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Florida Insurance Crisis? a good thing if you are the head of Citizens...

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:47:00 +0000

TALLAHASSEE, FL - In what could be considered as a slap in the face to Florida taxpayers, an investigation by the Sun Sentinel revealed that the head of the state-run Citizens Property insurance Corp., Mr. Scott Wallace was paid a base wage of $343,608 in 2009, making him one of Florida’s top-paid government employees. It gets better, 48 other Citizens employees earned more than $100,000 during the same period.

Florida has been undergoing an insurance crisis for several years. Things are getting worse, not better for its residents. In an extortionate move, State Farm recently threatened to pull out unless they were granted an unduly large increase in rates. Many of these insurance companies operate separate Florida subsidiaries with paper losses while the national parent companies make unordinary profits. Believe it or not, this is a legal practice in a state long known for two things: sun and widespread ineptitude and corruption in its legislature.

According to a study conducted in collaboration with the James Madison Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Heartland Institute, Florida got an ‘F’ grade on a national insurance report card based on an analysis outlining the state’s insurance ills. The state earned the dismal rating – the lowest possible – after the national study compared the insurance environments in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Only four other states fared as bad.

The study indicated that insurance reforms passed in 2007 failed to achieve lasting rate reductions for property owners and caused massive liabilities for taxpayers. Additionally, the reforms caused many private insurers to reduce or eliminate their Florida exposure.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 2, 2010 – Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Executive Director Scott Wallace was one of Florida’s top-paid government employees last year and 48 other Citizens employees earned more than $100,000, a Sun Sentinel analysis shows.

Federal labor statistics indicate Citizens’ executive wages are much lower than those of some national private insurers. And Citizens is a nonprofit, tax-exempt government entity – not a traditional state agency – so its employees don’t receive generous health and retirement benefits.

But the insurers’ finances have come under increasing scrutiny because almost all Florida homeowners pay to fund Citizens, which the state created as a last-resort property insurer.

Florida homeowners pay a 1.4 percent fee on private insurance premiums to cover the Citizens’ shortfalls after the 2005 hurricane season. If a hurricane strikes and causes major damage, all automobile and property insurance policyholders could also end up paying to keep the insurer afloat.

Concerned about growing claims costs for Citizens and other insurers, legislators have introduced bills aimed at reducing inflated or fraudulent claims. But the insurer’s overhead and payroll costs have also swelled in recent years even as it trimmed its policies from a peak of 1.4 million policies in October 2007 to just more than 1 million now.

Some Citizens policyholders have expressed concerns about the insurer’s spending in light of a law passed last year allowing premium increases of as much as 10 percent a year for the first time since 2007, when the Legislature froze Citizens’ rates.

Christine Turner Ashburn, a spokeswoman for Citizens, said the company must pay competitive wages in order to operate in the same way as a private insurer.

“We’re not a private insurance company, but we do have core functions where we have to operate as one” such as handling claims, issuing policies and tracking data, Turner Ashburn said.

A Sun Sentinel review of Citizens’ salary data found:

Wallace was paid a base wage of $343,608 in 2009. By comparison, the Department of Financial Services reports the top two highest paid employees of 34 state agencies earned salaries of $379,000 and $309,600 in 2009. But the department’s data don’t include state entities such as the State Board of Administration and universities. University athletic coaches can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in performance bonuses alone.

Forty-nine employees earned more than $100,000 last year; six received moving expenses ranging from $1,241 to $52,414; and 657 received overtime ranging from 84 cents to $23,920.

About 107 Citizens executives and managers – including some first-line managers – earned $84,000 on average last year. On average, management officials nationwide at insurance companies earned $117,400, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data on the annual wages of employees of insurance carriers, not including life, health and medical companies.

Turner Ashburn said employees of the state-run insurer aren’t compensated in the same way as state employees who receive full health and retirement benefits packages. “It’s important to delineate that we’re not guaranteed benefits that state employees get,” she said.

She said the state agency that is most comparable to Citizens is the State Board of Administration, which manages the state’s pension fund and other state and local government funds, and pays its executive director $325,000 a year.

Turner Ashburn also said that the company can’t attract employees by offering many of the bonuses and perks private insurers provide. For instance, Wallace was hired in 2006 after working as executive vice president at a subsidiary of W. R. Berkley Corp., a major insurance holding company, where he earned a base salary of about $250,000 but also received additional bonuses and stock options, she said.

His Citizens wages are higher than the $188,310 average pay in 2008 for chief executives of insurance companies, not including life, health and medical companies, according to the labor bureau data.

But he earned much less than some of his counterparts at large national companies. Allstate Corp. Chairman Tom Wilson, for instance, earned a total compensation of $8.3 million in 2009, including a $1 million salary and much of the rest in future earnings. Ed Rust Jr., the chairman of State Farm, earned more than $9 million in 2009.

Source: Florida Association of Realtors

About Citizens

Citizens is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt government corporation whose public purpose is to provide insurance protection to Florida property owners throughout the state. The corporation insures hundreds of thousands of homes, businesses and condominiums whose owners otherwise might not be able to find coverage.

Citizens operates according to statutory requirements created by the Florida Legislature and a Plan of Operation approved by the Florida Financial Services Commission. The corporation is governed by a Board of Governors that administers its Plan of Operation. Florida's Governor, President of the Florida Senate, Speaker of the Florida House and the state's Chief Financial Officer each appoint two members to the Board.

Citizens has offices in Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Tampa. Tallahassee is the corporate headquarters for the organization. The Jacksonville and Tampa offices provide policy services and underwriting, claims, and customer support.

PBS Report on the safety of Regional Airlines and their coziness with the FAA

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:15:00 +0000

The PBS investigative series “Frontline” used the one year anniversary of the February 2009 crash of a Colgan Air Q400 (flying under Continental colors) as a springboard for an hour on the issue of regional airlines, their safety, and their relationships with their affiliated airlines and the FAA.

The very disturbing report reveals the reality of an industry plagued with low pay, high risk-taking, poor and inconsistent maintenance and low-time pilots. Yet, by slapping the logos of well known mainstream airlines, they project to the unknowing public an aura of quality by association. Nothing could be further from the truth...

The biggest takeaways from the report:

1) RISK - The airline operating the regional jets and turboprops, and the pilots up front, generally gets paid when the flight arrives at its intended destination. Weather diversions to another airport? No pay for that...

2) FATIGUE - Many of the regional airlines pilots are not paid very well, in fact they make less than janitors in public schools. Living under such budget constraints forces them to stay wherever is cheap - not necessarily close to work. This means long commutes before even reporting for flight.

3) FAA COZINESS - Airlines and their regulators are just too close. When we consider that regulators are in turn controlled by politicians in office who rely on campaign contributions from... airlines... you get the idea.

4) OBFUSCATION AND DOWNRIGHT MISREPRESENTATION - Airplanes bearing the logo of well-known mainstream airlines are not necessarily under that airline's control... They are under code share agreements and nothing else. The "Operated by" is in fine print. The public at large is unaware of this fact. Sort of slapping an "Armani" label on a Chinese garment.

Here is the PBS Video, worth watching

The Great Greenspan Depression of The Millennium - A Map View

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:31:00 +0000

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 30 million people currently unemployed -- that's including those involuntarily working parttime and those who want a job, but have given up on trying to find one. In the face of the worst economic upheaval since the Great Depression, millions of Americans are hurting. "The Decline: The Geography of a Recession," as created by labor writer LaToya Egwuekwe, serves as a vivid representation of just how much. Watch the deteriorating transformation of the U.S. economy from January 2007 to the most recent unemployment data available today.

See a larger map here

UPDATE
On March 5th, the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7% during the month of February. This is, of course the REPORTED unemployment. the statistics do not include those that gave up looking for jobs, the under employed and many others that do not bother to file for unemployment benefits or that otherwise do not qualify. It is estimated that the actual number of unemployed is triple the reported amount in areas of the country.

The chart below illustrates the dramatic rise in unemployment. As expected, a higher educational attainment has correlated with a lower unemployment rate. For example, the unemployment rate for those that have not completed high school (red line) has increased from 5.8% to 15.6% over the past 40 months -- nearly a 10 percentage point increase. Compare that to the unemployment rate for those that have obtained a bachelor's degree or greater (blue line). The unemployment rate for those with a minimum of a bachelor's degree is currently three percentage points above where it was 40 months ago.

Source: Chart of the Day

More information:

Busted Banks - The Wrath of The Great Greenspan Depression of the Millenium

The Great Greenspan Depression of the Millennium

Inside the Meltdown

A massive transfer of wealth from the illiquid unlucky to the liquid lucky is about to happen...

The Decline of a Mighty Power at the hands of a self-serving financial elite

The Greenspan Depression: One Country, Two Worlds.

A stock Market Rally ? Not...

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:16:00 +0000

Many investors have been fooled by the stock market "rally" of the past ten months. In dollar terms, it certainly does look like a rally, with the Dow anemically recovering and trading around 29% below its all-time record. However, when measured in the ultimate currency of value, gold, we have a much bleaker picture.

Illustrating this point, the chart below (courtesy of http://www.chatoftheday.com) presents the Dow divided by the price of one ounce of gold. This results in what is referred to as the Dow / gold ratio or the cost of the Dow in ounces of gold.

It currently takes 9.3 ounces of gold to “buy the Dow.” This is considerably less that the 44.8 ounces back in the year 1999. When priced in gold, the US stock market has been in a bear market for the entire 21st century!. Nothing better illustrates The Great Greenspan Depression of the Millennium. And, if the numb nuts in Washington continue to have their way, the massive hyper inflation that is in store for us in order to pay for those bailouts and pork will indeed be of epic proportions.

At least, in dollar terms, Real Estate will surely recover... How about $10 million for a trailer, or a couple billion for a waterfront home?

The Sad Truth in a Funny Delivery by SNL

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:19:00 +0000

Everyone is afraid of the power of China's Military, its massive size, its gigantic armed forces and technological advances in weapons delivery. However, all China has to do to destroy America is to simply place a "Sell" order on the bonds they hold...

Busted Banks - The Wrath of The Great Greenspan Depression of the Millenium

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:38:00 +0000

Track Banks, Savings Banks and Thrifts that have failed one by one across the country since 2008 thanks to The Great Greenspan Depression of the Millenium.

Click of the graphic for an interactive map.

The Tragedy of Excess of the Few to the Detriment of the Many

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:15:00 +0000

A Gangster Government... No... not in Russia, but here in the USA!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:14:00 +0000

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) speaking on the House floor:

"Now we've moved into the realm of gangster government. We have gangster government when the Federal Government has set up a new cartel and private businesses now have to go begging with their hand out to their local, hopefully well politically connected Congressman, or their Senator so they can buy a peace offering for that local business.

Is that the kind of country we are going to have in the future?

Fear Not... He's Come to Save the Day !

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:41:00 +0000

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

One Man's folly - The Great Greenspan Depression of the Millennium, the worst financial devastation in the history of the USA

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:47:00 +0000

While the stock market is up sharply since early March - drop a stone from the Empire State Building's top floor and it will bounce as well - the economy as well as corporate earnings continue to suffer. This chart provides some perspective as to the magnitude of the current economic decline.

The chart (Courtesy of http://www.chartoftheday.com) illustrates how S&P 500 12-month, earnings have declined over 90% over the past 20 months making this by far the largest decline on record (the data goes back to 1936). In fact, real earnings have dropped to a record low and if current estimates hold, Q3 2009 will see the first 12-month period in history during which S&P 500 earnings are negative.

Greenspan has accomplished what no enemy of our country ever did.

Related Articles:
The Great Greenspan Depression of the Millennium

Inside the Meltdown

A massive transfer of wealth from the illiquid unlucky to the liquid lucky is about to happen...

The Decline of a Mighty Power at the hands of a self-serving financial elite

The Greenspan Depression: One Country, Two Worlds.

The Extortion Economy

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:19:00 +0000

April 29th, 2009
CFIF

Last fall, as the U.S. economy seemed to be issuing its death rattle, a representative from Credit Suisse received a call from the Federal Reserve. The Fed, the voice on the other end chirped, was calling to congratulate the international financial giant on its prudence, Credit Suisse having admirably avoided becoming enmeshed in the subprime mortgage debacle. Bureaucracies not typically being in the business of issuing gold stars, the call was out of character.

The Fed’s representative continued, “Now we’ll need you to buy up some of the toxic assets.” But why would Credit Suisse do that, their employee asked, when it was one of the few major financial firms wise enough to avoid the investments in the first place? The Fed’s response was chilling: “Because someday you’ll need us.”

Welcome to the extortion economy. With the financial crisis as cover, the federal government has spent the past eight months dictating terms to American business – terms that defy common sense, economic logic and moral justification. And the government has been doing it with brass knuckles.

In testimony made public last week, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis alleged that the government’s ultimatum to his company was even more menacing than the Credit Suisse shakedown. Lewis claims that then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pressured Bank of America into buying the distressed financial firm Merrill Lynch, even after it became apparent that Merrill was set to post massive losses (the eventual total was over $15 billion) in the fourth quarter. When Lewis raised the prospect of BofA cancelling the deal, Paulson reportedly told him that the acquisition would continue apace and Bank of America shareholders would be kept in the dark about Merrill’s cratering value … or the federal government would fire Lewis and his entire board of directors.

Of course, a “crisis” generally gives Washington carte blanche to indulge in “emergency measures” that stop just short of ritualized human sacrifice. And indeed, those who were on the front lines last autumn claim that any overreach on behalf of the federal government stemmed from a good-faith effort to prevent the nation from economic disaster. But long after the prospect of a complete meltdown has passed, the government’s pistol-to-the-ribs style remains.

Just last week, for instance, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner put up roadblocks to responsible banks that want to pay back their TARP debts and free themselves from government control. Geithner told a congressional committee that while he welcomed repayment from TARP-weary institutions like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase (two firms that would have never been brought into the program if it weren’t for government strong-arming in the first place), releasing them would be contingent on the health of “the system as a whole.” In other words, successful firms will remain indentured to Washington as long as necessary to obscure the failures of their wayward counterparts.

Not content to limit the thumbscrews to the banking sector, the Obama administration – following what is apparently its default urge – is socializing the pain across American industry.

Last week, news leaked that the President’s Auto Task Force was pressuring General Motors to jettison its popular GMC truck line – an unintelligible decision given that GMC is one aspect of GM’s business that is actually profitable. What GMC’s heavy-duty trucks are not, however, is “green.” In the new Democratic zeitgeist, that tends to be a capital offense.

Accordingly, Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency announced in the same period that it is assuming new powers to regulate greenhouse gases. The Administration hopes it can use the specter of crushing EPA regulations to get businesses to knuckle under to Obama’s ambitious program to cap and trade carbon emissions. Given the choice between erratic regulatory pain and predictable statutory pain, their bet is that industry will pick the more digestible poison.

Having already hamstringed the banking, automobile and energy industries, Obama concluded last week with a Roosevelt Room meeting with executives from the nation’s credit card companies. As the President outlined his support for legislation that would limit the card issuers’ ability to change interest rates or set credit limits, one of the guests boldly ventured to challenge the push for greater regulation. Obama’s glib response was “[you are] talking to a president who still has a very fresh memory of relying on credit cards.” Given the math involved in his current budget, this may be the least revelatory bit of autobiography in presidential history.

Obama’s attempt to run the credit card industry from the West Wing is illustrative of the practical drawbacks of such massive government intervention. Though it may be difficult to convince a public that believes he can multiply loaves and fishes, President Obama cannot change the laws of the marketplace. If he robs credit card companies of the ability to price risk through interest rates, he will see the supply of available credit dry. If he attempts to build a “green economy” by taxing current energy suppliers into penury, he will eliminate more wealth than he creates. And if he forces Detroit to make vehicles that are designed for the preferences of Al Gore rather than the tastes of the market, he will make an already fading industry comatose.

There is a greater risk, however, in this age of burgeoning industrial policy, and it is a moral one. By severing the free market’s link between performance and reward, the federal government has totally undercut the ethical rationale of capitalism. For all the recent talk of “greed,” the greatest stain on our economy comes not from the imprudent executive. His fate awaits him in the marketplace. Rather, the real shame comes when the state saves the reckless and the venal at the expense of the upright and the decent.

Economists tell us you get more of what you subsidize. Perhaps that is why wholesale failure is quickly becoming America’s biggest growth industry.

Things done to our country that defy logic... On whose side are they on?

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:32:00 +0000

I have long been an admirer of Michael Ramirez, both for his poignant graphic commentaries and his unmatched artistic abilities. Here is a sampling of recent cartoons depicting the sad state of affairs that our children will be inheriting, courtesy of a few numbnuts in Washington.

See more at http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/cartoon-corner/index.php

CNN: Stewart Slams CNBC

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:28:00 +0000

Well, here it is... dedicated to every fool that put his hard-earned money in nothing but whatever Cramer said the night before.

Here's John Stewart's whole epic smack-down

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09

A fool's game indeed. Thank you John, it had to be said.

Here's Cramer a few years ago, extolling the virtues of rigging the market as a hedge fund manager. He explains how easily these funds manipulated the market and walked the illegal tightrope thanks to the ineptitude of the SEC:

When Will We Learn?...

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:33:00 +0000

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking a man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
Abraham Lincoln

Economic Apocalypse, The Inconvenient Debt...

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:09:00 +0000

Between the Crooks in Banking, the Royal Corporate Chiefs in Manufacturing, the Mafiosos in Big Labor and the Corrupt and otherwise Intellectually Inadequate in Washington, Joe the Plumber Taxpayer is caught in the struggle and has now unwittingly assumed the duty to pay a bill he just cannot afford.
Here's Dilbert's take, dead accurate yet morbidly funny:

To take from Al Gore's scriptwriter's words: Global Warming is not a political issue its a moral one...

Well, that makes this is An Epic Immoral Financial Abuse to our Future Generations.

The USA-led Great Greenspan Depression of the Millennium has already inflicted great financial instability in the whole planet. People in far away countries, who have never heard of the US Federal Reserve System, not to mention its rulers, have literally been thrown into unemployment, poverty and hunger. In our own soil, families that have done everything right, have trained, worked, paid taxes and dutifully saved what's left, now see their nest eggs disappear into the Wall Street black hole.

Then they watch helplessly as their jobs evaporate along with their health care into an uncertain future and with no place to hide.

A must watch video for every person that will have to pay this bill.

Ron Paul has been dead on accurate with his predictions for over twenty years. The power of corporate lobbyists and Washington cronyism have prevented his message to be listened to.

Here is Ron Paul in a candid interview by CNN:

To date, no one has pointed fingers at the true culprits of this debacle: Greenspan's Federal Reserve.

Why is this gang of private bankers so untouchable?

When The Dumb and the Senseless Take Over

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:46:00 +0000

What is happening to our country? Almost everywhere we look there are obvious signs of illogical regulations created by unintelligent people in power, paranoid about a dazed "political correctness" that makes no sense. This is literally destroying our society and makes us the laughing stock in the face of the world.

Here is an interesting and funny analogy that everyone can relate to, unfortunately...

HIGH SCHOOL -- 1957 vs. 2007

Scenario 1:
Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck's gun rack.
1957 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario 2:
Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins... Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2007 - Police called and SWAT team arrives -- they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They are both charged with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it...

Scenario 3:
Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The school gets extra money from the state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario 4:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist interprets Billy's sister's dreams and states that she must be remembering being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario 5:
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1957 - Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock
2007 - The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario 6:
Pedro fails high school English.
1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.
2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario 7:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.
1957 - Ants die.
2007 - ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents -- and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny's dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario 8:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy

Thomas Jefferson - A Prophet or a man with just plain good common sense?

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:35:00 +0000

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), our third president and principal author of the Declaration of Independence. He was a horticulturist, archaeologist, paleontologist, author, inventor and founder of the University of Virginia.

When President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

Jefferson has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest presidents. He possessed not just raw intelligence but a keen common sense:

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe Thomas Jefferson The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
Thomas Jefferson

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
Thomas Jefferson

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson

To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson

In light of the present financial crisis, it's interesting to read what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.

Now that's something to ponder on...

The Greenspan Depression: New indicators of the financial carnage

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:35:00 +0000

Continued concerns regarding the credit crisis and the current depression sent the Dow down 1.2% yesterday, resulting in a new bear market low.

The Dow put in its record high of 14,164 back on October 9, 2007. Yesterday, the Dow closed at 7,465.95 – down 47.3% from its peak made 499 calendar days ago.

For a perspective on the on the magnitude of the current bear market, this chart (Courtesy of http://www.chartoftheday.com) compares the current, 499 calendar day old Dow correction to that of all other Dow corrections, 499 calendar days after their respective peak (and that were still ongoing).

This chart illustrates that, at this stage, the current correction has been by far the most severe correction in the post-World War II era and the second most severe correction since 1900. The only correction that was down more at this stage was the correction that began in 1929.

Indeed, The Great Greenspan Depression of the Millennium.

Source: chartoftheday

Inside the Meltdown

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:59:00 +0000

Here is the entire Frontline documentary: Inside the Meltdown

Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it ...

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:14:00 +0000

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Ronald Reagan

Why Massive Government Spending Is Ineffective “Stimulus”

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:57:00 +0000

Alexandria, Virginia. CFIF. Does massive government spending constitute effective economic “stimulus?”

Liberals say “yes,” conservatives say “no.” Exhausted Americans, who are worried about the economy and saturated in conflicting arguments from both sides, understandably become confused and throw up their hands. This makes it even more important that we understand the relevant economic truths, as well as the instructive real-world historical examples confirming them.

Barack Obama, economically uninformed and obviously confusing his temporary personal approval rating with some sort of permanent mandate to do whatever he pleases, crudely justified his unprecedented spending proposal by grunting, “I won.” Shortly thereafter, Obama rationalized his agenda to House Democrats attending their retreat last week with the following irrational and simplistic attempt at humor:

“So then you get the argument, ‘well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill.’ What do you think a stimulus is?! (Laughter and applause.) That’s the whole point! (More laughter and applause.) No, seriously! That’s the point! (More laughter and applause.)”

Clearly unable to defend the indefensible, Obama instead retreats to sarcasm and juvenile humor as if his premise is self-evident. So much for his campaign promise to bring “post-partisanship” and “change.”

But are he and liberal advocates of Keynesian government spending correct?

No, and here’s why.

First and foremost, government spending on “stimulus” necessarily removes money from other uses to which it would be applied in the private economy. After all, every dollar spent by government must germinate from somewhere, whether via taxation, borrowing, printing money out of thin air or some combination thereof.

If it comes from taxation, that merely eliminates a dollar that would have been spent or invested toward other private uses chosen by someone better-informed on how it should be spent.

If it comes from borrowing, it becomes a dollar that cannot be lent to businesses or individuals who could put it toward better use, not to mention that it adds principal and interest to federal debt.

If it is printed from thin air, it thereby creates inflation, thereby robbing us of wealth by devaluing the dollar. In other words, the truism that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” applies, because these dollars don’t derive from some pot of gold sitting unused at the end of a rainbow.

Second, governmental spending schemes naturally spring wasteful “leaks” into the vast governmental abyss. Stated differently, money evaporates when government transfers it from one source to another, because this requires legions of inefficient bureaucrats and red tape. Economist Arthur Okun labeled this phenomenon the “leaky bucket” principle, and it applies whenever government redistributes money from private sources to uses chosen by Congress.

Third, many beneficiaries of government “stimulus” efforts are simply wasteful by their very nature, and do more harm than good for the economy. For instance, dumping billions of dollars into condom-distribution programs, unworkable wind farms, unnecessary infrastructure projects, school buildings that will sit unused, or on overpriced union labor under Davis-Bacon wage regulations does nothing to help the economy.

Of course, this all sounds correct in theory, but how does it square with real-world experience?

Well, let’s look at the facts.

Governments have attempted massive Keynesian spending efforts like the one proposed by the Obama-Reid-Pelosi triumvirate time after time. Each time, they have failed to cure economic downturns or spark prosperity. In the Great Depression, for instance, Presidents Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt increased federal debt from 16% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1929 to 44% in 1939. But that unprecedented increase in government spending failed to end the Depression, and only impeded the economy’s ability to correct itself naturally as it had during earlier depressions.

As another example, Japan redistributed enormous amounts of money during its “Lost Decade” toward the same type of infrastructure projects that our current “stimulus” package proposes. Yet, almost 20 years later, Japan remains mired in economic stagnation, and only crippling debt to show for it. And from 1965 to 1980, Americans will recall that the federal government engaged in massive spending and redistribution efforts beginning with President Johnson’s “Great Society.”

Those toxic efforts continued under Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter, and Nixon himself foolishly said that “we’re all Keynesians now.” Unfortunately, these programs did nothing but increase poverty, waste billions, stall the stock market and create “stagflation” (the combination of inflation and economic stagnation that Keynesian theory considered impossible). From 1965 to 1980, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stalled between 800 and 900 over that long period.

In contrast, Ronald Reagan’s supply-side, market-based principles ended America’s worst recession since the Depression itself. In eight short years, the stock market jumped from 900 to almost 2500, inflation plummeted from 13.5% to 4.1%, unemployment fell from 7.1% to 5.5%, interest rates tumbled from over 20% to under 10%, per capita income jumped from $20,000 to $24,000 and consumer confidence skyrocketed from 74.4 to 116.

This also explains why the stock market crash under Reagan in 1987 did not destroy the healthy economy, whereas Hoover’s and Roosevelt’s government spending and protectionist programs turned the 1929 market crash into a decade-long depression.

Simply put, the laws of economics and real-world experience are clear: market-based, supply-side economic principles bring prosperity, whereas Keynesian government spending programs perpetuate stagnation and waste resources.

Already, Obama has presided over the worst Inauguration Day plummet in stock market history, the worst January in stock market history and saw the market descend almost 5% more when his stimulus plan passed. These economic lessons are apparently about to be learned again.

Is it Time to Close the National Money Hole?

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:19:00 +0000

OK, so it's coming from The Onion... The unfortunate truth, unfortunately...

A Different Kind of Leader

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:53:00 +0000

After experiencing the disgraceful spectacle of our corporate and banking chieftains, and their overt abuses of their shareholder's and public's trust there's little wonder on what went wrong. Take a look at the other side of the pond and how a true leader leads...

Watch CBS Videos Online

Bank Aid, Please Join and Help Bankers... Not

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:48:00 +0000

Born Again Americans... Victims of Greenspan's Depression are Speaking Up in a Song!

noreply@blogger.com (Charlie) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:29:00 +0000

A very well done video reflecting on the Great Greenspan Depression of the Millenium and the immense and widespread economic damage and gross inequalities that it caused on the working population of our dear country and rest of the world.