Brown Remains Uncommitted After Fix to Bank Bill
Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 10:16 AM
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Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts says he's not ready to support a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations. His stance for now could leave Democrats short of the 60 votes they need to beat procedural hurdles and pass the bill.
Brown previously voted for a Senate version of the bill but said Wednesday he wants to spend next week reviewing a final bill negotiated by House and Senate lawmakers.
He had threatened to vote against the bill if it contained a $19 billion fee on large banks and hedge funds. On Tuesday, Democrats reopened negotiations to drop the fee and replace it with money generated by ending the unpopular $700 billion bank bailout program.
Brown said he was glad the bank fee was removed but still needs time to decide.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Bank Bill Gets Patched Up, Moves Closer to Passage Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 07:01 AM Article Font Size Congressional Democrats are inching closer t
Bank Bill Gets Patched Up, Moves Closer to Passage
Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 07:01 AM
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Congressional Democrats are inching closer to passage of a major rewrite of financial industry regulations, making fixes as they go.
House and Senate negotiators hoped for a vote in the House on Wednesday and to secure the votes of three straying Republicans in the Senate. The Senate vote, however, is not likely until after Congress' weeklong July 4 break.
The death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., this week and fresh objections from Republican Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine had threatened to derail the bill, already a year in the making.
Eager to salvage one of President Barack Obama's legislative priorities, Democrats altered the formula that would have paid for the legislation by eliminating a contentious $19 billion fee on large banks and hedge funds.
Instead, House and Senate negotiators, voting along party lines, agreed to pay for the bill with money generated by ending the unpopular Troubled Asset Relief Program — the $700 billion bank bailout created in the fall of 2008 at the height of the financial scare.
It was a solution Democrats weren't keen on and most Republicans denounced. But in the Senate, with 60-vote thresholds needed to overcome procedural hurdles, a single senator has the leverage to change a bill. Brown, Collins and Snowe were three of 61 senators who had previously backed a Senate version of the bill.
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said he ran the proposal past the three Republicans to make sure they would support it. "But obviously, until they actually cast a vote, you never know," he said.
Even if the House approved the bill Wednesday, the Senate had little time to take it up this week. In a rare honor, Byrd was to lie in repose in the Senate chamber for six hours Thursday. That and work on other unfinished legislation were likely to push the bill into the week of July 12.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs conceded as much Tuesday, but added, "I don't think there is a question now whether it will get done."
Besides the three Republicans, Democrats also were working to win the support of Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who voted against the Senate version last month. She complained the bill was not tough enough on banks.
If unable to secure 60 votes, Democrats would have to wait for West Virginia's Democratic governor, Joe Manchin, to appoint Byrd's successor. Manchin has said he has no timetable for his decision.
The far-reaching legislation would rewrite financial regulations by putting new limits on bank activities, creating an independent consumer protection bureau and adding new rules for largely unregulated financial instruments.
Working with the White House and Treasury officials, Democrats on Tuesday replaced the bank and hedge fund fee with $11 billion that would be freed by ending the government's authority to use the $700 billion bank bailout fund, known as TARP.
The bailout fund was scheduled to expire in October. The new proposal would end it as of June 25, essentially cutting Congress' spending authority from $700 billion to $475 billion. That would create an accounting adjustment that would generate $11 billion.
The balance of the cost could be covered by increasing premium rates paid by commercial banks to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to insure bank deposits. The premiums would increase from 1.15 percent of insured deposits to 1.35 percent by September 2020. The additional premium would be paid by banks with assets greater than $10 billion.
Republicans weren't pleased.
"The American taxpayer should be affronted by this little bit of sleight of hand and gamesmanship," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. "What a piece of misleading, misdirected financial management this is."
Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 07:01 AM
Article Font Size
Congressional Democrats are inching closer to passage of a major rewrite of financial industry regulations, making fixes as they go.
House and Senate negotiators hoped for a vote in the House on Wednesday and to secure the votes of three straying Republicans in the Senate. The Senate vote, however, is not likely until after Congress' weeklong July 4 break.
The death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., this week and fresh objections from Republican Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine had threatened to derail the bill, already a year in the making.
Eager to salvage one of President Barack Obama's legislative priorities, Democrats altered the formula that would have paid for the legislation by eliminating a contentious $19 billion fee on large banks and hedge funds.
Instead, House and Senate negotiators, voting along party lines, agreed to pay for the bill with money generated by ending the unpopular Troubled Asset Relief Program — the $700 billion bank bailout created in the fall of 2008 at the height of the financial scare.
It was a solution Democrats weren't keen on and most Republicans denounced. But in the Senate, with 60-vote thresholds needed to overcome procedural hurdles, a single senator has the leverage to change a bill. Brown, Collins and Snowe were three of 61 senators who had previously backed a Senate version of the bill.
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said he ran the proposal past the three Republicans to make sure they would support it. "But obviously, until they actually cast a vote, you never know," he said.
Even if the House approved the bill Wednesday, the Senate had little time to take it up this week. In a rare honor, Byrd was to lie in repose in the Senate chamber for six hours Thursday. That and work on other unfinished legislation were likely to push the bill into the week of July 12.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs conceded as much Tuesday, but added, "I don't think there is a question now whether it will get done."
Besides the three Republicans, Democrats also were working to win the support of Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who voted against the Senate version last month. She complained the bill was not tough enough on banks.
If unable to secure 60 votes, Democrats would have to wait for West Virginia's Democratic governor, Joe Manchin, to appoint Byrd's successor. Manchin has said he has no timetable for his decision.
The far-reaching legislation would rewrite financial regulations by putting new limits on bank activities, creating an independent consumer protection bureau and adding new rules for largely unregulated financial instruments.
Working with the White House and Treasury officials, Democrats on Tuesday replaced the bank and hedge fund fee with $11 billion that would be freed by ending the government's authority to use the $700 billion bank bailout fund, known as TARP.
The bailout fund was scheduled to expire in October. The new proposal would end it as of June 25, essentially cutting Congress' spending authority from $700 billion to $475 billion. That would create an accounting adjustment that would generate $11 billion.
The balance of the cost could be covered by increasing premium rates paid by commercial banks to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to insure bank deposits. The premiums would increase from 1.15 percent of insured deposits to 1.35 percent by September 2020. The additional premium would be paid by banks with assets greater than $10 billion.
Republicans weren't pleased.
"The American taxpayer should be affronted by this little bit of sleight of hand and gamesmanship," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. "What a piece of misleading, misdirected financial management this is."
Unable to Pass Stimulus, Dems Push Aid for Jobless Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 06:46 PM Article Font Size Unable to deliver more stimulus spending for
Unable to Pass Stimulus, Dems Push Aid for Jobless
Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 06:46 PM
Article Font Size
Unable to deliver more stimulus spending for President Barack Obama, Democrats in Congress are trying at least to restore jobless benefits for 1.3 million laid-off workers.
Democrats in both the House and Senate planned to vote on bills Thursday that would extend unemployment benefits through the end of November for people who have been laid off for long stretches. House Democrats postponed a vote scheduled for Wednesday. Democratic leaders were hoping to pass the extension before Congress goes on a weeklong Independence Day recess.
Without an extension, every week a new 200,000 of the nearly 7 million people who have been without a job for at least six months will lose their unemployment benefits. About 1.3 million have already lost benefits since the last extension ran out at the end of May, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said.
"We have a basic responsibility to help our constituents respond to emergencies," said Reid, D-Nev. "We have a fundamental obligation not to deny them the help they need when they need it the most."
Congressional Democrats began the year with an aggressive agenda of passing a series of bills designed to create jobs. Only one has become law, offering tax breaks to companies that hire unemployed workers. Others stalled as lawmakers, after hearing from angry voters, became wary of adding to the national debt, which stands at $13 trillion.
Obama has urged lawmakers to spend about $50 billion to help states pay for Medicaid programs and to avoid teacher layoffs, but Democrats in Congress have been unable to come up with the votes.
"This is crucial for America and crucial to the citizens of our states," Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said at a Washington, D.C., news conference with governors from New York, Maryland, Washington, Kansas, Washington and Michigan.
Rendell said Pennsylvania stands to lose $850 million in Medicaid money. Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson said his state might have to lay off 3,600 teachers.
Many Democrats see state aid and unemployment benefits as insurance against the economy sliding back into recession. Solis said extending benefits for the unemployed is a good way to stimulate the economy.
"It means they've got money in their pocket for the local grocery store, for the local gas station and the local hardware store," Solis said. "It means more money in local economies and more job creation."
However, many Republicans and some Democrats worry about adding to the growing national debt.
"No one's disputing the value of these very important programs," said Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass. "But we also have to have tough choices and we also need to live within our means."
Brown and other Republicans want to pay for the unemployment benefits with unspent money from last year's massive economic recovery package.
The Democrats' unemployment bill would provide up to a total of 99 weekly unemployment checks averaging $335 to people whose 26 weeks of state-paid benefits have run out. The benefits would be available through the end of November, at a cost of $33.9 billion. There are no offsets in the bill, so the cost would add to the budget deficit.
It's a tough vote for some lawmakers who want to help constituents hit hard by the recession but are wary of being labeled big spenders.
Senate Democrats have combined the unemployment benefits with an extension of a popular tax credit for people who buy new homes.
Under current law, homebuyers who signed purchase agreements by April 30 must close on their new homes by Wednesday to qualify for credits of up to $8,000. The bill would give those buyers until Sept. 30 to complete the purchases and qualify for the credit. The House passed that measure Tuesday as a stand-alone bill.
Senate Democrats hope to pick up Republican support for the bill by combining the two provisions, but they were still a vote short of the 60 needed to advance the bill, Reid said Wednesday. Reid said he had commitments from two Republican senators to support the bill, but with the death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., Democrats need another vote.
The two senators from Maine, Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, have both said they would join Democrats in supporting an extension of unemployment benefits.
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he offered to support the bill if it was paid for with unspent stimulus money.
"My concern is that the Democrats are more interested in having this issue to demagogue for political gamesmanship than they are in simply passing the benefits extension," Voinovich said. "I came to the table with a fair compromise and the ball is in their court."
Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 06:46 PM
Article Font Size
Unable to deliver more stimulus spending for President Barack Obama, Democrats in Congress are trying at least to restore jobless benefits for 1.3 million laid-off workers.
Democrats in both the House and Senate planned to vote on bills Thursday that would extend unemployment benefits through the end of November for people who have been laid off for long stretches. House Democrats postponed a vote scheduled for Wednesday. Democratic leaders were hoping to pass the extension before Congress goes on a weeklong Independence Day recess.
Without an extension, every week a new 200,000 of the nearly 7 million people who have been without a job for at least six months will lose their unemployment benefits. About 1.3 million have already lost benefits since the last extension ran out at the end of May, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said.
"We have a basic responsibility to help our constituents respond to emergencies," said Reid, D-Nev. "We have a fundamental obligation not to deny them the help they need when they need it the most."
Congressional Democrats began the year with an aggressive agenda of passing a series of bills designed to create jobs. Only one has become law, offering tax breaks to companies that hire unemployed workers. Others stalled as lawmakers, after hearing from angry voters, became wary of adding to the national debt, which stands at $13 trillion.
Obama has urged lawmakers to spend about $50 billion to help states pay for Medicaid programs and to avoid teacher layoffs, but Democrats in Congress have been unable to come up with the votes.
"This is crucial for America and crucial to the citizens of our states," Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said at a Washington, D.C., news conference with governors from New York, Maryland, Washington, Kansas, Washington and Michigan.
Rendell said Pennsylvania stands to lose $850 million in Medicaid money. Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson said his state might have to lay off 3,600 teachers.
Many Democrats see state aid and unemployment benefits as insurance against the economy sliding back into recession. Solis said extending benefits for the unemployed is a good way to stimulate the economy.
"It means they've got money in their pocket for the local grocery store, for the local gas station and the local hardware store," Solis said. "It means more money in local economies and more job creation."
However, many Republicans and some Democrats worry about adding to the growing national debt.
"No one's disputing the value of these very important programs," said Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass. "But we also have to have tough choices and we also need to live within our means."
Brown and other Republicans want to pay for the unemployment benefits with unspent money from last year's massive economic recovery package.
The Democrats' unemployment bill would provide up to a total of 99 weekly unemployment checks averaging $335 to people whose 26 weeks of state-paid benefits have run out. The benefits would be available through the end of November, at a cost of $33.9 billion. There are no offsets in the bill, so the cost would add to the budget deficit.
It's a tough vote for some lawmakers who want to help constituents hit hard by the recession but are wary of being labeled big spenders.
Senate Democrats have combined the unemployment benefits with an extension of a popular tax credit for people who buy new homes.
Under current law, homebuyers who signed purchase agreements by April 30 must close on their new homes by Wednesday to qualify for credits of up to $8,000. The bill would give those buyers until Sept. 30 to complete the purchases and qualify for the credit. The House passed that measure Tuesday as a stand-alone bill.
Senate Democrats hope to pick up Republican support for the bill by combining the two provisions, but they were still a vote short of the 60 needed to advance the bill, Reid said Wednesday. Reid said he had commitments from two Republican senators to support the bill, but with the death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., Democrats need another vote.
The two senators from Maine, Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, have both said they would join Democrats in supporting an extension of unemployment benefits.
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he offered to support the bill if it was paid for with unspent stimulus money.
"My concern is that the Democrats are more interested in having this issue to demagogue for political gamesmanship than they are in simply passing the benefits extension," Voinovich said. "I came to the table with a fair compromise and the ball is in their court."
GOP Fires Back at Obama Distortions on Economy Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 07:48 PM Article Font Size By: David A. Patten Perhaps launching a pre-emp
GOP Fires Back at Obama Distortions on Economy
Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 07:48 PM
Article Font Size
By: David A. Patten
Perhaps launching a pre-emptive strike before yet another dismal jobs report comes out Friday, President Obama blasted Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, proclaiming himself "stunned" by how "out of touch" he is.
But Republicans charged Obama was distorting Boehner's comments to distract voters from a troubled economy.
“The president was in a city with 14 percent unemployment and he talked about ants, rather than jobs?" Rep. Boehner answered in an e-mail to Newsmax Wednesday afternoon. "How out of touch can you get?”
The sharp exchange had its origins in remarks Boehner made to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review regarding financial reforms purportedly intended to avoid another economic meltdown. Boehner criticized the proposals as overly burdensome to business.
"This is killing an ant with a nuclear weapon," Boehner told the newspaper. "There are faults in our regulatory system, some in terms of transparency, most as a result of ineffective enforcement by the bureaucracy who have no idea what these financial products look like today. That could've been fixed, but that's not what we have here."
The president took those remarks to mean Boehner was suggesting the financial crisis had the significance of an ant.
"That's right," Obama told his audience. "[Boehner] compared the financial crisis to an ant. The same financial crisis that led to the loss of nearly eight million jobs. The same crisis that cost people their homes and their life savings.
"Well," Obama continued, "if the Republican leader is that out of touch with the struggles facing the American people, he should come here to Racine and ask people if they think the financial crisis was an ant. ... These Americans don't believe the financial crisis was an ant. They know that it's what led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. And they expect their leaders in Washington to do whatever it takes to make sure a crisis like this never happens again."
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel's statement in response: "The president should be focused on solving the problems of the American people -- stopping the leaking oil and cleaning up the Gulf, scrapping his job-killing agenda, repealing and replacing ObamaCare -- instead of the House Republican Leader's choice of metaphors. It's clear Boehner was not minimizing the crisis America faced - he was pointing out that Washington Democrats have produced a bill that will actually kill more jobs and make the situation worse."
The administration clearly wanted the confrontation to receive wide media attention. It released an advance copy to the media of the president's remarks about the congressman.
Conservatives and some pundits charged the president is looking for ways to distract voters from the nation's ongoing problems with the economy that his policies have not yet been able to fix.
"Time after time since the start of the recession, Obama has used the crisis to expand the size and power of government -- even when doing so would not only fail to solve the problem, but would worsen it," Fox News commentator and best-selling author Dick Morris told Newsmax.
"The power grab in the financial regulatory bill is a perfect example. It was this disjuncture between a problem that could be solved with specific legislation, and the nationalizing of an entire industry, that Boehner was addressing.
"But Obama seized on a word to convey an impression that Boehner does not appreciate the gravity of the problem, a charge Obama knows to be erroneous," said Morris.
There are increasing indications the president is facing growing problems both economically and politically. The jobless figures for June are expected to reflect the loss of some 525,000 temporary workers who were employed from March to May to help gather 2010 Census data. Unemployment in Racine, where the president spoke, has doubled since he came into office.
Recent polls show public confidence in the president's ability to manage the economy is slipping. So is the Dow Jones average, which has dropped over 5 percent in the past five days. It lost another 96.28 points Wednesday. The Congressional Budget Office delivered more bad news, projecting the national debt will grow to 62 percent of the nation's economic output by year's end.
Prof. Allan H. Meltzer, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University who serves on Boehner's informal cabinet of economic advisers, told Newsmax: "I think Rep. Boehner understands that we've had a serious recession. And I think the important part of that exchange is the president still hasn't learned the most important part of being president: You have to get along with a lot of different people. You need to get people to cooperate with you, and you don't do that by calling them names."
Asked to evaluate the impact of the nearly $1 trillion spent to stimulate the economy, Meltzer was blunt: "Hasn't worked. The economy is better than it was in January 2009, when [Obama] took office. But the unemployment rate isn't."
Meltzer, author of a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed titled "Why Obamanomics Has Failed," told Newsmax that there are two reasons why the president's economic policies haven't spurred job growth.
"His stimulus program was much more aimed at redistributing income than in creating wealth," Meltzer says. "And the second reason is, he creates enormous uncertainty about the future, and uncertainty is the enemy of growth, of jobs, of employment."
Meltzer, author of A History of the Federal Reserve, tells Newsmax that business leaders currently are facing unknowns on every side: They aren't sure what new taxes may take effect, they have questions about the cost of providing health insurance to their employees, they're worried over the prospect of carbon taxes, and they find it difficult to anticipate how a thicket of new federal will affect their businesses.
Such uncertainty, Meltzer says, makes CEOs skittish about hiring new employees.
University of Virginia Center for Politics director Dr. Larry J. Sabato tells Newsmax that there is plenty of political gamesmanship occurring on both sides of the aisle as the midterms draw closer.
"If Republicans gain 39 seats," Sabato says, "Boehner will be Speaker. Since the Republicans are making the current Speaker a prominent target, maybe the Democrats want to elevate the possibly future Speaker to target status.
"The White House believes the Republicans are making a mistake in not backing the financial reform bill," the political analyst says, "and they are trying to position the GOP as pro-big business, pro-bank, pro-Wall Street, and pro-BP. It's a classic Democratic populist campaign against the 'big boys.'
"When you look at the landscape, this is one of the only issues the Democrats can use to make hay," Sabato adds. "The bad economy, high unemployment, the Gulf disaster, soaring debt, and other problems are dominating the headlines, and setting up GOP gains for November."
Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 07:48 PM
Article Font Size
By: David A. Patten
Perhaps launching a pre-emptive strike before yet another dismal jobs report comes out Friday, President Obama blasted Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, proclaiming himself "stunned" by how "out of touch" he is.
But Republicans charged Obama was distorting Boehner's comments to distract voters from a troubled economy.
“The president was in a city with 14 percent unemployment and he talked about ants, rather than jobs?" Rep. Boehner answered in an e-mail to Newsmax Wednesday afternoon. "How out of touch can you get?”
The sharp exchange had its origins in remarks Boehner made to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review regarding financial reforms purportedly intended to avoid another economic meltdown. Boehner criticized the proposals as overly burdensome to business.
"This is killing an ant with a nuclear weapon," Boehner told the newspaper. "There are faults in our regulatory system, some in terms of transparency, most as a result of ineffective enforcement by the bureaucracy who have no idea what these financial products look like today. That could've been fixed, but that's not what we have here."
The president took those remarks to mean Boehner was suggesting the financial crisis had the significance of an ant.
"That's right," Obama told his audience. "[Boehner] compared the financial crisis to an ant. The same financial crisis that led to the loss of nearly eight million jobs. The same crisis that cost people their homes and their life savings.
"Well," Obama continued, "if the Republican leader is that out of touch with the struggles facing the American people, he should come here to Racine and ask people if they think the financial crisis was an ant. ... These Americans don't believe the financial crisis was an ant. They know that it's what led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. And they expect their leaders in Washington to do whatever it takes to make sure a crisis like this never happens again."
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel's statement in response: "The president should be focused on solving the problems of the American people -- stopping the leaking oil and cleaning up the Gulf, scrapping his job-killing agenda, repealing and replacing ObamaCare -- instead of the House Republican Leader's choice of metaphors. It's clear Boehner was not minimizing the crisis America faced - he was pointing out that Washington Democrats have produced a bill that will actually kill more jobs and make the situation worse."
The administration clearly wanted the confrontation to receive wide media attention. It released an advance copy to the media of the president's remarks about the congressman.
Conservatives and some pundits charged the president is looking for ways to distract voters from the nation's ongoing problems with the economy that his policies have not yet been able to fix.
"Time after time since the start of the recession, Obama has used the crisis to expand the size and power of government -- even when doing so would not only fail to solve the problem, but would worsen it," Fox News commentator and best-selling author Dick Morris told Newsmax.
"The power grab in the financial regulatory bill is a perfect example. It was this disjuncture between a problem that could be solved with specific legislation, and the nationalizing of an entire industry, that Boehner was addressing.
"But Obama seized on a word to convey an impression that Boehner does not appreciate the gravity of the problem, a charge Obama knows to be erroneous," said Morris.
There are increasing indications the president is facing growing problems both economically and politically. The jobless figures for June are expected to reflect the loss of some 525,000 temporary workers who were employed from March to May to help gather 2010 Census data. Unemployment in Racine, where the president spoke, has doubled since he came into office.
Recent polls show public confidence in the president's ability to manage the economy is slipping. So is the Dow Jones average, which has dropped over 5 percent in the past five days. It lost another 96.28 points Wednesday. The Congressional Budget Office delivered more bad news, projecting the national debt will grow to 62 percent of the nation's economic output by year's end.
Prof. Allan H. Meltzer, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University who serves on Boehner's informal cabinet of economic advisers, told Newsmax: "I think Rep. Boehner understands that we've had a serious recession. And I think the important part of that exchange is the president still hasn't learned the most important part of being president: You have to get along with a lot of different people. You need to get people to cooperate with you, and you don't do that by calling them names."
Asked to evaluate the impact of the nearly $1 trillion spent to stimulate the economy, Meltzer was blunt: "Hasn't worked. The economy is better than it was in January 2009, when [Obama] took office. But the unemployment rate isn't."
Meltzer, author of a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed titled "Why Obamanomics Has Failed," told Newsmax that there are two reasons why the president's economic policies haven't spurred job growth.
"His stimulus program was much more aimed at redistributing income than in creating wealth," Meltzer says. "And the second reason is, he creates enormous uncertainty about the future, and uncertainty is the enemy of growth, of jobs, of employment."
Meltzer, author of A History of the Federal Reserve, tells Newsmax that business leaders currently are facing unknowns on every side: They aren't sure what new taxes may take effect, they have questions about the cost of providing health insurance to their employees, they're worried over the prospect of carbon taxes, and they find it difficult to anticipate how a thicket of new federal will affect their businesses.
Such uncertainty, Meltzer says, makes CEOs skittish about hiring new employees.
University of Virginia Center for Politics director Dr. Larry J. Sabato tells Newsmax that there is plenty of political gamesmanship occurring on both sides of the aisle as the midterms draw closer.
"If Republicans gain 39 seats," Sabato says, "Boehner will be Speaker. Since the Republicans are making the current Speaker a prominent target, maybe the Democrats want to elevate the possibly future Speaker to target status.
"The White House believes the Republicans are making a mistake in not backing the financial reform bill," the political analyst says, "and they are trying to position the GOP as pro-big business, pro-bank, pro-Wall Street, and pro-BP. It's a classic Democratic populist campaign against the 'big boys.'
"When you look at the landscape, this is one of the only issues the Democrats can use to make hay," Sabato adds. "The bad economy, high unemployment, the Gulf disaster, soaring debt, and other problems are dominating the headlines, and setting up GOP gains for November."
GOP Fires Back at Obama Distortions on Economy Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 07:48 PM Article Font Size By: David A. Patten Perhaps launching a pre-emp
GOP Fires Back at Obama Distortions on Economy
Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 07:48 PM
Article Font Size
By: David A. Patten
Perhaps launching a pre-emptive strike before yet another dismal jobs report comes out Friday, President Obama blasted Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, proclaiming himself "stunned" by how "out of touch" he is.
But Republicans charged Obama was distorting Boehner's comments to distract voters from a troubled economy.
“The president was in a city with 14 percent unemployment and he talked about ants, rather than jobs?" Rep. Boehner answered in an e-mail to Newsmax Wednesday afternoon. "How out of touch can you get?”
The sharp exchange had its origins in remarks Boehner made to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review regarding financial reforms purportedly intended to avoid another economic meltdown. Boehner criticized the proposals as overly burdensome to business.
"This is killing an ant with a nuclear weapon," Boehner told the newspaper. "There are faults in our regulatory system, some in terms of transparency, most as a result of ineffective enforcement by the bureaucracy who have no idea what these financial products look like today. That could've been fixed, but that's not what we have here."
The president took those remarks to mean Boehner was suggesting the financial crisis had the significance of an ant.
"That's right," Obama told his audience. "[Boehner] compared the financial crisis to an ant. The same financial crisis that led to the loss of nearly eight million jobs. The same crisis that cost people their homes and their life savings.
"Well," Obama continued, "if the Republican leader is that out of touch with the struggles facing the American people, he should come here to Racine and ask people if they think the financial crisis was an ant. ... These Americans don't believe the financial crisis was an ant. They know that it's what led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. And they expect their leaders in Washington to do whatever it takes to make sure a crisis like this never happens again."
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel's statement in response: "The president should be focused on solving the problems of the American people -- stopping the leaking oil and cleaning up the Gulf, scrapping his job-killing agenda, repealing and replacing ObamaCare -- instead of the House Republican Leader's choice of metaphors. It's clear Boehner was not minimizing the crisis America faced - he was pointing out that Washington Democrats have produced a bill that will actually kill more jobs and make the situation worse."
The administration clearly wanted the confrontation to receive wide media attention. It released an advance copy to the media of the president's remarks about the congressman.
Conservatives and some pundits charged the president is looking for ways to distract voters from the nation's ongoing problems with the economy that his policies have not yet been able to fix.
"Time after time since the start of the recession, Obama has used the crisis to expand the size and power of government -- even when doing so would not only fail to solve the problem, but would worsen it," Fox News commentator and best-selling author Dick Morris told Newsmax.
"The power grab in the financial regulatory bill is a perfect example. It was this disjuncture between a problem that could be solved with specific legislation, and the nationalizing of an entire industry, that Boehner was addressing.
"But Obama seized on a word to convey an impression that Boehner does not appreciate the gravity of the problem, a charge Obama knows to be erroneous," said Morris.
There are increasing indications the president is facing growing problems both economically and politically. The jobless figures for June are expected to reflect the loss of some 525,000 temporary workers who were employed from March to May to help gather 2010 Census data. Unemployment in Racine, where the president spoke, has doubled since he came into office.
Recent polls show public confidence in the president's ability to manage the economy is slipping. So is the Dow Jones average, which has dropped over 5 percent in the past five days. It lost another 96.28 points Wednesday. The Congressional Budget Office delivered more bad news, projecting the national debt will grow to 62 percent of the nation's economic output by year's end.
Prof. Allan H. Meltzer, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University who serves on Boehner's informal cabinet of economic advisers, told Newsmax: "I think Rep. Boehner understands that we've had a serious recession. And I think the important part of that exchange is the president still hasn't learned the most important part of being president: You have to get along with a lot of different people. You need to get people to cooperate with you, and you don't do that by calling them names."
Asked to evaluate the impact of the nearly $1 trillion spent to stimulate the economy, Meltzer was blunt: "Hasn't worked. The economy is better than it was in January 2009, when [Obama] took office. But the unemployment rate isn't."
Meltzer, author of a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed titled "Why Obamanomics Has Failed," told Newsmax that there are two reasons why the president's economic policies haven't spurred job growth.
"His stimulus program was much more aimed at redistributing income than in creating wealth," Meltzer says. "And the second reason is, he creates enormous uncertainty about the future, and uncertainty is the enemy of growth, of jobs, of employment."
Meltzer, author of A History of the Federal Reserve, tells Newsmax that business leaders currently are facing unknowns on every side: They aren't sure what new taxes may take effect, they have questions about the cost of providing health insurance to their employees, they're worried over the prospect of carbon taxes, and they find it difficult to anticipate how a thicket of new federal will affect their businesses.
Such uncertainty, Meltzer says, makes CEOs skittish about hiring new employees.
University of Virginia Center for Politics director Dr. Larry J. Sabato tells Newsmax that there is plenty of political gamesmanship occurring on both sides of the aisle as the midterms draw closer.
"If Republicans gain 39 seats," Sabato says, "Boehner will be Speaker. Since the Republicans are making the current Speaker a prominent target, maybe the Democrats want to elevate the possibly future Speaker to target status.
"The White House believes the Republicans are making a mistake in not backing the financial reform bill," the political analyst says, "and they are trying to position the GOP as pro-big business, pro-bank, pro-Wall Street, and pro-BP. It's a classic Democratic populist campaign against the 'big boys.'
"When you look at the landscape, this is one of the only issues the Democrats can use to make hay," Sabato adds. "The bad economy, high unemployment, the Gulf disaster, soaring debt, and other problems are dominating the headlines, and setting up GOP gains for November."
Wednesday, 30 Jun 2010 07:48 PM
Article Font Size
By: David A. Patten
Perhaps launching a pre-emptive strike before yet another dismal jobs report comes out Friday, President Obama blasted Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, proclaiming himself "stunned" by how "out of touch" he is.
But Republicans charged Obama was distorting Boehner's comments to distract voters from a troubled economy.
“The president was in a city with 14 percent unemployment and he talked about ants, rather than jobs?" Rep. Boehner answered in an e-mail to Newsmax Wednesday afternoon. "How out of touch can you get?”
The sharp exchange had its origins in remarks Boehner made to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review regarding financial reforms purportedly intended to avoid another economic meltdown. Boehner criticized the proposals as overly burdensome to business.
"This is killing an ant with a nuclear weapon," Boehner told the newspaper. "There are faults in our regulatory system, some in terms of transparency, most as a result of ineffective enforcement by the bureaucracy who have no idea what these financial products look like today. That could've been fixed, but that's not what we have here."
The president took those remarks to mean Boehner was suggesting the financial crisis had the significance of an ant.
"That's right," Obama told his audience. "[Boehner] compared the financial crisis to an ant. The same financial crisis that led to the loss of nearly eight million jobs. The same crisis that cost people their homes and their life savings.
"Well," Obama continued, "if the Republican leader is that out of touch with the struggles facing the American people, he should come here to Racine and ask people if they think the financial crisis was an ant. ... These Americans don't believe the financial crisis was an ant. They know that it's what led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. And they expect their leaders in Washington to do whatever it takes to make sure a crisis like this never happens again."
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel's statement in response: "The president should be focused on solving the problems of the American people -- stopping the leaking oil and cleaning up the Gulf, scrapping his job-killing agenda, repealing and replacing ObamaCare -- instead of the House Republican Leader's choice of metaphors. It's clear Boehner was not minimizing the crisis America faced - he was pointing out that Washington Democrats have produced a bill that will actually kill more jobs and make the situation worse."
The administration clearly wanted the confrontation to receive wide media attention. It released an advance copy to the media of the president's remarks about the congressman.
Conservatives and some pundits charged the president is looking for ways to distract voters from the nation's ongoing problems with the economy that his policies have not yet been able to fix.
"Time after time since the start of the recession, Obama has used the crisis to expand the size and power of government -- even when doing so would not only fail to solve the problem, but would worsen it," Fox News commentator and best-selling author Dick Morris told Newsmax.
"The power grab in the financial regulatory bill is a perfect example. It was this disjuncture between a problem that could be solved with specific legislation, and the nationalizing of an entire industry, that Boehner was addressing.
"But Obama seized on a word to convey an impression that Boehner does not appreciate the gravity of the problem, a charge Obama knows to be erroneous," said Morris.
There are increasing indications the president is facing growing problems both economically and politically. The jobless figures for June are expected to reflect the loss of some 525,000 temporary workers who were employed from March to May to help gather 2010 Census data. Unemployment in Racine, where the president spoke, has doubled since he came into office.
Recent polls show public confidence in the president's ability to manage the economy is slipping. So is the Dow Jones average, which has dropped over 5 percent in the past five days. It lost another 96.28 points Wednesday. The Congressional Budget Office delivered more bad news, projecting the national debt will grow to 62 percent of the nation's economic output by year's end.
Prof. Allan H. Meltzer, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University who serves on Boehner's informal cabinet of economic advisers, told Newsmax: "I think Rep. Boehner understands that we've had a serious recession. And I think the important part of that exchange is the president still hasn't learned the most important part of being president: You have to get along with a lot of different people. You need to get people to cooperate with you, and you don't do that by calling them names."
Asked to evaluate the impact of the nearly $1 trillion spent to stimulate the economy, Meltzer was blunt: "Hasn't worked. The economy is better than it was in January 2009, when [Obama] took office. But the unemployment rate isn't."
Meltzer, author of a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed titled "Why Obamanomics Has Failed," told Newsmax that there are two reasons why the president's economic policies haven't spurred job growth.
"His stimulus program was much more aimed at redistributing income than in creating wealth," Meltzer says. "And the second reason is, he creates enormous uncertainty about the future, and uncertainty is the enemy of growth, of jobs, of employment."
Meltzer, author of A History of the Federal Reserve, tells Newsmax that business leaders currently are facing unknowns on every side: They aren't sure what new taxes may take effect, they have questions about the cost of providing health insurance to their employees, they're worried over the prospect of carbon taxes, and they find it difficult to anticipate how a thicket of new federal will affect their businesses.
Such uncertainty, Meltzer says, makes CEOs skittish about hiring new employees.
University of Virginia Center for Politics director Dr. Larry J. Sabato tells Newsmax that there is plenty of political gamesmanship occurring on both sides of the aisle as the midterms draw closer.
"If Republicans gain 39 seats," Sabato says, "Boehner will be Speaker. Since the Republicans are making the current Speaker a prominent target, maybe the Democrats want to elevate the possibly future Speaker to target status.
"The White House believes the Republicans are making a mistake in not backing the financial reform bill," the political analyst says, "and they are trying to position the GOP as pro-big business, pro-bank, pro-Wall Street, and pro-BP. It's a classic Democratic populist campaign against the 'big boys.'
"When you look at the landscape, this is one of the only issues the Democrats can use to make hay," Sabato adds. "The bad economy, high unemployment, the Gulf disaster, soaring debt, and other problems are dominating the headlines, and setting up GOP gains for November."
end the fed
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/ContrarianChronicles/TheFedEmbracesInflation.aspx
The Fed embraces inflation
A top Fed official warns of the hazards of printing money to solve economic problems. He's right -- and yet the nation's central bank keeps running the press at top speed.
advertisement
Click here to find out more!
Article Tools
By Bill Fleckenstein
In a speech last week, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank head Richard Fisher covered a lot of ground, innocently noting many problems (the worst of which the Fed has created). He discussed the nation's massive, long-term unfunded Social Security and Medicare liabilities, putting the amount at roughly $99 trillion.
But what I found objectionable was his temerity in commenting: "We know from centuries of evidence in countless economies, from ancient Rome to today's Zimbabwe, that running the printing press to pay off today's bills leads to much worse problems later on. The inflation that results from the flood of money into the economy turns out to be far worse than the fiscal pain those countries hoped to avoid."
Of course, this is exactly the policy the Fed has pursued, will pursue and that Fisher himself has voted for. This is a classic example of the Fed's MO: Talk tough and run the printing press at full speed.
Flirting with inflation
Fisher even had the nerve to point out the insidious, corrosive long-term problems caused by Fed-sponsored inflation: "I have said many, many times that inflation is a sinister beast that, if uncaged, devours savings, erodes consumers' purchasing power, decimates returns on capital, undermines the reliability of financial accounting, distracts the attention of corporate management, undercuts employment growth and real wages, and debases the currency."
All of that is true. But if Fisher or any other of the incompetent, irresponsible money printers at the Fed believed that, they would immediately stop targeting interest rates and start targeting some supply-based measure of monetary growth or create some variation of the gold standard.
But the Fed obviously doesn't care about the effects of inflation, which is a direct result of its money printing. And, as I pointed out in my book, "Greenspan's Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve," it is this action that's put middle-class Americans in the pickle they're in -- whereby their home values have caved in and their houses are worth less than the debt held against them. Meanwhile, they're being eaten alive by the vagaries of inflation.
More from MSN Money
Money © Brandx Pictures/photolibrary
* Why the tax rebates won't work
* $4 a gallon means more for a beer
* In favor of bubble-free prosperity
* The next step in the credit mess
* Why we can't cruise past a recession
Robot rallies
A friend who is very knowledgeable -- specifically, about quantitative-trading types -- recently weighed in on the stock market's amazing ability to ignore all the recent bad news. In periods when there isn't much news and not much volume, quantitative-trading strategies can rule the tape, which is sort of what we have been seeing. When I pressed him as to what kinds of strategies are being used, he said it's almost all about price action.
Thus those you might think of as normal buyers and sellers are sort of on the sidelines for a variety of reasons, allowing the computers -- which gauge value based on price action -- to ride roughshod and help create the rallies that help produce the illusion of prosperity. That, in turn, begets excitement on the part of more folks who don't understand the economic backdrop.
Bottom line: During the no-news period, which is roughly the middle eight weeks of any quarter when corporations are not reporting results en masse, the lack of data allows computers free rein. That may go a long way to explaining the maniacal behavior we've seen recently on the tape.
Video on MSN Money
Jim Jubak
When will oil prices fall?
The demand for oil in Asia remains high because of government subsidies that keep fuel cheap. Jim Jubak says the biggest Asian subsidies should begin dissipating over the next year.
Of course, denial has a role in all this, too, as Wall Street would just as soon not see the big picture: the major trouble that lies ahead for the consumer and the economy, as the aftermath of the housing bubble continues its prolonged unwinding.
After all, that backdrop is not a recipe for higher stock prices. But let the price of oil drop, and market bulls will herald the start of economic recovery.
Continued: High prices take bite out of economy
The Fed embraces inflation
A top Fed official warns of the hazards of printing money to solve economic problems. He's right -- and yet the nation's central bank keeps running the press at top speed.
advertisement
Click here to find out more!
Article Tools
By Bill Fleckenstein
In a speech last week, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank head Richard Fisher covered a lot of ground, innocently noting many problems (the worst of which the Fed has created). He discussed the nation's massive, long-term unfunded Social Security and Medicare liabilities, putting the amount at roughly $99 trillion.
But what I found objectionable was his temerity in commenting: "We know from centuries of evidence in countless economies, from ancient Rome to today's Zimbabwe, that running the printing press to pay off today's bills leads to much worse problems later on. The inflation that results from the flood of money into the economy turns out to be far worse than the fiscal pain those countries hoped to avoid."
Of course, this is exactly the policy the Fed has pursued, will pursue and that Fisher himself has voted for. This is a classic example of the Fed's MO: Talk tough and run the printing press at full speed.
Flirting with inflation
Fisher even had the nerve to point out the insidious, corrosive long-term problems caused by Fed-sponsored inflation: "I have said many, many times that inflation is a sinister beast that, if uncaged, devours savings, erodes consumers' purchasing power, decimates returns on capital, undermines the reliability of financial accounting, distracts the attention of corporate management, undercuts employment growth and real wages, and debases the currency."
All of that is true. But if Fisher or any other of the incompetent, irresponsible money printers at the Fed believed that, they would immediately stop targeting interest rates and start targeting some supply-based measure of monetary growth or create some variation of the gold standard.
But the Fed obviously doesn't care about the effects of inflation, which is a direct result of its money printing. And, as I pointed out in my book, "Greenspan's Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve," it is this action that's put middle-class Americans in the pickle they're in -- whereby their home values have caved in and their houses are worth less than the debt held against them. Meanwhile, they're being eaten alive by the vagaries of inflation.
More from MSN Money
Money © Brandx Pictures/photolibrary
* Why the tax rebates won't work
* $4 a gallon means more for a beer
* In favor of bubble-free prosperity
* The next step in the credit mess
* Why we can't cruise past a recession
Robot rallies
A friend who is very knowledgeable -- specifically, about quantitative-trading types -- recently weighed in on the stock market's amazing ability to ignore all the recent bad news. In periods when there isn't much news and not much volume, quantitative-trading strategies can rule the tape, which is sort of what we have been seeing. When I pressed him as to what kinds of strategies are being used, he said it's almost all about price action.
Thus those you might think of as normal buyers and sellers are sort of on the sidelines for a variety of reasons, allowing the computers -- which gauge value based on price action -- to ride roughshod and help create the rallies that help produce the illusion of prosperity. That, in turn, begets excitement on the part of more folks who don't understand the economic backdrop.
Bottom line: During the no-news period, which is roughly the middle eight weeks of any quarter when corporations are not reporting results en masse, the lack of data allows computers free rein. That may go a long way to explaining the maniacal behavior we've seen recently on the tape.
Video on MSN Money
Jim Jubak
When will oil prices fall?
The demand for oil in Asia remains high because of government subsidies that keep fuel cheap. Jim Jubak says the biggest Asian subsidies should begin dissipating over the next year.
Of course, denial has a role in all this, too, as Wall Street would just as soon not see the big picture: the major trouble that lies ahead for the consumer and the economy, as the aftermath of the housing bubble continues its prolonged unwinding.
After all, that backdrop is not a recipe for higher stock prices. But let the price of oil drop, and market bulls will herald the start of economic recovery.
Continued: High prices take bite out of economy
solution to almsot every problem is workout -- youd be astonished
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start spending time in gym
no money? why need money? to buy pussy? sad sak! just workout!
stressed? workout
need big car? why? to get pussy? skip that and workout!
stop spedning time on net or tv
start spending time in gym
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Pelosi Begs Bucks to Fend Off GOP Probes Thursday, 24 Jun 2010 09:59 AM Article Font Size House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is seeking don
Pelosi Begs Bucks to Fend Off GOP Probes
Thursday, 24 Jun 2010 09:59 AM
Article Font Size
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is seeking donations to fend off potential GOP probes, according to a report in thehill.com.
Pelosi hopes supporters will cough up contributions to head off various "subpoenas and investigations" that would follow once the GOP takes the majority.
According to The Hill report, Pelosi says if Republicans recapture the House, they'll kick-off "endless investigations against President Obama" and "bring back the days of Ken Starr and the politics of personal destruction."
"Remember a Republican-controlled Congress that devoted more time to subpoenas and investigations than to solving our country's problems?" Pelosi asks. "There is far too much at stake for our country now to allow it to happen again."
Thursday, 24 Jun 2010 09:59 AM
Article Font Size
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is seeking donations to fend off potential GOP probes, according to a report in thehill.com.
Pelosi hopes supporters will cough up contributions to head off various "subpoenas and investigations" that would follow once the GOP takes the majority.
According to The Hill report, Pelosi says if Republicans recapture the House, they'll kick-off "endless investigations against President Obama" and "bring back the days of Ken Starr and the politics of personal destruction."
"Remember a Republican-controlled Congress that devoted more time to subpoenas and investigations than to solving our country's problems?" Pelosi asks. "There is far too much at stake for our country now to allow it to happen again."
Where are the concerts? Where are the TV benefits with celebrities (Gulf of Mexico) Date: 2010-06-28, 9:36PM PDT Reply To This Post Where are the con
Where are the concerts? Where are the TV benefits with celebrities (Gulf of Mexico)
Date: 2010-06-28, 9:36PM PDT
Reply To This Post
Where are the concerts? Where are the TV benefits with celebrities and musicians giving heart felt speeches on the poor fishermen, wildlife, beaches, loss of income, and gulf economy? I find it rather strange how these people were so quick to help Haiti and other countries but sit on their backsides for this one.
Date: 2010-06-28, 9:36PM PDT
Reply To This Post
Where are the concerts? Where are the TV benefits with celebrities and musicians giving heart felt speeches on the poor fishermen, wildlife, beaches, loss of income, and gulf economy? I find it rather strange how these people were so quick to help Haiti and other countries but sit on their backsides for this one.
Supreme Court Rules Chicago Gun Ban Unconstitutional The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 that Chicago's longstanding ban on handgun ownership is un
Supreme Court Rules Chicago Gun Ban Unconstitutional
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 that Chicago's longstanding ban on handgun ownership is unconstitutional, concluding that state actions violating the right to keep and bear arms are no more valid than those taken by the federal government. Comments Cato scholar Ilya Shapiro, "This is a nation of laws, not men—a republic, not a pure democracy—and thus it is disconcerting to see, as we do time and time again with this Court, that the only thing separating us from rule by a crude majoritarian impulse is one vote. ...Today is a big victory for gun rights and a bigger one for liberty."
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 5-4 that Chicago's longstanding ban on handgun ownership is unconstitutional, concluding that state actions violating the right to keep and bear arms are no more valid than those taken by the federal government. Comments Cato scholar Ilya Shapiro, "This is a nation of laws, not men—a republic, not a pure democracy—and thus it is disconcerting to see, as we do time and time again with this Court, that the only thing separating us from rule by a crude majoritarian impulse is one vote. ...Today is a big victory for gun rights and a bigger one for liberty."
Rasmussen: 52% Favor Repeal of Healthcare Law Monday, 28 Jun 2010 01:42 PM Article Font Size A majority of voters favors repeal of the nationa
Rasmussen: 52% Favor Repeal of Healthcare Law
Monday, 28 Jun 2010 01:42 PM
Article Font Size
A majority of voters favors repeal of the national healthcare law, but support for repeal has fallen to its lowest level since the bill passed in March, according to a Rasmussen Reports national survey.
Voters remain skeptical, however, about the impact of the plan on the deficit and on the quality and cost of healthcare, according to the report, released Monday, saying that 52 percent favor repeal and 40 percent oppose it.
A week ago, 55 percent favored repeal and 40 percent opposed it. Voters with health insurance overwhelmingly like the coverage they have, but 44 percent of that group now think the healthcare bill is likely to make them change that coverage.
Rasmussen Reports has been tracking sentiments about repeal since the plan’s passage in March, and opposition to the legislation has remained as strong since its adoption as it was beforehand. Before this survey, however, support for repeal since March has ranged from a low of 54 percent to a high of 63 percent in mid-May. Opposition has ranged from 32 percent to 42 percent.
The new findings, based on a survey of 1,000 likely voters June 25 and 26, include 42 percent who strongly favor repeal and 28 percent who are strongly opposed.
Almost 40 percent of all voters believe the health care plan will be good for America, while 49 percent say its impact on the country will be bad.
Since March, those who rate the plan’s impact as good have ranged from 35 percent to 41 percent. In the same time period, those who predict it will be bad for the country have fallen in the 49 percent to 55 percent range.
Just under 60 percent of voters believe the plan will increase the federal deficit at a time when President Obama has just agreed with other world leaders to halve the deficit by 2013. Nearly 15 percent say the health plan will decrease the deficit, and 17 percent say it will have no impact.
Only 22 percent think the quality of healthcare will improve under the health plan, while 49 percent say quality will get worse. Almost one-fourth expect it to stay about the same.
Just over half say healthcare costs will go up under the new plan. Just 17 percent think costs will go down, while 22 percent say they will stay about the same.
Democrats continue to be cheerleaders for the healthcare plan, while Republicans remain its strongest opponents. Almost 70 percent of those in the president’s party say the plan is good for the country, while 81 percent of Republicans and 49 percent of voters not affiliated with either party disagree and see it as bad for America.
Four-fifths of GOP voters and 54 percent of unaffiliateds favor repeal of the plan, while 67 percent of Democrats oppose it.
Political class voters continue to be even bigger supporters of the healthcare measure. Although 63 percent of mainstream voters say the plan is bad for the country, 95 percent of the political class see it as good.
Two-thirds of the mainstream voters favor repeal, but 87 percent of the political class oppose repeal.
Supporters of the healthcare plan have often looked north to Canada’s nationalized system as a model for what they have in mind, but just 32 percent of voters nationwide say Canada has a better healthcare system than the United States. Rather than looking to Canada, 57 percent believe more competition and less government regulation would be better for the U.S. healthcare system.
The number who believe Canada has a better system is similar to the 34 percent who support a single-payer system in the United States in which the federal government would provide coverage for everyone.
© Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Monday, 28 Jun 2010 01:42 PM
Article Font Size
A majority of voters favors repeal of the national healthcare law, but support for repeal has fallen to its lowest level since the bill passed in March, according to a Rasmussen Reports national survey.
Voters remain skeptical, however, about the impact of the plan on the deficit and on the quality and cost of healthcare, according to the report, released Monday, saying that 52 percent favor repeal and 40 percent oppose it.
A week ago, 55 percent favored repeal and 40 percent opposed it. Voters with health insurance overwhelmingly like the coverage they have, but 44 percent of that group now think the healthcare bill is likely to make them change that coverage.
Rasmussen Reports has been tracking sentiments about repeal since the plan’s passage in March, and opposition to the legislation has remained as strong since its adoption as it was beforehand. Before this survey, however, support for repeal since March has ranged from a low of 54 percent to a high of 63 percent in mid-May. Opposition has ranged from 32 percent to 42 percent.
The new findings, based on a survey of 1,000 likely voters June 25 and 26, include 42 percent who strongly favor repeal and 28 percent who are strongly opposed.
Almost 40 percent of all voters believe the health care plan will be good for America, while 49 percent say its impact on the country will be bad.
Since March, those who rate the plan’s impact as good have ranged from 35 percent to 41 percent. In the same time period, those who predict it will be bad for the country have fallen in the 49 percent to 55 percent range.
Just under 60 percent of voters believe the plan will increase the federal deficit at a time when President Obama has just agreed with other world leaders to halve the deficit by 2013. Nearly 15 percent say the health plan will decrease the deficit, and 17 percent say it will have no impact.
Only 22 percent think the quality of healthcare will improve under the health plan, while 49 percent say quality will get worse. Almost one-fourth expect it to stay about the same.
Just over half say healthcare costs will go up under the new plan. Just 17 percent think costs will go down, while 22 percent say they will stay about the same.
Democrats continue to be cheerleaders for the healthcare plan, while Republicans remain its strongest opponents. Almost 70 percent of those in the president’s party say the plan is good for the country, while 81 percent of Republicans and 49 percent of voters not affiliated with either party disagree and see it as bad for America.
Four-fifths of GOP voters and 54 percent of unaffiliateds favor repeal of the plan, while 67 percent of Democrats oppose it.
Political class voters continue to be even bigger supporters of the healthcare measure. Although 63 percent of mainstream voters say the plan is bad for the country, 95 percent of the political class see it as good.
Two-thirds of the mainstream voters favor repeal, but 87 percent of the political class oppose repeal.
Supporters of the healthcare plan have often looked north to Canada’s nationalized system as a model for what they have in mind, but just 32 percent of voters nationwide say Canada has a better healthcare system than the United States. Rather than looking to Canada, 57 percent believe more competition and less government regulation would be better for the U.S. healthcare system.
The number who believe Canada has a better system is similar to the 34 percent who support a single-payer system in the United States in which the federal government would provide coverage for everyone.
© Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Obama’s Economic Policy: Crony Capitalism John Steele Gordon - 04.23.2010 - 7:34 PM The so-called financial-reform bills now working their ways throu
Obama’s Economic Policy: Crony Capitalism
John Steele Gordon - 04.23.2010 - 7:34 PM
The so-called financial-reform bills now working their ways through each house of Congress are, like the health-care-reform bill before them, not about reform at all. They do not reform anything. Instead, they make the federal government the major player in a major industry. Just as the health-care-reform bill will transform private insurance companies into the equivalent of public utilities, whose every major decision needs government approval and whose returns on capital are more or less guaranteed, these bills would do the same for big banks and other financial institutions.
President Obama gave a typical speech yesterday in the same room where, a 140 years ago, Abraham Lincoln gave a most untypical speech. Well, perhaps typical for Lincoln: eloquent, tightly reasoned, profound, and consequential in its effect. (As an aside, I have spoken in the Great Hall of Cooper Union myself and had a powerful feeling that I was standing upon holy ground while I did so; Obama, I suspect, felt he was only adding to its sanctity.) Obama’s speech was typical in that it set up straw men, fearlessly knocked them down, assigned blame without evidence, told falsehoods while demanding that others stop lying, and asked for discussion as long as every discussant agrees with him. Everyone else and every other opinion is “illegitimate.”
Wall Street was hardly blameless regarding the financial crisis of 2008 and reforms are necessary to prevent the same things from happening again. Niall Ferguson and Ted Forstmann explain what’s needed in today’s Wall Street Journal. (In a nutshell: moving derivatives trading from back rooms to exchanges and limiting the leverage that banks can use.) The Senate bill wouldn’t do that. Instead it would move most derivatives trading to exchanges but allow the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to decide what derivatives can still be traded over the counter. Does anyone see there a hugely empowered federal official (not to mention a golden lobbying opportunity for banks and members of Congress alike)? Is a back room at the CFTC an improvement over a back room at Goldman Sachs?
And Fannie and Freddie? They were at the heart of the mortgage meltdown and political piggy banks that were so badly (and corruptly) regulated that they are likely to cost the taxpayers $400 billion when all is said and done. But neither of these bills even mentions them. Fannie and Freddie are classic examples of crony capitalism, where government and business are in bed together. Obama wants to expand that disastrous model to the likes of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.
It is the business of business to take risk and seek profit. It is the business of government to regulate business to ensure that the public interest is not put at risk. That’s exactly what government failed to do before 2008. As Judge Richard Posner put it in his most recent book, The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy, “Calling bankers greedy for taking advantage of profit opportunities created by unsound government policies is like calling rich people greedy for allowing Medicare to reimburse their medical bills.”
The Obama administration’s ruthless pursuit of ever greater concentration of power in Washington — and calling it reform — just keeps getting scarier.
John Steele Gordon - 04.23.2010 - 7:34 PM
The so-called financial-reform bills now working their ways through each house of Congress are, like the health-care-reform bill before them, not about reform at all. They do not reform anything. Instead, they make the federal government the major player in a major industry. Just as the health-care-reform bill will transform private insurance companies into the equivalent of public utilities, whose every major decision needs government approval and whose returns on capital are more or less guaranteed, these bills would do the same for big banks and other financial institutions.
President Obama gave a typical speech yesterday in the same room where, a 140 years ago, Abraham Lincoln gave a most untypical speech. Well, perhaps typical for Lincoln: eloquent, tightly reasoned, profound, and consequential in its effect. (As an aside, I have spoken in the Great Hall of Cooper Union myself and had a powerful feeling that I was standing upon holy ground while I did so; Obama, I suspect, felt he was only adding to its sanctity.) Obama’s speech was typical in that it set up straw men, fearlessly knocked them down, assigned blame without evidence, told falsehoods while demanding that others stop lying, and asked for discussion as long as every discussant agrees with him. Everyone else and every other opinion is “illegitimate.”
Wall Street was hardly blameless regarding the financial crisis of 2008 and reforms are necessary to prevent the same things from happening again. Niall Ferguson and Ted Forstmann explain what’s needed in today’s Wall Street Journal. (In a nutshell: moving derivatives trading from back rooms to exchanges and limiting the leverage that banks can use.) The Senate bill wouldn’t do that. Instead it would move most derivatives trading to exchanges but allow the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to decide what derivatives can still be traded over the counter. Does anyone see there a hugely empowered federal official (not to mention a golden lobbying opportunity for banks and members of Congress alike)? Is a back room at the CFTC an improvement over a back room at Goldman Sachs?
And Fannie and Freddie? They were at the heart of the mortgage meltdown and political piggy banks that were so badly (and corruptly) regulated that they are likely to cost the taxpayers $400 billion when all is said and done. But neither of these bills even mentions them. Fannie and Freddie are classic examples of crony capitalism, where government and business are in bed together. Obama wants to expand that disastrous model to the likes of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.
It is the business of business to take risk and seek profit. It is the business of government to regulate business to ensure that the public interest is not put at risk. That’s exactly what government failed to do before 2008. As Judge Richard Posner put it in his most recent book, The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy, “Calling bankers greedy for taking advantage of profit opportunities created by unsound government policies is like calling rich people greedy for allowing Medicare to reimburse their medical bills.”
The Obama administration’s ruthless pursuit of ever greater concentration of power in Washington — and calling it reform — just keeps getting scarier.
lebron cant do this, he jsut wards off sicne hes not that fast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26K6HU6Cz_E
kobe can't do this michael jordan can kobe not in same league
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8M2NgjvicA
Shania Twain didn't make it
Twain married music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on December 28, 1993, and they have a son, Eja D'Angelo (pronounced "Asia") who was born on August 12, 2001. On May 15, 2008, a spokesperson for Mercury Nashville announced that Twain and Lange were separating.[43][44] Their divorce was finalized on June 09, 2010.[45]
SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS IS ECONOMICS (REST IS FRAUD) Date: 2010-06-27, 7:26PM PDT Reply To This Post staright up politicians didn't liek spending [a
SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS IS ECONOMICS (REST IS FRAUD)
Date: 2010-06-27, 7:26PM PDT
Reply To This Post
staright up
politicians didn't liek spending [ala hadning thier friends fat cash] limited by tax income, so they found a guy named keynes who said "oh if a governmetn overspends, it stimulates the economy"
lol
imagine being 100k in bedt adn you spend 200k to stimulate your economy?
lol
and now since big university onyl hire this kinda moron, and banks same since banks love overspending and governmetn easy artificial credit here we are with morons like obama and krugman saying their spending moyney they don't have and sticking it in deficit all to be paid by tax pyaer is "good"
lol
weee wee dems are dumb
Date: 2010-06-27, 7:26PM PDT
Reply To This Post
staright up
politicians didn't liek spending [ala hadning thier friends fat cash] limited by tax income, so they found a guy named keynes who said "oh if a governmetn overspends, it stimulates the economy"
lol
imagine being 100k in bedt adn you spend 200k to stimulate your economy?
lol
and now since big university onyl hire this kinda moron, and banks same since banks love overspending and governmetn easy artificial credit here we are with morons like obama and krugman saying their spending moyney they don't have and sticking it in deficit all to be paid by tax pyaer is "good"
lol
weee wee dems are dumb
democrats creating unemployed (using keynesian economics) Date: 2010-06-27, 7:13PM PDT Reply To This Post how can there be high tax high deifcit h
democrats creating unemployed (using keynesian economics)
Date: 2010-06-27, 7:13PM PDT
Reply To This Post
how can there be high tax
high deifcit
high unemplyemnt
high prices
and yet many are not working?
governmetn snaking all the money is how
welcome to keynesian economics
taste the scarcity!
Date: 2010-06-27, 7:13PM PDT
Reply To This Post
how can there be high tax
high deifcit
high unemplyemnt
high prices
and yet many are not working?
governmetn snaking all the money is how
welcome to keynesian economics
taste the scarcity!
cut government spending
http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/46-States-Budget-Deficits/2010/06/25/id/363122
O'Reilly: Obama Could Face Impeachment If He Pardons Illegals Saturday, 26 Jun 2010 12:54 PM Article Font Size By: Chris Wessling Fox News' Bi
O'Reilly: Obama Could Face Impeachment If He Pardons Illegals
Saturday, 26 Jun 2010 12:54 PM
Article Font Size
By: Chris Wessling
Fox News' Bill O'Reilly is warning that if President Barack Obama ever bypasses Congress and uses his pardon power to make millions of illegal aliens citizens, he could face serious calls for his impeachment.
“If President Obama were to sign an executive order giving illegal aliens amnesty, his career would be over and an impeachment movement would explode,” O'Reilly said Friday night on his “Talking Points” segment during his top-rated Fox show.
At the same time, O'Reilly said he did not believe reports that the Obama administration would grant such a blanket amnesty.
Fox News, however, reported this week: “The Obama administration has been holding behind-the-scenes talks to determine whether the Department of Homeland Security can unilaterally grant legal status on a mass basis to illegal immigrants, a former Bush administration official who spoke with at least three people involved in those talks told FoxNews.com.”
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that at least 10.8 million illegal immigrants are living in the United States.
During his 2008 campaign, Obama promised pro-immigration and Hispanic groups that he would make an amnesty program a top priority. But such a plan has taken a back seat in favor of other Obama legislative initiatives, including healthcare and financial regulation reform.
With congressional elections fast approaching, both the legislative calendar and the climate for new immigration legislation appears to offer immigration legislation a slim chance of passing this year.
Republicans, led by Arizona Sen. John McCain, have been angered that Obama has done little to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, and have made that a prerequisite condition before any discussion of immigration reform can take place.
Reports that the Obama administration is weighing ways to circumvent Congress have Republicans worried. On Monday, eight Republican senators sent the president a letter saying they are concerned that he will grant unilateral amnesty to America's illegal immigrant population if his efforts to overhaul current U.S. policy fails in Congress.
The letter called on Obama to abandon any attempt to "unilaterally extend either deferred action or parole to millions of illegal aliens in the United States. Such a move would further erode the American public's confidence in the federal government and its commitment to securing the borders and enforcing the laws already on the books."
The eight senators who signed the letter were Charles Grassley of Iowa, Orrin Hatch of Utah, David Vitter of Louisiana, Jim Bunning of Kentucky, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Thad Cochran of Mississippi.
GOP Rep. Steve King of Iowa told Fox News that the White House has solicited opinions from experts on possible avenues for granting "amnesty for a large number of people."
A former Bush administration official also told Fox News that talks on the subject have been held by Obama officials who are "studying legal ways to legalize people without having to go through any congressional debate about it."
Republicans believe that Obama is anxious to grant citizenship to millions of illegals so he can add millions of new Democratic voters to the electoral rolls, ensuring his re-election in 2012 and tipping the national balance of power in favor of Democratic candidates for the foreseeable future.
O’Reilly also criticized the Obama administration for its lax treatment of the illegal alien issue, noting that Obama had appointed Harold Hurrt to be the liaison between the federal government and states over the increasingly contentious issue of illegal immigration.
Hurrt is the former police chief of Houston and Phoenix, and O'Reilly says he is “outwardly sympathetic to illegal aliens. As [police] chief, he refused to enforce federal immigration law. Now Hurrt is a federal immigration official? Come on, that's insane.”
Hurrt's appointment “proves that the president is extremely left on the immigration issue,” O'Reilly said.
Saturday, 26 Jun 2010 12:54 PM
Article Font Size
By: Chris Wessling
Fox News' Bill O'Reilly is warning that if President Barack Obama ever bypasses Congress and uses his pardon power to make millions of illegal aliens citizens, he could face serious calls for his impeachment.
“If President Obama were to sign an executive order giving illegal aliens amnesty, his career would be over and an impeachment movement would explode,” O'Reilly said Friday night on his “Talking Points” segment during his top-rated Fox show.
At the same time, O'Reilly said he did not believe reports that the Obama administration would grant such a blanket amnesty.
Fox News, however, reported this week: “The Obama administration has been holding behind-the-scenes talks to determine whether the Department of Homeland Security can unilaterally grant legal status on a mass basis to illegal immigrants, a former Bush administration official who spoke with at least three people involved in those talks told FoxNews.com.”
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that at least 10.8 million illegal immigrants are living in the United States.
During his 2008 campaign, Obama promised pro-immigration and Hispanic groups that he would make an amnesty program a top priority. But such a plan has taken a back seat in favor of other Obama legislative initiatives, including healthcare and financial regulation reform.
With congressional elections fast approaching, both the legislative calendar and the climate for new immigration legislation appears to offer immigration legislation a slim chance of passing this year.
Republicans, led by Arizona Sen. John McCain, have been angered that Obama has done little to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, and have made that a prerequisite condition before any discussion of immigration reform can take place.
Reports that the Obama administration is weighing ways to circumvent Congress have Republicans worried. On Monday, eight Republican senators sent the president a letter saying they are concerned that he will grant unilateral amnesty to America's illegal immigrant population if his efforts to overhaul current U.S. policy fails in Congress.
The letter called on Obama to abandon any attempt to "unilaterally extend either deferred action or parole to millions of illegal aliens in the United States. Such a move would further erode the American public's confidence in the federal government and its commitment to securing the borders and enforcing the laws already on the books."
The eight senators who signed the letter were Charles Grassley of Iowa, Orrin Hatch of Utah, David Vitter of Louisiana, Jim Bunning of Kentucky, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Thad Cochran of Mississippi.
GOP Rep. Steve King of Iowa told Fox News that the White House has solicited opinions from experts on possible avenues for granting "amnesty for a large number of people."
A former Bush administration official also told Fox News that talks on the subject have been held by Obama officials who are "studying legal ways to legalize people without having to go through any congressional debate about it."
Republicans believe that Obama is anxious to grant citizenship to millions of illegals so he can add millions of new Democratic voters to the electoral rolls, ensuring his re-election in 2012 and tipping the national balance of power in favor of Democratic candidates for the foreseeable future.
O’Reilly also criticized the Obama administration for its lax treatment of the illegal alien issue, noting that Obama had appointed Harold Hurrt to be the liaison between the federal government and states over the increasingly contentious issue of illegal immigration.
Hurrt is the former police chief of Houston and Phoenix, and O'Reilly says he is “outwardly sympathetic to illegal aliens. As [police] chief, he refused to enforce federal immigration law. Now Hurrt is a federal immigration official? Come on, that's insane.”
Hurrt's appointment “proves that the president is extremely left on the immigration issue,” O'Reilly said.
Vice President Biden called the manager of a custard shop outside of Milwaukee, Wis., a "smartass" after the man asked him to lower taxes.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/27/biden-calls-custard-shop-manager-smartass-taxes-comment/
The hypocrisy of Gay Marriage and why government should get out of the marriage business.
http://harmful.cat-v.org/society/gay_marriage
Cato@Liberty asks: Is Michael Moore Sicko or Wacko?
http://harmful.cat-v.org/Blog/2007/06/21/1_The_sick_wacko/
Republicans say the measure ignores Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants who have received huge federal bailouts and whose bad loans helped
Obama prods Congress to finish financial overhaul
Obama prods Congress to send him financial overhaul bill to help consumers, buttress economy
Buzz up! 28
Print
Companies:
Federal National Mortgage Association
Freddie Mac
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper greets President Barack Obama during the official welcoming of the G-8 leaders to the G8 Summit at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada, Friday, June 25, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Sean Kilpatrick)
Related QuotesSymbol Price Change
FNM 0.39 +0.01
FRE 0.45 -0.02
Alan Fram, Associated Press Writer, On Saturday June 26, 2010, 6:16 am EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama prodded Congress on Saturday to send him financial overhaul legislation, saying the landmark compromise lawmakers have crafted would be a boon to consumers and help deflect the next global financial crisis.
"We're still digging ourselves out of an economic crisis that happened largely because there wasn't strong enough oversight on Wall Street," Obama said in his weekly radio and online address. "We can't build a strong economy in America over the long-run without ending this status quo, and laying a new foundation for growth and prosperity."
He also pressed legislators to send him another proposal they omitted from the compromise financial package -- a tax on big banks supporters say would recoup some of the billions taxpayers spent to bail out the ailing institutions.
House-Senate negotiators approved the overall deal Friday, and Democratic leaders hope to muscle it through Congress next week. The bill creates an independent agency to monitor mortgages and other consumer financial products, restricts trading in complicated derivatives that helped ignite the financial meltdown and forces failing giant firms to liquidate, making it the widest reaching revamp of the nation's financial rules since the Great Depression.
"We now stand on the verge of victory," the president said.
Republicans say the measure ignores Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants who have received huge federal bailouts and whose bad loans helped trigger the housing and economic meltdowns.
In their weekly address, they argued that Obama must focus on "creating more jobs, not more debt," by embracing GOP efforts to cancel unspent Wall Street bailout funds and stimulus money and to help small businesses.
"Instead of growing government, we need to restart the engine of economic growth," said Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Obama's address came with the president in Toronto, Canada, for a weekend economic meeting of world leaders. Their session is aimed at finding ways countries can coordinate their policies to help avoid a future economic collapse.
The financial measure is nearing enactment at a time when polls show widespread public anger at bankers and Wall Street, who are widely blamed for irresponsible practices that helped cause the recession.
"Getting this far on Wall Street reform hasn't been easy," Obama said, playing on that populist theme. "There are those who've fought tooth and nail to preserve the status quo. In recent months, they've spent millions of dollars and hired an army of lobbyists to stop reform dead in its tracks."
Obama prods Congress to send him financial overhaul bill to help consumers, buttress economy
Buzz up! 28
Companies:
Federal National Mortgage Association
Freddie Mac
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper greets President Barack Obama during the official welcoming of the G-8 leaders to the G8 Summit at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada, Friday, June 25, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Sean Kilpatrick)
Related QuotesSymbol Price Change
FNM 0.39 +0.01
FRE 0.45 -0.02
Alan Fram, Associated Press Writer, On Saturday June 26, 2010, 6:16 am EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama prodded Congress on Saturday to send him financial overhaul legislation, saying the landmark compromise lawmakers have crafted would be a boon to consumers and help deflect the next global financial crisis.
"We're still digging ourselves out of an economic crisis that happened largely because there wasn't strong enough oversight on Wall Street," Obama said in his weekly radio and online address. "We can't build a strong economy in America over the long-run without ending this status quo, and laying a new foundation for growth and prosperity."
He also pressed legislators to send him another proposal they omitted from the compromise financial package -- a tax on big banks supporters say would recoup some of the billions taxpayers spent to bail out the ailing institutions.
House-Senate negotiators approved the overall deal Friday, and Democratic leaders hope to muscle it through Congress next week. The bill creates an independent agency to monitor mortgages and other consumer financial products, restricts trading in complicated derivatives that helped ignite the financial meltdown and forces failing giant firms to liquidate, making it the widest reaching revamp of the nation's financial rules since the Great Depression.
"We now stand on the verge of victory," the president said.
Republicans say the measure ignores Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants who have received huge federal bailouts and whose bad loans helped trigger the housing and economic meltdowns.
In their weekly address, they argued that Obama must focus on "creating more jobs, not more debt," by embracing GOP efforts to cancel unspent Wall Street bailout funds and stimulus money and to help small businesses.
"Instead of growing government, we need to restart the engine of economic growth," said Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Obama's address came with the president in Toronto, Canada, for a weekend economic meeting of world leaders. Their session is aimed at finding ways countries can coordinate their policies to help avoid a future economic collapse.
The financial measure is nearing enactment at a time when polls show widespread public anger at bankers and Wall Street, who are widely blamed for irresponsible practices that helped cause the recession.
"Getting this far on Wall Street reform hasn't been easy," Obama said, playing on that populist theme. "There are those who've fought tooth and nail to preserve the status quo. In recent months, they've spent millions of dollars and hired an army of lobbyists to stop reform dead in its tracks."
Suspect arrested for murder of white man in Culver City (Guess the race?) Date: 2010-06-25, 1:32PM PDT Reply To This Post BTW- I am the same white ma
Suspect arrested for murder of white man in Culver City (Guess the race?)
Date: 2010-06-25, 1:32PM PDT
Reply To This Post
BTW- I am the same white man who called the cops on some apes who were minding their own business at the park and had them kicked out by Culver PD. In fact, I call the cops on blacks as often as I can just because they are black.
--
Eighteen months after Paul Bilodeau, a City Hall project manager at a Fire Station construction site, was mysteriously murdered while working late on a Friday night, the Culver City Police Dept. this afternoon identified the alleged killer:
Myron Deshun Grant, 25 years old, described as a known gang member, was charged last Thursday with killing Mr. Bilodeau, on Jan, 2, 2009, with special circumstances attached, murder in the commission of a robbery.
His motive is believed to have been a random robbery that, for reasons still unknown, went sour.
On the vast and emphatically dark lot in Fox Hills where Fire Station No. 3 had been under construction for months, Mr. Bilodeau, a contract worker for the city of Culver City, had returned to his office in a trailer on the property after a cheery Friday evening dinner with an uncle.
Unmarried and devoted to his aging parents in the Ventura area, the 45-year-old Mr. Bilodeau was planning one of his regular visits with them later in the evening.
But Mr. Grant, who has been in custody since February on an unrelated charge and has at least three felony convictions on his record — drugs, burglary and weapons — may have just happened by the unlighted property that would have looked inviting, with a single light burning.
The suspect, whose scheduled arraignment today was postponed, is due to appear in court on Thursday, July 8.
http://www.culvercity.org/~/media/694C767F07E14EE4BFE23B0E43E01FF1.ashx
Date: 2010-06-25, 1:32PM PDT
Reply To This Post
BTW- I am the same white man who called the cops on some apes who were minding their own business at the park and had them kicked out by Culver PD. In fact, I call the cops on blacks as often as I can just because they are black.
--
Eighteen months after Paul Bilodeau, a City Hall project manager at a Fire Station construction site, was mysteriously murdered while working late on a Friday night, the Culver City Police Dept. this afternoon identified the alleged killer:
Myron Deshun Grant, 25 years old, described as a known gang member, was charged last Thursday with killing Mr. Bilodeau, on Jan, 2, 2009, with special circumstances attached, murder in the commission of a robbery.
His motive is believed to have been a random robbery that, for reasons still unknown, went sour.
On the vast and emphatically dark lot in Fox Hills where Fire Station No. 3 had been under construction for months, Mr. Bilodeau, a contract worker for the city of Culver City, had returned to his office in a trailer on the property after a cheery Friday evening dinner with an uncle.
Unmarried and devoted to his aging parents in the Ventura area, the 45-year-old Mr. Bilodeau was planning one of his regular visits with them later in the evening.
But Mr. Grant, who has been in custody since February on an unrelated charge and has at least three felony convictions on his record — drugs, burglary and weapons — may have just happened by the unlighted property that would have looked inviting, with a single light burning.
The suspect, whose scheduled arraignment today was postponed, is due to appear in court on Thursday, July 8.
http://www.culvercity.org/~/media/694C767F07E14EE4BFE23B0E43E01FF1.ashx
It's a blessing to be White. Date: 2010-06-26, 11:12AM PDT Reply To This Post Nope. No Meth addiction and I don't live in a trailer park. I have a gr
It's a blessing to be White.
Date: 2010-06-26, 11:12AM PDT
Reply To This Post
Nope. No Meth addiction and I don't live in a trailer park. I have a great job, and always will because I'm blond and blue eyed. I have everything in life that I want, and i got it because I'm White. People like me. People trust me. I don't have a criminal record. Buying a home is easier when you're White. Getting a great paying job is easier when you're White. Being Black or Brown is a curse. That's why your skin is dark, because you're a slave. you have always been and always be a slave. It's part of your genetic make up. You can't help it. So have your protests and your marches, and even a few riots. Whitey will always laugh at you then stomp you back into the ground where you belong. It's a White man's world, and you're allowed to live here. Oh yeah, the Obama thingy will backfire, but just to make a few of you shitskins scream quieter, he was elected. Hell, I even voted for him. I'm not a racist, just finally posting the factual truth. White people are more intelligent, more beautiful, and far more superior. Just get used to it. The sooner you come to grips with this, the happier you'll be in your pathetic excuse of an existence. Now, shut the fuck up, and get your shine boxes out. Behave. Think and act White and you'll see what a wonderful life it truly can be.
Date: 2010-06-26, 11:12AM PDT
Reply To This Post
Nope. No Meth addiction and I don't live in a trailer park. I have a great job, and always will because I'm blond and blue eyed. I have everything in life that I want, and i got it because I'm White. People like me. People trust me. I don't have a criminal record. Buying a home is easier when you're White. Getting a great paying job is easier when you're White. Being Black or Brown is a curse. That's why your skin is dark, because you're a slave. you have always been and always be a slave. It's part of your genetic make up. You can't help it. So have your protests and your marches, and even a few riots. Whitey will always laugh at you then stomp you back into the ground where you belong. It's a White man's world, and you're allowed to live here. Oh yeah, the Obama thingy will backfire, but just to make a few of you shitskins scream quieter, he was elected. Hell, I even voted for him. I'm not a racist, just finally posting the factual truth. White people are more intelligent, more beautiful, and far more superior. Just get used to it. The sooner you come to grips with this, the happier you'll be in your pathetic excuse of an existence. Now, shut the fuck up, and get your shine boxes out. Behave. Think and act White and you'll see what a wonderful life it truly can be.
microsoft vs salesforce
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/26/salesforce_patent_action_microsoft_cloud/
RE:RAVE: I totally get the black lifestyle now (Los Angeles)
RE:RAVE: I totally get the black lifestyle now (Los Angeles)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been laid up for 1 month with an injury...on disability the whole time. All you do is drink and smoke weed all day and take painkillers! Then you look for bitches to fuck! You can sleep all day and go out all night! It's freakin' awesome!! You stupid white people who are slaving away are wasting your lives. I'm telling you...live as cheaply as possible, get on some kind of government program where you can at least have your own room and some fresh clothes and some cologne and get to gettin' wasted and F****ing bitches. Wake up whitey! What's even better is you can find bitches that actually have jobs and want to take care of you....then you just use the shit out of them! I'm telling you, this is the honest to God's truth. I've met more women now because they feel sorry for me and see me as a "rescue". There's two ways to meet women: either you're rich as shit or your down and out. If you're in the middle, they couldn't give a shit less about you. This is for all you middle class single white dudes who are trying to make it. Wake the f up!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been laid up for 1 month with an injury...on disability the whole time. All you do is drink and smoke weed all day and take painkillers! Then you look for bitches to fuck! You can sleep all day and go out all night! It's freakin' awesome!! You stupid white people who are slaving away are wasting your lives. I'm telling you...live as cheaply as possible, get on some kind of government program where you can at least have your own room and some fresh clothes and some cologne and get to gettin' wasted and F****ing bitches. Wake up whitey! What's even better is you can find bitches that actually have jobs and want to take care of you....then you just use the shit out of them! I'm telling you, this is the honest to God's truth. I've met more women now because they feel sorry for me and see me as a "rescue". There's two ways to meet women: either you're rich as shit or your down and out. If you're in the middle, they couldn't give a shit less about you. This is for all you middle class single white dudes who are trying to make it. Wake the f up!
As an ex-navy seal in 80's....five of us took out the whole mexican... Date: 2010-06-27, 12:27AM PDT Reply To This Post Mexicans are pussies....remem
As an ex-navy seal in 80's....five of us took out the whole mexican...
Date: 2010-06-27, 12:27AM PDT
Reply To This Post
Mexicans are pussies....remember the 80's.....the drug wars in that era? Well..I was one of the five navy seals that took out the whole drug trade during that time. Each of us had over 500 kills......mexicans are pussies.....simple as that..The US only sent five Seals over to fight the war....
Date: 2010-06-27, 12:27AM PDT
Reply To This Post
Mexicans are pussies....remember the 80's.....the drug wars in that era? Well..I was one of the five navy seals that took out the whole drug trade during that time. Each of us had over 500 kills......mexicans are pussies.....simple as that..The US only sent five Seals over to fight the war....
ELVIS COSTELLO CANCELS APPEARANCES IN ISRAEL OVER THEIR BRUTALITY Date: 2010-06-27, 12:26AM PDT Reply To This Post http://www.elviscostello.com/news/
ELVIS COSTELLO CANCELS APPEARANCES IN ISRAEL OVER THEIR BRUTALITY
Date: 2010-06-27, 12:26AM PDT
Reply To This Post
http://www.elviscostello.com/news/it-is-after-cosiderable-contemplation/44
It Is After Considerable Contemplation....
It is after considerable contemplation that I have lately arrived at the decision that I must withdraw from the two performances scheduled in Israel on the 30th of June and the 1st of July.
One lives in hope that music is more than mere noise, filling up idle time, whether intending to elate or lament.
Then there are occasions when merely having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act that resonates more than anything that might be sung and it may be assumed that one has no mind for the suffering of the innocent.
I must believe that the audience for the coming concerts would have contained many people who question the policies of their government on settlement and deplore conditions that visit intimidation, humiliation or much worse on Palestinian civilians in the name of national security.
I am also keenly aware of the sensitivity of these themes in the wake of so many despicable acts of violence perpetrated in the name of liberation.
Some will regard all of this an unknowable without personal experience but if these subjects are actually too grave and complex to be addressed in a concert, then it is also quite impossible to simply look the other way.
I offer my sincere apologies for any disappointment to the advance ticket holders as well as to the organizers.
My thanks also go to the members of the Israeli media with whom I had most rewarding and illuminating conversations. They may regard these exchanges as a waste of their time but they were of great value and help to me in gaining an appreciation of the cultural scene.
I hope it is possible to understand that I am not taking this decision lightly or so I may stand beneath any banner, nor is it one in which I imagine myself to possess any unique or eternal truth.
It is a matter of instinct and conscience.
It has been necessary to dial out the falsehoods of propaganda, the double game and hysterical language of politics, the vanity and self-righteousness of public communiqués from cranks in order to eventually sift through my own conflicted thoughts.
I have come to the following conclusions.
One must at least consider any rational argument that comes before the appeal of more desperate means.
Sometimes a silence in music is better than adding to the static and so an end to it.
I cannot imagine receiving another invitation to perform in Israel, which is a matter of regret but I can imagine a better time when I would not be writing this.
With the hope for peace and understanding. Elvis Costello
Date: 2010-06-27, 12:26AM PDT
Reply To This Post
http://www.elviscostello.com/news/it-is-after-cosiderable-contemplation/44
It Is After Considerable Contemplation....
It is after considerable contemplation that I have lately arrived at the decision that I must withdraw from the two performances scheduled in Israel on the 30th of June and the 1st of July.
One lives in hope that music is more than mere noise, filling up idle time, whether intending to elate or lament.
Then there are occasions when merely having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act that resonates more than anything that might be sung and it may be assumed that one has no mind for the suffering of the innocent.
I must believe that the audience for the coming concerts would have contained many people who question the policies of their government on settlement and deplore conditions that visit intimidation, humiliation or much worse on Palestinian civilians in the name of national security.
I am also keenly aware of the sensitivity of these themes in the wake of so many despicable acts of violence perpetrated in the name of liberation.
Some will regard all of this an unknowable without personal experience but if these subjects are actually too grave and complex to be addressed in a concert, then it is also quite impossible to simply look the other way.
I offer my sincere apologies for any disappointment to the advance ticket holders as well as to the organizers.
My thanks also go to the members of the Israeli media with whom I had most rewarding and illuminating conversations. They may regard these exchanges as a waste of their time but they were of great value and help to me in gaining an appreciation of the cultural scene.
I hope it is possible to understand that I am not taking this decision lightly or so I may stand beneath any banner, nor is it one in which I imagine myself to possess any unique or eternal truth.
It is a matter of instinct and conscience.
It has been necessary to dial out the falsehoods of propaganda, the double game and hysterical language of politics, the vanity and self-righteousness of public communiqués from cranks in order to eventually sift through my own conflicted thoughts.
I have come to the following conclusions.
One must at least consider any rational argument that comes before the appeal of more desperate means.
Sometimes a silence in music is better than adding to the static and so an end to it.
I cannot imagine receiving another invitation to perform in Israel, which is a matter of regret but I can imagine a better time when I would not be writing this.
With the hope for peace and understanding. Elvis Costello
Saturday, June 26, 2010
jordan sick shooting way ove rkobe kobe a gunner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISv1ybVi9L8&feature=related
jordan so much better than lebron and kobe ist not same league
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4DUqMC3YoI&feature=related
lakers awarded 2010 title, kobe aint shit compared to jordan see this vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69vkEcc-zfc&feature=related
kobe or lebron etc are nowhere near michjael jordan not even same league
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zu6JZXwBt8&feature=fvw
Thursday, June 24, 2010
New poll shows Obama approval at all-time low (He's a Socialist) Date: 2010-06-24, 1:55PM PDT Reply To This Post And its going to get worst. If you s
New poll shows Obama approval at all-time low (He's a Socialist)
Date: 2010-06-24, 1:55PM PDT
Reply To This Post
And its going to get worst. If you support this fool you're an un American lowlife scumbag like him.
Date: 2010-06-24, 1:55PM PDT
Reply To This Post
And its going to get worst. If you support this fool you're an un American lowlife scumbag like him.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
how does jira and confluence get sold? such shit!
amazing
more shit:
sugarCRM
wordpress
what fucking hunks of shit
more shit:
sugarCRM
wordpress
what fucking hunks of shit
News Corp Looking To Sell Fox Audience Network, But How?
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-news-corp-looking-to-sell-fox-audience-network-but-how/
Rich Horace fuck you you lying shitbag LOL you got canned from Fox Audience Network lol
http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/23/replaced-by-machines-fox-audience-network-lays-off-5-of-staff/
I love it!!!
Replaced By Machines: Fox Audience Network Lays Off 5% Of Staff
* 1 Comment
*
* 2
*
by Michael Arrington on Jun 23, 2010
Fox Audience Network, the ad sales company that handles the bulk of advertising sales for News Corp. properties like MySpace and IGN, will let around 5% of staff go today, or roughly 15 people. All of the people being let go are in direct sales, we’ve heard.
A sign that FAN’s ad sales business is crumbling? Maybe not. We’ve heard separately that the self serve part of the business is booming and already in the hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue per year. The self serve network first launched in late 2007 and let’s advertisers “hyper target” display ads against aggregated user information gathered mostly from MySpace. Facebook has a similar product.
FAN continues to hire engineers, we’ve confirmed, despite the fact that they’re letting sales people go. Much of FAN’s lower end direct sales business can be moved to the self serve product. So FAN wants to bulk up on engineers and ween themselves off direct salespeople, who are costly.
Update: FAN President Adam Bain sent an email to all employees announcing the changes:
Sales and Marketing Reorganization
Everyone,
Earlier today we formalized a number of changes to the Sales and
Marketing organization under Marco, that I wanted to share with you.
As the role of technology continues to evolve in our space, we have
re-aligned our Sales and Marketing groups to better leverage our
competitive advantage in self-serve advertising and support FAN’s
direct sales efforts as efficiently as possible. As part of this
reorganization, we are promoting and moving some people into new
roles, and have conducted a small number of job cuts – less than 5% of
our overall staff – which will help realign our sales resources with
our highest-priority objectives. We are moving this headcount into
engineering and product so we can continue our platform growth for the
next fiscal year and in the long term.
As part of this reorganization, we’re creating the Media Operations
team by combining the Sales Operations and Publisher Operations teams.
The Media Operations team will be responsible for the oversight of
campaigns from start to finish – encompassing inventory acquisition,
campaign optimization, post-campaign support and analytics. By having
a single team responsible for campaigns throughout their lifecycle, we
can more effectively and seamlessly serve clients. Mark Papia will be
leading this team until we are able to hire a new VP, Media Operations
– a role which will report directly to Marco, and one for which we are
aggressively recruiting. A couple personnel changes within the Media
Operations team include:
• The Publisher Operations team will be led by Chris Catlow, who has
been promoted to Exec. Director of Publisher Network and will oversee
the day-to-day operations of the team that supports our publishers.
• Matt Barash has been promoted to Sr. Director of Publisher
Development and will continue to lead our inventory acquisition
efforts.
• We are creating a team of optimization experts that will help ensure
that we meet both Advertiser and Publisher expectations. This effort
will be led by Jacqueline Graham and Anthony Palella. Ryan
Charpentier, Director of Account Management, will continue to lead our
Account Management teams working closely with both Publisher
Operations and Optimization teams.
In addition to the changes within the Media Operations team, we’ve
promoted some people in our self-serve business. Jason White,
currently our VP of Network Development, has been promoted to SVP,
MyAds, reporting to Marco. In this role, he will be responsible for
the sales and marketing efforts for MyAds. Jason’s success over past
year in growing our publisher network and working closely with our
product/technology teams ensures he will see similar success in
elevating the MyAds business to the next level. Also on the MyAds
team, Steve Wilcox has been promoted to Exec. Director of Marketing
and will continue to lead the marketing efforts of our self-serve
product. This platform has seen terrific success in the past year, and
I expect these changes will allow us to better manage and drive
further growth within this segment of our business.
Additionally, David Anderson has been promoted to VP, Sales Strategy
and Planning, and his team will continue to support planning, tracking
and cross-team communication within our sales organization.
Lastly, we are in the process of searching for a SVP, Sales and
Marketing who will be responsible for our National direct sales
efforts and the marketing teams that support those initiatives. Dan
Weiner and Michelle Wright will continue to lead our efforts in their
respective regions.
Please join me in congratulating those people moving into new roles. I
know some of the changes we have made have been difficult ones, but I
am confident that as a whole they will help in creating an
organization that best aligns our teams with the needs of our
advertisers and publishers.
Thanks,
Adam
I love it!!!
Replaced By Machines: Fox Audience Network Lays Off 5% Of Staff
* 1 Comment
*
* 2
*
by Michael Arrington on Jun 23, 2010
Fox Audience Network, the ad sales company that handles the bulk of advertising sales for News Corp. properties like MySpace and IGN, will let around 5% of staff go today, or roughly 15 people. All of the people being let go are in direct sales, we’ve heard.
A sign that FAN’s ad sales business is crumbling? Maybe not. We’ve heard separately that the self serve part of the business is booming and already in the hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue per year. The self serve network first launched in late 2007 and let’s advertisers “hyper target” display ads against aggregated user information gathered mostly from MySpace. Facebook has a similar product.
FAN continues to hire engineers, we’ve confirmed, despite the fact that they’re letting sales people go. Much of FAN’s lower end direct sales business can be moved to the self serve product. So FAN wants to bulk up on engineers and ween themselves off direct salespeople, who are costly.
Update: FAN President Adam Bain sent an email to all employees announcing the changes:
Sales and Marketing Reorganization
Everyone,
Earlier today we formalized a number of changes to the Sales and
Marketing organization under Marco, that I wanted to share with you.
As the role of technology continues to evolve in our space, we have
re-aligned our Sales and Marketing groups to better leverage our
competitive advantage in self-serve advertising and support FAN’s
direct sales efforts as efficiently as possible. As part of this
reorganization, we are promoting and moving some people into new
roles, and have conducted a small number of job cuts – less than 5% of
our overall staff – which will help realign our sales resources with
our highest-priority objectives. We are moving this headcount into
engineering and product so we can continue our platform growth for the
next fiscal year and in the long term.
As part of this reorganization, we’re creating the Media Operations
team by combining the Sales Operations and Publisher Operations teams.
The Media Operations team will be responsible for the oversight of
campaigns from start to finish – encompassing inventory acquisition,
campaign optimization, post-campaign support and analytics. By having
a single team responsible for campaigns throughout their lifecycle, we
can more effectively and seamlessly serve clients. Mark Papia will be
leading this team until we are able to hire a new VP, Media Operations
– a role which will report directly to Marco, and one for which we are
aggressively recruiting. A couple personnel changes within the Media
Operations team include:
• The Publisher Operations team will be led by Chris Catlow, who has
been promoted to Exec. Director of Publisher Network and will oversee
the day-to-day operations of the team that supports our publishers.
• Matt Barash has been promoted to Sr. Director of Publisher
Development and will continue to lead our inventory acquisition
efforts.
• We are creating a team of optimization experts that will help ensure
that we meet both Advertiser and Publisher expectations. This effort
will be led by Jacqueline Graham and Anthony Palella. Ryan
Charpentier, Director of Account Management, will continue to lead our
Account Management teams working closely with both Publisher
Operations and Optimization teams.
In addition to the changes within the Media Operations team, we’ve
promoted some people in our self-serve business. Jason White,
currently our VP of Network Development, has been promoted to SVP,
MyAds, reporting to Marco. In this role, he will be responsible for
the sales and marketing efforts for MyAds. Jason’s success over past
year in growing our publisher network and working closely with our
product/technology teams ensures he will see similar success in
elevating the MyAds business to the next level. Also on the MyAds
team, Steve Wilcox has been promoted to Exec. Director of Marketing
and will continue to lead the marketing efforts of our self-serve
product. This platform has seen terrific success in the past year, and
I expect these changes will allow us to better manage and drive
further growth within this segment of our business.
Additionally, David Anderson has been promoted to VP, Sales Strategy
and Planning, and his team will continue to support planning, tracking
and cross-team communication within our sales organization.
Lastly, we are in the process of searching for a SVP, Sales and
Marketing who will be responsible for our National direct sales
efforts and the marketing teams that support those initiatives. Dan
Weiner and Michelle Wright will continue to lead our efforts in their
respective regions.
Please join me in congratulating those people moving into new roles. I
know some of the changes we have made have been difficult ones, but I
am confident that as a whole they will help in creating an
organization that best aligns our teams with the needs of our
advertisers and publishers.
Thanks,
Adam
Fed Would Be Shut Down If It Were Audited, Expert Says 3 Responses By admin on June 12, 2009 The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is so out of whack
Fed Would Be Shut Down If It Were Audited, Expert Says
3 Responses
By admin on June 12, 2009
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is so out of whack that the central bank would be shut down if subjected to a conventional audit, Jim Grant, editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, told CNBC.
With $45 billion in capital and $2.1 trillion in assets, the central bank would not withstand the scrutiny normally afforded other institutions, Grant said in a live interview.
http://www.ronpaul.com/2009-06-12/fed-would-be-shut-down-if-it-were-audited-expert-says/
3 Responses
By admin on June 12, 2009
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is so out of whack that the central bank would be shut down if subjected to a conventional audit, Jim Grant, editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, told CNBC.
With $45 billion in capital and $2.1 trillion in assets, the central bank would not withstand the scrutiny normally afforded other institutions, Grant said in a live interview.
http://www.ronpaul.com/2009-06-12/fed-would-be-shut-down-if-it-were-audited-expert-says/
colorForth is my latest attempt to define a computer environmen
Updated 2001 July 20
Philosophy
I used to love to solve puzzles: crossword, jigsaw, chess. Programming now gives me the endorphin lift of achievement. Call me a programming junkie.
I believe in objective right and wrong. It applies to computer code. There is a single right way to balance all the conflicting demands. There is a solution to the puzzle. The challenge is to find it.
colorForth is my latest attempt to define a computer environment. Satisfactory for me, the programmer, and me, the user. I've published it because I'm pleased with it. Here are some of the trade-offs:
It elminates object code, except for a small kernel. No need to manage object libraries, link modules, relocate code or allocate memory. Of course, I haven't done that for a long time.
It encourages small source modules, compiled on demand. Compiling these takes no perceptible time. Perhaps it's faster than needed. Perhaps it could be faster. In any case, it's satisfactory.
It encourages 2nd-order factoring into groups of related words, via 256-word blocks of code. Hopefully, a block can be reused in a different context. But principally, it organizes and clarifies the code.
The source code is pre-parsed into word-size chunks. This simplifies the interpreter and speeds search.
Each word has a tag that specifies its function and appearance. These properties need not be inferred from context. Thus simplifying the interpreter, reducing syntax and clarifying intention.
Huffman-coded characters reduce the cost of pre-parsed words. Code size is slightly smaller than a character string, even with added tags. I learned the value and limitations of this elegant loss-less compression.
A complex Editor is the price paid for a simple interpreter. In fact, total system complexity has probably increased. But time spent by the Editor is miniscule, compared with time spent by the interpreter.
Compiler macros provide a simple, efficient way of exploiting the hardware of a platform. They factor and document machine code, yet allow its use in a natural way. They make porting efficient software possible.
The result, to my eye, is a nicely balanced system. It's not yet perfect and will continue to evolve. I deliberately sought to make colorForth different. I'm interested in unanticipated consequences. What happens when you change the balance of code size and compile time? What can a simple system do that a complex one cannot? What performance is sufficient to challenge the established paradigm?
The Pentium platform is a bridge to my Forth chips. The code will be easy to port, or to cross-compile. I hate the Pentium, the PCI bus, the bizarre device interfaces. Yet this platform has driven hardware prices down and capability up. Focusing on software for USB and TCP/IP will render legacy hardware irrelevant.
The strange keyboard employed by colorForth is an approximation of the one I want:
A 3-position switch for each finger
15 buttons with 1 hand. One hand free
27 buttons with 2 hands
Buttons labeled on the screen
Buttons reassignable
Remote keypad(s) for my recliner
Suitable for a wearable computer
One day I'll make one from bits of brass. Till then, qwerty will have to do.
Legal
After considering your comments and doing some diligence, I've decided to place colorForth in the Public Domain. Without explicitly doing that, it would have a default copyright.
Public Domain allows anyone to use it for any purpose. Exactly my intention. The various licenses attach restrictions that are complicated and unenforcable.
My motive is simple. colorForth offers a solution to the growing software crisis. I hope to encourage an alternative to bloatware. Besides, I'm not inclined to develop, market and distribute a product. If anyone is, more power to you.
I've been here before: Forth entered the Public Domain around 1972. The issue wasn't copyright, but patent protection. No software patent had yet been issued and the effort required seemed great, so NRAO (the National Radio Astronomy Observatory) declined to pursue one. I don't recall a public statement placing Forth in the Public Domain, merely a presumption.
Authentication
colorForth could be compressed for distribution. But maybe it shouldn't.
It should be signed so you know you got the real thing. In time.
Philosophy
I used to love to solve puzzles: crossword, jigsaw, chess. Programming now gives me the endorphin lift of achievement. Call me a programming junkie.
I believe in objective right and wrong. It applies to computer code. There is a single right way to balance all the conflicting demands. There is a solution to the puzzle. The challenge is to find it.
colorForth is my latest attempt to define a computer environment. Satisfactory for me, the programmer, and me, the user. I've published it because I'm pleased with it. Here are some of the trade-offs:
It elminates object code, except for a small kernel. No need to manage object libraries, link modules, relocate code or allocate memory. Of course, I haven't done that for a long time.
It encourages small source modules, compiled on demand. Compiling these takes no perceptible time. Perhaps it's faster than needed. Perhaps it could be faster. In any case, it's satisfactory.
It encourages 2nd-order factoring into groups of related words, via 256-word blocks of code. Hopefully, a block can be reused in a different context. But principally, it organizes and clarifies the code.
The source code is pre-parsed into word-size chunks. This simplifies the interpreter and speeds search.
Each word has a tag that specifies its function and appearance. These properties need not be inferred from context. Thus simplifying the interpreter, reducing syntax and clarifying intention.
Huffman-coded characters reduce the cost of pre-parsed words. Code size is slightly smaller than a character string, even with added tags. I learned the value and limitations of this elegant loss-less compression.
A complex Editor is the price paid for a simple interpreter. In fact, total system complexity has probably increased. But time spent by the Editor is miniscule, compared with time spent by the interpreter.
Compiler macros provide a simple, efficient way of exploiting the hardware of a platform. They factor and document machine code, yet allow its use in a natural way. They make porting efficient software possible.
The result, to my eye, is a nicely balanced system. It's not yet perfect and will continue to evolve. I deliberately sought to make colorForth different. I'm interested in unanticipated consequences. What happens when you change the balance of code size and compile time? What can a simple system do that a complex one cannot? What performance is sufficient to challenge the established paradigm?
The Pentium platform is a bridge to my Forth chips. The code will be easy to port, or to cross-compile. I hate the Pentium, the PCI bus, the bizarre device interfaces. Yet this platform has driven hardware prices down and capability up. Focusing on software for USB and TCP/IP will render legacy hardware irrelevant.
The strange keyboard employed by colorForth is an approximation of the one I want:
A 3-position switch for each finger
15 buttons with 1 hand. One hand free
27 buttons with 2 hands
Buttons labeled on the screen
Buttons reassignable
Remote keypad(s) for my recliner
Suitable for a wearable computer
One day I'll make one from bits of brass. Till then, qwerty will have to do.
Legal
After considering your comments and doing some diligence, I've decided to place colorForth in the Public Domain. Without explicitly doing that, it would have a default copyright.
Public Domain allows anyone to use it for any purpose. Exactly my intention. The various licenses attach restrictions that are complicated and unenforcable.
My motive is simple. colorForth offers a solution to the growing software crisis. I hope to encourage an alternative to bloatware. Besides, I'm not inclined to develop, market and distribute a product. If anyone is, more power to you.
I've been here before: Forth entered the Public Domain around 1972. The issue wasn't copyright, but patent protection. No software patent had yet been issued and the effort required seemed great, so NRAO (the National Radio Astronomy Observatory) declined to pursue one. I don't recall a public statement placing Forth in the Public Domain, merely a presumption.
Authentication
colorForth could be compressed for distribution. But maybe it shouldn't.
It should be signed so you know you got the real thing. In time.
obama not free speech kinda guy
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-47431-DuPage-County-Conservative-Examiner~y2010m6d22-US-Commander-McChrystal-Betrays-Obama
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
NBA pay WOa NELLY
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/roster?team=lal
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/roster?team=bos
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/roster?team=bos
zfs
http://www.solarisinternals.com/wiki/index.php/ZFS_Evil_Tuning_Guide#Tuning_ZFS_for_Database_Performance
jews hate free speech
'Infandous*' George Galloway banned from Canada on grounds of national security (*look it up)
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 8:34 PM on 20th March 2009
* Comments (43)
* Add to My Stories
George Galloway has been barred from Canada on national security grounds.
The outspoken MP, who opposes the war in Afghanistan where Canadian troops are deployed, was due to make a speech in Toronto on March 30.
But a spokesman for immigration minister Jason Kenney said Mr Galloway was viewed as a supporter of the radical Palestinian group Hamas, which is banned in Canada.
The Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, who is on a North American speaking tour, vowed to use all means at his disposal to challenge the ‘outrageous’ ban.
He called the move a ‘desperate election ploy’ by a Conservative government.
But a spokesman for Canada's immigration minister Jason Kenney insisted the decision, taken by border security officials, would not be overturned for a 'infandous* street-corner Cromwell' (*'infandous: too odious to be expressed or mentioned).
This Hamas photo shows the head of the Hamas government Ismail Haniyeh, right, embracing George Galloway during their meeting in Gaza City on March 10 this year
This Hamas photo shows the head of the Hamas government Ismail Haniyeh, right, embracing George Galloway during their meeting in Gaza City on March 10 this year
Mr Galloway was due to give a speech in Toronto on March 30 but has been deemed 'inadmissible' to Canada under section 34(1) of the country's immigration act.
Mr Kenney's spokesman Alykhan Velshi said the act was designed to protect Canadians from people who fund, support or engage in terrorism.
The minister has the right to issue special exemption permits but will not do so in Mr Galloway's case.
The man who banned him: Canada's immigration minister Jason Kenney
The man who banned him: Canada's immigration minister Jason Kenney
Mr Velshi said: 'We're going to uphold the law, not give special treatment to this infandous street-corner Cromwell who actually brags about giving 'financial support' to Hamas, a terrorist organisation banned in Canada.
'I'm sure Galloway has a large Rolodex of friends in regimes elsewhere in the world willing to roll out the red carpet for him. Canada, however, won't be one of them.'
Mr Galloway, 54, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, is consulting organisers of his north American speaking tour and exploring whether legal action can be taken to overturn the ban.
Mr Galloway, an opponent of the war in Afghanistan where Canadian troops are deployed as part of international forces, lamented the 'idiotic' ruling as 'irrational, inexplicable and an affront to Canada's good name'.
And the Scot also said being refused entry to Canada was like being told to stay away from the family home.
Mr Galloway said: 'This is a very sad day for the Canada we have known and loved - a bastion of the freedoms that supporters of the occupation of Afghanistan claim to be defending.
'This has further vindicated the anti-war movement's contention that unjust wars abroad will end up consuming the very liberties that make us who we are.
'This may be a rather desperate election ploy by a conservative government reaching the end of the line, or by a minister who has not cottoned on to the fact that the George Bush era is over.
'All right-thinking Canadians, whether they agree with me over the wisdom of sending troops to Afghanistan or not, will oppose this outrageous decision.
'On a personal note - for a Scotsman to be barred from Canada is like being told to stay away from the family home.
'This is not something I'm prepared to accept.'
More...
* 'We seek the promise of a new beginning': Obama makes unprecedented YouTube appeal to Iran
* 'You are fighting a religious war against gentiles': What rabbis told Israeli soldiers in Gaza war
Mr Galloway was due to speak at a public forum entitled Resisting war from Gaza to Kandahar, hosted by Toronto Coalition to Stop the War later this month.
The Respect party MP was also set to address a second public forum in Mississauga, just south of Toronto, on March 31.
His proposed visit prompted the Jewish Defence League of Canada to write an open letter to the country's government urging it to do 'everything possible to keep this hater away'.
In 2006, Mr Galloway was refused entry to Egypt on the grounds of national security after he travelled to the country to give evidence at a 'mock trial' of former prime minister Tony Blair and ex-US president George W Bush.
He was held overnight in a police cell before the authorities changed their minds and allowed him in, and he later received a personal apology from the country's president.
A spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada confirmed that Mr Galloway had been deemed inadmissible on national security grounds and would not be allowed into the country.
He said the decision had been taken by border security officials 'based on a number of factors' in accordance with section 34(1) of the country's immigration act.
The act states: 'A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible on security grounds for:
'(a) engaging in an act of espionage or an act of subversion against a democratic government, institution or process as they are understood in Canada;
'(b) engaging in or instigating the subversion by force of any government;
'(c) engaging in terrorism;
'(d) being a danger to the security of Canada;
'(e) engaging in acts of violence that would or might endanger the lives or safety of persons in Canada; or
'(f) being a member of an organisation that there are reasonable grounds to believe engages, has engaged or will engage in acts referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).'
Immigration minister Jason Kenney has the right to exempt people from the act if it is felt that their presence would not be 'detrimental to the national interest'.
But the spokesman said Mr Kenney would 'decline to exercise that discretion' in Mr Galloway's case.
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 8:34 PM on 20th March 2009
* Comments (43)
* Add to My Stories
George Galloway has been barred from Canada on national security grounds.
The outspoken MP, who opposes the war in Afghanistan where Canadian troops are deployed, was due to make a speech in Toronto on March 30.
But a spokesman for immigration minister Jason Kenney said Mr Galloway was viewed as a supporter of the radical Palestinian group Hamas, which is banned in Canada.
The Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, who is on a North American speaking tour, vowed to use all means at his disposal to challenge the ‘outrageous’ ban.
He called the move a ‘desperate election ploy’ by a Conservative government.
But a spokesman for Canada's immigration minister Jason Kenney insisted the decision, taken by border security officials, would not be overturned for a 'infandous* street-corner Cromwell' (*'infandous: too odious to be expressed or mentioned).
This Hamas photo shows the head of the Hamas government Ismail Haniyeh, right, embracing George Galloway during their meeting in Gaza City on March 10 this year
This Hamas photo shows the head of the Hamas government Ismail Haniyeh, right, embracing George Galloway during their meeting in Gaza City on March 10 this year
Mr Galloway was due to give a speech in Toronto on March 30 but has been deemed 'inadmissible' to Canada under section 34(1) of the country's immigration act.
Mr Kenney's spokesman Alykhan Velshi said the act was designed to protect Canadians from people who fund, support or engage in terrorism.
The minister has the right to issue special exemption permits but will not do so in Mr Galloway's case.
The man who banned him: Canada's immigration minister Jason Kenney
The man who banned him: Canada's immigration minister Jason Kenney
Mr Velshi said: 'We're going to uphold the law, not give special treatment to this infandous street-corner Cromwell who actually brags about giving 'financial support' to Hamas, a terrorist organisation banned in Canada.
'I'm sure Galloway has a large Rolodex of friends in regimes elsewhere in the world willing to roll out the red carpet for him. Canada, however, won't be one of them.'
Mr Galloway, 54, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, is consulting organisers of his north American speaking tour and exploring whether legal action can be taken to overturn the ban.
Mr Galloway, an opponent of the war in Afghanistan where Canadian troops are deployed as part of international forces, lamented the 'idiotic' ruling as 'irrational, inexplicable and an affront to Canada's good name'.
And the Scot also said being refused entry to Canada was like being told to stay away from the family home.
Mr Galloway said: 'This is a very sad day for the Canada we have known and loved - a bastion of the freedoms that supporters of the occupation of Afghanistan claim to be defending.
'This has further vindicated the anti-war movement's contention that unjust wars abroad will end up consuming the very liberties that make us who we are.
'This may be a rather desperate election ploy by a conservative government reaching the end of the line, or by a minister who has not cottoned on to the fact that the George Bush era is over.
'All right-thinking Canadians, whether they agree with me over the wisdom of sending troops to Afghanistan or not, will oppose this outrageous decision.
'On a personal note - for a Scotsman to be barred from Canada is like being told to stay away from the family home.
'This is not something I'm prepared to accept.'
More...
* 'We seek the promise of a new beginning': Obama makes unprecedented YouTube appeal to Iran
* 'You are fighting a religious war against gentiles': What rabbis told Israeli soldiers in Gaza war
Mr Galloway was due to speak at a public forum entitled Resisting war from Gaza to Kandahar, hosted by Toronto Coalition to Stop the War later this month.
The Respect party MP was also set to address a second public forum in Mississauga, just south of Toronto, on March 31.
His proposed visit prompted the Jewish Defence League of Canada to write an open letter to the country's government urging it to do 'everything possible to keep this hater away'.
In 2006, Mr Galloway was refused entry to Egypt on the grounds of national security after he travelled to the country to give evidence at a 'mock trial' of former prime minister Tony Blair and ex-US president George W Bush.
He was held overnight in a police cell before the authorities changed their minds and allowed him in, and he later received a personal apology from the country's president.
A spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada confirmed that Mr Galloway had been deemed inadmissible on national security grounds and would not be allowed into the country.
He said the decision had been taken by border security officials 'based on a number of factors' in accordance with section 34(1) of the country's immigration act.
The act states: 'A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible on security grounds for:
'(a) engaging in an act of espionage or an act of subversion against a democratic government, institution or process as they are understood in Canada;
'(b) engaging in or instigating the subversion by force of any government;
'(c) engaging in terrorism;
'(d) being a danger to the security of Canada;
'(e) engaging in acts of violence that would or might endanger the lives or safety of persons in Canada; or
'(f) being a member of an organisation that there are reasonable grounds to believe engages, has engaged or will engage in acts referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).'
Immigration minister Jason Kenney has the right to exempt people from the act if it is felt that their presence would not be 'detrimental to the national interest'.
But the spokesman said Mr Kenney would 'decline to exercise that discretion' in Mr Galloway's case.
keeping data in memory not disk
keeping data in memory not disk
gavino
View profile
More options Jun 22, 4:51 am
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
From: gavino
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:51:48 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Jun 22 2010 4:51 am
Subject: keeping data in memory not disk
Reply | Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original | Remove | Report this message | Find messages by this author
I notice mr moore and paul graham talk about keeping things in memory.
avoiding disk
then things are very fast
what about dangers of power failure etc?
it does seem very powerful to keep it all in ram
http://colorforth.com/cf.htm
Rationale
Current software is shameful. Giant operating systems linger from the
1970's. Applications are team-produced with built-in obsolescence.
User interfaces feature puzzle-solving.
With the huge RAM of modern computers, an operating system is no
longer necessary, if it ever was.
http://paulgraham.com/vwfaq.html
How did the editor handle client sessions?
There was one Lisp process for each user. When someone logged in to
edit their site, we'd start up a new process and load all their data
into memory. From that point they had an ongoing conversation with
that process.
Because everything was already loaded into memory, we never had to
read anything from disk or start up a process to respond to an HTTP
request. All we had to do was evaluate a closure stored in memory.
gavino
View profile
More options Jun 22, 4:51 am
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
From: gavino
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:51:48 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Tues, Jun 22 2010 4:51 am
Subject: keeping data in memory not disk
Reply | Reply to author | Forward | Print | Individual message | Show original | Remove | Report this message | Find messages by this author
I notice mr moore and paul graham talk about keeping things in memory.
avoiding disk
then things are very fast
what about dangers of power failure etc?
it does seem very powerful to keep it all in ram
http://colorforth.com/cf.htm
Rationale
Current software is shameful. Giant operating systems linger from the
1970's. Applications are team-produced with built-in obsolescence.
User interfaces feature puzzle-solving.
With the huge RAM of modern computers, an operating system is no
longer necessary, if it ever was.
http://paulgraham.com/vwfaq.html
How did the editor handle client sessions?
There was one Lisp process for each user. When someone logged in to
edit their site, we'd start up a new process and load all their data
into memory. From that point they had an ongoing conversation with
that process.
Because everything was already loaded into memory, we never had to
read anything from disk or start up a process to respond to an HTTP
request. All we had to do was evaluate a closure stored in memory.
why are democrats such bad communists? ((where is my free mansion and car?)) Date: 2010-06-22, 3:38AM PDT Reply To This Post why are democrats such
why are democrats such bad communists? ((where is my free mansion and car?))
Date: 2010-06-22, 3:38AM PDT
Reply To This Post
why are democrats such bad communists? (where is my free mansion and car?)
Date: 2010-06-22, 3:37AM PDT
Reply to: your anonymous craigslist address will appear here
I mean communism means free stuff for everyone.
Enuf of thsi silly market limit on my wealth
governemtn provide awesome shit for all
mass produce mansions for all
cars too
make min wage 100 an hour
I dont get why obama is so half ass, print 100 trillion more and amke usa all millionaires
Date: 2010-06-22, 3:38AM PDT
Reply To This Post
why are democrats such bad communists? (where is my free mansion and car?)
Date: 2010-06-22, 3:37AM PDT
Reply to: your anonymous craigslist address will appear here
I mean communism means free stuff for everyone.
Enuf of thsi silly market limit on my wealth
governemtn provide awesome shit for all
mass produce mansions for all
cars too
make min wage 100 an hour
I dont get why obama is so half ass, print 100 trillion more and amke usa all millionaires
OBAMA DIDN'T STAT 1T IN HOLD BUT HE DID SPEND 5T (YEP OBAMA OPPOSITE GOOD ECONOMICS) Date: 2010-06-22, 3:24AM PDT Reply To This Post Bush economy was
OBAMA DIDN'T STAT 1T IN HOLD BUT HE DID SPEND 5T (YEP OBAMA OPPOSITE GOOD ECONOMICS)
Date: 2010-06-22, 3:24AM PDT
Reply To This Post
Bush economy was fine.
iraq war was natual at time
we were atatcked
all this demcocrat bs about bad idea is hindsight
easy to make money in stock market if you say after what u would bought n sold
so shut up dems
also 2008 was caused by governmetn banking yes fed and fannie may giving out free fake money to idiots for loans, and sure private loan basatrds scooped up the gravy
so solution?
cut governmetn spending
stop government banking
no opposite which si what obama nd fed are doing
when you counterfeit trillions and give to buddies you fuck everyone, all the littel guys yep
solution is to cut governmetn spendign and get obama and dems outa there!
look at canada!
they did it!
ragan did it!
ragan 8 year longest epactime eocnomic growth in 20th century
deficits then caused by dem congress still spending too much!
so accept the lgical solution dems cut spending on government http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7807347/Britain-to-emulate-Canadas-radical-solution-to-tackle-debt.html
fuck all you governemtn employees getting cash u dont deserve
Date: 2010-06-22, 3:24AM PDT
Reply To This Post
Bush economy was fine.
iraq war was natual at time
we were atatcked
all this demcocrat bs about bad idea is hindsight
easy to make money in stock market if you say after what u would bought n sold
so shut up dems
also 2008 was caused by governmetn banking yes fed and fannie may giving out free fake money to idiots for loans, and sure private loan basatrds scooped up the gravy
so solution?
cut governmetn spending
stop government banking
no opposite which si what obama nd fed are doing
when you counterfeit trillions and give to buddies you fuck everyone, all the littel guys yep
solution is to cut governmetn spendign and get obama and dems outa there!
look at canada!
they did it!
ragan did it!
ragan 8 year longest epactime eocnomic growth in 20th century
deficits then caused by dem congress still spending too much!
so accept the lgical solution dems cut spending on government http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7807347/Britain-to-emulate-Canadas-radical-solution-to-tackle-debt.html
fuck all you governemtn employees getting cash u dont deserve
I have solutions for many problems the USA faces. It would be intersting if I ran for office. For example, widn and solar powere development see an
I have solutions for many problems the USA faces. It would be intersting if I ran for office. For example, widn and solar powere development see an blinding win, sicne they both provide productive activity, a saleable product, and pay for themselves in a few years. Whywouldn't we cover 100miles square in midwest with solar and wind? Then buidl energy grid and abtttery farms for the power, and sell the power too. We could also get offa oil at the same time.
UK conservatives are studying Canada's past success.
UK conservatives are studying Canada's past success. Canada forced through tough austerity measures back in the early 1990s, which ended up solving its massive debt crisis within just a few years.
Canada faced similar problems to the UK back in 1993. The Wall Street Journal describes how in a June 7 article titled "So, Just What Did Canada Do?":
Taking over as finance minister in 1993, Paul Martin inherited a looming disaster. The government was running a deficit worth 6.6% of GDP. By the following year, gross government debt had hit 101% of GDP, while net debt was over 70%, even as GDP registered a strong rebound – it grew 4.8% in 1994 – from the recession of the early 1990s.
Canadian government spending was cut by 15% (considering inflation) from 1994 - 1996. The budget deficit achieved a surplus in just three years. Canada's crisis disappeared, and in retrospect, it was solved quite easily once tough austerity took place.
So Will the Canada Model Work?
Can the UK, or eurozone nations for that matter, follow Canada's early '90s playbook and fix their debt problems just as easily? The article goes on to explain why it will be far more difficult for them.
Canada had some key advantages back then:
1. A strong global economy in the '90s.
2. Massive consumer demand from a large neighbor like the US.
3. Positive immigration trends which supplied a young and growing population.
4. An era of booming leverage elsewhere compared to an environment of private de-leveraging today.
5. We'll add another -- Canada benefited handsomely from the China-driven global commodities boom.
Taken together, these are some enormous advantages relative to where debt-ridden nations stand today. Nothing is impossible, but we shouldn't expect the smooth ride Canada had.
Canada faced similar problems to the UK back in 1993. The Wall Street Journal describes how in a June 7 article titled "So, Just What Did Canada Do?":
Taking over as finance minister in 1993, Paul Martin inherited a looming disaster. The government was running a deficit worth 6.6% of GDP. By the following year, gross government debt had hit 101% of GDP, while net debt was over 70%, even as GDP registered a strong rebound – it grew 4.8% in 1994 – from the recession of the early 1990s.
Canadian government spending was cut by 15% (considering inflation) from 1994 - 1996. The budget deficit achieved a surplus in just three years. Canada's crisis disappeared, and in retrospect, it was solved quite easily once tough austerity took place.
So Will the Canada Model Work?
Can the UK, or eurozone nations for that matter, follow Canada's early '90s playbook and fix their debt problems just as easily? The article goes on to explain why it will be far more difficult for them.
Canada had some key advantages back then:
1. A strong global economy in the '90s.
2. Massive consumer demand from a large neighbor like the US.
3. Positive immigration trends which supplied a young and growing population.
4. An era of booming leverage elsewhere compared to an environment of private de-leveraging today.
5. We'll add another -- Canada benefited handsomely from the China-driven global commodities boom.
Taken together, these are some enormous advantages relative to where debt-ridden nations stand today. Nothing is impossible, but we shouldn't expect the smooth ride Canada had.
Britain to emulate Canada's radical solution to tackle debt
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7807347/Britain-to-emulate-Canadas-radical-solution-to-tackle-debt.html
Why Not 'Pull a Canada' to Fix Europe's Debt Crisis?
http://seekingalpha.com/article/209031-why-not-pull-a-canada-to-fix-europe-s-debt-crisis
Canadian government spending was cut by 15% (considering inflation) from 1994 - 1996. The budget deficit achieved a surplus in just three years. Canada's crisis disappeared, and in retrospect, it was solved quite easily once tough austerity took place.
Canadian government spending was cut by 15% (considering inflation) from 1994 - 1996. The budget deficit achieved a surplus in just three years. Canada's crisis disappeared, and in retrospect, it was solved quite easily once tough austerity took place.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Meyer Urges Blockbuster Shareholders to Protect Their Interests by Voting the GOLD Card
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1085734/000101968710002203/blockbuster_dfan14a.htm
DFAN14A 1 blockbuster_dfan14a.htm BLOCKBUSTER, INC.
Meyer Urges Blockbuster Shareholders to Protect Their Interests by Voting the GOLD Card
Open Letter to Blockbuster Inc. Shareholders
Vote your GOLD proxy card today
NEW YORK, June 9, 2010 –
Dear Fellow Blockbuster Shareholders,
It is important for you to understand why I am running for a seat on the board of Blockbuster Inc (NYSE: BBI). I believe strongly that Blockbuster has the potential to stage a meaningful turnaround and regain its position as a leading provider of home entertainment to customers globally. But for this potential to be realized, our Company needs the guidance of a strong board that is alert, engaged, and prepared to vigorously defend the interests of its shareholders, the true owners of the Company.
The incumbent board of directors has not acted in the best interests of its stockholders, lacks sufficient alignment of interests with shareholders, and should be held accountable for presiding over a loss of over $1.5 billion in equity market capitalization over the past five years. I am seeking your support to add a shareholder advocate who has skin in the game, relevant industry experience, and the ability to provide a completely independent and fresh perspective to the deliberations of the board of Blockbuster.
I would also like to set the record straight regarding a number of misleading statements contained in the past several press releases issued by Blockbuster’s incumbent board.
THE INCUMBENT BOARD HAS MISREPRESENTED THE FACTS IN ORDER TO DIVERT YOUR ATTENTION AWAY FROM THEIR TRACK RECORD OF FAILURE
Blockbuster’s incumbent board has attempted to cloud the issues that I have raised in this election contest and divert your attention away from these issues by making false and misleading accusations about me and attempting to unfairly discredit my experience. The incumbent board’s recent communications with shareholders have contained gross misrepresentations of the facts and unnecessary personal attacks in order to take the focus off the board’s poor performance, destruction of shareholder value, and lack of accountability over the past five years. Consider the following misleading statements made by Blockbuster’s incumbent board in its recent letters to shareholders dated May 24, May 27, and June 3, 2010:
False and Misleading Claims by Blockbuster’s Incumbent Board
The Incumbent Board Claims: “Meyer intends to bill Blockbuster for his proxy contest expenses should he be elected.”
Fact:
Not True. Page 16 of my proxy statement dated May 25, 2010 clearly states that I do “not intend to seek reimbursement from the Company of the expenses” incurred in connection with the solicitation of proxies. In contrast, 100% of the costs being spent by the incumbent board on their proxy solicitation efforts are being paid for by the Company and its shareholders.
The Incumbent Board Claims: Implementing my restructuring proposal “would result in a third party controlling the Company with the power to cause significant dilution to the Company's equity holders.”
Fact:
Completely False. Under no realistic scenario would a third party be able to control the company nor cause dilution to the equity holders under the restructuring proposal that I presented. Any assertion to the contrary indicates the proposal was not properly understood. My sole objective in seeking a seat on the board is to enhance the value of equity for all shareholders and increase the price of Blockbuster’s stock. As such, I would have no interest in supporting a proposal that resulted in a negative outcome for shareholders.
The Incumbent Board Claims: “Electing Meyer to your board is a high-risk proposition.”
Fact:
Seeking one out of seven board seats is a very moderate proposal. There is far less risk having one truly independent shareholder advocate on the board than there is continuing with the incumbent board which has presided over a 95% decline in the value of BBI shares over the past 5 years. If elected, I would be the largest non-management shareholder on the board and I would act in a manner that protects and enhances the value of BBI shares.
My intention is to work constructively with management and with my fellow directors to create value for the Company and its shareholders. Once the proxy contest is behind us, I look forward to immediately addressing the Company’s challenges in a cooperative and objective manner.
The Incumbent Board Claims: “Blockbuster faces a number of challenges without quick fixes or easy solutions. Your board and management are focused on addressing these challenges and positioning our Company for the future. Meyer is a distraction with no workable ideas, and we urge you not to subscribe to his inflammatory rhetoric.”
Fact:
Blockbuster has faced material challenges for years. It’s called competition. That’s the American way. The board has had years without “distractions” (as the Blockbuster PR Team characterizes them) or the annoyance of pesky shareholder involvement. That said, what has impeded the flow of creative juices at Blockbuster during these peaceful years? Where was the output of “workable ideas” from the Blockbuster team? If anyone has used “inflammatory rhetoric” during this campaign, it has come from the Blockbuster’s high-priced public relations firm- and we, the shareholders, are paying for it.
The Incumbent Board Claims: “Mr. Fernandes did not serve on Blockbuster's Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee” at the time of Jim Keyes’ recruitment to join Blockbuster as CEO
Fact:
Blockbuster’s 2007 Proxy Statement dated April 2, 2007 shows Fernandes as a member of the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee at that time. A March 21, 2007 article from the Associated Press announces then CEO John Antioco was leaving. It follows that Fernandes, as a member of the Nominating Committee, did indeed have involvement in the process of searching for a new CEO. Does Fernandes deny any involvement in recruiting Keyes to Blockbuster at this time? Can Fernandes truly be considered independent of Keyes given their history that goes back well over a decade?
2
The Incumbent Board Claims: “References to unproven allegations in prior lawsuits where Mr. Fernandes and Mr. Keyes were named defendants are wholly irrelevant… The suits were settled by 7-Eleven's current owners with absolutely no finding of wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Fernandes or Mr. Keyes and, in fact, all claims against both were ultimately dismissed.”
Fact:
These cases were settled only after the initial consideration offered to 7-Eleven stockholders was materially increased from the initial amount offered, after the lawsuits were filed. Far from being irrelevant, Blockbuster shareholders deserve to know this historical fact in light of the current restructuring negotiations that are taking place at Blockbuster. Given this history, how can shareholders be confident that these two directors are looking out for our best interests this time around?
We urge shareholders to ignore the scare tactics and misdirection being used by Blockbuster’s incumbent board in an attempt to take the focus off the real issues in this election contest. You deserve a board that will work hard to protect your interests.
Fernandes’ Own Words Indicate He is Out of Touch With Blockbuster’s Reality
Most shareholders are aware that Mr. Fernandes served as the Vice Chairman of EDS through 1998. While Mr. Fernandes may be a high quality business executive, his past experience has not translated into positive operational or financial results at Blockbuster during his tenure on the board these past five years. In fact, recent comments by Fernandes himself demonstrate that he may be hopelessly out of touch with the realities of the very failures that have driven the Company to its current position.
According to a June 2, 2010 interview with Dow Jones Newswires, “Fernandes said his technological assistance has included working with Keyes to negotiate the DVD-rental kiosk agreement with NCR Corp. (NCR), and helping Blockbuster perform critical analysis of its Web site for the online subscriptions business.” The fact that Gary touts his involvement in these two initiatives as a good thing demonstrates just how out of touch he is with the realities of the business. Here are the facts related to these areas:
By Mail/Online Subscription: Blockbuster’s execution of its by-mail/online subscription business has been a disappointment, to say the least. The numbers tell the tale: Blockbuster has added only approximately 400,000 subscribers from December 2005 through Q3 2009 during a time when Netflix has added over 8 million subscribers. That’s a 20-fold difference! Any affiliation Fernandes has had with the planning or execution of the By Mail/online subscription business would be a strong reason to question his continued service on the board.
Kiosks: The execution of the kiosk initiative has been even more disappointing. Blockbuster struck a deal with NCR in 2008, yet not a single dollar of revenue for Blockbuster has been reported from the NCR kiosk deal since that time. Despite this, the NCR kiosks have been competing with Blockbuster’s brick-and-mortar stores resulting in the worst of both worlds for Blockbuster shareholders from this kiosk deal. This deal is the epitome of ‘too little, too late.’ Again, any involvement Fernandes had in negotiating the NCR kiosk deal would be a reason he should NOT be re-elected to the Blockbuster board.
BLOCKBUSTER POISED FOR A TURNAROUND
On a positive note, I firmly believe that both the kiosk business and the By Mail Subscription business can be fixed and still hold an enormous amount of potential value if properly structured and managed due to Blockbuster’s strong brand awareness and the recently announced 28-day new release window advantage vs. Netflix and Redbox. I look forward to leveraging my many years of relevant home entertainment industry experience to get these alternative distribution channels back on track and generating meaningful EBITDA for Blockbuster.
3
My belief is that Blockbuster is poised to experience a significant operational turnaround in the next few quarters due to the combined tailwinds of the 28-day window advantage and the closing of thousands of Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video stores. But first the shareholders need to ensure that the board does not unnecessarily decide on a suboptimal restructuring plan that results in excessive dilution or worse. Having a truly independent shareholder advocate on the board provides your best opportunity to protect against such an outcome.
MEYER’S SOLE OBJECTIVE IS TO CREATE VALUE FOR ALL SHAREHOLDERS
I am confident that a more independent board with specifically relevant expertise will assist Blockbuster to once again regain its rightful position as the leading home entertainment company with a value proposition unmatched by its peers.
Vote Your GOLD Proxy Card Today
The date of Blockbuster’s Annual Meeting is fast approaching. Blockbuster shareholders are urged to sign, date and return the GOLD proxy card as soon as possible and vote FOR Gregory S. Meyer.
You can also vote by telephone or Internet by following the instructions on the GOLD proxy card. If you have any questions or need any assistance voting your shares, please contact our proxy solicitor, InvestorCom, Inc., toll-free at (877) 972-0090.
I thank you for your consideration of this matter and appreciate your vote.
Yours truly,
/s/Gregory S. Meyer
Gregory S. Meyer, CFA
VOTE THE GOLD PROXY CARD TODAY
Shareholders are urged to vote the GOLD proxy card and NOT to sign any white proxy card sent to you by Blockbuster. Even if you have sent a white proxy card to Blockbuster, you have every right to change your vote. You may revoke that proxy and vote FOR Gregory S. Meyer - by signing, dating and mailing a later dated GOLD proxy card.
Additional Information
In connection with Blockbuster’s 2010 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Gregory S. Meyer has filed a definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) containing information about the solicitation of proxies for use at the 2010 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Blockbuster Inc. The definitive proxy statement and the GOLD proxy card were disseminated to shareholders of Blockbuster Inc. on or about May 25, 2010.
4
SHAREHOLDERS OF BLOCKBUSTER ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The definitive proxy statement and other relevant documents relating to the solicitation of proxies by Gregory S. Meyer are available at no charge on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This letter contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this letter that are not clearly historical in nature or that necessarily depend on future events are forward-looking, and the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “plan,” and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of Gregory S. Meyer, CFA and currently available information. They are not guarantees of future performance, involve certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate.
Contact:
Gregory S. Meyer, 212-444-8784
BBIStockholders@gmail.com
5
DFAN14A 1 blockbuster_dfan14a.htm BLOCKBUSTER, INC.
Meyer Urges Blockbuster Shareholders to Protect Their Interests by Voting the GOLD Card
Open Letter to Blockbuster Inc. Shareholders
Vote your GOLD proxy card today
NEW YORK, June 9, 2010 –
Dear Fellow Blockbuster Shareholders,
It is important for you to understand why I am running for a seat on the board of Blockbuster Inc (NYSE: BBI). I believe strongly that Blockbuster has the potential to stage a meaningful turnaround and regain its position as a leading provider of home entertainment to customers globally. But for this potential to be realized, our Company needs the guidance of a strong board that is alert, engaged, and prepared to vigorously defend the interests of its shareholders, the true owners of the Company.
The incumbent board of directors has not acted in the best interests of its stockholders, lacks sufficient alignment of interests with shareholders, and should be held accountable for presiding over a loss of over $1.5 billion in equity market capitalization over the past five years. I am seeking your support to add a shareholder advocate who has skin in the game, relevant industry experience, and the ability to provide a completely independent and fresh perspective to the deliberations of the board of Blockbuster.
I would also like to set the record straight regarding a number of misleading statements contained in the past several press releases issued by Blockbuster’s incumbent board.
THE INCUMBENT BOARD HAS MISREPRESENTED THE FACTS IN ORDER TO DIVERT YOUR ATTENTION AWAY FROM THEIR TRACK RECORD OF FAILURE
Blockbuster’s incumbent board has attempted to cloud the issues that I have raised in this election contest and divert your attention away from these issues by making false and misleading accusations about me and attempting to unfairly discredit my experience. The incumbent board’s recent communications with shareholders have contained gross misrepresentations of the facts and unnecessary personal attacks in order to take the focus off the board’s poor performance, destruction of shareholder value, and lack of accountability over the past five years. Consider the following misleading statements made by Blockbuster’s incumbent board in its recent letters to shareholders dated May 24, May 27, and June 3, 2010:
False and Misleading Claims by Blockbuster’s Incumbent Board
The Incumbent Board Claims: “Meyer intends to bill Blockbuster for his proxy contest expenses should he be elected.”
Fact:
Not True. Page 16 of my proxy statement dated May 25, 2010 clearly states that I do “not intend to seek reimbursement from the Company of the expenses” incurred in connection with the solicitation of proxies. In contrast, 100% of the costs being spent by the incumbent board on their proxy solicitation efforts are being paid for by the Company and its shareholders.
The Incumbent Board Claims: Implementing my restructuring proposal “would result in a third party controlling the Company with the power to cause significant dilution to the Company's equity holders.”
Fact:
Completely False. Under no realistic scenario would a third party be able to control the company nor cause dilution to the equity holders under the restructuring proposal that I presented. Any assertion to the contrary indicates the proposal was not properly understood. My sole objective in seeking a seat on the board is to enhance the value of equity for all shareholders and increase the price of Blockbuster’s stock. As such, I would have no interest in supporting a proposal that resulted in a negative outcome for shareholders.
The Incumbent Board Claims: “Electing Meyer to your board is a high-risk proposition.”
Fact:
Seeking one out of seven board seats is a very moderate proposal. There is far less risk having one truly independent shareholder advocate on the board than there is continuing with the incumbent board which has presided over a 95% decline in the value of BBI shares over the past 5 years. If elected, I would be the largest non-management shareholder on the board and I would act in a manner that protects and enhances the value of BBI shares.
My intention is to work constructively with management and with my fellow directors to create value for the Company and its shareholders. Once the proxy contest is behind us, I look forward to immediately addressing the Company’s challenges in a cooperative and objective manner.
The Incumbent Board Claims: “Blockbuster faces a number of challenges without quick fixes or easy solutions. Your board and management are focused on addressing these challenges and positioning our Company for the future. Meyer is a distraction with no workable ideas, and we urge you not to subscribe to his inflammatory rhetoric.”
Fact:
Blockbuster has faced material challenges for years. It’s called competition. That’s the American way. The board has had years without “distractions” (as the Blockbuster PR Team characterizes them) or the annoyance of pesky shareholder involvement. That said, what has impeded the flow of creative juices at Blockbuster during these peaceful years? Where was the output of “workable ideas” from the Blockbuster team? If anyone has used “inflammatory rhetoric” during this campaign, it has come from the Blockbuster’s high-priced public relations firm- and we, the shareholders, are paying for it.
The Incumbent Board Claims: “Mr. Fernandes did not serve on Blockbuster's Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee” at the time of Jim Keyes’ recruitment to join Blockbuster as CEO
Fact:
Blockbuster’s 2007 Proxy Statement dated April 2, 2007 shows Fernandes as a member of the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee at that time. A March 21, 2007 article from the Associated Press announces then CEO John Antioco was leaving. It follows that Fernandes, as a member of the Nominating Committee, did indeed have involvement in the process of searching for a new CEO. Does Fernandes deny any involvement in recruiting Keyes to Blockbuster at this time? Can Fernandes truly be considered independent of Keyes given their history that goes back well over a decade?
2
The Incumbent Board Claims: “References to unproven allegations in prior lawsuits where Mr. Fernandes and Mr. Keyes were named defendants are wholly irrelevant… The suits were settled by 7-Eleven's current owners with absolutely no finding of wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Fernandes or Mr. Keyes and, in fact, all claims against both were ultimately dismissed.”
Fact:
These cases were settled only after the initial consideration offered to 7-Eleven stockholders was materially increased from the initial amount offered, after the lawsuits were filed. Far from being irrelevant, Blockbuster shareholders deserve to know this historical fact in light of the current restructuring negotiations that are taking place at Blockbuster. Given this history, how can shareholders be confident that these two directors are looking out for our best interests this time around?
We urge shareholders to ignore the scare tactics and misdirection being used by Blockbuster’s incumbent board in an attempt to take the focus off the real issues in this election contest. You deserve a board that will work hard to protect your interests.
Fernandes’ Own Words Indicate He is Out of Touch With Blockbuster’s Reality
Most shareholders are aware that Mr. Fernandes served as the Vice Chairman of EDS through 1998. While Mr. Fernandes may be a high quality business executive, his past experience has not translated into positive operational or financial results at Blockbuster during his tenure on the board these past five years. In fact, recent comments by Fernandes himself demonstrate that he may be hopelessly out of touch with the realities of the very failures that have driven the Company to its current position.
According to a June 2, 2010 interview with Dow Jones Newswires, “Fernandes said his technological assistance has included working with Keyes to negotiate the DVD-rental kiosk agreement with NCR Corp. (NCR), and helping Blockbuster perform critical analysis of its Web site for the online subscriptions business.” The fact that Gary touts his involvement in these two initiatives as a good thing demonstrates just how out of touch he is with the realities of the business. Here are the facts related to these areas:
By Mail/Online Subscription: Blockbuster’s execution of its by-mail/online subscription business has been a disappointment, to say the least. The numbers tell the tale: Blockbuster has added only approximately 400,000 subscribers from December 2005 through Q3 2009 during a time when Netflix has added over 8 million subscribers. That’s a 20-fold difference! Any affiliation Fernandes has had with the planning or execution of the By Mail/online subscription business would be a strong reason to question his continued service on the board.
Kiosks: The execution of the kiosk initiative has been even more disappointing. Blockbuster struck a deal with NCR in 2008, yet not a single dollar of revenue for Blockbuster has been reported from the NCR kiosk deal since that time. Despite this, the NCR kiosks have been competing with Blockbuster’s brick-and-mortar stores resulting in the worst of both worlds for Blockbuster shareholders from this kiosk deal. This deal is the epitome of ‘too little, too late.’ Again, any involvement Fernandes had in negotiating the NCR kiosk deal would be a reason he should NOT be re-elected to the Blockbuster board.
BLOCKBUSTER POISED FOR A TURNAROUND
On a positive note, I firmly believe that both the kiosk business and the By Mail Subscription business can be fixed and still hold an enormous amount of potential value if properly structured and managed due to Blockbuster’s strong brand awareness and the recently announced 28-day new release window advantage vs. Netflix and Redbox. I look forward to leveraging my many years of relevant home entertainment industry experience to get these alternative distribution channels back on track and generating meaningful EBITDA for Blockbuster.
3
My belief is that Blockbuster is poised to experience a significant operational turnaround in the next few quarters due to the combined tailwinds of the 28-day window advantage and the closing of thousands of Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video stores. But first the shareholders need to ensure that the board does not unnecessarily decide on a suboptimal restructuring plan that results in excessive dilution or worse. Having a truly independent shareholder advocate on the board provides your best opportunity to protect against such an outcome.
MEYER’S SOLE OBJECTIVE IS TO CREATE VALUE FOR ALL SHAREHOLDERS
I am confident that a more independent board with specifically relevant expertise will assist Blockbuster to once again regain its rightful position as the leading home entertainment company with a value proposition unmatched by its peers.
Vote Your GOLD Proxy Card Today
The date of Blockbuster’s Annual Meeting is fast approaching. Blockbuster shareholders are urged to sign, date and return the GOLD proxy card as soon as possible and vote FOR Gregory S. Meyer.
You can also vote by telephone or Internet by following the instructions on the GOLD proxy card. If you have any questions or need any assistance voting your shares, please contact our proxy solicitor, InvestorCom, Inc., toll-free at (877) 972-0090.
I thank you for your consideration of this matter and appreciate your vote.
Yours truly,
/s/Gregory S. Meyer
Gregory S. Meyer, CFA
VOTE THE GOLD PROXY CARD TODAY
Shareholders are urged to vote the GOLD proxy card and NOT to sign any white proxy card sent to you by Blockbuster. Even if you have sent a white proxy card to Blockbuster, you have every right to change your vote. You may revoke that proxy and vote FOR Gregory S. Meyer - by signing, dating and mailing a later dated GOLD proxy card.
Additional Information
In connection with Blockbuster’s 2010 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, Gregory S. Meyer has filed a definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) containing information about the solicitation of proxies for use at the 2010 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Blockbuster Inc. The definitive proxy statement and the GOLD proxy card were disseminated to shareholders of Blockbuster Inc. on or about May 25, 2010.
4
SHAREHOLDERS OF BLOCKBUSTER ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT CAREFULLY BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The definitive proxy statement and other relevant documents relating to the solicitation of proxies by Gregory S. Meyer are available at no charge on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This letter contains forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this letter that are not clearly historical in nature or that necessarily depend on future events are forward-looking, and the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “plan,” and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of Gregory S. Meyer, CFA and currently available information. They are not guarantees of future performance, involve certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate.
Contact:
Gregory S. Meyer, 212-444-8784
BBIStockholders@gmail.com
5
UK to fix debt by emulating canada where 20% cut in government spending fixed it in 3 years
Britain to emulate Canada's radical solution to tackle debt
George Osborne is planning to eradicate Britain's budget deficit by emulating Canada, where borrowing was brought under control within just three years by spending cuts of 20 per cent.
By Andrew Porter, Political Editor
Published: 10:08PM BST 06 Jun 2010
George Osborne: Government to emulate Canada's radical solution to tackle debt
Senior Conservatives, led by Mr Osborne, have examined the Canadian model while in opposition and have taken advice from those involved Photo: REUTERS
The Chancellor will announce a "once-in-a-generation" revolution in public spending inspired by Canada in the mid-1990s, when the government turned a budget deficit of nine per cent of GDP into a surplus.
Canada brought public spending under control guided by the principle that people should ask "what needs to be done by government and what we can afford to do".
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*
Britain needs clever spending cuts
*
George Osborne really needs to show he can take a grip on spending
*
Government has opted for symbolism instead of solutions to problems
*
Budget 2009: Alistair Darling to rip up growth and borrowing forecasts
Mr Osborne and his Liberal Democrat deputy, Danny Alexander, will attempt to bring about a similar change of mindset in Britain.
The ambitious plan will be welcomed by those who believe swift and decisive action is necessary to bring Britain's budget deficit and spiralling national debt under control quickly.
However, it is likely to prove controversial with those who believe it could tip Britain back into recession and public sector workers who face losing their jobs.
David Cameron will warn today that the scale of the problem is worse than he thought and the potential consequences even more critical.
The Prime Minister will say that the "momentous" decisions he will take will have "enormous implications" that will affect everyone.
The new approach to public spending will see:
* An unprecedented public consultation exercise on what people expect from public services and where they think the cuts should fall.
* A fundamental re-evaluation of the relationship between government and the public sector.
* A new "star chamber" of Cabinet ministers vetting every departmental budget.
At the height of the Canadian debt crisis in 1994, the country had a budget deficit of around 9 per cent of GDP.
The following year, Jean Chrétien, the Liberal prime minister, unveiled what became known as the "bloodbath budget", in which departmental spending was reduced by an average of 20 per cent.
By 1997 the deficit had been eradicated. However, health and education budgets were slashed and thousands in the public sector lost their jobs.
Mr Osborne and Mr Alexander will set out in detail tomorrow how they intend to emulate this approach to cut Britain's £156 billion budget deficit. They will announce the timetable for the public spending review this autumn, as well as a public consultation process.
Their plans will herald "a revolution in how public services are delivered", according to a Treasury source.
The source added: "For 13 years spending reviews have suffered from the assumption that central government always knows best. The result has been falling public sector productivity and waste on an industrial scale.
"Anyone who thinks the spending review is just about saving money is missing the point. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way that government works."
Senior Conservatives, led by Mr Osborne, have examined the Canadian model while in opposition and have taken advice from those involved.
The idea of a star chamber – copied from Canada – will transform the way spending rounds are carried out. A committee of around four senior ministers will “test” the claims of each department before their multi-billion pound budgets are agreed.
Today, Mr Cameron will deliver a speech on the economy in Milton Keynes, in which he will say: “The decisions we make will affect every single person in our country. And the effects of those decisions will stay with us for years.
“It is precisely because these decisions are so momentous … I want to make sure we go about the urgent task of cutting our deficit in a way that is open, responsible and fair.”
He will also warn that the problem of the deficit is worse than he feared, because Labour’s growth projections appear too optimistic. Independent estimates about the level of spending cuts that are needed in Britain suggest further parallels with Canada.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies said last month that cuts as high as 25 per cent for each Whitehall department would be needed by 2015.
While Mr Cameron has been blunt with his uncompromising message to the country, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, told a newspaper that the cuts would not be as savage as those of the Conservative governments of the 1980s.
In an effort to calm fears among Liberal Democrat MPs, Mr Clegg instead suggested that there would be “progressive” cuts similar to those brought in by centre-Left administrations in America, Sweden and Canada.
George Osborne is planning to eradicate Britain's budget deficit by emulating Canada, where borrowing was brought under control within just three years by spending cuts of 20 per cent.
By Andrew Porter, Political Editor
Published: 10:08PM BST 06 Jun 2010
George Osborne: Government to emulate Canada's radical solution to tackle debt
Senior Conservatives, led by Mr Osborne, have examined the Canadian model while in opposition and have taken advice from those involved Photo: REUTERS
The Chancellor will announce a "once-in-a-generation" revolution in public spending inspired by Canada in the mid-1990s, when the government turned a budget deficit of nine per cent of GDP into a surplus.
Canada brought public spending under control guided by the principle that people should ask "what needs to be done by government and what we can afford to do".
Related Articles
*
The Canadian cuts model that the Tories wish to emulate
*
We could do with a dose of Barack Obama's honesty
*
Britain needs clever spending cuts
*
George Osborne really needs to show he can take a grip on spending
*
Government has opted for symbolism instead of solutions to problems
*
Budget 2009: Alistair Darling to rip up growth and borrowing forecasts
Mr Osborne and his Liberal Democrat deputy, Danny Alexander, will attempt to bring about a similar change of mindset in Britain.
The ambitious plan will be welcomed by those who believe swift and decisive action is necessary to bring Britain's budget deficit and spiralling national debt under control quickly.
However, it is likely to prove controversial with those who believe it could tip Britain back into recession and public sector workers who face losing their jobs.
David Cameron will warn today that the scale of the problem is worse than he thought and the potential consequences even more critical.
The Prime Minister will say that the "momentous" decisions he will take will have "enormous implications" that will affect everyone.
The new approach to public spending will see:
* An unprecedented public consultation exercise on what people expect from public services and where they think the cuts should fall.
* A fundamental re-evaluation of the relationship between government and the public sector.
* A new "star chamber" of Cabinet ministers vetting every departmental budget.
At the height of the Canadian debt crisis in 1994, the country had a budget deficit of around 9 per cent of GDP.
The following year, Jean Chrétien, the Liberal prime minister, unveiled what became known as the "bloodbath budget", in which departmental spending was reduced by an average of 20 per cent.
By 1997 the deficit had been eradicated. However, health and education budgets were slashed and thousands in the public sector lost their jobs.
Mr Osborne and Mr Alexander will set out in detail tomorrow how they intend to emulate this approach to cut Britain's £156 billion budget deficit. They will announce the timetable for the public spending review this autumn, as well as a public consultation process.
Their plans will herald "a revolution in how public services are delivered", according to a Treasury source.
The source added: "For 13 years spending reviews have suffered from the assumption that central government always knows best. The result has been falling public sector productivity and waste on an industrial scale.
"Anyone who thinks the spending review is just about saving money is missing the point. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way that government works."
Senior Conservatives, led by Mr Osborne, have examined the Canadian model while in opposition and have taken advice from those involved.
The idea of a star chamber – copied from Canada – will transform the way spending rounds are carried out. A committee of around four senior ministers will “test” the claims of each department before their multi-billion pound budgets are agreed.
Today, Mr Cameron will deliver a speech on the economy in Milton Keynes, in which he will say: “The decisions we make will affect every single person in our country. And the effects of those decisions will stay with us for years.
“It is precisely because these decisions are so momentous … I want to make sure we go about the urgent task of cutting our deficit in a way that is open, responsible and fair.”
He will also warn that the problem of the deficit is worse than he feared, because Labour’s growth projections appear too optimistic. Independent estimates about the level of spending cuts that are needed in Britain suggest further parallels with Canada.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies said last month that cuts as high as 25 per cent for each Whitehall department would be needed by 2015.
While Mr Cameron has been blunt with his uncompromising message to the country, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, told a newspaper that the cuts would not be as savage as those of the Conservative governments of the 1980s.
In an effort to calm fears among Liberal Democrat MPs, Mr Clegg instead suggested that there would be “progressive” cuts similar to those brought in by centre-Left administrations in America, Sweden and Canada.
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