The Phases of an Empire

(ActivistPost) – The analysis below explains why all empires and “Imperial Style” governments have failed throughout history, and why our Empire-USA faces the same fate. The only question is whether the people and government of the USA have the wisdom and will to engage in a “Managed Decline” by terminating the empire and imperial conduct on their own schedule, rather than by chaotic crash of the US Dollar, economy, and lifestyle. Take notice of the “Solutions” section in Part C below. Read More Here

Video: Paul Craig Roberts – America is Truly being Destroyed by Design – The Alex Jones Show

Alex also talks with Paul Craig Roberts about his article, The Ecstasy of Empire, and his latest book, How the Economy Was Lost: The War of the Worlds. Alex also covers the latest news and takes your calls.

The Big Things That Matter And The Little Things That Annoy – Paul Craig Roberts

(Infowars) – I write about major problems: the collapsing US economy, wars based on lies and deception, the police state based on “the war on terror” and other fabrications such as those orchestrated by corrupt police and prosecutors, who boost their performance reports by convicting the innocent, and so on. America is a very distressing place. The fact that so many Americans are taken in by the lies told by “their” government makes America all the more depressing.

Video: “US largest criminal in world”

(RussiaToday) – As the economy has not rebounded and jobs continue to be scarce around the country, many US citizens are renouncing their citizenship and moving abroad. Mike Golguski says that the United States is the largest criminal in the world and he didn’t want to be a part of it. He also says that he is not anti-American but is anti-US government.

Video: Land grabs, Geoengineering & Climate Change – Vandana Shiva on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman

(DemocarcyNow) – Vandana Shiva, is a philosopher, environmental activist, eco feminist and author of several books. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, is author of over 300 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, in 1978 with the doctoral dissertation:“Hidden variables and locality in quantum theory”.

Shiva participated in the nonviolent Chipko movement during the 1970s. The movement, some of whose main participants were women, adopted the approach of forming human circles around trees to prevent their felling. She is one of the leaders of the International Forum on Globalization, (along with Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith, Ralph Nader, Jeremy Rifkin, et al.), and a figure of the global solidarity movement known as the alter-globalization movement. She has argued for the wisdom of many traditional practices, as is evident from her interview in the book Vedic Ecology (by Ranchor Prime) that draws upon India’s Vedic heritage.

Why Not Another World War? – Peter Schiff

(C4L) – There is overwhelming agreement among economists that the Second World War was responsible for decisively ending the Great Depression. When asked why the wars in Iran and Afghanistan are failing to make the same impact today, they often claim that the current conflicts are simply too small to be economically significant.

There is, of course, much irony here. No one argues that World War II, with its genocide, tens of millions of combatant casualties, and wholesale destruction of cities and regions, was good for humanity. But the improved American economy of the late 1940s seems to illustrate the benefits of large-scale government stimulus. This conundrum may be causing some to wonder how we could capture the good without the bad.

If one believes that government spending can create economic growth, then the answer should be simple: let’s have a huge pretend war that rivals the Second World War in size. However, this time, let’s not kill anyone.

Video: Oakland Approves Marijuana Farms

(MSNBC) – July 21, 2010 – Dylan Ratigan –

The New World Order Government Take-Over is Well Underway

(WRH) – The New World Order Banker Cartel takeover starts with the destruction of the economic might of the United States. To accomplish this task as follows:

1) Creation of the private Federal Reserve Bank in 1913. He who prints the money controls the government. Prior to this period, whenever congress over spent, it lead to inflation or devaluation of the currency. The people reacted by voting out big spending congressmen. The Federal Reserve Bank allowed congress to spend while shielding them from voter retaliation by the people.
2) Initiate free trade agreements to bleed out the industrial might of the United States to third world countries. Trilateral Commission sponsored GATT, NAFTA and World Trade Organization.

Video: Gerald Celente – Financial Armageddon 2.0

(ABC6) – What’s Next For Our Economy?

Economy

(Telegraph) – Gulf of Mexico oil spill: US government extends no-fishing zone – Read More Here

(EconomicPolicyJournal) – On Naked Short Selling – Read More Here

(TimesOnline) – Watchdog finds massive ‘suckers list’

The Financial Services Authority is contacting more than 38,000 people across the UK to warn them they are being targeted by so-called ‘boiler room’ share fraudsters. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – ‘Major Crash’ Likely If Stocks Break May 7 Lows, Russell Says

Investors should sell U.S. stocks because the market is at risk of a “major crash,” Richard Russell, editor of the Dow Theory Letters newsletter, said in a note to subscribers today. Read More Here

(ZeroHedge) – Ex-Bundesbank Chief Says Greece Will Never Repay Debt, Says Bailout All About “Rescuing Banks And Rich Greeks” – Tyler Durden – Read More Here

(LarouchePac) – Blair Murdered Glass-Steagall, Charges French Society of Financial Analysts – Read More Here

(WashingBrainBlog) – The Bankster-Gangster Crowd..Murdering People for over 2,000 Years

International bankers saw that interest-free scrip would keep America free of their influence, so by 1781 banker-backed Alexander Hamilton succeeded in starting the Bank of America. After a few years of “bank money”, the prosperity of “Colonial Scrip” was gone. Benjamin Franklin said, “Conditions were so reversed that the era of prosperity had ended and a depression set in to such an extent that the streets of the Colonies were filled with the unemployed!” Bank money was like our FED money. It had debt and interest attached. Read More Here

(ChartinStocks) – China Enters Bear Market Territory – Read More Here

(OilPrice) – Chinese Market Indicates that US Stocks could be in for a Big Fall

The economies of China and the U.S. are in effect Siamese Twins, joined at the hip. By pegging their currency to the U.S. dollar, the Chinese central government has tethered its economy to both U.S. policy and the U.S. economy. Read More Here

(PajamasMedia) – Leaked Doc Proves Spain’s ‘Green’ Policies — the Basis for Obama’s — an Economic Disaster

Pajamas Media has received a leaked internal assessment produced by Spain’s Zapatero administration. The assessment confirms the key charges previously made by non-governmental Spanish experts in a damning report exposing the catastrophic economic failure of Spain’s “green economy” initiatives. Read More Here

(PaulWatson) – Video: Rand Paul Savages Obama’s Catastrophic “Green Economy”

After trouncing his neo-con opponent comprehensively in the Kentucky Senate primary, Rand Paul savaged the man-made global warming scam for what it truly represents – an attack on the middle class and the industrialized world, as he warned President Obama and his sycophants, “we’ve come to take our government back”. Read More Here

(KurtNimmo) – Snake Oil Salesman Obama Peddles Worthless Wall Street Reform

Congress will save us from Wall Street, Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address. The bill in Congress will curb predatory lending practices, prevent banks from taking on too much risk, and give shareholders more of a say, Obama insisted. “Put simply, Wall Street reform will bring greater security to folks on Main Street. My responsibility as president isn’t just to help our economy rebound from this recession; it’s to make sure an economic crisis like the one that helped trigger this recession never happens again,” he said. “That’s what Wall Street reform will help us do.” Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Conspiracy of Banks Rigging States Came With Crash

A telephone call between a financial adviser in Beverly Hills and a trader in New York was all it took to fleece taxpayers on a water-and-sewer financing deal in West Virginia. The secret conversation was part of a conspiracy stretching across the U.S. by Wall Street banks in the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market. Read More Here

(YahooFinance) – Mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures break records

The number of homeowners who missed at least one mortgage payment surged to a record in the first quarter of the year, a sign that the foreclosure crisis is far from over. Read More Here

(CNC) – Derivative Disaster Spreads to Local Governments

The funding of road building, municipal utilities, school teacher pension funds and other local government projects are now threatened by derivatives gone bad. Read More Here

(EconomicCollapse) – 11 Signs That The U.S. Government Has Become An Overgrown Monstrosity That Almost Every American Is Dependent Upon For Economic Survival

Today, the number of Americans who are able to financially survive without any reliance on the U.S. government whatsoever is declining at a staggering rate. Whether it is through direct handouts, entitlement programs, student loans, government bailouts, government contracts or direct employment, the truth is that now a solid majority of the American people are at least partially dependent on the federal government for their economic survival. The sad thing is that the majority of the American people say that there is too much government in their lives when opinion polls are taken, but if you try to take the government check that they are getting away from them those same people will scream bloody murder. But the truth is that it is getting to be really, really hard to be completely independent of the U.S. government economically.

Kerry – Lieberman: Corrupt Climate Science Used To Destroy US Economy

(CanadaFreePress) – The Kerry – Lieberman American Power Act (APA) is a disastrous, unnecessary solution for a non-existent problem. Worse, it’s a problem that exists only in a grossly inadequate computer model whose projections have never been correct. It is predicated on the false assumption that an increase in CO2 causes a temperature increase. Every record of any duration for any period in Earth’s history shows temperature increases before CO2 increases.  The false assumption is the basis of all global warming and climate change used in the corrupted research and models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is impossible to imagine such an unjustified basis for any action, except to undermine the US economy for political gain. Read More Here

Video: Rand Paul on the Economy and the War

BREAKING – (NYTimes) – In Tea Party Victory, Rand Paul Takes Ky. Senate Primary

Rand Paul, one of the early leaders of the Tea Party movement, won the Republican nomination for Senate from Kentucky Tuesday night, delivering a powerful blow to the party’s establishment and offering the clearest evidence yet of the strength of the anti-government sentiment simmering at the grass-roots level. Read More Here

See Also: (KurtNimmo) – Will Neo-Cons Steal Senate Primary From Rand Paul? – Read More Here

Also: (KurtNimmo) – Despite Poll Numbers, Rand Paul’s Opponent Confident He Will Win in Kentucky – Read More Here

(MSNBC) – May 17, 2010 – “We Pay The Taliban During The Daytime & At Night They Plant IEDs”

Economy

(Telegraph) – US faces one of biggest budget crunches in world – IMF – Read More Here

(NaturalNews) – Why U.S. lawmakers oppose renewable energy grants

With the economy in shambles throughout the past year or two, lawmakers have been scrambling to find ways to spur growth and increase American jobs. However many are opposing stimulus efforts that create jobs overseas, including renewable energy grants that end up creating manufacturing jobs in China rather than in the U.S. Read More Here

(C4L) – PIIGS Win. Bankers Win. Voters Lose – Read More Here

(KurtNimmo) – Obama Administration: Goldman Sachs from Top to Bottom

Two articles on the FDL website detail the intimate and incestuous relationship between the Barry Obama administration and Goldman Sachs. FDL names names and provides expansive detail on the Goldie administration. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Surprise! Cost Of Healthcare Bill Already Spiraling Beyond Estimates, And Democrats Are Ignoring The Reasons Why

There’s been a spate of bad news recently about the health care bill.

Henry Waxman canceled his War on Accounting, not because there was a sudden breakout of common sense on Capitol Hill, but because his committee’s investigation revealed that companies had begun exploring whether they should drop their health insurance plans entirely–a move that would cost over $100 billion dollars thanks to the huge new subsidies the government would have to dole out. Read More Here

(RawStory) – Schwarzenegger’s solution to California’s budget woes: End welfare

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday unveiled plans to plug California’s budget deficit by slashing billions of dollars worth of funding for services designed to help the state’s poor. Read More Here

(OilPrice) – 4 Economic Predictions: What Remains when you Scrape Away the Hype – Read More Here

The Mainstream Financial Media (MFM) is famously (or infamously) deficient in any context other than the day’s swirl of data, rumor and response.

(Campaign4Liberty) – Will the New Bailout Save Europe?

Keep in mind that the European Central Bank (ECB) is buying bonds with printed money, which means inflation. Like the United States, Europe is broke, and will be even more so once this “bailout” goes through. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Fed Board May Soon Add Three More Millionaires to Its Ranks – Read More Here

(AP) – Trichet: economy in deepest crisis since WWII

The President of the European Central Bank was quoted Saturday as saying that he still sees Europe’s economy in its deepest crisis since World War II, or even World War I. Read More Here

(EconomicPolicyJournal) – The Fed Currency Swaps Begin – Read More Here

(Guardian) – Bankers’ earnings surge towards pre-crash levels

Pay and bonuses totalled £20.5bn in four months to April, compared with £24bn at height of boom in 2007 Read More Here

(TheStreet) – Bank Failures Exceed 2009’s Pace

State regulators closed four community banks Friday, bringing the total number of failed banks for 2010 to 72. Read More Here

(Telegraph) – President Nicolas Sarkozy ‘threatened to pull France out of euro’

President Nicolas Sarkozy slammed his fist on the table and threatened to pull France out of the euro at a meeting of European leaders deciding Greece’s aid package last Friday, according to Spain’s El Pais newspaper. Read More Here

(BusinessWeek) – Euro Breakup Talk Increases as Germany Loses Proxy (Update1) – Read More Here

(Reuters) – US bankruptcies resume upward path in 1st quarter

U.S. bankruptcy filings resumed their upward climb in the first quarter, nearly equaling their highest level since 2005, as high unemployment and a still-strained housing market squeezed consumers. Read More Here

(VoiceOfRussia) – Global crisis not over yet – Putin

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned that the global economic crisis is not over yet. Addressing top finance and economic development ministry officials on Friday, he said that the crisis had forced eurozone countries to take tough financial stabilization measures and that ordinary citizens were now paying for macro-economic blunders. Read More Here

(EconomicCollapseBlog) – Will The U.K. Be The Next European Nation To Experience A Massive Debt Crisis? – Read More Here

(Fox) – Obama’s Ex-Auto Czar Says GM May Have Stretched Truth About Loan Repayment

President Obama’s former auto czar has nothing but praise for General Motors’ new chief executive, Ed Whitacre, but he acknowledged this week that the auto giant may have “slightly elasticized the reality of things” by airing an ad claiming it had repaid its government loans “in full.” Read More Here

(CalculatedRisk) – Schwarzenegger: Eliminate Welfare and most Child Care, reduce Health Care

From the SacBee: Schwarzenegger budget would eliminate welfare

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers Friday to eliminate the state’s welfare program starting in October and dramatically scale back in-home care for elderly and disabled as part of his May budget revision to close a $19.1 billion deficit. Read More Here

(Telegraph) – VAT should be imposed on food and children’s clothes, says IMF

David Cameron should use this summer’s emergency Budget to raise VAT on a host of excluded products, including food and children’s clothes, the International Monetary Fund signalled yesterday. Read More Here

Video: Bob Chapman’s Friday, May 14th Economic Report on Alex Jones Tv

Friday guest Bob Chapman, a former stockbroker who has written numerous article on business, finance, economics, politics, and publishes The International Forecaster.

Video: Marc Faber on BNN in Canada – Dr. Doom on the Economy

(BNN) – May 7, 2010 – “The whole financial system in the world will reset” – “it’s very dangerous in life to be right when the governments wrong”

Economy

(BusinessInsider) – CHART OF THE DAY: 49 Out Of 50 State Economies Are Still Underwater – Read More Here

(Telegraph) – ECB may have to turn to ‘nuclear option’ to prevent Southern European debt collapse – Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – College Graduates’ Debt Load May Outstrip Ability to Repay

Students, especially at for-profit universities, are leaving college in the U.S. with a debt load large enough to raise questions about the ability of many to repay loans, a study found. Read More Here

(EconomicPolicyJournal) – Trillion Dollar Bailout for Greece – Read More Here

(Telegraph) – Goldman boss Lloyd Blankfein denies moral obligation towards clients – Read More Here

(InternationalForecaster) – Frauds And Scandals Follow The Collapse Of The Financial System – Bob Chapman

As the world faces an ongoing sovereign debt debacle we see an attempt to defuse an oncoming scandal involving Goldman Sachs, Paulson and perhaps others.

The collapse of the fiat money system is underway and each day picks up momentum. The only question is how long it can survive? In the interim we are faced with inflation and perhaps hyperinflation as the privately owned Federal Reserve and other central banks add stimulus and money and credit into their financial systems. Read More Here

(10TV) – Cabinet Plant, Largest Employer In Pike Co., Closing

More than 1,200 jobs were being eliminated on Tuesday, after the Masco Cabinet Group announced it was closing its Hopewell Road facility. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Barofsky Says Criminal Charges Possible in Alleged AIG Coverup – Read More Here

(WSJournal) – Video: Contagion Getting Worse – Video Link Here

(Bloomberg) – ‘Debt Like Cancer’ Addressed by Obama Commission on U.S. Debt

President Barack Obama’s debt commission started grappling with how to reduce the U.S. government’s red ink in the first of a series of meetings aimed at producing a plan to be sent to Congress. Read More Here

(CNNMoney) – S&P slashes Spain’s debt rating

Standard and Poor’s downgraded the sovereign debt ratings of Spain to a lower investment grade status Wednesday, citing “risks to budgetary position” for the troubled European nation. Read More Here

(TarpleyNet) – Video: Seize and Liquidate Goldman Sachs – Webster Tarpley

Today’s Senate hearings, carried on CNBC, Bloomberg, and C-SPAN, represent the first major exposure of the American people to the scandalous frauds of the derivatives casino, including synthetic collateralized debt obligations (synthetic CDOs or CDO²). These are things most people have heard very little about. They begin to open up the shocking reality behind such shopworn euphemisms like “toxic assets,” “exotic instruments,” and “troubled assets.” Read More Here

(MarketWatch) – Royal Dutch Shell profit surges 57%

Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday reported a 57% climb in first-quarter profit, with the energy giant benefiting from a surge in oil and gas prices as well as improving production. Read More Here

(MSNBC) – Markets shudder as Greek debt woes spread

‘Chances of a default … are increasing not by the day but by the hour’ Read More Here

(RevolutionaryPolitics) – Video: Chris Christie Speech Declaring Fiscal Crisis Emergency – View Video Here

(WSJ) – States Bristle as Investors Make Wagers on Defaults

As U.S. cities and towns wrestle with financial problems, investors are finding a new way to profit on their misery: by buying derivatives that essentially bet municipalities will default. Read More Here

(DailyMail) – BP earns £463 a second… as motorists suffer record petrol prices

Motorists paying record prices at the pumps reacted with fury at news of a 135per cent rise in profits by oil giant BP – earning a massive £463 a second.

BP said on Tuesday that profits hit £3.6 billion ($US5.6 billion) in the first three months of 2010 – more than double the level last year. Read More Here

(FauxCapitalist) – An illegal bank is the second-largest holder of U.S. treasury securities

From the U.S. Treasury Department’s latest numbers of major foreign holders of treasury securities, we see that China owned $877.5 billion and Japan owned $768.50 billion in February 2010. Read More Here

(WashingtonExaminer) – Barbara Hollingsworth: Fannie Mae owns patent on residential ‘cap and trade’ exchange

When he wasn’t busy helping create a $127 billion mess for taxpayers to clean up, former Fannie Mae Chief Executive Officer Franklin Raines, two of his top underlings and select individuals in the “green” movement were inventing a patented system to trade residential carbon credits. Read More Here

(EconomicPolicyJournal) – S&P on Greek Debt Downgrade to Junk Status: Options Are Narrowing Read More Here

(MarketWatch) – Goldman culture crash

More than anything else, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s fraud case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has illustrated the fall of the firm from Wall Street’s preeminent bank to riverboat casino. Read More Here

Climategate

(WebMe) – Global Warming: the Collapse of a Grand Narrative – Read More Here

(WebMe) – Nails in the Global Warming Coffin

My silence since mid-February has not meant that I have taken my eye off the climate-change scene. Far from it, although I have to confess that I have become increasingly wearied and bored by the fatuous lack of reality exhibited on this topic by many UK politicians. It is so glaringly obvious that, since the debacle in Copenhagen, ‘global warming’ is dying as a major political trope that I find it less and less exercising as an issue. Indeed, I do not want to waste too much energy in flogging a fundamentally dead corpse.

This last week, however, the nails in the global warming coffin have been driven in so thick and so fast that I thought it might be worth bringing attention once again to what is happening around the world – “You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Global Warming is as dead as a door-nail,” although I suspect that the Global Warming Ghost will hang around moaning and wailing for quite a while yet. Read More Here

(Blog) – Angela Merkel gives up binding carbon treaties Read More Here

(NationalPost) – Lawrence Solomon: Australia won’t cap and trade

Seeing countries around the world back away from their climate change commitments, and seeing his own electoral support crumble, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced today that Australia will be shelving its cap and trade program for at least three years, until after the next election. “That will provide the Australian government at the time with a better position to assess the level of global action on climate change,” he told the Australian press. Read More Here

(OzClimateSense) – Carbon storage premise ‘totally erroneous’ – Read More Here

Economy

(RadicalReactionary) – Industrial Wind and the Wall Street Cap and Trade Fraud

Financial scandals are not new. Schemes to leverage risk and cheat the public are mainstays of the mad “Cap and Trade” stratagem, in the ongoing war, against genuine free enterprise. The latest ploy is the industrial wind swindle. Read More Here

(ChicagoTribune) – Illinois bank-owned foreclosures double in first quarter

Almost 15,000 Illinois homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure in the year’s first three months, twice as many as the number that went back to lenders during 2009’s first three months, new figures show. Read More Here

(SeekingAlpha) – Foreclosure Pipeline Is Full to Bursting

According to realtytrac.com, foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 932,234 properties in the first quarter, a 7 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 16 percent increase from the first quarter of 2009. Read More Here

(Telegraph) – Goldman Sachs: the bank that thought it ruled the world

Goldman Sachs was ‘doing God’s work’ – but it is now being investigated for fraud. Harry Wilson reports. Read More Here

(HuffingtonPost) – The 10 SCARIEST Charts Of The Recession – Read More Here

(BigGovernment) – White House Caught Altering Stimulus Baseline Projection by 7 Million Jobs

The number of jobs in the U.S. is currently 129.7 million. So to justify the Administration’s current claim of 2.8 million jobs “created or saved” by stimulus, they need to also claim that without that stimulus there would be only 126.9 million jobs. That’s exactly what they do, displayed as the “baseline projection” level in the graphic below from an April 14, 2010 report: Read More Here

(DailyWealth) – One of the World’s Biggest Oil Producers Is Going Bust – Read More Here

(AP) – Recession is ending? Some Americans don’t buy it – Read More Here

(NYTimes) – For Cash-Strapped States, Sin Is Sure Lucrative – Read More Here

(USAWatchDog) – Fraud, It’s Much Bigger Than Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs was charged with fraud last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The investment bank says the charges are “unfounded in law and fact.” Regulators allege “Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party,” SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said in a statement. Read More Here

(InternationalForecaster) – Don’t Look to Banks To Solve Economic Problems – Bob Chapman

One of the reasons for less bank lending is the almost non-existent market for securitized bonds. Investors have so many bad loans on their books that they refuse to commit to further risky investments. This means banks are forced to hold this toxic paper on their books and that inhibits them from lending at higher levels. Read More Here

(NeitherCorp) – Get Ready, Inflation Is On The Way

In the professional financial world, the term “inflation” has many inferences, consequences, supposed benefits, and definitions. Read More Here

(EconomicCollapse) – If The U.S. Economy Goes Into The Toilet Will It Result In A Complete And Total Collapse Of Society? Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Congressmen Urge Dramatic Expansion Of Goldman Investigation, Demand Big Payback To AIG

The easiest reason to think that the Goldman Sachs (GS) news will metastasize is that so many players potentially have an interest in seeing it expand. Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – High Frequency Trading – High-tech Highway Robbery – Michael Whitney

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) knows that High-Frequency Trading (HFT) manipulates the market and bilks investors out of tens of billions of dollars every year. But SEC chairman Mary Schapiro refuses to step in and take action. Instead, she’s concocted an elaborate “information gathering” scheme, that does nothing to address the main problem. Schapiro’s plan–to track large blocks of trades by large institutional investors– is an attempt to placate congress while the big Wall Street HFT traders continue to rake in obscene profits. It achieves nothing, except provide the cover Schapiro needs to avoid doing her job. Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – A Greater Threat Than Terrorism – Outsourcing the American Economy – Paul Craig Roberts

Is offshore outsourcing good or harmful for America? To convince Americans of outsourcing’s benefits, corporate outsourcers sponsor misleading one-sided “studies.” – Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Going After Goldman: A Crackdown on Financial Crime or a Kabuki Play Maneuvre to Avoid Bringing Criminal Charges – Danny Schechter

Fox Business News was engrossed in interviewing a blonder than thou reality TV bimbo when the news that the Securities And Exchange Commission was filing fraud charges against Goldman Sachs broke on Friday afternoon. Read More Here

(Fox) – Video: Ron Paul – Fox Business

On Monday, April 19, 2010, Congressman Paul was interviewed on Fox Business’ “Varney & Co.” concerning financial regulatory reform legislation and how the Federal Reserve and our current regulatory system encourage corruption in our economy.

Digital Economy Act: This means war

(LondonGuardian) – Baking surveillance, control and censorship into the very fabric of our networks, devices and laws is the absolute road to dictatorial hell.

Video: TheAntiTerrorist on the Digital Economy Bill

Just how stupid does your government need you to be?
“I do not know how long such liberties will be allowed. The stations of uncensored expression are closing down; the lights are going out; but there is still time for those to whom freedom and parliamentary government mean something, to consult together.  Let me, then, speak in truth and earnestness while time remains.” -Winston Churchill October 16, 1938

Economy

(Reuters) – EU safety net not quite enough to break Greek fall

The thing about a safety net is that it all depends where you hang it. Read More Here

(Reuters) – Office vacancy rate hits 16-year high

The U.S. office vacancy rate in the first quarter reached its highest level in 16 years, but the decline in rents eased and crept closer to stabilization, according to a report by real estate research firm Reis Inc. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Crisis of the Global Economy: Trade Conflicts and “Fair Trade”

Trade is now a favorite topic for many politicians and the media, especially between China and the U.S. Likewise, labor and progressive groups continue to delve deeper into trade issues, offering a variety of working class solutions. The far right, too, is obsessed with trade, using it to fuel nationalism and anti-China sentiment. No subject is prone to so much demagoguery combined with so little explanation.
Before one can offer a vision of “fair trade,” it’s helpful to understand what “trade” is. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – The Greek Financial Crisis and the European Timetable

Now that the Lisbon Treaty of 2009 is behind us, after it was forced through Ireland, after the Irish were told to keep voting on this until they said “yes”; now the European Union moves on to the next item on its timetable. The next step is to create a centralized Ministry in Brussels for Finance and Taxation, thereby further eroding the diminishing national sovereignty of the now twenty-seven member states; and what better way to do this than to organize a specific potshot against the little country of Greece? Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Imminent Dangers of Stagflation: U.S. Economic Policies Fail to Avert Hyperinflation

The United States send weak economic signals insufficient for a meaningful and sustainable economic expansion required to gain back confidence of national and foreign investors, futureofdollar.com finds in the present research. Political decision-making process is paralyzed by numerous disabilities, while external market constraints obstruct economic recovery. Stagflation is an imminent danger. Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – What The Top U.S. Companies Pay In Taxes

As you work on your taxes this month, here’s something to raise your hackles: Some of the world’s biggest, most profitable corporations enjoy a far lower tax rate than you do–that is, if they pay taxes at all. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Fed Still Fighting Over Whether The Problem Is Inflation Or Deflation

The Federal Reserve can’t make up its mind what the problem is. Specifically, it can’t agree on whether to fight inflation or deflation. So don’t expect any violent moves anytime soon. Read More Here

(WashingtonPost) – U.S. government a big commercial real estate player

Evidence of the federal government’s growing influence on Washington area commercial real estate is illustrated in big deals it is working on both sides of the table: auctioning a 127,000-square-foot Bethesda building previously occupied by the National Institutes of Health and moving to snatch up vast spaces in buildings on the private market that have been vacant for months. Read More Here

(WSJ) – Bank of Mom and Dad Shuts Amid White-Collar Struggle – Read More Here

(SilverBearCafe) – Will fraud lift gold prices to $10,000/ounce?

After the sub-prime catastrophe in banking and realty sector, which led to the global recession in 2008-09, it is the turn of bullion markets now. – Read More Here

(Gallup) – Underemployment Rises to 20.3% in March

Gallup Daily tracking finds that 20.3% of the U.S. workforce was underemployed in March — a slight uptick from the relatively flat January and February numbers. Read More Here

(InternationalForecaster) – The Smoke and Mirrors Economy – Bob Chapman

We have an economy run on smoke and mirrors, based on the manipulation of markets. That was accomplished via the executive order signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 in the aftermath of the stock market collapse of October 19, 1987, known as the “President’s Working Group on Financial markets.” This order intended to be implemented during emergencies has been used to manipulate markets worldwide 24/7. Read More Here

(CNN) – Unemployment Benefits Expire for Thousands

Extended unemployment benefits will temporarily expire for thousands of Americans on Monday because the Senate went on its spring recess without approving a one-month deadline extension. Read More Here

(MSN) – Inflation warning etched in steel

Pretend it’s 1933, as so many in the deflation camp think it is or soon will be (at least from the price-of-everything standpoint). If last Wednesday you reached for a copy of that day’s Financial Times, would you have expected to see the following headline — “Steel prices set to soar: Everyday goods will cost more” — in large print above the fold?

I don’t think so. Read More Here

(Reuters) – Oil hits 18-month high on economic outlook

U.S. crude futures hit an 18-month high on Monday, climbing toward $86 per barrel on expectations of faster-than-expected economic recovery and increasing demand for fuel. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – The Scariest Jobs Chart Ever (Another View)

Here’s another view of what we’ve been calling the “Scariest Jobs Chart Ever.” It’s from Calculated Risk, and it shows the percent of job losses since the peak for all the post-war recessions. Read More Here

Video: LBMA Bullion Market Ponzi Scheme. Financial Manipulation in the Gold and Silver Markets

Economy

(RBC) – Canadians’ expectations for overall economic performance drop

According to the March RBC Canadian Consumer Outlook Index, most Canadians (65 per cent) are losing sleep over their finances. Read More Here

(WichitaEagle) – Report: More seniors to be homeless by 2020

A report released Monday by the National Alliance to End Homelessness projects a 33 percent increase over the next decade in elderly people who are homeless. Read More Here

(MarketSkeptics) – 2010 Food Crisis Taking Shape – Read More Here

(AP) – Verizon to take $970M charge from health care bill

The corporate tax impact of the recent health care overhaul grew Thursday as Verizon Communications Inc. announced it will record a related $970 million non-cash charge in the first quarter. Read More Here

(WakeUpAmericans) – More On Obama’s Offshore Drilling ‘Show’

Institure for Energy Research (IER) sticks to the facts of what Barack Obama’s actual proposals about off shore drilling really does: Read More Here

(SafeHaven) – You Still Believe The Fed Can Stop Deflation?

Think back to the fall of 2007. The deflationary “liquidity crunch” that over the next year-and-a-half cuts the DJIA in half, decimates commodities, real estate and world markets is only starting. Almost no one believes that the crash is coming — to a large degree, because everyone is convinced that the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, with Ben Bernanke at the helm, will never allow deflation to happen: It can just print money! Read More Here

(SilverBearCafe) – Gold and Silver Equal Future Purchasing Power

Today it is as difficult for a person to fathom gold at $5,000 per ounce as it was for a person to fathom $1,000 per ounce back in 2002. After all, hold a Krugerrand, in your hand and try to imagine it being worth the purchasing power of $5,000 – enough to buy a good running, nice looking used car. Read More Here

(Blog) – 6 Cities That Were Caught Shortening Yellow Light Times For Profit

Short yellow light times at intersections have been shown to increase the number of traffic violations and accidents. Conversely, increasing the yellow light duration can dramatically reduce red-light violations at an intersection. Read More Here

(SmirkingChimp) – BE CAREFUL:Cops giving out more speeding tickets due to recession. – Read More Here

(AP) – Ohioans say they’re pursued for paid-off fines

Some motorists are complaining that old traffic fines they already paid to one Ohio county are coming back to haunt them. About 1,000 people have contacted officials in southeast Ohio’s Hocking County this week to say they’ve heard from a collection agency about tickets already resolved, in some cases as far back as 20 years ago. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Financial Fraud and the Economic Crisis – A Cavalcade of U.S. Corruption Is Finally Being Scrutinized – Read More Here

(HuffingtonPost) – It’s A Ponzi Scheme the Gold Market

We’ve had a string of amazing revelations recently regarding the world’s precious metals market. This is important stuff for anyone (like me) who holds gold as a means to avoid currency turmoil and counterparty risk. Read More Here

(ZMagazine) – Big Government, Budget Deficits, Entitlements and the “Centrist” Ploy – Read More Here

Obama to Crush Economy with Massive CO2 Taxes as Early as Next Week

(CanadaFreePress) – Abandoning all loyalty to the democratic processes this nation holds dear, President Obama has made the decision that getting energy tax legislation through Congress with the approval of the American people is just too much of a pain to bother with. Instead he will have the EPA declare as early as next week that CO2 is a dangerous global warming gas and will start regulating its emissions immediately.

Geithner: Pickpocketing Trillions from the People to Give to the Oligarchy Was “Deeply Unfair”, But We … Um … Had To

(WashingtonsBlog) – Tim Geithner told the Today Show that:

It’s “deeply unfair” that some financial institutions that got taxpayer-paid bailouts are emerging in better shape from the recession than millions of ordinary Americans.

Geithner also argued that President Barack Obama had no choice when confronted with a financial crisis.

“As the president has said, we had to do some very unpopular things,” Geithner said. “People looked at what had happened.””It’s not fair. It’s deeply unfair,” he said. “He (Obama) had to decide whether he was going to act to fix it or stand back … and that would have been calamitous for the American economy.”

Economy

(AmpedStatus) – Is It Time for Law Abiding American Citizens to Stop Paying Their Taxes and Start a New Government?

The evidence is now overwhelming. The United States government has facilitated the theft of trillions of dollars of national wealth and 99% of the US population no longer has political representation. Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – Timothy Geithner is a Sniveling Scamster – Mike Whitney – Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Europe Inflation Jumps More Than Economists Forecast

European inflation accelerated more than economists forecast on higher oil prices, while the unemployment rate reached double-digits for the first time since 1998. Read More Here

(VOANews) – Eurozone Unemployment Hits 10 Percent – Read More Here

(BusinessWeek) – Greece May Be Heading to ‘Square One’ as Bonds Fall – Read More Here

(Guardian) – Geithner says unemployment is ‘terribly high’

The treasury secretary Timothy Geithner warned today that US unemployment was “terribly high” and would remain “unacceptably high for a very long time”. The Obama administration was “very worried” about the jobless rate, Geithner said in an interview, which has soared to almost 10% in the wake of the worst economic downturn since the depression. Read More Here

(ChicagoTribune) – Debt dangers – When Warren Buffett looks safer than Uncle Sam – Read More Here

(BobChapman) – More Financial Bubbles Ahead in the US Housing Market

Bubbles have a hard time coming to an end, especially in residential real estate. Underlying forces such as government intervention to prolong the agony and the abject stupidity of builders extends the bubbles. Read More Here

(DailyTelegraph) – Sell-off in US Treasuries raises sovereign debt fears

The yield on 10-year Treasuries – the benchmark price of global capital – surged 30 basis points in just two days last week to over 3.9pc, the highest level since the Lehman crisis. Alan Greenspan, ex-head of the US Federal Reserve, said the abrupt move may be “the canary in the coal mine”, a warning to Washington that it can no longer borrow with impunity. He said there is a “huge overhang of federal debt, which we have never seen before”. Read More Here

(CNN) – The coming inflation wave

Whether the American economy is in an inflationary or deflationary environment sounds like it should be a fundamental and settled question. But due to the unprecedented financial crisis, the answer is actually subject to intense debate among economists. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – U.S. Companies Unexpectedly Cut Payrolls in March

Companies in the U.S. unexpectedly cut payrolls in March, according to data from a private report based on payrolls. Read More Here

(SmirkingChimp) – BE CAREFUL:Cops giving out more speeding tickets due to recession.

The recession may be claiming a new victim: the 5-10-mph “cushion” police and state troopers across the USA have routinely given motorists exceeding the speed limit. Read More Here

(AP) – Ohioans say they’re pursued for paid-off fines

Some motorists are complaining that old traffic fines they already paid to one Ohio county are coming back to haunt them. About 1,000 people have contacted officials in southeast Ohio’s Hocking County this week to say they’ve heard from a collection agency about tickets already resolved, in some cases as far back as 20 years ago. Read More Here

(Reuters) – Abu Dhabi sheikh, sovereign fund head, found dead

An Emirati sheikh who headed one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds has been found dead four days after a glider crash in Morocco, state media said on Tuesday. Read More Here

(TheGlobeAndMail) – Tour operators scramble as Skyservice shuts down

Skyservice Airlines has abruptly shut down, leaving tour operators that hired the charter carrier scrambling to find other planes for travellers. Read More Here

(NewsAU) – Hefty retail sales slide and weak building figures may halt rate rise

AN UNEXPECTEDLY large fall in retail sales and lower-than-expected building approvals could see the Reserve Bank hold interest rates steady next week, economists say. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Irish Banks Need $43 Billion on ‘Appalling’ Lending

Ireland’s banks need $43 billion in new capital after “appalling” lending decisions left the country’s financial system on the brink of collapse. Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – Attention Deficit Democracy – Ralph Nader

A society not alert to signs of its own decay, because its ideology is a continuing myth of progress, separates itself from reality and envelops illusion. Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – When It Comes to Innovation, Is America Becoming a Third World Country?

Is America turning into a third world country? That was the provocative topic of a panel I took part in last week at a conference sponsored by The Economist entitled “Innovation: Fresh Thinking For The Ideas Economy.” Read More Here

(Truthout) – Video: California Banks: Who Are They Working For? – View Video Here

(Bloomberg) – California Hotel Foreclosures Climb as Unemployment Cuts Travel – Read More Here

(AlterNet) – Banks Could Be Biggest Winners in Obama’s New Foreclosure Plan – Read More Here

(BuffaloNews) – Paterson delays payment of $2 billion to schools Read More Here

(Examiner) – Economist Tim Madden: U.S./Canadian consumer interest calculation method a monstrous fraud – Read More Here

(WeAreChange) – Video: Bob Schulz – We The People Go After The Banksters – View Video Here

Woman Who Invented Credit Default Swaps is One of the Key Architects of Carbon Derivatives, Which Would Be at the Very CENTER of Cap and Trade

(WashingtonsBlog) – As I have previously shown, speculative derivatives (especially credit default swaps or “CDS”) are a primary cause of the economic crisis. They were largely responsible for bringing down Bear Stearns, AIG (and see this), WaMu and other mammoth corporations.

According to top experts, risky derivatives were not only largely responsible for bringing down the American (and world) economy, but they still pose a substantial systemic risk:

Video: Healthcare Bill Passes, Is This the Final Nail in the US Economy?

The Congressional Budget Office is estimating that the healthcare bill will cost $940 billion over the next 10 years, but if history is any indication, the actual cost will likely be several trillion dollars. NIA believes the healthcare bill will be the final nail in the coffin of the U.S. economy and will just about guarantee that we will see hyperinflation by the year 2015.

Video: Peter Schiff – The Crisis Starts Now!

(Yahoo) – Tech Ticker – March 16, 2010

Economy Kept On Life Support While Global Governance Is Organized

(NeithercorpPress) – Winter is slowly melting away here in the U.S., and Spring will soon be upon us. Wall Street is currently flush with delight at the year long run of the stock market (driven by fiat bailouts), which at first glance appears to be doing quite well, though international incidences such as those in Dubai and Greece have revealed how shaky the market actually is in the face of any unhealthy news. In the meantime, the dollar, recently on the edge of detrimental value loss, has made a semi-miraculous recovery in the span of a few months, especially as the Euro suffers. Official employment numbers, despite the continuous loss of jobs monthly, have somehow fallen and are for the moment stabilized. Is it time for America to dust off the old credit cards and return to the wild and rollicking carefree spending days of pre-2007? Perhaps not…

Economy

(LondonTelegraph) – Detroit family homes sell for just $10

Family homes in Detroit are selling for as little as $10 (£6) in the wake of America’s financial meltdown. The once thriving industrial city has suffered a dramatic decline following the global economic crisis. Read More Here

(WallStreetWarZone) – Wall Street Lobbyists Spend $400 Million to Kill Financial Reforms & Destroy America

Yes, Wall Street wins, again. Wall Street’s control America is a drama right out of a Scorsese film about the mafia and crime in New York. They bought off Chris Dodd, who’s capitulated to the darkside while “interviewing” for a million dollar job as a lobbyist. They bought off, President Obama. Read More Here

Video: The Globalist Push To Crush The Rich Nations In Preparation For Global Carbon Tax And New World Order – Video Link Here

(YahooFinance) – Video: Faber and Mish – We’re Doomed and Washington Can’t Do Anything About It

Washington is patting itself on the back for having orchestrated an amazing economic recovery. But Washington lawmakers are a delusional bunch of boneheads, say Marc Faber and Mike “Mish” Shedlock, editor of the Gloom, Boom, and Doom Report and investment advisor at SitkaPacific Capital Management, respectively. Video Link Here

(NeitherCorp) – Economy Kept On Life Support While Global Governance Is Organized

Winter is slowly melting away here in the U.S., and Spring will soon be upon us. Wall Street is currently flush with delight at the year long run of the stock market (driven by fiat bailouts), which at first glance appears to be doing quite well, though international incidences such as those in Dubai and Greece have revealed how shaky the market actually is in the face of any unhealthy news. Read More Here

(SilverBearCafe) – Calling All Rebels

There are no constraints left to halt America’s slide into a totalitarian capitalism. Electoral politics are a sham. The media have been debased and defanged by corporate owners. Read More Here

(Goldseek) – Robbing the Old to pay the Rich

The senate boldly and blatantly refused to give 57 million elderly individuals $250 more. The story below highlights this point. Read More Here

(MiamiHerald) – Officials: 2.5 million Floridians on food stamps

More than 2.5 million Floridians are on food stamps, up from three years ago where 1.2 million residents received assistance. Read More Here

(ConsortiumNews) – How Big Business Dupes the Masses

Editor’s Note: In the Great Snookering of America, millions of working- and middle-class Americans are being influenced by ads and activist groups that purport to stand with them against the tyranny of Big Government – when the money really represents Big Corporations that want carte blanche to treat these Americans like a la carte items on a menu. Read More Here

(Oftwominds) – Why California Is Doomed

California is doomed for two simple but profound reasons: the cost structure is too high for most businesses to survive, and a boom-dependent economy. Read More Here

(DailyMail) – Greece rocked by riots as up to 60,000 people take to streets to protest against government

Street clashes broke out between rioting youths and police in central Athens today as tens of thousands demonstrated during a nationwide strike against the cash-strapped government. Read More Here

(FreedomInOurTime) – Czars to Serfs: Pay Up and Shut Up

It would be difficult to find a more candid expression of the parasite class’s predatory contempt for the productive than the words that departed Mesley’s snout. The police union capo will occasionally remove that appendage from the public trough just long enough to spew demands for an ever-larger share of the wealth produced through the honest labor of others, or to justify some corrupt privilege he claims as a “cog in the mighty machine of state.” In all of this he is entirely typical of the army of public employees pillaging what little remains of America’s wealth. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Video: Jim Rogers – Greece Bankruptcy Would Be Good for Euro – View Video Here

Video: Ron Paul – Another Crisis is Coming!

(Fox) – Ron Paul appeared on Fox Business today to discuss the economy and the coming currency crisis.

Open Wi-Fi ‘Outlawed’ by Digital Economy Bill

(ZDNet) – The government will not exempt universities, libraries and small businesses providing open Wi-Fi services from its Digital Economy Bill copyright crackdown, according to official advice released earlier this week.

Economy

(Reuters) – Sweden unexpectedly slides back into recession

Sweden’s economy unexpectedly slid back into recession in the fourth quarter, figures showed, sending the crown lower and raising questions about how soon interest rates will rise. Read More Here

(BobChapman) – Bonuses for Wall Street And Unemployment Elsewhere Continue To Grow

People should not underestimate the rational of those in high places because their agenda may be totally different then what they say it is. That includes the predicament of Dubai and Greece and a host of other nations that include the US and UK. The credit crisis, borne of the subprime crisis just didn’t happen; it was planned that way. Read More Here

(WashingtonTimes) – American reliance on government at all-time high

The so-called “Great Recession” has left Americans depending on the government dole like never before. Read More Here

(CumberlandAdvisors) – Commercial Real Estate: More Trouble Ahead

“Between 2010 and 2014, about $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans will reach the end of their terms. Nearly half are at present “underwater” – that is, the borrower owes more than the underlying property is currently worth. Read More Here

(OrlandoSentinel) – George Soros not satisfied with Barack Obama, claims he saved country from recession

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria introduced George Soros as “the billionaire investor, financier, speculator, philanthropist and thinker.” Read More Here

(LondonTimes) – Green fuels cause more harm than fossil fuels, according to report

Using fossil fuel in vehicles is better for the environment than so-called green fuels made from crops, according to a government study seen by The Times. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Is March 9 The Day Greece Gets Its Bailout From Tim Geithner?

We’ve joked that if all else fails, then surely Tim Geithner will come to the rescue of Greece.

At least we thought we were joking. Read More Here

(Reuters) – UPDATE 1-Winter storms to distort US jobless figures-Summers

White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on Monday winter blizzards were likely to distort U.S. February jobless figures, which are due to be released on Friday. Read More Here

(Telegraph) – Don’t go wobbly on us now, Ben Bernanke

Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois is near the point of fiscal disintegration. “The state is in utter crisis,” said Representative Suzie Bassi. “We are next to bankruptcy. We have a $13bn hole in a $28bn budget.” Read More Here

(GlobalEconomicAnalysis) – California Delays Payments, Ponders IOUs Again, Demands 80% of Income Tax Paid Before It’s Even Earned

Tactics in California to shore up its municipal bond rating are quite humorous. Supposedly, by delaying payments to schools, California can boost confidence in its bonds. Read More Here

(Reuters) – Euro in most difficult phase since launch – Merkel

Europe’s single currency project is facing its toughest period since its launch over a decade ago and it is essential that Greece tackle the roots of its troubles to restore confidence, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. Read More Here

(TheAtlantic) – How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America

The Great Recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably just beginning. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. Read More Here

Denninger: Let’s Cut the Crap — We Are in a Depression Right Now

(SHTFPlan) – So let’s cut the crap – we are in a Depression right now.  We are pretending we are not, just like you can pretend you didn’t really lose your job so long as your credit card does not reach its limit.  We have been in that depression for about 18 months and there is no evidence that we will exit it, as we have yet to find a way to pull back the deficit spending without an instantaneous collapse in the economy.

Economy

(ABC) – Head of IMF Proposes New Reserve Currency

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, suggested Friday the organization might one day be called on to provide countries with a global reserve currency that would serve as an alternative to the U.S. dollar. Read More Here

(BusinessInsider) – Blockbuster Collapses: Shutting Down 500 Stores In Desperate Bid To Save $200 Million

Blockbuster is losing big when it comes to at-home videos, so they are cutting back on expenses and on advertising in the U.S. to make up for it. Read More Here

(Sympatico) – BBC web budget cut by half: report

The BBC has refused to comment on recent reports that it will close two radio stations and scale back its web presence in order to save about $965 million Cdn. Read More Here

(FloridaToday) – 23,000 now expected to lose jobs after shuttle retirement

The local economic forecast tied to President Barack Obama’s proposed NASA budget keeps growing bleaker. Read More Here

The U.S. Personal Income Tax: It Goes to The Family Rothschild

The more people like me speak out about this, the more will scratch their heads and go, “No way!” or “You’re an idiot, Garner!” or, worst of all, “You’re not an American!” Read More Here

(AFP) – Greek PM warns on bankruptcy as crunch looms

Greece risks bankruptcy unless strict austerity measures are enacted fast to cut its deficit, Prime Minister George Papandreou warned on Friday, while reports said the EU wants even more belt-tightening. Read More Here

(CNN) – Jobless benefits start ending on Sunday

Depending on extended unemployment benefits to see you through the Great Recession? Read More Here

Video: Paul Ryan slams the Democratic Health Care Bill

(CSPAN) – February 25, 2010

Economy

(CanadaFreePress) – Greece’s Financial Crisis and the Myth of Modern America

I have been hearing a lot of chatter recently in coffee shops and lunch restaurants about the financial crisis in Greece. As I eavesdrop, the impression I get is that people are trying to convince themselves the problem is “over there.” They discuss how Greece could have avoided the situation and debate what they should do now. So naturally it is an isolated, country-specific problem “over there,” right? Read More Here

(Gata) – Adrian Douglas: CFTC admits hiding info exposing market manipulation

Recently while reviewing the bank participation reports (BPR) released each month by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading commission I noticed that, since November 2009, in silver and in some other commodities the CFTC has stopped listing the number of banks that hold positions. Read More Here

(DailyCaller) – Record numbers receive food stamps as USDA turns blind eye to recipients’ finances

Food stamp distribution has skyrocketed since the U.S. Department of Agriculture renamed the program Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2008 and began pushing states to give federal food aid to people without verifying their finances. Read More Here

(Lansner) – O.C. has 13 months of unlisted foreclosures

Irvine-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting Inc. made national news this past week with a study showing that a new wave of foreclosures will hit the U.S. housing market in the next few years. Read More Here

(ComingDepression) – Canadian housing haven myth collapsing

Canada is quickly becoming much worse off than the US was (in terms of house prices to income levels) before their bubble burst. House prices in the US are much lower on average than Canada and they have higher incomes with lower taxes, so how is this sustainable in Canada then? Read More Here

(CNBC) – Dr Doom: China Will Drag Down US Stocks By 20%

In a rare interview, one of the Street’s most influential strategists sounded the alarm about the next leg down. Read More Here

(Reuters) – Bad economies in states to worsen: governors

The already gloomy conditions of states’ economies are set to worsen, according to preliminary survey findings from the National Governors Association released on Saturday Read More Here

(AP) – Banks in Calif., Ill., Fla., Texas are shut down

Regulators shut four banks from California to Florida on Friday, boosting to 20 the number of U.S. bank failures this year following the 140 closures last year in the worst financial climate in decades. Read More Here

(MSNBC) – Millions of unemployed face years without jobs

Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits. Read More Here

(NYTimes) – The Fat Lady Has Sung

A small news item from Tracy, Calif., caught my eye last week. Local station CBS 13 reported: “Tracy residents will now have to pay every time they call 911 for a medical emergency. But there are a couple of options. Residents can pay a $48 voluntary fee for the year, which allows them to call 911 as many times as necessary. Or there’s the option of not signing up for the annual fee. Instead they will be charged $300 if they make a call for help.” Read More Here

(RevolutionaryPolitics) – 1001 Reasons to Own Gold

Tracking the numerous ongoing bullish factors for gold is quite a chore. There are, quite literally, so many compelling arguments for holding our favorite metal that I used to catalog them each month in our letter. Read More Here

(YesMagazine) – Campaigning for State-Owned Banks

The public bank concept is gaining ground on the state level, attracting proponents across the political spectrum. Read More Here

(WSJ) – Credit-Card Fees: the New Traps

A new federal credit-card law that takes effect Monday could erase billions of dollars a year in fees and interest charges paid by consumers. But card issuers are already deploying new tactics that could prove costly for even the most cautious cardholder. Read More Here

Video: ALERT – U.S. Depression Breadline Hits New RECORD! – View Video Here

Video: A Cruel Waste of Your Tax Dollars – View Video Here

(Telegraph) – So where did all the money go?

It is all too easy to lose track of the amount of cash poured into the economy by the British authorities in order to support banks and prevent a repeat of the Great Depression. Read More Here

(Guardian) – RBS braced for bonus row with planned £1.3bn payout

Loss-making Royal Bank of Scotland is braced for a row over City pay next week when it is expected to admit that its bonus pot for 22,000 investment bankers has reached £1.3bn – against last year’s £1bn. Read More Here

Towards a Global Systemic Crisis of the World Economy

(Leap2020) – LEAP/E2020 is of the view that the effect of States’ spending trillions to « counteract the crisis » will have fizzled out. These vast sums had the effect of slowing down the development of the systemic global crisis for several months but, as anticipated in previous GEAB reports, this strategy will only have ultimately served to clearly drag States into the crisis caused by the financial institutions.

Economy

(MarketWatch) – How to invest for a global-debt-bomb explosion

Wake up investors. Are you prepared for the economic anarchy coming after a global-debt time bomb explodes? Are you thinking outside the box? Investing differently? Act now — tomorrow will be too late. Read More Here

(Spiegel) – German Auto Sales Crash in January

Domestic car sales hit an all-time high in Germany in 2009 thanks to the government’s cash-for-clunkers program. Now that the program is over, however, sales have plummeted. Is the worst still to come? Read More Here

(CityWatchLA) – Drastic Steps Needed to Prevent Bankruptcy

As you know, the City of Los Angeles faces a budget shortfall of nearly $208 million, and we expect it to exceed $400 million next year. This is the most serious situation we have faced in 75 years and without drastic steps, the City is threatened with bankruptcy. We cannot allow that to happen. Read More Here

(ABC) – Australia close to defaulting on debts: Joyce

Opposition finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce is courting controversy again, warning that Australia is getting to the point where it will not be able to repay its overseas debt. Read More Here

FLASHBACK – (Telegraph) – Société Générale tells clients how to prepare for potential ‘global collapse’

Société Générale has advised clients to be ready for a possible “global economic collapse” over the next two years, mapping a strategy of defensive investments to avoid wealth destruction. Read More Here

(TheBulletin) – Without water

Hundreds of Central Oregonians who can’t pay their bills have their water shut off. For people like Lynette Nicks, who’s recovering from cancer, that’s especially dangerous. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – No Job Growth for Small Business Spurs Recovery Doubt (Update1)

Small businesses are becoming the Achilles heel of the U.S. recovery by limiting growth and job creation. Read More Here

(Time) – The Great Recession: Will Construction Workers Survive?

The middle and working-classes have been hammered by the Great Recession and no industry has taken it more on the chin than construction. Read More Here

Another (sobering) slice of the jobs data

Here’s a pretty depressing picture, courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Read More Here

(NYTimes) – This Crisis Won’t Stop Moving

YOU know we’re in trouble when we’re told that the economic problems in Greece, Portugal and Spain, the most indebted countries in the euro zone, are likely to remain safely contained in those nations. Read More Here

(ZeroHedge) – The Run On Greece Is Here: Investors Pull Out €10 Billion From The Troubled Country; Crisis Escalation Approaches

Remember the proverbial run on the bank? Well, that was the norm (or rather the outlier) before governments decided to backstop entire financial industries residing within their territory. As a result, the post-Lehman version of “the bank run” will henceforth be referred to as “the country run” and for an example of one in practice, look no further than Greece. The Guardian reports that investors have pulled a stunning €8-10 billion since the Greek crisis commenced in earnest last November. If true, this is the beginning of the end for the troubled EMU-member country. Read More Here

(Telegraph) – Global bear rally will deflate as Japan leads world in sovereign bond crisis

Milton Keynes will be vindicated. Lord Keynes will lose some of his new-found gloss. The Krugman doctrine that we should all spend our way back to health by pushing deficits to the brink of a debt spiral – or beyond the brink – will be seen as dangerous. Read More Here

(Risk) – Citi plans crisis derivatives

Credit specialists at Citi are considering launching the first derivatives intended to pay out in the event of a financial crisis. The firm has drawn up plans for a tradable liquidity index, known as the CLX, on which products could be structured that allow buyers to hedge a spike in funding costs. Read More Here

(Katu) – That’s a wrap? Future of Hollywood Video cast in doubt

Once one of the wealthiest companies in Oregon, Wilsonville-based Hollywood Video’s final scene may be written as many customers discovered Tuesday upon finding a dozen of its stores closed. Read More Here

China to Sell U.S. Assets

(WashingtonsBlog) – Something big is happening in China which could have a huge effect on the American economy.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported:

Senior Chinese military officers have proposed that their country … possibly sell some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan.

Economy

Secret summit of top bankers

THE world’s top central bankers began arriving in Australia yesterday as renewed fears about the strength of the global economic recovery gripped world share markets. Read More Here

(Pravda) – Paulson and US Collapse, Lets Blame It On Russia, We Do Everything Else

It’s good to see that US officials and former officials continue acting to par, God forbid they actually shock us and change their stripes. The latest tripe out of the mouths of the mega corrupted and their hand picked puppets is Henry Paulson’s tripe about Russia trying to collapse the US economic bubble and that being the reason that the US is now down on its luck. Read More Here

(JBS) – Ending the Government Monopoly on Currency

The legal tender laws of the United States are found in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution and grant power to Congress to “coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.” Nothing more. Read More Here

(WSJ) – ‘Fear Gauge’ Spikes 20%

The so-called fear gauge jumped nearly 20% as stocks took a tumble and looked ready to close at their lowest point of the year. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – 824,000 Jobs will Disappear on February 5th – Read More Here

(BusinessDay) – Warning of Greek crisis spreading across EU

THE Greek debt crisis has spread to Spain and Portugal in a dangerous escalation as global markets test whether Europe is willing to shore up monetary union with muscle rather than mere words. Read More Here

(Reuters) – U.S. commercial property prices hit new cycle low

U.S. commercial real estate prices fell 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter, setting a new low for the current downturn, according to a leading property index released on Friday. Read More Here

(FoxBusiness) – TrimTabs Estimates Take-Home Pay of All Taxpayers in 2009 Plunged $800 Billion, or 12%, While Value of U.S. Stocks Surged $3.5 Trillion, or 27

TrimTabs Investment Research estimated today that the take-home pay of all taxpayers in 2009 plunged $800 billion, or 12%, to $5.8 trillion. Meanwhile, the market value of all U.S. stocks rose $3.5 trillion, or 27%, to $16 trillion. Read More Here

(Fortune) – Next in line for a bailout: Social Security

Don’t look now. But even as the bank bailout is winding down, another huge bailout is starting, this time for the Social Security system. Read More Here

Obama’s Budget Would Increase Penalties Five-Fold on Tax Protesters

Under current law, the willful failure to pay taxes is a misdemeanor. You could go to jail for up to a year and pay a maximum fine of $25K (for individuals, $100K for corporations) for each year you fail to file a return. There is a proposal in the new budget to increase the penalty for repeated failure to file a tax return: Read More Here

(ToledoBlade) – Ohio state income tax off $97.7M

For the first time since the state enacted its two-year budget in July after dramatically lowering its revenue expectations, tax coffers contain less than the amount officials had projected at this point. Read More Here

(IndyStar) – State revenue is $74.8M off forecast

Groundhog Day may have already passed, but it doesn’t feel like it in Gov. Mitch Daniels’ second-floor Statehouse office. Read More Here

(ETFGuide) – Real Unemployment 18 Percent – Will Stocks Falter?

The unemployment picture painted by today’s jobs report headlines is much rosier than reality. Yet, the Dow broke below 10,000 for the first time in months. The real unemployment number reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is much higher and scarier than they want you to believe. What’s next? Read More Here

(Telegraph) – Fears of ‘Lehman-style’ tsunami as crisis hits Spain and Portugal

The Greek debt crisis has spread to Spain and Portugal in a dangerous escalation as global markets test whether Europe is willing to shore up monetary union with muscle rather than mere words. Read More Here

Video: California the canary in coalmine of US economy

State Controller John Chiang issued a stern warning Friday about California’s cash reserves, telling legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger they must act on nearly $9 billion in budget cuts the governor is seeking by March — or the state will run out of cash to pay its bills. — Denis C. Theriault Mercury News –