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	<title>Save Our Country Now &#187; Bailouts</title>
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		<title>What Do We Have Here? Bank of America Will Accept California&#8217;s IOUs</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3696</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3696#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:26:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Constitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Double Standards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[State Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TEa Parties]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Treasury]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank of America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IOUs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ponzi Scheme]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[What a surprise!  Bank of America, now owned mostly by taxpayers will be accepting California&#8217;s IOUs.  California, one of the most solvent states is of course good for their debts/sarc.  This really should have been expected &#8211; a state-run bank accepting an insolvent, soon-to-be-bailed-out-state.  Seems like monopoly money to me!  This is similar to a [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">What a surprise!  <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/06/29/daily48.html" target="_blank">Bank of America, now owned mostly by taxpayers will be accepting California&#8217;s IOUs</a>. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">California, one of the most solvent states is of course good for their debts/sarc. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This really should have been expected &#8211; a state-run bank accepting an insolvent, soon-to-be-bailed-out-state.  Seems like monopoly money to me!  This is similar to a false economy, where government interference and regulation make free markets anything but FREE/REAL. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span><span>Ponzi</span></span> scheme has become my favorite catch phrase.  It effectively seems as though California is issuing it&#8217;s own fake currency called <span><span>IOUs</span></span>, although it is already insolvent, to pay back at a later date &#8211; of which, will never happen. Bank of America is already suffering and got into trouble the last time it bought a toxic company and toxic assets, as did many others &#8211; but here it is doing the same thing again.  Insanity = Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>Bank of America Corp. says it will accept warrants issued by California’s state government through July 10.</p>
<p>BofA says the state’s budget crisis prompted its decision.</p>
<p>“To support our customers, while giving the state legislature additional time to pass a budget, we will accept California state-registered warrants — or IOUs — from existing customers and clients,” Charlotte-based BofA (NYSE:BAC) says in a written statement.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It is always important to ask &#8220;Why&#8221; in these very odd and overwhelming times.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Why would Bank of America, who is already in financial trouble and dire straights, accept California IOUs, which it will probably never see?  Why does this seem incredibly like the forced situation of Merrill Lynch?  Is Bank of America doing this as a favor to the US government?  Should I assume that Bank of America will get more bailout dollars if it accepts such a risky investment?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">My biggest &#8220;beef&#8221; with this scenario:  who is supporting Bank of America? The government!  And where does the government get its money?  The taxpayers!  It&#8217;s not ok by me, that my money is being used to help bailout California due to its liberal/progressive policies that it enacted on the state.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s408.photobucket.com/albums/pp161/janewli15/?action=view&amp;current=IOU.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp161/janewli15/IOU.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" width="639" height="328" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.&#8221; ~ Frédéric Bastiat 1801-1850 &#8220;The Law&#8221; </p>
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		<title>More Money Down the Drain; Economic Woes Continue</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3508</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3508#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:16:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Constitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Legislation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama Administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socialism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inflation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Unemployment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/?p=3508</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Obama and the Democrats continue to spend taxpayer money and rack up our debt.  The House panel, last night, passed the supplemental war bill worth more than $106 billion.  The supplemental bill includes funds not just for the two wars we are currently fighting, but also for foreign aid, car rebates, and the Flu.  The [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://photobucket.com/images/money%20drain" target="_blank"><img src="http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp210/shivan19532/119124msUR_w.jpg" border="0" alt="money down the drain Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Obama and the Democrats continue to spend taxpayer money and rack up our debt.  <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/16/AR2009061601628.html?hpid=topnews" target="_blank">The House panel, last night, passed the supplemental war bill worth more than $106 billion</a>.  The supplemental bill includes funds not just for the two wars we are currently fighting, but also for foreign aid, car rebates, and the Flu.  The bill passed by a very narrow margin 226 &#8211; 202, with an almost united opposition from Republicans.  If foreign aid caught your eye, then you were paying attention.  <a href="http://dailybail.com/home/obama-and-democrats-try-to-sneak-100-billion-stealth-bailout.html" target="_blank">Obama and the Democrats were sneaky and stuck several billion dollars worth of IMF funds to bailout foreign banks</a>; as if AIG wasn&#8217;t enough.  Republicans were strongly opposed to another bailout, especially in a war supplemental.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I guess we are supposed to feel sympathetic to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/16/AR2009061602610_pf.html" target="_blank">Obama&#8217;s lack of sleep due to the deficit</a>?  Pardon me for saying so, but I couldn&#8217;t care less.  He continues to sign these bills and propose legislation/policies which all require massive amounts of government funding.  My sympathies are also few and far between because I too have not been sleeping.  I&#8217;m actually up every night researching and writing to attempt to stay on top of the latest news items and stay abreast of all the crazy things this administration is doing.  If possible I&#8217;d like to record every time Obama tramples on the constitution&#8230; Needless to say, that&#8217;s a lot of sleepless nights.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One of Obama&#8217;s agenda items is his health-care plan which is a deceitful little gem&#8230;passed off as a competitive option to private industry, when intelligent individuals who have contracted with the government already know, anything that competes with the government loses.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">His health-care plan is therefore a farce and it will require individuals who work for a living and pay taxes, to pay for those who do not.  It&#8217;s another entitlement program that will raise taxes and put a massive burden on all Americans.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">Senate sources say the latest <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090616/D98S05IO1.html" target="_blank">cost estimates for health care legislation are around $1.6 trillion over 10 years</a>. Two Senate staffers, one Democratic and one Republican, said Congressional Budget Office estimates put the cost of the Finance Committee version of the bill at around $1.6 trillion.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&amp;sid=akaJVOByDsHg" target="_blank">Even with all the spending, Obama truly believes we will have economic growth</a>:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">President Barack Obama said he is “confident” that he won’t have to raise taxes on most Americans to close the budget deficit as long as the economy picks up steam.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“One of the biggest variables in this whole thing is economic growth,” the president said in an interview with Bloomberg News at the White House. “If we are growing at a robust rate, then we can pay for the government that we need without having to raise taxes.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Obama has repeatedly said he would keep his campaign pledge to cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans while rolling back tax breaks for households making more than $250,000 a year.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“I’m confident that we don’t have to raise taxes on ordinary working families,” he said.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But he already has.  He raised taxes on cigarettes, a product that most lower income households consume.  Food products, and other goods have also had taxes tacked onto them.  Obama&#8217;s plan may not be to outright raise taxes, but they are already hiding them in miscellaneous goods. Obama&#8217;s health-care plan also paints an entirely different story, requiring $600 billion in new taxes to fund<br />
the program. I&#8217;m not sure if Obama is completely deluded, a great liar, or both.
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The fact that Obama believes that we will have incredible amounts of economic growth, when Forbes and others have already compiled a list and conducted studies on future GDP growth for those countries with a moderate to larger sized economies &#8211; proving that the United States and the United Kingdom would be two of the most repressed/stagnant, is just ludicrous.  <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&amp;sid=acS92O5awdhM" target="_blank">Obama recently told Bloomberg that he expected the unemployment rate to go to 10%</a>, and although it is a lagging economic indicator, you cannot expect an unemployment rate to go back down to below 4% in 6 months when it took almost 18 to get there.  <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/InvestmentOutlook09/idUSTRE55F4ET20090616" target="_blank">Roubini also doesn&#8217;t believe that the unemployment rate will stop at 10% but rather upwards to 11% by year end</a>.  Roubini also predicts that we could see another recession in the future if the proper actions are taken by the government and the Federal Reserve.  I have absolutely no confidence in either entity and Roubini fears that if the correct actions are taken now, we could wind up in an inflationary crisis over the next couple of years &#8211; of which I believe to be inevitable.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">How&#8217;s that Hope and Change working out for ya?</p>
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		<item>
		<title>I Want Some Tarp (Video)</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3308</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3308#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:44:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TARP]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/?p=3308</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a great video/catch diddy from Bill Zucker find him on twitter @billzucker Share on Facebook]]></description>
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<p>This is a great video/catch diddy from Bill Zucker find him on twitter @billzucker</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/yGfQk9XXm24&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yGfQk9XXm24&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
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		<title>The Stimulus is Stimulating What Exactly?</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3196</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3196#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2009 19:57:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cap and Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Double Standards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Warming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Legislation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama Administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socialism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stimulus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Propaganda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Unemployment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/?p=3196</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The stimulus package was one of the biggest crises driven, pay-to-play politics schemes in the history of this nation.  Our country already has an example of what works and what does not during a recession.  We can look back at the Great Depression and see that FDR&#8217;s actions of more government control/intervention and spending didn&#8217;t [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">The stimulus package was one of the biggest crises driven, pay-to-play politics schemes in the history of this nation.  Our country already has an example of what works and what does not during a recession.  We can look back at the Great Depression and see that FDR&#8217;s actions of more government control/intervention and spending didn&#8217;t even begin to work until we began WWII, ramping up production of military equipment for other countries who were overspent.  Nothing that FDR did directly stimulated the economy and it took 8-9 years to get there.  Reagan, on the other hand, who was elected during another time of tremendous economic turmoil cut taxes, cut the size of government, and curtailed spending until we were out of the inflationary recession.  His actions even took time, but not as long as 9 years &#8211; more like 1-2.  This is what I do not understand?  Why do liberals think you can resolve your debt problems by spending more money that you don&#8217;t have &#8211; where is the common sense?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The same thing is bound to happen in this scenario once deflation runs its course.  There will be inflation and there is still the very real possibility that it could be hyperinflation &#8211; maybe not as high of a chance but still feasible given the volatility.  There are several estimates that the bond market is on the brink of imploding; if that happens it will take everything else down with it!  Sorry to be a negative Nancy but take a look at the below video clip &#8211; this guy is very intelligent:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/N2g4qezKo9s&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/N2g4qezKo9s&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object>
</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">Of course the administration wants to sell their little (and by little I mean massive) piece of legislation to the public to make it appear as though it&#8217;s working and that they didn&#8217;t just pay off their cronies for last year&#8217;s campaign contributions, ensuring more votes the next election cycle.  So the administration puts out a booklet marking the 100th day anniversary of the dreaded (to us fiscal conservatives) stimulus.  He of course touts it as the best thing since sliced bread, so whatever is stated as fact in that booklet should be checked and double checked.  <a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/05/stimulus-overhy.html" target="_blank">Propaganda abounds in the Democrat party</a>, that&#8217;s not to say that it doesn&#8217;t in the Republican party either, but I have not seen the likes of the indoctrination or the Pravda media campaign for the Dems since I was eligible to vote!</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>Without question the book lists many projects that are having an impact of one way or another on the economy.</p>
<p>But the first one of the projects featured in &#8220;100 Days, 100 Projects&#8221;  doesn&#8217;t seem to withstand the scrutiny of its description.</p>
<p>The project is described by the Obama administration this way:</p>
<p>&#8220;Using $27 million of Recovery Act funding, a public housing development in Washington, D.C., the Regency House, has undergone a green retrofit. As part of this upgrade, the building installed solar panels, a &#8216;green&#8217; roof, a rainwater collection system, energy-efficient lighting as well as water conserving toilets, showerheads, and faucets. The greening of this building will allow the Regency House to save money in energy costs, while lessening their impact on the environment.&#8221;</p>
<p>In reality, the work done on the Regency House that was funded by the stimulus package amounted to $59,000 in parts and labor, according to Dena Michaelson, director of public affairs for the Washington DC Housing Authority.</p>
<p>The $27 million is the total amount given by the stimulus act to the Washington DC Housing Authority, the vast majority of which hasn&#8217;t been spent.</p>
<p>In addition, though the White House&#8217;s &#8220;100 Days, 100 Projects&#8221; entry for the Regency House work lists &#8220;solar panels, a &#8216;green&#8217; roof, a rainwater collection system, energy-efficient lighting as well as water conserving toilets, showerheads, and faucets&#8221; as what was done as &#8220;part of the upgrade,&#8221; the only parts funded by the stimulus were the solar panels, at a cost of $45,000, and the rainwater collection system, at a cost of $14,000.</p>
<p>The response of the White House to questions about the claim in the book evoked a critique of journalists.</p>
<p>Liz Oxhorn, Recovery Act Press Secretary, said in a statement that the Regency House work is &#8220;one of thousands of targeted investments we’re making nationwide to jumpstart new and ongoing energy efficiency renovations to public housing units and we only wish the same amount of time and energy that has gone into dissecting the structure of three sentences had gone into exploring the billions of dollars in new job-creating projects like this one now underway thanks to the Recovery Act.”</p>
<p>Michaelson said that installation of the solar panels necessitated 330 total man hours: 202 man hours for plumbers and helpers, 40 man hours for electricians, 50 man hours for welders, 30 man hours for superintendents, and eight man hours for a crane operator.</p>
<p>The booklet also mentions the &#8220;police academy graduates in Ohio&#8221; whose graduation ceremony President Obama attended in March, heralding how the stimulus enabled the city of Columbus to hire 25 cadets.</p>
<p>But this week Police Chief Walter Distelzweig told the Columbus Dispatch that unless residents approve a tax increase, those 25 cadets face the real possibility of layoffs.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">And what good does the stimulus have on jobs if they are willing to, in the future, tear down other sectors of the economy like energy/coal production, the auto industry, the financials, health care, etc.  Or what if they pass amnesty for 12 million illegal aliens in the fall &#8211; how much stimulus will we really have if we already have double digit unemployment, but we allow more in?  There is something inherentlywrong with the logic of all of this.</p>
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		<title>Geithner Gets Slammed by Jim Demint (R-SC) Earlier Today</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3023</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3023#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2009 18:42:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[AIG]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Geithner]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Take that!  Here&#8217;s the transcript &#8211; no video yet: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who just finished testifying before Sen. Chris Dodd&#8217;s (D-Conn.) Senate Banking committee, said that &#8220;it&#8217;s not fair&#8221; that AIG counter-parties are getting paid 100 cents on the dollar by government bailout money but &#8220;if I felt there was a better way&#8230;I would [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Take that! </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Here&#8217;s the transcript &#8211; no video yet:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who just finished testifying before Sen. Chris Dodd&#8217;s (D-Conn.) Senate Banking committee, said that &#8220;it&#8217;s not fair&#8221; that AIG counter-parties are getting paid 100 cents on the dollar by government bailout money but &#8220;if I felt there was a better way&#8230;I would support it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Geithner was responding to tart questioning by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) asking why, when others owed money by the troubled insurance giant are taking &#8220;haircuts,&#8221; the counter-parties (such as Goldman Sachs) are getting all the money owed to them.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is an incredibly difficult balance and it is very hard to know if we&#8217;re going to get the balance right,&#8221; Geithner said. AIG has received or been promised more than $150 billion in bailout money.</p>
<p>Geither got his anger up at one point, saying that, &#8220;I would not give a penny to AIG to protect counter-parties&#8221; if he didn&#8217;t have pay them to reduce the risk to pensions and other taxpayer-related funds that have done business with AIG and that are owed money by the company.</p>
<p>GOP Senator Hammers Geithner</p>
<p>11:29 A.M.: Geithner was hammered by a Republican senator decrying Treasury&#8217;s growing power over the American economy.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is not mission-creep,&#8221; said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). &#8220;This is a stampede of any traditional understanding of constitutional boundaries.&#8221;</p>
<p>DeMint called Geithner the chief executive of the American economy. And he didn&#8217;t mean it in a good way.</p>
<p>DeMint complained that &#8220;we hear very little talk about exit strategies.&#8221; He asked Geithner how much of the $700 billion government bailout will be returned to Treasury&#8217;s general fund within five to six years.</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s hard to say right now,&#8221; Geithner said, deflecting: &#8220;If we are successful, that money will come back with substantial interest.&#8221;</p>
<p>Geithner added that the way the bailout was designed, for each $1 that is paid back, $1 can be lent back out.</p>
<p>&#8220;So it&#8217;s your understanding that you have $700 billion to use permanently as you see fit?&#8221; DeMint asked incredulously.</p>
<p>Geithner wouldn&#8217;t take the bait. &#8220;I&#8217;m not quite sure &#8216;permanently&#8217; is right,&#8221; he said.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Rest of the questioning from other Republicans can be found <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2009/05/geithner_financial_sector_star.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Later Geithner pulled a Clinton and asked what the definition of permanently is&#8230; j/k!</p>
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		<title>The Dawning of Obamunism&#8230; GM is Officially Government Motors</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3007</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3007#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 May 2009 21:53:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Auto Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Constitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Socialism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chrysler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Communism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government Motors]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Stalin would be so proud!  The Donkey&#8217;s are controlling the cars: There should be no question as to why the auto industry accepting the new CAFE standards today&#8230; General Motors Corp&#8217;s (GM.N) plan for a bankruptcy filing involves a quick sale of the company&#8217;s healthy assets to a new company initially owned by the U.S. [...]]]></description>
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<p>Stalin would be so proud!  The Donkey&#8217;s are controlling the cars:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s408.photobucket.com/albums/pp161/janewli15/?action=view&amp;current=car.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp161/janewli15/car.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" width="487" height="455" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
There should be no question as to why the auto industry accepting the new CAFE standards today&#8230;</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSN1943363120090519" target="_blank">General Motors</a> Corp&#8217;s (GM.N) plan for a bankruptcy filing involves a quick sale of the company&#8217;s healthy assets to a new company initially owned by the U.S. government, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The source, who would not be named because he was not cleared to speak with the media, did not specify a purchase price. The new company is expected to honor the claims of secured lenders, possibly in full, according to the source.</p>
<p>The remaining assets of GM would stay in bankruptcy protection to satisfy other outstanding claims.</p>
<p>GM has about $6 billion in secured debt, including a secured revolving credit and bank debt.</p>
<p>The government&#8217;s plans include giving stakes in the new company to GM&#8217;s union and bondholders, although the ownership structure of the company is still being negotiated, said the source who is familiar with the company&#8217;s plans.</p>
<p>In addition, the government would extend a credit line to the new company and forgive the bulk of the $15.4 billion in emergency loans that the U.S. has already provided to GM, the source said.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As I have been stating&#8230; we will never see our taxpayer dollars for any of this bailout nonsense.  These bankruptcies were inevitable and they just threw money down a black hole!</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>The government has given GM until June 1 to restructure its operations to lower its debt burden and employee costs.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Not &#8216;gonna happen!</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>If those talks failed, the company has said it would follow rival Chrysler LLC into bankruptcy.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">My father mentioned yesterday, on his birthday, that he would be finding out whether or not he would have a job today&#8230; GM will follow Chrysler, the question is when and how soon this summer?</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>Setting up a new company to buy the healthy assets is aimed at reassuring consumers who might not be willing to make a major purchase from a bankrupt company, fearing it would not honor warranties or provide service.</p>
<p>The board of the new company would be established with the tacit approval of the government. Fritz Henderson, who took the helm of GM earlier this year after the government pushed out Rick Wagoner, would likely head the new company, the source said.</p>
<p>GM could not be immediately reached for comment.</p>
<p>GM shares were up about 9 percent at $1.29. (Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">George Soros &#8211; stop buying up GM shares for yourself!</p>
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		<title>Captain Obvious Moment of the Day:  Debt Unsustainable, We Must Stop Borrowing From China</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/2880</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/2880#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2009 16:24:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Auto Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Double Standards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Affairs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama Administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stimulus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Unions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deficits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Employment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spending]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/?p=2880</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thank you Captain Obvious&#8230; err&#8230; I mean Obama! Ironically enough the debt and the borrowing that Obama is concerned about will mostly come from his irresponsible spending habits within his first 100 days.  When Dick Morris mentioned that Obama&#8217;s first 100 days would come back to haunt him, he was right! President Barack Obama, calling current deficit [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: left;">Thank you Captain Obvious&#8230; err&#8230; I mean Obama!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s408.photobucket.com/albums/pp161/janewli15/?action=view&amp;current=captainobvious.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp161/janewli15/captainobvious.jpg" border="0" alt="Captain Obvious" /></a>
</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">Ironically enough the debt and the borrowing that Obama is concerned about will mostly come from his irresponsible spending habits within his first 100 days.  When Dick Morris mentioned that Obama&#8217;s first 100 days would come back to haunt him, he was right!</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>President Barack Obama, calling <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&amp;sid=aJsSb4qtILhg&amp;refer=worldwide" target="_blank">current deficit spending “unsustainable,”</a> warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.</p>
<p>“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”</p>
<p>Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.”</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">That calls for a big &#8220;DUH!&#8221; but that is simple common sense, something that is much like an endangered species in the halls of D.C.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The amusing part of all of this is the fact that Obama is just simply unwilling to look in the mirror and realize that he has quadrupled the debt and increased our deficit more than any other president in history.  He has spent more in his first 100 days than all presidents throughout history combined &#8211; and that includes Bush to all you liberals.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Obama continuously uses the blame Bush rhetoric for having to take &#8220;drastic&#8221; measures, but as any intelligent human being should realize, when the government and politicians make things out to be a crisis, yet you don&#8217;t really feel that way (unlike a physical attack against your country), you should be incredibly wary.  Politicians lie, they lie to pass an agenda, and Obama is a genius when it comes to manipulation, deceit, and drama.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>Earlier this week, the Obama administration revised its own budget estimates and raised the projected deficit for this year to a record $1.84 trillion, up 5 percent from the February estimate. The revision for the 2010 fiscal year estimated the deficit at $1.26 trillion, up 7.4 percent from the February figure. The White House Office of Management and Budget also projected next year’s budget will end up at $3.59 trillion, compared with the $3.55 trillion it estimated previously.</p>
<p>Two weeks ago, the president proposed $17 billion in budget cuts, with plans to eliminate or reduce 121 federal programs. Republicans ridiculed the amount, saying that it represented one-half of 1 percent of the entire budget. They noted that Obama is seeking an $81 billion increase in other spending.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We are now learning that the supplemental spending for war funding and emergency funding that is sitting in the House and Senate are both over $90 billion at this point.  There will most likely be a compromise of some sort between the House and Senate but I believe that the real amount of additional appropriations will most likely stay above the $90 billion threshold.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Let&#8217;s not forget that under the Obama administration and this radical left Congress that government is growing and the private sector is shrinking.  Entitlement programs are growing because liberals know that the more you can put your thumb over people and oppress them by getting them &#8220;hooked&#8221; on entitlements and the government, the more they will win votes&#8230; that&#8217;s just cruel.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The issue is that we are going to go bankrupt quicker by upping the ante on entitlements.  <a href="http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=327020388104180 " target="_blank">Entitlements themselves are already unsustainable</a>.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>Baby boomers — that 70-million-strong population lump — begin officially retiring this year. That means the government&#8217;s bill for retirees&#8217; pensions and health care has no where to go but up, for decades to come.</p>
<p>Everyone knew this day would come. And virtually every economist and actuary who had run the numbers could tell you, within a few years&#8217; certainty, the system was going bankrupt.</p>
<p>But all this seemed to happen in the distant future. Last year, both political parties virtually ignored the topic during their presidential campaigns. It became a non-issue issue.</p>
<p>Well, thanks to a profligate federal government, which will double the national debt to $11.5 trillion in just four years, and a recession that has weakened federal tax revenues, we can no longer ignore the problem. The day of reckoning is at hand.</p>
<p>The Social Security Board of Trustees reported Tuesday that costs will exceed revenues in 2016 — a full year sooner than expected just last year. And total assets — including more than 70 years of &#8220;surpluses&#8221; built up in the &#8220;trust fund&#8221; — will be completely gone by 2037 — four years earlier than in last year&#8217;s report.</p>
<p>The deficit over the next 50 years is expected to be about 2% of taxable payrolls — up from 1.7% last year. By the way, changes in the last year alone have added $5.3 trillion in costs to the program.</p>
<p>Long-term, unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare top $53 trillion — about four times the size of current GDP. Taxes must either rise or benefits shrink by that amount to close that gap.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Maybe we could try to work on some issues that really matter, those that could possibly destroy people&#8217;s lives?  Instead of criticizing private social security accounts, maybe we should revisit the idea and work from there.  Many economists argue that private accounts of some sort would be more cost effective and better for everyone.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We also cannot forget that Obama and his lefty contemporaries want to reform health care and create a possible single payer system.  Many do not believe that the single payer legislation will get passed, but something that makes the private sector compete with the public sector by providing a choice.  The issue that I have/see with this &#8220;competition&#8221; is how the government can become so forceful and, as it has done in the past, force out of business anything competing with it.  Either way, any additional programs provided by the government must come out of taxpayers&#8217; pockets, so medical care will never technically be free &#8211; it will only be free to those who don&#8217;t work or pay taxes.  This is the crux of the problem.  Health care provided by the government will just increase our debt to China even more&#8230;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Obama is concerned with China?  He&#8217;s concerned with owing the Chinese more and more?  Well, maybe if we took a look at the recent auto industry news regarding GM it would be evident that all we do is take China&#8217;s money, <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090514/D985PEDO0.html" target="_blank">give China jobs</a>, and all in all are in the pocket of China.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>As thousands of General Motors workers await word on more U.S. plant closures, reports that the company plans to import Chinese-made vehicles to the U.S. have created a political problem for the automaker and the White House.</p>
<p>The reports, which GM will neither confirm nor deny, could mean trouble because GM is supported by $15.4 billion in U.S. government loans, largely due to the Obama administration&#8217;s desire to preserve the company&#8217;s 90,000 U.S. jobs.</p>
<p>The United Auto Workers charged last week that the Detroit automaker intends to almost double over the next five years the number of vehicles it imports to the U.S. from Mexico, South Korea, China and Japan.</p>
<p>&#8220;GM should not be taking taxpayers&#8217; money simply to finance the outsourcing of jobs to other countries,&#8221; Alan Reuther, the union&#8217;s Washington lobbyist, wrote in a letter to U.S. lawmakers.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Maybe if the Unions were not allowed to lobby on Capitol Hill to force the hands of Democrats and completely crush the auto industry, this would not have been a problem and the outsourcing of jobs would not have been so enticing to the ailing auto giants.  But why would Democrats ever put the good of the country or an industry over that of a big donor?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I have an idea for all who read this &#8211; let&#8217;s attempt to elect someone who is for the people, by the people &#8211; not bought and paid for.  Let&#8217;s elect somebody who is honest and integrity means more to them than politics and agenda&#8230; Stop electing these corrupt, pathological liars and maybe we can get our country back on track.</p>
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		<title>Bigger Than Watergate!?  Bank of America and Government Scandal</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/2684</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/2684#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2009 01:23:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politicians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Treasury]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank of America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barney Frank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bernake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Dodd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Democrats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elizabeth Warren]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mary Schapiro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Merrill Lynch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paulson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scandal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toxic Assets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/?p=2684</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I don&#8217;t know what to make of this but it seems like a pretty big deal.  Will it be pushed under the rug or become a thorn in the side of those involved?  You be the judge. Whether the story is bigger than Watergate or not, it is definitely a scandal of huge proportions. To [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">I don&#8217;t know what to make of this but it seems like a pretty big deal.  Will it be pushed under the rug or become a thorn in the side of those involved?  You be the judge.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>Whether the story is <a href="http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1241630296.php" target="_blank">bigger than Watergate or not</a>, it is definitely a scandal of huge proportions.<br />
To sum it up, on April 23, 2009, New York Attorney General <strong>Andrew Cuomo</strong> sent a letter to Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs <strong>Chris Dodd</strong>; Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee <strong>Barney Frank</strong>; SEC Chairwoman <strong>Mary Schapiro</strong>; and Chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel <strong>Elizabeth Warren</strong>.<br />
The letter outlined how former Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke forced Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch – even though Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis and the board of directors tried to pull the plug on the deal after it turned out that Merrill Lynch was far deeper in debt than it had admitted.<br />
In the words of Attorney General Cuomo himself:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Immediately after learning on December 14, 2008 of what Lewis described as the “staggering amount of deterioration” at Merrill Lynch, Lewis conferred with counsel to determine if Bank of America had grounds to rescind the merger agreement by using a clause that allowed Bank of America to exit the deal if a material adverse event (“MAC”) occurred. After a series of internal consultations and consultations with counsel, on December 17, 2008, Lewis informed then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that Bank of America was seriously considering invoking the MAC clause. Paulson asked Lewis to come to Washington that evening to discuss the matter.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Bank of America’s attempt to exit the merger came to a halt on December 21, 2008. That day, Lewis informed Secretary Paulson that Bank of America still wanted to exit the merger agreement. According to Lewis, Secretary Paulson then advised Lewis that, if Bank of America invoked the MAC, its management and Board would be replaced.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile Ken Lewis has been sacked as chairman of the board at Bank of America… even though he might well have been the only conscientious and honest player in this scheme. And now the sharks have started to turn on each other: according to Cuomo, Paulson “largely corroborated Lewis’s account” and informed the attorney general’s office that he “made the threat at the request of Chairman Bernanke.” The latter has so far chosen to keep his mouth shut.<br />
The key factor here is not that the Devious Duo forced Bank of America into a merger it didn’t want to commit to. Granted, that’s an unheard-of interference of government in the free market, but we’re quite sure that the Powers-That-Be could sweep it under the rug by invoking the “greater good.”<br />
No, the part of the story that could really break &#8216;Al&#8217; Paulson and &#8216;Don&#8217; Bernanke’s necks is the failure to inform the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as Bank of America’s shareholders, of the extent of toxic waste Bank of America was forced to accept. That’s fraud, pure and simple.</p>
</blockquote>
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		<title>Taxpayers Track the Stimulus Money (Obama and Congress Won&#8217;t &#8211; Not uhhh&#8230;ummm&#8230; Until October errr&#8230;?)</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/2661</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/2661#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2009 17:18:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Double Standards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama Administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politicians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stimulus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pay to Play]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recovery.gov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Recovery.org]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transparency]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[So just who&#8217;s tracking that $787 billion in taxpayer money that President Obama and the Democrat-led Congress are doling out? You are. Or you&#8217;re supposed to be, anyway. &#8220;We are, in essence, deputizing the entire American citizenry to help with the oversight of this program,&#8221; said Rep. Brad Miller, chairman of the House Committee on [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">So just <a href="http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/06/stimulus-oversight-left-up-to-taxpayers/" target="_blank">who&#8217;s tracking that $787 billion in taxpayer money</a> that President Obama and the Democrat-led Congress are doling out? You are. Or you&#8217;re supposed to be, anyway.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;We are, in essence, deputizing the entire American citizenry to help with the oversight of this program,&#8221; said Rep. Brad Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology&#8217;s subcommittee on investigations and oversight.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So, too, said Earl Devaney, the ex-cop who&#8217;s now chairman of the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board, charged with tracking the torrent of cash now pouring out of federal coffers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;I&#8217;m going to have millions of citizens to help me,&#8221; he said, comparing run-of-the-mill Americans to inspectors general, the high-ranking officials charged with ferreting out waste and abuse in federal agencies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;I&#8217;m going to have a million little IGs running around,&#8221; the chairman said Tuesday after his testimony before the subcommittee.</p>
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<p>The most appalling spectacle was the size of the meeting!  Apparently oversight of taxpayer money is not a priority of the government.  (Not that it ever was, but still!)</p>
<blockquote><p>And perhaps that&#8217;s just as well, given the turnout of the panel tasked with keeping track of thousands of millions of dollars. Just three of the 10 members bothered to show up for the subcommittee&#8217;s second meeting, dramatically titled &#8220;Follow the Money Part II.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Mr. Miller and the panel&#8217;s top Republican were there, only Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, Pennsylvania Democrats, came to the hearing. Absent were Democratic Reps. Steven R. Rothman of New Jersey, Lincoln Davis of Tennessee, Charles A. Wilson of Ohio, Alan Grayson of Florida and Bart Gordon of Tennessee. Republican Rep. Ralph M. Hall of Texas also skipped the session, while Rep. Brian P. Bilbray of California dropped by for the final hour of the nearly three-hour hearing.</p>
<p>Still, to a sparse crowd, Mr. Miller got right to the point. &#8220;President Obama promised a level of transparency, through the Internet, Recovery.gov. &#8230; How do you intend to provide that level of transparency, to see how &#8211; who actually got the contract to pour asphalt?&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Interestingly enough, <a href="http://www.redstate.com/brianfaughnan/2009/05/04/obama-stimulus-tracking-site-up-and-running-by-october/" target="_blank">redstate.com</a> had an article that spoke to this very point.  There is a website that has been created to replicate what the government should have been doing at this point already.  It&#8217;s called <a href="http://www.recovery.org">www.recovery.org</a> and it tracks where the stimulus funds are going.</p>
<p>Does Congress really expect the American Idol audience to have an attention span that lasts longer than an hour and proactively research where stimulus funds are going?  We would have a completely different result of the past election if anyone dared watch C-Span on a regular basis!</p>
<p>This is the change and hope we can believe in during this new administration.  All that transparency that Obama talked about was a big, fat lie.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Quite frankly, this entire process of getting the recovery.gov website up and running to track the money will be stalled.  It will be delayed until just the right time when the important funds that were issued as Democrat payoffs will be paid and won&#8217;t be found.</p>
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		<title>Money Still Growing on Trees in Congress; Obama and House Request More Money &#8211; Stock Market Rally Does Not = Recovery</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/2630</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/2630#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2009 16:37:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Double Standards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Legislation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Politicians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socialism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stimulus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Treasury]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forgotten Man]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Spin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Unsustainable Growth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/?p=2630</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Typical government growth.  Print money, act like a savior, don&#8217;t produce, take to give, create absolutely no value in distributing money. Take for example the fact that for the first time in history, the highest revenue for states has been federal aid.  This is unsustainable growth and will redefine the role the federal government plays.  [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Typical government growth.  Print money, act like a savior, don&#8217;t produce, take to give, create absolutely no value in distributing money.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Take for example the fact that for the first time in history, the highest <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-05-04-fed-states-revenue_N.htm" target="_blank">revenue for states has been federal aid</a>.  This is unsustainable growth and will redefine the role the federal government plays.  This means that the growth of government is imminent and there will be less freedoms for state constituents.  I also see this as irrational and illogical spending practices;  how can you spend money that comes from taxpayers&#8217; pockets (the federal government) which will go back into the pockets of taxpayers (the states and its citizens) this doesn&#8217;t make sense to me &#8211; it just seems so circular and redundant.  It will actually take more money from the pockets of those forgotten men and women paying for this spending bonanza, since many of those payments will be in the form of welfare checks or redistribution, to those who don&#8217;t pay taxes to begin with.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>In a historic first, Uncle Sam has supplanted sales, property and income taxes as the biggest source of revenue for state and local governments.</p>
<p>The shift shows how deeply the recession is cutting. Federal stimulus money aimed at reviving the economy and a sharp drop in tax collections have altered, at least temporarily, the traditional balance of how states, cities, counties and schools pay for their operations.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Democrats on Capitol Hill can&#8217;t get enough of their spending habits.  They are trigger happy at the printing presses and believe that doling out more &#8220;Benjamin&#8217;s&#8221; will solve all the ails of the volatile U.S. economy.  The sad fact is that this spending, which will require repayment somehow, by future generations, will only further drive down the economy in the long run.  This is Jimmy Carter redux and we will see a public sector that is out of control, squashing the private sector and stagnating our economic growth (those things that actually do produce and retain value).  Our GDP is estimated to grow at one of the slowest rates worldwide, much like Japan in the 90&#8242;s and we could see ourselves sitting at a DOW max of only 9K for years to come.  This also doesn&#8217;t take into account the inflation that will ensue due to this irresponsible lending of taxpayer money.  My guess is we will be waiting in gas lines miles long and will see interest rates close to 17% in the next couple of years&#8230;</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>Lie #1. “The financial crisis is behind us.”<br />
Lie #2. “The government is fixing it.”<br />
Lie #3. “Big banks are too big to fail.”<br />
Lie #4. “Your insurance is safe and guaranteed.”<br />
Lie #5. “The economy is starting to recover.”<br />
Lie #6. “Your stocks will come back.”</p>
<p>We’ve just seen the <a href="http://www.jrdeputyaccountant.com/2009/05/lies-lies-lies-why-recovery-is-bogus.html" target="_blank">biggest bogus stock market rally</a> in our lifetime, built on the most blatant pack of lies we’ve ever heard:</p>
<p>Wall Street and Washington say the financial crisis is behind us. But the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has just trashed that theory faster than a high-speed paper shredder.</p>
<p>They say big banks can’t fail. But behind the headlines, key Fed officials are now admitting that the “too big to fail” doctrine is, itself, failing.</p>
<p>I interject here to point out that Minneapolis Fed&#8217;s Gary Stern actually sounded the alarm long before &#8220;too big to fail&#8221; became &#8220;too much to handle.&#8221; But since when does the Fed listen? Even amongst itself? Pathetic.</p>
<p>The reality here is that the Fed does not and cannot have a handle on the very economic unraveling it created. It&#8217;s impossible. Meanwhile, the respective PR campaigns of the White House, the Treasury, and the Fed are hard at work convincing you otherwise. Everything is OK. We&#8217;re fine. The stock market is on a roll. Hey, don&#8217;t look over there, check out Susan Boyle!</p>
<p>It doesn&#8217;t matter whether they tell us the truth or not (I think we know they&#8217;re full of it anyway) because we&#8217;re still suffering. That should be proof enough that this rally is a lie, this recovery line is a lie, and all these rainbows and unicorns are manufactured to keep &#8220;crowd control&#8221; from becoming a national security concern.</p>
<p>Could you imagine what would happen if America collectively woke up one morning and realized that their &#8220;wealth&#8221; was really just worthless paper?</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The more the Fed and the government prints the more worthless that paper becomes.  We are experiencing a bear market rally based on voodoo economics, lies, and spin.  You can only cover something up for so long until reality and the truth shines through.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So here are some examples of some additional spending by the government:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives will seek passage in coming weeks of <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5435OP20090504" target="_blank">$94.2 billion</a> in emergency money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other programs, including $2 billion more to prepare for an influenza pandemic.</p>
<p>House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, outlining the legislation for reporters, also said the legislation would include $2.2 billion to fund some C-17 airplanes for the Pentagon. But it will not address future purchases of a refueling tanker airplane sought by the Air Force.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I thought liberals were for peace and  against war?  What were all those &#8220;coexist&#8221; bumper stickers about?  I guess war is ok if it&#8217;s a liberal president.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>The Obama administration wants the United States to spend <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30584131/" target="_blank">$63 billion</a> over the next six years to fight global diseases and provide more aid for prenatal and postnatal care, children&#8217;s health and fighting tropical diseases.</p>
<p>&#8220;We cannot fix every problem,&#8221; Obama said in a written statement Tuesday. &#8220;But we have a responsibility to protect the health of our people, while saving lives, reducing suffering, and supporting the health and dignity of people everywhere. America can make a significant difference in meeting these challenges and that is why my administration is committed to act.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">How about we worry about our own country while Americans are suffering and are jobless before spending more money abroad for other things that will not stimulate our economy.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>The initiative, announced by Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew, continues an effort begun under President George W. Bush to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But I thought Obama was going to be the anti-Bush?  I guess some of what he did wasn&#8217;t all that bad eh?  Bush is very well liked and respected in Africa &#8211; as a world leader, he has provided the most aid to that continent.  I believe he spent too much money, so I do disagree with some of it, but I think that it was a nobel cause and he did it for the right reasons.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We also continue to pay for and <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124147831175584985.html#mod=djemEditorialPage" target="_blank">subsidize banks</a>, who are continuing to ask for more money this week.  Bank of America is doing so poorly, there is a chance that it may be dropped from the S&amp;P 500 index.  The subsidizing is unsustainable.</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p>The results of the government&#8217;s stress tests on banks, to be released in a few days, will not mark the beginning of the end of the financial crisis. If we are to believe the leaks, the results will show that there might be a few problems at some of the regional banks and Citigroup and Bank of America may need some more capital if things get worse. But the overall message is that the sector is in pretty good shape.</p>
<p>This would be good news if it were credible. But the International Monetary Fund has just released a study of estimated losses on U.S. loans and securities. It was very bleak &#8212; $2.7 trillion, double the estimated losses of six months ago. Our estimates at RGE Monitor are even higher, at $3.6 trillion, implying that the financial system is currently near insolvency in the aggregate. With the U.S. banks and broker-dealers accounting for more than half these losses there is a huge disconnect between these estimated losses and the regulators&#8217; conclusions.</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">More voodoo economics and lies to the American people &#8211; this is the biggest ponzi scheme our nation has ever witnessed!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Democrats aren&#8217;t the party of Wall Street?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Fed has also announced that it will buy up more <a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/fed-buys--billion-treasurys-1857819860/" target="_blank">U.S. Treasuries</a> &#8211; what on earth is going on?  Do we even live on earth anymore?</p>
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