Good Summary of Current Debt Issues

I ran across a rarity, a good summary of the current "sovereign" debt crises. I put "sovereign" in quotes for an important reason. The debt crises is much wider than the current focus on government's problems and calling the current iteration of the debt crises "sovereign" is completely misleading.

The article was on Marketwatch and you can read it here.

It starts out with:

The debt mountain that brought down some of the world's biggest banks and dragged the international financial system to the brink of disaster has simply shifted to governments.

But from then on, it focuses entirely on the debt levels in the hands of governments.

What is desperately missing from EVERYTHING I read about the "credit crises", the "debt crises" the "bailouts" etc. is anything about where all of the "cash" that was "lent" to create all this "debt" went. Wall Street does not "create" money. Lenders lend money based on a fractional reserve system which ultimately "creates" money. However, what really happened over the first decade of this century was the largest wholesale transfer of "cash", "real money" from the legacy banking system, pension funds, 401k's etc. to the unregulated "financial industry" and the pockets of the people who ran / run that industry (which incidentally, after 1999 deregulation included much of the regulated banking industry as well since they were part of larger conglomerate organizations that sought to rape their retail customers with fees that became 1/3 of their profits and steal their savings by transferring their money to the unregulated pyramid schemes and gambling ventures fed by reckless lending) including Private Equity, Hedge Funds and other unregulated financial ventures. Along with the hoarding of cash by countless corporate executives who pull tens of billions of dollars every quarter from both the "publicly traded" companies and those held by "private equity" firms, there was the approximately $5 Trillion in "profits", "bonuses" and "fees" that came out of every transaction over the course of about a decade.. 

This sum of money came to light in a Bloomberg article I read some weeks ago:

The suits provide a window into the offshore structures and secrecy jurisdictions the world’s richest people use to manage, preserve and conceal their assets. According to Tax Justice Network, a U.K.-based organization that campaigns for transparency in the financial system, wealthy individuals were hiding as much as $32 trillion offshore at the end of 2010. Fewer than 100,000 people own $9.8 trillion of offshore assets, according to research compiled by former McKinsey & Co. economist James Henry.

You should read the entire 5 part series.  Very good stuff.

Now, I had another thought when reading this series.  It seems that from France to England to Singapore and Hong Kong that "governments" are getting fed up with tax evasion while the developed world is mired in debt.  Now it is not the fault of the industialists and financiers that so many governments are bankrupt, but they have benefited from the process more than anyone, in fact they are the chief beneficiaries esp as governments seek to keep the bondholders, stockholders and large depositors "whole" while raping the taxpayers (citizens) of their financial futures.  So as we enter the next "phase" of crises, from debt, to Syria to the implosion of N. Africa and the Middle East to Pakastan and the inability of bankrupt "democratic" nations to deal with the fallout, the piper must be paid.  Technology makes it much easier to track all this cash and now the NSA pretty much has a database of all communications since BEFORE the financial crises, it seems it would not be much effort to root out the cash and say to the holders of these $30 Trillion:

The governments of the world that matter (those industrial nations where all the technology is held irrespective of the slaves that actually produce everything) need to deal with a rapidly disintegrating global stability in order to prevent another wholesale globally destructive war, but we don't have any money.  The $30 Trillion held by the industrialist / global rich, spread out amongst the top bankrupt industrial nations, would just about bring us to break even.  In order to ensure a future (read future stability and markets to sell to) for humanity without wholesale destruction, we are going to confiscate your cash.  We will allow you to keep your productive assets as we will need your productive capacity to wage our campaign to stabilize the planet.  So you may loose your current cash, but you will have the capacity to make it all back inside of a generation (15 years +/-).  You may not like this, but you have no choice.  There simply is nowhere left on earth to hide and we need the money.

 Mark my words on this one.  It is going to happen.

Buffett Chain Mail? What a Joke!

I received this message in a "chain mail" today:

Wind of Change
Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. At least 20 if you can. It has to stop somewhere.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have this message.

This is one idea that really should be passed around.
*Congressional Reform Act of 2013
1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman/woman collects a
salary while in office, and receives no
pay when they're out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional Retirement Fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into
the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congressmen/women can purchase their own retirement plans, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise
by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same
health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/13. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.
Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message.
Don't you think it's time?
THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!
If you agree with the above, pass it on.  If not, just delete.
You are one of my 20+ - Please keep it going, and thanks.

This message came from someone I know as an artist, curator, professional in the arts for his entire career.  Sad that we have gotten to a point that someone like this, like any American would buy into this kind of BS.

My response was this:

Hmmmm,
Perhaps this message creates a pause and a thought...  With the US economy, it's increasingly oligopolised industries and income disparity raging out of control, one should question taking advise from a 21st century raging industrialist who has amassed a company employing 300,000 people and makes billions of dollars on everything from insurance to railroads, power companies and candy bars.

Imagine if email existed in 1913 and this message came from JP Morgan.  Do you think the American People, who had not yet been indoctrinated into the "entrepreneur is a hero" myth that has been sold to us with increasing vigor since these "entrepreneurs" crashed the global financial system in 2008, leaving only mega industrialists and oligopolies that were immune from lowering prices, gouging the consumer with ever higher prices and ever lower quality goods produced by slave labor that is mostly off of our shores while over 35,000,000 Americans (about 1/4 of the work force) might as well also be called "slave labor" as their average hourly wage is about $7.50 an hour, would rally to spread the word of JP Morgan?

Yea, the Wall Street financed PR message and brainwashing by the corporate media actually leaves smart thoughtful people sending chain mails to pronounce the desires of one of the world's largest industrialists.

Think about this message.  What does every industrialist want? 
* Less government = yes
* Less efficient government = yes
* Less need to buy off politicians = yes
* Stronger industry financed "think tanks" that can create every more industry favorable legislation that a bunch of green legislators would "rubber stamp" even more so than now = yes
* Larger and more powerful military to give the industrialists more access to raw materials and energy = yes
* Larger and more powerful military to ensure the "citizens" are kept at bay while the real tax on society, oligopolistic profits, maintain their growth and enrich those who own the largest companies while completely undermining the rights of the workers = yes
* Access to cheap money to continue to amass every larger conglomerates = yes
* To sum up: A completely unhindered capitalist playground with no regulations or protections for the people (workers) = yes
* To take over all government protections for it's citizens like Social Security = yes

I could go on as you might well know.  What is wrong with our government is not it's pensions or pay raises.  What is wrong with our government is that it has been completely corrupted by the military industrial complex and corporate lobbying (35,000 people and $5,000,000,000 a year estimate in Washington alone). 

If Warren Buffet really cared about better government he would be sending out a "voter registration application" and a strong appeal that all Americans take the time to follow his newly created Newsletter (housed in one of his already existing 3 media properties) that informs Americans weekly of the ignorant and pro-industry legislation that is consistently passed / rubber stamped by our government with pretty citizen friendly names that in fact are anything but citizen friendly.  Maybe he would be encouraging Americans to get involved in their local governments, attend community meetings, attend election rallies, write their congressperson and ask them why the US Legislative Branch of Government has FAILED TO EVEN PASS AN ANNUAL BUDGET IN THREE YEARS, one of the most fundamental and basic responsibilities in government!!

No, Good old Warren would not dare to do that!!!  He is an industrialist operating in the largest capitalist playground in the world and he wants MORE!!  And you?  Well just like the famous words of David Lee Roth from the band Van Halen sang right about the start of the cycle (1978) that has created the economic environment we now live in, Warren can sing loud and clear:  "if you want it got to bleed for it baby !"   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_-fmg23UXk

Life is a responsibility not a right.  Digest that for a minute!

I dare you to pass this note around!

P

Buffett Assets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Berkshire_Hathaway
JP Morgan info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Berkshire_Hathaway

America, Land of the Free

Yes, if you are in the right shoes in America, you are Free from the Law, Free from Responsibility and you get a Free Ride on the Capitalist Train that keeps you Free of Any Consequences for reckless action.  This truly is the Capitalist Playground of the Earth where you can recklessly dupe hundreds of billions of dollars from any source that is stupid enough to play with you and it is all considered Clean Fun and be Dammed if your actions destroy lives, are detrimental to society or bankrupt companies leaving your customers out billions of dollars.

Yes, America is a great land and a place for every punk ass spoiled 72 degree pig that gets an ivy league education to rob, steal, cheat or by any other means rake out as much money from the rest of the ignorant ass working stiff who could not define the word "market" if they had $100,000 sitting in a suitcase in front of them. 

I don't think there is a nation on the planet where the populace has their every move dictated by the whims of the corporate super citizens that operate around them stealing as much from them as humanly possible while at the same time canceling any voting "authority" they may have, all with complete impunity.

Here you go.  In brief, Corzine is off Scott Free by Department of "Justice" (what a joke of a name for the institution, it should be renamed "Department of Ivy League Values Superimposed on Those Without the Money or Power or Knowledge to Know the Difference") even though the Commodities Futures Trading Commission has filed "civil" charges against him successfully.

Yes the CFTC can use evidence like: "To support the allegations, the CFTC used a recorded telephone conversations to support their charges that Corzine was fully aware of the transfers."

But the DOJ does not have enough evidence.  The God Damn Defence Department has recorded damn near everything since 2007, before the "Financial Crises" really hit the fan, but nobody, I mean NOBODY has any evidence to charge anyone "criminally" for anything that happened.  Yea, just pay some "fines" and go about raping the country my man.

God Bless America...

Independence Day

Due to an event on 3 July I was helping to produce, I ended up home in Washington, DC for the 4th of July.  I called on my friend Keith, who I know does not trek down to the Mall, to hang out a bit in the neighborhood.  After a couple beers at the local attempt to open a "local only" grocery, which is becoming less of a "local only" grocery as the new owners quickly realized would completely fail as a business model, we head to another watering hole where multiple TVs blare useless garbage all day.  Is there anything worse then Wolf Blitzer talking about Egypt?  I don't think so.  But not to be undone, there was our Commander and Chief making some kind of a speech on the balcony of his temporary home at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, just few blocks away from where Keith and I were enjoying our hormone / antibiotic / GM fed, Sysco delivered chicken wings.

It was unbelievable.  Did he have anything to say about our independence?  Rights? No Way!!  (He saved that for his weekly address apparently)  Those are being taken away as fast under his administration as they were under door knob idiot president W. before him, in fact things are getting worse.  Here is my statement on our 4th of July Celebration for 2013 after hearing / reading (on the teleprompter) some of his balcony statement before asking the bartender to please turn it off!!

Saw the pathetic speech by our military commander, I mean president, who took a celebration of independence and our bill of rights, things we are loosing more every day, and instead of celebrating these rapidly declining freedoms, he spews out all this shit about wounded warriors and military this and that. I am through with this military run nation and these thoughtless drones who participate and don't have a clue how badly damaged our reputation is becoming every day all over the planet. Yes, independence day!  It is all a charade to hypnotize the masses and reinforce the well orchestrated myth that is America. I shall not celebrate again until this nation is free again from the shackles of the military domination and control.  Where our best and brightest can contribute to humanity instead of only having the opportunity to contribute to destruction.