March 19, 2008
Elaine Meinel Supkis
As Ron Paul explains the Constitution as well as the legal underpinnings of debasing the coinage as our pennies now cost 2¢ to mint, the three stooges running to be our 'leaders' play stupid. Easy enough, I suppose. We get to visit a mega-yacht builder to see what the parasites in the finance industry use to sail around pirate coves. Bear Stearns pirates play bridge the same weekend the company they are or were associated with, flounders and sinks. They both have their multi-millions so they didn't show the slightest emotion as their employees scream and run about the sinking ship. The US government is going to pick up another $200 billion mortgages for the reckless piratical bankers. And the hedgers are suing the hedgees. Heh.
Clinton, McCain, Obama Tiptoe Around Financial Crisis
The three U.S. presidential candidates, after a weekend in which a Wall Street firm almost collapsed and the Federal Reserve took measures to stem a panic, tiptoed around the credit crisis and avoided any criticism of the central bank.They reiterated previous positions and, in the case of the Democrats, assailed President George W. Bush and his stewardship of the economy, while stopping short of any new proposals to shore up the financial system.
Among Democrats, Illinois Senator Barack Obama renewed a call for middle-class tax cuts while Senator Hillary Clinton of New York stressed her plan for a moratorium on foreclosures. Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, expressed confidence in the Fed.
``The candidates don't seem to know what to make of this situation'' said independent analyst Charlie Cook, publisher of the Washington-based Cook Political Report.
The previous 10 elections I have witnessed or participated in had been rather stupid. But I swear to the gods, THIS election takes the cake for stupidity. And I don't mean the hapless candidates, either. The media is moronic. It is like being trapped in an elevator in a building undergoing both an earthquake, terrorist attack and a major hurricane and the elevator operators are being quizzed about their hairdos, their minister's past sermons, their sex lives and skin color, so help me god. I want to clobber the press. SHUT UP! Stop it! Go away.....forever.
We have so many important things to consider and none of them are up for consideration! As these three little Orphan Nannies all try to tell us what presents they will give us, as they all line up to say allegiance to Saudi Arabia and Israel, as they all strive to show us that they are blander than Wonderbread, all I can say is, 'We are so....doomed.' Perhaps they can shake off all this trivial, stupid stuff and become a semi-functional leader after winning the junior high contest of 'Who is the Teacher's Pet Goat'. But I doubt this now.
It is all very sad, in fact. Because the Republicans were all lockstep in order to get behind whoever they can, there was no real campaign. So Ron Paul, the man the media hated even more than Kucinich, if that was possible, had to finally drop out. With him gone, McCain could happily do his 'bomb, bomb, bomb the economy' and no one would try to stop him.
by Ron Paul
Mr. Chairman,I oppose HR 5512 because it is unconstitutional to delegate the determination of the metal content of our coinage to the Secretary of the Treasury. Under Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, the Congress is given the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof. It is a shame that Congress has already unconstitutionally delegated its coinage authority to the Treasury Department, but that is no reason to further delegate our power and essentially abdicate Congressional oversight as the passing of HR 5512 would do.
Oversight by members of Congress, who have an incentive to listen to their constituents, ensures openness and transparency. This bill would eliminate that process and delegate it to unelected bureaucrats. The Secretary of the Treasury would be given sole discretion to alter the metal content of coins, or even to create non-metal coins. Given the history of Congressional delegation and subsequent lax oversight on issues as important as the conflict in Iraq, it would be naïve to believe that Congress would exercise any more oversight over an issue as unimportant to most members as the composition of coins.
While I sympathize with the aim of Section 4 of this bill to save taxpayer dollars by minting steel pennies, it is disappointing that our currency has been so greatly devalued as to make this step necessary. At the time of the penny's introduction, it actually had some purchasing power. Based on the price of gold, what one penny would have purchased in 1909 requires 47 cents today. It is no wonder then that few people nowadays would stoop to pick up any coin smaller than a quarter.
Congress' unconstitutional delegation of monetary policy to the Federal Reserve and its reluctance to exercise oversight in that arena have led to a massive devaluation of the dollar. If we fail to end this devaluation, we will undoubtedly hold future hearings as the metal value of our coins continues to outstrip the face value.
HR 5512 is a sad commentary on how far we have fallen, not just since the days of the Founders, but only in the last 75 to 100 years. We could not maintain the gold standard nor the silver standard. We could not maintain the copper standard, and now we cannot even maintain the zinc standard. Paper money inevitably breeds inflation and destroys the value of the currency. That is the reason that this proposal is before us today.
Did this speech make the news? Did the news that we are going to have Spartan steel pennies make any news? You know, in ancient Sparta that was always at war, they used iron as coins. Whereas in Athens, they used naked statues of Venus. Heh. Just kidding. They used gold. So, will we be 'bomb, bomb, bomb' Sparta or 'Midas'? Death and steel or gold and wine, women and song? Or in the case of us females, wine, a massage and song?
Everest, a name that pretty much says it all.This 200 (656’) Meter yacht is appropriately named Everest. The designer, Donald Starkey, thoughts were to design a yacht that would surpass ALL others, and by taking a gigantic leap forward to above 200 meters. It is possible that this could be the largest private yacht for some time to come.
Everest will have accommodations for 36 passengers and guests consisting of 17 apartments and an Owners private penthouse suite on the top deck. Every suite will have private terraces.
There are large lounge areas and a dining room on the aft of the Main Deck with an outside swimming pool and cinema arrangement. All other entertaining facilities include a large gymnasium, well-being center, sauna and steam rooms. The indoor cinema and a beach club has side folding platforms port and starboard and a large drive-in docking facility at the aft end for boats and a small submarine. There is also a dive center included in this area.
A 5 deck high atrium with central staircase and 2 elevators connect all decks, including the sun deck. The sun deck has a shaded dining area and sunning areas with a Jacuzzi tub. There are additional service cores including service elevators on both port and starboard side.
Access via helicopter is possible on the topmost aft deck and also on the forward main deck which includes a platform lowering into a heli-hangar below and possibly 3 cars and associated landing craft.
There are accommodations for approximately 60 crew and 20 staff and operational staff (heli-pilots, security staff etc.) located on the forward lower decks.
As our candidates rush from one rich person to another, seeking debased dollars so they can talk about their hairdressers, preachers and mistresses or in the case of Hillary, her husband's mistresses, heh. Gads, I can't be serious or I will become rather violent. Well, Prince Charles took his former mistress who is now his unhappy wife on such a yacht to the Bermuda pirate cove. It was owned by a financial man who had made his fortune evading taxes. And they had a miserable time since Charles, according to the British media, didn't have 160 servants to boss around so he bothered his poor wife to the point, she wanted to go to Paris and get photographed only no one wants to see her mug.
By the time this election is over, I don't want to see any of these mug's faces, either. One tires of people who are shallow and vain and the media rewards only this sort when it comes to leadership positions. They must have all been peahens in previous lives. Or moles. Or perhaps cockroaches. All I know is, they were not of noble professions.
As Bear Stearns Implodes, Spector Keeps $382 Million
March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Warren Spector, forced out as president of Bear Stearns Cos. last August, may have outdone his former mentor James ``Jimmy'' Cayne as the 85-year-old brokerage firm imploded.After a spat over politics in 2004, Cayne, then Bear Stearns's chief executive officer, changed the company's deferred compensation plan, prompting Spector to sell $382 million of stock. As of last March, his stake in the New York-based firm had dwindled to 0.06 percent, worth about $8 million when he left.
``In this case, the golden handshake didn't turn into a tin one,'' said Shaun Springer, chief executive officer of London- based recruiting firm Napier Scott Executive Search Ltd.
Spector, 50, faced Cayne again in a bridge tournament in Detroit last weekend. As the competition was coming to a close, Bear Stearns was being sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $291 million, less than the value of its Manhattan headquarters building. Cayne's 5 percent stake has plummeted in value from almost $1 billion last year, when the shares reached their peak price of $170, to about $12 million based on the sale price.
OK: one of these very, very rich creeps is still on the Board of Directors of Bear Stearns and he was playing Old Maid last weekend? GADS. Why don't they give me that sort of loot to goof off? At least I can tell a joke. By the way, Forbes Magazine is interested in me, lord help us all. I wonder if they know how brutal I am? After all, telling jokes is the cruelest form of flattery. They have been chatting off and on with me until today and then sent a contract. Only it is very long and has entangling talk for lawyers which I can read. I wonder. Will they get angry if I draw Miz Risky drinking and carousing? Or me, talking about sex and money in the same sentence? Sex=money. As well as Death. They want us to think, it means life and good morals. Right. Ask Spitzer about that.
Merrill Sues SCA'S XL Unit to Maintain CDO Insurance
Merrill Lynch & Co. sued XL Capital Assurance Inc. to force the bond insurer to honor $3.1 billion of guarantees on collateralized debt obligations as the securities firm attempts to avoid more writedowns of mortgage-backed debt.``We filed suit to make clear that XL Capital Assurance Inc. is required to meet its contractual obligations,'' Mark Herr, a spokesman for New York-based Merrill, said in an e-mailed statement today.
CDOs, which repackage mortgage bonds and other assets into new securities, were the biggest source of the more than $195 billion of mortgage-related writedowns and losses reported by the world's largest banks and securities firms since the beginning of last year. Merrill's $24.5 billion top the list. Losses may rise if default protection bought from companies such as XL, a unit of Security Capital Assurance Ltd., fails to pay off.
I used to have an ox team. They were huge. They could drag huge trees that weighed literally over a ton without breaking into a sweat. They had huge horns. And they could go through hedges. And barbed wire. And electric fences. So I had to use really strong fences with electrical wire to keep them in but the lightning bolts kept wrecking that, even caught part on fire once. So it is here: hedges are being bulldozed by oxen who are called 'reality'. All the schemes to insure some one else gets to take the hit are hitting the pavement really hard with a loud 'splat'. As I predicted.
It was a mere six months ago, these same guys were boasting, their hedges were thick, plentiful and the Derivatives Beast they fed until it was over $500 trillion dollars, would mean NO ONE would EVER lose any money in any deals! Downturns would disappear! And I thought that was pure madness. And as usual, I was right then they were all sadly deluded. Which is why they think they are worth many millions of dollars, of course.
Fannie, Freddie cleared to pump $200 billion into market
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The regulator of Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) on Wednesday eased capital requirements for the two biggest housing finance agencies, allowing them to pump up to $200 billion into the distressed U.S. mortgage market.The regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, said it was lowering to 20 percent from 30 percent the amount of extra capital the companies are required to hold. It will also consider further reductions. The 30 percent requirement had been imposed after the discovery of lax accounting and risk controls earlier this decade.
In addition, the companies will begin to raise "significant capital," OFHEO said in a joint statement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Last year, the companies sold nearly $14 billion in preferred stock.
ALL the mortgages will be Federal soon! All! Every blasted one of them. And the default rate will be so high, it will destroy our nation. Not wreck the yachting experiences of the very rich. It means millions of Americans will see their schools degrade or their services vanish. Right now, children and teachers in California are marching for more money. They want $2 billion dollars which is less than one week's worth of occupation costs in Iraq! But NONE of the candidates want to stop spending this loot on Iraq so the three stooges should go to California and tell the children, 'Go bugger off, you little creeps! We want to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran!' Yes, we must worry about our true priorities.
Goldman, Lehman Reduce Loan Backlog With Discounts
U.S. banks from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. have whittled their holdings of leveraged buyout loans to $129 billion from $163 billion at the beginning of the year by offering the debt at discounts, according to analysts at Bank of America Corp.The decline is a ``ray of hope'' for banks amid a slump in credit markets and a slowing economy, said analysts led by Jeffrey Rosenberg. The firms also have $73.6 billion of high- yield bonds they need to sell, they said.
Banks have been breaking ranks from their lending groups and offering their own pieces of the LBO loans at as little as 80 cents on the dollar to get the debt off their books. New York- based Lehman yesterday said it has reduced its LBO backlog by $6.1 billion to $17.8 billion since the beginning of the year. Goldman Sachs halved its holdings to $20 billion and Morgan Stanley reduced its pipeline by 20 percent.
The bill for this haircut these very rich organizations took will be billed to us. Note how this election was all about the cost of haircuts? Well, this is a multi-billion dollar haircut! How about that, McCain? Obama? Clinton, both male and female? Eh? Goldman Sachs also gave themselves record bonuses. Did they pay for this haircut with that money? HAHAHA. And the cow jumped over the moon and laid an Easter Egg.
I hope you can get on Forbes. Cartoons and all. And pull no punches.
I am a market watcher. Absolutely the "greatest show on earth", especially lately. The divergence between short term Treasuries and dollar LIBOR is the clearest available sign of "credit market stress".
Posted by: Callahan | March 19, 2008 at 11:48 PM
Yeah, we need more "ARREST THEM ALL" in main stream media LOL
Posted by: Chris | March 19, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Elaine,
The fun is about to get started:
' Billionaire Lewis moves to block JP Morgan '
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/03/18/cnlewis118.xml
Snake eating its own tail!!!
Posted by: OC | March 20, 2008 at 12:33 AM
Make sure when you write for Forbes that you tell em all about WTC Building 7!!!!
and how Larry Silverstein pocketed 4.5 billion with the help of your mate that whorin Spitzer!
In all crimes just follow the money trail, it'll lead you to the true criminals!
WTC7 "Just Pull it!!!"
Posted by: Greg | March 20, 2008 at 01:52 AM
The Media is moronic.
Not to cut them any slack, but most of the media has no clue what questions to ask, no knowledge of economics, history or finance.
Think 30 seconds, if you can't ask the question and get a simple pat answer in 30 seconds you don't ask the question, it won't get air.
Wright implies that aids is a govt creation designed to kill black folks, since the beige media has no knowledge of history either white or black, prior to Lyndon Johnson, no one mentions the Tuskegee experiment. A nation that can get away with that is a nation that will try something similar to that again.
But Wright is a bad man for speaking to his audience with a history all of them do know.
I liked Obama's speech, right up to the point where he threw Wright under the bus.
Obama says:
"But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam." We are what we have always been, fantacists, believers in Clapping for TinkerBelle.
Posted by: CK | March 20, 2008 at 06:33 AM
It isn't Obama's fault much of the US is scared of blacks. And he can't get elected with only a minority.
On the other hand, the FOCUS of the media in this dumb election right in the middle of the biggest banking/finance/trade meltdown in our history since the Great Depression is disgusting.
And NO ONE is offering the slightest solution to this mess. All support spending trillions on trying to occupy the Middle East!
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | March 20, 2008 at 08:03 AM
"THIS election takes the cake for stupidity."
Nah - the one that took the cake for stupidity was the Clinton/Bush I/Rossper-Oh circus in '92. By November I was ready to shoot someone, possibly myself.
"So Ron Paul, the man the media hated even more than Kucinich, if that was possible..."
I doubt it was hatred so much as sheer lack of interest. Both were poor messengers for our post-postmodern society.
RP: "This bill would eliminate that process and delegate it to unelected bureaucrats."
Congress has already delegeted far more important things than coinage to unelected bureaucrats. It's been doing it for over a century now.
"656' Custom Gigayacht"
You kinda pasted that in there, without further referent. Was that some sort of "workers of the world" swipe, about how no one should have a yacht but, everyone should have three sets of coveralls, two pairs of shoes, and a bunk in a worker's dormitory?
("Yacht" is from the Dutch verb for "to violently launch one's lunch", which is what I do every time I get on one of those damn things. Big ships are OK, but not smaller ones!)
"Wright implies that aids is a govt creation designed to kill black folks.."
And gays! I thought EVERYONE knew that!
FORBES'll be good for you - they'll give you an editor who'll make sure you stay on track. Remember: one column, one subject!
Posted by: JSmith | March 20, 2008 at 10:04 AM
"By the way, Forbes Magazine is interested in me...and then sent a contract. Only it is very long and has entangling talk for lawyers which I can read." The optimist congratulates you!, on the otherhand, the pessimist is reminded of a scene in It's A Wonderful Life; Potter: Oh, confound it, man, are you afraid of success? I'm offering you a three year contract at twenty thousand dollars a year......George: [shaking Potter's hand] Okay, Mr. Potter. [drops Potter's hand] No... no... no... no, now wait a minute, here! I don't have to talk to anybody! I know right now, and the answer is no!NO! Doggone it!You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money. Well, it doesn't, Mr. Potter! In the... in the whole vast configuration of things, I'd say you were nothing but a scurvy little spider."
Question; has your readership gone up? And what spiders benefit if they control your message?
Posted by: rockpaperscizzors | March 20, 2008 at 10:29 AM
The capital market providers collapsed under the burden of CDS Derivatives: capitalism was wiped out today by the 4.5% fall in value of the capital market providers ETF KCE.
The United States has been a capitalistic society, and the world for a large part has been one also; a capitalistic society cannot exist without functional capital market providers it's just that simple.
A "financial emergency is coming" as a lightning strike: it can be the only outcome of this week's volatility in the capital providers market -- the investment banking sector.
Corporations and individuals should not be invested in stocks of any kind, even precious metal or natural resource stocks, as well as not having any money in any U.S. dollar cash position such as a savings account, a checking account, a money market account, a short term bond fund, a TIP bond ETF or TIP bond fund, US Treasury Bills, an ETF, a mutual fund variant thereof, or a $1 money fund; and even a dollar denominated short selling account.
Having a dollar denominated investment portfolio, even a short selling one, or a money fund, or a short term bond fund, is like going into an Ebola infected hospital ward with a medical team: one eventually gets contaminated and dies a horrific death.
A corporation's resources, and an individual's retirement wealth will preserved by investing in the gold ETF, GLD, and by investing in the currency Euro ETF, FXE, and the Yen ETF, FXY; and with these margin credit obtained for short selling.
Posted by: Richard | March 20, 2008 at 10:34 AM
I was In the Seychelle Islands about ten years ago. I was waiting for my Father to meet me back where we agreed. I was standing next to an Ox tied to an old cart. He was massive! Being an animal lover I went to pet his nose where the giant brass ring was and he let out a grown as if it was the first act of human kindness he had ever known. Who knows he could have flipped and trampled me and everyone else thinking I was gonna beat him? Translation: be very very nice to reality, keep it "real" my brothers and sisters". Because when it turns it will trample the unweary, and crush you beneath its hooves. Or let out a grown and let you pass cuz you had no ill will or bad intent or no scheme brewing in your ten cent head!
Posted by: TL | March 20, 2008 at 11:11 AM
"I liked Obama's speech, right up to the point where he threw Wright under the bus."
Anybody who tells the truth gets thrown under the bus. It's that simple. Why? Look at Jimmy Carter, it's because (most) Americans CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH.
Posted by: Ed-M | March 20, 2008 at 11:20 AM
Ron Paul-
He can't even win his party nomination. (Yes that is important, since he would need to work with his party and people around him to accomplish whatever it is he is saying. Thus convincing people who run the mechanism is essential. We are still living in democracy afterall. Can't just issue pretty edict)
Posted by: Anthony | March 20, 2008 at 02:48 PM
So what if we have congress pass a law on a one time only basis (remember the SCOTUS did it and gave us bush), and stated that all banks will refinance their mortgage loans at the current market value. This will in effect provide a "floor" for the troubled loans and maybe some sense of security on the credit side. Conditions for the buyer: must have lived in the house for minimum of 5 years, must provide 20% down (Gov. will provide a soft 2nd to cover this, suspecting that most will need it), is available for one house only and one family only.
Since we are going into the mortgage business anyway, it should be to the buyers advantage for a change. The speculators, banks, hedge funds, all will have to share the pain.
And start to try and simplify the economic markets. The complexity is such, that it invites cheating, believing that nobody will notice because they, the public, really can't see the forest through the tress - way too much undergrowth which now has resulted in a way hugh fire.
And lastly, we need to devise an additional, one time only law, that will force the CEO's and other highly positioned executives to pay back a significant portion of their bonuses, etc, that they obtained while their business were failing. This is paramount, in the public must see that the big guys are paying their share (or at least starting to) of the losses.
The silver lining in this very dark cloud, is that the average joe is, or is going to get very pissed off, when the shit that hit the fan, flies back and hits him or her, in the face. And the two things you don't do to Mr Joe 6 pack is screw with his family or screw with his money, and both of these will happen. Get the man (or the WOMAN, who is also just as strong of a force to deal with as the man, if not more so), pissed off enough, and our chances for good changes (through supporting congress's one time legislation) will improves greatly.
Food for thought. Bb
Posted by: Bb | March 20, 2008 at 04:20 PM
Oh man, I should've gone into naval architecture and gotten my slice of the piggy pie instead of being just another electrical engineering cog in the war machine!
Posted by: AF | March 20, 2008 at 06:34 PM
All we can afford is a small row boat. No room for helicopters. Boy, it has been RAINING like crazy! Row boat: ready to launch.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | March 20, 2008 at 09:13 PM
Ron Paul was NOT a poor messenger! He was NOT allowed to get his message out. He was our only hope to possibly make some changes in the District of Corruption.
Posted by: ragman | March 21, 2008 at 09:48 AM
Correct, Ragman. But alas, he also had 'luggage' like unexamined racism. Also, he was doomed by the media because he isn't an enthusiastic supporter of AIPAC.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | March 21, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Ron Paul was NOT a poor messenger! He was NOT allowed to get his message out.
Posted by: ragman | March 21, 2008 at 09:48 AM
exactly, thus why smart candidate simply has to maneuver zig-zag message. All the candidates are surrounded by smart people. They all know the degree of corruption and what to do. But they are facing people with big powers. They can pull strings.
This is NOT a free democracy we are in. This is corporate democracy. People with money and power do control the machine.
Posted by: Anthony | March 22, 2008 at 01:32 PM
Ron Paul did not drop out.
ronpaul2008.com
Forbes contract is to control and silence the real you.
Good luck.
Posted by: GK | March 23, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Dream of the Stern Bear
A bear of sorts was
resting on it's fleshy parts
asleep on yonder stern
while a tide of money is for nothing
came washing up their tidy loss
Some didn't have to 'eat their cake'
for being on the make is good for heavens sake!
A short term gain merely a bit of long term pain
So please indulge your self
be a serf for surfeit
so you don’t forfeit
the heady dream of well to do
Do to others like they did to you
don’t forget to rip off labor too
Lever every step along the way
drown them so they won’t have any say
and give thanks to TINA
since there is no other way
Posted by: Glendon Wayne | March 26, 2008 at 03:46 PM
Dream of the Stern Bear
A bear of sorts was
resting on it's fleshy parts
asleep on yonder stern
while a tide of money is for nothing
came washing up their tidy loss
Some didn't have to 'eat their cake'
for being on the make is good for heavens sake!
A short term gain merely a bit of long term pain
So please indulge your self
be a serf for surfeit
so you don’t forfeit
the heady dream of well to do
Do to others like they did to you
don’t forget to rip off labor too
Lever every step along the way
drown them so they won’t have any say
and give thanks to TINA
since there is no other way
Posted by: Glendon Wayne | March 26, 2008 at 03:48 PM
Thanks for the poem, Glendon Wayne!
And yes, Ron Paul was silenced. He is always silenced. Way back 20 years ago, they would have him on TV, etc. But since the media decided to join with the other pirates and silence anyone daring to point out the obvious hazards we are entering, he has been ruthlessly suppressed.
And I miss his message. For a while there, a brief while, his voice was heard. Then dropped yet again. It is all very sad and extremely annoying.
Note how stupid the debate about the economy has become since January.
Posted by: Elaine Supkis | March 26, 2008 at 05:20 PM