The LAST Party in Washington

What Recession? The $170 Million Inauguration
The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn't stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million, or more, on the inauguration of Barack Obama .

The federal government estimates that it will spend roughly $49 million on the inaugural weekend. Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland have requested another $75 million from the federal government to help pay for their share of police, fire and medical services.

And then there is the party bill.

"We have a budget of roughly $45 million, maybe a little bit more," said Linda Douglass, spokeswoman for the inaugural committee.

But there are plenty of rich donors willing to pick up the tab.

The biggest group of donors were none other than the recently bailed-out Wall Street executives and employees.

"The finance sector is well represented, despite its recent troubles," Ritsch said. "Those who worked in finance still managed to pull together nearly $7 million for the inauguration."
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Inauguration/story?id=6665946&page=1

Stop already! I think I am going to puke! Hey, I voted for Ron Paul with my pen...so I'm entitled to bitch here. Let's see now, the country is broke...and getting more broke by the hour...the President-elect says we are in the midst of a VERY serious financial crisis that demands IMMEDIATE attention...1 in 22 homes in the US are in foreclosure...the unemployment rate is going parabolic...the country is "at war"... And these knuckleheads running the government not only condone, but gladly allow this frivolous expense to be added to the tab of the US Government.

Folks look no further. This nation is DOOMED! The blind are leading the blind now...and the're leading the nation right over a cliff. I don't know who to laugh at any more...the clowns in Washington that believe the nation can "spend it's way to prosperity" or the jackasses buying this country's debt and currency.

And speaking of the US Dollar... I'd like to go on the record right here, and right now: The US DOLLAR IS AND WILL BE THE BIGGEST JOKE OF 2009. Imagine the genius that drives traders to buy the US Dollar because the banking crisis is growing and spreading in Europe.

"Oh calamity! I better run out and buy up the currency of the country that created and caused the global financial meltdown."

"BRILLIANT!"

LOOOOOOOOOOOL! As bad as things are in Europe, you can still get 2% on your money. The US Dollar offers you NOTHING!


Gold of course is down this evening because the Dollar had such a wonderful day today at the expense of the Euro. The Euro is a colossal joke as well. Actually it is probably a bigger piece of flotsam than the US Dollar. In a nutshell, ALL fiat currencies are a joke! Gold and Silver are the only REAL money. And ALL efforts are being used to suppress this fact and TRUTH!


I'm climbing down from my soapbox now. I haven't said anything my faithful readers don't know already...pardon my aggression. But I am enraged, and you should be also.


The more black holes D.C. fills, the more open up
Black Hole #1 — Federal Home Loan Banks following Fannie, Freddie, private banks over a cliff?


Unless you follow the banking industry closely, you probably haven’t heard of the Federal Home Loan Banks. But the FHLBs are vitally important as a source of funding for U.S. banks both large and small. There are 12 of them spread around the country — in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Des Moines, Indianapolis, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, and Topeka.


FHLBs sell debt into the capital markets to raise money, using their AAA ratings to borrow cheaply. They use that money to make advances to banks that are members of the system and take collateral in exchange — often mortgages or mortgage-backed securities.


The banks use the money they get from the FHLB, along with cash raised elsewhere from their own debt sales and depositors, to make loans. The banks are required to own stock in the FHLBs, and that stock helps capitalize the regional FHLBs.


So what’s the problem?


The FHLBs own billions and billions of dollars worth of mortgage backed securities. Those securities have plunged in value. So just like their banking customers, FHLBs are facing potentially huge write-downs on their portfolios. They may also be losing money on derivatives they employ.


Black Hole #2—Insurance industry’s capital and surplus cushions are eroding fast …


It’s not just the banks that are in trouble. The insurance industry is taking a pounding, too. Losses on residential mortgage securities, commercial real estate investments, and other holdings are hammering capital levels throughout the sector.


The insurers are also getting hit because they guaranteed minimum returns on variable annuities — and the market subsequently tanked.


One estimate says the insurance industry may have to raise up to $50 billion in capital. Unless market conditions ease up, that kind of money just won’t be available from private investors. And that means we’re staring square in the face at yet another black hole— one that Washington is already being called upon to fill.


Black Hole #3—Pension funding picture deteriorates dramatically …


States, corporations, municipalities … they’ve all promised benefits to retirees based on assumptions about the returns for various asset classes. But those returns are being blown to smithereens, causing funding shortfalls of epic proportions.


The consulting firm Mercer recently estimated that the pension funds of big U.S. companies are underfunded to the tune of $409 BILLION! At the end of 2007, they were running a $60 billion surplus. That huge swing could drive up corporate borrowing costs and drive down corporate earnings.


It could also lead to reduced business investment as companies are forced to divert money from equipment and facilities budgets to their pension funds. Advisory firm Watson Wyatt recently estimated that U.S. corporations will have to boost pension fund contributions to $111.2 billion in 2009 from $50.5 billion last year.


Now it’s true that the government-backed Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insures the basic benefits for more than 29,000 plans. But with so many companies falling into bankruptcy these days, it’s increasingly likely the insurance premiums the PBGC receives won’t be enough to cover its obligations.


The agency was already running a deficit of more than $11 billion as of September 30. And that number is poised to rocket higher.
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/the-more-black-holes-dc-fills-the-more-open-up-3-29270


But hey now! There's a party going on! We're walking on sunshine! Don't worry, BE HAPPY!



The Federal Reserve’s Blueprint for Market Intervention
By: James Turk
An important document buried in the Federal Reserve’s archives has been discovered by writer and researcher Elaine Supkis.


The document, which is marked “Confidential”, is from the papers of William McChesney Martin, Jr., and this collection is held by the Missouri Historical Society.


Martin was the longest-serving chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and worked there under five U.S. presidents from April 1951 to January 1970. It was during his tenure that the dollar devolved from “as good as gold” to a perennially inflated fiat currency backed by nothing but government promises, which makes one ponder what could have happened to the dollar had Martin been an advocate of sound money dedicated to preserving the dollar’s link to gold. Instead, during his tenure the US Gold Reserve declined by nearly one-half from 633.2 million ounces to 339.5 million ounces, while M3, the total quantity of dollar currency, soared more than three-fold from $190.0 billion to $616.1 billion.


... As this document makes clear, the government realized that the monetary course it was pursuing could not be sustained. Consequently, policy makers realized that something would need to be done, and this “Confidential” Federal Reserve memo was obviously prepared to analyze one of the alternatives available to policy makers.


In short, it lays out what the Treasury and Federal Reserve needed to do in order to begin intervening in the foreign exchange markets, but there is even more. This document plainly shows what happens when government operates behind closed doors. It also makes clear the motivations of the operators of dollar policy long described by GATA and its supporters, namely, that the government would pursue intervention rather than a policy of free markets unfettered by government activity. The run to redeem dollars for gold had put the government at a crossroads, forcing it to make a decision about the future course of dollar policy. This paper describes what the government would need to do by choosing the interventionist alternative.
http://news.goldseek.com/JamesTurk/1232337600.php


A heady read, but very interesting indeed. The World does not today find itself reeling amidst this financial Armageddon by accident. The world financial system was, and has been, destroyed, by the ill conceived, and Constitutionally illegal, US Federal Reserve ably assisted by co-conspirators the US Treasury Department. The global financial community should NOT be buying the US Dollar...it should be shunning the US Dollar as if it were a leper and demanding immediate reparations for the theft of global wealth.