STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, February 17, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH,Thursday, February 17, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON February 16, 2011

Dow 12,288.17 +61.53 (+0.50%)
Nasdaq 2,825.56 +21.21 (+0.75%)
S&P 500 1,336.32 +8.31 (+0.62%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.60 -0.02 (-0.64%)
30-Year Bond 4.66 -0.02 (-0.43%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Handy Links - Government Issues:
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Handy Links - Videos:
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    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren
Dishonorable Mention: former House majority leader, Tom DeLay

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Oil hovers below $85 amid Middle East tensions

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered near $85 a barrel Thursday in Asia on investor concern political upheaval in the Middle East could spread and disrupt crude supplies.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 6 cents at $84.93 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 67 cents to settle at $84.99 on Wednesday.

In London, Brent crude for April delivery rose 25 cents to $104.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday that Iran was about to send two warships to Syria through the Suez Canal for the first time in years, but he offered no evidence. The Egyptian authority that runs the canal denied it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[Tansy_Gold]

2. That 'toon is sooooo depressing.

True, but depressing.

K&R



TG

[Demeter]

26. Reagan was a Better Story Teller

[Tansy_Gold]

36. I've noticed

that Obama is not as good off the cuff as he is delivering a prepared script speech.



TG, TT

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. Interesting reports today

Feb 17 08:30 CPI Jan 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5%
Feb 17 08:30 Core CPI Jan 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%
Feb 17 08:30 Initial Claims 02/12 415K 408K 383K
Feb 17 08:30 Continuing Claims 02/05 3900K 3900K 3888K
Feb 17 10:00 Leading Indicators Jan 0.2% 0.3% 1.0%
Feb 17 10:00 Philadelphia Fed Feb 20.0 21.0 19.3

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

[Pale Blue Dot]

11. Everything so far is slightly worse than "expected".

More details shortly.

[Pale Blue Dot]

13. U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise 25,000 to 410,000 Last Week

More Americans than projected filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, a sign the improvement in the labor market will take time to develop.

Applications for jobless benefits increased by 25,000 to 410,000 in the week ended Feb. 12, exceeding the 400,000 median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, Labor Department figures showed today. The total number of people receiving unemployment insurance was little changed, while those collecting extended payments decreased.

A reduction in firings by U.S. firms is needed to keep unemployment going down. Bigger job gains are needed to boost consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the world’s largest economy.

“Conditions in the labor market will continue to be tenuous as firms look for a sustained pickup in sales,” Maxwell Clarke, chief U.S. economist at IDEAglobal in New York, said before the report. “Claims should remain at an elevated level for some time but should continue along a gradual downward path in the months to come.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-17/u-s-initial-jobless-claims-rise-25-000-to-410-000-last-week.html

"a sign the improvement in the labor market will take time to develop." ARGHHHH!!! :argh:

[Warpy]

61. Xmas is over, the inventories have been done

so it's time to kick 'em out the door again. Most of them will be living on unemployment and food stamps until next November, when the same jobs will open up.

And most of them won't connect the dots to who exactly is responsible for their having to live on 3 1/2 months' employment a year, the dole the rest of the time.

Until that party ends the dole. And they will.

[Pale Blue Dot]

14. Consumer Prices in U.S. Climb More Than Forecast on Food, Fuel

The cost of living in the U.S. climbed more than forecast in January, led by higher prices for food and fuel that may be starting to filter through to other goods and services.

The consumer-price index increased 0.4 percent for a second month, exceeding the 0.3 percent median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. The so-called core rate, which excludes volatile food and fuel costs, rose 0.2 percent, the biggest gain since October 2009.

Growing economies in Asia and Latin America are boosting global demand for oil and other commodities, raising costs for American factories. Accelerating growth is prompting some companies to carry out beginning-of-year price increases even as consumers remain constrained by unemployment at 9 percent.

“We are seeing turn-of-the year price increases,” Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, said before the report. “Firms are really struggling with this. They want to raise prices and want to feel their way through and get away with it before consumers start to protest.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-17/consumer-prices-in-u-s-rise-more-than-forecast-on-higher-food-fuel-costs.html

[Roland99]

19. Oh...it's just those silly "turn-of-the-year" price increases.

that's all. Ok...I'm good with that.

[Pale Blue Dot]

37. Index of Leading Economic Indicators in the U.S. Climbed 0.1% (check out the spin!)

The index of U.S. leading indicators rose in January for the seventh straight month, signaling the expansion will extend into this year.

The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months increased 0.1 percent after rising 0.8 percent in December, the New York-based group said today. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was a 0.2 percent gain.

Rising consumer spending, business investment and exports are ensuring the economy continues to grow even as housing remains depressed. Today’s report is in line with the view of Federal Reserve policy makers, according to minutes of their meeting released yesterday, that the recovery is on a “firmer footing” while the labor market was improving ‘gradually.”

“Things have gotten better in the economy,” Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets Corp. in New York, said before the report. “We’ll see fairly decent consumption through this year. The recovery is moving in the right direction.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-17/leading-u-s-indicators-rise-a-seventh-month-in-sign-expansion-to-continue.html

lolololol

[Pale Blue Dot]

38. Philly Area Factories See Best Month Since 2004

Worth bearing in mind, while the February numbers were very strong, the indexes detail the breadth of change seen in a given measure, not the magnitude of the change. The report indicates most area factory operators are seeing growth but has little to say about how much more business they are seeing. That said, the report noted “firms remain confident that an expansion of manufacturing activity will continue over the next six months.”

In the report, the Philadelphia Fed detailed considerable strength. Hiring picked up, with the employment index at 23.6 from 17.6 in January. New orders were 23.7 from 23.6 while shipments hit 35.2 from 13.4.

Inflationary forces surged, with the prices paid index for January at 67.2 from 54.3, while the prices received index stood at 21.0 versus 17.1.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/02/17/philly-area-factories-see-best-month-since-2004/

[xchrom]

4. recommend

[Festivito]

5. Debt: 02/15/2011 14,138,085,120,211.66 (UP 56,523,795,529.83) (Tue, UP a lot.)

(Good afternoon. Debt to the Penny may fail to load and you would need to keep refreshing(F5).)
What a debt to the penny pain. Late now.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,502,102,547,695.89 + 4,635,982,572,515.77
UP 48,146,191,309.44 + UP 8,377,604,220.39

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,211.59 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.63, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 311,372,192 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,405.74.
A family of three owes $136,217.22. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 5,915,526,515.48.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,338,052,778.02.
The average for the last 32 days would be 4,066,924,479.39.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 95 reports in 138 days of FY2011 averaging 6.07B$ per report, 4.18B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 705 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.8T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
02/15/2011 14,138,085,120,211.66 BHO (UP 3,511,208,071,298.58 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,576,462,089,319.90 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,524,700,453,635.97 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
01/26/2011 -000,112,154,254.52 ---
01/27/2011 -004,717,116,457.79 --
01/28/2011 +002,605,585,609.92 ------------*********
01/31/2011 +072,534,426,006.14 ------------********** Mon
02/01/2011 -002,841,687,784.84 --
02/02/2011 +000,160,101,452.72 ------------********
02/03/2011 -011,756,222,449.85 -
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon
02/08/2011 +000,098,708,298.02 ------------*******
02/09/2011 +000,070,875,766.12 ------------*******
02/10/2011 -016,083,331,993.98 -
02/11/2011 -000,131,455,172.80 ---
02/14/2011 -001,050,366,540.96 -- Mon
02/15/2011 +048,146,191,309.44 ------------**********

86,996,428,435.35 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4734921&mesg_id=4734934

[Festivito]

65. Debt: 02/16/2011 14,129,889,690,377.50 (DOWN 8,195,429,834.16) (Wed, UP a little.)

(Good day.)
Finally. A salad. A meal with no meat.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,502,216,756,164.15 + 4,627,672,934,213.35
UP 114,208,468.26 + DOWN 8,309,638,302.42

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,211.52 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.63, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 311,379,392 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,378.37.
A family of three owes $136,135.11. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 33 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 5,302,006,674.19.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,064,871,783.55.
The average for the last 33 days would be 3,695,337,985.04.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 96 reports in 139 days of FY2011 averaging 5.92B$ per report, 4.09B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 704 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.8T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
02/16/2011 14,129,889,690,377.50 BHO (UP 3,503,012,641,464.42 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,568,266,659,485.80 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,492,211,012,318.83 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
01/27/2011 -004,717,116,457.79 --
01/28/2011 +002,605,585,609.92 ------------*********
01/31/2011 +072,534,426,006.14 ------------********** Mon
02/01/2011 -002,841,687,784.84 --
02/02/2011 +000,160,101,452.72 ------------********
02/03/2011 -011,756,222,449.85 -
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon
02/08/2011 +000,098,708,298.02 ------------*******
02/09/2011 +000,070,875,766.12 ------------*******
02/10/2011 -016,083,331,993.98 -
02/11/2011 -000,131,455,172.80 ---
02/14/2011 -001,050,366,540.96 -- Mon
02/15/2011 +048,146,191,309.44 ------------**********
02/16/2011 +000,114,208,468.26 ------------********

87,222,791,158.13 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4736548&mesg_id=4736555

[AnneD]

6. Darn....

second rec. Morning all. It will be drive by posts today.

Do you ever get the feeling that the only difference between this day and the next is the size of the sh!t sandwich . My hats off to those folks in Wisconsin. I hope we can get a crowd like that when we go to lobby day.

[DemReadingDU]

7. I was first rec!

:)
Good Day All!


edit: Labor unrest in Ohio too. Our new Republican governor Kasich, has said he is eliminating collective bargaining, and other things that Democrats worked hard for.

2/16/11 Labor packs Ohio Statehouse, protests union limits
Hundreds of union protesters again packed the Statehouse in protest on Tuesday as government officials from around the state lined up in support of a bill that would wipe out Ohio's nearly 30-year-old collective bargaining law and make other union changes.
A crowd of firefighters, police officers and other public employees overflowed the hearing room, packing cat walks and filling the Statehouse Atrium and Rotunda to standing-room-only capacity for much of the afternoon. It was the second week that hearings on the bill drew such crowds.
more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-16/labor-packs-ohio-statehouse-protests-union-limits.html

[Fuddnik]

8. Republican extremists don't care.

They think they're on a mission from God.

All their talk about jobs and the economy, and once in office, it's right back to the culture war, union busting and tax cuts for the rich.

[DemReadingDU]

9. Gov. Kasich says he regrets calling officer an ‘idiot’

2/17/11 Gov. Kasich says he regrets calling officer an ‘idiot’

Gov. John Kasich on Wednesday said he regrets his choice of words when he told a group of state workers a few weeks ago that a Columbus police officer was an “idiot” for pulling him over for a traffic violation.

“I regret the choice of words that I used to describe the incident,” Kasich said.

Officer Robert Barrett ticketed Kasich on Jan. 8, 2008 on Ohio 315 for approaching a public safety vehicle with its emergency lights on. Kasich paid the $85 in fines and costs and was assessed two points on his driver’s license, according to court records. Bureau of Motor Vehicle records show it is his only violation in the last 10 years.

“Have you ever been stopped by a policeman who was an idiot?” Kasich told an audience of 1,200 Environmental Protection Agency employees on Jan. 21. “I had this idiot pull me over on 315.”

Kasich told the crowd the officer gave him a ticket and said, “‘You must report to court. If you don’t report to court, we’re putting a warrant out for your arrest.’ He’s an idiot. We just can’t act that way and what people resent are people who are in government who don’t treat the client with respect.”

Columbus Police Sgt. Rich Weiner on Wednesday said the police cruiser video of the 18-minute traffic stop shows the officer acted professionally. Weiner said the footage could be used as a training video for recruits.

Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said, “The governor, of course, respects the important work of law enforcement officers and regrets his poor choice of words in describing his frustration in receiving a ticket. The point of the governor’s remarks to Ohio EPA employees was to stress that all public employees must provide better, more responsive service to taxpayers.”

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/politics/gov-kasich-says-he-regrets-calling-officer-an-idiot-1083376.html


Kasich is taking away collective bargaining and then calls an officer an 'idiot'!
Ooops, I think he has just lost all support of the police.

[AnneD]

12. If I had to come in second.....

I'm glad it was you. We both reached for the same penny and bumped nogging.

I think we will enter a time of social unrest, like the 60's. But I think this time government will be nastier to us because we will be classified as 'terrorists'.

[DemReadingDU]

17. Agree that it's going to turn uneasy

But as long as the government can dole out food stamps and unemployment to help people pay a few bills, they can be kept calm. But as soon as the money and food run out, kaboom. And already some people no longer can get unemployment. :(

[Pale Blue Dot]

27. I agree. Until yesterday, I believed that Americans were too comfortable and complacent to protest.

Now I see that I was wrong, and that this can turn quickly. I don't know whether I'm more happy or afraid, you know?

[DemReadingDU]

52. It's good the media is covering Wisconsin

It gives courage to people in other states to protest peacefully too. So many union benefits took years to receive, and governors think they can just eliminate them. People are upset!

But as we're seeing in Bahrain, protests can lead to violence. :(

[Fuddnik]

25. Welcome to the real world. Idiot.

If Kasich were black, he might have gotten a whap, upside the head to boot.

And If it was after your proposal to yank the guys union rights, you might have left with a whole fist full of tickets. And maybe a body cavity search. And a charge of aggravated ignorance.

[Pale Blue Dot]

10. 22 Painful Signs That Austerity Has Arrived In America

Over the past couple of years, most Americans have shown little concern as austerity measures were imposed on financially troubled nations across Europe. Even as austerity riots erupted in nations such as Greece and Spain, most Americans were still convinced that nothing like that could ever happen here.

Well, guess what? Austerity has arrived in America.

At this point, it is not a formal, mandated austerity like we have seen in Europe, but the results are just the same. Taxes are going up, services are being slashed dramatically, thousands of state and city employees are being laid off, and politicians seem to be endlessly talking about ways to make even deeper budget cuts. Unfortunately, even with the incredibly severe budget cuts that we have seen already, many state and local governments across the United States are still facing a sea of red ink as far as the eye can see.

Most Americans tend to think of "government debt" as only a problem of the federal government. But that is simply not accurate. The truth is that there are thousands of "government debt problems" from coast to coast. Today, state and local government debt has reached at an all-time high of 22 percent of U.S. GDP. It is a crisis of catastrophic proportions that is not going away any time soon.

http://www.businessinsider.com/austerity-in-america-2011-1#

It's a slideshow. For us, it's just a good review, but for everyone else it really drives the point home.

[AnneD]

22. I found another story on that page interesting.........

Woman Dies At Desk At Work...No One Notices Till The Next Day


51-year-old woman, Rebecca Wells, who worked in the risk management division of the LA County Department of Internal Services, died while working in her cubicle on Friday. Her body was not discovered until the next afternoon, when a security guard found her slumped over at her desk.

The last time a co-worker saw her alive was Friday morning, at 9AM.

"She was always working," said a co-worker.

County coroners are not yet able to say how she died (though no one believes it was foul play.)

Video of the report below.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/woman-dies-desk-video-2011-2#ixzz1EE0wYsrG

I am begining to think that is what our gov.wants all of us to to, that or die in a card board box in some alley way.

[mrdmk]

31. Of course, that makes for easy trash pick-up! K & R

[AnneD]

58. They are cutting city services....

so get a gas mask. It may be a while before the truck makes the rounds.

Why did I think of Monty Python's and that scene from 'In Search of the Holy Grail'....bring out your dead.....

[Pale Blue Dot]

15. Fed Tells U.S. Banks to Test Capital For Recession Scenario

The Federal Reserve ordered the 19 largest U.S. banks to test their capital levels against a scenario of renewed recession with unemployment rising above 11 percent, said two people with knowledge of the review.

The banks stress-tested the performance of their loans, securities, earnings, and capital against at least three possible economic outcomes as part of a broader capital-planning exercise. The banks, including some seeking to increase dividends cut during the financial crisis, submitted their plans last month. The Fed will finish its review in March.

“They’re essentially saying, ‘Before you start returning capital to shareholders, let’s make sure banks’ capital bases are strong enough to withstand a double-dip scenario,’ ” said Jonathan Hatcher, a credit strategist specializing in banks at New York-based Jefferies Group Inc. Regulators don’t want to see banks “come crawling back for help later,” he said.

Executives at banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. in Pittsburgh have asked regulators for permission to increase dividends. The Fed has told banks that it expects dividends and share buybacks to be “conservative” and allow for “significant accretion of capital,” according to a November notice. Some capital payout plans may be rejected as “inappropriate,” the notice said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-17/fed-tells-banks-to-stress-test-capital-for-recession-with-11-unemployment.html

Hmmm... it's almost like they KNOW they're full of shit. This is going to be an :argh: kind of day.

[Pale Blue Dot]

16. Fed Officials Split on Stimulus, Disappointed on Job Growth

Federal Reserve officials differed last month over whether more signs of strength in the U.S. recovery would warrant reducing or slowing record monetary stimulus even as they affirmed disappointment with job growth.

A “few” of the 11 voting members said “additional data pointing to a sufficiently strong recovery” could necessitate changes to a bond purchase plan, the Federal Open Market Committee said in minutes of its Jan. 25-26 meeting released yesterday. “Others pointed out that it was unlikely that the outlook would change by enough to substantiate any adjustments to the program before its completion,” the Fed said.

Policy makers want to complete a $600 billion Treasury purchase plan to meet their congressional mandate for full employment even as they welcome better-than-expected economic reports and a minority voice concerns about the risks of easing, said Dana Saporta, an economist at Credit Suisse Group AG.

“The general consensus on the FOMC is things are better but not good, especially in terms of the jobs picture,” said Saporta, New York-based director of U.S. economics research.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-17/fed-officials-divided-on-stimulus-disappointed-on-job-growth.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

18. Borders files for bankruptcy protection, to close 200 stores (Update: 6,000 jobs lost)

Borders, which grew from an independent bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich., to the nation's second-largest bookstore chain, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday and plans to close 200 of its 488 "superstores" within the next few weeks.

Borders Group, a chain of bookstores, including this one in Glen Mills, Pa., will close about 200 stores.

The filing was expected. The company, crushed by debt and falling sales, revealed in December that it had delayed payments to publishers.

It will lay off about 6,000 of its 19,500 employees.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2011-02-16-borders-bankruptcy_N.htm

[Pale Blue Dot]

20. Stock-Index Futures in U.S. Retreat After Consumer Price, Claims Reports

U.S. stock futures retreated, signaling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may slip from a 32- month high, after the cost of living climbed more than forecast in January and jobless claims topped economists’ estimates.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring next month slipped 0.1 percent to 1,332.00 at 8:33 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost less than 0.1 percent to 12,246.

The consumer-price index increased 0.4 percent for a second month, exceeding the 0.3 percent median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. The so-called core rate, which excludes volatile food and fuel costs, rose 0.2 percent, the biggest gain since October 2009. First-time claims for jobless benefits increased by 25,000 to 410,000 last week, a separate Labor Department report showed.

The S&P 500 climbed to a 32-month high yesterday as a higher forecast for economic growth from the Federal Reserve, improving earnings and takeovers bolstered confidence in equities. The index is up 98 percent from a 12-year low in March 2009 amid government efforts to stimulate the economy and higher-than-estimated profits.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-17/stock-index-futures-in-u-s-retreat-after-consumer-price-claims-reports.html

[xchrom]

21. +1

[AnneD]

23. Hi...

your posts are always make me smile.

[xchrom]

28. as do yours

:hi:

[Pale Blue Dot]

24. Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail? (Matt Taibbi)

Over drinks at a bar on a dreary, snowy night in Washington this past month, a former Senate investigator laughed as he polished off his beer.

"Everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to jail," he said. "That's your whole story right there. Hell, you don't even have to write the rest of it. Just write that."

I put down my notebook. "Just that?"

"That's right," he said, signaling to the waitress for the check. "Everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to jail. You can end the piece right there."

Nobody goes to jail. This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall Street embroiled in obscene criminal scandals that impoverished millions and collectively destroyed hundreds of billions, in fact, trillions of dollars of the world's wealth — and nobody went to jail. Nobody, that is, except Bernie Madoff, a flamboyant and pathological celebrity con artist, whose victims happened to be other rich and famous people.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-isnt-wall-street-in-jail-20110216?page=1

The entire article is worth a read, as are the comments. Matt is one of the only "mainstream" journalists who is speaking truth to power.

[Fuddnik]

29. He got one thing wrong.

They didn't collectively DESTROY hundreds of billions. They STOLE hundreds of billions of dollars.

I knew some mobsters in Cleveland who cleaned out a bank in the late 70's during the start of the S&L fiasco. Nobody. Not one person ever got indicted. Well. maybe one guy, a branch manager who was arrested for trafficking in illegal firearms out of his office.

[Demeter]

30. On the Other Hand, the Snowdrops Have Burned Through the Snow

One dozen pure white snowdrops appeared in my garden yesterday afternoon, ready to bloom. They must have been growing inside the snowbank for some time.

The co-op board meeting was last night: if there's no settlement with NCB, the court process STARTS April 1, and the trial date is October 5!!!.

How we can carry on with this shell of a non-profit, given that 11 units with no income are just sitting there, heated at our expense, I do not know.

The ex-president has a lot to answer for...

[Demeter]

32. Off to a rocky start--down 22 at open

Yesterday's fairy dust wore off?

[xchrom]

33. kick

[Demeter]

34. Homeowners Exhale as Fed Reverses Course on Mortgages

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/02/15/Homeowners-Exhale-as-Fed-Reverses-Course-on-Mortgages.aspx

Millions of homeowners facing foreclosure dodged a bullet when the Federal Reserve Board changed course on proposed changes to mortgage rules, instead deferring to the nascent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the first skirmish over regulatory authority under last year’s sweeping financial reform legislation.

A coalition of consumer groups took the unprecedented step of asking the Fed to withdraw two sets of rule proposals on consumer mortgages and turn them over to the new bureau created by the Dodd-Frank Act. In a brief statement this month, the Fed cited more than 5,000 comments received on the matter and said it plans to wait for the bureau, which will take over authority on consumer mortgage rules in July 2011.

If the Fed had finalized the rule proposals, it would have eliminated a longtime consumer right to void a mortgage under certain circumstances, one of the best tools homeowners have to halt foreclosure. Consumer advocates say the rule also would have opened the door to risky reverse mortgages, and would allow changes in advertising that would permit false statements. ...

THE OLD PULL THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER RESCISSION MOVE...THWARTED!

[Roland99]

40. Philadelphia Man Moves to Foreclose on Wells Fargo Over Mortgage

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x437352

[Demeter]

35. Why Mubarak Fell: The (Sometimes) Incredible Power of Nonviolent Protest

http://www.truth-out.org/why-mubarak-fell-the-sometimes-incredible-power-nonviolent-protest67770

...The first is: Why was the (EGYPTIAN) military so restrained this time around, when for 50 years, “it has stood at the core of a repressive police state.” The second is: Why couldn’t the government, even without a military ready to turn its guns on the demonstrators, endure a few more days, weeks, or months of protest, while waiting for the uprising to exhaust itself, and -- as the BBC put it -- “have the whole thing fizzle out.”

The answer to both questions lies in the remarkable impact that the protest had on the Egyptian economy. Mubarak and his cohort (as well as the military, which is the country’s economic powerhouse) were alarmed that the business “paralysis induced by the protests” was “having a huge impact on the creaking economy” of Egypt. As Finance Minister Samir Radwin said two weeks into the uprising, the economic situation was “very serious” and that “the longer the stalemate continues, the more damaging it is.”

From their inception, the huge protests threatened the billions of dollars that the leaders and chief beneficiaries of the Mubarak regime had acquired during their 30 year reign of terror, corruption, and accumulation. To the generals in particular, it was surely apparent that the massive acts of brutality necessary to suppress the uprising would have caused perhaps irreparable harm, threatening its vast economic interests. In other words, either trying to outwait the revolutionaries or imposing the Tiananmen solution risked the downfall of the economic empires of Egypt’s ruling groups.

......

Even if Washington was slow on the uptake, it didn’t take long for the relentlessly repressive Egyptian ruling clique to grasp the fact that large-scale, violent suppression was an impossible-to-implement strategy. Once the demonstrations involved hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Egyptians, a huge and bloody suppression guaranteed long-term economic paralysis and ensured that the tourist trade wasn’t going to rebound for months or longer...

[Demeter]

54. Or Is It?

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=e2045ed6ed482239fbe19edb99f13153&w=750.0

[Demeter]

57. Has There Been An Egyptian Revolution? By Paul Craig Roberts

...Mubarak’s departure doesn’t guarantee that his successor will not find himself wearing the same American harness. As Gerald Celente puts it, “Meet the new boss, same as old boss.”

It remains to be seen how much of a revolution has occurred. Marx and Lenin would be put off by the idealistic jubilation over a spontaneous revolution that caused Mubarak to resign after a couple of weeks of protests. Marx and Lenin would say that nothing has changed. The materialist basis of the old order is still in place: the elites, the police, the army, the bureaucracy, the U.S. Embassy. Moreover, no vanguard has appeared to lead the revolution to completeness. Marx and Lenin would heap scorn on the prevalent idea that the material interests of the old ruling order, which is still in place, have been brought in line with the material interests of the Egyptian people...Marx and Lenin, and their disciple Pol Pot, believed that no revolution could succeed that did not destroy all representatives of the old order. The effective force in history, Marx and Lenin said, was violence. The Bolsheviks murdered every member of the Czar’s family in order to obliterate any hope that the old order could be reinstated.



Perhaps what we have witnessed in Egypt is just the opening stage. If Egyptians find out that not much has changed, they will erupt again in a more decisive manner, this time under focused leaders. If this revolution is put down, the next development could be civil war, leading on to Celente’s prediction of regional wars developing into the first“great war” of the 21st century.

The elites are greatly outnumbered, and in every country the elites have monopolized resources and opportunities and possess more wealth and income than they know what to do with. http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=10725 The few armed with vast wealth are unlikely to prevail against the many armed with vast anger.

Still, too much should not be given to Marx and Lenin. Material interests are important, but they are not all. There is good and evil in the human breast. People can change their mind. The Soviet Empire was not overthrown by a revolution. It collapsed because the ruling class, the communists themselves, changed their minds, acknowledged the wrongness of their system, and let go of it.


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27483.htm

[Demeter]

39. Why Do They Hate Social Security?

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_do_they_hate_social_security_20110216

Among the puzzling aspects of the crusade against Social Security is the zeal that animates its enemies, as if the present and future recipients of those monthly checks were somehow fattening themselves at the expense of future generations. Whatever drives these well-fed but poorly informed commentators, it isn’t the facts.

First, let’s remember that Social Security actually provides support at a very modest level. Last year, the average retirement benefit was $1,170 a month, or about $14,000 a year, with the average disabled worker or widow receiving slightly less. (It would be wonderfully educational for the cable talkers and newspaper editorialists to live on that amount for a few months—they would not only lose weight but gain empathy.)

Remember, too, that despite our status as the largest and most productive economy in the world, Social Security is among the least generous retirement programs among all the developed nations. As a percentage of the average worker’s pre-retirement wages, the benefit has been declining for years and will continue to fall without any further cutbacks.

The check that used to replace 39 percent of worklife income will replace only 31 percent by 2031. Compare that with the average wage replacement in the nations belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)—which was roughly 61 percent last year.

More important than those comparative statistics is the fact that the great majority of Social Security beneficiaries have no other cushion for their retirement—not because they were lazy or improvident, but because their wages were simply too low to permit much savings, let alone investment...

[AnneD]

59. They are like insurance companies.......

they only hate it when they have to pay out. It is all wine and roses when they collect the taxes and steal the money to use for their own purpose. When YOU need the money, they want to change the rules of the road and throw up road blocks.

[Demeter]

41. Cash stakes rise sharply in race for White House

Pundits looking ahead to the US presidential election in 2012 see an unstable political landscape of high unemployment, a Middle East in turmoil and a dozen-odd Republicans competing to challenge Barack Obama.

But they do agree on one thing – the spending by the two main candidates in next year’s presidential will not just beat the record amounts of money spent in the last poll four years ago, it will in all likelihood smash them.


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/A78IN6/YGZ3O/M95H0X/BMHDFP/6C/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=16


OH, GOODY, I CAN HARDLY WAIT. JOB GROWTH, AT LAST!

[Demeter]

42. Google woos publishers with One Pass

Google has launched a new online payments system for publishers, with more generous revenue sharing than rival Apple’s recently launched alternative.

The “One Pass” service was launched by Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive at a conference in Berlin on Wednesday to provide a single point of payment for content across a variety of websites.

One Pass will allow consumers to buy individual articles or subscriptions to online newspapers and other sites, across all platforms, including mobile and tablet apps. Google will take a 10 per cent cut of any revenues, compared with Apple’s 30 per cent share for all content sold directly through iPad and iPhone apps

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/0GNZ5J/Z87P0/40UXQL/M9Z31O/50/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=16

[Demeter]

43. Oaktree Capital returns investors’ money

Oaktree Capital’s distressed investment fund has returned $3bn of the $10bn it raised from investors, reflecting its difficulties in finding opportunities as the economy improves, people familiar with the matter say.

The fund, run by Bruce Karsh, was among the most aggressive buyers of distressed debt after the failure of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. But Mr Karsh is now telling his investors he cannot decide what to do with their money, these people say.


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/5F39HH/HDASU7/CWSVD/GKVR2C/ZB9G1B/50/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=15


WELL, THERE'S THIS ELECTION IN THE US COMING UP...

[Demeter]

44. Fed lifts 2011 economic growth forecast

Members of the US Federal Reserve raised their 2011 economic growth forecasts but expressed uncertainty about the effects of a second round of quantitative easing last month, with some suggesting that signs of a strengthening economy could mean the central bank should scale back its programme to buy $600bn in Treasury securities


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/EB8122/3OUWWA/4VXHZ/IYA1D6/S3XBTX/FW/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=17


GETTING COLD FEET, GENTS? BEGINNING TO SEE A MISERABLE FAILURE? THINKING OF EGYPT?

[Demeter]

45. Barclays vows to double profit over three years

Bob Diamond vowed to “eliminate or improve” the third of the bank’s business that is underperforming in an attempt to nearly double profitability over the next three years

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/ZBFVSF/MJTKN/9ZBIM1/LQASP4/ID/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=16



THIS ISN'T QUIDDITCH, BOB.

[Demeter]

46. JPMorgan to slash trading platforms

JPMorgan Chase has revealed a $500m plan to slash the number of trading platforms around the world, in a move that could save hundreds of millions of dollars and lead to the elimination or redeployment of up to 3,000 employees

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/ZBFVSF/MJTKN/9ZBIM1/OJMFLX/ID/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=16

EVEN THE BANKSTERS ARE LAYING OFF WORKERS...

[Demeter]

47. From Prison, Madoff Says Banks ‘Had to Know’ of Fraud

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/business/madoff-prison-interview.html?ref=global-home

BUTNER, N.C. — Bernard L. Madoff said he never thought the collapse of his Ponzi scheme would cause the sort of destruction that has befallen his family.

In his first interview for publication since his arrest in December 2008, Mr. Madoff — looking noticeably thinner and rumpled in khaki prison garb — maintained that family members knew nothing about his crimes.

But during a private two-hour interview in a visitor room here on Tuesday, and in earlier e-mail exchanges, he asserted that unidentified banks and hedge funds were somehow “complicit” in his elaborate fraud, an about-face from earlier claims that he was the only person involved....“They had to know,” Mr. Madoff said. “But the attitude was sort of, ‘If you’re doing something wrong, we don’t want to know.’ ”

[Demeter]

48. S&P 500 Cash Hoards Shrink for First Time Since 2009

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-16/cash-hoards-shrink-at-s-p-500-for-first-time-since-09-as-obama-woos-ceos.html

Corporate America is putting its cash hoard back to work.

In the first decline since mid-2009, Standard & Poor’s 500 companies reduced cash and short-term investments to $2.41 trillion from a record $2.46 trillion, according to data Bloomberg compiled from their most recent quarterly reports. Capital spending increased $22.3 billion, the biggest quarter- to-quarter jump since the end of 2004, to $142.8 billion, the highest level in two years.

Budgets are rising for new plants, distribution centers and stores from S&P bellwethers Cisco Systems Inc., General Electric Co. and Coca-Cola Co. While some of the money is being spent abroad, company officials say they are opening the purse strings at home now too. A rebound in economic demand, President Barack Obama’s efforts this year to court business leaders and Republican gains in Congress have helped build confidence to invest and start adding jobs, executives and investors said.

“What you’re seeing is business and government learning to work together,” Cisco Chief Executive Officer John Chambers said in a Feb. 9 interview. “There are good steps starting to occur, but they are just initial steps.”

NOT MENTIONING, I NOTICE, STOCK BUYBACKS...WHAT A PIECE OF ....PUFF.

[Demeter]

49. A QUOTE FOR OUR TIME

"And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed."

- John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath

[Demeter]

50. Ivory Coast rush to withdraw bank cash

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12478846

Long queues have formed at banks in Ivory Coast amid fears of a banking collapse as the Standard Chartered bank said it was suspending operations...In a statement to the BBC, Standard Chartered said it was suspending operations "until it is safe to reopen"... It is the fourth bank to close this week because of turmoil following November's disputed presidential polls.

Earlier it was reported that West Africa's BRVM stock exchange, based in Abidjan, had suspended its operations....Our correspondent says the financial crisis has been provoked by uncertainty and sanctions. Most cash machines in Abidjan are now empty or out of action, and for several weeks it has been almost impossible to cash cheques, he says.



On Monday, the (election) dispute prompted two leading banks, BICICI - the local branch of the French bank BNP Paribas - and Citibank, to suspend their local operations. Nigeria's Access Bank also closed on Monday...BNP Paribas and number one Societe Generale between them have about two-thirds of the Ivory Coast banking market. Citibank is the largest corporate financer of Ivory Coast's oil and gas operations and the third biggest cocoa exporter financer, although it has no retail branches...

[Demeter]

51. Obama’s Budget: Freezing the Poor By Amy Goodman

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/obamas_budget_freezing_the_poor_20110215/

President Barack Obama unleashed his proposed 2012 budget this week, pronouncing, proudly: “I’ve called for a freeze on annual domestic spending over the next five years. This freeze would cut the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, bringing this kind of spending—domestic discretionary spending—to its lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president.”

Focus on the word “freeze.” That is exactly what many people might do, if this budget passes as proposed. While defense spending increases, with the largest Pentagon funding request since World War II, the budget calls for cutting in half a program called Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP.

LIHEAP offers block grants to states so they can offer financial assistance to low-income households in order to meet home energy needs, mostly for heating. Most of its recipients are the elderly and disabled. The program is currently funded at more than $5 billion. Obama is calling for that to be slashed to $2.57 billion—roughly half. This life-or-death program, which literally can help prevent people from freezing to death, represents less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the proposed $3.7 trillion annual budget.

Compare this with the proposed military budget. “Defense spending” is a misnomer. Until 1947-48, the Pentagon was officially, and appropriately, called the War Department. In the proposed budget released on Valentine’s Day, the Department of Defense request is $553 billion for the base budget, an increase of $22 billion above the 2010 appropriation. The White House has touted what it calls “$78 billion” in cuts that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is considering. But as the Institute for Policy Studies notes: “The Defense Department talks about cutting its own budget—$78 billion over five years—and most reporting takes this at face value. It shouldn’t. The Pentagon is following the familiar tradition of planning ambitious increases, paring them back and calling this a cut.”

The $553 billion Pentagon budget doesn’t even include war. To Obama’s credit, the costs are actually in the budget. Recall, President George W. Bush repeatedly called the expenditures “emergency” needs, and pressured Congress to pass supplemental funding, outside of the normal budget process. The Obama administration, nevertheless, has given the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan the Orwellian moniker “Overseas Contingency Operations,” and is asking for $118 billion. Add to that the $55 billion for the National Intelligence Program (a budget item for which the amount has never before been revealed, according to government secrecy expert Steven Aftergood), and the publicly revealed military/intelligence budget is at close to three-quarters of a trillion dollars...

[xchrom]

53. kick

[Demeter]

55. Moody’s rates Irish banks as ‘junk’

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Moodys-rates-Irish-banks-as-junk-116109494.html

The credit ratings agency Moody's yesterday cut its rating of four Irish banks to junk status, citing its concerns over the imminence of new funding which was due at the end of February.

The outgoing Irish government told the press this week it will not make extra funds available before the general election on 25 February...But the main Irish opposition parties, who are assured to form the next government, have expressed their opposition to further bank aid for Ireland.

Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks, EBS Building Society and Irish Life & Permanent were all downgraded by the agency.

Meanwhile, Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide, both of which have already been given junk status, were cut even further.

[Demeter]

56. Iraq diverts F-16 budget for food rations

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gDXzgmrk9FWxHZ2_WgXzJQnd2QNQ?docId=CNG.26f85a77fe573d0130a10eb475c1a65e.541

Iraq has postponed the planned purchase of 18 F-16 fighter planes from the United States this year and diverted the funds to feeding the poor, an official said on Monday, amid growing protests that have been inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

"The F-16 contract has been postponed this year and the money has been diverted toward improving food rations" for the poor, government spokesman Ali Dabbagh told AFP.

..."In the new draft budget for 2011 that was presented to us, $900 million was earmarked for the purchase of F-16s, which will be used to finance rations and social benefits," confirmed Mohammed Khalil, a Kurdish MP who is a member of parliament's finance committee.

"We had to make choices because of the budget deficit," he added.

[Ghost Dog]

60. Asia’s poor suffer as food prices drive inflation

Inflation is climbing across Asia as the cost of food jumps, echoing the previous global food crisis that peaked in 2008. While people in the US and other wealthy Western nations will barely feel the effects of higher prices, getting enough to eat is a big challenge for tens of millions in Asia. Poor families typically spend more than half their household income on food and are bearing the brunt.

Wary of potential unrest, governments are trying to keep food price inflation from spilling into the rest of the economy. Officials face a tough dilemma as they raise interest rates to dampen inflation. Too fast and it will choke off economic growth, too slow and the problem could spiral out of control.

...

The World Bank says global food prices have hit “dangerous levels” after jumping 29 percent overall in the past year. It estimates costlier corn, wheat — and oil — have pushed 44 million people into extreme poverty since June.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization says food costs have reached an historic high but recent good harvests are staving off the kind of food emergency felt in 2008, when shortages and skyrocketing prices caused riots in poor nations.

Other experts fear that the worst is not over yet.

/Detailed article continues... http://arabnews.com/world/article265710.ece

[bread_and_roses]

62. National Propaganda Radio

just have to vent - driving home just now, "All Things Considered" on....leave the grocery store with a story on about a photographer and her husband....get to the gas station three blocks away, get out, pump my gas, go in, pay, come out and start car - and same story is STILL on....so I get home, go to the NPR website and look at the line-up for tonight's ATC - not ONE WORD about the protests in Wis - except a story on the Dems walking out. The audio is not up yet so playing time not listed (though I would bet it's not half the length of the photog story, which however worthy it may or may not be, is a FEATURE - not a NEWS event), but: A - the Dems walking out are a story, sure, but what about the thousands out protesting? Maybe they'll get a mention in that story, but not one of their own, evidently and B - by doing the story on the Ds walking out instead of the protesters then once again the frame is that only the D-R battle is important - not the issue itself.

[Demeter]

63. We are all Egypt

The media will be the last to know.

[Tansy_Gold]

64. It's almost 10:00 P.M. Arizona time

This thread is just about wrapped up for Thursday, and there'll be a new one for Friday.

Methinks it's gonna be an . . . . interesting. . . . Friday.



A general strike in Wisconsin? Could be, but as I told the BF this evening, "they" don't care. "They" don't care about the economy, because that's something that concerns the working people, and "they" don't care about the working people. Once "they" hold all the wealth, "they" will hire those "they" need to do what "they" want done: teach their kids, heal their illnesses, built their toys, grow their food. Public education and public safety and public infrastructure are anathema to "them." "They" are not the public.

It is not enough to get "them" to vote for the rights of the workers. The workers must seize those rights and never never never relinquish them.

"They" know there can be no compromise. Now it's time for us to learn it, too.


TG, TT

[DemReadingDU]

66. The NPR I heard this morning

It was a discussion about Wisconsin, the Dems walking out, but it ended with a lady saying they are protecting her rights.