Epic Failure: The Supercommittee Was A Super Joke

article from: The Economic Collapse



Does anyone need any additional evidence that our political system is completely broken?  The bipartisan congressional supercommittee that was given two months to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts over the next decade has failed to reach an agreement.  It is an epic failure and a national embarrassment.  The truth is that they never even came close to an agreement.  In fact, as you will read below, the two sides on the panel have been barely even talking to each other.  In the end, the supercommittee was a super joke.  Meanwhile, the U.S. national debt has passed the 15 trillion dollar mark and we are facing trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.  We are heading directly for a national financial disaster, and our "leaders" seem powerless to do anything about it.

Video: MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan has a meltdown over the meltdown

Finally, someone at MSNBC has the balls to say on air what the root of the problems is in this country. Money and politics!

MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan is mad as hell about the U.S. financial crisis--and he's not gonna take it anymore!
While convening a roundtable discussion on the market meltdown on his eponymous MSNBC show on Tuesday, Ratigan exploded.

"We've got a real problem!" an exasperated Ratigan shouted. "This is a mathematical fact! Tens of trillions of dollars are being extracted from the United States of America. Democrats aren't doing it, Republicans aren't doing it. An entire integrated system, financial system, trading system, taxing system, that was created by both parties over a period of two decades is at work on our entire country right now. And we're sitting here arguing about whether we should do the $4 trillion plan that kicks the can down the road for the president for 2017, or burn the place to the ground, both of which are reckless, irresponsible, and stupid."

Lets Take A Moment To Dissect Bernake's Latest Zero Interest Rate Policy

by: Bruce Krasting / ZeroHedge.com

I had this to say last week:

The Fed could easily attempt to buy some market peace by issuing a statement that the policy of zero interest rates would be extended for a minimum period of one year. I consider this to be a “high probability" to happen in the next 30 days.

I got it right, but I got it completely wrong. I feared that the Fed could extend the ZIRP language for as long as a year. Not in my wildest dream did I think they could take the extremely risky move of guaranteeing that interest rates will remain at zero for another 24 months.

Having been shocked, my thoughts.

A 634 Point Stock Market Crash And 8 More Reasons Why You Should Be Deeply Concerned That The U.S. Government Has Lost Its AAA Credit Rating

article from: theeconomiccollapseblog.com


Are you ready for part two of the global financial collapse?  Many now fear that we may be on the verge of a repeat of 2008 after the events of the last several days.  On Friday, Standard & Poor's stripped the U.S. government of its AAA credit rating for the first time in history.  World financial markets had been anticipating a potential downgrade, but that still didn't stop panic from ensuing as this week began.  On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 634.76 points, which represented a 5.5 percent plunge.  It was the largest one day point decline and the largest one day percentage decline since December 1, 2008.  Overall, stocks have fallen by about 15 percent over the past two weeks.  When Standard & Poor's downgraded long-term U.S. government debt from AAA to AA+, it was just one more indication that faith in the U.S. financial system is faltering.  Previously, U.S. government debt had a AAA rating from S&P continuously since 1941, but now that streak is over.   Nobody is quite sure what comes next.  We truly are in unprecedented territory.  But one thing is for sure - there is a lot of fear in the air right now.

Black Monday? - Economic Collapse A Mathematical Certainty, The Top 5 Places Where Not To Be When It Happens!

The dollar collapse will be the single largest event in human history. This will be the first event that will touch every single living person in the world. All human activity is controlled by money. Our wealth,our work,our food,our government,even our relationships are affected by money.

No money in human history has had as much reach in both breadth and depth as the dollar. It is the de facto world currency. All other currency collapses will pale in comparison to this big one. All other currency crises have been regional and there were other currencies for people to grasp on to.

This collapse will be global and it will bring down not only the dollar but all other fiat currencies,as they are fundamentally no different. The collapse of currencies will lead to the collapse of ALL paper assets. The repercussions to this will have incredible results worldwide.

America "Makes The Cut" - So What Happens Next?

article by: Brandon Smith/alt-market.com

Around the world, starting Monday, all eyes are on the markets. The tension is palpable. The uncertainty is ample. And anger is heavy in the air. As predicted, the debt ceiling deal was not only NOT enough to assuage economic fears, it actually exacerbated them, triggering a flight from the Dow, and creating a decisive opportunity for ratings agency S&P to cut the once perfect U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+.

At Alt-Market, we often talk about points of balance, and how certain moments in history become highly visible indicators of balance lost. If we pay close attention, and know what we are looking for, these moments can be recognized, allowing us time to shield ourselves from the explosion and the resulting financial shrapnel. The past two weeks have culminated into one of these defining events that tell us the tide has fully turned, and something new and dangerous is just over the horizon. The question now is; what should we expect?  

Wiedemer: Get Ready for Second Recession, Inflation

article by: Jim Meyers/Ashley Martella


Financial guru Robert Wiedemer tells Newsmax that the American economy is facing a double-barreled threat — a recession is “absolutely” coming and inflation will be the “biggest problem” of all.

Wiedemer, managing director of Absolute Investment Management and a contributor to Newsmax’s Financial Intelligence Report and Moneynews, attributes Thursday’s stock market plunge to the government’s ending of quantitative easing — printing money to buy securities in an effort to fuel economic growth.

Marc Faber: "Next Week We Will See If Bernanke Is A True Money Printer Or Just An Amateur"

"The whole world is mad" - so says Marc Faber when beginning his latest observations of the markets in the attached Bloomberg TV interview. "Stocks will be dropping 30%, then rallying 20%, and dropping another 30% -  that's going to be the pattern. And whoever can't live with that shouldn't be buying equities at all." And while the publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, said "there is a case to be ultrabearish about everything, and markets are going to go lower" he notes that markets are "extremely oversold" and he expects a "snap-back" rally in the U.S. Standard & Poor's 500 Index of about 40-50 points.

Peter Schiff on BBC Newsnight

Here is a great clip featuring Peter Schiff / CEO of EuroPacific Capital. In my opinion Peter Schiff is one of the few out there who fully understands what is going on right now in the financial markets. There is a lot of information to be obtained in this short 10 minute clip.

Here's The Problem With This Market Crash...

Henry Blodget

businessinsider.com

Well, it's deja' vu all over again.

For anyone who followed the market crashes of 2000-2002 and 2007-2009--especially the crash of 2007-2009--the 512-point drop in the Dow feels awfully familiar.

And as those market crashes reminded us, the downdrafts can last a lot longer and be a lot more severe than most people initially think.

Gold And Silver: We Were Right – They Were Wrong

by Brandon Smith of Alt Market

Only now, after three years of roller coaster markets, epic debates, and gnashing of teeth, are mainstream financial pundits finally starting to get it. At least some of them, anyway. Precious metals have continued to perform relentlessly since 2008, crushing all naysayer predictions and defying all the musings of so called “experts”, while at the same time maintaining and protecting the investment savings of those people smart enough to jump on the train while prices were at historic lows (historic as in ‘the past 5000 years’).  

Don’t Get Caught Holding Dollars When The U.S. Default Arrives

by: Addison Wiggin / Forbes.com

Greece can’t solve a problem of too much debt by taking on even more. We will note, however, that by some measures, the United States is even more deeply in hock than Greece.

Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio is 143%. America’s is officially 97%. But the $14.3 trillion national debt, stacked up against a $14.7 trillion economy, doesn’t tell the whole story. Look at these numbers:
• $14.3 trillion: “official” national debt
• $5 trillion: Amount Uncle Sam is on the hook for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• $62 trillion: Total liabilities and unfunded obligations for Social Security and Medicare

That doesn’t count the black box of bailouts.

"Stealth QE3" Comes to Fruition – Soaring Inflation is Next

By David Zeiler
Associate Editor, Money Morning

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did what most everyone expected Wednesday at the culmination of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) two-day meeting - he left average Americans vulnerable to the pangs of higher prices and soaring inflation.

Indeed, as yet another FOMC meeting drew to a close without any significant policy changes, the central bank, as many predicted, kept interest rates at 0% to 0.25%, where they've been since December 2008.

Why Are Food Prices Rising So Fast?

article from: The Economic Collapse Blog

If you do much grocery shopping, you have probably noticed that the cost of food has been rising at a very brisk pace over the past year.  So why are food prices rising so fast?  According to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, inflation is still very low and the economy is improving.  So what is going on here?  When I go to the grocery store these days, there are very few things that I will buy unless they are on sale.  In fact, I have noticed that many of the new "sale prices" are the old regular prices.  Other items have had their packages reduced in size in order to hide the price increases.  But with millions of American families just barely scraping by as it is, what is going to happen if food prices keep rising this rapidly?
The food prices are especially painful if you are trying to eat healthy.  Most of the low price stuff in the grocery stores is garbage.  Eating the "typical American diet" is a highway to cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

The Financial Collapse Of Greece: The Canary In The Coal Mine For The Global Economy?

article from: The Economic Collapse Blog

The rest of the world needs to sit up and take notice of what is going on in Greece right now.  This is what can happen when you allow government debt to spiral out of control.  Once it becomes clear that you can't pay your debts, a financial collapse can happen very suddenly and you start losing your sovereignty to those that you must turn to for financial help.  So is the financial collapse of Greece the "canary in the coal mine" for the global economy?  EU finance ministers have given the Greek government two weeks from Monday to approve another round of brutal austerity measures.  If the austerity measures are not approved, Greece will not receive the next bailout installment of 12 billion euros.  If that happens, the whole globe better buckle up because it is going to get crazy.

Underemployment at 19 Percent, Unchanged in a Year

by: Mike Shedlock

 

 

The most recent Gallup survey pegs US unemployment at 9.2%. That is not significantly different from the BLS report at 9.0%. However, the Gallup numbers are not seasonally adjusted the BLS unemployment rate is.

Comparing not seasonally adjusted numbers, Gallup shows a .2 percentage point drop in the last year while the BLS reports an improvement of .8 percentage points. Month after month the BLS is consistently lower. Counting part-time workers the Gallup results are even worse.

Gallup Pegs Underemployment at 19.1%, Same as 1 Year Ago

Ron Paul Says: Sell The Gold In Ft. Knox (If There Is Any)

Selling Gold at Fort Knox Emerges as Next Big Question in Debate on Federal Debt Limit

by: David Pietrusza

NEW YORK — The next big question on the federal debt limit could be whether to start selling the government’s holdings of gold at Fort Knox — and at least one presidential contender, Ron Paul, has told The New York Sun he thinks it would be a good move.

The question has been ricocheting around the policy circles today. An analyst at the Heritage Foundation, Ron Utt, told the Washington Post that the gold holdings of the government are “just sort of sitting there.” He added: “Given the high price it is now, and the tremendous debt problem we now have, by all means, sell at the peak.”

The 1st Great War of the 21st Century

by Gerald Celente

 

Children are taught it and adults repeat it. In the Western world, “religion” is the knee-jerk response as to why wars in the distant past were fought. It’s any easy way to explain away complex issues. By drawing God into conflicts that are entirely man made, initiators of the violence absolve themselves of all responsibility.

Though the uprisings in the Middle East were initially, and correctly, attributed to high unemployment, widespread poverty, lack of opportunity, rising prices and rampant corruption, it would not take long for the script to change from implicating politics and economics to implicating God.

Reports of Mortgage Fraud Reach Record Level

 

by: Robbie Whelan

Reports of mortgage fraud, which have been increasing since the housing boom, rose to their highest level on record in 2010, Treasury Department figures showed.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a Treasury agency, reported 70,472 "suspicious activity reports" related to suspected mortgage fraud, up from 67,507 in 2009, or a 5% increase. That's the highest number recorded by the government since tracking began in 1996.

Americans Gone Wild

Gerald Celente is known to love to make the following statement: "When people lose everything and have nothing left to lose - they lose it."  Sadly, Celente is exactly right about this. 

As the U.S. economy continues to collapse, Americans are going to becoming increasingly frustrated, and this frustration will inevitably boil over into rioting and violence.  Could we be starting to see the start of this already?  The number of Americans that have "gone wild" seems to be escalating.  Years ago, losing a job was not that big of a deal.  Now a job loss is enough to cause some Americans to snap and go over the edge.  We are seeing restaurant brawls and open violence in the streets that would have been unthinkable 50 years ago.  All over the nation people are losing it and are literally going crazy.  The news stories and the videos posted below of "Americans gone wild" are very graphic and very shocking.  There is a reason for this.  These examples are meant to show you that the very fabric of our civilized society is falling apart.  It won't matter who ends up leading us politically if this is the kind of people we become.