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Politics, Money and OWS
The head of the IMF, Christine Legarde dropped a big bill on Tim Geithner’s desk after the market closed on Friday.
From the WSJ article:
The IMF could offer short-term lines valued at roughly $50 billion combined to Italy and Spain.
The credit lines for those two countries could double to roughly $100 billion combined once their IMF contributions increase next year.
It’s clear that Lagarde is after the ever-elusive leverage factor. In this case “creative” and “firewall” means SPV.
"We have really tried to be creative about our facilities and instruments."
The lines could be offered to a group of countries, which could "Install a firewall around the core of the system to prevent or mitigate the propagation of virulent shocks."
The new credit lines could be used cooperatively with regional financing programs such as the European bailout program.
Really? The IMF is going to be doing some leveraged lending? Bailout money? For Spain and Italy?
The USA share of any IMF bailout is 25%. So Christine thinks she can get Geithner to step up for 25 large. And that would be just for Italy and Spain. Forget all the other troubled EU countries that would be able to borrow under this facility. The USA share of the IMF bailouts could easily exceed $100 billion.
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I never thought Obama’s “Jobs Plan” had much of a chance of passing. After reviewing the report by the CBO on S. 1549, The American Jobs Act of 2011, I’m convinced this legislation will never see the light of day.
This legislation is being sold as a jobs creator. It’s being sold as an economic stimulus. When you look at it, it’s obvious that this is an attempt to swing an election. It has nothing to do with good economic or fiscal policy.
The folks at the CBO look at things on a fiscal year basis. As a result, their analysis suggests that some of the “benefits” of the Bill will extend into 2013. I looked at it on a calendar year basis. This chart shows where the deficits (stimulus) and increased taxes (contraction) take place.
Clearly, this is a one trick pony. There is only one reason why the President proposed this “jobs” bill. He wants to get reelected. He thinks this will help. If the law is passed, it might just do that. The average family would get about $1,500 in their pocket. There would be signs on roads and schools that are being repaired that the work was being done on account of Obama.
That’s precisely the reason why the Bill is D.O.A.
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I’m not at all sure what should be done with the US economy, nor am I sure what the right path in Europe should be. I am, however, certain that if some very dramatic steps are not taken over the next two weeks, the financial system in Europe is going to implode. I’m equally convinced that if the US does not get a meaningful stimulus in 2012 there will be a hell of recession next year.
Obama and Geithner have pushed publicly for “Bold Action” by the EU. That means they have to deliver on the US cost of this. America can’t walk on its obligations to the IMF. If it did, Europe would crumble. At the same time, O & G will fail in their effort to get a spending bill from Congress. So I see a scenario where The US is forced to participate in a EU bailout, while the US economy gets no support, and therefore withers.
I’m off to see the Wall Street protesters today. I expect there will be a big crowd. The press has been maligning these protests. The suggestion has been that there is no central theme or objectives of the OWS movement.
The OWS protest has legs at this point in history. The failed debate on the stimulus and a USA blank check for the IMF is exactly what the protesters need. A rallying point. I think they will get what they need/want to take this to the next level. It will happen over the next two weeks. As a result, the OWS movement will go nuclear.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it ends with violence. There are too many cops and way too many angry people. Soon they will have something to be really angry about.
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It's a real dilemna.
If the economy, and thus the "Market", continue to descend, my personal fortunes will rise immeasurably.
If the economy and the market stagnates, I'm even and if the economy and the market rises significantly, my shorts are going to strangle me if I hold them.
The econoME? Or the economy?
decisions, decisions......
More on the OWS Astro Turfing:
They may all be exployees with gigs from Craig's List.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/gov/2618821815.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2790347/posts
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PostingID: 2618821815
From: "The Working Families Party (WFP) (www.workingfamiliesparty.org) is New York's most energetic, independent and progressive political party."
"Everything from internships to campaign management, community organizing to policy and communications:
Apply today!"
Sounds like capitalizm to me
When the looting starts, Bruce's army of undocumented friends will transfer untold wealth to his plantation, baby. Is can see them running amidst the burning cars right now. The blogging is just a front... or is that a plant?
so go to work on Bruces plantation, it can't be any worse than corporate america
A plant. I'm plotting with the illegals to steal the gold in Fort Knox.
I would love to see Ron Paul make an appearance. Despite the indications that the left is trying to coopt the OWS protests via Michael Moore, unions, etc. it is clear that there is some significant overlap between the protesters and Ron Paul. RP's antiwar message and audit/end the Fed message would play very well. It seems to me that he could give a rallying point for the protesters and benefit from the publicity, noteriety of association. It is disappointing to me that he has not yet made any overt moves to capitalize on the opportunity.
Unions are left? Are there any unions left?
Paul has proven to be merely an inarticulate, scatter-brained do-nothing.
That is why he has made no overt moves. He's as ineffective as a CPR on a corpse.
Huh?
Fully agree.
Ron Paul campaign, get your man to protest. He has lots support from what I see at local Occupy.
At this point, American policy is being run by: Big Finance(Wall Street, FED, and central banker friends), BIG Energy(oil, gas, and now their "green" friends), Big Entitlement(unions, comm organizers, socialists, redistribution networks), Big MIC(bombs bullets and now DHS and their private contractors).
You know who I don't see on this list? Anyone representing the American people. And no, those dupes at OWS are nothing but foot troops for Big Entitlement.
As always, TPTB keep screaming save the system or its the end of the world. Bruce keeps writing in earnest about how the system must be saved. Which system is that? Cause the one operating now needs to go. The only question is can the cancers be removed without killing the patient.
BK seems like a real stand up guy whos trying to do the right thing and play by the rules. The problem is that "they" wrote the rules. And the rules are made so that "they" never lose, and nothing can ever be really changed. Either I'm completely wrong, or its time for you to walk into the light Bruce.
You're right. George Carlin says so.
it would only make sense then that you your wonderful self appear there sir to represent the american people since information leaked to you by the fbi has allowed you to positively conclude that everybody else there obviously is chinese with maligned prior intentions
Exactly.
Bruce, you just figured out the "jobs bill" was never meant to pass?
You easily retain your title as "Most Naive ZH Contributor".
I think the way that it is so difficult for the protesters to make demands, yet easier to give a long list of complaints shows that this will have to end in bloodshed. The bad is so deep and so embedded, demands probably won't fix this. I suspect this one will go to a full revolution before it ends.
The protesters have a menu - it's called triangulate the MSM, and its roots happen to be in America's pointless concrete forest, where everyone has a du`jour yet to be served up!
Stay safe Bruce.
ps. the writings on the walls, if gov't decides to read the lessons of truancy?
"As far as this OWS mob ending in violence? I guarantee that it will end in violence, all mobs do"
Just a matter of when. Will it be the the implosion of the Euro. The U.S. debt coming to light. A protestor getting shot. What is going to tip all of this over the edge? Impossible to predict however one thing is clear. Its coming closer. Pack mentality will ensue and people who dont understand will jump on the bandwagon and voila... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh5ogOH82Aw
So the US bailout of IMF could top $100 billion? Why would this wake up an American taxpayer who slept soundly during the $600 billion bailout of Euro banks under QE2? (Note that Dexia got $31.5 billion of that money, not that it helped.) (http://www.zerohedge.com/article/exclusive-feds-600-billion-stealth-bail...)
We've reached the point where Joe Lunchbox is utterly confused and burned out by all the talk of billions and trillions, and this is not by accident. Remember, the media/gov't/banks are experts at putting the "numb" in "numbers." Poor Joe doesn't really understand what's going on, but he sure as hell knows what Bought-and-Paid-For looks like, and he's seeing it everywhere. OWS should not be dismissed just because it (so far) has been poorly articulated, or because there is no clear unanimity of opinion within the group. Ordinary, law-abiding people, who would much rather stay at home on Sunday, are taking to the streets because their sense of basic fairness has been royally violated.
The process we are currently witnessing can be summarized simply: the governors are losing the consent of the governed, and with it any claim to moral and political legitimacy.
Unfortunately, only the 'semi self-realized' Joe Lunchbox has any inclination of what is going on. The fully 'self-realized' are starving the beast incessantly and the common 'Joe Lunchbox' continues to doze through each day while watching American Idol, Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, and Monday Night Football (mind you, one can enjoy the competition of modern sport w/o being a slave to the beast). Any 'violence' that erupts out of OWS protests will be quickly snuffed out and they will be further branded as 'terrorists'. The 'real revolution' will be one that starves the beast in increasingly robust bursts which will show up not so much in reported violence, but in rapidly decreasing earnings of fascist corporate America and in the political lobbyist arena.....
As if the "governed" ever matter. Or their consent. That went out with the dinosaurs.
The fire is spreading to the palace lawn , then across the countryside - thoughts courtesy of Creedence Clearwater Revival - Effigy
OWS will get its act together - the important thing is the banksters and bureaucrooks in D.C. see that WE THE PEOPLE HAVE HAD ENOUGH . So start to kill us to shut us up , that won't work either . Long live the spirit after Kent State
"It is the general opinion that revolutions begin with the common people, but this is not true; the benevolently informed always guide and direct public opinion." Manly P. Hall
Man she's really "bracing for impact"...way to come across as maintaining calm, Christine. Chin up! ;)
Good luck at the protest, Bruce! Remember: Open minds find solutions.
All OWS needs now to be completely legit as a bonafide movement is for Jane Fonda to rally the charge. Angela Davis wouldn't hurt either. Throw in a free U2 rooftop concert and Bono's, 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', and this is gonna go places in the pages of history.
Bruce, as a side note, from what I've gathered water cannons would really be a public health service and shouldn't be looked at as solely riot control. More like lice control. Bring a poncho and a waterproof laptop.
Fuck you.
Pithy. I like that.
See below. Park owner in NYC got a $168 million loan from Hussein's Dept of Energy. The OWS gang is Obama. Wake up sheep.
Fuck you freddie!
Baaaaaaaaaa. Don't you get it little freddie. It doesn't matter who owns land, if Republican, Liberal, Tea Party, girlfriend who slept with mayor, whatever!
What matters is the people there protesting. They set agenda. They speak up.
Too bad you don't like it, troll, your voice gets lost in wind of change.
LOL! It gets worse - real AstroTurfing with OWS.
They are getting paid $350 to 650 to protest. LOL! You have been played again by Obama. $168 million loans so they can protest in a privately owned park. Hilarious.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/gov/2618821815.html
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PostingID: 2618821815
Bruce - there is more. The park in NYC is owned by Brookfield Properties. They just got a $168 million loan from Oabam's DOE. Bloomberg's girlfriend is on the board.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2790222/posts
BECAUSE HIS LONG TIME LIVE-IN GIRLFRIEND IS ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS!!!..
Yes that's correct...NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg's long time lady Diana L. Taylor is on the board of directors for Brookfeild Properties...
Company that owns Zuccotti "Protester" Park Just got 168 Million Loan Guarantee from Obama DOE!!!!...Thick as Thieves!!!! Ok Sorry I let the cat out of the bag in the title...but this is huge news that I have seen nowhere else!...
I don't think this has been connected yet....read and enjoy!
Sooo...I ask myself a simple question...how can these protesters be all camped up in this Zuccotti Park right in the middle of downtown Manhattan and nobody is even telling them "Move along"...now the park is in a nice area..hell it's right in the financial district...a very nice area. They are trashing the place, that's coming from the people down there, not my assessment. Now there are usual park rules there...no sleeping on benches...no overnight sleep outs...the typical and mundane rules etc etc. This park also routinely gets cleaned every night, now it hasn't been cleaned since sept 16th...and it's becoming a "sanitary problem"...I'm sure that's no exaggeration with people pissing and god knows what else all night long in the park...so it's no stretch to imagine how cruddy it is by now.
You can read one of the many articles here about that...
http://gothamist.com/2011/10/06/zuccotti_park.php
This protest is SEUI/OBAm/Ayres/Alinsky/Move On. Etc.
So you have six up arrows. LOL, means six desperate losers on ZH blog scared of rising tide!!!! Probably six from organized Tea Party movement who know losing support. Going, going, gone!
What the heck do you think the Tea Party is all about? Wake the Fk up!
There is no credible candidate. And if one emerges, he/she will be obliterated by the media. The same media that will not properly investigate the sitting president for a bogus Bith Certificate, Solydra, Fats and Furious. A president who passes rules by secret decree, who strengthens agencies he will later use to enforce the secret rules. An administration who will not hold the Fed accountable for anything. Whose Teasury Secretary cheats on taxes. Think about it......there will be few choices and we will have the same or yet another who guides the country to the cliff, all under the guise of change.
The system must collapse. The reborn version is what we are afraid of.
Don't forget, whatever you do, DON'T VOTE, there is no point, stay home that day. Definitely don't vote Ron Paul.
birth certificate, really?
don't undermine your position by bringing up bogus non-issues.
there's plenty of legitimate criticisms of obama that you don't need to stoop to that crap.
the whole birther issue was pushed by right wing nut jobs, it was code for, he's black, he's not one of us.
it's another false divide, black vs white, republican vs democrat, a distraction to keep people busy and fighting each other while TPTB loot the treasury.
This guy shows how it was done. If you can spare 7.49 minutes you will be amazed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s9StxsFllY It's not a race issue
"there's plenty of legitimate criticisms of obama that you don't need to stoop to that crap."
A BIRTH CERTIFICATE....
DOWNLOADABLE FROM THE WHITEHOUSE AS A PDF...
WHICHS OWN INTERNAL DATA SAYS THAT IT WAS DONE IN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR...
AND WHICHS DATA LITERARILY IS A BUNCH OF PAPER SHREDS...
PUT TOGETHER AS A COLLAGE....
WITH ALL THIS DOCUMENTED IN THE WHITEHOUSE FILE ITSELF FOR ANYONE TO SEE....
REQUIRES NO EXPERT TO SAY "WTFLOL?".
Analogy: If i send you my birth certificate as word file, which consists of a lot of copy-pasted images, do you believe me that it is genuine, or do you laugh at me?
Now, there are some who say, it was all just an accident - someone instead of scanning the certificate and putting it on the web, forgot to turn off OCR-software, that REMOVED most of the text from certificate, and replaced it with computer-generated letter-"shreds"...... well, i'm sorry, even in that case it would still not be genuine (because it no longer represents the original, but is part original, part computer-generated), it may in such a case no longer be malicious deceit, but it still isn't yet a scan of the original document, so that until today, the public still hasn't seen a scan of the original - at best, just an accidentally mangled scan of the original, and at worst outright fraud.
This whole issue would have been put to rest in 2009 if Obama produced a birth certificate from 1961.
The system is being collapsed intentionally. The reborn monster will be created in their image.
I hope OWS does not affiliate with eithe rparty since they both conspired to destroy many of the values OWS is protesting for.
If OWS can be more of an alternative to Dem/Rep it is better imo. Eric Cantor's inane comment about "mobs" of Wall Street is as bad as pelosi's calling the Town Hall seniors "terrorists." In both cases they shot their party in the foot and alienated huge segments of people.
The Barrons of Wall Street Corp are as much Dem as Rep imo.
Someone please show me where the Tea Party runs ads on Craigslist like the OWS AstroTurfers. Obama's rent a mob.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/gov/2618821815.html
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The Working Families Party (WFP) (www.workingfamiliesparty.org) is New York's most energetic, independent and progressive political party. Formed in 1998 by a grassroots coalition of community organizations, neighborhood activists, and labor unions, we came together to build a society that works for all of us, not just Wall Street CEOs and the well-connected. WFP is independent from corporate and government funding and in-addition we are community based; community funded and equally uninfluenced by both major parties. Our agenda focuses on economic and social justice, corporate accountability, job creation, environmental protection, and investment in education and healthcare.
For the past twelve years the WFP has been at the fore front of progressive politics,
PostingID: 2618821815
The Tea Party was hijacked by the Right and the OWS is being hijacked by the Left. Both movements are legitimate and have very similar objectives, but both have become politicized and will end in a Left v. Right thing.
People are rightfully angry. Until we realize politics IS the problem, then every movement will become political and the foundational ideas will get institutionalized and become meaningless.
Every element of politicalization must be resisted, not embraced. The entire political mess needs to be reinvented with term limits, no more $ for favors, no more special interests, no more career politicians, etc., etc., My guess is we'll need a major crisis in order to become humble enough to be constructive and work together. As long as we are fat and happy there is no real reason to find actual solutions and work together.
>> The Tea Party was hijacked by the Right and the OWS is being hijacked by the Left.
I seem to recall the Tea Party folks bringing in, and paying, speakers such as Palin and Beck. I wouldn't say the Tea Party was hijacked as they were already solidly in the extreme right camp.
As far as I can tell the OWS crowd hasn't made any such blunder. Could you please explain how the OWS crowd is being hijacked by the left? Being demonized and made fun of by Fox News doesn't equate to being hijacked by the left, thank you very much.
The Tea Party did not bring in anyone because they were not organized enough to do so.
Same with OWS - did they invite our local electricians union to put up a giant billboard this weekend? No.
Just watch this mess unfold - groups on the left will start joining the OWS cause and the message will slowly evolve into anti-capitalism, communist. The Tea Party will begin to line up against it and more groups on the right will join.
Both legitimate movements will simply become extensions of the political parties. Both of these groups made the mistake of not identifying politics as a scourge of society, which made them susceptible to infiltration and takeover.
It does not make me happy, but if you can't see this train coming down the track your choosing to remain blind to it.
This (faux) grass roots OWS AstroTurfing movement apparently hires it's mob on CraigsList aka Rent A Mob. My guess with Soros and TARP money. OWS is a Hussein front. Sad.
Pretty good gig. You can get paid $650 a week to distract the public/sheep from the Obam Admin looting the Treasury.
PostingID: 2618821815
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/gov/2618821815.html
The Working Families Party (WFP) (www.workingfamiliesparty.org) is New York's most energetic, independent and progressive political party. Formed in 1998 by a grassroots coalition of community organizations, neighborhood activists, and labor unions, we came together to build a society that works for all of us, not just Wall Street CEOs and the well-connected. WFP is independent from corporate and government funding and in-addition we are community based; community funded and equally uninfluenced by both major parties. Our agenda focuses on economic and social justice, corporate accountability, job creation, environmental protection, and investment in education and healthcare.
For the past twelve years the WFP has been at the fore front of progressive politics,