"We're literally witnessing the leveraged buy-out of a country and that's why I call it a financial coup d'état..."
Mar 19, 2013
http://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/european-stocks-lower-amid-cyprus-jitters;-dax-down-0.36-245562
<<European stocks lower amid Cyprus jitters; Dax down 0.36%
European stocks were lower on Tuesday, as concerns over the handling of the debt crisis in the euro zone following news of a controversial bailout plan for Cyprus continued to weigh on market sentiment.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 slid 0.29%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.34%, while Germany’s DAX 30 declined 0.36%.
Sentiment weakened on Monday following news that a one-time tax was to be imposed on bank deposit holders as part of a EUR10 billion bailout deal for Cyprus.
In the financial sector, stocks were mostly lower. Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland dipped 0.03% and Barclays declined 0.43%, while Lloyds Banking slumped 0.88%. HSBC Holdings over-performed on the other hand, adding 0.18%.>>
In New Zealand, nerves are tense.
Open Bank Resolution Policy
March 13, 2013
http://www.interest.co.nz/category/tag/open-bank-resolution-policy
WHAT IS THIS "OPEN BANK RESOLUTION" BEING ARGUED OVER IN NZ?
The Open Bank Resolution policy is a tool for responding to a bank failure. It allows the bank to be open for full-scale or limited business on the next business day after being placed under statutory management (as a result of, for example, an insolvency event). This means that customers will be able to gain full or partial access to their accounts and other bank services, whilst an appropriate long-term solution to the bank’s failure is identified.
The Reserve Bank will undertake an initial assessment of the health of a troubled bank. Following this initial assessment it may make a recommendation to the Minister of Finance that the bank be placed under statutory management.
WHY SHOULD WE CARE? HOW DOES CYPRUS OR NEW ZEALAND AFFECT US?
IT'S CALLED BANK INTERDEPENDENCE.
The scope of interdependence of U.S. and European banks is way beyond what anyone may have initially believed. A "condition" has evolved in which European banks have leveraged their portfolios off of bad debt from sovereign entities and our banks in turn have leveraged our debt off of those SAME entities. The likely result will be a "contagion", a "financial virus" which NO ONE can contain. In other words, the FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) and the federal government MUST realize that the “too big to fail” policy will HAVE to extend to banks all over the world due to this mind-blowing interdependence.
THAT WILL CREATE A FINANCIAL ARMAGEDDON!
It's the proverbial "domino effect"...the fall of one causes the fall of the next...until all have fallen.
This INTERDEPENDENCY that connects American banks, to all other banks acts to accelerate our already out-of-control deficit in America, will lead to higher unemployment, a Gross Domestic Product that drops like an anvil off a high cliff, and will bring on American 'austerity' (a state of greatly reduced spending). Many austerity measures have been announced since the global recession in 2008 and the Eurozone crisis in 2009.
Some nations have implemented a few steps at trying to stop the economic bleeding-out, to try to "fix things".
Both France and the UK realized they had to INCREASE taxes (especially on their richest citizens) AND cut spending to work themselves out of the mess they were in.
DOING JUST ONE, AND NOT THE OTHER, IS FINANCIAL STUPIDITY REDEFINED!
What may work for them will not even be considered by the "conservative party" in America, however.
They'd rather sell their mothers for tallow than tax their rich campaign contributors and the mega-corporations that buy Congressmen daily!
Because of their lifestyles, most Congressmen have no grasp of the reality that is the ddaily lives of America's middle class, or of the lives of the poor in America, the ones they call "LEECHES"!
In 2010, "the estimated median net worth of a current U.S. senator stood at an average of $2.56 million,” according to the Center for Responsive Politics research.
HALF OUR CONGRESSMEN ARE MILLIONAIRES, SOMETHING ONLY 1% OF THE CIVILIAN POPULATION CAN CLAIM.
The report stated: “Despite the global economic meltdown in 2008 and the sluggish recovery that followed, that’s up about 7.6 percent from an estimated median net worth of $2.38 million in 2009 … and up 13 percent from a median net worth of $2.27 million in 2008. … Fully 36 Senate Democrats, and 30 Senate Republicans reported an average net worth in excess of $1 million in 2010. The same was true for 110 House Republicans and 73 House Democrats.”
Sheila Krumholz at the Center For Responsive Politics. “Few Americans enjoy the same financial cushions maintained by most members of Congress — or the same access to market-altering information that could yield personal, financial gains.”>>
[From: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/47-of-congress-members-millionaires-a-status-shared-by-only-1-of-americans/ ]
REMEMBER WHEN SEVERAL CONGRESSMEN GOT CAUGHT IN THAT INSIDER TRADING DEAL? MARTHA STEWART WENT TO JAIL FOR LESS THAN THEY DID AND YET CONGRESSMEN GOT OFF SCOTT-FREE!
HOW CAN A MILLIONAIRE UNDERSTAND WHAT THE AVERAGE AMERICAN FAMILY FACES EVERY DAY? HOW CAN SUCH AN ELITE GROUP WRAP THEIR MINDS AROUND A FAMILY OF FOUR TRYING TO LIVE ON A $200 A MONTH FOOD BUDGET WHILE STRUGGLING TO PAY A $1000 MORTGAGE?
SOME OF THOSE CAPITOL HILL BOYS WEAR NECKTIES THAT COST MORE THAN THAT!
BUT THEY JUST KEEP WANTING "AVERAGE JOE" TO PAY FOR A FREE RIDE FOR THEIR RICH PALS, EXPECT WORKING MOMS AND DADS TO KEEP ON PAYING TAXES TO INITIATE THE ASININE "PLANS" THEY WRITE INTO BILLS EVERY SESSION THAT COST US AND COST US AND COST US, WHICH BENEFIT THEIR BUDDIES' BUSINESSES AND STOCKS IN THOSE BUSINESSES, BUT THAT THEY NEVER HAVE ANY INTENTION OF MAKING THEIR CONTRIBUTORS HELP PAY FOR!
THEY KEEP BERATING OUT-OF-WORK AMERICANS AS "TAKERS" AND "MOOCHERS", THEY KEEP SAYING THAT SENIOR CITIZENS WHO PAID INTO SOCIAL SECURITY ALL THEIR LIVES JUST WANT THOSE "ENTITLEMENTS", THAT THE DISABLED AND CHILDREN OF POOR FAMILIES ARE "PART OF THE PROBLEM". THEY DON'T WANT FUNDS TO HELP RETURNING VETERANS, NOR DO THEY WANT TO PAY OUR MILITARY ENOUGH TO KEEP THEIR FAMILIES OFF "FOOD STAMPS". THEY SEE THE MOTHER OF 3 WHO HAS BEEN DESERTED BY HER HUSBAND AND HAS NO JOB SKILLS, WHO CAN'T AFFORD THE WEEKLY $200 TO $300 DAYCARE PROGRAMS FOR EACH OF HER KIDS EVERY SINGLE WEEK, AS A 'MILLSTONE AROUND AMERICA'S NECK'!
THEY REFER TO THEIR CIRCLE OF "FRIENDS" AS THE "MAKERS", AND THEY'RE RIGHT! THEY ARE THE MAKERS OF THIS FINANCIAL CATASTROPHE WE'RE ALL IN RIGHT NOW!
AUSTERITY. IS IT? THE AVERAGE AMERICAN FAMILY HAS BEEN IN "AUSTERITY" EVER SINCE REAGAN'S "VOODOO ECONOMICS" PUT US ALL IN HOT WATER! WE NEVER REALLY CLIMBED OUT OF THAT BIG SINKHOLE, DID WE? AMERICANS HAVE "TIGHTENED THEIR BELTS" UNTIL THEY'VE CUT OFF ALL CIRCULATION!
WHY ASK AMERICAN WORKERS TO KEEP PAYING FOR CONGRESS' AND WALL STREET'S MISTAKES...CONGRESS IS WALL STREET'S WHORE, LET CONGRESS "BEND OVER AND TAKE IT", BYALLTHEGODS!
"Austerity" in America, like we see other nations having to apply, will place the burden on the stooped shoulders of the working class AGAIN rather than help the working class survive. The boot-licking GOP (as well as several boot-licking Democrats) up on Capitol Hill will be "just fine, thanks" with jobs being lost AGAIN, and the economy eventually going belly-up anyway just to save their financial "sugar-daddies" a little money for the short-term. Their stupid campaign contributors from the top 10% obviously don't realize that, in the long run, it's them who will lose the most! After all, they DO have more to lose!
Ah, well, let 'em eat cake! Let them lose their shirts like the rest of us have! While the vast majority of Americans have HAD to get used to less of everything, the top 2% who have enjoyed a nice ride since Bush2 paid for their tickets with his tax cuts for his pals, will be amazed by how 'austerity' and all that comes with it will affect them in a few short years. They won't be kissing Republicans in the mouth after that! The great old ship is sinking, so let the RATS drown with the crew!
As I have shown before, 450 TOP economists, including 10 Nobel Laureates wrote a very concise paper for Bush2 PROVING how DISASTROUS his plan to cut taxes for the rich was going to be.
[SEE: http://havacuppahemlock1.blogspot.com/2013/03/republicans-lie-raising-taxes-created.html ]
According to the statement they issued, these 450-plus economists believed that the 2003 Bush tax cuts would increase financial inequality AND the budget deficit, decrease the ability of the U.S. government to fund essential services, AND FAIL TO PRODUCE ECONOMIC GROWTH. Their predictions came true, almost to the letter!
[ A very simple read of this can be found here, and there are many links off that site, including one to the document itself for those who care to read it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economists%27_statement_opposing_the_Bush_tax_cuts ]
Did the GOP or anyone LEARN that lesson? NO! My bet is that they NEVER WILL!
THEY'RE STILL IN DENIAL THAT REAGAN, BUSH1 AND BUSH2 SCREWED UP!
WHAT A DIFFERENCE 5 YEARS MAKES!
On September 3, 2011, Bank of America , JP Morgan,Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and 17 other banks were sued in federal court by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on behalf of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an attempt to recover $196 billion dollars. At the core of this massive lawsuit is the FHFA accusing said banks of misleading Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac about the soundness of the mortgages underlying the securities. In other words, they are accusing the biggest banks in the country of lying to the United States Government.
Their catastrophic mistake was made in 2008, AND THEY HAD BEEN MAKING THE SAME MISTAKE FOR YEARS BEFORE THAT, so why did it take the FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) THIS LONG to file suit?
Well, first, after giving failing financial institutions "over 1 trillion dollars" (THAT'S A LIE, BY THE WAY. IT WAS CLOSER TO $3 TRILLION, AND THAT DIDN'T COUNT THE NEARLY $9 TRILLION THE FED "LOANED" TO FOREIGN BANKS IN JUST ONE YEAR TO "SAVE" THEM!) through programs like TARP in which the U.S. Government assumed responsibility for the bad debts and made them a liability of the tax payer (THAT MEANS ME AND YOU!) , they have come to the realization that the economy has NOT improved AT ALL as a result of pumping trillions into saving those dear banks. They are recognizing that “banks survived and the rest of the economy is still suffering”. DUHHH! You think? HIGH SCHOOL ECONOMICS CLASSES ALL OVER AMERICA HAD FIGURED THAT ONE OUT BEFORE 2008!
SO WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? NOTHING! NO ONE TIGHTENED THE SCREWS DOWN ON THOSE WHO ARE SCREWING AMERICA AND THE WORLD!
The NY Times reported on March 17 this year:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/business/economy/attorneys-general-press-white-house-to-fire-fhfa-chief.html?_r=0
<< Prominent state attorneys general are calling on President Obama to fire the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and name a new permanent director, arguing that current policies are impeding the economic recovery.
Under its current leader, Edward J. DeMarco, the F.H.F.A., which oversees the bailed-out mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has refused to put in place a White House proposal to reduce the principal on so-called underwater mortgages — a move that might prevent foreclosures and thus save the mortgage giants money,
“Our nation’s economy will never fully recover until we address this foreclosure crisis,” Ms. Coakley said in a statement. “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been an obstacle to progress for far too long, and it is time for new leadership and a new direction to ensure that homeowners receive this important relief.”
Mr. DeMarco has held the position at the head of the F.H.F.A for more than three years. In the last year, especially, he has clashed with the administration over the issue of write-downs, also called principal forgiveness.
Fannie and Freddie have already required tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer aid.
The administration has frequently criticized Mr. DeMarco’s decision. “F.H.F.A. is an independent federal agency, and I recognize that, as its acting director, you have the sole legal authority to make this decision,” Timothy F. Geithner, who stepped down as Treasury secretary in January, wrote to Mr. DeMarco last year. “However, I do not believe it is the best decision for the country.” >>
WILL OTHERS REALLY FOLLOW CYPRUS' LEAD? WILL THIS BECOME THE ACCEPTABLE MEANS FOR SHORT-TERM'SALVATION' FOR THE QUICKLY FAILING BANKS?
http://rt.com/business/new-zealand-cyprus-style-banking-failure-solution-477/
<<New Zealand is facing a similar bank failure to Cyprus, is likely to adopt open bank resolution (OBR), which will see small depositors lose part their savings in favour of a big bank bailout, Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said. The country’s Finance Minister Bill English supports the open bank resolution.
"Bill English is proposing a Cyprus-style solution for managing bank failure here in New Zealand," said Norman, adding that the Reserve Bank is in the "final stages" of implementing an OBR system.>>
AND, IN CASE YOU AREN'T AWARE, as a condition for a massive loan from the ECB, their government is required to tax ordinary savers from 7-10%. This is ground-breaking policy, and economists around the world are asking if this may be the next "fad" for shoring up the FAILING banks across the globe! ‘What is different this time is the nakedness of the Cypress heist’, writes Adita Chakrabortty in the Guardian (UK). His article explains how the European powers PUSHED Cyprus into this politically suicidal pact. They DEMANDED an impossible deal and it is no surprise when the POLITICIANS see how unpopular this measure is, they delay doing it.
Cyprus bailout: fury as banks closed to avert run. Banks are closed in Cyprus for another two days .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/mar/18/cyprus-closes-banks-bailout-package?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
<<• Britain temporarily withheld pension payments to more than 12,000 citizens who have retired to Cyprus amid concerns about the safety of the banking system. Up to 60,000 British people are thought to be affected by the seizures.
• Stock markets fell – the FTSE 100 lost more than 100 points in early trading – before regaining losses amid speculation that the raid on savings would be scaled down. On the currency market, the euro hit a three-month low.>>
[BY THE WAY, France's main share index, the CAC 40, dropped 1.4%; Spain's IBEX was down 2%, while the Italian FTSE MIB sank 2%. Stock markets in Asia posted their sharpest declines for eight months. Gold, STILL seen as a safe haven in troubled financial times, rose above $1,600 for the first time in more than two weeks. ]
<<Demonstrating their anger at the impact on their savings, hundreds of Cypriots cut short traditional family picnics that mark the first Monday of Orthodox lent and gathered at the Nicosia parliament to protest.
Politicians continued talks behind closed doors on what changes could be made to the proposals before the parliament meets on Tuesday afternoon. Anastasiades said an agreement must be reached if Cyprus was to avoid the collapse of one or all of its banks.
Senior Cypriot officials told the Guardian that Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, had been the strongest advocate of the savers' tax, but he insisted responsibility lay elsewhere. It had been the Cypriot government, the European commission and the ECB that had pushed for the bank levy, he said.
Russia's finance minister, Anton Siluanov, warned that Europe's failure to consult with Russia could affect its own decision on maintaining a €2.5bn loan granted to Cyprus last year.>>
RUSSIAN CITIZENS HAVE THOUSANDS OF ACCOUNTS IN CYPRUS, YOU SEE.
'Empire Of Dirt - "Let Them Fail" Why Failing Banks Should Fail'
THAT HEADLINE WAS FROM FORBES MAGAZINE, SEPT. 5, 2011!
<<The original sin was committed when banks like Citigroup (NYSE:C) hid their exposure to sub-prime mortgages on their balance sheets as short term debt. After this contemptible act of deceit, they received billions of dollars of tax payer bailout money and the government took all their bad debt on its balance sheet creating a future liability when a percentage of this debt defaults. The banks blamed their problems on a bad economy and the fact that individuals couldn’t afford to pay their mortgages. The lie in this statement is that despite the economic downturn, it was banks using these loans to create leverage and issue new loans which created the catastrophe. Banks continue to blame consumers and have failed to take responsibility for their reckless behavior.>>
THE ARTICLE HANDS OUT THE 'BITTER TRUTH'...
WHAT DID THEY DO WITH OUR MONEY?
<<Banks used tax payer dollars given to them through government bailouts to sure [sic] up their balance sheets and have not contributed 1 penny to helping small businesses get on their feet and start hiring again. They have, however, contributed to our incredibly high unemployment rates since small businesses will not hire if they can’t borrow to grow.
“LET THEM FAIL” – WHY TOO BIG TO FAIL MUST END
It must end because it can no longer be contained within the borders of the United States. We have become a global economy with an interdependent banking system. The end result of our first bank bailout established bigger banking institutions. Another bank bailout would undoubtedly establish even bigger multinational financial institutions with an even greater future liability and taxpayer liability with potential austerity measures that could collapse economies on a global scale. >>
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING FROM THE FORBES ARTICLE:
<<ALLOWING BANKS TO FAIL WILL END THE POLICY OF REWARDING BANKS FOR ACTING IN A RECKLESS, IRRESPONSIBLE MANNER WITH THE MONEY THEY HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH. IT WILL ALSO END THE FUTURE BURDEN ON THE TAXPAYER WHO SHOULD NEVER BE PENALIZED FOR THE BAD BEHAVIOR OF OTHERS.>>
IF FORBES "GOT IT" WHY HASN'T HALF OF CONGRESS GOT IT? DO THEY, TOO, NEED IT SPELLED OUT IN PHONICS? HOW HARD IS IT TO SEE?
<<It is only through a free market in which individual can succeed or fail on their own merit that we will once again gain the economic freedom we desire.>>
REPLACE THE KEYNESIAN LUNACY WITH THE AUSTRIAN SENSIBLE WAY OF DEALING WITH FINANCE? WHO ELSE SAID THAT? RON PAUL, FOR OVER 30 YEARS. AND REPUBLICANS HATED HIM FOR IT. I GUESS THEY HATE FORBES FOR IT TOO?
AND THE TOP 450 MINDS THAT SAID THE SAME THING TO BUSH2?
SURE, LET THE DOMINOES FALL, LET IT ALL GO DOWN THE SEWER TUBES, BUT SAVE THOSE TAXES ON THE ELITE 2%.
May 22, 2009
'Fear and Looting in America: Be Happy as Wall Street walks off with Your Money'
BY LES LEOPOLD
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/les-leopold/fear-and-looting-in-ameri_b_206693.html
<<Wall Street crashed the economy. It gambled away our jobs and pensions by creating and trading highly risky, yet profitable, financial instruments that turned out to be junk. Banks and other financial institutions found their books, and their off-book entities, loaded with toxic assets. They became insolvent or nearly so. So the credit system froze, pushing us towards the next Great Depression. To save the system, we opened the US Treasury vault and shifted more than a trillion dollars of resources into financial sector. When you add up TARP funds, loan guarantees, no-interest loans and the like you're talking trillions. Meanwhile, what would normally have been a reasonably mild recession turned into economic free-fall when the real economy became starved for lack of credit. Millions of jobs were lost, social services slashed and states had to face crippling deficits. And you wonder why we're not happy campers? >>
[ Les Leopold is the author of 'The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions and Prosperity, and What We Can Do About It' (Chelsea Green Publishing, June 2009) and I very mush recommend that book for those who want to know the FACTS.]
THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM! SAVE YOURSELVES!
I AM NO FAN OF ALEX JONES, BELIEVE ME, BUT THIS WOMAN IN THE FOLLOWING VIDEO INTERVIEW HAD AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S COMPLICITY IN THE LOOTING OF AMERICA.
WE KNOW IT HAPPENS HERE, SO YOU CAN BE CERTAIN IT HAPPENS IN ALL NATIONS, FOR THIS IS A GLOBAL CARTEL, IT IS AN INTERNATIONAL SCAM RUN ON ALL OF EARTH'S POPULATION!
Catherine Austin Fitts served as managing director and member of the board of directors of the Wall Street investment bank Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in the GHW Bush Administration, and was the president of Hamilton Securities Group, Inc., an investment bank and financial software developer.
She explains how every dollar of debt issued to service every war, building project, and government program since the American Revolution up to around 2 years ago (around $12 TRILLION) WAS DOUBLED BY THE BANK BAILOUTS INITIATED BY BUSH2 IN JUST 18 MONTHS!
She blows the whistle on the FACT that pension and social security funds have also been stolen and moved offshore, leading to the end of fiscal responsibility and sovereignty as we know it.
"We're literally witnessing the leveraged buyout of a country and that's why I call it a financial coup d'état, and that's what the bailout is for," states Fitts.
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