Sunday, October 20, 2013

Fwd: De Blasio


'The scruffy young man who arrived in Nicaragua in 1988 stood out.

 

He was tall and sometimes goofy, known for his ability to mimic a goose's honk. He spoke in long, meandering paragraphs, musing on Franklin D. Roosevelt, Karl Marx and Bob Marley. He took painstaking notes on encounters with farmers, doctors and revolutionary fighters.

 

Bill de Blasio, then 26, went to Nicaragua to help distribute food and medicine in the middle of a war between left and right. But he returned with something else entirely: a vision of the possibilities of an unfettered leftist government.

 

As he seeks to become the next mayor of New York City, Mr. de Blasio, the city's public advocate, has spoken only occasionally about his time as a fresh-faced idealist…

 

Mr. de Blasio… grew to be an admirer of Nicaragua's ruling Sandinista party, thrusting himself into one of the most polarizing issues in American politics at the time. The Reagan administration denounced the Sandinistas as tyrannical and Communist, while their liberal backers argued that after years of dictatorship, they were building a free society with broad access to education, land and health care.'

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/nyregion/a-mayoral-hopeful-now-de-blasio-was-once-a-young-leftist.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1381866548-YJyhZJNM1OU6uqc8djvLXw

 

Fwd: Iran




'An estimated 560 people have been executed in Iran this year, including as many as 250 since President Hasan Rouhani took office in August, according to human rights advocates. In the two weeks between Sept. 11 and Sept. 25, Iranian officials hanged a record 50 people, mostly for drug offenses, according to International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran…

 

But the phone conversation is not believed to have touched on human rights violations, despite the fact that Iran's prisons are filled with journalists, bloggers, political activists, Christians and Bahai's who have been arrested and are being held for compromising national security or going against the teachings of Islam.'

 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/10/16/iran-brutality-continues-despite-charm-offensive/

 

 

 



Fwd: not amused


'Yeah, there is a debt deal. But the president is not impressed. We do not know what McKayla Maroney thinks about it.'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/17/republicans-dont-love-barack-obama-but-do-they-fear-him/

 

I had no idea who the picture was of, but it reminded me of the queen Victoria thing J

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mckayla-maroney-turned-her-not-impressed-moment-into-a-positive-173344153.html

 

 

Fwd: Sign of Failure

'"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal policies. Over the past five years, our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is 'trillion' with a 'T.' That is money that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers. And over the next five years, between now and 2011, the president's budget will increase the debt by almost another $3.5 trillion.

 

"Numbers that large are sometimes hard to understand. Some people may wonder why they matter. Here is why: This year, the federal government will spend $220 billion on interest. That is more money to pay interest on our national debt than we'll spend on Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. That is more money to pay interest on our debt this year than we will spend on education, homeland security, transportation and veterans benefits combined. It is more money in one year than we are likely to spend to rebuild the devastated Gulf Coast in a way that honors the best of America.

 

"And the cost of our debt is one of the fastest-growing expenses in the federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and states of critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports and levees; robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they have counted on.

 

"Every dollar we pay in interest is a dollar that is not going to investment in America's priorities. Instead, interest payments are a significant tax on all Americans — a debt tax that Washington doesn't want to talk about. If Washington were serious about honest tax relief in this country, we would see an effort to reduce our national debt by returning to responsible fiscal policies…'


Sen. Barack Obama, March 16, 2006


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/16/editorial-raising-debt-limit-is-a-sign-of-failure/

Fwd: Brazil


'The largest and most organized criminal organization in Brazil has threatened to unleash a "World Cup of Terror" during the world's biggest soccer stage in the summer of 2014.

 

Just eight months before Brazil hosts the World Cup, Brazilian police have intercepted phone calls using wiretaps from the First Capital Command (PCC) drug cartel threatening a series of attacks during the World Cup if the government decides to transfer some of its gang members to prisons spread across the South American country, according to Brazilian newspaper Estadao.

 

The PCC was formed in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, and operates within the country's prison system. Using cell phones, lawyers and corrupt officials, the criminal gang has managed to grow to an estimated 11,000 members and gain control of the country's major drug trafficking routes between Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

 

The threat is being taken seriously by Brazilian police who are tracking the threats and are currently locked in a street war with the gang. The PCC murdered 106 members of the Military Police in 2012 after revenge attacks were ordered by the gang in response to the execution by police of suspected gang members.'

 

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2013/10/16/brazil-largest-cartel-threatens-world-cup-terror/?cmpid=GoogleNewsEditorsPicks&google_editors_picks=true

 

Fwd: debt


'...As Niall Ferguson notes, while politicians crow that the deficit has dropped -- from super-enormous to merely really, really gigantic -- every year that we're in deficit adds to the debt. And the long-term trends are bad: "A very striking feature of the latest Congressional Budget Office report is how much worse it is than last year's. A year ago, the CBO's extended baseline series for the federal debt in public hands projected a figure of 52% of GDP by 2038. That figure has very nearly doubled to 100%. A year ago the debt was supposed to glide down to zero by the 2070s. This year's long-run projection for 2076 is above 200%. In this devastating reassessment, a crucial role is played here by the more realistic growth assumptions used this year."'
 
 


Friday, October 18, 2013

Nick Hanauer "Rich people don't create jobs"


I trust that the viewer understands that parts of this might be flawed.  Increasing taxes in order to have the government waste it on new projects only makes the economy less efficient.  It has been shown that as government spending portion of the economy goes up, the investment portion of the economy goes down.  As investment goes down, economic growth goes down.  The countries with the least amount of government spending have the most amount of economic growth.  

Although a rich person might not buy 3000 cars, his money, whether he owns his own business or just invests his money, is going to be involved in all sorts of economic activity that affects the economy.

From what I have read it is a myth that the rich pay a lower tax rate than the middle class.  The numbers I have seen considered over the average indicate the opposite.  Right now the people with the lowest 50% of income pay extremely little in income taxes.  The top 1% make around 25% of all income but pay around 40% of all income taxes.  (Social security taxes, however, are at a flat rate up to a certain level of income and then stop.)

There are a few people who benefit from low dividend taxes, but this doesn't tell the whole story:  Dividends get taxed twice, once at the corporate level, and once at stockholder level.  Imagine two scenarios:  One where you privately own your own business and earn $300,000, and the other scenario where you are the sole owner of a corporation which makes $300,000 and distributes the profit to you as dividends.  In the second scenario, the highest corporate tax rate in the world will end up costing you more in taxes.  You might only pay 15% on the money, but the corporation paid 38% first.

I thought that I heard that capital gain and dividend taxes were going up.

On the other hand if you want to increase taxes to pay down the national debt, I might not argue with you.


Sunday, October 13, 2013

Fwd: Tech all wrong

Fwd: Per Diem


'Default is nothing more than a failure to pay the interest and principal due on a debt in a timely manner. According to figures in a Power Line post, right now the government is spending about $17 billion every business day. It takes in about $14 billion in revenues. Thus it needs to borrow about $3 billion every business day to make up the difference.

 

A failure to raise the debt ceiling would prevent the government from borrowing that money. But it would not prevent the government from paying the interest on the debt, which amounts to only about 8 percent of revenues. Nor would it prevent the government from rolling over existing debt, which it does routinely.

'

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/10/08/whose-fault-would-default-be/

 

Fwd: Debt



'Soon Congress will have to vote on raising the nation's debt limit so the federal government can borrow more money to make good on its spending commitments.  If it were up to the American public, they would vote no -- with a majority saying the debt limit should only be raised after major spending cuts have been made. 

 

A Fox News national poll asks voters to imagine being a lawmaker and having to cast an up-or-down vote on raising the debt ceiling:  37 percent would vote in favor of it, while 58 percent would vote against it. 

 

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has said the country will be unable to meet its commitments starting October 17. 

 

Most Republicans (78 percent) and a majority of independents (57 percent) would vote against raising the limit. So would almost all Tea Partiers (88 percent). 

 

More than half of Democrats would vote in favor of increasing the debt ceiling (57 percent), while 38 percent would vote against doing so. 

 

At the same time, 62 percent of voters want Congress to raise the limit only after agreeing on "major cuts in government spending."  Far fewer -- 27 percent -- believe the limit must be increased and that is it "reckless" to even debate not doing so. 

 

Even Democrats, by a 48-42 percent margin, are more likely to say spending cuts must accompany an increase in the debt limit.

 

By wide margins Republicans (77-11 percent) and independents (65-26 percent) would require cuts in government spending before agreeing to raise the debt ceiling. 

 

Meanwhile, by a nine percentage-point margin, voters are likely to think the automatic government spending cuts that went into effect March 1 are more a good thing than a bad thing (48-39 percent).  That's mostly unchanged from how voters felt about the sequester cuts earlier this year. 

 

Republicans (63 percent) are nearly twice as likely as Democrats (32 percent) to say the cuts are a good thing.  More than half of independents (53 percent) agree, as do three-quarters of Tea Partiers (76 percent).  '

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/08/fox-news-poll-majority-would-vote-against-raising-debt-ceiling/

 

Fwd: Debt


'Soon Congress will have to vote on raising the nation's debt limit so the federal government can borrow more money to make good on its spending commitments.  If it were up to the American public, they would vote no -- with a majority saying the debt limit should only be raised after major spending cuts have been made. 

 

A Fox News national poll asks voters to imagine being a lawmaker and having to cast an up-or-down vote on raising the debt ceiling:  37 percent would vote in favor of it, while 58 percent would vote against it. 

 

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has said the country will be unable to meet its commitments starting October 17. 

 

Most Republicans (78 percent) and a majority of independents (57 percent) would vote against raising the limit. So would almost all Tea Partiers (88 percent). 

 

More than half of Democrats would vote in favor of increasing the debt ceiling (57 percent), while 38 percent would vote against doing so. 

 

At the same time, 62 percent of voters want Congress to raise the limit only after agreeing on "major cuts in government spending."  Far fewer -- 27 percent -- believe the limit must be increased and that is it "reckless" to even debate not doing so. 

 

Even Democrats, by a 48-42 percent margin, are more likely to say spending cuts must accompany an increase in the debt limit.

 

By wide margins Republicans (77-11 percent) and independents (65-26 percent) would require cuts in government spending before agreeing to raise the debt ceiling. 

 

Meanwhile, by a nine percentage-point margin, voters are likely to think the automatic government spending cuts that went into effect March 1 are more a good thing than a bad thing (48-39 percent).  That's mostly unchanged from how voters felt about the sequester cuts earlier this year. 

 

Republicans (63 percent) are nearly twice as likely as Democrats (32 percent) to say the cuts are a good thing.  More than half of independents (53 percent) agree, as do three-quarters of Tea Partiers (76 percent).  '

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/08/fox-news-poll-majority-would-vote-against-raising-debt-ceiling/

 




--
Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Friday, October 11, 2013

Fwd: Debt


'Shortly before President Barack Obama was re-elected, he confided to John Podesta, an informal adviser, a vow he was making for his second term: He would never again bargain with Republicans to extend the U.S. debt limit.

 

The precedent, set in the agreement that ended a 2011 budget standoff, "sent a signal that this was fair game to blackmail over whether the country would default," Podesta, a onetime chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and co-chairman of Obama's 2008 presidential transition, said in an interview. "He feels like he has to end it and end it forever."

 

The stand Obama has taken on the latest fight over the government shutdown and borrowing limit -- refusing to tie policy conditions to raising the debt ceiling -- is an attempt to repair some of the damage that he and his aides believe he sustained by making concessions to Republicans to avert a default two years ago, according to former top administration officials and advisers.

 

The resolution of the showdown with House Republicans will be critical to maintaining Obama's capacity to wield his clout in Washington during the three years left in his presidency and protect the political initiatives of his first term, they say.

 

The outcome will probably help determine his leverage to press for new priorities such as a revamp of immigration law, expanded access to pre-kindergarten education and infrastructure funding. It may also stave off attacks on his health-care law and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

 

If Obama makes concessions again to House Republicans over raising the $16.7 trillion debt limit, "he'll be viewed as a guy who you can hold up," said Podesta, chairman of the Center for American Progress, a Washington research group with close ties to the administration.'

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-10/obama-s-hardline-budget-stance-rooted-in-anger-over-2011-impasse.html

 

Fwd: VIX

'Among the real-time monitors the administration paid close attention to during the 2011 budget battle was the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, said William Daley, who was then the White House chief of staff.

 

The VIX, sometimes nicknamed the market's "fear gauge," rises when investors anticipate more stock market volatility in the future.

 

It surged from 13.16 on Sept. 19 to 19.6 yesterday, before dropping this morning to 17 as of 12:07 p.m. That's less than half the VIX's peak of 48 reached during the 2011 debt crisis.

 

Along with the VIX and broad market measures, the administration is also currently closely watching near-term Treasury yields and credit default swaps on U.S. Treasury debt.

 

Credit-default swaps on U.S. Treasuries fell from a seven-month high, dropping three basis point to 37 basis points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with 21 basis points last month and about 65 basis points in 2011, the last time Congress played brinkmanship over the debt limit.'

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-10/obama-s-hardline-budget-stance-rooted-in-anger-over-2011-impasse.html

 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Re: Budget Math

He is overly generous with military cuts.  You could pull this off by raising taxes.   I am sure there many government contracts that must still be honored. 


On Oct 10, 2013, at 9:47 AM, "<larry.r.trout@> wrote:

'gnore what you hear and read in the news. The federal government actually reached the legal debt ceiling about four months ago. Since then, the government has been financing its monthly budget deficit by stealing/borrowing money from other government funds, like the federal government employees' pension fund. In about two weeks, the government will run out of tricks to keep operating as if nothing has happened. If the debt ceiling is not raised by then, the government has to balance its budget.

 

That's right. As much as the politicians and news media have tried to convince you that the world will end without a debt ceiling increase, it is simply not true. The federal debt ceiling sets a legal limit for how much money the federal government can borrow. In other words, it places an upper limit on the national debt. It is like the credit limit on the government's gold card.

 

Reaching the debt ceiling does not mean that the government will default on the outstanding government debt. In fact, the U.S. Constitution forbids defaulting on the debt (14th Amendment, Section 4), so the government is not allowed to default even if it wanted to.

 

In reality, if the debt ceiling is not raised in the next two weeks, the government will actually have to prioritize its expenses and keep its monthly, weekly, and daily spending under the revenue the government collects. In simple terms, the government would have to spend an amount less than or equal to what it earns. Just like ordinary Americans have to do in their everyday lives.

 

Once the reality of what hitting the debt ceiling means is understood, the important question is: can the government actually live with a balanced budget? How much money could it spend? Could enough spending be cut to live within a balanced budget? The answer is yes, the federal government could live with a balanced budget. Below I will show you precisely how.'

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2013/10/03/dont-believe-the-debt-ceiling-hype-the-federal-government-can-survive-without-an-increase/