I don't support Milt Romney any more than I support Obama - I voted for Ron Paul. Who actually has proposed a balanced budget.
And lets be clear - answers like "you folks say he's on tv too much already" are exactly the problem. YOU know the answer and instead of admitting the truth you spew crap.
He's on TV lecturing, trying to look "cool", doing lots of things we don't need our president doing. A prime time address holding Democrats in the Senate responsible for meeting their constitutional duties is nothing like what he does currently.
Balanced budgets are difficult....... Boy oh, boy - its difficult Dad to mow all the grass this week because it rained a lot. That got real far when I was 10 years old. The guy is simply not up to the job.
Its difficult? Its the President of the United States for crying out loud. Go back to Easy and community organize or something.
Perhaps the best thing that could happen in the US would be for Greece to default and leave the Euro. Their standard of living would plummet to just a hair above the Ukraine.
Maybe when people see the actual results of huge bureaucracies, overpaid bureaucrats, and massive corruption they'll decide its time for a different path in the US.
The president had both houses of Congress. So he gets all the blame.
Where is the president going on TV to address the nation to force the Senate to pass a budget????
Where is the president sending a balanced budget (or at least something close) to the Congress for debate?????
Where is the president Vetoing legislation that contains hundreds of add-ons that don't belong in the legislation - and then going on TV to educate the people as to how this type of thing can't continue???
Where is the president telling people the TRUTH. We can't continue all the programs we have. We have to scrimp and save, and we have to cut large numbers and amounts of programs. Otherwise our children and grandchildren will face a much lesser future.
WHERE IS HE??????
Sorry, he's had his chance. Turns out voting present doesn't really cut it in the White House.
The more I hear from Obama and his supporters about how everything is someone else's fault - the smaller I think he is.
I think 90% of the public knows the second Bush administration was a disaster. We know that the economy was a wreck when Obama came into office.
So tell me what you've done?
1. 800 Billion spending giveaway to political cronies. 800 Billion and what do we have to show for it? For 800 Billion we could have built 5 Nuclear Power plants, a new electric grid for half the country, and natural gas infrastructure to allow for vehicles to have NG readily available. AND we'd still have some money left for R&D into all the GREEN stuff that folks keep dreaming about.
Instead we got - tax cuts for the folks that still had jobs, 100's of Billions for public unions, and the repaving of some roads.
2. Deficit Spending - DC seems to now think Trillion dollar deficits are the standard norm. Our debt as a percentage of GDP has basically doubled. Not a single reform to SS, Medicare/Medicaid, or Defense spending. NONE, ZILCH, NADA..... simply COWARDLY.
3. Freedoms continue to shrink. More and more regulation, Bureaucrats openly hostile to those they supposedly "serve".
4. Health Care - President openly campaigned on single payer and he gave that away.... and now we will have basically the same system only its going to be run by bureaucrats.
5. National spirit - I don't know about anyone else, but I've grown way tired of being lectured to by our president. The most obvious things that are wrong aren't fixed - they are "used". Carried Interest - its wrong for men shuffling papers to pay 15%. WHY ISN"T IT FIXED?? You've had 3-1/2 years Mr President.
Our government is simply disgusting. Fire the bureaucrats by the 10's of thousand. Get rid of entire agencies. Gut the regulatory structure and focus on the environment - all the rest of the stupid paperwork BS goes. Get our troops out of the 100's of countries they are currently in. Buy fewer weapons - keep developing but buy less. And stop telling people that the government is there to take care of them - we don't need programs for the "middle class" - the middle class can take care of themselves!!!!
The "average" man/women finds themselves working 50-60-70 hours a week..... the bureaucrat down the street "works" 35-40 hours on flex-time.
The "average" man/women scrimps and saves and finds additional ways to earn money to make ends meet and provide for their families. The bureaucrat simply gets the next step raise and vacations in the Bahamas.
The "average" man/women goes to the doctor only when needed and factors in the cost when making that decision. The bureaucrat goes anytime Johnny has a runny nose.
The Government is now the enemy of the average man/woman. The triumvirate of the bureaucrats, Politicians, and financial elite have effective seized power and are fiscally ruining the country while enriching themselves.
Housing prices in just 2 of the 20 largest U.S. metro areas have returned to 2006 levels - Dallas and Houston. Oil? Luck? Perhaps, but a Texas law requiring any homeowner refinancing a mortgage or taking out a home equity loan to have at least 20% equity in their home may have helped shield the state from at least part of the housing bust. [View news story]
Is the “cult of the equity” dead? Institutional investors have slashed their equity holdings over the past decade. Stocks have not been this far out of favor in over a half a century. “Ultimately what is going on is that fundamental tenets of capitalist society are being questioned,” says Allianz's Andreas Utermann. This is stunning in light of overwhelming evidence that, in the long run, equities outperform. From 1900 to 2010, they beat inflation by 6.3% a year in the U.S., compared with only 1.8% for bonds. [View news story]
Personally, I think that more and more people realize that the corporate governance structure is broken.
Stock options should be eliminated for anyone being hired at a publicly traded company. Private firms can do what they want, but public firms will have to pay salaries and bonuses in cash. The stock option really only came into use when Congress passes punitive taxes on salaries over $1 million dollars - in one of their typical "react to the media outrage" when it was reported some CEO's were making over a million a year and the company wasn't doing well.
The result - now those CEO's get $20 million in all kinds of compensation instead of $1 million!!!
Boards should be limited to 20% individuals with personal/professional relationships with the CEO. Far too many companies are stacked with the CEO's golfing buddies - he pays them absurd amounts to be directors... and they rubber stamp his insane compensation.
All funds of more than XXXX amount should be forced to publicly vote their shares and report to the fundholders why they did. That would put some pressure on the "passive" stockholders that today are simply voting yes on everything. When they publish that they voted for some of these stupid pay packages there might be more outrage - and it might result in people moving their money to funds that take a more active role.
I'm sure there are more good ideas on how to reform the system.
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would raise U.S. gasoline prices, according to the National Resources Defense Council: The pipeline would divert crude oil from the U.S. Midwest to Gulf Coast refineries geared to producing diesel fuel for export, which would reduce gasoline produced for U.S. consumers and raise production costs, making the fuel more expensive. [View news story]
Well lets think about this a little more.
More exports will require investments in the port facilities. It will create jobs!
More infrastructure in our ports to export Oil, will also mean investment to export LNG. It will also create jobs!
LNG exports means the price of NG will rise, making 1000's more wells economically viable. Which means more jobs for drilling. Which means more jobs for building more pipelines. Which means more manufacturing jobs to build the pipes. Which means more demand for metals and fabricating equipment. Which means more and more and more jobs!!
Hmmmm..... So we could add a ton of new jobs and expand existing industries....... or we can sit on our ass and save three cents a gallon at the pump!
As concerns grows on the economic front, former Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Martin Feldstein says the dangers are all too real. We're stumbling along right now, Feldstein says, and the folks forecasting 3% growth are far too optimistic. "We'll be lucky if we have 2%." As for the "economic cliff" we're facing in 2013, if everything that's due to expire expires, it will in fact be an economic disaster. (video) [View news story]
So does he prefer that our children and grandchildren go off an even bigger cliff? When exactly should government spending be cut? When should the entire tax code be reformed?
Does anyone really think the crowd in DC are going to enact solid common sense measures that reform our tax code, reduce the size of our federal government, scale back the military footprint globally, and restore our freedoms?
I think that 3/4ths of all people now simply ignore the news and anything having to do with government. We know that the triumvirate of bureaucrats, politicians and financial elite have effectively captured the corridors of power and are stealing from future generations to enrich themselves.
Nassim Taleb emerges to weigh in on the JPMorgan trading loss, and sounds tired of being proven right. "They don't seem to know what they're talking about when they're talking about risk ... What Mr. Dimon said is nonsense, they are using the wrong tools. It's not a fluke ... the entire apparatus is based on a big illusion ... it's a business they should not be in." [View news story]
Frankly, who cares?
Let them do whatever they want. Just make sure its shareholders and bondholders that burden the losses.
Repeal Glass-Steagall and let gamblers gamble. If people want to back them with bonds and equity thats their business.
Oh, and could someone in the Justice Department actually prosecute Fuld and Mazillo and the London AIG guy?
And perhaps a new regulation disallowing any Justice Department employee or financial regulator from working or representing anyone they regulate for 5 years!
Stocks are as oversold today as they were since the doom-and-gloom days of the financial crisis, says Bespoke's Paul Hickey. In total, 5 out of 10 S&P 500 sectors are now three standard deviations from their 50-day moving average. "This is as oversold as they have been at the lowest points," Hickey says. "We simply haven't gotten more oversold than this versus the 50-day." [View news story]
Well I'm afraid we may have a few more standard deviations to go.
The stage is set.
Greece elects a guy that says they will simply renounce their debts.
Portugal and Spain slide further into debt and say..... "why don't we do that too!"
US Politicians are reported talking about another try at "compromise on spending and the deficit". We saw how that turned out the last time.
That trifecta can get us a lot lower across the board.
Spain says it may have to once again revise its 2011 budget deficit upward. Spending by the four regional Spanish governments exceeded forecasts, driving up the national deficit for a second time. The government now projects a possible deficit that is equal to 8.9% of GDP, nearly three times the recommended maximum for nations using the euro. [View news story]
What a joke.
Governments across the western world are populated by overeducated idiots.
The US is no different. It is not difficult to spend less than you take in. It just means saying no to things that aren't a neccessity.
What is happening is a new form of theft. Government bureaucrats steal from future generations and set themselves up as the new "middle class". Meanwhile, the folks they actually should be serving see their freedoms, liberties and cash flows confiscated by the politicians and bureaucrats - for their benefit and the financial elites benefit.
Its long past the time that the people start to take power away from these idiots and restore their freedom and liberty. If it doesn't happen at the ballot box, followed up by responsible governing - then we will see social upheaval and potentially social breakdown to flush out this corruption.
Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke says that while the housing market is slowly mending, it's still in need of a lot of help. Any sustainable housing recovery depends on more action from Congress and federal regulators to stabilize the U.S. mortgage market. What can they do? They can start by loosening lending standards by banks and mortgage lenders, Duke says. That will go a long way towards attracting buyers back to the market. [View news story]
Have to disagree with the idea that holding appraisals as potentiall liable for their work being a bad idea.
I own a business where part of the business is occasionally giving appraisals for a fee. My business would be liable if we gave an appraisal that is demonstrably wrong. And not just for the original fee.
You either stand behind your work or you don't. And if your negligent or corrupt or simply not very smart, then there should be potential consequences to that.
I totally disagree with the Fed Governor. Who says the market needs "help". Seems to me that we are focussed entirely on the wrong thing - the idea that higher housing prices are somehow inherantly good.
What about "affordable housing"? What about treating housing as a utility - a roof over your head and whatever fancy stuff your willing to pay for inside for your own pleasure?
The government should be pushing the banks to get all the houses they hold onto the market - flush it all out and then go from there. Likewise, zero programs for homeowners - can't pay the mortgage pack up and move to an apartment. Life goes on.
More on J.C. Penney (JCP): Q1 misses across the board on wider-than-expected losses. Additionally, the company says it's discontinuing its $0.20 per share quarterly dividend. On an annual basis, this will result in cash savings of approximately $175M, which will be used to help fund the broad-based transformation plan that the company announced in January. Shares -14% AH. [View news story]
Oh yes, Shareholders will sacrifice while the executives keep taking home their big salaries and bonuses.
How about Senior Executives and Board Members take the same pay cut as shareholders! I'll bet that dividend would be reinstated immediately!!!
Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP -3.5%) agrees to sell $1.5B in stock to investors affiliated with Blackstone (BX) at a 40% discount to the company's Monday closing stock price, in its continued aggressive effort to raise funds for construction of the Sabine Pass natural gas export facility. [View news story]
You got diluted..... which is fine if its needed IMO..... BUT at a 40% discount!!
ie, you bought at market price and the Blackstone crowd paid 40% less than you for the same share.
Rex Nutting's column asserting "Obama's spending binge never happened" has created a buzz in some high places, and it's true that the president's spending levels are little changed from FY2009, the last Bush budget. But that was a TARP-inflated one-off, and Obama must take the blame for choosing not to reverse that elevated level of spending... or for not spending enough. [View news story]
And lets be clear - answers like "you folks say he's on tv too much already" are exactly the problem. YOU know the answer and instead of admitting the truth you spew crap.
He's on TV lecturing, trying to look "cool", doing lots of things we don't need our president doing. A prime time address holding Democrats in the Senate responsible for meeting their constitutional duties is nothing like what he does currently.
Balanced budgets are difficult....... Boy oh, boy - its difficult Dad to mow all the grass this week because it rained a lot. That got real far when I was 10 years old. The guy is simply not up to the job.
Its difficult? Its the President of the United States for crying out loud. Go back to Easy and community organize or something.
Rex Nutting's column asserting "Obama's spending binge never happened" has created a buzz in some high places, and it's true that the president's spending levels are little changed from FY2009, the last Bush budget. But that was a TARP-inflated one-off, and Obama must take the blame for choosing not to reverse that elevated level of spending... or for not spending enough. [View news story]
Maybe when people see the actual results of huge bureaucracies, overpaid bureaucrats, and massive corruption they'll decide its time for a different path in the US.
Rex Nutting's column asserting "Obama's spending binge never happened" has created a buzz in some high places, and it's true that the president's spending levels are little changed from FY2009, the last Bush budget. But that was a TARP-inflated one-off, and Obama must take the blame for choosing not to reverse that elevated level of spending... or for not spending enough. [View news story]
Where is the president going on TV to address the nation to force the Senate to pass a budget????
Where is the president sending a balanced budget (or at least something close) to the Congress for debate?????
Where is the president Vetoing legislation that contains hundreds of add-ons that don't belong in the legislation - and then going on TV to educate the people as to how this type of thing can't continue???
Where is the president telling people the TRUTH. We can't continue all the programs we have. We have to scrimp and save, and we have to cut large numbers and amounts of programs. Otherwise our children and grandchildren will face a much lesser future.
WHERE IS HE??????
Sorry, he's had his chance. Turns out voting present doesn't really cut it in the White House.
Rex Nutting's column asserting "Obama's spending binge never happened" has created a buzz in some high places, and it's true that the president's spending levels are little changed from FY2009, the last Bush budget. But that was a TARP-inflated one-off, and Obama must take the blame for choosing not to reverse that elevated level of spending... or for not spending enough. [View news story]
I think 90% of the public knows the second Bush administration was a disaster. We know that the economy was a wreck when Obama came into office.
So tell me what you've done?
1. 800 Billion spending giveaway to political cronies. 800 Billion and what do we have to show for it? For 800 Billion we could have built 5 Nuclear Power plants, a new electric grid for half the country, and natural gas infrastructure to allow for vehicles to have NG readily available. AND we'd still have some money left for R&D into all the GREEN stuff that folks keep dreaming about.
Instead we got - tax cuts for the folks that still had jobs, 100's of Billions for public unions, and the repaving of some roads.
2. Deficit Spending - DC seems to now think Trillion dollar deficits are the standard norm. Our debt as a percentage of GDP has basically doubled. Not a single reform to SS, Medicare/Medicaid, or Defense spending. NONE, ZILCH, NADA..... simply COWARDLY.
3. Freedoms continue to shrink. More and more regulation, Bureaucrats openly hostile to those they supposedly "serve".
4. Health Care - President openly campaigned on single payer and he gave that away.... and now we will have basically the same system only its going to be run by bureaucrats.
5. National spirit - I don't know about anyone else, but I've grown way tired of being lectured to by our president. The most obvious things that are wrong aren't fixed - they are "used". Carried Interest - its wrong for men shuffling papers to pay 15%. WHY ISN"T IT FIXED?? You've had 3-1/2 years Mr President.
Our government is simply disgusting. Fire the bureaucrats by the 10's of thousand. Get rid of entire agencies. Gut the regulatory structure and focus on the environment - all the rest of the stupid paperwork BS goes. Get our troops out of the 100's of countries they are currently in. Buy fewer weapons - keep developing but buy less. And stop telling people that the government is there to take care of them - we don't need programs for the "middle class" - the middle class can take care of themselves!!!!
Rex Nutting's column asserting "Obama's spending binge never happened" has created a buzz in some high places, and it's true that the president's spending levels are little changed from FY2009, the last Bush budget. But that was a TARP-inflated one-off, and Obama must take the blame for choosing not to reverse that elevated level of spending... or for not spending enough. [View news story]
The "average" man/women finds themselves working 50-60-70 hours a week..... the bureaucrat down the street "works" 35-40 hours on flex-time.
The "average" man/women scrimps and saves and finds additional ways to earn money to make ends meet and provide for their families. The bureaucrat simply gets the next step raise and vacations in the Bahamas.
The "average" man/women goes to the doctor only when needed and factors in the cost when making that decision. The bureaucrat goes anytime Johnny has a runny nose.
The Government is now the enemy of the average man/woman. The triumvirate of the bureaucrats, Politicians, and financial elite have effective seized power and are fiscally ruining the country while enriching themselves.
Their time will come.
Housing prices in just 2 of the 20 largest U.S. metro areas have returned to 2006 levels - Dallas and Houston. Oil? Luck? Perhaps, but a Texas law requiring any homeowner refinancing a mortgage or taking out a home equity loan to have at least 20% equity in their home may have helped shield the state from at least part of the housing bust. [View news story]
Is the “cult of the equity” dead? Institutional investors have slashed their equity holdings over the past decade. Stocks have not been this far out of favor in over a half a century. “Ultimately what is going on is that fundamental tenets of capitalist society are being questioned,” says Allianz's Andreas Utermann. This is stunning in light of overwhelming evidence that, in the long run, equities outperform. From 1900 to 2010, they beat inflation by 6.3% a year in the U.S., compared with only 1.8% for bonds. [View news story]
Stock options should be eliminated for anyone being hired at a publicly traded company. Private firms can do what they want, but public firms will have to pay salaries and bonuses in cash. The stock option really only came into use when Congress passes punitive taxes on salaries over $1 million dollars - in one of their typical "react to the media outrage" when it was reported some CEO's were making over a million a year and the company wasn't doing well.
The result - now those CEO's get $20 million in all kinds of compensation instead of $1 million!!!
Boards should be limited to 20% individuals with personal/professional relationships with the CEO. Far too many companies are stacked with the CEO's golfing buddies - he pays them absurd amounts to be directors... and they rubber stamp his insane compensation.
All funds of more than XXXX amount should be forced to publicly vote their shares and report to the fundholders why they did. That would put some pressure on the "passive" stockholders that today are simply voting yes on everything. When they publish that they voted for some of these stupid pay packages there might be more outrage - and it might result in people moving their money to funds that take a more active role.
I'm sure there are more good ideas on how to reform the system.
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would raise U.S. gasoline prices, according to the National Resources Defense Council: The pipeline would divert crude oil from the U.S. Midwest to Gulf Coast refineries geared to producing diesel fuel for export, which would reduce gasoline produced for U.S. consumers and raise production costs, making the fuel more expensive. [View news story]
More exports will require investments in the port facilities. It will create jobs!
More infrastructure in our ports to export Oil, will also mean investment to export LNG. It will also create jobs!
LNG exports means the price of NG will rise, making 1000's more wells economically viable. Which means more jobs for drilling. Which means more jobs for building more pipelines. Which means more manufacturing jobs to build the pipes. Which means more demand for metals and fabricating equipment. Which means more and more and more jobs!!
Hmmmm..... So we could add a ton of new jobs and expand existing industries....... or we can sit on our ass and save three cents a gallon at the pump!
As concerns grows on the economic front, former Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Martin Feldstein says the dangers are all too real. We're stumbling along right now, Feldstein says, and the folks forecasting 3% growth are far too optimistic. "We'll be lucky if we have 2%." As for the "economic cliff" we're facing in 2013, if everything that's due to expire expires, it will in fact be an economic disaster. (video) [View news story]
Does anyone really think the crowd in DC are going to enact solid common sense measures that reform our tax code, reduce the size of our federal government, scale back the military footprint globally, and restore our freedoms?
I think that 3/4ths of all people now simply ignore the news and anything having to do with government. We know that the triumvirate of bureaucrats, politicians and financial elite have effectively captured the corridors of power and are stealing from future generations to enrich themselves.
Nassim Taleb emerges to weigh in on the JPMorgan trading loss, and sounds tired of being proven right. "They don't seem to know what they're talking about when they're talking about risk ... What Mr. Dimon said is nonsense, they are using the wrong tools. It's not a fluke ... the entire apparatus is based on a big illusion ... it's a business they should not be in." [View news story]
Let them do whatever they want. Just make sure its shareholders and bondholders that burden the losses.
Repeal Glass-Steagall and let gamblers gamble. If people want to back them with bonds and equity thats their business.
Oh, and could someone in the Justice Department actually prosecute Fuld and Mazillo and the London AIG guy?
And perhaps a new regulation disallowing any Justice Department employee or financial regulator from working or representing anyone they regulate for 5 years!
Stocks are as oversold today as they were since the doom-and-gloom days of the financial crisis, says Bespoke's Paul Hickey. In total, 5 out of 10 S&P 500 sectors are now three standard deviations from their 50-day moving average. "This is as oversold as they have been at the lowest points," Hickey says. "We simply haven't gotten more oversold than this versus the 50-day." [View news story]
The stage is set.
Greece elects a guy that says they will simply renounce their debts.
Portugal and Spain slide further into debt and say..... "why don't we do that too!"
US Politicians are reported talking about another try at "compromise on spending and the deficit". We saw how that turned out the last time.
That trifecta can get us a lot lower across the board.
Spain says it may have to once again revise its 2011 budget deficit upward. Spending by the four regional Spanish governments exceeded forecasts, driving up the national deficit for a second time. The government now projects a possible deficit that is equal to 8.9% of GDP, nearly three times the recommended maximum for nations using the euro. [View news story]
Governments across the western world are populated by overeducated idiots.
The US is no different. It is not difficult to spend less than you take in. It just means saying no to things that aren't a neccessity.
What is happening is a new form of theft. Government bureaucrats steal from future generations and set themselves up as the new "middle class". Meanwhile, the folks they actually should be serving see their freedoms, liberties and cash flows confiscated by the politicians and bureaucrats - for their benefit and the financial elites benefit.
Its long past the time that the people start to take power away from these idiots and restore their freedom and liberty. If it doesn't happen at the ballot box, followed up by responsible governing - then we will see social upheaval and potentially social breakdown to flush out this corruption.
Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke says that while the housing market is slowly mending, it's still in need of a lot of help. Any sustainable housing recovery depends on more action from Congress and federal regulators to stabilize the U.S. mortgage market. What can they do? They can start by loosening lending standards by banks and mortgage lenders, Duke says. That will go a long way towards attracting buyers back to the market. [View news story]
I own a business where part of the business is occasionally giving appraisals for a fee. My business would be liable if we gave an appraisal that is demonstrably wrong. And not just for the original fee.
You either stand behind your work or you don't. And if your negligent or corrupt or simply not very smart, then there should be potential consequences to that.
I totally disagree with the Fed Governor. Who says the market needs "help". Seems to me that we are focussed entirely on the wrong thing - the idea that higher housing prices are somehow inherantly good.
What about "affordable housing"? What about treating housing as a utility - a roof over your head and whatever fancy stuff your willing to pay for inside for your own pleasure?
The government should be pushing the banks to get all the houses they hold onto the market - flush it all out and then go from there. Likewise, zero programs for homeowners - can't pay the mortgage pack up and move to an apartment. Life goes on.
More on J.C. Penney (JCP): Q1 misses across the board on wider-than-expected losses. Additionally, the company says it's discontinuing its $0.20 per share quarterly dividend. On an annual basis, this will result in cash savings of approximately $175M, which will be used to help fund the broad-based transformation plan that the company announced in January. Shares -14% AH. [View news story]
How about Senior Executives and Board Members take the same pay cut as shareholders! I'll bet that dividend would be reinstated immediately!!!
Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP -3.5%) agrees to sell $1.5B in stock to investors affiliated with Blackstone (BX) at a 40% discount to the company's Monday closing stock price, in its continued aggressive effort to raise funds for construction of the Sabine Pass natural gas export facility. [View news story]
ie, you bought at market price and the Blackstone crowd paid 40% less than you for the same share.