The Independent

by Money Morning Americans could be in for a rude awakening in coming months when they discover the true scope of the massive national debt racked up by the U.S. government. In fact, the $1.6 trillion deficit expected for 2010, which is above 10% of gross domestic product (GDP), is only the beginning. Since the current economic crisis began in late 2007, the U.S. Federal Reserve has tripled the size of its balance sheet, creating enormous amounts of new money by lending to hundreds of ailing banks and buying up more than $1 trillion of questionable asset-backed securities. But that’s only a small part of the story. Since the beginning of the crisis, the Fed has lent, spent, or guaranteed $11.6 trillion, including underwriting the entire system of mortgage finance in the United States, a system that currently shows a nearly $1 trillion loss. And none of these figures include any of U.S. President Barack Obama’s stimulus packages, which means the actual deficit next y

By ROBERT PEAR Published: December 28, 2009 WASHINGTON — At the heart of the fight over health care legislation is a paradox that befuddles lawmakers of both parties... Expanding Health Coverage and Shoring Up Medicare - Is It Double-Counting? - NYTimes.com  

House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled mass-amnesty legislation, once again highlighting their misguided and out-of-touch policies. Among its provisions, the bill would grant illegals—including their spouses and children—amnesty, thereby allowing them to work and travel freely within the United States and provide for eventual citizenship.  The legislation would also grant in-state college tuition and accelerate the amnesty process for illegals brought to the United States before the age of 16. Among its egregious worksite enforcement provisions, the bill repeals a program that permits local law enforcement to participate in carrying out our nation’s immigration laws and requires excessive mandates for worksite enforcement activities. With over 15 million Americans unemployed and seven million illegals employed, amnesty legislation is an affront to American citizens and legal residents. Congressman Miller believes firmly that it is wrong to award citizenship to those that have re

Democratic districts have received nearly twice as much stimulus money as Republican districts and the cash has been awarded without regard to how badly an area was suffering from job losses, according to a new study. FOXNews.com - Democratic Districts Won Twice as Much Stimulus as GOP Districts, Study Shows

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - Flight Delay www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Posted: 16 Dec 2009 02:49 PM PST From Eric Dash at the NY Times: U.S. Said to Reconsider Quick Sale of Citigroup Stake Two days after Citigroup moved to untangle itself from Washington, the Treasury reversed course Wednesday and backed away from plans to immediately sell a portion of its stake in the banking giant ... The decision came after Citigroup badly misread the financial markets on Wednesday and struggled to sell new shares to pay back its bailout funds. Oops.

“Has there been one financial leader to say this is really excessive? Wake up, gentlemen. Your response, I can only say, has been inadequate.” Paul Volcker, former Fed Chairman, Dec 8, 2009From The Times: ‘Wake up, gentlemen’, world’s top bankers warned by former Fed chairman Volcker “I wish someone would give me one shred of neutral evidence that financial innovation has led to economic growth — one shred of evidence,” said Mr Volcker ... He said that financial services in the United States had increased its share of value added from 2 per cent to 6.5 per cent, but he asked: “Is that a reflection of your financial innovation, or just a reflection of what you’re paid?” And from the Telegraph: Ex-Fed chief Paul Volcker's 'telling' words on derivatives industry    "You can innovate as much as you like, but do it within a structure that doesn't put the whole economy at risk." ... Mr Volcker argued that banks did have a vital role to play as holders of

Here is what we (us, our kids, grandkids, great-grandkids) owe... Only taxes can pay for these or a default by the US congress. When you're in a hole, stop digging. Congress has to go - they are the diggers! Throw all the incumbent bums out!   U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time

Labor Department reported that nonfarm payrolls (jobs) decreased by 11,000 in November -- the smallest decline since the recession began at the close of 2007. Today's chart puts that decline into perspective by comparing job losses during the current economic recession (solid red line) to that of the last recession (dashed gold line) and the average recession from 1950-2006 (dashed blue line). As today's chart illustrates, the current job market has suffered losses that are more than triple as much as what occurs at the lows of the average recession/job loss cycle.

In 2006, Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi stated that “Democrats are proposing a New Direction for America”. However, nearly three years into Speaker Pelosi’s “New Direction,” jobs are down and unemployment, poverty, and misery are up. Specifically, over the past three years the number of unemployed has increased from 7 million to nearly 16 million; the unemployment rate has skyrocketed from 4.6 percent to 10.2 percent; and the misery index, an economic indicator which adds the unemployment rate to the inflation rate, has increased by 27 percent. Further, the federal budget deficit has increased by a staggering 471 percent; federal spending has increased by 33 percent; and the national debt has ballooned to $12 trillion. In addition to these harrowing statistics, this week the media reported more instances of waste, fraud, and abuse in the Democrats’ $787 billion Economic Stimulus Package. According to the Recovery.gov website, nine California congressional districts that do not exist r

House Passes $210 Billion Doc-Fix Without Paying for It On Thursday, the House passed a $210 billion stand-alone bill to protect doctors from scheduled cuts in Medicare payments over the next ten years, also known as a doc-fix. In 1997, Congress attempted to control Medicare’s skyrocketing growth through a payment formula known as the sustainable growth rate (SGR), and since its enactment it has been difficult for Congress to adhere to the resulting reductions in physicians’ payments. In fact, since 2002, Congress has stepped in to delay these cuts from taking place which has made the problem worse. Beginning January 2010, absent a change in law, Medicare physician payments will be reduced by more than 20 percent. In order to address this, the Majority cunningly detached the permanent doc-fix provision from the larger health care bill, the so-called Affordable Health Care for America Act, and introduced it separately—without it being paid for—so that the cost of the doc-fix would n

John North More: Bio , abc7.com News Team    SACRAMENTO (KABC) -- When you pay money to your insurance company, you could be financing investments in the government of Iran. California insurance companies admit they have $12 billion in investments in Iran. The insurance commissioner wants them to divest. And he's threatening to revoke their licenses to operate in California. The legislature outlawed investments in Iran but left a big loophole. Scenes of protests in Iran are familiar to international viewing audiences. So are the allegations that Iran continues to violate its citizen's civil rights as it moves toward a nuclear capability. California Insurance commissioner Steve Poizner has been trying to enforce a new law designed to pressure Iran into changing its ways. The law prohibits insurance companies from investing in Iran. Poizner says there is a huge loophole.

1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart every hour of every day. 2. This results in $20,928 profit every minute! 3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year. 4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined. 5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private employer.  And most speak English 6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World. 7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only 15 years. 8. During this same period, 31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy (including Winn-Dixie).. 9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.. 10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago. 11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at a Wal-Mart store. (Earth's population i