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Guest Post: Bypassing Government Roadblocks To Your Personal Prosperity
Submitted by David Galland of Casey Research
Bypassing Government Roadblocks to Your Personal Prosperity
Recently I helped out with some delivery chores. As I drove about, I discovered that one of the roads I would normally use was closed by roadblocks. It was, I imagine, due to road repair work. I had to reverse course and take a substantial detour.
I wondered why the road crew hadn't put up a sign indicating the road was closed back at the main intersection, but I shrugged and muttered something like "Typical government operation."
Driving back home, this idea of roadblocks took root in my mind. The thing is, only governmental entities can set up roadblocks – at least, legally.
Obviously, there are times when such roadblocks are entirely appropriate... for example, when a bridge is found to be dangerous.
In that case, putting up a roadblock to let drivers know that the road is a no-go makes perfect sense.
For example, a temporary warning sign to let people know that there is a road crew fixing potholes ahead makes sense and that sort of thing.
Otherwise, unless a road is damaged to the point where driving is either impossible or ill advised, there should be no roadblocks set up. Makes sense, right?
The decision to set up a roadblock should be taken only by people who are close to the problem, who understand the issues, and can deal with the problem on the road, fix it, and open it up again as quickly as possible.
Imagine then a world where government officials, as often as not operating hundreds or even thousands of miles away, are in control of the roadblock rules.
Despite having no real knowledge of the problem at a local level, they dictate that those roadblocks be set up and made permanent based not upon the specific condition that a road is out, but rather based on political expediency, cronyism, imaginary threats, and donations by influential lobbyists.
In a world like that, where roadblocks are set up all over the place and without any real thought to the consequences to road users, imagine how difficult it could be to get from Point A to Point B.
In fact, it would not be out of the question that the single road leading to your house could be blocked, leaving you no way out.
While that seems rather extreme, I would contend that it is a valid metaphor for the world we now live in.
To make the point, a couple of weeks ago, I discussed my recent travels to Ireland and Portugal and the devastating consequences the actions of the European central planners have had on those economies.
Before the European Commission bulldozed their way of life, the Portuguese fishermen made a nice living. They made money and supported their families the same way they had for generations. Life was good.
But not long after Portugal's admission into the Eurozone, however, they woke up one morning to discover their own regulatory roadblock.
It was cooked up by bureaucrats thousands of miles away who have no idea of the local challenges or hazards it would bring to the local economy and the families that rely on it.
This roadblock required them under law to destroy their fishing boats, thereby preventing them from earning their livelihoods.
Another example of roadblock insanity can be seen in energy policy here in the US.
Hollow Soundbites and Pointless Platitudes
Politicians bray about the need for energy independence.
Behind the scenes, however, they kowtow to the environoids and special interests by littering the landscape with roadblocks that prevent energy companies from achieving and innovating our way to exactly the independence they tell us we must have at all costs!
Here's where it affects you:
Government has set up another sizable roadblock. This time it is in the path of savers.
By meddling in the market in order to allow the debt-bloated government to continue its out-of-control spending, the Fed has suppressed interest rates to the lowest levels in US history.
Almost overnight, retirees and others who counted on the yields earned on savings to cover living costs have come to a dead stop in front of a roadblock placed in the way of their most pressing needs.
Their finances now in tatters, even people in their 70s who have worked hard and saved all their lives are being reduced to serving up French fries at fast-food joints.
For another roadblock, look no further than Obamacare.
In a recent Reason magazine article, it also expressed the same sort of convoluted logic that has gone into creating a series of related roadblocks. As one wit put it:
"If you think health care is expensive today, wait until it's free."
One of those roadblocks has to do with the considerably higher taxes tucked away in reams of unreadable legalese that will shift yet more funding from the private sector to the public. Here's the text from an email sent to Doug Casey by a financial professional friend of his this week:
You may have had only a casual interest in the debate over the Obama Health Care bill, and even if you followed it closely, the headline discussion seemed to be more on the inclusion of millions of uninsured citizens, the penalties for not being insured, etc., vs. the fact that this is a noticeable income tax increase on investment income.
For those who have an adjusted gross income of $200k ($250k for joint returns) or more, the number on the bottom of the first page of your 1040, which comes before itemized deductions, charitable gifts, or personal exemptions, there is a +3.8% uncapped tax applied on all investment income (capital gains, interest, dividends, etc.), plus an obscure provision of the code known as the Pease, which reduces the value of itemized deductions, adding another +1.2% to the tax rate.
Be aware that if the current "Bush tax cuts" are not extended, the current long-term capital gains tax rate of 15% will go up by two-thirds to 25% beginning 1/1/2013. The top rate on dividends will nearly triple from 15% to 44.6%!! Ouch.
Unlike Social Security taxes, which are capped, the Health Care tax is uncapped. The mouthy Warren Buffett is finally getting his wish – paying more than a 15% tax rate. Instead of just writing a check for more, which he is certainly welcome to do, as an advisor to the administration, he probably had some influence on getting it applied to all higher-income Americans.
As you know, I am not a tax attorney nor an accountant, so am sending this as a heads-up, and if it is relevant to you, you should confirm the details with your tax advisors.
On the topic of throwing up more tax roadblocks, here's one from overseas… sent along in an email from our own Vedran Vuk. In Vedran's own words…
"Most of the time when we think about raising taxes, it's the threat of millionaires leaving. We don't usually think about them not coming to a country. Here's an interesting case of Zlatan Ibrahimovic signing a soccer contract for 14 million euros per year. If the new tax goes through in France, he will be taxed for 75% over the first million euros. If the tax does go through, good luck attracting multimillion-earning players to France. A lot of people in the 99% will be pretty unhappy when all of their sports teams become horrible as a result of the tax."
My favorite quote from the article is:
"Ibrahimovic will earn 14 million euros annually, sports daily L'Equipe reported. Sports Minister Valerie Fourneyron said that indicates that European football needs more regulation."
Yes, just what the world needs – more roadblocks.
Of course, this time it's to block decisions that the football team's management believes it needs to make in order to win (and therefore attract fans, sell tickets, and raise rates to sponsors).
Insane.
I recently ran into a public-high-school English teacher and asked how the education business was going.
His response was, "Do you have four days for me to tell you all that's wrong?"
"It seems like every month some team or another shows up from the government in order to introduce a new teaching program. And the really frustrating thing, is that none of these people has ever taught school."
He went on to say that it becomes clear very quickly that they have no idea what they're talking about and that each new protocol was conceived by some bureaucrat with no teaching experience either.
It was eye-opening to hear such emotive language from a public-high-school teacher – in my experience, most of the people who choose that profession are largely on board with the whole big-government thing.
Yet, it seems that more and more people are beginning to catch on to the idea that central planning is not such a great idea.
It's how you end up with roadblocks where roadblocks don't belong.
It's how you end up on a road you never intended to travel along, forced there by roadblocks that don't make sense and clearly don't help.
Ultimately you risk getting hopelessly lost, or you turn around go back the way you came and start again.
So yet another school program gets introduced, another law, another rule. And it all starts again.
Happily, it is almost a certainty that, in time, the bureaucrats and their many roadblocks will be shoved aside.
I say that because there really is a limit to how long people will put up with being denied access to their fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
There is only so long that entrepreneurs will put up with having to navigate around more and more roadblocks in order to provide a product or service to consumers, when such roadblocks serve absolutely no useful purpose.
Unfortunately, while there are a number of things you can do to get started and plenty of sound advice along the way, it will take time.
That's because there is still a considerable swath of the voting public who actually buys into the idea that government is a force for good and that without it, equality and justice would go by the wayside.
And so it is that the US and virtually all of the large economies around the world are still firmly in the grip of the notion that central planning is the only way to get to the green pastures that surely must be just over the next hill.
Or, more specifically, the next round of legislation and policy machinations (read "roadblocks").
There has never been a starker example of the mindset of the current administration and its many followers than a comment made by President Obama this week. Here it is:
"If you've got a business, you didn't build that.
Somebody else made that happen."
His point is that essentially, all human progress is due to the good work of governments.
- That without governments, there would be no roads to set up roadblocks on.
- There would be no Internet.
- There would be no body of case law nor a judicial system to enforce that law.
- There would be no telephones.
I disagree, and so do many others – including many from past governments who see the direction Washington, DC is taking and don't like it.
I contend that this view of the world is essentially the opposite of the tenets of the capitalist/free-market model.
In the view of Mr. Obama and his ilk, We the Sheeple are all but helpless without the government to lead us forward.
That the US government's activities as a share of GDP have gone from well under 10% at the beginning of the last century to over 40% today – and will go over 50% by the time Obamacare is fully implemented – makes it clear that this country is now operating on principles that run completely contrary to those that promote success and economic well-being.
The consequence of continuing to operate on this model will be a steady decline in the quality of life for most Americans, while favoring a ruling elite that produces nothing… except more roadblocks.
Ayn Rand will someday be celebrated as a futurist.
But how does one fight back? Grab a gun? Don't even think about it: the Second Amendment may have been intended to protect against a tyrannical government, but the actual truth is that the weaponry of the US government is so incredibly advanced at this point that even the most well-armed militia wouldn't last a minute.
No, the best way to "fight back" is to get wise to the whole thing.
Understanding what's happening and knowing where the roadblocks are likely to be just makes sense.
And having clearly set out strategies that both sidestep the roadblocks and preserve your wealth is not just a good idea – it's critical.
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Sleep with one eye open...IMO :)
Intelligence... prosperity does not trickle down, those at the top of the pyramid get there by stealing from those further below them on the pyramid!
What do you think, that the King goes around dispensing Gold coins to his Serfs?
USE your intelligence
BS. They are ready to make money. If they can make money selling mortgages for 20% to people that can't read or write, they will do that. If they can make money selling fake viagra they will do that. If they can make money by providing home repair or something else actually useful, they are doing that without any thoughts of Obama.
BIGOV is no more incompetent nor corrupt than the average business creature.
Bullshit.
Government IS theft. It takes everything it has by force.
Businesses must convince people to buy from them.
The two are in different moral universes.
Edward Bernays did quite well in that regard... So well that Goebbels used Bernay's books as road maps for Nazi propagands.
Without Bernays, Madison Ave would not have understood that people act on emotion, even as the people believe they are acting on reason.
"Businesses must convince people to buy from them."
Carlin was right... America excells at producing massive quantities of unusefull fools... and a few really bright people that sheer these sheep.
Businesses must convince people to buy from them.
____________________
Aint life good in US citizen tralalaland?
Human beings no longer need to eat and drink.
Businesses have to convince them to do so.
And wait, starting for that point, no one is compelled to work to support oneself.
The best is that US citizens heavy detachment from basic reality is enabled by what? The State they loathe.
US citizenism at work.
Precisely! It is the difference between voluntary and involuntary relationships. The reason your doctor's office and the Jiffy Lube have TV's in the waiting areas is because the relationship is voluntary. To get people to use your business you need to make it pleasant, cheaper, easier or better. Government does not need to do that, hence you get your DMV.
That is why the myth of The efficient government producer of goods and services never pans out. They do not have to innovate or do anything on time or to any quality to get your participation. So they don't. If you fail to use their services such as registering your car, there is a police force outside the door to help change your mind. If you decide to ditch all government there are jails, gulags and reeducatuion camps to help you understand the benefits of large powerful governments.
"Socialism: Ideas so good they have to be mandatory."
Down arrows on Carlin?
Not much of a better test around here for general intellegence. There is not much Carlin has pointed out that hasn't been spot on. He didn't make this shit up. We simply observed the world around him and called it for what it was.
Methinks the ZH forum is losing it's edge and devolving into yet another groupthink, bias confirming pool of knuckle-draggers.
Maybe some folks need to have a little quiet time to reflect on the nature of the human species. There is alot of good in this world. For sure. But, as a social creature in complex settings - has anything really changed over the last few thousand years? Not really.
trust me those down arrows were not for Carlin
Thats what I get for coming to the party late! Oh well.
You have to give it to that US citizen Carlin: he managed to make money with some odious stuff to US citizens'ears.
__________________________________
They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens.
___________________________________
'Americanism' is real and yeah, it is the major force behind the current situation of the world.
Kudos to him making money off that basic observation though.
Unexpected in a US citizen world.
Excellent point. If people suck, why would we ever give a few PEOPLE all the guns, and the power to order the rest of us around?
Everyone intelligent enough to see the Govt for what it is, is also intelligent enough to avoid it like the plague!
As Carlin points out? Is he some kind of authority on these things? I like Carlin for his no holds comments. He got less funny and more angry as he aged.
Governments are far more corrupt, corrupting and oppressive than anything else you can name. You might notice that Adolf, J. Stalin, Cesar, Mao, Castro, and others were not attracted to industry or anything productive. Nope, they headed for government and created some doozies.
Last I checked Walmart did not raise my taxes. Sears did not audit my taxes. Exxon does not require me to register my cars. Even Citibank does not pass out speeding tickets. On a day to day basis I do not find that I am being terribly oppressed by the public sector. Usually, they try to make life nice so I will voluntarily do business with them.
I will give some latitude to the idea that we get the government we deserv.e, but we are getting this government only after over a century of gradual lies and corruption of the progressive statists. If we change the rules back to limited government we will change as a society...for the better.
Who needs a huge federal government?
Let it go, let the states rule. The States may alll be better off whithout having to support the feds, the same applies to Europe and the regime there which no longer accepts that democracy rules, just like Obama and Romney, all birds of the same stripe.
Utah trying to use Gold and Silver as money legally (like it says in the Constitution of the United States of America), but guess who won't let them? Thats right, the Federal Criminal Government
The pussyfication of Ameriak has begun.
With all due respect, that ship sailed a long time ago.
I do agree, however, that it is getting worse.
"With all due respect, that ship sailed a long time ago."
You're quite right. When people hear that "FDR saved capitalism in America"... and believe it... they are in denial that capitalism in America failed in 1929 on the Feds watch.
Capitalism was replaced by a vast array of social programs that have multiplied and grown so large as to reduce the 'real capitalist economy' in America to a side show.
Yes, capitalism is dead, but they still need worker-bees to provide for the zom-bees.
... is near complete.
Very few owners of Ag/Au/Pt/Pd/Rh are stupid enough to "spend" them when the Govt(s) still accept FRNs -- get with the program!
The more local the government, the more corrupt it is generally. The FBI regularly arrests a dozen or so mayors in my state. Given their incredible record of incompetence, they could probably arrest almost all of them with a modest effort.
Pretty easy to lie yer way into power, ain't it? :>(
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_827355.html
The majority of Germans think their country would be better off without the euro, a poll suggested on Sunday, as the economy minister reiterated doubts over whether Greece can stay in the single currency.
The Emnid poll for the Bild am Sonntag mass circulation weekly showed 51 per cent of Germans believed Europe's top economy would be better outside the 17-country euro zone. Twenty-nine per cent said it would be worse off.
Since when did the German peoples opinion count for anything?
yep, the German People never wanted to join the Euro in the first place. Their opinion didnT count back then; why would it matter at all now? The Euro was undemocratic from the very beginning.
Have you also had the impression that this week rant by mr Draghi (Enter the Draghi, ... the first part of the video on mr Draghi is fun), was a bit over-done and emotional and resembled the rant by former Greek finance minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou warning short sellers that they will be crushed? When I saw mr. Draghi, I thought that, if Central Bank policy communication becomes open reprimand, this might signal a weakness and not a strength on their part. Let me know what you think...
Week-end review (23-27 July, 2012)Rickroll alert ^^^
where is MDB to tell us the "governement is there to help us with 3 letter acronyms".....?
where is MDB...
My guess is that he ODed on sarcasm.
How much of that can one human put out before injuring himself? :)
(Sigh), if only stupid were painful...
revolution is the answer to your predicament
and always has been. pick up a book.
jb
People read. Really, get your facts straight.
Sadly ~ all revolutions have been postponed indefinitely [probably due to technology]...
Thinking on scales of time, the most recent technological innovations owe their existernce to electricity (aided & abetted by oil)... Until one or both of those disappear &/or when the global population fritters away production capacity, I'm afraid, all revolutions will be postponed because the fall from the cliff [lifestyle wise] would be too much for most to bear...
This has never before been the case in any written history I'm aware of... IOW~ all past revolutions were somewhat easier because "life among the bottom dwellers" didn't really change that much...
To put this another way... Shut down the EBT cards, & cable TV, & you'll have your revolution lickety split...
I agree with you Francis. The only way to defeat them is to shrug.
Unfortunately property taxes demand that you at least create enough wealth to pay them annually.
I look forward to the day I have zero income for them to pilfer. I search for my own Galt's Gulch knowing I must decide between raising my kids in a wealthy haven like The Woodlands or go Galt just to starve the beast.
Sell everything, go live- without traceable income
Lowest state averages:
AL 0.5%
AR 0.75%
AZ 0.75%
DC 0.75%
DE 0.60%
HI 0.30%
ID 0.75%
IN 0.75%
LA 0.70%
SC 0.70%
UT 0.75%
WV 0.50%
WY 0.50%
Meager is right...
I've pared down about as much as humanly possibly... In the end, I'm still playing by theiur rules (therefore ~ I don't advocate NOT paying taxes & the like, but the best way to go about it is to 'feed the beast' at absolute minimum)... IU view 'status' as entrapment... "The things you own end up owning you"...
We might all be shackled together on the same chain gang, but unless they want to start using excessive force, they can't really control how much effort I put into breaking rocks...
I'm with you - don't play the game, don't even have a cell phone anymore. Fuck 'em, no one needs to get in touch with me for emergency brain surgery or anything. NO to TV, one account at a credit union with only enough $ to pay car ins. once a month because it's a big discount to pay that way to insure my '90 beater that I paid CASH for a couple years ago. Looks like shit but all good under the hood - love the looks I get from shitfaces in their escalades. If most people took this path voluntarily, it would make a difference. People will end up here out of nessecity, not choice and they will cry and whine and I will say STFU you should have been paying attention. I shouldn't be this cranky after french toast and bacon.
Wait!... don't you mean "Freedom Toast"? ~ lol
Doh! - you got me, lol. And agree 100% w/your above post re technology - the subsidised masses of the developed world ensconced in their climate-controlled and electronically managed environments. But I have to admit I'd be crying the blues without my interwebs. . .
EXACTLY...
We are not facing a revolution in the normal sense of the word.
We are facing the fact that large oil producers want NO ONE'S pure fiat for their oil. They want gold or a gold backed currency... preferably gold.
The winners in this winners take all game will be the soverign/soverigns that have gold to trade for oil.
At that juncture all soverigns that do not have gold to trade for oil will return to pre-oil societies. Little imagination is required to imagine what those societies will look like.
Speaking of gold (sorta)...
~~~
So if they decide to ban guns, does this mean they're going to strip this lady from her medal?
http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/shooting/story/_/id/8210910/2012-summer-olympics-us-kimberly-rhode-wins-skeet-gold-fifth-straight-medal
I'd think it would be hilarious of they took away everyones guns, then an outbreak of 'bow & arrow", or 'knife' crimes would pop up... lol
They're trying to outlaw knives in the UK as we speak. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4581871.stm
So I guess in the future you'll be eating your 'Soylent Green' with a plastic spoon... Then when the oil runs out, you'll be down to chopsticks... Bummer!
Everything old is new again!
A spork.
Gender neutral. Govt. approved.
It's a FOON!
Current exchange is shifting more readily towards lead instead of gold. That trend is bound to accelerate.
One of the reasons WHY the Roman Empire lasted as long as it did...
revolution is the answer to your predicament
Not at all. Collective violent actions is THEIR game, not ours.
All we have to do is stop serving the beast. Then it dies by itself.
Stiffing the Savers isn't a roadblock it was a well organized theft.
Roadblocks are one thing on the other hand some regulation is needed for example
Mitt Romney: Banking Regulation Is Essential To The Functioning Of Markets
but it should come with stiff enforceable CRIMINAL prosecution not just fines that are passed onto others, i.e
Retailers Ready To Force Consumers To Pay ‘Swipe Fee’ For Using Plastic"It’s all because Visa-MasterCard and several major banks settled a long running lawsuit alleging they conspired to fix “swipe fees.”
Monderman is one of the leaders of a new breed of traffic engineer - equal parts urban designer, social scientist, civil engineer, and psychologist. The approach is radically counterintuitive: Build roads that seem dangerous, and they'll be safer.
Monderman and I are tooling around the rural two-lane roads of northern Holland, where he works as a road designer. He wants to show me a favorite intersection he designed. It's a busy junction that doesn't contain a single traffic signal, road sign, or directional marker, an approach that turns eight decades of traditional traffic thinking on its head.
Wearing a striped tie and crisp blue blazer with shiny gold buttons, Monderman looks like the sort of stout, reliable fellow you'd see on a package of pipe tobacco. He's worked as a civil engineer and traffic specialist for more than 30 years and, for a time, ran his own driving school. Droll and reserved, he's easy to underestimate - but his ideas on road design, safety, and city planning are being adopted from Scandinavia to the Sunshine State.
Riding in his green Saab, we glide into Drachten, a 17th-century village that has grown into a bustling town of more than 40,000. We pass by the performing arts center, and suddenly, there it is: the Intersection. It's the confluence of two busy two-lane roads that handle 20,000 cars a day, plus thousands of bicyclists and pedestrians. Several years ago, Monderman ripped out all the traditional instruments used by traffic engineers to influence driver behavior - traffic lights, road markings, and some pedestrian crossings - and in their place created a roundabout, or traffic circle. The circle is remarkable for what it doesn't contain: signs or signals telling drivers how fast to go, who has the right-of-way, or how to behave. There are no lane markers or curbs separating street and sidewalk, so it's unclear exactly where the car zone ends and the pedestrian zone begins. To an approaching driver, the intersection is utterly ambiguous - and that's the point.
Monderman and I stand in silence by the side of the road a few minutes, watching the stream of motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians make their way through the circle, a giant concrete mixing bowl of transport. Somehow it all works. The drivers slow to gauge the intentions of crossing bicyclists and walkers. Negotiations over right-of-way are made through fleeting eye contact. Remarkably, traffic moves smoothly around the circle with hardly a brake screeching, horn honking, or obscene gesture. "I love it!" Monderman says at last. "Pedestrians and cyclists used to avoid this place, but now, as you see, the cars look out for the cyclists, the cyclists look out for the pedestrians, and everyone looks out for each other. You can't expect traffic signs and street markings to encourage that sort of behavior. You have to build it into the design of the road."
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic.html
Denmark had a much better system about 5 years ago. They paid attractive women to stand topless by the side of the road near dangerous intersections to get people to slow donw.
You can't apply European behaviors to 300 pound US morons in 3 ton vehicles playing with their iphones not to mention 10% of population is used to driving an ox and drives their car the same way.
We all have the power to make decisions.
There may be consequences, but we have consequences anyway for someone we don't know making decisions for us.
Like Romney and Obama getting Israel's back? Who gets to die or is wounded while these so called leaders fly around in 747s and make promises for the rest.
We don't have to follow their orders or whims do we? Maybe we should just ignore our governments for awhile, let them know who is boss. There need not be violence or bloodshed.
Imagine the US military calling in sick on invasion day?
Would Obama, Romney, Clinton and Bush show up there with rifle in hand, ready to shed blood if needed? Or would they be like Saddam, looking for a hole in the ground in Washington to hide in?
Yeah more fucking wars is the anwer to the USSA. Same shit different bowl.
Bigger government weakens private enterprise and drives values from share prices.
QE's (and the rebranded alike) will have diminishing positive economic benefits until they have no more positive effect.
Primary wave 3 down is pending regardless of government tampering.
http://bullandbearmash.com/chart/dow-jones-industrial-average-weekly-jul...
All you friggin Elliott Wave hacks & clowns have been talking about P3 since the summer of '09...
Really?... At this point, what are Prechter & Neely?... 100% short? 200% short? 400% short?... It's coming people... IT'S COMING!!!!... Just click on these charts & see for yourself!!!
Prechter & Neely ought to be spending their time writing some new chapters... (waves that include 'market manipulation' scenarios)...
correct mr. sawyer. and market manipulation, and bernake toldus what he is doing. he targeted the russell 2000. and it's been going up. so - he is a successful genius. and, he works for the big banks. and they like it also.
and the press also told you.
'hi, i'm from goldman sachs. you run the city of .... municipal fund. tell you what, let's 'hedge' your interest rate exposure. you can pay me a fixed x% (5,6,7,8) and i'll pay you libor. if rates go up, think about all the money you make and save not having to issue more debt at the higher rate!'..... (except for one thing. i set the libor rate).
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.... :) :)
that one was a crushing lotsoffun.
so, once the fix is in, unless you are doing the fixing, playing the markets will be painful.
About the author: "In addition to having served as a trustee on the Board of Governors of Washington College and Northwoods University, Doug has been a director and advisor to nine different financial corporations."
So basically a banker telling us that big government is The Problem. Another article of half-truths. Big government is part of the problem. Unregulated oligarchs are also part of the problem and addressing one half without addressing the other half with only make it worse. Except of course for people like Mr. Casey, who will make even more money if his preferred elite (e.g., financial "experts" and bankers) are left even further to whatever Credit-Default-Swap-mark-to-unicorn-bonuses-for-mortgages-no-one-can-pay-back scheme they think of next. Not that his self-interest would color his world view.
Fuck you.
Says the government contractor hypocrite.
That guy is obviously a troll!
That is a good one.
LOL...the truth sure is a bitch, ain't it?
+1 for being close:
Oligarchs are the problem. (a.k.a. TPTB)
Bankers and politicians are [only] their minions.
The author, you illiterate dufus, is David Galland. Illiterate, since you obviously failed to read that part of the story. Dufus, if you think the people who read this site are so stupid that they didn't and believe the crap you write.
Elites:
E-very
L-aughable
I-diot
T-o
E-nslave
S-ociety
Anti-Obamacare propaganda.
"If you think health care is expensive today, wait until it's free."
In fact, most modern nations have complete health coverage and their system is at least 50% less expensive than USA healthcare.
What is expensive, is private profit.
Make it 100% like in Canada.
We don't want your socialism. Get the fuck out.
Another Rand worshipper who stomps up and down and screams "get out!" from his anonymous keyboard when challenged on the merits of his opinion. Speaks volumes, and I mean that in the most insulting way possible. I can see there is no point at all responding to you in the future.
LOL! In other words, "You can shit on me all you want--just don't call me a socialist!" You "rugged individualists" sure are funny...
I didn't vote you down because I agree/disagree with you, but because you presume to speak for me. Don't do that.
There's a problem with US healthcare spending. The U.S. leads the world in health care spending as a % of GDP. The good news is thate we have a nice way to feed our GDP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditu...(PPP)_per_capita
Insurance rates at horrible if you have to pay them as an individual. If you're a big employer / corporation, you don't pay them (walmart) or pass them on to your customers (software industry). Why do we pay so much? perhaps because healthcare lobbyists allow pharma to charge double in the US what they do in other companies. Interesting that the U.S. pays spends double what the U.K. does on healthcare as a percentage of GDP. U.S. has the highest prices of prescription drugs in the world...
Even worse, if you don't have insurance the hospitals charge you twice as much , doctors too.
Here in the real world, I pay less at both doctor and dentist using cash.
Then that expence (the extra 50%) is dropped on the backs of the poor people who have to stand in line for 6-12 months for treatment instead of be looked after right away.
WHO GIVES A DAMN IF A FEW DIE OR EVEN A LOT DIE?
You can bet it won't be the ones who are pushing this crap on us the people. They'll be jetting off to be taken care of in the private sanitorium of choice.
"Ayn Rand will someday be celebrated as a futurist."
Randiism, or perhaps randianism, is the ideal philosophy for psycopaths.
Those who are familiar with the subject which you are attempting to discuss know that the word you are looking for is "Objectivism."
Gotta love a Randii girl.
I've invested 10 years in calling Republicans liars. Cayman Islands accounts holding 27 trillion dollars mean Republicans are liars. Tax cuts do not create jobs in the US.
Just don't fool yourself into thinking that the Blue Team is any different. They are all bought and paid for.
How can that be corrected? What is the time scale and what would the repaired system look like?
We should double all taxes and jobs will come flooding back. Sales taxes should be 50% and thus stimulate buying. Also take 95% of all hourly wages and salary so people will jump off unemployment and bust hump, take orders, roof in summer, long haul truck up and down I95 for ten days straight, type away.
( lefty econ. Off)
Some taxes on capital, instead of on labor alone, would be a great start.
Hope you have done the same for Democrats as well. Otherwise, all I can say is hahahahahahaha - you've been played. Game, set, match.
Priceless...
"If you've got a business, you didn't build that.
Somebody else made that happen."
simply priceless.
So who is this person who runs around creating businesses and then just gives them away to friends and cronies?
I need a name...is it O'Barry? ;-)
If you've got a community... You didn't organize that...
You didn't... oh whatever...
How would it sound it the criticism was placed where it needs to be???
Obama- to food stamp, section 8 parasite:
"That food you are eating- you didn't earn that. That was created by people who made the right choices: studied in school, jeopardized their wealth to create businesses...and yet we punish them with taxes so that you parasites can thrive and reproduce all whilst contributing NOTHING but more burden"
Let the people have work and a homestead, and they will gladly contribute. The true parasites scoop off the millions right at the source. Without contributing anything to the local*) society.
*): unless 'local' means Cayman Islands and similar tax havens.
That's the thing that kind of makes me laugh when 'government workers' make a proud display of 'paying their taxes' & doing their fair share of contribution...
No, no, no... Your job only exists in the first place because taxes are collected (otherwise you'd be a volunteer)... So some of your stipend is then skimmed off & re-funneled & refried back into the same system... BFD ~ that makes you a hero?...
Comrade, my job has nothing to do with taxes, not even in the most remote sense of words.
Just to widen my view, how would you call somebody, who inherited a hundred million illegal bucks, offshore, who never got a dirty hand all his life, who never had to fear for his job? Producer??
For this guy a 15% taxrate on unearned interest income appears huge, while the neighbor running a ten soul shop day and night pays a 30+ rate, to keep the social fabric a while longer intact.
"how would you call somebody, who inherited a hundred million illegal bucks, offshore, who never got a dirty hand all his life, who never had to fear for his job?"
~~~
I'd call him 'Rockefeller'...
I had a business for many years and I can't recall anyone, excepting my hard won customers, 'making it happen'...
Hell, I can't even recall an 'unseen' helping hand getting involved!
A man is lost in the woods. Days or perhaps hours from starvation, he finds a stash of goodies left in the woods by a survivalist. There is a rifle, an axe, a hammer, nails, and other tools. He uses the tools to hunt and obtain food, build a shelter, and days later he is found when the survivalist happens upon him. The survivalist says, " how much are you going to pay me for the use of my tools?". The man -- a Rand follower -- says, "I didn't see you out here swinging the axe or shooting a deer. I did it completely on my own. I owe you nothing."
So the Rand guy stole the survivalist guys stuff?...that sounds more like a "progressive randian" to me...lol.
Did you have a broader point you were trying to make?
So a Randist who uses or benefits from airports, roads, GPS, public schools, sewers, the energy infrastructure and other benefits of society funded by collectivism, but who avoids paying taxes, is actually committing theft? Interesting take on my point. As for the broader issue, I don't expect you to understand.
I saw no mention of any of those things while "progressive Rand-Man" was out there LOST in the woods...lol...pretty sure he could have just hailed a taxi and not bothered taking what was not his from Survivalist-Man.
But...since you have changed the storyline/premise...how did this new Rand-Man avoid paying taxes in the first place?
Seems to me that you are the one who changed the subject and redefined the issue, but who cares. It's a Sunday and it's about time to unplug and go enjoy the day without electronic input.
Cayman Islands. Cash business. Underreporting income. Overreporting losses. Trusts. Illegal business. Inherited wealth put in tax free bonds. Pick one or several.
Cayman Islands?...the same place Chris Dodds old lady worked?
Ok, apparently new Rand-Man doesn't use gasoline so no taxes there, doesn't have a business license, conducts a black market cash business in a back alley from a card board box somewhere in the Cayman Islands and intends to leave all his ill gotten gains to his family through a trust.
Sounds like its still the "progressive Rand-Man" you described earlier to me or just a small time crack dealer.
I loved it LTER...gotta run...lol.
Rewrite:
A man is lost in the woods. Days or perhaps hours from starvation, he finds a stash of goodies left in the woods by nature...
There are stones & dead animal bones (which he manages to hone into cutting tools & otherwise, 'tools' in general)... There is tree bark (which he fashions into rope)... There are branches (which he builds shelter with)... There is dead wood (which he collects as fuel for a fire)... There are other dry timber that he fashions a fire saw out of, or triboelectric rocks that he uses as flints as well as dead straw that he uses as kindling... There are berries, nuts, mushrooms, babbling brooks, worms, frogs, birds, & other [edible] things & creatures...
He skillfully uses these things to survive...
What's next?... The sky opens up & 'Shakti' bellows out "how much are you going to pay me for the use of my tools?"
You just pegged it. You Randists equate everything around you built by government as equivalent to trees and stones in the forest. It's just there. It's always been there, it's yours to use as you see fit without paying for or appreciating, and in fact it probably belongs to you if you claim it first. I have news for you. Roads, bridges, airports, GPS etc did not appear from God or from random chance or whatever. Using the airport or receiving a Federal Express package (a private company that uses public roads, airports, bridges, gps, etc), or navigating waters without pirates means that you benefitted from the work and taxes of millions of others before you. Yet you use it at will and give no credit for its value. You laugh when someone suggests that you had help.
Rand insisted on trading value for value. It's clear that you have no first hand knowledge of her work. And yet you hate her so much that you've created a persona for the specific purpose of disparaging her. Do you realize how crazy that is?
"Rand insisted on trading value for value."
No, she did not. Rand insisted on trading value that she recognized for value. Rand assigned no value to the work of collectivists who created the entire society in which she thrived. That is the point you people always miss.
Are you suggesting that you value things which you don't recognize as having value? That's just dumb.
Right. FDR pulled the plow and stoked the furnaces. Individual entrepreneurs and workers didn't build that.
This is a fantastic article; its detailing of how the Washington staffs of congressmen have built in the transfer of wealth from citizens to the ruling elite and their favorites is superb. This detailing of the theft of taxpayer money and forced reductions in America’s standard of living through central planning are points every American needs to understand.
I disagree, however, with the suggestion that guns would not be part of the solution.
We live in a world where nothing is accomplished that is not supported by force.
The government is abusing its citizenry because it has a reservoir of military power that backs up its advances.
But citizens have a reservoir of power if they are informed and act in a single direction for their interests. An informed citizenry eventually will not permit itself to be dominated by a military government.
What this means is that there is a point when the government’s armaments would be swamped by the people, including those citizens in uniform and in command positions. IOW, there’s nothing stronger than an informed people with resolution, and the significance of millions of small arms in the United States, at this point, should not be underestimated.
This is what revolution is; the people up in arms, the bankers hiding in caves, the politicians running like rats and the tanks turned against the government. The people won’t get anywhere without force. This is not a game where you say, Please sir, may I have my freedom back? You take it back.
Thomas Paine’s pamphlet on Common Sense led to the most important armed revolution against the most powerful military country in the world. Small farmers took on the military might of England and won.
"We have it in our power to begin the world over again." -- Thomas Paine, Common Sense
Robot Trader barks all day about NFLX & Lululemon holding the American economy (& S&P) together...
I beg to differ...
~~~
Smith & Wesson Holding Company
http://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=SWHC&ty=c&ta=0&p=m
Just curious... Have you spent time in the military? Are you familiar with The Uniform Code of Military Justice?
Are you aware that the US is now a war zone as far as your government is concerned and that any military personnel that desert in time of war may be shot by a firing squad?
Hell, even your post could probably be construed as 'terrorist activity' under the draconian interpretations of today's courts.
Point being... Do not make assumptions that military personnel are going to risk a firing squad to support your dreams.
Look at any courthouse... The gold fringes on three edges of the flag means that it is the Admiralty flag... You are always under Maritime (or Military) Law...
My family is very familiar with The Uniform Code of Military Justice. And the items you bring up are certainly worth discussion; however, it’s important to remember that using current political and societal events are not useful in predicting future developments when factors change. My point is that a great increase in citizens’ knowledge about tyrannical control of the country changes all attitudes, including those of individuals in the military.
The soldier of today facing court martial should he take the side of the citizens against his government is not unlike the position of those signers of the Declaration of Independence who faced almost certain death when they opposed the Crown.
Thomas Paine in Common Sense described the kings of England as mere usurpers who, like criminals, had seized power by force:
"...could we take off the dark covering of antiquity, and trace them [kings] to their rise, we should find the first of them nothing better than the principle ruffian of some restless gang, whose savage manners, or pre-eminence in subtilty obtained him the title of chief among plunderers."
Is that not the background of the ruffians who seized the American government in 1913 under the Federal Reserve Act similar to those in England who obtained the title of “chief among plunderers”?
That does not exclude a military coup. We are too fat and weak a plum for the generals not to be contemplating it. I imagine they would sweap out the present bunch of leaches by firing squad. I think I could support that - a new role of the dice. Change you can believe in, indeed, and change always brings opportunity.
What happens when the troops sent to force you into compliance wonder about what is happening to their own families back home? What will they risk to return to their loved ones if they believe that they are in danger?
All military personnel swear an oath of allegiance to uphold the Constitution of the US.
On that basis they are provided training, uniforms, shelter, pay, leadership and weapons.
If military personnel fail to uphold the oath they have sworn to they become theives of the food that they eat and the berth they lie down in to sleep... which are provided by the military, not their families.
Of course the personnel will be concerned for their families... but their sworn duty is to their Constitution.
I am simply pointing out facts... and, in my opinion chances are slim that a large per centage of military personnel will desert ranks to join forces with rebels. Military personnel are trained to receive orders and carry them out... not to listen to orders and then decide, by voice vote or show of hands, whether or not the orders should be carried out.
Even during the revolutionary war against GB the rebel colonists were never a majority of the American population.
Robert E. Lee and the bulk of the Confederate officer corps had a different take on the subject.
"Robert E. Lee and the bulk of the Confederate officer corps had a different take on the subject."
...and how did that work out for them?
Nevertheless there is historical precedent for individuals showing loyalty to their neighbors rather than the central state.
this article is not fantastic. it is another tea party complainer who identifies things that are wrong, without giving the whole story. in this respect it is possilby DELIBERATELY MISLEADING.
in your comment you point out the MILITARY. mr gallard who wrote the above complaint forgot to mention the military even once.
this is no accident. it is a 'tea party' kind of tactic. to mislead what the solution is to the problem. people who don't want to talk about cutting out the military spending of this country, and the military control , and the control of big oil and the big banks cannot be trusted when they are talking about 'big government'.
what are these so called 'road blocks' that mr gallard is talking about????? they are the roadbocks that govenrment sets up in favor of big business.
it is imperitive for someone taking the line against 'big government' to talk about this. otherwise I assume they are talking about eviscerating government for the sake of creating an ultra rich class of oligarchs and organize criminals to take over like they did in russia.
seriously, do you want warren buffet as an even more powerful oligarch????
this article blames him for his wanting to increase taxes and i've heard the plan actually does NOT lighten the load onthe poor and middle class. there are many 'tricks' in taxes. and yet, do you think the government brought us to our current position ---where oligarchs and national policy are bankrupting the country without the direction and control of BIG OIL and the military????
i'm tired of reading these complaints that appear misleading on the face . you MUST have a coherent comprehensive list of the biggest interests.
anti-government tirades like this seem to be funded by the koch brothers much of the time. they are a direct form of propoganda because they are half true and aimed at drumming up support for mitt romney and his ilk.
The reason this article is fantastic is it awakens people to the abuses that have trickled down from central planning.
It is true that Big Government conservatives like Rush Limbaugh constantly complain about taxes, et cetera, and leave out the military conundrum except that we need a stronger and more militant military. And the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove, et cetera, do support that; they are all Big Government Establishment people. And I agree with much of what you say.
But the Tea Party is not a political party; it is a movement that has different facets, some of them helpful, some not so much. Sarah Palin is a tea partier, but so is Ron Paul. Their approach to Big Government is completely different. The Tea Party movement was born on opposition to banker bailouts and the Obama healthcare proposal. But it was usurped. It was no time at all before Sean Hannity and others were instant tea partiers forgetting about the complaints against bankers and the Federal Reserve and using it to push Establishment Empire and Big War.
Garland’s article, IMO, has everything in it except for the solution; it misses historically how revolutions work.
From the tyranny of central planning, which the author highlights, the abuses filter all the way down the system to the executive branch of the government (health care) to the Democrats and Establishment Republicans (taxes) to the revolving door entry of oligarchs in and out of government….and, thus, the abuses Garland details.
The greater and greater abuses -the health care situation, the greater and greater tax takes -- are all written by the staffs of congressmen working with the lobbyists to draft pro-lobbyist legislation; the people are not represented in congressional offices.
The lobbyists’ objective is to get more tax money for themselves and their projects. The biggest lobbyists of all, of course, are the bankers. For instance, while bank lobbyist and oligarch vampire, Robert Rubin, was in charge of the Treasury Department, he spearheaded the push for deregulating the financial sector, allowing another member of the vampire oligarchy, Sandy Weill, to arrogantly hang a wood etching of himself in his office engraved with the words “The Shatterer of Glass–Steagall.”
Rubin soon thereafter took a job at Citigroup — which came into being thanks to deregulation — earning at least $15 million a year.
Writes Robert Reich today on Sandy Weill on the Angry Bear Blog: “If any single person is responsible for Wall Street banks becoming too big to fail it’s Sandy Weill. In 1998 he created the financial powerhouse Citigroup by combining Traveler’s Insurance and Citibank. To cash in on the combination, Weill then successfully lobbied the Clinton administration to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act – the Depression-era law that separated commercial from investment banking. And he hired my former colleague Bob Rubin, then Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury, to oversee his new empire.” And that's the mere tip of central planning abuse and cronyism corruption.
Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/Hzoh/~3/s8c4GJHP2y0/robert-reich-and-sandy-weill.html#ixzz221xGvdcM
Yeah but... They're all doing "God's Work", dontcha know?
If you were aware of only a selection of all the articles David Galland has written so far, then you'd realize your response is so utterly ignorant.
This is a hot topic for sure and it's complicated as well. On the healthcare side, yes we had the reform bill, but if you not awae the former HHS executive credited with writing the law now works as a VP at United HealthCare. What does that tell you? It reminds me of the financials to a degree, as now they have an inside track to the processes that happen with the government and can use more analytics to figure out how to possible find loopholes in the law for greater profits? Think about that one. What does a former US executive that was held in such high regard going to do at a "for profit" insurance company besdies make more money?
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/06/us-health-insurance-regulator-lea...
Like the fisherman in the article here, I don't think we take care of citizens very well who create tangible products we need in the US either. We are too busy trying to base an economy on "algorithms" whether used in markets or in other areas of business with analytics. We are out of balance wiht tangibles/intangibles and not too many are smart enough to see this. When it comes to taxes, there's a big pool out there of "data sellers" and brokers making billions in profits "getting their data for nothing and their profits for free" so why not tax this group with an excise tax and license the data sellers. I did a post on a major medical device company that says the new device tax is the reason they have cancelled their expansion as money will have to go to pay taxes instead of building new factories. Think about that a bit as one industry should not be singled out and when the healthcare reform law was written, economics were different, so time to see if it still fits and I don't think so. As I have noted many times with selling data if in 2010 Walgreens made just short of $800 million selling data only, think of how large this pool for taxing is. Bring in the banks, HFT, social networks, you name it as selling/mining data is so integrated into how the US does business today.
The Cook Medical Device story says exactly what I have been saying for quite a while with no incentive for companies to expand as why would companies spend millions or billions with expansion efforts to create products when there's a choide out here to hire a few geeks, write some code and algorithms and get the profits for free? We are out of balance with our lust for algoirthms that generate "desired" and maybe not always "accurate" results so a tax I feel on the data sellers could stand to not only create revenue but also even it up with the tangibles/intangibles and again create an environment to where companies that do produce tangibles, which we need to survive, be it food, clothes, drugs, etc. to where they stand a chance instead of more code and algorithms running the show. Of course banks elevate the code and data market every chance they get and I think society has been "Algo Duped" with a lot of this. Here's one company making their case on this tax. Not good right now to single out one industry and again look at the data sellers instead for a source of taxes and you could almost bet that $30 billion in taxes they project in a decade would probably be met in half the time.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/07/cook-medical-cancels-plans-for-fa...
Algo Duping, sadly is alive and well and it get worse even with all the flawed data that is on the rise out there too. It kind of goes like this sometimes: ”Hey dude let’s crunch some numbers and see if we can come up with some analytics to sell” and that's why I started the series about the Attack of the Killer Algoirthms showing every day life examples of how this plays out.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2012/07/big-data-flawed-data-business.htm...
"In a world like that, where roadblocks are set up all over the place and without any real thought to the consequences to road users, imagine how difficult it could be to get from Point A to Point B."
Strange to hear the most vocal opinions coming from the dirty mouths of the same people who rant about anything government does for them. Why don't you fellows stick to your privately operated roads instead?!
"Behind the scenes, however, they kowtow to the environoids and special interests by littering the landscape with roadblocks that prevent energy companies from achieving and innovating our way to exactly the independence they tell us we must have at all costs!"
Perhaps the people realized that waiting a full century filled with mega-sized profits for the energy companies was a waste of trust. Break them up, shut them down, and instead create one nationalized energy company, and operate it as a utiliy with the mandate that suits the people. And not the boni hungry executive class, which gives a damn about energy independence, which prefers to see the guzzler-addicted brain-deads coming back for higher doses each year.
"By meddling in the market in order to allow the debt-bloated government to continue its out-of-control spending, the Fed has suppressed interest rates to the lowest levels in US history."
Comrade, not to rain on your parade, but the Fed desperately tries to get the over-leveraged financial zombie houses recapitalized by allowing them to borrow cheap and lend the money longer term, at a rich markup. That a gullible and hijacked government plays along is shameful indeed. Spain's bank recently nicely showed how such a maturity mismatch can play out, but then big government will ride to the rescue of these so all-important institutions.
"That the US government's activities as a share of GDP have gone from well under 10% at the beginning of the last century to over 40% today – and will go over 50% by the time Obamacare is fully implemented – makes it clear that this country is now operating on principles that run completely contrary to those that promote success and economic well-being."
Not exactly, Got to see that most of the government expenditures are going to guarantee a healthy profit for vast slices of the corporate tax-evaders. While the mere people get thrown under the bus. Another clever mind once smartly observed:
"To paraphrase a line from AIG’s rescue plea, government backstops are the oxygen of the free-enterprise system. Without the promise of protection against life’s adversities, the fundamentals of capitalism are undermined, and we would all be on the road to serfdom."
Great to see through the hypocrisy of the largest recipients of governmental welfare. Of welfare they never paid a single dime for.
"That a gullible and hijacked government plays along is shameful indeed."
This is why you are wrong. There is nothing gullible or hijacked about the government. It is simply government being what it is. Thinking otherwise is willful ignorance or extraordinary naïvete.
Iceland, Switzerland and Norway are but few examples to contradict your opinion.
<<people in their 70s who have worked hard and saved all their lives are being reduced to serving up French fries at fast-food joints.>>
I just wish that fast food octogenarian serving the fries would leave his walker at home. It makes the place look bad and the fries fall off the paper plate
All you need to know about government:
"They Want YOUR Money"....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBzJGckMYO4
Coming soon: Pre-Roadblocks and Pre-Regulations.
Pre-expectations: Pre-employment boost at the Department of Pre-Crimes.
maybe next up will be American pre-citizenism or is that premature citizenaculation?
i saw this "article" on another site last wednesday
i didn't think it was well done then, either
quite a few of the dCasey crowd are doing the political stuff for mittens, not just galland... all the repeal dodd/frank guys, none of whom may have read the lengthy law itself
the FED is now operating under dodd/frank
it is a bankstering law; not about high schools or road blocks; and the CDS market still hasn't been "subjected to regulation" totally, not has the "volkerRule" yet been defined, perhaps...
i have been trying to encourage zeroHeads to study the d/f law; some of the law review articles are not too shabby. rilly; this LAW is now over two years IN FORCE in the US
why increase our knowledge here? b/c of ignorance and propaganda that it is "good" or "bad" (jMauldin); or must be "implemented" or "repealed" (mitterns) or "changed" (jMauldin)
the FED lost some power over its "emergency credit" plays, but gained other supervisory control and broadened regualtory powers which it can actually make up as it goes along--just like galland's school-teacher's nemesis here, fairly enuf too, i'd say
here is one law review's [Paste} ideas of what mighta happened
:> Key Measures to Address Systemic Risk. Under the Act, for the first time, the mitigation of systemic risk and the maintenance of system-wide financial stability will be regulatory objectives. Our analysis covers the powers of the new Financial Stability Oversight Council established to fulfill these objectives and their application to financial firms, including nonbank financial companies.<:
let me try to get this thru; even to the wing-nuts, tippecanoe, and tyler, too:
:> Under the Act, for the first time, the mitigation of systemic risk and the maintenance of system-wide financial stability will be regulatory objectives. <:
imo, it is not too intelligent to try to follow the FED without this information, even here; with this info it is possible to increase one's understanding of what the banksters are doing and why
and i think we are also seeing that the systemic mitigation of "risk" may be mitigating "rewards" as well... here and there...
so QEI&II last year make some sense as stabilizing measures, but the RISK of inflation makes QEIII not only systemically unnecessary but "risky" which is something tyler has completely MISSED for over a year here, simply b/c he seems to be unwilling or unable to grasp that the FED's job has changed and HOW it has changed
the pols just simply want the banksters to do one thing for them at this point and it ain't too confusing if you just stop and take time to undestand wtf that "one thing" (thanks, curly!) might BE:
so tippecanoe and: the checks are in the fuking mail for august, now, too
welcome to america, BiCheZ!
Democracy is like driving a car with two hands on the steering wheel .... too much pull from the left .... you have a head on collision with reality .... too much right hand pull .... you skid into the ditch, "pick yourself up. dust yourself off and start all over again" ! Too much accelerator "stimulus" and you have a run away ! Too much paper the engine knocks ! We need to fill the tank with premium gasoline i.e. gold ! Monedas 1929 Comedy Jihad Word Cartoons For Literate Liberals
Democracy is pure crap. It would be nice to have a republic, however, but ours died a long time ago.
Bonus question: How many times is the word democracy mentioned in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution? (Oooooo...tricky.)
Republic is code for "long-term tyranny"
Democracy is far better than a republic and even better is a coalition of city-states with a BANISHMENT of the Nation-state central-controller. No republic ever, thank you
Ya got it just backwards, Bogus. Pay attention in school next year.
You better listen to him in class - his train of thoughts suggests he'll be your teacher.
Obama has grown the welfare state far faster than the economy has recovered, creating legions of Democrat zombie voters.
http://confoundedinterest.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/the-feds-fomc-decision-hands-tied-by-excessive-regulations-and-poor-m2-money-velocity/
Let them eat rand ! We are tolerant, open minded people .... we enjoy your input and are not threatened by it .... we gladly let you expose yourself ! If one of us goes to the Huffington Post .... our comments are screened before being posted .... I'd love to be a fly on the wall in that nest of moderator liberal vipers ! Soooo, who are the insecure control freaks ? Not us ! Those empty seats at the Olympics would be full if they had been sold to the highest bidder with complete rights to re-sell them ! If you can't sell it .... you never owned it !
We are tolerant, open minded people .... we enjoy your input and are not threatened by it ....
_________________
Who is that we?
This is the Internet. And while many US citizens posting on this site might wish to get rid of some other posters in here, only a few have the power to enact a banishment act.
It is quite useless to call up tolerance, open mindedness when you have not the power of being intolerant or narrowminded.
A distinction that is not unknown to US citizens, but as they are driven by their duplicity, they feel the needs to deny that bit of reality.
Im not saying embrace the gun as the only means for change, but many many times throughout history has a dedicated force with far inferior weaponry prevailed. The second ammenment has not been tested yet, and I believe your assumption is just that. Numbers count. Being indigenous counts. Fighting for the right reason counts.
"The Road to Serfdom" __ Friedrich A. Hayek - Quotes
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/670307.Friedrich_A_von_Hayek
Ayn Rand was a parlaogism nihilistic misanthrophlie, period! 'Atlas Shrugged' isn't worthy to be on a humanist reading shelf for the most liberal and liberated mindset! She reminds me of Maureen Dowd,... whom happens to be anti-anything as long as it prints!
jmo
Ps. Great read until you mention randy[?], Ayn?
The primary tool the American government has is the voluntary support given by its citizens; if that is withdrawn there can be no government and, thus, no force.
The conversation between Francisco and Hank Rearden in Atlas Shrugged exposes the question as to what happens should the producers shrug off those who ride their backs, as they will:
"Mr. Rearden," said Francisco, his voice solemnly calm, "if you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier he world bore down on his shoulders - what would you tell him to do?"
"I... don't know. What... could he do? What would you tell him?"
"To shrug."
It is the great minds and producers of the world whom Rand champions in her novel. The efforts of these individuals maintain a society; they are the atlas of society. Again, what happens if those people were to shrug?
So in your Randian paradise are the "producers" interested in anything other than bottom line? In which case, would the multinationals who would turn us into third world worker units be Atlas in your example? How do you reconcile the gaming of the system to achieve unfair advantage by the monopolies who always form in free market capitalism?
Quite simply: by dismissing that monopolies/oligopolies are a natural output of a competition process and by claiming that monopolies are the result of government interferences.
So, in the end, in a free market, monopolies cant form and such you do not have to deal with the issue of their formation.
Denial of a problem is a way to solve a problem.
Lavishly used by US citizens.
what?! you can write without using the word citizenism or using the wrong tense of verbs? I should turn to whiskey citizenism.
No one's ever seen a monopoly form in free-market capitalism. We've only ever seen government run monopolies or army-run monopolies, some of which are quasi-government but none of which are market-oriented.
You have an interesting claim that a monopoly will form but you should provide some evidence.
Instead I suspect a wild oscillation that power can tip and unbalance itself but if the system that forms is unstable it will break. A monopoly can be sustainable if the people are indeed very happy with it. Otherwise the people will constantly attack and steal where no market-competitor is. e.g. oil companies are a cartel, mafia thieves, so people feel no guilt stealing gas at the pump. None. And the higher prices go the more often this happens. Pipelines are ruptured to steal what leaks out. Oil workers are shot at and barely anyone feels guity about it, or shocked or sad.
After all, why pity a Shell pipeline worker in Nigeria, working to profit by poisoning the water and land, stealing from the people who live there and have no power to control what they "own" right underneath them and all around them, why pity that fucker more than a wall street banker who writes forged loans or bribes judges?
LOL...of course, what the magical Randians always seem to forget is that "Atlas Shrugged" is FICTION. Get it? It's MAKE-BELIEVE. In fiction, there are no rules. There's no need or requirement to address actual, real-life issues or limitations. Anything goes! People can fly in fiction. They can be invisible. They can rule the world by making sweeping, unsubstantiated generalizations about other human beings without ever having to provide any kind of substantiation or evidence for their "theories"--they can just say it, and it is so! That's why so many lazy, shallow, Americans are attracted to Ayn Rand's work: It's easy! It doesn't require any real thought or work. Like religion, it provides simple answers to complicated questions. Ayn Rand is the PERFECT writer for a nation of sugar- and TV-addled halfwits...
Here's a great way to get around those silly governmental roadblocks: dump your used oil into a river at night.
The beauty of Obama's galloping socialism, is that the sooner the governments crash the economy, the faster their rule will end, and people can start acting in their own best interests. I do feel sorry for those who aren't able to cope with change, but as for me, bring it on.
What socialism? Where? All I see is a mislabeled funnel. This funnel takes your money by force and puts it into Big Pharma and into black-box government coffers. Same as before just more than last time.
Anyone would be a fool to think this is socialism for healthcare will be denied even more than before as it is INSURANCE, not CARE.
It's still America, not Canada, home of the sick, land of the naive.
I'm 99% sure you can't cope with the change coming, not if you stay in America. Drought, starvation, hyperinflation, robbing looters with rocket-launchers, drones with nerve gas ? No, you're not ready.
Just another Foxified libertarian, who let others tell them what to think. Anybody with critical thinking skills intact knows there is practically no difference between Obama and Romney.