Latest Polls On President Obama

August 21, 2011 — In January 2010 (20-months ago) I first wrote that President Obama would be a one-and-done President.  If the Republicans had anyone that was moderate and credible, it would be a landslide.  I think the Democrats would be wise to run someone against him in a Primary . . . but they won’t.  Here’s his latest poll numbers.  Dismal would be an understatement. A President should stay above 40 with only his Party’s support. Looks like President Obama has lost some of the Democrats and most Independents:

Here are some important things you probably won’t be hearing about on the corporate-controlled media in the U.S. I’m sorry if they seem gloomy, but I’d rather you know the truth so you can take steps to prepare . . .

Chartsky

This Graph Says It All . . .

January 29, 2011 — For some time the Fed  has been the single largest holder of  U.S. “debt.”

At its current rate of increase, by the end of 2011 (if not sooner) it will be past China and Japan combined.

Why would anyone want to hold U.S. Treasuries with the state of bankruptcy our nation is in — and not trying to do anything about it?  Well . . . they don’t.  Not any longer.

So the Fed hits a computer “Entry” button and creates another $25 BILLION — out of thin air — and uses that to “buy” the weekly-increasing National Debt.

This is insanity folks!

U.S. Dollars almost equal Confederate Money or monopoly money now.

Chartsky

Social Security:  It’s In Far Worse Shape Than You Think

By:  Charles Hugh Smith

January 19, 2011 — For years, politicians and policymakers have reassured the American public that the Social Security system, which sends monthly checks out to 53 million beneficiaries, is safely solvent — and will be for decades to come. But federal spending and income data from the Treasury Department reveal that the Social Security program is already deep in the red, with outlays exceeding payroll tax revenues by $76 billion in 2010 alone.

This stunning shortfall calls into question the rosy fiscal forecasts made by the Social Security Administration (SSA) about the program’s future solvency.

The 2010 Annual Report of the Social Security Trustees, published in August 2010, forecast that the primary Social Security program, the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (OASI), would not exceed its tax receipts until 2018. Unfortunately, it happened in fiscal 2010, which ended in October. That year’s outlays for the OASI fund were about $580 billion, while receipts came to only $540 billion — a whopping $40 billion shortfall.

Add in the deficit from the second Social Security fund, Disability Insurance (DI), and the gap between total SSA outlays ($707 BILLION in 2010, according to the Treasury) and tax receipts (only $631 BILLION) grows to $76 billion — more than 10% of the program’s expenses.

[Chartsky Note:  This is one of the things I've been harping on-and-on about.  The U.S. deficit is FAR worse than you and I are being told.  The politicians know it -- and they're lying through their teeth about it!  Now the stuff is starting to hit the fan.  How can the government collect Payroll Taxes when there are no jobs?!   Hmmmm?].

[Chartsky Note:  A friend of mine anticipates her pension from a Southern State.  Like so many, she put in her 25-years . . . but that pension could vanish overnight.  How?]

Alabama Town Defaults on Pensions, Files for Bankruptcy Protection

By:  Mike Shedlock

January 19, 2011 — The dubious honor of being the first city in the nation to completely default on pension obligations goes to Prichard, Alabama. The city has sought bankruptcy protection twice and is flat broke. It faces a choice of paying to keep city services like police and garbage running or pay pensions. It selected the former.

The New York Times reports Alabama Town’s Failed Pension Is a Warning:

This struggling small city on the outskirts of Mobile was warned for years that if it did nothing, its pension fund would run out of money by 2009. Right on schedule, its fund ran dry.

Then Prichard did something that pension experts say they have never seen before: it stopped sending monthly pension checks to its 150 retired workers, breaking a state law requiring it to pay its promised retirement benefits in full.

Prichard stands as a warning to cities like Philadelphia and states like Illinois, whose pension funds are under great strain: if nothing changes, the money eventually does run out, and when that happens, misery and turmoil follow.

The declining, little-known city of Prichard is now attracting the attention of bankruptcy lawyers, labor leaders, municipal credit analysts and local officials from across the country. They want to see if the situation in Prichard, like the continuing bankruptcy of Vallejo, Calif., ultimately creates a legal precedent on whether distressed cities can legally cut or reduce their pensions, and if so, how.

“Prichard is the future,” said Michael Aguirre, the former San Diego city attorney, who has called for San Diego to declare bankruptcy and restructure its own outsize pension obligations. “We’re all on the same conveyor belt. Prichard is just a little further down the road.”

Many cities and states are struggling to keep their pension plans adequately funded, with varying success. New York City plans to put $8.3 billion into its pension fund next year, twice what it paid five years ago. Maryland is considering a proposal to raise the retirement age to 62 for all public workers with fewer than five years of service.

Illinois keeps borrowing money to invest in its pension funds, gambling that the funds’ investments will earn enough to pay back the debt with interest. New Jersey simply decided not to pay the $3.1 billion that was due its pension plan this year.

Colorado, Minnesota and South Dakota have all taken the unusual step of reducing the benefits they pay their current retirees by cutting cost-of-living increases; retirees in all three states are suing.  [Yeah, and we all know those politicians in their black robes will do what's right and not what their political masters order them to do . . . right?]

Rule Number One

You can’t pay what you do not have. The problem for Prichard is a declining tax base, loss of population, declining property values, and most importantly a pension plan that was amended by the Alabama legislature more than fifteen times, over the years.

Each modification increased the economic burden on the city, every Alabama city in fact.

Every state in the union needs to stop meddling in the affairs of cities. Cities in Illinois are in the same boat.

Prichard never would have made those promises except they were forced by the state. The question is what to do about it. Expect to see more sad cases like these end up in bankruptcy court. Promises were made that cannot be met. The state forced those promises on cities.

Higher taxes are not the answer. At this point, there is no answer that will satisfy anyone, let alone everyone.

If the court declares the city must pay up in full, perhaps the city should pursue dissolution. What I expect to happen is for the bankruptcy court and the city to agree to pay pensioners some minimum benefit, far less than what was promised.

It’s only a matter of time before a major city decides to do what Prichard Alabama and Vallejo California did: declare bankruptcy to shed illegitimate pension promises crammed down city throats by socialist state legislatures.

“Prichard is the Future”

The court ordered Prichard to pay money it did not have with easily predictable results. Prichard defaulted. This is what happens when government interferes in the free market, mandating benefits that cities have no way of meeting.

I agree with Michael Aguirre, the former San Diego city attorney, who says “Prichard is the future.”

Look for Detroit and at least one other city in Michigan to go bankrupt. Also look for increasing discussions regarding bankruptcy from Los Angeles, Miami, Oakland, Houston, and San Diego. Those cities are definitely bankrupt, they just have not admitted it yet. The first major city to go bankrupt will cause a huge stir in the municipal bond market. Best to avoid Munis completely.

To survive, many cities need bankruptcy. It’s Detroit’s only hope. Please see Detroit Mayor Plans to Halt Garbage Pickup, Police Patrols in 20% of City; Expect Bankruptcy, Massive Municipal Bond Turmoil in 2011 for details.

The money is not there. It can’t be paid and it will not be paid, by Prichard, by Detroit, by Los Angeles, by Miami, by Oakland, by the state of Illinois.

[Chartsky Note:  I omitted a large part of this guy's article.  He is basically re-iterating Tea Party talking points.  And, obviously, neither he nor anyone he cares about depends on a pension.  His "let them eat cake" approach just won't work.  Remember, I served on a legislative body that had to make decisions about taxes and benefits.  It's not easy and don't think it is unless you've done it.  But despite what he advocates, you CANNOT go back on pension promises just because the politicians have bankrupted the Federal, State and Local governments.]

But the rest of the original article is here:  http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Florida Officials “Seize” Evidence Of Their Alleged Corruption

Chartsky Note:  If you still believe you live in the “land of the free” here in the United States, this story might shock you!

All that’s needed to cover-up government wrongdoing — when there are video tapes and audio recordings — is a good-old-boy Judge (politicians in black robes) that will sign a “warrant” so the government can send it’s armed police to confiscate all evidence of that same government’s alleged illegal activities. Much easier than having hearings and answering a lot of bothersome questions!

But I’ve personally seen worse than this . . . and at least they got the “evidence” so Mr. Burton may not have a fatal accident.

Whistleblower “rewarded” by having his home raided by armed FDLE agents (with assault weapons) . . .

by Adrian Wyllie
January 15, 2011 — JASPER, FLORIDA – Robert “Bob” Burton is a deadhead logger in the Florida panhandle. In the course of his business, he stumbled upon some illegal activities carried out by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), including state employees dumping toxic waste in Florida water reclamation areas.

On Friday, Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies and Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) agents, dressed in tactical gear and armed with assault rifles, served him with a search warrant. Agents seized his computer, cell phone, and video camera. However, Burton has not been charged with any crime.

He also reported that the DEP had seized a logger’s entire season harvest, even though the logger had the proper permits, and was violating no laws. A judge later ruled that the logger in question had legally harvested the logs, valued at over $300,000, but the DEP has refused to return the logs. He contends that public records regarding this case were intentionally destroyed.

Burton recorded a telephone conversation with Ryan Tyson, the Chief of Staff for State Senator Charles S. “Charlie” Dean, Sr., in which Tyson may have made incriminating statements regarding DEP activities. Sen. Dean is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation. Burton published his conversation with Tyson, along with other evidence of corruption, on YouTube.com.

As of Friday evening, those videos have been deleted by YouTube.

All of that apparently led to deputies and FDLE agents in tactical gear with assault rifles paying him a terrifying visit.

You can read the rest of this disturbing story at Liberty Underground’s Blog.

[Final Note:  You know it's bad (and it is) when the government is willing to take such a short-term PR hit to avoid a much bigger scandal.]

Chartsky

Confessions Of A Former Drug Pusher . . .

This is easy to understand.

A former top-rated Big Pharma rep tells us straight out:

Big Pharma is in the business to manage symptoms and keep you buying their pills forever! They do NOT want to cure . . . anything!

Chartsky

Have Cellphones Become Personal Tracking Devices For The Government?

There was once a time I would have trusted the Government . . . but certainly not any more.  To think how much information can be developed about you over the course of just a few weeks . . . much less a few months or years . . . and then “shared” with Big Brother.  Well, it’s just shocking!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

September 15 — Smart phones do many things these days: surf the Internet, send e-mail, take photos and video (and — oh, yes — send and receive calls). But one thing they can do that phone companies don’t advertise is spy on you. As long as you don’t leave home without your phone, that handy gadget keeps a record of everywhere you go — a record the government can then get from your telephone company.

The law is unclear about how easy it should be for the government to get its hands on this locational data — which can reveal whether you’ve been going to church, attending a Tea Party rally, spending the night at a date’s house or visiting a cancer-treatment center. A federal appeals court ruled last week that in some cases the government may need a search warrant. And while that’s a step forward, it’s not good enough. The rule should be that the government always needs a warrant to access your cell-phone records and obtain data about where you have been.

[Chartsky's Note:  What if you want to enjoy your right to free association and attend a Tea Party gathering? What if the Government suddenly decides you shouldn't attend such anti-government gatherings and all those who do should be tracked using their own cellphones? What if the Government decides all those who went to the monthly Republican meeting are dangerous and should be tracked?  What if your employer wants all the places you went while you were supposed to be home "sick?"  What if your employer is picking someone for a big promotion and wants to know whether you went to church last Sunday?  These are no longer just fantasy questions.  America has become a Surveillance State.]

When you carry a cell phone, it is constantly sending signals about where you are. It “pings” nearby cell-phone towers about every seven seconds so it can be ready to make and receive calls. When it does, the phone is also telling the company that owns the towers where you are at that moment — data the company then stores away indefinitely. There is also a second kind of locational data that phone companies have, thanks to a GPS chip that is embedded in most smart phones now. This is even more accurate — unlike the towers, which can only pinpoint a general area where you may be, GPS can often reveal exactly where you are at any given moment within a matter of meters.

You can read more in the Time story

Chartsky

I’m REALLY Concerned . . .

August 11 — I got most of my family and friends out of the stock market in late-September and early-October 2007. Those that didn’t listen saw up to 50% of their Retirement Savings go . . . POOF! over the next year. Some lost more than 50% depending on how they were invested.

Think about that: over 1/2 of your retirement . . . gone in a flash.

It makes me sick.

But some were just itching to put their money back into that greatest-ever of ponzi schemes.

And I’ve made new friends who didn’t get a chance to be warned years ago.

For them, last week [Note: August 5-6] was when I said again, “Get out!”

There are several reasons why . . . here’s a biggie: Divergence between T-Bonds and the Dow.

The big chart is here.

The big chart is here.

Now just look at this Weekly Chart of the $INDU:

Big chart is here.

And following yesterday’s FOMC Announcement and the way the markets have reacted since . . . well, things look really scary to me.

Recall that yesterday (8/10) the FED announced an additional $340-BILLION in monetization and the Dow and S&P still crashed after an initial spike-up.

WOW! What will it take?

Well . . . the short answer is another full-blown crash. Sorry.

See, I don’t care what the Wall Street Propaganda Network (a/k/a CNBC) says. The U.S. economy is dead until something is done about JOBS. That’s because our spending-driven economy won’t get any spending until folks have some INCOME from their JOBS. This isn’t hard to understand at all.

Beginning in the early ’70s, America stupidly and short-sightedly began outsourcing (permanently moving) our manufacturing jobs overseas and shifting to a service economy.

The clear result of this has been a huge decrease in real household incomes. I don’t see how anyone could argue with that. 30-40 years ago, just one parent worked full-time and the family was able to get by . . . in many cases live comfortably. Today, both parents work (if they can find jobs) or a single parent often works two jobs . . . and families still can’t afford a similar standard of living.

The truth is: today people only pay for things with money they have from well-paying jobs.

Forget tax-stimulus, special tax credits, and stock market/ponzi manipulations.

Here’s something you probably won’t see anytime soon on CNBC:

The big chart is here.

This tells me that it is much more likely the Dow will fall . . . maybe HARD . . . all the way to the 6500 level. At least that’s much more likely than any more fake “rallies.”

It’s also why last week I told whoever was still in the fixed-game known as Wall Street Investing to stop and get out now.

You can always get back in if the market does some hocus-pocus ahead of the November Elections and does “rally” a bit.

But if all of that is not enough . . . and you still want to play the Wall Street Game, have a quick look at this chart:

Despite hearing talk of 10,000 Dow or 11,000 Dow or even 14,000 Dow . . . this shows that the real value of the Dow today . . . the actual buying power of the Dow in inflation-adjusted dollars (the only kind you have to spend) . . . is not even double the Dow’s actual pre-1929 Crash level yet.

Yep, you read that right.

Still want to play their Game?

Good Luck!
Chartsky

Obama Is Finished . . .

August 12, 2010 — I gave him one full year and watched as he broke every single election promise . . . as he did a 180 on every single major commitment . . . and as he steadily lost the confidence of a majority of us who voted for him.

In January of this year (2010) I gave my assessment:  President Obama is a one-termer . . . a one-and-done.

Sure, we have over two years until the next Presidential Election, and 2-years is a lifetime in politics, but from the soaring bullshit, errr, rhetoric of the 2008 Democratic Convention, President Obama has proven himself skilled at just one thing:  turning a rare mandate from the American people into a debacle of a Presidency.

It has been quite amazing to watch actually.

Let there be no mistake:   Independent/Swing Voters make-or-break a national election.

President Obama and the Democrats had a clear majority on their side in the 2008 sweep into power.

And what have they done?   Enrage these same voters who were angry with the GOP.

Now the economy belongs to the Obama Administration.   The wars belong to the Obama Administration.   GITMO belongs to the Obama Administration.    The ever-soaring deficit belongs to the Obama Adminstration.   And the anger voters had for Republicans belongs to the Obama Administration.

Democrats are about to get hammered in November.  And they deserve it.

Then President Obama is about to get hammered in 2012.   He may not even make it out of the Primaries.

Here are 10 reasons why:

1.   The Obama presidency is out of touch with the American people.

2.   Most Americans don’t have confidence in the president’s leadership.

3.   Obama fails to inspire.

4.   The United States is drowning in debt.

5.   Obama’s Big Government message is falling flat.

6.   Obama’s support for socialised health care is a huge political mistake.

7.   Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill has been weak-kneed and indecisive.

8.   U. S. foreign policy is an embarrassing mess under the Obama administration.

9.   President Obama is muddled and confused on national security.

10.   Obama doesn’t believe in American greatness.

You can read the excellent analysis of these points in the London Telegraph article.

Chartsky

8/3/2010

Bad Credit Scores — A Silver Lining

Here’s something to think about — according to a Wall Street Journal Blog:

Over the past couple years, millions of Americans have reneged on their debts — because they lost their jobs, because they took on more than they could handle, or both.  For many, those defaults have brought immediate financial relief, leaving more cash to spend on other things.  Now, though, they’ll also have to face the challenge of living with bad credit.

As of April, 25% of Americans had fallen into the least-creditworthy category, garnering a rating of less than 600 from FICO, the main arbiter of consumer credit in the U.S.  That compares to only 15% before the recession, according to data compiled by Deutsche Bank.

And why is this important to those who have the higher credit scores?  Because now that the sub-prime loans are off-the-table, 25% of Americans will not be able to get a loan for much of anything.

Many are walking away from upside-down mortgages and massive consumer debt . . . and their credit scores are being trashed by FICO, but I think it will lead to a long-term benefit:  these people will have to cut-up their plastic and start living within their means.

They will have to start (shudder) . . . budgeting.

But this will also affect everyone else in that it will lead to less economic growth and a slower recovery because spending — which has disproportionately powered the U.S. economy for some time — is not going to be nearly as robust.  The money from credit card spending just isn’t going to be available because up to 25% won’t be able to get a credit card.

However, when we do pull ourselves out of the current recession/depression, the economic foundation of the United States should be more solid, and the families who learned again how to pay-as-they-go will be financially stronger too.

So maybe there is a silver lining.

Original Source:   Wall Street Journal Blog

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