Printing dollars to pay the debt (referred to by Russell as "inflating the debt away") might actually eliminate the debt without creating inflation. This is because federal bonds and Federal Reserve Notes are interchangeable forms of liquidity. Government securities trade around the world just as if they were money. A $100 bond represents a claim on $100 worth of goods and services, just as a $100 bill does. The difference, as Thomas Edison said nearly a century ago, is merely that "the bond lets money brokers collect twice the amount of the bond and an additional 20 percent, whereas the currency pays nobody but those who contribute directly in some useful way.... Both are promises to pay, but one promise fattens the usurers and the other helps the people."

Much has been made of the $700 billion in taxpayer money used to bail out the banks in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). But Bloomberg News reporter Bob Ivry explains to NEED TO KNOW that the true cost was actually closer to $12.8 trillion. Need to Know airs Fridays on PBS.

Tobin Tax, Wall Street Sales Tax, Robin Hood Tax - Britain and Europe Demand that Bankers Pay for the Depression They Have Created!

Webster G. Tarpley
TARPLEY.net
March 16, 2010

State and city officials have been looking for a way to renew the city through an unspecified “demolish and rebuild” program. It had some heads nodding in agreement earlier this year, but such a program would be a political minefield to implement.

You cannot simply demolish a neighborhood that still has some active residents. Openly moving people by force would be a Stalinist tactic.

So while talking about a “demolish and rebuild” might sound bold and brave; implementing such a program would be politically unpopular, not to mention expensive.

Mother nature may have offered a helping hand or even, perhaps, a scapegoat.

The United States and its European allies who boast of themselves as being the harbingers of human rights and liberty have obliviously forgotten that they are simply human beings who lose their lives as a result of the sanctions which they've devised. The civilian passengers who are destined to die in the insecure flights of Iran's aviation fleet are the victims of those who have long trumpeted in our ears that they're the sole defenders of human rights.

The Division of individuals into inflation versus deflation camps I would argue, may be harmful to Americans that decide to
believe wholeheartedly in one over the other and act. For Example, buying real estate hoping for inflation to cure an over supply is a disastrous strategy. The reality is, Price Inflation and deflation happen at the same time. We may see prices rise in Gold , Silver, Commodities but at the same time see massive declines in Real Estate,Stocks and Wages.

President Nicolas Sarkozy faced down French trade unions on Wednesday, refusing to back down on plans to raise the retirement age despite Tuesday's nationwide protests against pension reform.

In a statement issued shortly before unions were due to decide on possible further protests, Sarkozy said he was asking his government to make some amendments to the pension reform bill, but the rise in the minimum pensionable age would stay.

---oOo---

No surprises there. This is going to be a global initiative. You will work until you die!

You spent the whole day yesterday worrying about today, and now that it's here, was it worth it?

Howard Beale
Activist Post

It's a scary feeling not being able to pay your bills. It can be so stressful that it consumes the entirety of our thoughts and emotions. We may fight with our spouses, or prematurely snap at our children over meaningless nonsense because we are constantly on edge over finances.

Day after day, week after week, month after month we live stressed to the max. If we're able to break our funk trance for a moment and look back, we just may realize that all of the agonizing was not worth it as, somehow, we made it to today in one piece.

When you have a powerful and single-minded lobby that is able to manipulate your government in such a fashion that it pours its national treasure into a racist state, arms it and protects it to the point of becoming an accomplice to its crimes, and by doing so willfully alienates 22% of the world’s population, you know that your notion of national interest has been seriously mangled.

China's ownership of the United States government debt has dropped to the lowest level in at least a year, Treasury data showed, in a sign Beijing is increasingly keen to diversify out of US bonds. Webster Tarpley says that China is diversifying and has moved onto the Euro and Yen. He adds that the US was trying to shift the depression onto Europe, trying to destroy the Euro with a speculative attack on Greece, Spain, Portugal, etc.

This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert look at the scandals of "the weather in healthcare", virtual girlfriends and illegal immigrants giving up on the US economy. In the second half of the show, Max talks to independent journalist Mark "Bicyclemark" Fonseca Rendeiro, who is in Kabul to assist with the elections.

WASHINGTON — The United States has slapped sanctions on a German-based bank it accuses of helping Iranian institutions involved in illicit nuclear trade.

The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it had taken steps against Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank that would isolate the bank from the U.S. financial system.

Federal health officials are pushing hard this year to convince everyone to get the flu shot, but according to reports, this will only be possible if drug companies are able to produce the vaccines quicker than they did last year. So in order to make this happen, the government is doling out roughly $2 billion in taxpayer funds to Big Pharma to spur faster vaccine roll-out.

Commentary: Doublespeak in action -- there is no food crisis according to the overlords at the U.N. despite riots in Mozambique; the ban by Russia; in-depth studies that already show sizable food inflation; and the U.N. itself citing that "markets will remain volatile for years." This statement is akin to all Orwellian DoubleThink (shortage is abundance now) that comes from the mouths of those who are encouraging apathy when we should be doing our best to prepare. -- Activist Post

Associated Press

ROME — A U.N. agency says no global food crisis is looming despite the Russian wheat shortfall. But it is cautioning that food markets will remain volatile for years.

The centerpiece of the Khavari/Richardson platform is formation of a state bank to serve the financial needs of Florida’s people and the requirements of the state’s economy.

“The banking industry’s dirtiest secret,” says Richardson, “is that it’s half ‘socialist,’ and in the worst sense of that word. While privately held at the profit end, it externalizes all the attendant risks to the public. If the people of Florida are going to bear the risks of finance, we contend that they should also reap its benefits.”

The United States is on the brink of sliding down to a Third World country, as it struggles with massive debts, rising unemployment and a deteriorating economy...

Yesterday we presented Dylan Grice's thoughts on why economists and their opinions should be summarily dismissed as nothing but mere noise on the steep downward slope of a series of failed "authoritarian" policy decisions, which seek to validate one false choice after another, by presenting a hypothetical and fallacious counter-outcome as a certain reality (just consider the "apocalypse" we would be living in if Goldman had failed: of course, there is no justification for this except for what Bernanke et al claim is the one true alternative reality based on nothing but their own conflicted interests), which does nothing but discredit the "science" of economics more and more with each passing day.

National Debt Not Most Important Issue; Experts Suggest Infrastructure Spending, Payroll Tax Holiday Would Spur New Hires

The White House is facing a public that's very pessimistic about the economy, with new unemployment numbers rising to 9.6 percent, the first increase in four months. The Democrats are staring at possible defeat in the mid-term elections if the job market does not improve, and President Barack Obama will outline new measures Wednesday aimed at boosting the U.S. economy.

The New Deal cost America $50 billion in 1930s dollars. How the times have changed - today the White House will announce a new and improved New(er) Deal, which will invest $50 billion in a 3Rs sequel - road, rail and runway, infrastructure developments. It will have roughly one thousandth the impact of the Roosevelt plan, demonstrating once again that in 80 years the only thing that has actually worked in America is the ongoing devaluation of the dollar.

U.S. unemployment is on the rise again - it has reached nine point six per cent, the first increase in four months. Some economists are arguing that the Obama administration needs to introduce another stimulus programme to create new jobs. But Larry Kotlikoff, professor of economics at the Boston University, believes the U.S. needs to start cutting spending immediately - or face bankruptcy...

BEIJING — Senior U.S. and Chinese officials met Monday to steady relations upset by disputes over currency, trade and military affairs despite calls for a tougher line on Chinese economic policies that some say are contributing to American unemployment.

With congressional elections in two months, President Barack Obama is under pressure to kick-start the economy and many lawmakers say he should start by addressing China's lopsided trade surplus and currency policies.

EU ministers edge closer to financial transaction levy amid signs that International Monetary Fund is softening opposition to 'Robin Hood tax'

European Union finance ministers will step up talks on raising extra money from banks this week amid signs that the International Monetary Fund is softening its opposition to a "Robin Hood tax" on financial transactions.

David Redick
Activist Post

The creation of fiat official government money has had a profound effect in history and on our nation and the world today. "Fiat" means it is worth whatever the government says it is (its face value), although the material of which it is made may have more or less intrinsic market value. Examples would include both valuable silver dollars and worthless paper, each declared to be worth $1; and today’s American Eagle bullion coin with a face value of $50 for one ounce of gold.

Most of us have at least a general idea of what we think inflation is. Inflation is the state of affairs in which prices go up. Inflation is an old, old story. Inflation is almost as ancient as money is, and money is almost as ancient as man himself.

A water truck backs up to the Euphrates River in Iraq. The driver, a Ugandan or maybe an Ethiopian, gets out, lowers a hose into the sewage ridden flow and fills his truck. 5 miles away, a US Army water purification center sits, too far away. The driver thinks, “water is water.” Another of the Pentagon’s “Zombie Contractors” take their toll, part of the army of “undead” and unqualified who are the world’s most expensive work force.

The driver, an employee of a company once headed by the Vice President of the United States, could care less, clean water, filth or sewage, it is only going to American troops as drinking water.

George Carlin talks about big banks who own everthing and talks about how you are a slave.

We the People CAN change things if we TAKE BACK from the private banking cartel the authority to create money and issue credit.

Economic terms defined not as politicians speak them, but as taxpayers need to hear them.

H/T to Juan at Myspace

Greece’s austerity measures cannot prevent default and will lead to a breakdown of the political order if continued for long, a leading German economist has warned.

The U.S. debt crisis represents a unique, unparalleled, and unimaginable convergence of circumstances yet, despite the utter gravity of our plight, nothing is being done to change our course. Washington must either muster the courage — and the support of the people — to accept the pain and make the sacrifices of a lifetime … or face the downfall of America

China on Friday offered a rare glimpse into its foreign exchange reserves, confirming that they are overwhelmingly allocated in dollars, while a central banker said the mountain of cash could face depreciation risks.

The Chinese government's currency reserves, the world's largest such stockpile at $2.45 trillion, are held roughly in line with what was described as the global average: 65 percent in dollars, 26 percent in euros, 5 percent in pounds and 3 percent in yen.

great interview with Max and J.S. Kim

“The US has run out of bullets,” said Nouriel Roubini, professor at New York University, and one of a caste of luminaries with grim forecasts at the annual Ambrosetti conference on Lake Como.

“More quantitative easing (bond purchases) by the Federal Reserve is not going to make any difference. Treasury yields are already down to 2.5pc yet credit spreads are widening again. Monetary policy can boost liquidity but it can’t deal with solvency problems,” he told Europe’s policy elite.

The U.S. government is likely to take a loss on General Motors Co in the first offering of the automaker's stock, six people familiar with preparations for the landmark IPO said.

Ryanair's ever-controversial boss has called for the second pilot to be dumped from the flight deck of aircraft to save money. Michael O'Leary suggested air stewardesses could be trained to take over and land the plane in the event of a crisis.

According to a team at Bloomberg News, at one point last year the U.S. had lent, spent or guaranteed as much as $12.8 trillion to rescue the economy.

Since GM seeds are patented by Monsanto, their repeated use each year requires constant licensing fees that keep farmers impoverished. One bad yield due to drought or other reasons, plunges farmers so deep into debt that they resort to suicide. One study estimates that 150,000 farmers have killed themselves in the past ten years

Under the new "short refinance" program, banks and other creditors that write down mortgages to less than the value of the property can essentially hand off the reduced loan to the government. The process involves refinancing borrowers into loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration.

While the program puts taxpayers at risk—officials estimate one in five loans in the program could default—the government has set aside $14 billion previously earmarked for housing aid from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to cover losses.

Bonnie Dunn sees every person who passes through Oldsmar Cares, the volunteer-run nonprofit that provides clothes as well as rental, utility and food assistance to those in need.

Over the years, the profile of the needy has changed.

"When we first started doing this," Dunn said, "they were down-and-out people — people that don't have jobs, people that have had sicknesses, the elderly who are on fixed incomes. Now we have people coming here that have never had to do this before, people from all walks of life."...

Is the global economy out of the woods? Two years after near-meltdown, with the U.S. looking sluggish, equity markets groggy and Europeans fighting a debt crisis, experts gathered in Italy offered a generally gloomy outlook – especially for the United States and much of the industrialized world.

The doomsayers were led by New York University economist Nouriel Roubini, who warned in booming tones that "there is a significant risk of a double-dip recession in the United States" as well as in Japan and many European countries.

The Fed cranks the printing press as easily as a child cranks a Jack-in-the-Box... But eventually, "POP goes the weasel"...

Video from: http://inflation.us/videos.html

Student loans make education affordable for everyone...or do they?

As the slumping economy continues to worsen, questions had to be asked and answered. The United States Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was in the hot seat today over the financial crisis, he was asked questions of why the economy crashed in 2008. Nomi Prins says that Bernanke was treated lightly and it appears he has not learned from the collapse in 2008 as he continues to make banks larger.

David Galland and Kevin Brekke
Casey Research

The other day, I came across an article that said, while individuals may be moving their money out of equities, they have been moving into bond funds – and in a big way.

It’s called jumping from the frying fan into the fire.

Based on my experience as a co-founder of a mutual fund group, I can tell you that if there is one sure thing in this world, it’s that when investors rush en masse into an investment category, it is invariably at almost exactly the wrong time to do so. Is that the case with today’s rush into bonds?

A search of the U.S. Postal Office website shows that - as of April 2008 - the relevant web page did not have any reference to SDRs. The most recent revisions to this web page were made on July 30, 2010. However, I cannot tell whether the references to SDRs were added in the most recent July revision, or in a previous edit.

WASHINGTON — The unemployment rate rose in August for the first time in four months as weak hiring by private employers wasn't enough to keep pace with a large increase in the number of people looking for work.

Forest fires have flared up again in Russia, this time in the south, forcing hundreds of people to leave their homes. 20 villages in the region of Volgograd have been affected so far. Temperatures here have topped 40 degrees celsius in recent days.

This is a local disaster with potentially global consequences.

Officials now say Russia’s embargo on the export of wheat will not be lifted before next year’s harvest.

Get used to the idea: Cash is dead.

And if you don't believe it, just ask such cashless giants as PayPal, MasterCard and Visa. At the very least, they are working overtime with slick propaganda to make us think so.

Currently on Maestro's website ("Maestro" is the name of MasterCard's UK-based debit card) is a slide show where you can see the following pithy slogans flash past:

DON'T SHOW ME THE MONEY.

LEAVE CASH ON THE SHELF.

MONEY WITHOUT THE HEADACHE.

BURGER & FRIES WITHOUT ALL THE POUNDS.

Nicholas West
Activist Post

We are all workers in the corporation called The New World Order. This corporation has led us to believe that we are part of a world at its peak, where only banking interests can respond to the dwindling supplies. Naturally, we are supposed to adhere to the policies of the corporation in order to be saved.

Why do we always have to learn and relearn our history the hard way?

"The Rothschilds, and that class of money-lenders of whom they are the representatives and agents--men who never think of lending a shilling to their next-door neighbors, for purposes of honest industry, unless upon the most ample security, and at the highest rate of interest--stand ready, at all times, to lend money in unlimited amounts to those robbers and murderers, who call themselves governments, to be expended in shooting down those who do not submit quietly to being robbed and enslaved.

Marin Katusa
Chief Energy Strategist
Casey’s Energy Opportunities

The International Energy Association (IEA) has spoken. What the world needs now is a clean energy technology revolution.

June saw the 2010 launch of IEA’s biannual report, Energy Technology Perspectives. Speaking at the launch was Nobuo Tanaka, executive director for IEA. The Gulf oil spill, he said, could prove to be a tipping point in the world’s energy consumption habits. He added that the disaster serves as a tragic reminder that our current path is not sustainable.

Christina Romer, outgoing Chairwoman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, today called for more government spending and less taxes as a way to bring down unemployment. The combination of more government spending and less taxes equals massive inflation, but this represents the state of mind in Washington today. Inflation is still the last thing on their minds because they don't see it yet.

Rising gold and silver prices indicate that the U.S. is headed for an explosion in budget deficits that will rise far beyond what it can pay for through borrowing. Leading Chinese economists are now calling Japanese debt less risky than U.S. debt and with the Japanese savings rate in decline, the U.S. will soon have nobody left to borrow from. The only option will be monetization and already the Federal Reserve is getting ready to buy $10 billion to $30 billion per month in U.S. treasuries to keep its balance sheet at inflated levels.

Conspiracy theory is a term that originally was a neutral descriptor for any claim of civil, criminal or political conspiracy. However, it has come almost exclusively to refer to any fringe theory which explains a historical or current event as the result of a secret plot by conspirators of almost superhuman power and cunning. To conspire means "to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or to use such means to accomplish a lawful end. "The term "conspiracy theory" is frequently used by scholars and in popular culture to identify secret military, banking, or political actions aimed at stealing power, money, or freedom, from "the people".

1. Hold game night tournaments: Invite family and friends over for fun and games at home instead of paying for pricey movie tickets and concessions.

2. Consider split-shift child-care: Parents take turns taking care of children based on their work schedule rather than placing them in daycare...

OMAHA, Neb. — More than a third of supply managers in nine Midwest and Plains states surveyed for a regional business index expect a recession in 2011.

As part of the Mid-America report released Wednesday, supply managers were asked their expectations for 2011, and 35 percent said a recession was likely or very likely.

In times of crisis people seek strong leaders and simple solutions. But what if their solutions are identical to the mistakes that caused the very crisis? This is the story of the greatest economic crisis of our age, the one that awaits us.

It is the private sector that actually creates wealth. But unfortunately, over the last several decades we have allowed that wealth to become highly concentrated. Now the giant global predator corporations have decided that American workers aren't really that desirable after all. They are slowly taking away their factories and their offices and they are moving them to where people are willing to work for one-tenth the pay.

So where does that leave middle class American "consumers"?

Well, it leaves us in a world of hurt.

The following are 15 key economic statistics that just keep getting worse and which reveal the horrific economic plight in which we now find ourselves....

Then what finances the deficit? Don’t look for an answer from either side of The Great Stimulus Debate. They haven’t a clue despite the fact that the answer is obvious.

The Federal Reserve will monetize the federal government deficit. The result will be high inflation, possibly hyper-inflation and high unemployment simultaneously.

The no-think economics establishment has no policy response for economic armageddon, assuming they are even capable of recognizing it.

Economists who have spent their professional lives rationalizing “globalism” as good for America have no idea of the disaster that they have wrought.

Any serious effort to understand the extraordinary influence of the Zionist power configuration over US foreign policy must examine the presence of key operatives in strategic positions in the government andlocal Zionist organizations affiliated with mainstream Jewish organizations and religious orders.

There are at least 52 major American Jewish organizations actively engaged in promoting Israel’s foreign policy, economic and technological agenda in the US (see the appendix).

Chris Wood, Editor
Casey Research

Here at Casey Research, we really don’t enjoy being a buzz-kill. It’s just that we think it’s more important for investors to be well informed about the reality in which we find ourselves today than it is to be happy-go-lucky all the time.

The good news is that when the stuff hits the fan, as it has for going on two years now, it opens up a number of unexpected opportunities for profit. Even in the hairiest situations, there are ways to protect yourself.

Brian Mitchell
Activist Post

By now it is common knowledge the healthcare system in the USA is a disaster. It was a disaster before the recent “overhaul," and I’m betting is will be an even bigger disaster after the new laws actually go into effect.

For the record, I’m a proponent of public healthcare, and I was actually looking forward to the Obama administration fixing this issue. The result they gave us is not a fix, though; it’s not even a Band-Aid. What it is, is a flat out screw job to every U.S. citizen, along with a massive payday for the private insurance agencies. Why else would insurance company stocks go up after this new bill was passed? Apparently someone expects them to make a lot more money going forward, and honestly I can’t see how they’d be wrong.

What's needed has been obvious to independent observers for years: Break up the big banks, prosecute the criminals whose fraud caused the financial crisis, and restore the rule of law and transparency.

Until those basic steps are taken, nothing else will work to fix our broken economy.

The last resource of the fed will be money printing to fix the economy. We all know where is that ends..

The U.S. is broke. Public Employee Unions refuse to void their unconscionable contracts. The taxpayer can no longer afford this destructive fraud. Society can only be rejuvenated through a total downsizing of all public services. The biggest deadbeats that skim off the system are your phony public servants. The only bright spot from a collapse and natural bankruptcy is the evaporation of the public sector. Can you say Bye Bye to those decadent pensions? The government wants total control and public employees have made their – UNION – bargain with the devil.

.....That's right, the bottom 80% of this nation only hold 7% of its wealth! When I came across that statistic I was floored. As far as the top 20% of Americans, the top 1% of Americans holds 42.7% of this nation's wealth, while the other top 19% hold 50.5%.

As I see it, that is quite a disparity in social classes. I'm surprised that people haven't made this a centerpiece in political circles. If the Democrats were really the party of the average working people of this nation, why isn't the disparity between the haves and have not's brought to everyone's attention? If I were running for political office, I would be driving that point home to the average American voter every chance I had. I think that maybe most of the politicians that currently hold public office don't really want that information to be something that families talk about over the dinner table. The reason is probably because most Congressmen and Senators belong to the top 20% that own 93.3% of the nation's wealth, or that they believe they will enter that bracket sooner than later.

A record number of people are living on government handouts in the US, as one out of six Americans now gets various anti-poverty supports, including food stamps...

September could be the month Blockbuster Inc. finds its way to bankruptcy court.

The Dallas-based company has been warning for almost two years that it might need bankruptcy court protection to reorganize its nearly $1 billion in debt, as it struggles with dwindling cash and a shrinking business hurt by competition and its own store closings...

Never have so few, done so little, and made so much, while screwing so many.

In 2005, the top 25 hedge fund managers "earned" $9 billion, or an average of $360 million. One year after a financial collapse caused by the financial innovations peddled by Wall Street, the top 25 hedge fund managers paid themselves $25 billion, or an average of $1 billion a piece. For some perspective, there were 7 million unemployed Americans in 2006. Today there are 14.6 million unemployed Americans. While the country plunges deeper into Depression, the barbarians pick up the pace of their plundering and looting of the remaining wealth of the nation. Bill Bonner and Lila Rajiva pointed out a basic truth in 2007, before the financial collapse.

Never have so few, done so little, and made so much, while screwing so many.

In 2005, the top 25 hedge fund managers "earned" $9 billion, or an average of $360 million. One year after a financial collapse caused by the financial innovations peddled by Wall Street, the top 25 hedge fund managers paid themselves $25 billion, or an average of $1 billion a piece. For some perspective, there were 7 million unemployed Americans in 2006. Today there are 14.6 million unemployed Americans. While the country plunges deeper into Depression, the barbarians pick up the pace of their plundering and looting of the remaining wealth of the nation. Bill Bonner and Lila Rajiva pointed out a basic truth in 2007, before the financial collapse.

Michael Edwards & Jeffrey Green
Activist Post

By all honest accounts, 2010 has been a terrible year for traditional agriculture worldwide. Extended severe weather events have cut many crop harvests in half. Farmers are going bankrupt as crops fail, commodity prices are exploding, and millions of people more have been added to the list of those who go hungry on a regular basis. Already a record 40 million Americans are receiving food stamps at a time when economy is a disaster and state and Federal governments are essentially bankrupt.

While the Tea Party will be out supporting Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin this weekend, you wonder how many of them will be in full support of more wars and paying more interest to a group of untouchable and unauditable private bankers otherwise known as the FED? This is precisely what Ron Paul is asking the American public to consider when looking at the Tea Party leaders and see if they really stand for what they believe in.

Ron Paul believes the Tea Party is not about “left” or “right” like a lot of political pundits make it out to be. It’s about the constitution, and limited government.