning America into a nation of moochers

If The U.S. Government Keeps Spending Money Like This We Are Doomed And If The U.S. Government Stops Spending Money Like This We Are Doomed - We are living in the greatest debt bubble the world has ever seen, and no matter how it plays out there is going to be a massive amount of pain.

1,000 Days Without a Budget: Facts on the Senate’s Failure - The last time the Senate passed a budget was on April 29, 2009. Since that date, the federal government has spent $9.4 trillion, adding $4.1 trillion in debt

South Carolina’s Attorney General detects voter fraud - In a letter dated Thursday, Wilson says the analysis found 953 ballots cast by voters listed as dead. In 71 percent of those cases, ballots were cast between two months and 76 months after the people died. That means they “voted” up to 6 1/3 years after their death.

How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work - Who in US can compete with the Chinese slave labor?

Germany has the economic strengths America once boasted - Germany with its manufacturing base and export prowess is the U.S. of yesteryear, an economic power unlike any of its European neighbors. It has thrived on principles America seems to have lost. The author is wrong. If I find time I will explain why.

Recovery at risk as Americans raid savings - More than four years after the United States fell into recession, many Americans have resorted to raiding their savings to get them through the stop-start economic recovery. Uh-oh!

Third world America: Bodies driven to a pauper’s burial in a U-Haul as tough economic times lead to more mass graves - It’s a practice more closely associated with third world countries, but in bleak times in a Chicago-area suburb, 30 people were buried in a mass grave on Wednesday.

……Money Can Buy

MPAA Directly & Publicly Threatens Politicians Who Aren’t Corrupt Enough To Stay Bought

Reinforcing the fact that Chris Dodd really does not get what’s happening, and showing just how disgustingly corrupt the MPAA relationship is with politicians, Chris Dodd went on Fox News to explicitly threaten politicians who accept MPAA campaign donations that they’d better pass Hollywood’s favorite legislation… or else:

“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake,”

White House Petitioned to Investigate MPAA Bribery

The public has started a petition asking the White House to investigate comments made by MPAA CEO Chris Dodd a few days ago on Fox News. Closing a tumultuous week of wide protest against PIPA and SOPA – two MPAA backed anti-piracy bills – Dodd threatened to stop the cash-flow to politicians who dare to take a stand against pro-Hollywood legislation. Clear bribery, the petition claims, and already thousands agree.

Here is a LINK TO THE PETITION

BTW this is the same Dodd that got mortgage with far bellow market interest rate from Countrywide.  Countrywide gave preferential rates to ‘friends’ of company’s chairman

Why the American people continue to vote in, those crooks in public office? 

U.S. could hit debt ceiling again around election - Based on current deficit rates and borrowing estimates, some analysts say the United States could reach the debt ceiling again before the November 6 vote.

The Dangerous Notion That Debt Doesn’t Matter - WITH little fanfare, a dangerous notion has taken hold in progressive policy circles: that the amount of money borrowed by the federal government from Americans to finance its mammoth deficits doesn’t matter.

Solyndra Caught Destroying Millions Of Dollars Worth Of Brand-New Parts

Obama doubles down on green energy loans, again - ”This funding will assist rural farmers, ranchers and business owners to build renewable energy projects, providing opportunities for new technologies, create green jobs and help America become more energy self-sufficient,”

Unplug electric car subsidies - Taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to fork over $7,500 per vehicle sale for cars most can’t afford themselves

Obama: “I Should Pay More Taxes, … -  Let me be absolutely clear, I should pay more taxes, and folks in my income bracket should pay more taxes, and certainly folks who are making billions of dollars should pay more taxes, not because I want to take their money and just give it to somebody else it is because we got basic investments and basic functions that have to be carried out in this 21st century if we were be able to compete”

Do you see the links above that are showing how is he investing your money. Taxing the hard working Americans and giving away   “loans” and grants to his cronies. Those money will never be repaid and no one will be held responsible for wasting billions of dollars. BTW, who is stopping Barak from paying more taxes?

Presidential Nonsense - This one is a must read by Walter E. Williams

Last week, President Barack Obama, at a Capital Hilton fundraising event, told the crowd, “We can’t go back to this brand of you’re-on-your-own economics.” Throughout my professional career as an economist, I’ve never come across the theory of “you’re-on-your-own economics.” I’m guessing what the president means by — and finds offensive in — “you’re-on-your-own economics” is that it’s a system in which people are held responsible for their actions, that they take risks and must live with the results, that people can’t force others to pay for their mistakes, and that they can’t live at the expense of other people.

Treasury dips into pension funds to avoid debt - 

The Treasury on Tuesday started dipping into federal pension funds in order to give the Obama administration more credit to pay government bills.

Dems propose ‘Reasonable Profits Board’ to regulate oil company profits - 

The Democrats, worried about higher gas prices, want to set up a board that would apply a “windfall profit tax” as high as 100 percent on the sale of oil and gas, according to their legislation. The bill provides no specific guidance for how the board would determine what constitutes a reasonable profit. 

From the comments, by Mikelee:

This is great – now we need a “Reasonable Spending Board” to monitor our Congress.  We need a “Reasonable Ethics Board” to punish members of Congress who use their office to enrich themselves.  A “Reasonable Taxation Board” to prevent the government from taking too much of our money.

We can have a “Reasonable Earnings Board” to take money from actors and musicians who make too much money on their movies and records.  A “Reasonable Athlete Salary Board” to make sure athletes don’t make too much money.  A “Reasonable Executive Compensation Board” to make sure people like Franklin Raines don’t make hundreds of millions while bankrupting taxpayer funded companies.  

We have truly entered the twilight zone and Orwell must be spinning in his grave.  The day the government gets to decide what a “reasonable profit” is for private companies we have allowed our politicians and federal government to become far too powerful.  

Obama’s bundlers tight with the White House - Here you have it..Hope and change NOT!

President Barack Obama’s top 350 bundlers in the upcoming 2012 election have already snagged 68 high-status jobs in the administration, and 250 have landed resume-boosting invites to White House events, according to a study released Thursday by a left-of-center media foundation.

The report, by the Center for Public Integrity, also said that 30 of the bundlers are tied to government-related companies on Wall Street, in the green-tech sector or in the defense sector.

The report defines bundlers as people who contact their friends to collect and forward political contributions starting at $50,000 and climbing to more than $500,000.

Obama rejects Keystone pipeline, blames Republicans for ‘arbitrary’ deadline - 

Fed’s Latest Easing Could Cost $1 Trillion: Economists - Trillions – shmrilions. Are you worried? Do not be alarmed, they know what are they doing….They will make sure that the economic growth will become sustainable…. by PRINTING MORE MONEY!!!

The Federal Reserve is likely to step in with $1 trillion worth of easing that could be announced as soon as this month, according to a growing consensus of economists who see the recent uptick in economic growth as unsustainable.

Policymakers Need New Tools to Spur Economic Growth - 

Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” The world’s policymakers would do well to remember these words in the coming months as they ponder their next moves to battle the global economic malaise.

As economic indicators have worsened, central banks and governments have demonstrated an asymmetric reaction function: They have been more likely to react to — and act upon — deflationary influences than inflationary ones. There has been a growing recognition, even among central bankers, that a little inflation is better than deflation

Topinka: Illinois’ Unpaid Bill Crisis Just Keeps Getting Worse - If you can’t tax them to death now, borrow and tax them to death later… right? 

Since a year ago, the state sharply increased income taxes (by 67 percent) and corporate taxes,but Illinois still has a backlog of $8.5 Billion in unpaid bills 

“After the largest tax hike in our history, the state continues to be in this precarious fiscal position with persistent payment delays, and frankly, the situation is unlikely to significantly improve in the near term,” she said.

Some state officials say the solution is more borrowing to pay the bills, but Topinka says the solution is to cut spending.

Now who’ll pay NY’s bills? - Wall St.’s woes will slam city. 

Before the financial crisis, the (banking) industry payroll accounted for 20 percent of New York state’s tax revenue; it still accounts for about 13 percent, as well as a hefty chunk of the city’s tax base. Plus, the state Comptroller’s Office estimates that every financial-sector job creates two more jobs.

No One Knows Truth About $300 Billion Bonds From Alleged ’34 Plane Crash - 

“The elders of the Umayamnon tribe told me an American plane crashed in their river in the 1930s,” Estrella, 47, says by mobile phone from a footpath between the tribal village and Davao, the largest city on the Philippine island. “The river dried up in the 1990s, and the natives went into the plane and found 12 boxes that contained $300 billion in bonds.”

Each box, emblazoned with the Great Seal of the United States and the words “Federal Reserved Bond,” held five gold coins struck with a portrait of George Washington on one side, Estrella says. They rested atop stacks of certificates purporting to have been issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in 1934 and redeemable in gold bullion. The notes bore the signature of then Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr.

Rate on 30-year mortgage down to record 3.88 pct. - Now the only thing you have to do to get a loan at this great rate,  is to convince the bank that you do not need to borrow the money 

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell again this week to a record low. The eighth record low in a year is attracting few takers because most who can afford to buy or refinance have already done so.

U.S. charges 7 in $62 million Dell insider-trading case - 

U.S. prosecutors charged seven people, described as a circle of friends who formed a criminal club, with running a $62 million insider trading scheme – the latest salvo in a years-long probe of suspicious trading at hedge funds.

Americans keeping their autos longer than ever - 

American drivers are holding on to their cars and trucks longer, new data suggest, as they put off buying new vehicles in the face of high unemployment and a struggling economy.

The average age of a vehicle on the road has climbed to a record 10.8 years,according to automotive research firm Polk. Last year the average vehicle on U.S. roads was 10.6 years old, up from 10 years in 2008, Polk said.

‘Uncertainty and danger’: World Bank warns of downturn worse than 2008 - Unsustainable bubbles were formed by the government intrusion into the markets.

The World Bank warned Wednesday of a possible slump in global economic growth and urged developing countries to prepare for shocks that could be more severe than the 2008 crisis.

Megaupload.com Gets Hit by Mega Piracy Indictment; Hackers Attack Feds, Entertainment Industry -If the government has the ability to shut down websites like Megaupload at whim, what did they even need SOPA for? Oh gee…In this case, the government had to procure warrants, take its case before a grand jury, and so forth. SOPA/PIPA would have allowed the government (and possibly private entities) a means to bypass all that due process stuff

 Anonymous downs government, music industry sites in largest attack ever - 

Hacktivists with the collective Anonymous are waging an attack on the website for the White House after successfully breaking the sites for the FBI, Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA and Motion Picture Association of America.

In response to today’s federal raid on the file sharing service Megaupload, hackers with the online collective Anonymous have broken the websites for the FBI, Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA, Motion Picture Association of America and Warner Music Group.

Google Is Already Using SOPA-Like Censorship - 

Google’s main issue with SOPA is seemingly not related to their concerns about Chinese-style web censorship becoming commonplace, but rather which entity gets to wield those powers – large transnational corporations or governments.

SOPA’s author is none other than the internet-challenged Rep Lamar Smith from Texas.

It’s the same Lamar Smith whose own website was guilty of copyright violations.

After he was accused of violating the same rules that he wants to enforce on me and you, he removed the background of his website, but he still managed to “pirate” other images.

Oh, and if you wondered who was  his top campaign donor…. the film/entertainment industry.

That’s right, he is  serving the people…THE PEOPLE…

Wink-wink.

Moody’s: Here are the U.S. Banks Most Exposed to Euro Crisis - Uh-oh

Solar-panel company lays off 40 employees -  It has received millions of dollars in government loans and tax breaks and has been toured by high-profile officials such as Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

Ancient Rome’s fall offers modern lessons for America - By Jack A. Chambless  an economics professor at Valencia College.

More Insane Rules - Here is  a proof that America is following the steps of the ancient Rome. If the machine does not have the notice, how an ordinary person that is just buying something from the vending machine, supposed to be aware about this insane law and call the authorities?   

Food Stamp Use Up 270 Percent, State Considers Staggering Payment Dates - That means about one in six people in the state need government assistance to buy food. As of November, there were 235,000 Idahoans on food stamps, compared with 80,000 five years ago.

Supervalu-Led Stores Chasing $55 Billion in Food Stamps: Retail - Stores are moving their opening hours, adding products and revamping merchandise assortments as persistent joblessness pushes more shoppers to government support in buying groceries. Distributions from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rose 11 percent to a record $71.8 billion in fiscal 2011, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.

Half of U.S. Households Took Government Benefits in 2010 - A statistic involving “half of U.S. households” might remind you of another Rorschach statistic: That half of U.S. taxpayers owe no federal income tax. Put both of these facts together, and you get a story of the 20th century that goes like this: Between 1935 and 1965, we spent 30 years expanding welfare options to American households, and between 1980 and 2010, we spent another 30 years cutting taxes to those same households. Our projected deficits aren’t much of a surprise when you see the last 80 years as a multi-generational project of cutting taxes to “pay for” increasingly expensive promises. 

How Would Millionaires Fix the Economy? - The survey, from PNC Wealth Management, found that about one-third of the millionaire respondents say the best single idea to improve the economy is to “reduce taxes on individuals and businesses.” Fully 40% said that if their taxes were increased, they would change their investment strategy. One in four said they would reduce their charitable giving.

Who are the 1 percent? - Folks falling into that category are less likely to be “fat cats” than they are to be doctors (one in five) — or people who’ve built thriving family businesses from the bottom up. Indeed, some 60 percent have succeeded on their own, without inherited wealth.

Hostess’ labor woes starting to Sno-Ball - The company, which filed for Chapter 11 protection Jan. 11 due in part to high labor costs, will ask its 20,000 mostly unionized workers to accept stiff concessions, which may include new rules that will force drivers to load their own trucks, adding a couple of hours to the work day and having workers pay more for health insurance. The unions did not accept a somewhat similar proposal last year from Hostess — prompting last week’s bankruptcy filing.

Kraft Foods To Cut 1,600 Jobs - The cuts will come “primarily from sales, corporate and business unit areas,” and do not include manufacturing facilities, the company said.

Chancellor pledges minimal tuition hikes at Georgia colleges

University of Texas president recommends maximum tuition increase

Connecticut Board of Regents To Consider Tuition Increases Thursday

UNC-system president stands by 10-percent parameters for tuition increase proposals

Illinois Valley Community College board expected to raise tuition

How can it be? Student financial aid fuels increase in college tuition. (+Video) - When federal (and state) financial aid programs make money available to well-off students, it is in a college’s interest to capture that aid and use it to ‘improve’ the college, thus driving up costs and tuition. Aid must be restructured so that more of it goes to needy students. DUH! The same is happening with the healthcare costs, all because of government involvement.

More older Americans on job than ever - Though the recession has thinned the ranks of other generations in the workforce, more people older than 55 are employed than ever before, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Why the stat includes the people between the ages 55- 62 years old? Are people supposed to retire at 55?

What Does One Jobless Youth Cost Taxpayers? $14,000 a Year - With 6.7 million American youth out of work and out of school, the country faces a fiscal time bomb, according to a new report