The Bump and Grind

Houston Grannies

Lugal — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:07:20 +0000

name…….. phone….. services…… Picture _________

Granny #2 ……. here

Lugal — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:46:32 +0000

So much has happened in my life since I posted these political blogs. Still I am interested in politics, but ….

Wow, its been a long time !

Lugal — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:05:16 +0000

Since I posted anything here. I still think the guy is a lying commie too.

Gotta Love that Socialism !

Lugal — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:46:42 +0000

Venezuela begins 2010 with electricity rationing

Jan 2 03:35 PM US/Eastern

Oil-rich Venezuela ushered in 2010 with new measures rationing electricity use in malls, businesses and billboards, as Hugo Chavez’s government aimed to save power amid a crippling drought.

The new regulations came into effect January 1, with businesses required to comply with reduced consumption limits and authorities warning of forced power cuts and rate hikes if the measures are not followed.A decree published on Christmas Eve states that commercial centers may operate from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm on the electricity grid, but beyond that establishments would have to operate off-grid, using their own generators.Venezuela is flush with oil — the country’s primary export — and natural gas, but relies mainly on hydroelectric generation to meet domestic energy demand. With the country in a widespread drought, late last year Chavez announced a sweeping campaign to reduce widespread energy “waste,” stressing that rationing was necessary to avoid a systemic “collapse.”Shopping centers in Caracas Saturday opened at the appointed new hour, although industry representatives called for extending the time frame, arguing that night-time energy consumption is less than 10 percent of the total.The power crunch is expected to have an impact on a wide variety of businesses, including cinemas, casinos and bingo halls.Establishments failing to comply with the measures could face outages for a period of 24 hours, and up to 72-hour suspensions “in case of recidivism,” according to the decree.The regulation also orders businesses to institute savings plans aimed at shedding consumption by at least 20 percent, a measure that will be evaluated monthly by the newly-created ministry of electricity.

Nobel is now a Joke

Lugal — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:46:16 +0000

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to

President Obama is an “embarrassment” to the

process, a presidential historian told

FOXNews.com.

By Joshua Rhett Miller

FOXNews.com

Friday, October 09, 2009 Giving President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize is a “premature canonization” and an “embarrassment” to the process of designating a laureate, a presidential historian says.

“The jury is still out as to what his presidency is going to add up to,” Fred Greenstein, author and professor of politics emeritus at Princeton University, told FOXNews.com.

“It’s more of an embarrassment to the Nobel process.”

President Obama said Friday he was “most surprised and deeply humbled” to win the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, adding that he accepts the honor as “a call to action to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.”

In a brief statement in the White House Rose Garden on Friday, the president said he does not “view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments,” but rather as a recognition of goals he has set for the United States and the world.

“I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize,” he said.

Obama will go to Oslo in December to accept the honor, which includes a $1.4 million award, Norway’s prime minister said.

Greenstein said Obama is unlikely to gain any political advantage from the award, and it is unlikely to lead to any major policy changes.

Only two other sitting presidents, Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919, have been awarded the prestigious Peace Prize. Roosevelt was honored largely for brokering an agreement between Russia and China, and Wilson took the award for his role in ending World War I and creating the League of Nations.

It’s far too early to compare. “They’re not comparable,” Lichtman said. “[Roosevelt and Wilson] were six or seven years into two-term presidencies, and Obama has not completed a single year of his presidency, so it makes very little sense.”e Obama to either of his predecessors, said Allan Lichtman, professor of history at American University.

Obama possesses a great deal of “promise,” but the jury is still out, Lichtman said.

“It remains to be seen what his foreign policy legacy will be,” he said. “It is premature. This was to encourage rather than to recognize an accomplished fact.”

The award might even become a “political headache” for Obama, Lichtman said.

“On the one hand, his liberal base will be pushing him to live up to this,” he said. “And his

Republican critics will say a bunch of Scandinavians socialists have given this award to another socialist.

You’ll hear quite a bit of criticism from the right.”

Stephen Wayne, professor of American government at Georgetown University, praised Obama’s “good instincts” and strong belief in diplomacy, but said he failed to see accomplishments that merited the prize.

“It does seem to me, at this point, that’s its premature,” Wayne said. “When I first saw it, I thought it was a joke. Obama may have been the first to get it for his rhetoric and his orientation.”

Wayne said he was “startled” to learn Obama had been nominated for the award less than two weeks into his presidency.

“What had he done by February?

He had been the first African-American elected president and provided sawing rhetoric,” Wayne said. “In one sense, Obama has always been more popular in Europe than in the United States.

That popularity is based in part on the contrast he provides to former President George W. Bush, who was not popular in Europe.

I am very favorable toward President Obama, but this prize is a surprise to me.”

All that is left is Sainthood !

Lugal — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:13:11 +0000

At five o’clock this morning while waking up, I heard that Barrack Obama -our anointed Holy Man of Washington, won the Nobel peace prize.

Amazing.

Interestingly the nominating period for the peace prize ended February first 2009 a mere 9 days after being sworn in as president. He worked a miracle of global proportions apparently in only 9 DAY !

The accolades are heaped upon his head like he is the new Cesar.

It looks as though nothing is left except Sainthood.

I say we immediately email, fax, write and phone the Pope to get the ball rolling towards Sainthood.

I would bet that it would be no problem to find many people who would swear to having been healed by this man, others could verify outright miracles.

If there is any doubt as to the miracle count, we should get ACORN to canvass the streets and sign up miracle recipients. Hell in Chicago I bet we could line up hundreds of Miracle babies.

This has gotten to the point of absurdity. Ronald Reagan fought the cold war. Bush #1 presides over the US during the breakup of the Soviet Union. Neither got the award. Instead during Bush #2 they gave it to AlGore and later Peanut Carter. I think the award is just an ‘anti Bush” award, or an “Anti-Republican” award.

Think of it. Barrack did nothing and won a million dollars and the prestige of owning a Peace Prize.

The only other sitting Presidents who won the award were Teddy Roosevelt for brokering peace between Russia and Japan, and Woodrow Wilson for instituting the League of Nations.

Obama got his for —- what?

ACORN colored Blinders

Lugal — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:20:27 +0000

These are rolling emails regarding the Socialist Regime in Power in Washington.

My Liberal friends wont see they elected a Marxist, but hey lets keep the light on. -Lugal

It started with this post, mostly stupid drool sent by my friend Curt.

From: ……
Subject The Top 15 Lesser Known Acorn Scandals
Date: Friday, September 18, 2009, 9:31 PM
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= ========= =========
C L U B T O P 5
Contains the fiber you need to keep you regular.
============ ========= ========= ========= =========

NOTE FROM CHRIS:

ACORN, the scandal-tainted community organizing
group, again finds itself in hot water, thanks
to two conservative activists who dressed in
pimp ‘n’ hooker outfits and visited various ACORN
offices with a hidden camera — and actually
caught a few ACORN workers offering tips on
running a successful prostitution operation.———————————————————

The Top 15 Lesser Known Acorn Scandals
15> Repeatedly tricked Obama administration officials into giving them “two tens for a five.”
14> Offered job training courses for pimps and/or lobbyists.
13> Sold Mr. Peanut to the Thai sex black market.
12> An entire week’s worth of Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly was
found on one of their TiVos.
11> West Hollywood office found to be offering Lady Gaga wardrobe advice.
10> Original organization name was to be “PISTACHIO,” an anagram for “Promoting Income Scams to Aid Child Hooker Immigration Operations.”

And more such stupid jokes…….. which I mercifully cut.

So the next email was mine.

I find fault with the premise here.

Acorn is in trouble because someone other than 60 minutes or 20/20 did investigative journalism and found that Acorn was rotten at every city they visited. The left thinks if you attack the reporter the story is diminished. Wrong thinking.

The Government run Media is not interested in finding fault with this vast conspiracy of which ACORN is a key part - along with its myriad of offshoots, that want to move the US markedly towards Socialism.

The Government Media does zero investigative journalism regarding their lord and Savior.

The Government Media only do puff pieces on this Marxist Obama Administration, and that is why Fox news is driving the news and beats all the other state run media, CBS,ABC,NBC and CNN – COMBINED – during many of the prime time and evening news periods..

To demean the two investigators is the authors paltry attempt to somehow justify the crime, to minimise and excuse the crime and at the same time cast an accusation of bias on the motives on the persons pointing out the crime.

Not very funny humor to me, but I can see that the leftists in this country are seeing victory slipping away as more and more light lights up the dark corners of this Regimes closets. So the Regimes supporters take every opportunity to attempt to slander those calling out the socialists and exposing the skulduggery and the other corruption coming from the Socialist Activists in our government.

Just like Fox exposed the communist and “911 truther”, Van Jones, the influence of the SEIU (the Union with its Representative in the Oval office) and the Admin’s cozy bed buddy the Apollo Alliance, and the other Weather Underground founder , (no, not Obama’s buddy Willy Ayers,) but the other SDS alum, Jeff Jones who CHAIRS the Apollo Alliance, oh, that organization is the one Harry Reid thanked. Yes Prince Harry thanked the Apollo Alliance for the “Work” that helped WRITE THE LEGISLATION that was adopted FOR THE RECENT SO CALLED STIMULUS . See something in the woodpile here?

You heard about the corruption and unholy alliances only from Fox news and Drudge. The Government Media left Van Jones alone until just before the resignation. Despicable.

In Harrys own words :

“This legislation is the first step in building a clean energy economy that creates jobs…. The Apollo Alliance has been an important factor in helping us develop and execute a strategy that makes great progress on these goals and in motivating the public to support them.”

Did the new Fringe Media, the Government Media, tell you that this Administration has more Czars than all other Administrations?

Did they tell you that this Administration has 38 Czars that circumvent the constitutional requirement of Senatorial advise and consent, the Constitutional vetting process for Cabinet level advisers of the president?

So now Czars with this guy run things, the Cabinet level people do what? Sit around?

Does the Government Media tell you these Czars have administrative and regulatory powers and with no one to answer to except the anointed one?

The former “mainstream” media has marginalized themselves with their cozy attitude towards this Socialist regime.

The vast majority of thinking people have noticed. More are noticing every day.

There has been a sea change in Americans thinking of the news.

The Government Media has ruined their reputations, by laying down for this Socialist.

This ruination is most likely permanent.

Sad.

———— ——— —–

This stupidity, this attempt to ridicule or shame and thereby defeat is here again referenced recently for our amusement in this political battle attack calling all who oppose Our Dear Leader a ‘Racist’. Notice how the “racist” chant comes only from the far left?

Remember and do not fear:

”RACIST” is the Marxist/Socialist’s chant of last resort.

So here comes this guy who runs the most powerful country on the face of the planet. He happens to be black. I am reminded that the most popular woman on TV is also Black. Oprah. The most famous and rich athlete is also black. Tiger Woods. The chief enforcement officer of the country is also black, the Attorney General Eric Holder.

I imagine now….He who is the proud new commander in chief steps to the podium and the teleprompter breaks, he swiftly adlibs….. and says ”now that I am elected, and having run a centrist ah campaign using much and popular bullshit.. haha,,. er ah often too…… er ah I mean ‘truth’ called affectionately “campaign rhetoric’ ah ahh ….. decide now to do as some of you thought, we want to turn this US of A into the US .. ah….K of A, a new Socialist state of Amerika…. thank you, thank you…Cap and Trade, yes, stealth I mean Health care reform, no I mean Insurance Reform….. ahhh hahhaa Share the WEALTH… ah hahhh yes……. .. give Poland back to the Soviets… I mean… ah ha ha…. HOPE AND CHANGE… ah hahh. thank you my wonderful admirers…. .. what? you over there you what? ah ah what did they did you say….”

ahhh… you disagree? Don’t you know we got 52.7 percent of the vote? That is our MANDATE for “change” brother.” .

the anointed one finishes his statement and then he quickly finishes up…

“Thank you for agreeing, heres to Hope and Change ! ! “

——Exit Stage Right.

….then the Regimes spin contingent gets around to talking:

…… his handlers get on the stage to clarify what the Prez just said and start the media mill, (the Gobels Propaganda Department of the New Age – the Media Czar runs it …..its called the ”Press Office” ) and starts its press releases to NBC,CBS etc….the Government Run Media…..

..” If you disagree with so many of your other brothers who voted for IMMEDIATE CHANGE …..you must be a “racist”…. . We want a RACIAL, er ah I, we, …. mean RADICAL change no, I. we,….. mean FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE and you don’t. You must be a RACIST ! otherwise, just HOPE FOR CHANGE!….. . Comrade! - No. cut out the ‘comrade’ thing… “

And some believed it. Many others didn’t. NBC,ABC and CBS along with Univision and CNN simply reported that:

“Conservative Activists attacked our Dear Leaders plans to make health care available to all the worlds children. It is because the Conservative Activists are Racists and mean people” then they cut to a McDonalds happy meal commercial.

So they blew the race card. It is funny they did it with his nearest competitor for LOSER PRESIDENT - Jimmy “Peanut Butter” Carter. What another loser. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut. His recent bid to be pertinent failed miserably.

Here is a shout out to Jimmy….maybe ‘white guilt’ goes pretty deep in some souls.

Not all white souls have this guilt.

Jimmy, you old fool you need to think of just going back to making peanuts. Ask Roslyn if there are weeds you need to go pull. How about shutting up.

So. Is there something funny here?

Kinda like when the two Cannibals were eating the Clown. One Cannibal says to the other…..”does this Clown taste funny?”….. Who here is the Clown and who is the Cannibal?

I think I am beginning to see their Jokes.

———————————————————

So my buddy sends me this kurt email:

>I find fault with the premise here.

I can see why. By swallowing the FOX ‘news’ propaganda hook, line, and
sinker anything that looks like rational thought is going to be unpalatable.

Murdock is so proud.

Curtis
—————————Hmmmmmm Attack the messenger seems to be a fairly common defence for the left………

So my response is:

hehehe you count the drool coming from CNN etc as rational thought?

Curt come on. Open your mind. I know long time leanings die hard, but read, watch what is going on. Think!

If you think Murdock is feeding the poor idiots something on the end of a hook, hanging on a line with a sinker, refute the story and the evidence they present with logical evidence of your own.

Certainly CM&M and MSLSD can provide you with some solid reporting with evidence to the contrary on whatever point that Fox, Drudge and others report.

Oh yeah, ABC and CB -Obama – S couldn’t refute anything on lets see…. Van Jones, Acorn, Apollo, Both of the Weather Underground and the former SDS boys…. what real reporting have they done…. oh yeah NOTHING.

They may as well just stick to covering racoon up telephone poles stories and kids getting busted for selling lemonade without a permit stories.

They are worthless as watchdogs. They are the entertainment channels now, soft news at most.

Sorry my liberal brother.

Oh yeah you forget MS LSD, and their daddy NBC is owned by lets see…..GE ! What a surprise! …that’s right! the chairman of GE is also a bed buddy of the dear leader. Guess why NBC is a footdog for Obama? Lets see, could it be because GE, NBC’s parent company is a major supporter of this Regime and is in line to get BILLIONS in government contracts ? Is that possible?…It would be .. a major increase in government largess to GE for being good comrades.

Funny how that support thing works. Kinda like ‘pay to play’ but on a National scale.

But now the State Run Government media, the supposed 4th branch of Government, is in bed with the government. Not only is it in bed, it brought the vaseline.

So now the watchdogs lie down with the foxes. And the Socialists sleep content.

And still a majority of Americans are content to watch American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and other adult pabulum.

Again I say,

Sad

INVESTIGATE ACORN NOW

Lugal — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:31:06 +0000

Census Bureau severs ties with ACORN in 2010 count

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer

Comment by Lugal (in Red )

NOTE: THIS GROUP IS A CROOKED AND SLIMY ORGANIZATION – AT BEST – AND A HUGE FRAUDULENT, CRIMINAL OPERATION AT WORST.

I THINK THE US GOVERNMENT SHOULD SEVER ALL TIES WITH THEM – ALL AND IMMEDIATELY !.

ANYONE REMEMBER THAT THEIR FOUNDING DUO, THOSE TWO SLIMEBALLS THAT STOLE 6 MILLION OR LET ME SAY THEY GOT CAUGHT STEALING 6 MILLION DOLLARS FROM THIS SO CALLED NON PROFIT? FUNNY HOW THE HANDPICKED BOARD OF DIRECTORS JUST ALLOWED THEM TO REPAY THE MONEY AND NO CRIMINAL CHARGES WERE FILED. THINK THAT WOULD HAPPEN TO YOU OR ME? HA, WE WOULD BE IN JAIL FOR YEARS. I GUESS IN THEIR CASE YOU COULD CONSIDER IT A PROFESSIONAL COURTESY. CROOK TO CROOK.

THERE SHOULD BE AN IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION INTO ACORN THERE SHOULD BE AN IMMEDIATE STOP PAYMENT PLACED ON THE BIG CHECK THAT THEY ARE EXPECTING FROM THE STIMULUS PACKAGE - NAMELY THE 8 BILLION DOLLARS THEY ARE GOING TO GET AS PAYBACK FOR SUPPORTING THEIR DEAR LEADER.

IF THEY ARE CHARGED WITH A CRIME THEY CAN AT LEAST GET THEIR FORMER LAWYER, WHAT IS HIS NAME? BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA? YEAH THATS THEIR FORMER LAWYERS. WONDER HOW THEY GOT THAT BIG CUT OF THE STIMULUS PIE ANYWAY? - – LUGAL

WASHINGTON – The Census Bureau on Friday severed its ties with ACORN, a community organization that has been hit with Republican accusations of voter-registration fraud. “We do not come to this decision lightly,” Census director Robert Groves wrote in a letter to ACORN, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

In splitting with ACORN, Groves sought to tamp down GOP concerns and negative publicity that the partnership will taint the 2010 head count. “It is clear that ACORN’s affiliation with the 2010 census promotion has caused sufficient concern in the general public, has indeed become a distraction from our mission, and may even become a discouragement to public cooperation, negatively impacting 2010 census efforts,” Groves wrote.

Stephen Buckner, a census spokesman, confirmed the letter, but declined additional comment. ACORN spokesman Scott Levenson did not immediately return a request for comment. In recent months, Republicans have become increasingly critical of the census’ ties with ACORN, which stands for…. ….the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

The group, which advocates for poor people, conducted a massive voter registration effort last year and became a target of conservatives when some employees were accused of submitting false registration forms with names such as “Mickey Mouse.”

ACORN has said only a handful of employees submitted false registration forms and did so in a bid to boost their pay. Partly citing ACORN’s role, Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and David Vitter, R-La., earlier this year blocked a full confirmation vote of Groves for several weeks. Rep. Michelle Bachman, R-Minn., also has been calling for a census boycott because of her concerns about whether the group would tamper with the high-stakes population count. Up to now, the Census Bureau had defended ACORN’s involvement, explaining it was one of 80,000 unpaid volunteer groups that the bureau hoped would be able to raise local awareness. But in his letter, Groves said it no longer had confidence that ACORN was effectively managing its partnership.

ACORN fired two employees who were seen on hidden-camera video giving tax advice to a man posing as a pimp and a woman who pretended to be a prostitute.

Fox News Channel broadcast excerpts from the video on Thursday.

NOTE: Where was the NY Times, MSLSD? ABC? CBS? So called ‘Mainstream” – really GOVERNMENT RUN MEDIA ?

NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. – LUGAL

On the video, a man and woman visiting ACORN’s Baltimore office asked about buying a house and how to account on tax forms for the woman’s income. An ACORN employee advised the woman to list her occupation as “performance artist.”

In a statement, ACORN Maryland board member Margaret Williams said the video was an attempt to smear ACORN, and that undercover teams attempted similar setups in at least three other ACORN offices. Williams said no tax returns were filed and no assistance was provided

POOR BABIES: THEY DONT LIKE IT WHEN SOMEONE TAKES APAGE OUT OF SAUL ALINSKY’S PLAY BOOK AND USE IT AGAINST THEM DO THEY? -LUGAL

The ‘New World Order’ Emerges

Lugal — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:48:32 +0000

A year after financial crisis, a new world order emerge.

McClatchy Newspapers

By Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers

Tue Sep 8, 3:41 pm ET

WASHINGTON — One year after the near collapse of the global financial system, this much is clear: The financial world as we knew it is over, and something new is rising from its ashes.

Historians will look to September 2008 as a watershed for the U.S. economy.

On Sept. 7 , the government seized mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . Eight days later, investment bank Lehman

Brothers filed for bankruptcy, sparking a global financial panic that threatened to topple blue-chip financial institutions around the world. In the several months that followed, governments from Washington to Beijing responded with unprecedented intervention into financial markets and across their economies, seeking to stop the wreckage and stem the damage.

One year later, the easy-money system that financed the boom era from the 1980s until a year ago is smashed. Once-ravenous U.S. consumers are saving money and paying down debt. Banks are building reserves and hoarding cash. And governments are fashioning a new global financial order.

Congress and the Obama administration have lost faith in self-regulated markets.

Together, they’re writing the most sweeping new regulations over finance since the Great Depression.

And in this ever-more-connected global economy, Washington is working with its partners through the G-20 group of nations to develop worldwide rules to govern finance.

“Our objective is to design an economic framework where we’re going to have a more balanced pattern of growth globally, less reliant on a buildup of unsustainable borrowing . . . and not just here, but around the world,” said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner .

The first faint signs that the U.S. economy may be clawing its way back from the worst recession since the Great Depression are only now starting to appear, a year after the panic began. Similar indications are sprouting in Europe , China and Japan .

Still, economists concur that a quarter-century of economic growth fueled by cheap credit is over. Many analysts also think that an extended period of slow job growth and suppressed wage growth will keep consumers — and the businesses that sell to them — in the dumps for years.

“Those things are likely to be subpar for a long period of time,” said Martin Regalia, the chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce . “I think it means that we probably see potential rates of growth that are in the 2-2.5 (percent) range, or maybe . . . 1.8-1.9 (percent).” A growth rate of 3 percent to 3.5 percent is considered average.

The unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent in August and is expected to peak above 10 percent in the months ahead. It’s already there in at least 15 states.

Regalia thinks that it could be five years before the U.S. economy generates enough jobs to overcome those lost and to employ the new workers entering the labor force.

All this is likely to keep consumers on the sidelines.

“I think this financial panic and Great Recession is an inflection point for the financial system and the economy,” said Mark Zandi , the chief economist for forecaster Moody’s Economy.com. “It means much less risk-taking, at least for a number of years to come — a decade or two. That will be evident in less credit and more costly credit. If you are a household or a business, it will cost you more, and it will be more difficult to get that credit.”

The numbers bear him out.

The Fed’s most recent release of credit data showed that consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 5.2 percent from April to June, after falling by a 3.6 percent annual rate from January to March. Revolving lines of credit, which include credit cards, fell by an annualized 8.9 percent in the first quarter, followed by an 8.2 percent drop in the second quarter.

That’s a sea change. For much of the past two decades, strong U.S. growth has come largely through expanding credit. The global economy fed off this trend.

China became a manufacturing hub by selling attractively priced exports to U.S. consumers who were living beyond their means.

China’s Asian neighbors sent it components for final assembly; Africa and Latin America sold China their raw materials. All fed off U.S. consumers’ bottomless appetite for more, bought on credit.

“That’s over. Consumers can do their part — spend at a rate consistent with their income growth, but not much beyond that,” Zandi said.

If U.S. consumers no longer drive the global economy, then consumers in big emerging economies such as China and Brazil will have to take up some of the slack. Trade among nations will take on greater importance.

In the emerging “new normal,” U.S. companies will have to be more competitive.

They must sell into big developing markets; yet as the recent Cash for Clunkers effort underscored, the competitive hurdles are high: Foreign-owned automakers, led by Toyota , reaped the most benefit from the U.S. tax breaks for new car purchases, not GM and Chrysler .

Need a loan? Tough luck: Many U.S. banks are in no condition to lend. Around 416 banks are now on a “problem list” and at risk of insolvency. Regulators already have shuttered 81 banks and thrifts this year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported on Aug. 27 that rising loan losses are depleting bank capital. The ratio of bank reserves to bad loans was 63.5 percent from April to June, the lowest it’s been since the savings-and-loan crisis in 1991.

For all that, the U.S. economy does seem to be rising off its sickbed. The latest manufacturing data for August point to a return to growth, and home sales are rising. Indeed, there are many encouraging signs emerging in the global economy.

It’s all growth from a low starting point, however, and many economists think that there’ll be a lower baseline for U.S. and global growth if the new financial order means less risk-taking by lenders and less indebtedness by companies and consumers.

That seems evident now in the U.S. personal savings rate. It fell steadily from 9.59 percent in the 1970s to 2.68 percent in the easy-money era from 2000 to 2008; from 2005 to 2007, it averaged 1.83 percent.

Today, that trend is in reverse. From April to June, Americans’ personal savings rate was 5 percent, and it could go higher if the unemployment rate keeps rising. Almost 15 million Americans are unemployed — and countless others are underemployed or uncertain about their job security, so they’re spending less and saving more.

A few years ago, banks fell all over themselves to offer cheap home equity loans and lines of consumer credit. No more. Even billions in government bailout dollars to spur lending haven’t changed that.

“The strategy that was stated at the beginning of the year — which is that you would sustain the banking system in order that it would resume lending — hasn’t worked, and it isn’t going to work,” said James K. Galbraith , an economist at the University of Texas at Austin .

Over the course of 2008, the nation’s five largest banks reduced their consumer loans by 79 percent, real estate loans by 66 percent and commercial loans by 19 percent, according to FDIC data. A wide range of credit measures, including recent FDIC data, show that lending remains depressed.

Why? The foundation of U.S. credit expansion for the past 20 years is in ruin.

Since the 1980s, banks haven’t kept loans on their balance sheets; instead, they sold them into a secondary market, where they were pooled for sale to investors as securities.

The process, called securitization, fueled a rapid expansion of credit to consumers and businesses. By passing their loans on to investors, banks were freed to lend more.

Today, securitization is all but dead. Investors have little appetite for risky securities. Few buyers want a security based on pools of mortgages, car loans, student loans and the like.

“The basis of revival of the system along the line of what previously existed doesn’t exist. The foundation that was supposed to be there for the revival (of the economy) . . . got washed away,” Galbraith said.

Unless and until securitization rebounds, it will be hard for banks to resume robust lending because they’re stuck with loans on their books.

“We’ve just been scared,” said Robert C. Pozen , the chairman of Boston -based MFS Investment Management . He thinks that the freeze in securitization reflects a lack of trust in Wall Street and its products and remains a huge obstacle to the resumption of lending that’s vital to an economic recovery.

Enter the Federal Reserve.

It now props up the secondary market for pooled loans that are vital to the functioning of the U.S. financial system. The Fed is lending money to investors who’re willing to buy the safest pools of loans, called asset-backed securities.

Through Sept. 3 , the Fed had funded purchases of $817.6 billion in mortgage-backed securities.

These securities were pooled mostly by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae , Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae .

In recent months, the Fed also has moved aggressively to lend for purchase of pools of other consumer-based loans.

Today, there’s little private-sector demand for new loan-based securities; government is virtually the only game in town.

That’s why on Aug. 17 , the Fed announced that it would extend its program to finance the purchase of pools of loans until mid-2010.

That suggests there’s still a long way to go before a functioning securitization market — the backbone of consumer lending — returns to a semblance of normalcy.

This is the Power Bambam’s “New kind of Politics” wants.

Lugal — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:37:23 +0000

These scumbags really only wanted this from the beginning. You either succumb to their demands or they fine you into oblivion. Screw ‘em. Maybe it is time to bust out those pitchforks , shovels & torch’s ! Run them out of town! - L

Fines proposed for going without health insurance

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press Writer – 14 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Americans would be fined up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance under a plan that circulated in Congress on Tuesday as divisions among Democrats undercut President Barack Obama‘s effort to regain traction on his health care overhaul.

As Obama talked strategy with Democratic leaders at the White House, the one idea that most appeals to his party’s liberal base lost ground in Congress.

Prospects for a government-run plan to compete with private insurers sank as a leading moderate Democrat said he could no longer support the idea.

The fast-moving developments put Obama in a box. As a candidate, he opposed fines to force individuals to buy health insurance, and he supported setting up a public insurance plan. On Tuesday, fellow Democrats publicly begged to differ on both ideas.

Democratic congressional leaders put on a bold front as they left the White House after their meeting with the president.

“We’re re-energized; we’re ready to do health care reform,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., insisted the public plan is still politically viable. “I believe that a public option will be essential to our passing a bill in the House of Representatives,” she said.

After a month of contentious forums, Americans were seeking specifics from the president in his speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night. So were his fellow Democrats, divided on how best to solve the problem of the nation’s nearly 50 million uninsured.

The latest proposal: a ten-year, $900-billion bipartisan compromise that Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a moderate who heads the influential Finance Committee, was trying to broker. It would guarantee coverage for nearly all Americans, regardless of medical problems.

But the Baucus plan also includes the fines that Obama has rejected. In what appeared to be a sign of tension, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs pointedly noted that the administration had not received a copy of the plan before it leaked to lobbyists and news media Tuesday.

The Baucus plan would require insurers to take all applicants, regardless of age or health. But smokers could be charged higher premiums.

And 60-year-olds could be charged five times as much for a policy as 20-year-olds.

Baucus said Tuesday he’s trying to get agreement from a small group of bipartisan negotiators in advance of Obama’s speech. “Time is running out very quickly,” he said. “I made that very clear to the group.”

Some experts consider the $900-billion price tag a relative bargain because the country now spends about $2.5 trillion a year on health care. But it would require hefty fees on insurers, drug companies and others in the health care industry to help pay for it.

Just as auto coverage is now mandatory in nearly all states, Baucus would require that all Americans get health insurance once the system is overhauled.

Penalties for failing to do so would start at $750 a year for individuals and $1,500 for families.

Households making more than three times the federal poverty level — about $66,000 for a family of four — would face the maximum fines. For families, it would be $3,800, and for individuals, $950.

Baucus would offer tax credits to help pay premiums for households making up to three times the poverty level, and for small employers paying about average middle-class wages.

People working for companies that offer coverage could avoid the fines by signing up.

The fines pose a dilemma for Obama. As a candidate, the president campaigned hard against making health insurance a requirement, and fining people for not getting it.

“Punishing families who can’t afford health care to begin with just doesn’t make sense,” he said during his party’s primaries. At the time, he proposed mandatory insurance only for children.

White House officials have since backed away somewhat from Obama’s opposition to mandated coverage for all, but there’s no indication that Obama would support fines.

One idea that Obama championed during and since the campaign — a government insurance option — appeared to be sinking fast.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters a Medicare-like plan for middle-class Americans and their families isn’t an essential part of legislation for him. Hoyer’s comments came shortly after a key Democratic moderate said he could no longer back a bill that includes a new government plan.

The fast-moving developments left liberals in a quandary. They’ve drawn a line, saying they won’t vote for legislation if it doesn’t include a public plan to compete with private insurance companies and force them to lower costs.

Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., who once supported a public option, said Tuesday that after hearing from constituents during the August recess, he’s changed his mind.

“If House leadership presents a final bill that contains a government-run public option, I will oppose it,” Ross said.

House Democrats are considering a fallback: using the public plan as a last resort if after a few years the insurance industry has failed to curb costs.

Obama’s commitment to a public plan has been in question and lawmakers hoped his speech to Congress would make his position on that clear.

Baucus is calling for nonprofit co-ops to compete in the marketplace instead of a public plan.

An 18-page summary of the Baucus proposal was obtained by The Associated Press. The complex plan would make dozens of changes in the health care system, many of them contentious. For example, it includes new fees on insurers, drug companies, medical device manufacturers and clinical labs.

People working for major employers would probably not see big changes. The plan is geared to helping those who now have the hardest time getting and keeping coverage: the self-employed and small business owners.

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Associated Press writers Erica Werner, Ben Feller, Alan Fram and Jim Abrams contributed to this report

“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism, ‘ they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened,” -
Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948.”