SAR #9068

A system based on theft and fraud is not sustainable.

Last One Out, Turn Off the Lights: Asked if the taxpayers could know where the money was going, Bernanke responded "No!" Much of it went to European banks through their bookie, AIG, whose casual disregard for the law tells us that the systematic looting of the US will continue. Your children's future is being stolen and you can't do anything to stop it. Neither a market, a system, nor a government that permits this level of unapologetic organized theft is sustainable. And not one damned word in the popular media.

Identity Theft: This fiscal year, the State Deparatment gets $40 billion, Defense gets $700 billion.

All our AIGs in one basket: The Fed gave US taxpayer money to AIG, which gave it to (in descending order) Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank (Germany), Merrill Lynch, Société Générale (France), Calyon (Credit Agricole, France), Barclays (UK), Rabobank (Netherlands), Danske (Denmark), HSBC (UK), Royal Bank of Scotland (UK), Banco Santander (Spain) . This was the US government using AIG to covertly bail out the major banks of Europe. Feel better now?

Bouncing Ball: Central banks continue to buy large amounts of US Treasury debt. Why? And what will they do when the US inflates away the value? Will the defrauded citizens of other countries remain as happy to be defrauded and robbed as Americans seem to be?

Bidding War: Observing Petraeus' Iraqi solution, the Taliban is paying 500-1,000 Afghanis [$10-20] a day for men to fight the Americans. Do I hear $25?

Paper or Plastic: It cost more to get money out of a Citi ATM than it does to buy a share of Citi.

Moral of the Hazard: If you don't have to pay for your house, why do I have to pay for mine? How big a house do you get to live in if the economy forces you out of work - as opposed to lying about your income and buying more than you can afford?

Keeping Score: The Sudanese Government, upset that their leader has been indicted by the ICC for war crimes, has decided to let a million refugees starve. I don't think this will actually help his defense.

The Right's Rights: Ken Starr (yes, that Ken Starr) believes that no one has any rights that cannot be revoked by majority rule. Republicans no longer have the majority, else they'd erase the idea that we all have "certain unalienable Rights". Certainly Bush thought it would have been better that way.

Observation: "The new term of abuse is “socialist”: “liberal” obviously doesn’t scare people anymore."

Carbon-Nation: There will be a brief struggle between a carbon tax scheme to effectively lower CO2 emissions at no net cost to the consumer and a 'cap and trade' charade in which the rich pay the poor to suffer, while not reducing either CO2 or profits. The 'cap and trade' system, a proven failure, will win out.

Keep Your Eye on the Pea: The Congress is about to let the Financial Accounting Standards Board "overhaul" the mark-to-market rules to permit wider use of the mark-to-fantasy desires of the audited.

The Road to Redemption: The number of FHA-backed borrowers who default before making a single payment has tripled in the last year. The spike in quick defaults follows the pattern that preceded the collapse of the subprime market. Shh, don't tell Obama.

Market Theory: If you provide a good product or valuable service, customers will flock to you door, if you don't they wont. That's basic economics. It also explains why no one wants to invest in banks, brokerages, stocks, bonds, and, and, and... The marks got wise to the con.