Lenders Overreaction Cripples Economy

Banks and Home lenders' 180 degree turn from easy money, now cripples our economy. One third of potential buyers will never qualify for a new loan because of bad credit. Increased standards for qualifying make things even worse. Increased government regulation also adds to the problems. Couple these overreactions with how many homes are upside down and the move by banks to ramp up foreclosures and a further drop in home prices and a probable downward spiraling cycle becomes likely. http://homeloanarticles.com/

The Housing Boom and Bust

The Housing Boom and Bust

Retirement on Hold: American Workers $6 Trillion Short

the following is a brief excerpt:

By: Scott Cohn
Senior Correspondent, CNBC

A new study obtained by CNBC says Americans are $6.6 trillion short of what they need to retire.

The study, conducted by Boston College's Center for Retirement Research, says savings have been squeezed by declines in stock and housing values.

The study was commissioned by Retirement USA, a coalition of organized labor and pension rights advocates that hopes to use the study to push for a more stable retirement system. The group plans to unveil the study at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.

The $6.6 trillion figure is based on projections of retirement and income for American workers ages 32-64. The study's authors say they arrived at the amount using conservative assumptions, including a 3 percent rate of return on assets and no further cuts in pension coverage or increases in the Social Security retirement age........Read the entire article here:

Third World America

I haven't always see eye to eye with Ms. Huffington's politics, however, I seem to be increasingly siding with her views more often these days, and will certainly give the new book a read.
Link back to Article "Third World America"

    

50 Facts About America That Our Founding Fathers Would Not Believe

We have strayed quite a bit from the path set for us by our countries founding fatehers. While some physical developments  may impress them, the operation of our government and it's record of stewardship on our economy would truly horrify them.

The following is a quick excerpt from a great rundown at The Economic Collapse blog.

#1 In 2010, not only does the United States have a central bank, but it also runs our economy and issues all of our currency.  The Federal Reserve has devalued the U.S. dollar by over 95 percent since 1913 and it has been used to create the biggest mountain of government debt in the history of the world. 

#2 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that U.S. government agents can legally sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, place a secret GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of you everywhere that you go.

#3 The 50 wealthiest members of Congress saw their collective fortunes increase by 85.1 million dollars to $1.4 billion in 2009.

#4 The U.S. government has accumulated a national debt that is rapidly approaching the 14 trillion dollar mark.

#5 All over the United States, asphalt roads are being ground up and are being replaced with gravel because it is cheaper to maintain.  The state of South Dakota has transformed over 100 miles of asphalt road into gravel over the past year, and 38 out of the 83 counties in the state of Michigan have now turned some of their asphalt roads into gravel roads.

#6 Americans now owe more than $849 billion on student loans, which is more than the total amount that Americans owe on their credit cards.

#7 In 2010, Americans waste an astounding amount of food.  According to a study by the California Integrated Waste Management board, 63 percent of the average supermarket's waste stream is food. When you break that down, it means that each supermarket wastes approximately 3,000 pounds of food each year.

#8 The city of Cleveland plans to sort through curbside trash to ensure that people are actually recycling properly.  If it is discovered that some citizens are not recycling they will be hit with very large fines.

#9 Once upon a time, U.S. industry was the envy of the world.  But since 1979, manufacturing employment in the United States has fallen by 40 percent.

#10 Even though the U.S. population has exploded in size, the number of Americans with manufacturing jobs today is smaller than the number of Americans who were employed in manufacturing in 1950.

The balance of the article can be found here

Why the Issue of Overpaid Government Workers Matters

Why should we Americans pay high taxes to pay mostly overpaid, underworked and over-pensioned public employees ?

The Heritage Foundation has written extensively about public-private pay disparities, and we have found consistent evidence that government workers are overpaid, even after controlling for skill differences between the private and public sectors. Federal workers receive both wages and benefits above market levels. State and local workers receive sub-market wages, but they make up for it (and then some) with excessive benefits.

Krugman focuses on state and local workers, whose compensation is a bit tricky to compare to private workers. Some analysts calculate total state and local benefits using yearly government contributions to retirement and health funds. However, some states are currently underfunding the pension plans. In other words, what state and local governments pay for these benefits may greatly understate what their employees must eventually receive.

See the full article for this important story @ The Heritage Foundation

What are Legitimate Role(s) for Government

My political positions are shaped by my ongoing attempts to maximize my personal liberty and opportunity. Life is short, and all conscious organisms deserve their right to an unfettered pursuit of life.

This, does of course get more complex as we organize ourselves into tribes and societies. To bring this into a tangible, current political philosophy; I believe the role of laws, government, and society in general, must inherently be minimized so that it may not conflict with our DNA programmed nature.

To further bring this philosophy to context; I believe the role(s) of the Government of the United States is legitimately far less than perceived by the current Administration.

Despite these basic beliefs, or perhaps because of them, I am a pragmatist and will always look for compromise and progress. My list of legitimate role(s) for government does not align with either party and is based on practicality, fused with our nature toward personal liberty.

Some of my thoughts on legitimate role(s) for Governments will be included in my next post. I believe it is the critical issue that most divides conservatives and liberals and clearly defines our times.

U.S. uses Spy Satellite on its own People

There are no words sufficient to express my distain for this in our American Police State

The United States is Not Number 1

Graphic from Miscellanea - Link Back