Time For Some Humor

I have been under the weather the last couple days, so I thought a little humor was needed. I hope you enjoy. I'll be back soon.



Unions



New America

The Class Act...Gotta Love The Terms They Use

We now have, or soon will have government health care. So, what about when you are not ready to go back home following a stay in the hospital after a significant medical problem? Enter The Class Act.

"The Class Act, otherwise known as the Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act, is the federal government's first long-term care insurance program."

Well, behind our backs Congress slipped in our "get better at home with our Home Healthcare plan that you peasents can pay for whether you want it or not" plan.

According to the article from Fox News:

"...the program will allow workers to have an average of roughly $150 or $240 a month, based on age and salary, automatically deducted from their paycheck to save for long-term care."
I'm thinking that this will break many people as they are living from paycheck to paycheck. Taking out an additional $1800 - $2880 per year will break many of household budgets.
"Supporters say the program will relieve pressure on Medicaid and should help keep us out of nursing homes by enabling Americans to save for something most will eventually need -- assistance in eating, bathing or dressing in their old age."
"Keep us out of nursing homes", which means you will have an aide come in every other day for an hour, and maybe Physical Therapy three time a week. Who will take care of you after that?

"Scheduled to go into effect in January, actual deductions could take place in 2012."
It goes into effect in January, but we don't pay into it until 2012? I guess this will give employees a year to budget for the loss.

Per Fox News...Here's how the program will work:


-- The federal government will approach employers next year about alerting workers to the proposed deduction.


-- The deduction will work on a sliding scale based on age. Younger workers will be charged less, older workers more. The Congressional Budget Office pegged the average monthly deduction at $146. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services put it higher, at $240.


-- After a five-year vesting period, enrollees who need help bathing, eating or dressing will be eligible to take out benefits, estimated to be around $75 a day for in-home care.
$75 doesn't get you much for home health services today. Don't know what the new home healthcare rates will be under Obamacare.

"This is a scary proposition where the government passed a huge new entitlement program with gimmicks and tricks and the American people don't know they will be automatically enrolled in it by their employer if they don’t watch out," said Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA).
"This creates a whole new bureaucracy that is going to break this country," Nunes said. "In the early years there will be money in it, but at the end of the day there won't be enough money to cover the problems because there will be too many people in the program."
I can't add anything here that wasn't said by Rep. Nunes

The statute says the program is designed to be self-sustaining, with an advisory board to assure the fund remains solvent. But opponents say the fine print already tells another story. Unless modifications are made, according to a CBO analysis of the bill, "the program will add to future federal budget deficits in a large and growing fashion."

Self-sustaining...hmm, kind of like Social Security which is now broke, paying more out that collecting. Sure it is. If it is self-sustaining then why does the CBO say it will add to the federal budget deficits...IN A LARGE AND GROWING FASHION!

Here Is A Brief Overview Of Your New Health Care

I found this link when researching the Health Care bill. It does a good job explaining when things will be implemented.

Health Care Bill Explained

Good and Wefare Clause in Constitution?

When asked, Rep. John Conyers said the Health Care bill is Constitutional because of the "good and welfare clause." Wow, I must have an old copy of the Constitution as I cannot find that clause.



Most likely Rep. Conyers is refering to Article 1 Section 8 , specifically "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States"
Now I believe that this refers to the "general wefare" of the United States, not the "general welfare" of the people of the United States. If the founders were refering to the people, I believe they would have written it that way.
In researching this further I found that James Madison, who was considered a major contributor to the Constitution, stayed alive long enough after The Constitution became law to fight against those who wished to use phrases from it to try and justify legislation like Rep. Conyers is doing today.

Being that James Madison was the founding father of the Constitution he addressed the words "general welfare" in a letter to James Robertson. “With respect to the two words ‘general welfare’, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.” James Madison also said, “If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.” He addressed it again in a letter to Albert Gallitin "Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated.” Now what did he consider "those specifically enumerated." In the Federalist Paper No. 45 he stated “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined . . . to be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce."

Unfortunately we have many government programs that are in effect today, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc. We have become people that will chastise any politician that stands up against an entitlement program even if it is truely unconstitutional. Those politicians that oppose entitlement programs are look at as calloused, mean, politically incorrect men/women that don't want to help those less fortunate. Many of our fellow Americans have come to accept that it is our "right" to live at the expense of others. They feel it is okay to tax "those that have money" to pay for their lifestyle. We can only blame ourselves as we have let this procede for the last 50+ years.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe that we should just give up, but we are fighting an uphill battle. We need to go to the polls in November and let our voices be heard.
Remember this quote from Karl Marx, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Isn't that the way we are heading, taking from those that have the ability to give (whether they want to give) and giving to those that need? As long as we have freeloaders going to the polls in higher numbers than us, we will continue heading down this socialist path.

Socialism Anyone?

Well the government has control of two U.S. automobile makers, the housing industry with Freddie and Fannie, the banking industry with the big bank bailouts and now our health care. Guess what, Obama is not done yet. It seems he wants more control Obama to push harder .

According to this article:

"An emboldened President Barack Obama will take a stronger hand with Congress in coming weeks, planning to push lawmakers to pass new regulations for Wall Street by September..."
Yeah, I don't think he is looking at bipartisan agreement.
"No more. Aides say that with the momentum from the most complex domestic bill to pass Congress in 45 years, Obama now will push Congress to close campaign-finance loopholes opened by the Citizens United case, adopt his overhaul of the No Child Left Behind education bill and perhaps even tackle a clean-energy bill."
More teachers plus smaller class sizes equals bigger costs for the public. Clean-energy bill. This is dangerous as it most likely will require private companies to implement "green" technologies within a certain time frame. These "green" technologies will be expensive, which the costs will be passed down to the comsumer.

"White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in an interview. “Congress proved to itself that it’s well within their power to do the big things that’ll bring about the type of change that they were elected to bring.”
Within their power until November elections. Disregard the Constitution and you can pass anything with majorities in both Houses.

"Gibbs said that Obama told him the night of the House vote that when people bet against him, they don’t realize that “I’m just that stubborn.”
He will not let anything stand in his way. Even a CNN poll showed the majority of Americans do not want this Health Care bill.

Get ready folks he is going to continue to push these socialist ideals while he has a majority in both Houses. He, I believe, sees that his big push on taking over or at least having the proverbial government fingers in as many pieces of the economic pie needs to be done before the November 2010 elections as he most likely will lose democratic majority. The more sectors that this government can control or have a major impact on will clearly affect our lives on a daily basis.

Don't get caught unprepared folks. Start planning for your future today.

Are You Sitting Down?

You may want to be sitting down, and have your blood pressure pills handy when you read this BofA likely won't pay taxes for 2009 . The largest and fourth largest banks may not have to pay any taxes for 2009.
According to The Charlotte Observer:
"The idea of the country's No. 1 and No. 4 banks not paying federal income taxes may be anathema to millions of Americans who are grumbling as they fill out their own tax forms this month. But tax experts say the banks' situation is hardly unique".

Well, I'm no tax attorney or even an accountant, but this doesn't seem right. It probably is legal, but that doesn't make it right. They probably paid their execs miliions of dollars, and probably were able to carryover past "losses" from previous years. Our tax system is broken. We need to look towars something like The Fair Tax .

Now is the time...

Bank Closures

Well, I checked yesterday with the FDIC to see if any bank closures had occured Friday. None were reported when I checked, which was about mid-afternoon. I re-checked today and low and behold 4 more closures are reported. Two in Georgia, 1 in Florida and 1 in Arizona. This raises the total clousres to 41 this year.

These are from the FDIC website:

1. McIntosh Commercial Bank, Carrollton, Georgia, was closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with CharterBank, West Point, Georgia, to assume all of the deposits of McIntosh Commercial Bank. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $123.3 million.

2. Key West Bank, Key West, Florida, was closed today by the Office of Thrift Supervision, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Centennial Bank, Conway, Arkansas, to assume all of the deposits of Key West Bank. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $23.1 million.

3. Unity National Bank, Cartersville, Georgia, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Bank of the Ozarks, Little Rock, Arkansas, to assume all of the deposits of Unity National Bank. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $67.2 million.

4. Desert Hills Bank, Phoenix, Arizona, was closed today by the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with New York Community Bank, Westbury, New York, to assume all of the deposits of Desert Hills Bank. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $106.7 million.

The total cost to the DIF for these four bank closures this week is : $320.3 million

I went back and looked at all the press releases for all bank closures for 2010 and tallied up the DIF costs and found it totaled...$6.510 billion.

I will try and keep a running total each week of the costs to the DIF.

SSA

I posted this on March 15

My March 15th Post

Now this is being reported on In The New York Times today:

Social Security Needs Money
"This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office."

Graph
"Analysts have long tried to predict the year when Social Security would pay out more than it took in because they view it as a tipping point — the first step of a long, slow march to insolvency, unless Congress strengthens the program’s finances."

"Although Social Security is often said to have a “trust fund,” the term really serves as an accounting device, to track the pay-as-you-go program’s revenue and outlays over time. Its so-called balance is, in fact, a history of its vast cash flows: the sum of all of its revenue in the past, minus all of its outlays. The balance is currently about $2.5 trillion because after the early 1980s the program had surplus revenue, year after year.

That statement concerns me!

Now that accumulated revenue will slowly start to shrink, as outlays start to exceed revenue. By law, Social Security cannot pay out more than its balance in any given year."

I think this speaks for itself. The SSA is running through the money and will need to cash in some of it's IOU's. The government needs to come up with more cash for the SSA. That may be a problem. Will wait and see where they get this cash from.

What Changes Will We See With Health Care

Health Care Changes
It seems there will be some changes that will take effect fairly quick. Let me outline a few from this article.

"Insurers will be required by September to begin providing health coverage to kids with pre-existing illnesses and allow parents to keep children younger than 26 on their plans as the clock has begun ticking on many of the law’s provisions."

Let's think about this one. How many private insurers will survive with this, and if they can survive where do you think they will get the money to pay for it. If you said, oh, OUR premiums will go up, bingo...you win the prize. They will have to provide coverage for all diseases, asthma, heart disease, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, etc. This will be very expensive for insurance providers to cover. The added expense will be tacked onto all other policies, which means our prices will increase.

"Insurers also will have to reveal how much of members’ premiums they spend on medical care, as opposed to executive salaries or other administrative costs. Next year, they’ll owe a rebate to customers if the insurers spend less than 80 percent on benefits for people in individual or small-group plans."

Washington is putting a cap on what type of profits the insures can make. It looks like they will be "allowed" to have 20%, since 80% will go to benefits. The remaining 20% needs to pay salaries, mortgages, maintance on building, advertising, utilities, office supplies, vehicles and vehicle maintance, etc. There probably won't be too much left over for shareholders if I had to guess. This means many people that bought stock in insurance companies may not see the return on investments they might want.

"The legislation also creates an Independent Payment Advisory Board to suggest cuts in spending by Medicare, the government health program for the elderly and disabled, that could threaten payments for drug and device-makers."

This concerns me as well and should concern you as well. This Board will suggest cuts in spending by Medicare. Have to watch this one closely.

Obamacare Day One
"Even before President Obama signed the bill on Tuesday, Caterpillar said it would cost the company at least $100 million more in the first year alone. Medical device maker Medtronic warned that new taxes on its products could force it to lay off a thousand workers. Now Verizon joins the roll of businesses staring at adverse consequences."

Well, how do you think Caterpillar will make up for the $100 million? I'll tell you, increase in prices on their products and services as well as layoffs. They will probably also send jobs overseas as it's less expensive to get workers in India to build parts and equipment.

"In an email titled "President Obama Signs Health Care Legislation" sent to all employees Tuesday night, the telecom giant warned that "we expect that Verizon's costs will increase in the short term." ...Expect changes for the worse to your health benefits as the direct result of this bill, and maybe as soon as this year."

Verizon seems to think their costs will increase also. How will they deal with it, I think the last sentance gives a clue. Benefits will get worse, meaning less coverage or other employee benefits will be discontinued to pay for the increased cost of the health insurance.

"In its employee note, Verizon also warned about the 40% tax on high-end health plans, though that won't take effect until 2018. "Many of the plans that Verizon offers to employees and retirees are projected to have costs above the threshold in the legislation and will be subject to the 40 percent excise tax." These costs will start to show up soon, and, as we repeatedly argued, the tax is unlikely to drive down costs. The tax burden will simply be spread to all workers—the result of the White House's too-clever decision to tax insurers, rather than individuals. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg's health-reform ideas are 180 degrees from Mr. Obama's, but Verizon's shareholders and 900,000 employees and retirees will still pay the price."

The government will decide what is a "high-end" health plan. If your employer or you have what is considered a "high-end" plan, then there will be a tax imposed. If the employer is paying this tax, you can bet this cost will be passed on to someone, either higher prices for their goods/services or a decrease in saleries, layoffs, or decrease in other employee benefits.

"Businesses around the country are making the same calculations as Verizon and no doubt sending out similar messages. It's only a small measure of the destruction that will be churned out by the rewrite of health, tax, labor and welfare laws that is ObamaCare, and only the vanguard of much worse to come."

People, I believe that if the health care plan goes through as it is written it will backrupt America. Watch this closely, because if it continues to move forward without SIGNIFICANT changes I believe you better start to prepare for living in America that will be drastically different.  Be warned, and keep your eyes open, wide open on this issue

Obamacare will eventually "Control The People" says Rep. Dingell

He meant 300,000,000 people that will be on National Health Care.
When a government, or anyone in that manner, controls your health care, they control you to a certain degree. There is no doubt about that.

Freudian slip, I think not.

Makes you want to go....Hmmm

Underemployment at 20%

I have said that unemployed is only one number to follow, the other is underemployed. We have many people out of work, but as this report shows, there are many underemployed.

Underemployment hits 20%, Mid-March 2010

Why is this important? If people still have a job, they can pay bills and put food on the table. But, if they are now making let's say 30%-50% less than they used to make it makes it harder to pay the bills. Something will have to give...will it be mortgage, utilities, car payment, credit cards, who knows, but something will be sacrificed.

"The danger associated with focusing on unemployment is reflected by the recent statement of Morgan Stanley economists suggesting that the U.S. may add as many as 300,000 jobs in March owing to an improvement in the weather, economic growth, and the government's hiring of temporary census workers. If anything close to this number of new jobs is announced by the government in early April, there is likely to be an enthusiastic, possibly even celebratory, response. Government officials are liable to tout the continued benefits of last year's stimulus and the future benefits of the new jobs bill. Many Wall Streeters will likely argue that the surge in jobs is simply another confirmation of the strength of the overall economic recovery.


However, before policymakers celebrate too much, they should note Gallup's recent findings involving its new, more inclusive measure of underemployment.."

If there is an increase in jobs you can bet the MSM will pick that up and report it. I wonder if they will report the 20% underemployed. Also remember if jobs are added that some of these are likely to be these underemployed workers and the 17,000+ census workers. I will be watching for the April unemployement reports when they are released and let you know my thoughts.

Why Do You Trust Your Politician?

That's the way it works folks, they make up the rules to meet their needs/wants. They are not in Washington to follow the rules or laws and especially not following the Constitution.

If you don't know about Alcee Hastings, he was Federal Judge from 1979-1989. He was impeached removed from that position due to coruption and perjury. You can find out more about him here:
Alcee Hastings

"It's going to be like Christmas"--I wouldn't hold your breath

Gotta Love This

What, I thought the uninsured could not get health care! Isn't that why we had to pass this monster of a bill?


"Flythe was among the patients Monday at the Walltown Clinic, a joint program of Duke University and Lincoln Community Health Center that serves the low-income neighborhoods near Duke's campus. The clinic serves 3,000 to 4,000 patients a year – 80 percent don't have health insurance – and charges co-pays based on what patients can afford."

So, the uninsured can get health care. So why did we need this new bill again?


Norman Rucker said he hasn't had health insurance in almost 10 years because his employers haven't offered it. "I'm not a person who gets sick a lot, so I didn't think I'd need any medicine," said Rucker, who racked up about $100,000 in hospital bills over that period by going to the emergency room whenever he needed care. "I'm trying to pay them off. Collection agencies call me all the time."
For a $100,000, I'm glad he doesn't get sick a lot.
And you have to love his other quote...

"It'll make the world better. It'll make us all better, actually," he said.

I hope he is wrong on this one, but there may be more truth to this than we know. I can see the illegals flooding into America now.

Lobbyists, Transparency, 5-Day rule, Hmmm?

Well let's count how well he's doing.

Lobbyists...Back in January 2009 it was reported there were 12 lobbyists working in the Obama Administration.  Here are a few according to Politico article dated Jan 28, 2009.

1. Eric Holder, attorney general who was a registered lobbyist until 2004 for Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications firm.


2. Mark Patterson, chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was registered to lobby for Goldman Sachs as recently as 2008. Hmmm?


3. Cecilia Munoz, White House director of intergovernmental affairs, was a lobbyist as recently as 2008 for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group. Look up La Raza.


4. Patrick Gaspard, White House political affairs director, was a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union. Have you heard of SEIU recently? Double Hmmm here?


5. Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director, lobbied in 2003 and 2004 for liberal advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the American Constitution Society and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Transparency: Well what about all the back-door meetings that occured just with the health care debate. And remember the time the White House would not allow some of the hearings on the health care debate to be shown on C-Span?

Pork Barrel Spending/Earmarks: www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-03-10-congress-spending_N.htm
7.7 Billion in earmarks just in the spending bill back in May 2009.

5 Day rule: Don't need to go back very far on this one. He signed the Health Care Bill today. Did it not just pass on Sunday? Must be the way the government calculates, I mean they always seem to have a different meaning for things, so 5 days really means 2 days? Hmmm.

Do I need to continue? Really, he didn't tell you the truth then, so why now?

Keep your eyes open...

Things Happening Quickly

More Coming Out

Seems like I might be right, that Executive Order doesn't seem to mean much. I guess if that is the case than Rep. Stupak may feel like he was used. Well, this whole thing has been a bunch of lies, why should it stop with just lying to the "We The People."  Watch the video clip above and see what the ACLJ is gearing up for. The fight is not over...

Like I said in an earlier post, we may have lost the battle...but the war has not been finished.

Stupak Got Conned or Did He?

Executive Order Not Valid?

Well, it looks like Rep. Bart Stupak and the other six Represtatives that followed him blindly got taken, or did they? I don't know if they did or not, but if they were not conned, then they should be really ashamed of themselves. Think about it Stupak agreed to having President Obama give an executive order that would prevent Federally funded abortion in the new Health Care program that was passed yesterday by the House 219-212. What if those seven Democrats had not caved or been misled about the executive order? The vote would have still been 219-212 but AGAINST the Health Care Bill.

Well here is what Planned Parenthood has to say about the executive order.

Planned Parenthood calls it a "symbolic gesture," and says "it is critically important to note that it does not include the Stupak abortion ban."

And here is what pro-choice Democrat Rep. Diana DeGette had to say:

Rep. DeGette, who screamed so loudly when the Stupak amendment passed, said she had no problem with the executive order because "it doesn't change anything."

And you know what, she is right. In review is seems and executive order cannot change the law. Once the bill was passed last night it doesn't matter that President Obama passed an executive order today or tomorrow, it doesn't count.

"In signing on to this sham order, the Stupak people signed their death warrant as a force within their party. In an America where a majority now describe themselves as pro-life, they have put legislative accommodations on abortion further out of reach. At least in the near future, they have ensured the Democrats will become even more uniformly pro-choice, and our national debate more polarized."


"And that's a tragedy for our politics as well as for our principles."

Now, who did and who didn't know the rules of the game? I don't know if we will ever find out, but it goes to show you politicians will eat their own when needed.

The Second American Revolution

I'm not suggesting any violence, but there are other things that we can do to take back our Country. Write, e-mail, and phone your elected officials are a few. This includes your local, State and National officials. They need to hear from us and not just the liberals. We have been silent too long and now we need to do something about it, well maybe and few years ago would have been better. Find someone running for office that has the same beliefs you have and support them either with your time, money or both.

America, stand up and get your head out of the sand!

Take six minutes and watch this video.

219-212

Interesting that President Obama will sign the Health Care Bill tomorrow, March 23, 2010. Well, here is part of another speech that was given March 23, 1775.

...It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!  Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775

We may have lost the battle, but maybe not the war. I can't see how this bill, as it is written, will pass parlimentary procedures in the Senate or if need be the Supreme Court. I cannot find where the Constitution forces "We the People" to have health insurance.

This was smoke and mirrors and a real trampling of our Constitution. I can point out 219 people right now that will have a hard time if they decide to run for re-election. We humans seem to have short memories, let us not forget this number 219-212 come November 2010 and November 2012.

I Needed Some Humor

The Government Can

Well, The Math No Longer Works For Me, How About You?

It has been said that everything comes down to math. Even CBS has a TV drama called Numbers where crime is solved for the FBI by a mathematician. Let us look at just one of the numbers that we all should be concerned about.

DEBT

We all have heard the MSM (main stream media) talking about some government program that will cost xxx billion dollars. Well, what does that really mean to us? To understand what the numbers really look like, let us compare what 1 million, 1 billion and 1 trillion really looks like.

Let us say that you were told to throw $1 into a bonfire in front of you every second. How long do you think it would take to go through $1 MILLION, $1 BILLION and then $1 TRILLION? Will it take a day, a week, a year, how about ten years? Well let’s work out the math, because, afer all, it is just a math problem.

There are 60 seconds in a minute = 60/min
There are 60 minutes in an hour… 60 x 60/hr = 3,600 seconds per hour
There are 24 hours in a day… 24 x 3,600 = 86,400 seconds per day
There are 365 days per year… 365 x 86,400 = 31,536,000 seconds per year

Okay, now we have a numbers to work with. Now take 1,000,000 and divide it by 86,400 (seconds per day) and you get 11.57 days. Yep, to go through $1 Million it would take 11 and a half days.

Now let’s try the same thing with $1 BILLION. We would take 1,000,000,000 and divide by 31,536,000 (seconds per year) and you get 31.7 years. So to go from 1 million to 1 billion, you increase your time throwing money in the fire by about 31 years.

Before going any further, take a guess how long it takes to go through a Trillion dollars.  Just guess, get a piece of paper and write it down before reading the next paragraph.

What did you guess...100 years, 500 years, maybe a 1000 years. Okay, have you guessed? If so, continue reading.

Now let us figure up $1 TRILLION. We take 1,000,000,000,000 (yep, that is a 1 followed by TWELVE zeros) and divide it by 31,536,000 seconds per year and we come up with 31,709.79 YEARS. Gosh, you better get a stool as it is going to take you a long time to burn $1T at a dollar a second.

WOW, so going from 1 million to 1 trillion is a HUGE leap. Now does this help you understand what 1 TRILLION dollars really represents?

In February 2010, our congresscritters increased the U.S. Debt limit to $14.3 TRILLION from $12.7 TRILLION. That doesn’t sound like much as it is only $1.6 TRILLION, but now you know what a trillion dollars really represents. It is anticipated that we will reach the $14.3 TRILLION by the end of this year!

If we examine the National Debt Clock, we can see what our government, oh I mean We The People, owe. Yes, you and I owe this money. You might say, “no the government owes the money”. I ask you…where does the government get the money to spend? Yes from We The People! So in essence, we owe this money. So how much do you owe, well I’ve included a link

 National Debt Clock 

to see exactly what we each owe. Sit down before you look though, as you won’t like it. Write the number down and come back and visit it in a week a month and three months and see how fast the number grows. Remember, just like any loan that you and I have, we have to pay interest! We can talk about that at another time.

Understanding The Difference In Deficit and Debt

I had someone ask me the other day "Sheepdog, what's the difference between debt and deficit?" When I asked him what he thought it was, he replyed "I think they are just a different term used for the same thing." That told me there are people, which some are educated folk, that needs to understand the difference.

We all have heard someone with the government say something like “this budget will reduce the deficit by 25%”. That sounds pretty good when we hear something like that, but it may not mean what you are thinking.
Let’s start by learning about DEFICIT. If our government has a budget of $3 trillion but we only have revenues of $2 trillion than we have a deficit of $1 trillion. Our government would then need to borrow from itself (other programs), the people, The Federal Reserve or foreign governments for that additional $1 trillion we are spending. The federal budget deficit for 2009 was a record-breaking $1.42 trillion and estimates suggest that 2010’s budget deficit will be $1.6 trillion.
Now the national DEBT on the other hand is what our government owes. Every year the government borrows money it adds to our national debt. The difference between the deficit and the debt is important. When you hear politicians talk about reducing the deficit, what this really means is that our debt isn’t growing as fast as it was. It does not mean we’re getting out of debt or reducing the current debt.
To put it more in terms we can understand, let us assume that a family has an income of $70,000 per year. Their budget though is $90,000 per year (yep, living a little high on the hog). This would mean that there is a deficit of $20,000. Now to stay afloat the family will need to borrow this $20,000 from someone, possibly a bank, a home equity loan, credit cards, etc which now becomes a debt. Now the following year this family’s income remains the same, but they were able to lower their overhead to $80,000 so this year they only have a deficit of $10,000. This family could say that they lowered their deficit by 50% or halved it. This really sounds good, but the real truth is that their debt went up by $10,000, so now it totals $30,000.
As long as there is a deficit, the debt keeps climbing. If we are able to keep the deficit this year to only $1.6 trillion, we have increased the debt, just in two years by $3 trillion! Oh, what a relief.
Here is a 2-3 minute YouTube video that helps to see how fast our National debt is traveling.



I hope this helps explain debt vs. deficit. Listen carefully to anyone talking about money and remember that just because they say that the deficit is being reduced does not mean that the debt is being reduced.

Now, here are some numbers just released from our government that should make any American a little I mean a lot upset. Last month (Feb. 2010) we took in $107 billion but spent $328 billion. Okay, we just learned about debt and deficit. Can you figure out what was the deficit and what was the new debt? If you said the deficit was $221 billion you win. This last month our government posted a record $221 billion budget deficit.

Watch The Backdoor

Obama Backs Plan to Legalize Illegals

We better watch the backdoor. While we all have our eyes on health care, there are still other things that are still being worked on. If the health care bill fails, will sentiment be there to let the illegal immigrant supporters push a bill through. Get a couple million, I mean 15-20 million illegals here and then push through the health care bill.

Come on now, we have millions of legal Americans that are out of work and they want to push through this. What, it's not good enough to let Americans have a shot at jobs?

"The bill doesn't have a prayer, because the American people oppose rewarding lawbreakers, which then encourages illegal immigration," he said. "Allowing millions of illegal immigrants to stay and take jobs away from citizens is like giving a burglar a key to the house. Illegal immigrants should return home and play by the rules like millions of legal immigrants." says Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.

Wow, someone with a brain. Let's hope he's right.

Is Hyperinflation Coming?

Healthcare Bill to Cause U.S. Hyperinflation By 2015

Well, a few blogs ago, I blogged that I thought the $940 billion being touted for the Health Care Bill would cost over the next decade would be too low. I guess I'm not the only one. Every government program I have ever seen or read about has always exceeded the projected cost.

"Medicare was created in 1966 at a cost of $3 billion per year and the House Ways and Means Committee estimated in 1966 that in 1990 the cost of Medicare would reach $12 billion per year. Instead, the actual cost of Medicare in 1990 was $107 billion (792% more than what was projected) and today Medicare costs $408 billion annually. In 2003, the White House Office of Management and Budget estimated that the Iraq War would have a total cost of $50 to $60 billion. So far, we have already spent $713 billion on the Iraq War (over 1,000% more than what was projected)."

Oh, just a little over run with both of those government managed projects, huh?

"NIA (National Inflation Association) believes the healthcare bill will be the final nail in the coffin of the U.S. economy and will just about guarantee that we will see hyperinflation by the year 2015."

"The U.S. government last week reported a record monthly budget deficit for February 2010 of $220.9 billion. Total tax receipts for the month were only $107.5 billion compared to outlays of $328.4 billion. The total U.S. deficit for the first five months of fiscal year 2010 was $651.6 billion, with tax receipts of $800.5 billion and outlays of $1.45 trillion. The deficit was up 10.5% for the first five months of fiscal year 2010 over the same period in fiscal year 2009."

Wow, $651 billion for the first five months of 2010, with a 10.5% increase in the deficit! Health Care that will cost at least $940 billion over the next decade...can America afford this without hyperinflation.

Now here is something that I have not read before and it is a little scary. I had to read it twice to believe it.

"We are now at a point where if the U.S. government taxed Americans 100% of their income, the tax receipts generated would not be enough to balance the budget. Likewise, if the U.S. government cut 100% of its spending including defense, but kept paying Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, we would still have a budget deficit. NIA believes it will be impossible for the U.S. to have a balanced budget ever again."

I hope you read that closely. If ALL Americans gave up ALL their income we still cannot balance the federal budget! Think about that, what kind of mess is America in.
I have read people saying that we will be heading into hyperinflation and some that says deflation. I'm not an economist and don't play one on T.V. or radio, but what I'm thinking neither one would be good. Think about it...which of the two would be better in your world. I feel we will be taking one of these two paths, which one is anyones guess. Stay alert and get prepared to survive both scenarios.

Keep your eyes open...

Making The Rules As They Go

Here it is on video. Representive Hastings says it during the reconcilation hearing.

Making the rules as we go  -- this clip is only 8 seconds. Watch it and see what they are doing.

People, this is how they play the game. There is a Constitution, but when it doesn't work for them, they will find a way to sidestep it. When they can't find a way to do that they will just make up the rules to fit their needs.

Big day tomorrow. Pray that God will protect our Country.

Bank Failures

I've warned you before, you have to watch Friday closely as FDIC closed seven banks today. Lets add it all up.

1. American National Bank, Parma, Ohio. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $17.1 million.

2. Century Security Bank, Duluth, Georgia. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $29.9 million.

3. Advanta Bank Corp., Draper, Utah. The bank was closed today by the Utah Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. The FDIC estimates the cost of the failure to its Deposit Insurance Fund to be approximately $635.6 million. Oops!

4. Appalachian Community Bank, Ellijay, Georgia. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $419.3 million. Oops again!

5. Bank of Hiawassee, Hiawassee, Georgia. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $137.7 million. Okay, not as bad as the other two, whew.

6. First Lowndes Bank, Fort Deposit, Alabama. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $38.3 million.

7. State Bank of Aurora, Aurora, Minnesota. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $4.2 million.

So, If I do the math right this equals a grand total of $1.282 billion out of the FDIC account. These were reported on the FDIC website.

Don't Tread On Me Campaign

Front Sight's Campaign

Here is a chance for you to "fire a shot" that will be heard at least around the nation if not around the world. If you follow the directions it will only cost you about $2-$3. I think it would be well worth every penny to try and get the attention of our elected officials.

Medicare fix would push health care into the red

So Called Doc Fix

Well, I wonder how much of this will come out after the vote on Sunday. I have a feeling that there will be much more uncovered. This whole thing has scam, fraud, unconstitutional you pick the word as they all fit written all over it. We are seeing the Constitution burn right in front of us. I have read the Constitution and have yet to see where the government can mandate that a citizen must purchase health insurance. If I'm missing it, please point it out to me. The politicians, mostly democrats, are ram-rodding this bill down our throats and avoiding the rights of the citizens.

Please call the Capital Switchboard 1-877-762-8762 or 1-202-224-3121 and thell them to "Kill The Health Care Bill." We need to keep the switchboard jammed with opposition. Our voices need to be heard.

The Battle Is On

Better keep your eyes on the health care issue this weekend. It will mean we will be paying much more for items and our taxes will likely increase if it passes. How will our government pay for this monster if it passes? Conservatively it will cost $940 billion over the next decade. Folks we already run this country with a deficit every month. How will we add close to another $100 billion yearly? Print more money? Sell our debt (Treasury bonds) to foreign countries, which by the way they have slowed down buying as Moody's contemplates lowering our AAA status. Look at what Caterpillar is saying...

Caterpillar: Health care bill would cost it $100M

All bussinesses will have additional costs due to this health care bill. If you think companies will just absorb this additional cost, get your head out of the sand. They will pass this cost on to there customers. Prices will go up, taxes will go up and over time your health care system will decline.

Expansion of powers of IRS in bill

Don't think that you won't have to pay for health care...it won't be free.

"Boustany said the bill would allow the IRS to confiscate refunds if there are penalties for not buying health care."

Yep, there will be mandatory health coverage and you will pay for it. Oh yeah, we will be paying for it!

Follow closely. I will try and update over the weekend.

545

I saved this article and just found it again. Charlie Reese says it like it is. Read the whole thing and when you get to the end if you aren't saying "Wow, he is right", go back and read it again. Highlights and italicized text are my emphasis.

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese
(Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper)

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 Congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices! 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a Senator, a Congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It is inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no unsolveable government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation,' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

You think about that one, and keep your eyes open this weekend.

Shady Mathmatics

The CBO preliminary report on the "Health Care" bill will cost $940 Billion over a ten year period is what was released this morning. Although this was just released about noon today:

UPDATE: In a letter sent to Speaker Pelosi this morning, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf remarked:

“Although CBO completed a preliminary review of legislative language prior to its release, the agency has not thoroughly examined the reconciliation proposal to verify its consistency with the previous draft. This estimate is therefore preliminary, pending a review of the language of the reconciliation proposal, as well as further review and refinement of the budgetary projections.” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 3/18/10, P.1)

I translate this as, "we don't know yet the final cost...it may be/likely will be more that what is being reported".
Either way let's examine this article based on the numbers released. What few people realize is that we start paying on this bill from the get go, but it doesn't go into effect for 4 years. That would be like me selling you a house, and you make payments every month for 4 years, but you cannot live in or use this house until you are in the fith year of your payments.

"The bill delivers on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority by providing coverage to more than 30 million people now uninsured at a 10-year cost of $940 billion."

Shady Mathmatics

When you do the math, it sounds like $94 billion annually. But, remember we are not using the service for the first four years. So, if you take $940,000,000,000 and divide it by 6 years you get $156.7 billion a year. Now when you base the cost of this plan on the time we are actually using it you can see that it will cost $1.56 TRILLION over the first decade of time we are actually using the services of this new health care plan. But read the quote above and see that it is providing coverage to more than 30 million people that are now uninsured. So we all get to pay for these 30 million uninsured for a cost to our government of $157 billion when we are running a deficit monthly!

Think about it, let's say you know a neighbor is out of a job. Do you pitch in monthly to pay for health care for his family? Would it be fair for your neighbor to ask his neighbors to pitch in and cover him? How about pitching in and covering his car payment...gas bill...house payment...food bill...electric bill for the house and pool...water bill...  That is what this health care bill does, asks all of us that work to pay for those that don't.

How many major programs that the government starts actually stays within budget...Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamp Program? I can't think of one that didn't have a cost overrun. Also remember there has never been an entitlement program that has ever been discontinued. This will be with us forever folks!

"It does so through a combination of tax credits for middle class households and an expansion of the Medicaid program for low income people."

Hmmm, why do I not believe this? We have to pay for it somehow, I forsee increased taxes. If you look at the UK, they pay about 50% in income taxes, a national insurance of 12.5% and a sales tax of about 17% on every item except food. What I have heard is the UK government wishes to increase the sales tax to 20% and even tax food products. Why do you think they pay so much in taxes? They have many entitlement programs...including socialized health care.

Call and write your congresscritters as the vote (if they even vote---see this blog from the other day You've Got To Be Kidding Me ) on this could come this Sunday.

Keep your eyes wide open on this one folks...

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

Look at the U-6 data line. This includes persons marginally attached to the labor force. These are people who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want to work and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the past 12 months. It also includes discouraged workers that have given a job-market related reason for not currently looking for work. It also includes persons employed part time for economic reasons which mean they want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time position. This would include someone who is working an hour a day or maybe only ten hours a week.

The U-6 data indicates a better understanding why you hear of so many of your friends and neighbors that are looking for work. It represents the real world. The White House likes to distribute the U-3 data as it doesn't sound as dire, but as you can see the U-6 number what we should be pay attention to.

Time For A Little Humor

He's Barack Obama

You've Got To Be Kidding Me

House May Try To Pass Bill Without Voting On It

Come on...anyone else kind of upset with this.  First they vote on bills they haven't/won't read, now this. Using some crazy parlimentary rule the House of Representatives wants to accept the passing of the bill in the Senate as passing in the House,  What kind of crap is that?

"...Pelosi (D-Calif.) would rely on a procedural sleight of hand"

No kidding! These politicians are supposed to represent us. Isn't that why they are called House of Representatives? She wants to used some obscure "slight of hand" rule to pass a bill that by the CBO's account will total about $1 TRILLION. This equates to 16% of our economy. They have bought the big banks, Dodge and GM, they hold the mortages of millions of homes and now they want to control our health care.  Wake up folks, open your eyes.  During Obama's campaign he told us he was going to be doing many of these things. We are heading down a socialist path. If you don't want to see this happen, get on the phone or e-mail your elected officials. Contact all of them, Republicans and Democrats as they all will be voting (maybe) on this bill. The ones against this socialized health care plan needs to be screaming at the top of their lungs. Do your part and let them know what you think.

Keep your eyes open on this one...

Hyperinflation?

Here's The Real Problem

This is a short article that you may wish to read. Total debt to GDP ratio.

Note two things:

1. "There may be a general upward trend, but there are two clear aberrations: One in the 1920s and early 1930s, and one now.
2. The aberration now is vastly higher than the one in the 1920s and early 1930s, which preceded the Great Depression."

Keep your eyes open....

Obama Won't Help Democratic Congressmen That Don't Support Health Care

Barack Obama threatens to withdraw support

Can you say arm twisting by the White House? I think some of those Congressmen that vote against the Health Care Bill may not want him to campaign with them anyway.

Great Time To Buy A New Home

We hear that all the time by realtors and the MSM.  It seems like there is never a bad time to buy.  Weren't they saying that in 2001, 2005 and still saying it today? What they are really saying is "it's a great time to buy as long as there is a commission." If you are in the market for buying a home then you may want to do some extensive research before you buy and don't rely on info from the National Association of Reators. In 2005 when prices were climbing the chief economist for the NAR, David Lereah published a book entitled “Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?” Mr. Lereah later reportedly acknowledged he had gotten it wrong. Well he wasn't the only one as many people got it wrong.
Here are a couple articles on the subject;
Most Troubled Real Estate Markets

Great Time To Buy

There are many more articles if you look.

As always, keep your eyes open....

Social Security Needs Money And May Need To Cash In IOU's

www.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100314/ap_on_bi_ge/us_social_security_ious

Well, there are a lot of babyboomers that are relying on or soon will need to rely on their money. The SSA is broke but has some IOU's that it will need to cash in to stay afloat.

"This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more".

Uh oh! This doesn't sound good to me.  Oh but wait, the SSA has $2.5 Trillion in IOU's from the federal government. Whew, that makes me feel better....NOT! Don't forget that the federal government is still running a deficit every month. So where is the government going to get the money when the SSA wants to cash in some of these IOU's?

From the article; "Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn't be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come".

"Social Security is financed by payroll taxes — employers and employees must each pay a 6.2 percent tax on workers' earnings up to $106,800. Retirees can start getting early, reduced benefits at age 62. They get full benefits if they wait until they turn 66. Those born after 1960 will have to wait until they turn 67".

Now wait, 6.2%?  I don't think so.  Remember that businesses don't pay taxes.  If there is a cost increase to the business they raise prices or...they give you less of a pay raise. Unless you work for a large corporation or a government agancy that gets across the board pay raises, you are called into your supervisor's office and he shows you your whole compensation package to show you how much the company "pays" you. Part of what they show you is the taxes "they pay".  Now all of your package comes into play when they figure up your raise. So, maybe you would have received a larger raise than you really did if they, i mean you, didn't have to pay the 12.4% tax for your social security. Do you get it, you are actually paying the whole 12.4%, it just looks like they are matching the 6.2% you pay.

"Social Security will also collect about $120 billion in interest on the trust funds, according to the CBO projections, meaning its overall balance sheet will continue to grow. The interest, however, is paid by the government, adding even more to the budget deficit".

Whoa, that's gotta make you feel good. The SSA will get $120 billion from the federal government, but that will add to the deficit, which means debt, which means each and everyone of us taxpayers will owe more.

"The national debt — the amount of money the government owes its creditors — is about $12.5 trillion, or nearly $42,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. About $8 trillion has been borrowed in public debt markets, much of it from foreign creditors. The rest came from various government trust funds, including retirement funds for civil servants and the military. About $2.5 trillion is owed to Social Security.

Good luck to the politician who reneges on that debt, said Barbara Kennelly, a former Democratic congresswoman from Connecticut who is now president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare".

Look at that part in yellow. Read it again and do the math. Debt is $12.5 TRILLION...we have sold treasury bonds to raise money of about $8 TRILLION....and borrowed the rest from where? Look again at the yellow text. Yep, I would say if any politician tries to renege on that there may be some old-fashioned justice being done. There are a lot of people that are going to want tha 12.4% they have been paying in for the last 40+ years.

"Those bonds are protected by the full faith and credit of the United States of America," Kennelly said. "They're as solid as what we owe China and Japan."

Gosh, I'll sleep better tonite after reading that last line...

U.S. Home Prices Forecast to Decrease

Fiserv, Inc has announced their analysis of the housing market.  They looked at 350+ cities across the nation and concluded that prices continue to decline in 2010.

www.marketwatch.com/story/fiserv-case-shiller-home-price-insights-us-housing-prices-see-first-back-to-back-quarterly-price-gains-since-2005-2010-01-28

Have you heard about this on the MSM? For those that live in Florida, Arizona, California and Nevada have you heard this on the MSM?

The Fiserv Case Shiller Indexes forecast that average single-family home prices will fall another 11.5 percent over the next twelve months. Steep home price declines are expected to continue in markets that have been hurt most by the housing crisis, including metro areas in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida.

The report states Orlando could see 20.8% reduction, Jacksonville 14%, San Jose close to 10% and the list goes on.  Overall across the nation they anticipate a 11.5% further reduction on average.  I think we will continue to see people walking away from their homes as they don't see how they can make up the loss in their lifetime.
It's not over folks.  Keeps your eyes open....

Bank Closings

Another four banks were closed this week by the FDIC.  This brings the total to 30 thus far this year. Seems we are on the same pace as last year which totaled 140. This equates to about 11.6 per month. Do you remember hearing about these bank closures? Probably not, as most of the closures by the FDIC are done Friday afternoon. The FDIC sneaks in like a Special Ops team, using stealth and shutters the doors. Being done Friday afternoon, the MSM usually does not cover the story or report about it on the Friday night news at 11pm. How many people watch the local Friday night news at 11pm? I would say not many, as many people are usually out on the town, watching a movie or in bed trying to recover from the work week.

From the FDIC website shows the ones that closed this week include:

1. Statewide Bank, Covington, Louisiana. As of December 31, 2009, Statewide Bank had approximately $243.2 million in total assets and $208.8 million in total deposits. Home Bank did not pay the FDIC a premium to assume all of the deposits of Statewide Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits, Home Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $38.1 million.

2. Old Southern Bank, Orlando, Florida. As of December 31, 2009, Old Southern Bank had approximately $315.6 million in total assets and $319.7 million in total deposits. Centennial Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 1.00 percent to assume all of the deposits of Old Southern Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits, Centennial Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $94.6 million.

3. The Park Avenue Bank, New York, New York. As of December 31, 2009, The Park Avenue Bank had approximately $520.1 million in total assets and $494.5 million in total deposits. Valley National Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 0.15 percent to assume all of the deposits of The Park Avenue Bank. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $50.7 million.

4. LibertyPointe Bank, New York, New York. As of December 31, 2009, LibertyPointe Bank had approximately $209.7 million in total assets and $209.5 million in total deposits. Valley National Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 0.15 percent to assume all of the deposits of LibertyPointe Bank. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $24.8 million.

This equals $208.2 million from the FDIC reserves.

Number of Troubled Banks Rise to 702

"The FDIC reported that its Deposit Insurance Fund dropped further into negative territory, reporting a $20.9 billion loss in the fourth quarter, worse than its $8.2 billion loss in the third quarter".

Wow, $30.1 billion loss just in the last two quarters from last year!

"The agency hopes to make up that loss through advance payments by banks of $45 billion in fees".

There is a word I don't like seeing used by the FDIC. When I researched the $45 billion in fees I found out that the FDIC had the remaining banks pre-pay three years worth of premiums. I guess the FDIC anticipates that this will hold them over for the next three years.

From the FDIC website:
"The Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) balance – the net worth of the fund – decreased by $12.7 billion during the fourth quarter. The fund balance of negative $20.9 billion (unaudited) as of December 31 reflects a $44 billion contingent loss reserve that has been set aside to cover estimated losses. Just as banks reserve for loan losses, the FDIC has to set aside reserves for anticipated losses to the DIF from insured institution failures. Combining the fund balance with this contingent loss reserve shows total DIF reserves of $23.1 billion".

Oh wait, we have $23.1 billion in DIF reserves, but yet we had a loss of $30.1 billion just over the last 2 quarters of last year.  Umm, as Bugs Bunny would say, "what's up Doc"?  This must be new math, as it just doesn't add up to me.  We still haven't taken into effect what CRE (commercial real estate) bubble is going to do to banks.

I will leave it here for now and maybe put some thoughts together on CRE soon as we are already seeing CRE owners walking away from properties like we have been seeing homeowners walk away from their mortgages.

Keep your eyes open....

1 TRILLION Dollars

It wasn't too long ago that a million dollars was a lot of money.  Really it still is, but we are now hearing about multi-billion dollar bailouts and TRILLION dollar deficits and MULTI-TRILLION dollar U.S. National Debt.  Since I will be talking about articles that mention TRILLION dollars I think it important that you know what a TRILLION dollars actually looks like.  Here is a video that might help to put it into perspective for you...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNFb6qe7Tmg

Enjoy....

What is this about?

You are probably saying "another guy starting a blog about the economy". Well, yes to some degree, but I want to make it a little different than others. I have been doing a lot of reading over the last several years (over a decade now) about the economy, housing, crap that the congress tries to pull (and sometimes succeeds), camping/hiking, guns/knives and overall survival during true emergencies. There is a lot of information out there in books as well as on the web. What I'm going to try and do is bring this information to you in a concise manner so you don't have to visit 10 or 20 websites daily like I sometimes do. Some posts will be my rants and others may just be links to articles or videos that I have found interesting, informative or just plain funny and think you will like them as well. I might post every now and then, or somedays it may be multiple posts as we live in a 24/7 information world. I hope you will visit frequently.
Thanks for visiting....