Fiscal Suicide; Point of No Return

At least one of the main stream media,  the Washington Post (which is turning into a legitimate news source) conducted an interview with the top ratings mucky muck at Standard and Poors who laid out their view on the budget deal. The bottom line here is that the gravy train of no accountability, no consequences spending is over.

A Banana Republic Tax Base

The US has a  problem, tax receipts at a percent of debt is a joke.  Impossible!  The OMB estimate for 2012 is far too optimistic.  This system is mostly about handoffs for the rich.  81% in WSJ/NBC poll want a million income surtax.

Bankster Incompetance Alert; Money Market Funds Exposed to Europe

James Grant in a recent Bloomberg interview discussed  U.S. Money Market Fund (MMF) exposure to European sovereign and banking debt [about minute 4 into the video]. The effect of zero interest rates is to cause these MMF managers to scour the planet looking for yield to cover fund fees and still have enough left over to pay fund holders a whopping basis point or two. Investors' and savers' faith in this strange scheme is unbelievable, as measured by the $2.7 trillion sitting in retail and institutional MMFs! How soon people forget 2008 when MMFs broke the buck and went through a period where investors couldn't access funds until the Fed rescued them. Now you can be paid 1 or 2 basis points for something similar or worse.

TBTFs Got Trillions, and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt

A couple must see programs, first is Max Keiser documentary on Ireland.  Then and incredible must see dress down by David Stockman on the Ratigan show. Probably the best I’ve ever seen.  Jon Stewart on Goldman Sachs' scam to help Greek bury themselves in debt.    Congress is worked up into a frenzy on tax avoidance schemes for the wealthy, tax repatriation [MSNBC rant], extending and expanding payroll tax cuts, lower corporate tax rates.  Ireland has a new t-shirt:  ”Ireland is Not Greece” . Should read:  ’TBTFs got trillions, and All I Got Was this Lousy T-Shirt’.

They Don't Call Goldman Sachs the Vampire Squid for Nothing

It's amazing how long it took this story about Goldman Sachs manipulating the metals market to get out. Then it'll be amazing to see how long it will actually take for somebody to do something about it. A mere slap on the wrist perhaps, followed by minimal outrage. If using Fed liquidity had a real rate cost, this kind of thing would rarely happen and maladjustments would be controllable.

Irish Eyes are Smiling: Bail in Rather than Bail out

Greece is not the real story. Europe is like a cancer patient being debilitated by an infection called Greece, among others that are worse. Greece alone may not bring Europe down. After the EU via the Corrupt 3 mechanism ( the Fed, ECB and IMF) is further weakened by "shock and awe" treatment of the  Greek bailout,  the real knockout punch will come from Ireland.

The Slash and Burn Rat Line Kleptocrats are Scrambling

Back in the real, non-Bernanke manipulated and maladjusted world the credit agencies are scrambling to downgrade a lot of moving targets, this time Chinese property developers. And little wonder, duh, look at the inventory piling up.

Lee Camp: Moment of Clarity

In my mind Lee Camp is emerging as the best and most lucid revolutionary anti-kleptocrat comic and satirist in America today. Chief Joseph gladly awards him a warrior head bonnet and salutes him.

Organized Social Network Resistance Against the Kleptocrats Developing

There is an organized effort afoot to counter the criminal kleptocratic interests that I fight against on this site. Called the AmpedStatusNetwork, it clearly reflects my core principles and I encourage my readers to join and lend their support. There is a call for demonstrations on June 14th with the primary effort at Wall Street in Lower Manhattan.  They have developed a talking point video that is quite strong.  I loved the short speech at the end. Look out Egypt, Greece, Spain, the sleeping giant is awakening. Their common ground platform:

How Hedge Funds Ride Herd in America

"All large scale crime is always an inside job." -Slim Pickens, Rancho Deluxe (1975)

Bruce Krasting has written a piece which I am posting in it's entirety showing the corrupt arrangement the hedge fund industry has made to skirt paying taxes and to operate without scrutiny. For any one wanting to know why the matters,  I refer you to the story of Long Term Capital Management [When Genius Failed] .  This one almost took down the financial system back in the days when hedge funds were small potatoes. 

Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic

“The people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions, and all else, now meddle no more and long eagerly for just two things — bread and circuses.” -Decimus Juvenalis, 1st Century BC, Rome 

Just one day after I penned my serious doubts that the FY 2012 (Sept) could hit the projected  $1.1 trillion, comes another desperate barrage straight from the" land of reality is an option":  a payroll tax cut proposal for business.  All this a week after Moodys warned on a downgrade if deficits aren't controlled. Of course another tax cut for the plutocrat class will gain enough support from Republicans to possibly gain passage. In the very short term Wall Street loves a good corporate loot and rallies, incredible!

The Long Hot Summer

Food stamp participation is about as good an indicator as you can find to gauge national distress, and at this point the potential for a “long, hot summer” (an American summer, as opposed to the Arab spring)  is building and building.  While the kleptocrats head out to the Hamptons for their summer vacations, the teeming masses around the country are reaching a boiling point. Although a large number of these 44.6 million in poverty are comatose, drugged and passive, all it really takes is a portion of these people with more aggressive personalities to take to the streets and really upset the apple cart. Actual hunger is the key variable and the availability of guns. Food stamp participation once again increased by a rate of 388,000 in the last month.

Junk Economics = National Fiscal Suicide

As we would expect, the budgetary "straw man debate" is largely focused on more looting and subsidies for corporatists and plutocrats. Conditions and the "urgency" for last minute deals is perfect for the kind of dynamite-strapped junk economics practiced in America. The result will be national fiscal suicide. Banana Republic Presidente Hopium is on board, so the Republicans are just going through the motions and play acting.  That's what the term "stimulating jobs" is code for:  tax breaks for corporations, who are already paying the lowest percentage of taxes to GDP (1.25%) as far back as I can see, and in reality is a stimulus for Tiffany program.

For Profit Educators: Pigs at the Trough

James Chanos is one of the best out of the box thinkers in the investment world. He predicted the Enron house of cards -- I highly recommend the docu-movie "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" -- and the mortgage disaster. In 2009, he presented another concept entitled "From the Trough to the Slaughterhouse," in which he proposes shorting companies with high profit margins that feed exclusively at the government trough.

The Debt Limit Straw Man

The debt limit situation and headline is a disingenuous  straw man side show to what the credit rater Moodys is really warning about, credible deficit reduction. Politicians could take care of the debt limit at any time, the rest is problematic. It strikes me that 95% of the headlines are about the debt limit, which means that for circular thinkers with few brain cells, you can come up with a "deal" that does nothing, or puts it to the out years, extend the debt limit, and declare it all responsible. If you read what Moodys and other credit raters are actually saying, that's not enough, they have the US on a short leach.  A decline in the ratio debt to GDP would imply deficits of $300-400 billion tops (if GDP grew at 3%, also problematic) , not $1.1 trillion (FY 2012).

Chief Joseph Tar 'n Feathers Serial Bubbler Janet Yellen

Throughout her tenure, Federal Reserve Governor, sycophant and serial bubbler Janet Yellen  has been asleep at the switch during all the boom-busts.  For instance in 2005 she warned of a housing bubble (a must read), but said "no, no, no" to doing anything about it.  In a speech on Tuesday, she made reference (in jibberish and coded language) to the fact that "some institutions," such as pension funds, are chasing junk bond yields using leverage.

Kleptocrats Bring Out More Doomsday Machines

“The whole point of a doomsday machine is lost if you keep it a secret. Why didn’t you tell the world, ey.?” - Dr. Strangelove."


Simon Johnson, author of 13 Bankers (recommended read) , and former chief economist of the IMF, has some words about the new hack, Lagarde, about to be appointed to the IMF. He asks why taxpayers in the US and elsewhere would support her. The answer of course is they wouldn't, be who is asking them, banksters and kleptocrats run the show. She has another trillion in "credit lines" to throw down the rat lines.

Understanding How Inflationary Money Printing for Banksters Contributes to Civil Disorder

Every 10 percent increase in global food prices equates to a 100 percent increase in anti-government protests, according to a recent report from the International Monetary Fund. Looking at recent increases in foodstuff commodities -- up a total of 45 percent since the arrival of QE2 last year -- it's no wonder there are revolutions, civil wars and riots breaking out across the globe. According to the IMF, a  45-percent increase in foodstuffs should quadruple the levels of unrest, and that seems to be precisely what's happening.

Greeks Need to Resist Banksters Expropriation of their National Assets

This story broke from FT.com last night. There is now pressure for Greece to privatize assets. Of course if decent prices are obtained, this action would be acceptable, but that's rarely how this works in practice. These privatizations typically end up as  nothing more than a method for capitalists and their bankster cronies to get assets on the cheap, restructure the institutions and put more wealth into the hands of oligarchs. On general principle, the popular uprisings in Europe should oppose this type of looting.

Chief Joseph Tars 'n Feathers McArdle; Awards Warrior Headress to Taibbi

A television interview between Matt Taibbi and Megan McArdle centered around criminal charges being brought against Goldman Sachs perfectly illustrates the incredible attitude toward malfeasance that has developed in America. Listen for yourself, but for me McArdle seems steeped in circular reasoning. It's like she's looking for some rationale to essentially argue that greed is good, or at least OK. By that same token, it's also permissible for smart Goldman Sachs to take advantage, rig the game and spring booby traps against "institutions" like Aunt Millie's pension fund. She repeats a feeble refrain that Goldman's actions were "complicated." Calling things "complicated" in public discourse is a refuge for those who avoid critical thinking.

And The Chief Joseph Tar 'n Feathers Award Goes to Judd Gregg

Judd Gregg, former GOP Senator from the "Live Free or Die State" is moving on to greener pastures, a cushy advisory job with maybe a little overseas travel, influence peddling, and down time with none other than the vampire squid Goldman Sachs. The beat goes on. Gregg was the top Republican member of the Budget Committee and a ranking member of the Banking committee. This stooge was notorious for running interference and effective blocking and tackling for his kleptocratic bankster masters and their handmaiden, the Federal Reserve Bank.

Arab Spring Fever Turns To Bahrain

Reported as an after thought in the U.S. media, Bahrain, which is effectively a banking puppet of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil sheiks, cracked down about as hard on protesters as any goon state in the Middle East. The U.S. showed its hypocrisy concerning the turmoil by issuing a few calls for restraint and little else. President Hopium chided Bahrain to release jailed opposition leaders and, like so many of his going through the motions drills, there is no result. A Wall Street Journal article describes the intense Arab lobbying around the Bahrain issue. The bottom line is that the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet is stationed there and the country buys about $130 million a year in weapons from the U.S. military industrial machine. Naturally, Bahrain has become a key pawn in the regional power struggle with Iran. They are just one more that is "too big to fail."

Organizing Protest; They Take the Money, We Take the Streets

As in Egypt the Spanish protest in Madrid rapidly developed into a social media phenomena, and shows how rapidly resistance can develop. In appears modern communication is very conducive.  In the first days after the creation of the Facebook page Spanish revolution -- https://www.facebook.com/SpanishRevolution-- the account had 1,000 supporters registering every hour. Now it has more than 146,000.  On micro-blogging site Twitter, the hash tags #acampadasol (Sol encampment), #notenemosmedio (we have no fear), #nosquedamos (we are staying) or #spanishrevolution have been among the most popular in Spain. Twitter account acampadasol had more than 50,000 followers.

Corporations and Plutocrats Given a Tax Holiday as US Heads for Fiscal Trainwreck

Kleptocracy is a word from Ancient Greek that means "thief" and "rule" or rule by thieves. Kleptocrats seek to create systemic schemes that take advantage of governmental corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class. They may do it through either the real or de facto looting of state funds at the expense of the public and often without even the pretense of honest service for the public good. For a look at kleptocratic agents in action, watch the documentary film "Inside Job." I believe we elected not one but two kleptocratic administrations and legislatures back to back, first Bush then Obama.

Calling for a Revolution in America- It's Not Just Me

I have always written my blog in a nonpartisan rather nonpolitical way, as basically I had disliked both parties.  After being fooled into voting for Bush in 2000 and Obama in 2008, my thinking has shifted from “don’t vote, it only encourages them” to serious social protest, the type seen in recent global events. I’m convinced this rather than voting for the major parties is the primary political act that should be undertaken by all thinking Americans.

Then in the last week came comments from two old timers from two sides of the political spectrum. Both virtually say the same thing: Stop the oligarchs and restore real democracy. The first is 72-year-old Paul Craig Roberts, one of the intellectual leaders of Reaganomics. The second is a progressive professor of African American studies at Princeton, Cornel West, 58, who was formerly a passionate supporter of Presidente Hopium.