The Guy Who Stole All Our Money Now Wants to Steal Our Paycheck, Too

(WashingtonsBlog) – Ben Bernanke has funneled trillions of dollars worth of bailouts, guarantees and sweetheart deals to U.S. (and foreign – and see this) banks.

This money was pickpocketed from you and me, directly (through government spending) and indirectly (increasing debt costs, future inflation, etc).

Economy

(SnardFarker) – Viva Iceland! Viva La Revolution!

Icelanders have resoundingly rejected a plan to repay £2.3 billion in savings to the UK, prompting Chancellor Alistair Darling to state that the British Government could be “flexible” over repayment terms. Read More Here

(YahooFinance) – Congratulations, Bankers — You’re Rich Again – Ben Stein

Just in case your blood pressure is not high enough today, here are a few news bulletins on how the world works. Generally, these bulletins all come under the heading of, “The Golden Rule: He Who Has the Gold, Makes the Rules.” Read More Here

(TCPalm) – More than half of mortgaged homes in St. Lucie, Martin are ‘under water’

More than half of mortgaged residential properties in St. Lucie and Martin counties are “under water,” a recent report by a company that tracks home sales, price trends and foreclosures shows. Read More Here

(Jacksonville) – Jacksonville mortgage delinquencies rise above 10%

The number of Jacksonville homeowners who have fallen behind on mortgage payments rose steadily over the past three years and today stands at more than 10 percent, according to a national credit monitoring company. Read More Here

(CentralValleyBusunessTimes) – Foreclosure starts up nearly 20 percent in California

After reaching the lowest level in a year in January, Notice of Defaults, the start of the foreclosure process, increased by 19.7 percent in February, according to a report Monday from ForeclosureRadar Inc., a Discovery Bay-based foreclosure information company that says it tracks every California foreclosure. Read More Here

(WashingtonExaminer) – Md. foreclosure filings skyrocket in February

Prince George’s County saw nearly 1,800 foreclosure filings last month — about one-third of Maryland’s total — as state and federal officials scramble to find a solution to the unrelenting mortgage crisis. Read More Here

(TheChicago77) – Foreclosures are still on the Rise in Illinois

Foreclosures in Illinois increased 22% in February, 2010. The high foreclosure rate can be attributed to the high unemployment rate and declining home prices. Read More Here

(AJC) – Metro Atlanta foreclosures set new monthly record

The number of foreclosure notices this month — 12,568 — set a new record for metro Atlanta, according to data just released by Equity Depot. Read More Here

(CBN) – Social Security Marks First Deficit in Decades

Social Security is going to start paying out more in benefits this year than it’s collecting in taxes — close to $29 billion more. Read More Here

(PBS) – Video: Bill Black on How They Got Away With It – Video Video Here

(CNBC) – Moodys Downgrade: Should We Care? – Video Link Here

(USAToday) – Toyota, UAW agree to close Calif. plant with 4,600 workers

The United Auto Workers and Toyota have agreed on terms to shut down the Nummi plant that employs 4,600 workers.
It is California’s sole remaining auto plant. Read More Here

(SilverBearCafe) – Opportunities to Profitably Escape Paper “Wealth” in 2010 – Read More Here

Is The Recovery Real? – Paul Craig Roberts

Happy news! The government has come up with a 5.9 percent GDP growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2009. The recession is over.
Or is it? Statistician John Williams has informed us that 69 percent of this growth, or 4.1 percentage points, is the result of inventory accumulation. That leaves a 1.8 percent growth rate, and the 1.8 percent is likely due to the underestimate of inflation and other statistical problems.

Ron Paul vs. Bizarre Ben Bernanke – Ron Paul

Before the US House of Representatives, February 25, 2010

Madame Speaker, I would like to enter into the record the following letter from Professor Robert D. Auerbach, a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. This letter provides additional information regarding remarks I made at yesterday’s Financial Services Committee Humphrey-Hawkins hearing, remarks which Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke categorized as “bizarre.”

Professor Auerbach Provides More Evidence of Fed’s Coverup Regarding Watergate and Iraq

(WashingtonsBlog) – Editor’s note: More evidence of criminal behavior. Fire Bernanke and End the Fed!

Professor Robert Auerbach was kind enough to send me an email to let me know that Ron Paul read the following letter written by Auerbach into the Congressional record today

Video: Paul, Bernanke, Waxman and $12 Billion in Cash Squandered

(KurtNimmo) – On February 24, Rep. Ron Paul asked Fed mob boss Ben Bernanke about $12 billion in cash. Paul said “a lot of cash was passed through — and a lot of people suppose it was passed through the Federal Reserve — when there was a provisional government [in Iraq] after the 2003 invasion. That money was not appropriated by the Congress as required by law.”

Economy

(CNBC) – Congressional Panel “Deeply Concerned” over Commercial Real Estate

I guess I didn’t need the Congressional Oversight Panel for the TARP to tell me that commercial real estate was in trouble, but somehow it’s a bit more poignant when they do. Read More Here

Video: How the Federal Reserve Created the US Recession

Learn how the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States that is responsible for regulating the supply of money in the US economy, has created the recession the US economy is currently facing. Video Link Here

(ZeroHedge) – The Great Highway Robbery Continues: How The FDIC Is Legally Transferring Billions In Taxpayer Money To Hedge Funds

It is not a secret to anyone who has been closely following the FDIC’s quasi criminal bank takeover practices over the past year, that acquirors of failed banks end up receiving a massive and risk-free gift in the form of taxpayer benefits via the FDIC when it comes to funding losses on a given bank acquisition. Should there be a short sale resulting in a loss to the full principal (not the cost basis mind you)? Not to worry, Sheila Bair is there to hand out taxpayer money to the hedge funds/banks owning the newly transferred assets. Read More Here

(Ohio) – Jobless rate unchanged by billions in stimulus spending

Money for roads, bridges doesn’t ease unemployment on local level, analysis finds Read More Here

(Telegraph) – China orders retreat from risky assets

China has ordered managers of its vast currency reserves to withdraw from risky dollar assets and retreat to core debt guaranteed by the US government, a clear sign that Beijing is battening down the hatches for fresh trouble on global markets. Read More Here

(Kitco) – Davos: The Bomb Shelter

Predators and parasites recently gathered in Davos to discuss the mounting problems of their prey. All present agreed the problem needed urgent attention. Read More Here

(NewJersey) – Chris Christie declares fiscal ‘state of emergency,’ paving way for N.J. spending cuts

Calling New Jersey on “the edge of bankruptcy,” Gov. Chris Christie today declared a fiscal emergency, seizing broad powers to freeze aid to more than 500 school districts and cut from higher education, hospitals and the Public Advocate. Read More Here

(Reuters) – Report: 1 in 5 U.S. homeowners underwater

Foreclosures across the country rose to a new high in December Read More Here

(AugustaChronicle) – Higher interest rates ahead, Bernanke says

Prepare for the end of record-low interest rates, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says. Just not yet. Read More Here

(Guardian) – Franco-German bailout of Athens expected to avert euro collapse

Summit may see moves to guarantee Greek solvency, as prospect of action by Paris and Berlin buoys markets Read More Here

Video: President Obama’s Pledge Never to Raise Taxes on Anyone Making Less Than $250,000 a Year

This footage was taken during than presidential candidate Obama’s speech in Dover, NH. President Obama pledges not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year. Video Link Here

Video: Ron Paul tells Ben Bernake “Fiat Currency Always Ends”

(CNBC) – January 29, 2010

Video: Fred Harrison the Renegade Economist on The Keiser Report about Market Manipulation

Every week Max Keiser looks at all the scandal behind the financial news headlines. This time Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert look at the scandal behind the headlines about the Volcker plan, the Supreme Court ruling and about Central Banks robbing the middle classes. Keiser also speaks to Fred Harrison, the Renegade Economist, about property bubbles and privatizing wages

Video: State of the Union is “theatre” – Gerald Celente

(RussiaToday) – Gerald Celente offers his thoughts on Obama’s State of the Union address. January 28, 2010

MSM: Bernanke reconfirmed as head of Federal Reserve

(CBC) – The U.S. Senate voted 70 to 30 on Thursday to confirm Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke for a second four-year term.

MSM: Is Bernanke Hiding A Smoking Gun?

(HuffingtonPost) – A Republican senator said Tuesday that documents showing Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernake covered up the fact that his staff recommended he not bailout AIG are being kept from the public. And a House Republican charged that a whistleblower had alerted Congress to specific documents provide “troubling details” of Bernanke’s role in the AIG bailout.

Video: 2055 Banks going under in the next year and half – Bob Chapman

This interview is about the fake GDP official numbers, bob then speaks about Ron Paul and his incident with Ben Stein on Larry king live, from their he touches a wide range of subjects from the audit the FED to the wars, terrorism the dollar and a lot more…

Video Link Here

Is the Fed Juicing the Stock Market? – Mike Whitney

Is the Fed manipulating the stock market?  TrimTabs CEO Charles Biderman seems to think so, and he makes a strong case for his theory in an article at zerohedge.com.

Video: Will Ben Stein Debate Ron Paul?

(C4L) – After their recent exchange during a “Larry King Live” interview, Congressman Paul challenges Ben Stein (and others who share his position) to a public debate over our nation’s foreign policy and what truly motivates terrorists.

Since when did non-interventionism become anti-semitism

(Examiner) – Republican Congressman Ron Paul, Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and actor Ben Stein recently had a debate on Larry King’s show on CNN about the situation in Yemen. Ironically the strongest debate was between to two Republicans, Ron Paul and Ben Stein who vehemently disagree about interventionism in the middle east.

Video: Ben Stein Accuses Ron Paul of Anti-Semitism on Larry King

Using false accusations of “anti-Semitism” as a weapon to silence criticism of Israel’s behaviour

Person of the Year: Ron Paul – Campaign for Liberty

People often mistake being named Time’s “Person of the Year” as an honor, but that men as sinister as Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin and Rudy Giuliani have all been given the title suggests otherwise. According to Time, the award is primarily a recognition of influence and by that measure the 2009 selection of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke makes sense. Explains Time, the Fed is “an independent government agency that conducts monetary policy, which means it sets short-term interest rates – which means it has immense influence over inflation, unemployment, the strength of the dollar and the strength of your wallet.” Powerful and influential indeed.

Video: TIME Names Ben Bernanke as Person of the Year for 2009, but it’s 1984..

In a time fitting for a George Orwell novel, Ben Bernanke has been named person of the year. Why is this appalling? Well the Federal Reserve’s job is to keep us from having recessions and depressions, very simply, that is their job, along with keeping stability in the markets. Bernanke failed, and accordingly this announcement comes one day before the Senate Banking Committee recommmends his confirmation to the full Senate for another 4 year term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Video: Ron Paul on Neil Cavuto

On Wednesday, December 16, Congressman Ron Paul appeared on “Your World with Neil Cavuto” to discuss Ben Bernanke’s selection as TIME Magazine’s 2009 “Person of the Year.”

Killing the Currency

First under the Bush Administration and even more so under President Obama, the federal government has been seizing power and spending money as it hasn’t done since World War II. But as bold as the Executive Branch has been during this financial crisis, the innovations of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke have been literally unprecedented. Indeed, it is entirely plausible that before Obama leaves office, Americans will be using a new currency.

MSM: Gold hits a record near $1,100

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Gold pared gains Wednesday after hitting an all time high, but still settled at record levels after the Federal Reserve’s latest policy statement came in as expected.

Galbraith: Fed is Unlawfully Withholding Information from Congress

The Federal Reserve is unlawfully withholding information from Congress.
Says who?
Says noted economist James Galbraith: –

Video: Are You Ready for the Next Crisis? – Paul Craig Roberts

Evidence that the US is a failed state is piling up faster than I can record it.
One conclusive hallmark of a failed state is that the crooks are inside the government, using government to protect and to advance their private interests.

MSM: Hate Crime Bill Passes

(Bloomberg) – Congress gave final approval and sent to President Barack Obama legislation to add gays to the list of groups covered by U.S. hate-crime laws.

No Recovery. It’s a Cover up! Recession To Worsen ­- Revolution To Follow

(GeraldCelente) – What 80 percent of economists call “Recovery” is a “Cover up”. Trillions in losses papered over with trillions of phantom dollars printed out of thin air and backed by nothing produce nothing except the mirage of recovery. The dollar’s dive and gold’s historic high is no mirage. Gold doesn’t lie.

Video: Gerald Celente On Green Shoots

(CorbettReport) – “There is no recovery. It’s a cover-up. You only have to look at the facts.” October 20, 2009

US Treasury Controlled by Wall Street – Geithner’s Kitchen Cabinet

(BobChapman) – Some of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s closest aides, none of whom faced Senate confirmation, earned millions of dollars a year working for Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other Wall Street firms, according to financial disclosure forms.

MSM: Dollar loses reserve status to yen & euro

(NYPost) – Ben Bernanke’s dollar crisis went into a wider mode yesterday as the greenback was shockingly upstaged by the euro and yen, both of which can lay claim to the world title as the currency favored by central banks as their reserve currency.

Bernanke’s Great Fib – The “Gold Standard” and the Great Depression

(C4L) – The purpose of the following is to argue that the “gold standard,” as understood by most of the public, did not cause or worsen the Great Depression as current FED Chairman Ben Bernanke has based many of his papers, speeches, and, to a large extent, his entire career on.

Inspector General: Treasury Secretary Forced Banks to Surrender Ownership Interest to Government

In a new report, Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), reveals that then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and key federal regulators forced the nation’s nine largest financial institutions to take billions in taxpayer bailout dollars in October 2008, threatening that if the banks refused, the government would take their stock shares anyway.

‘TARP’ Turning Out to Be Largest Taxpayer Swindle in U.S. History

Congress and the White House have been busy lately patting themselves on the back for staving off financial armageddon by handing out taxpayer money to Wall Street like it was Halloween candy. But while they’re trumpeting the fact that some financial firms have returned a tiny portion of the trillions of dollars that were given to banks, reality is setting in that Americans will never see that money again and will be paying it off for many, many years to come.

Video: Marc Faber Says U.S. Government Will Fail in 5 to 10 Years

(Bloomberg) – Gloom, Doom and Boom Report – September 22, 2009

Obama: We Need To Bailout Newspapers To Stop New Media Taking Over

President Obama has stated that he is happy to consider bailing out the corporate media, expressing concerns that alternative internet based news outlets will grow in popularity as a result of the downfall of newspapers.

Economic Duplicity: Recession and Record Profits

In December 14, 2008, in his interview on the CBS sixty minutes show, Whitney Tilson an investment fund manager predicted that the subprime collapse was only half way of the total real estate bubble, and that the second half will begin take place around 2010 and will continue until about the year 2013. Tilson also discussed the two fancy Wall Street terms for bad mortgages namely Alt-A (Alternative-A paper) and option arms mortgages. These loans lured borrowers with teaser rates that will begin to reset this year.

Post-Bubble Malaise – Mike Whitney

We keep hearing that “The worst is behind us”, but the spin doesn’t square with the facts. Sure the stock market has done well, but scratch the surface and you’ll find that things are not as what they seem.

Want to Fight Deflation? Give a Worker a Raise

The slight rebound in housing looks a lot different when one considers how much the Fed is meddling in the market. Fed chair Ben Bernanke has purchased $240 billion in US Treasuries to keep long-term interest rates artificially low while–at the same time–buying $740 billion in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to provide the financing for new home buyers. It’s the double-whammy; and that’s not all.

MSM: Insiders sell like there’s no tomorrow

(CNN) – Corporate officers and directors were buying stock when the market hit bottom. What does it say that they’re selling now?

Video: Webster Tarpley – Say Hello to Jingle Mail

Webster describes what the meaning of Jingle Mail as the retail – commercial and real estate market is on the verge of collapse..

Liquidity to Keep the Financial System from Collapsing in a Heap

(MikeWhitney) – Ben Bernanke never should have been reappointed as Fed chairman. Obama made a big mistake. The main thing to remember about Bernanke is that, in the two years since the financial crisis began, he’s made no effort to force the large banks and financial institutions to write-down their losses. Nor has he pushed for the regulations that are needed to restore confidence in the system.