Jobs, Economy, Job Numbers

A Closer Look at the Jan. Jobless Numbers: Are They ‘Being Made Up?’

You may recall that major media outlets rejoiced and the markets jumped last Friday when the January jobs report was released.

“Labor Department today lowered the U.S. unemployment rate by two-tenths of a point to 8.3 percent, the lowest it’s been since February 2009,” Emily Knapp of Wall St. Cheat reported, “January data showed nonfarm payrolls to have risen a whopping 243,000, wildly exceeding even the most optimistic of economists’ projections.”

However, although the markets did indeed react positively to the good news, many analysts were skeptical of the data in the report.

“A month ago, we joked when we said that for Obama to get the unemployment rate to negative by election time, all he has to do is to crush the labor force participation rate to about 55 [percent],” editors at Zero Hedge wrote.

“Looks like the good folks at the BLS heard us: it appears that the people not in the labor force exploded by an unprecedented record 1.2 million. No, that’s not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month!”

What does this mean?

Zero Hedge explains:

So as the labor force increased from 153.9 million to 154.4 million, the non institutional population increased by 242.3 million meaning, those not in the labor force surged from 86.7 million to 87.9 million. Which means that the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation.

Even conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh weighed in on the report, claiming that the data was “corrupt as it can be” because the Labor Force Participation Rate has been repeatedly adjusted.

Is Limbaugh out of line on this?

“After countless attempts to discredit or defend Friday’s jobs report, we can all agree on one thing: The data is complicated,” Gus Lubin of Business Insider writes. “So complicated that the BLS could make the economy look better than it was and no one would be sure.”

David Stockman

That’s more or less what David Stockman, former budget director for President Ronald Reagan, wrote in an email to former hedge fund manager Bruce Krasting.

On his blog “My Take on Financial Events,” Krasting wrote, “Is the current [Labor Force Participation Rate] a temporary phenomenon, or is this the ‘New Normal?’”

Krasting believes that if the current Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is the “new normal,” it could have severe – even dangerous – effects on the economy.

Why?

“Virtually all of the economic models used by CBO, OMB, SSA and private economists are assuming that the long-term LFPR will be in the mid-to upper 60s. The consensus is 2-3 [percent] higher than where it is today,” Krasting writes.

“If you plug in a rate of 63 [percent] versus 67 [precent] over the next ten-years, it makes a huge difference on the size of the deficit and the public debt. It would cause the deficits at Social Security and Medicare to explode. The percentage of GDP attributable to the government would inevitably rise. The economy, and society in general, would be socialized [emphasis added],” Krasting writes.

In response to Krastings’ criticism of the jobs report, Stockman writes: “…if you spend a little time with these numbers you will know that they are being made up.”

Here’s the email (via Wall Street Examiner):

…I’m wondering if this goes much deeper. I don’t particularly believe in tin foil hats, but all of these mainstream economists treat the BLS and BEA data like it’s holy writ—when it’s evident that the reports are so massaged, estimated, deemed, revised, re-bench marked and seasonally adjusted that any month-to-month change has a decent chance of being noise. What deep secret might they be hiding?

So on the labor force participation rate they say, “No it didn’t go down in January because the 2012 numbers are re-bench marked for the 2010 census,” but for some reason the BLS didn’t bother to update the 2011 civilian population numbers, including December. Thus, the BLS published apples-to-oranges numbers on this particular variable and the footnote says the December participation rate would have been the same as January, if they had revised it!

Yet on another variable— the establishment survey jobs count—they were also busy re-benchmarking–but here they did update the originally reported numbers for every month of 2011. Even then, it is hard to say what got updated because the originally reported numbers each month are then revised during the next two reporting months—with any excess or shortfall reallocated to earlier months outside the three month window, which are not published on a revised basis, even though they have been revised! This reflects a wacko thing called the concurrent seasonal adjustment method.

… your point is that the longer-term trend of the labor force participation rate is really bad, and this truth is absolutely validated by the January report. Except it would have been equally bad in December had it been reported with the new census data…

But the mainstream narrative never gets to the trend. In this case, the plain fact is that we are warehousing a larger and larger population of adults who are one way or another living off transfer payments, relatives, sub-prime credit, and the black market. My suspicion is that this negative trend and many others like it get buried by the monthly change chatter from mainstream economists and on bubble vision, and that these monthly deltas are so heavily manipulated as to be almost a made-up reality. Call it the economists’ Truman Show.
…
In short, if you spend a little time with these numbers you will know that they are being made up. Funny thing that I remember during the depths of the 1982 recession Reagan read in Human Events one night that the seasonally adjusted numbers were being manipulated and one should look at the unadjusted numbers, instead. The next morning during an economic update briefing Reagan said, he wanted to talk about the “unadjusted” unemployment rate. Marty Feldstein turned white as a ghost, and then talked him out of it. Hmmm!

Read the full email here.

People line up at a Workforce Plus job fair, Thursday, March 26, 2009, in Tallahassee, Fla. 75,000 Floridians lost their jobs in February. The state's unemployment rate rose to 9.4 %, the highest since 1976. (Photo: AP)

Gallup: These Are the Most ‘Economically Confident’ States

Gallup has released an intriguing report that ranks the most “economically confident” states in America.

And although the report lists the most “confident” states, don’t be fooled into thinking these areas actually believe that the U.S. economy is improving. On the contrary, the report is careful to point out that, nationally speaking, faith in the U.S. economy is slipping.

In fact, out of all the areas surveyed, the place with the highest confidence rating (the District of Columbia) isn’t even a state!

“Economic confidence dropped in all states . . . in 2011, reflecting the overall decline nationally,” Gallup reports. “The declines range from a low of 3 points in Idaho and West Virginia to a high of 22 points in Delaware.”

Overall, two-thirds of the participants in the Gallup phone survey believe that the economy is getting worse, according to the data.

What does this mean?

“Americans overall and in every state remain more negative than positive about the economy, creating a challenge for President Obama as he seeks re-election this year, given the strong relationship between economic conditions and an incumbent’s re-election success,” Gallup reports.

It continues:

“On a near-term basis, however, economic confidence picked up in January of this year, perhaps foretelling a more positive uptick to come in 2012. Americans are also substantially more confident about the economy now than they were in the year Obama was elected. Thus, it is not clear if voters will reward him for the signs of economic improvement that have come in recent years, or hold him accountable for the fact that the economy is still struggling nearly four years after he took office.”

Perhaps before any conclusions are drawn from the Gallup report, a few things should be pointed out.

First, as mentioned several times on The Blaze, before accepting survey results, one should take into account the possibility of “sampling errors.” That is, one must bear in mind of the likelihood of skewed polling data.

Second, as the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein notes, there are some rather inexplicable results in the Gallup report:

… residents of Washington are more optimistic than, well, anyone else. Our Index is -4. The next-most optimistic state, North Dakota, is at -26. That’s rather odd, given that North Dakota’s unemployment rate is 3.4 percent, while the District of Columbia’s is stuck above 10 percent.

Indeed, that is odd.

“One possibility is that the poll is wrong,” Klein writes, “Another is that the political nature of the economic crisis leaves residents of Washington feeling more in control than residents of other states.”

Echoing the sentiments of Mr. Klein, even Gallup is slightly confused by the results: “There are no clear patterns in the states that rank in the top and bottom 10 in economic confidence. For example, the top 10 states vary by region and political leanings, including the most (Hawaii, along with D.C.) and least (Utah) Democratic states.”

This begs the obvious question: how did Gallup structure its phone survey?

Gallup explains:

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking January 1-December 31, 2011, with a random sample of 174,639 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones…Each sample includes a minimum quota of 400 cell phone respondents and 600 landline respondents per 1,000 national adults, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents by region. Landline telephone numbers are chosen at random among listed telephone numbers. Cell phone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.

Okay, now that the methodology is understood, what do the results mean? That is, what does it mean when Gallup says that the District of Columbia has a “-4″ economic confidence rating?

The Index is based on the average differences between Americans’ assessments of current conditions (11% excellent or good and 48% poor in 2011) and their views of whether the economy is getting better (29%) or worse (66%). The Index has a theoretical range of -100 to +100, with negative scores indicating respondents are more negative than positive about the economy.

So, with that in mind, and despite the possibility of “sampling errors,” these are the most economically confident states (and the District of Columbia), according to Gallup:

Photo 2 of 11

10. Utah

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -31

Photo 3 of 11

9. Massachusetts

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -31

Photo 4 of 11

8. Iowa

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -30

Photo 5 of 11

7. South Dakota

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -30

Photo 6 of 11

6. Hawaii

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -30

Photo 7 of 11

5. Maryland

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -28

Photo 8 of 11

4. Nebraska

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -27

Photo 9 of 11

3. Minnesota

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -27

Photo 10 of 11

2. North Dakota

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -26

Photo 11 of 11

1. District of Columbia

Economic confidence from -100 – +100: -4

(H/T: The Huffington Post)

Here‘s the Chart That Has One Finance Writer Feeling ’Something Is About to Happen’

Joe Weisenthal is the intrepid finance writer over at Business Insider. He’s usually more plugged in than a Chevy Volt. So when he looks at a chart and says he feels “something is about to happen,” it’s not a bad idea to pay attention. And that’s just what he did.

Here‘s the chart from Weisenthal’s Wednesday-morning post:

I‘ll let Weisenthal explain what he’s seeing;

The above chart is the VIX. Sometimes it’s called the “fear index”. Whatever you want to call it, it’s a quick way of looking at how much investors are willing to pay for downside protection in the market. Right now, complacency is high, and nobody wants to pay much for “insurance.”

Once again, we‘re getting close to what’s been a floor for the index (since the crisis) and so it seems inevitable that something is going to come along and jolt everyone awake. [Emphasis added]

In other words, the lower the line on the chart, the more complacent people are. And when people are complacent, they don’t prepare. And that’s usually when something big happens to wake them up.

So what are the risks out there? Check out his post on Business Insider to see.

h/t to the Blaze

Don't Do That Debt Deal

For Anyone Who Missed it: The House Passed "Cut, Cap and Balance" on a 234-190 Vote Yesterday

On a largely party line vote, the House has passed a conservative deficit reduction plan known as "Cut, Cap and Balance" on a 234-190 vote. The bill includes caps on spending and a balanced budget amendment, but it has little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate and faces a veto threat from President Barack Obama… The Dems still have no alternative plan (but all of a sudden Reid and McConnell and the gang of Six are trying to cobble something together) as Obama says he’ll veto this bill if if makes it through the Senate… So who are the obstructionists?

Don’t do that deal…

Over the past week there has been talk about Republican leaders in the House and the Senate coming up with a compromise that will allow President Obama to raise the debt ceiling without the approval of Congress.

Don’t do that deal

One of the things that drive conservative voters nuts is that in the final hour, when things really matter, the GOP tends to give away the high ground that activists won the hard way by doing that deal.

The public is tired of reckless and wasteful spending by the government. They want real, honest solutions; solutions that cut spending. What they don’t want is the deal that allows some to say it increases spending, while others can claim it cuts spending; a deal that cuts taxes by one method of accounting and raises it by another method; a deal where one side points at the other and says “You did it!”

The American people want honesty, a straight deal. 

Honestly? It wasn’t a brilliant masterstroke by the GOP leadership in the House or the Senate that suddenly has President Obama talking about cutting $4-5 trillion in spending. It wasn’t because House Speaker John Boehner made like Henry Clay with an impassioned speech that now has congressional Democrats in competitive districts puckering up their cheek muscles.

It wasn’t because the GOP came up with a nifty sounding plan, like Contract with America, that the GOP took back the majority in the House.   

More than anything else, it was the hard work and countless volunteer hours of grassroots conservative activist around the country that made it possible to have a real discussion about cutting the size of government. They knocked on doors, went to rallies, wrote checks, stuffed envelopes and did the job of real leadership that informed and educated voters about the core principles that make this country go.

And the GOP came along for the ride.  

If the Republican leadership in Congress abandons the moral advantage that those activists gave them, the sound they’ll hear in 2012 when voting starts is the sound of no hands clapping.

Make no mistake. There are more than a handful of Republicans in Congress who owe their seats to an unprecedented outpouring of support from Tea Party activists. 

Ask Rep. Joe Heck, who won his race by about 2000 votes, if he needs those activists to show up for him in 2012. Ask Rep. Scott Tipton, who won his race by about 10,000 votes whether he’ll need those activists next time around. Ask Rep. Blake Farenthold, who won his seat by less than 1000 votes if he needs those activists to show up.     

Obama and his friends have seriously miscalculated the public’s desire to have federal government intrude into their life. And the GOP will miscalculate if they think that the type of deal they cut in the spring to raise the debt limit will satisfy the base this time around.

It won’t. What they demand is that Congress does the job it was elected to do by taking the debt limit seriously.

The whole idea of having a debt limit was to act as a check against unbridled deficit spending, while allowing the Treasury Department some latitude in managing those debts. It was created for exactly the situation we face today.

While it’s true that Congress has already agreed to spend the money contemplated under an increase in the debt limit, it is wrong to say that Congress has approved borrowing more money in order to be able to spend that money.

Writing a check and cashing a check are two different things.

Right now, the account is empty. Congress can only approve putting more money in the account by a vote to increase the debt limit.

Congress has always had to approve the government’s ability to raise money via debt.

Always.

It should be no different now.

If they don’t approve it, the government is obligated to balance the budget at that point by whatever Draconian measures it has at its disposal. Only a liberal would conclude that the only option then is to default on obligations. 

The idea that Congress would turn over the management of the debt ceiling to any president, yet alone one who has not been able to present and pass a real budget over three years shows that there are still some in Washington who have been in Washington way too long.

Who the heck got us into this jam in the first place? On which alternate universe does Obama become the guy to manage us out of the crisis he created?   

There are a number of legitimate ways the GOP can approach the debt limit issue including balancing the budget.

But they must not, under any circumstances, do that debt deal.

By John Ransom

John Ransom is the Finance Editor for Townhall Finance. You can follow him on twitter @bamransom and on Facebook: bamransom

 

--> BTW:  In 2006 Every Democratic Senator (Including Obama) Voted Against Raising the Debt Ceiling  <--

Video: Jan Sarkowsky (and Obama) Says We are Too Dumb To Understand… When She Can’t Even Explain Her Lie…  -  Amazing!

Extreme Left Congressman Dennis Kucinich:  “It’s a Fake Crisis, Soc Sec Did NOT Create the Deficit. It Will Be Able to Pay 100% of Benefits Through 2037!

Kucinich Video: Soc Sec Didn’t Create the Deficit…

Congressional Video - July 12, 2011

Full transcript inside.  Runs 1 minute.  Outstanding clip from the House floor.  After the jump, there are three 1-minute clips - all from Kucinich this week on Social Security.

Transcript:

Social Security didn't create the deficit, but America's seniors are being presented with a fake Social Security crisis to try to trick them into accepting reduced benefits. Social Security will be able to pay 100% of its benefits through 2037 without any changes whatsoever. 
So, why the panic today? If seniors accept cuts to Social Security benefits today, a surplus cash flow will build in the Social Security trust fund. According to the Congressional Research Service, "Social Security's cash surpluses are borrowed by the U.S. Treasury and can be used for tax cuts, spending or repaying debt."
Social Security benefit cuts are increasing taxes paid to Social Security or extending retirement age will give more money for tax cuts spending or repaying the debt. Except for one thing: Social Security money belongs to those who have paid into the fund, it's not the government's money to use it; it shouldn't be the government's money to play with. 
Senior citizens should not have to accept a reduced standard of living to finance tax cuts for the rich. We must take a stand for senior citizens and protect Social Security and protect future generations from this raid on Social Security's funds.

Kucinich Video : Stop Playing Political Games with Social Security

July 13, 2011

Transcript:

Three months ago 276 experts on Social Security, the federal budget or the economy wrote to President Obama "to correct a commonly held misconception -- that Social Security somehow contributes to the federal government's deficit."
Despite the fact that Social Security has a $2.6 trillion dollar surplus and can pay 100% of its benefits through 2037 without any cuts or tax increases, President Obama declared yesterday that Social Security checks may not go out after August 2, presumably unless there is a deal on the federal deficit - - which has nothing to do with Social Security.
According to today's Washington Post, fifteen years ago Congress passed laws which stated Social Security did not count against the debt limit and gave Treasury clear authority to use Social Security trust funds to pay benefits and administration expenses in the event a debt ceiling is reached.
A fake Social Security crisis will do nothing to solve a real debt crisis, will undermine the public's faith in government and will create unnecessary anxiety among our elderly. 
Stop playing political games with Social Security.

Video:  "Social Security Has NOTHING To Do With The Debt Crisis!" Congressman Dennis Kucinich

No Matter How You Look at It… Obama Is Lying - There's Plenty of Money To Continue Paying Social Security If The Debt Ceiling Is Not Raised… Either Through the Revenue the Government Will Collect and Must Prioritize or From the Soc Sec Account That Should Be Full of Money (Per Obama and Kucinich)… But Seniors, You Are Being Played for Democratic Political Purposes! And Forget once ObamaCare goes into affect… you won’t get treatment for any major illness if are over 76… Wake up!

BlackListedNews

Related:

The Emperors New Balance Sheet

Big U.S. Banks Ate Everyone;s Lunch:  Strategist

A Good Debt Ceiling Deal 

Wynn CEO Goes On Epic Anti-Obama Rant On Company Conference Call

Who doesn't love a good rant?

We certainly do, and as usual, Steve Wynn, the CEO of casino company Wynn Resorts, delivered on his company's quarterly conference call today.

Via Seeking Alpha, here's the crux of it:

I believe in Las Vegas. I think its best days are ahead of it. But I'm afraid to do anything in the current political environment in the United States. You watch television and see what's going on on this debt ceiling issue. And what I consider to be a total lack of leadership from the President and nothing's going to get fixed until the President himself steps up and wrangles both parties in Congress. But everybody is so political, so focused on holding their job for the next year that the discussion in Washington is nauseating.

And I'm saying it bluntly, that this administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime. And I can prove it and I could spend the next 3 hours giving you examples of all of us in this market place that are frightened to death about all the new regulations, our healthcare costs escalate, regulations coming from left and right. A President that seems, that keeps using that word redistribution. Well, my customers and the companies that provide the vitality for the hospitality and restaurant industry, in the United States of America, they are frightened of this administration.And it makes you slow down and not invest your money. Everybody complains about how much money is on the side in America.

You bet and until we change the tempo and the conversation from Washington, it's not going to change. And those of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the President. And a lot of people don't want to say that. They'll say, God, don't be attacking Obama. Well, this is Obama's deal and it's Obama that's responsible for this fear in America.

The guy keeps making speeches about redistribution and maybe we ought to do something to businesses that don't invest, their holding too much money. We haven't heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists. Everybody's afraid of the government and there's no need soft peddling it, it's the truth. It is the truth. And that's true of Democratic businessman and Republican businessman, and I am a Democratic businessman and I support Harry Reid. I support Democrats and Republicans. And I'm telling you that the business community in this company is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States. And until he's gone, everybody's going to be sitting on their thumbs.

Later in the call, he rants again about how hard it is to visit America (due to Homeland Security and visa issues), and what that means for Chinese visitors.

Please call, fax and email your Senator(s) and tell the to pass Cut, Cap and Balance.  Then it will be up to Obama…

Financial and World News Noisy Room Update – 03/02/11

Published in March 2nd, 2011

STOCKS PLUNGE, THE MIDEAST CRASHES, AND GOLD SURGES: Here’s What You Need To Know

HUGE Explosion Reported In Benghazi

Complete Ineptitude Of Saudi Government Fuels Public Rage

Huge Crash In Cocoa After Technical Glitch

Check Out Pictures Of The USS Kearsarge, The Amphibious Assault Ship Zooming Towards Libya Right Now

Consumer Reports Pees All Over The Chevy Volt

Public Employees Paid More Than Private Workers in 41 States

Now The Saudi Market Is Off 7%, And This Is The Article Everyone’s Looking At

The One “High-Risk” Arab Country That Hasn’t Revolted Yet

Guess The One Country That’s LOVING The Crisis In The Middle East

The CIA Operative Who Shot Two Pakistanis Is Now A Hostage — Obama Needs To Resolve This Quickly

The Bullying Mob; Everything Tea Partiers Were Not

We’re on the verge of mob violence in Wisconsin

Flying over the cuckoo’s nest

The Lion Sleeps

‘It’s About the Children!’

“When the money stops flowing to Main St…”

SEA OF RED INK, CHINESE DEBT LARGER THAN ESTIMATED

The Saudi Market Crash Is Continuing, And Qaddafi Is Now Bombing Rebel Territories

A Super Quick And Dirty Overview Of The Saudi Economy

Shanghai Is Slipping, Oil Is Above $100, And Japan Is Getting Crushed

Now The Saudi Market Is REALLY Crashing, And There’s A Rumor Going Around Of Riots

European Markets Are Sliding Across The Board, While Libya-Connected Bank UniCredit Hits New Lows

In Just The Last Hour, The Saudi Market Crash Got A Lot Worse

How Green Is Your Lost Job?

Pakistan’s only Christian Cabinet member assassinated

Ohio Lawmakers Battle Over Union Bargaining Rights

Iran would “slaughter” people in revolt: defector

Government shutdown avoided for now, with a two-week funding extension

Mideast Unrest Rattles Markets

GAO Audit Hits Agencies for Uncoordinated, Inefficient Programs

Morning Bell: Why Liberals Love Government Waste

Low-Flush Toilets: The San Francisco Treat?

Highly Paid Federal Workers Rally to Support Union Allies in Wisconsin

Governors to Congress: We Could Do Better If Washington Got Out of the Way

Oil jumps after Libyan air strike near oil terminal

Gadhafi vows fight to last man

‘It’s a conspiracy to take our oil’

Forces retake towns near capital

Rebels push back Libya regime attack on oil port

…Want UN air strike

Farrakhan: Jews are pushing the US into war

US warships enter Suez Canal on way to Libyan waters

Panic on borders

Astonishing wealth of Gaddafi and his family revealed

YEMEN RAGES

Announced Job Cuts ‘Rose 20% From Year Ago’

Forbes: Obama is Carter

Gunman fires on US airmen at German airport; 2 dead, 2 wounded

Supreme Court rules for military funeral protesters

Barbour says Obama cheers for higher gas prices

Wisc GOP passes bill to fine AWOL Dems

Ohio union bill set for vote today

Idaho county files for bankruptcy

SHOWDOWN: Bernanke warns Republicans: Don’t hold debt-ceiling hostage

Gaddafi and the Passover story

Feds Launch Massive Organized Crime Crackdown (Hat Tip: Nancy Jacques)

The Islamic Demolition of the Statue of Liberty (Hat Tip: Brian B.) Take a look at this crap. Your eyes will bleed and your blood pressure will skyrocket…

Bernanke Doesn’t Rule Out More Bond Buying to Aid Economy

Reid, Boehner Trade Jabs On Budget Extension

NFL Labor Talks in Two-Minute Warning

R.I. Teachers to Rally in Protest of Mass Firings

Wisconsin Gov’s Budget Chock Full o’ Cuts

U.N. Builds Special Video Relationships with Google, Brit Broadcaster

Dialysis Can Wait… Union Workers Leave Sick & Elderly Patients Stranded So They Can Attend Rally

Eric Holder: Black Panther Case Demeans “My People”

Governor Scott Walker Delivers Wisconsin State Budget Address

Teachers’ Unions 101: “A” is for “agitation”

One measly deepwater drilling permit: Hoo-freaking-rah

Inflation Is Here – Just Open Up Your Eyes And Look At These 5 Financial Charts!

QE3? Several Top Federal Reserve Officials Seem To Think That More Quantitative Easing Is Necessary

See the Google Earth Images That May Have Sparked the Bahrain Unrest

Blaze Exclusive: Socialist Mantra Hidden in Grade School Chants

Message to the American Worker

SurvivalBlog:

Spot Silver was at $34.65 per Troy Ounce.

Is the U.S. dollar still a safe haven?

Peter Schiff: “We’re in the Early Stages of a Depression”

History Tells Us That A Surge In Fuel Costs Makes A US Recession Likely

Silver Squeeze to Continue

The Silver Bullet And The Silver Shield

Why The Financial Werewolves Hate Silver

Marc Faber: I Think We Are All Doomed

Source:  Financial and World News Noisy RoomUpdate – 03/02/11

Noisy Room: Financial News Update – 01/07/11

Financial News Update – 01/07/11

Published in January 7th, 2011

Posted by TMH in Financial, Politics, Survival, Taxation at the Noisy Room

Government Spending: US Budget Antics More Theater Than Reality (Hat Tip: Brian B.)

Gulf oil spill: BP set to avoid gross negligence charge (Hat Tip: Brian B.)

Ron Paul: “The U.S. Government Must Admit It Is Bankrupt” (Hat Tip: Brian B.)

Record high food prices stoke fears for economy (Hat Tip: Brian B.)

On the Brink of Catastrophic Economic Collapse (Hat Tip: Brian B.)

Pentagon Faces the Knife

Tax-Code Overhaul Divides Obama Economic Team as State of Union Approaches

Republicans Say Higher U.S. Debt Limit Depends on Specific Spending Cuts

Britain to the eurozone: Get your act together

Coming soon? GBN – America’s Television Network

Will Obama succeed in robbing the Medicare Trust?

Illinois legislature screws small businesses

Repeal the whole damn thing!

Republicans introduce bill to eliminate presidential ‘czars’ (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

E.P.A. Faces First Volley From the House [block the proposed regulation of greenhouse gases] (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

GOP strikes early in global warming battle (3 bills would hamstring EPA) (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

S.E.C. Investigating CalPERS on Disclosures (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Cotton Shortage Could Drive Up Clothing Prices (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

The House shredding machine has started. Let her rip (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Electric Cars May Accelerate Global Warming (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Brussels’ Bogus Bank Regulations

Obamacare: An Unacquired Taste – Americans understand the health-care law, and they hate it. (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Europe unveils sweeping plans to govern reckless banks (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

CNBC’s Santelli rants about NY Times and other critics of congressional Constitution reading (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Banks Lose Pivotal Massachusetts Foreclosure Case

U.S. Adds 103,000 Jobs in December, Unemployment at 9.4% – This is such a propagandic lie, I can’t stomach it.

‘Mother,’ ‘Father’ Changing to ‘Parent One,’ ‘Parent Two’ on Passport Applications

Reid to House GOP: Health Repeal Will Die

Obama Names Sperling to Top Economic Post

Proposal Opens Door to Mexican Trucks

A Historic Moment, As Western Europe Sovereign Debt Now Riskier Than Emerging Markets

After Lashing Out At China, Currency War “Loser” Brazil Is Now Furious At America

Consumers Are Still Getting Crushed, And You Can’t Just Blame The Snow

Rethinking The BRICs

Moody’s, What Are You Waiting For? Take Away America’s AAA Rating Now

China’s Government Cashing In Again — Selling $4 Trillion State-Owned Assets

Cuba lays-off state workers in privatisation drive (End of communism on Cuba) (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Ukraine Launches Administrative Reform, Cuts Central Government (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Trade Minister Lord Green refuses to back UK arms industry (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

China gives students subsidies after protests over food prices (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Fed Chief Bernanke: Jobs Market Will Need Five More Years to Recover

Morning Bell: Americans Are Fleeing Obama’s Crony Capitalist Economy

Gas Prices Under President Obama in Pictures

+113,000 JOBS DECEMBER – I would wager most of these were temp holiday jobs…

‘Employers added fewer jobs than forecast’

FEDS: RATE FALLS

GALLUP: RATE RISES

Economist: ‘Seasonal issues…still near 10%’

Court rules against banks in pivotal mortgage case

Illinois Pols Push Plan To Boost Income Tax — By 75%!

MESS: California’s DMV has months-long delay for driver’s licenses

Security threat level for London raised to ‘severe’

China plans $1.3 billion ‘seven-star hotel’

China Backs Europe, Euro for Investing Reserves

Cubans fret as massive job cuts get under way

Russian team to drill into Lake Vostok, sealed off for 14 million years

NY Health Department: 41% Of City Pregnancies Result In Abortion

House takes first step toward health care repeal

CBO Says Repealing ObamaCare Would Reduce Net Spending by $540 Billion

Euro Crisis Roars to Forefront

Portugal’s debt worries worsen

UN warns Greece on anti-migrant fence

Brazil moves to curb rising currency (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Sessions never sworn-in; could affect health repeal bill timing (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

ObamaCare Rewards Friends, Punishes Enemies (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

DC holiday pushes tax filing deadline to April 18 (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

Two Banks Gain Access Within China (JP Morgan Chase & Morgan Stanley) (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

China: EU Aims to Seal Deal With Beijing (just PR or real beef?) (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

PIGS Debt Riskier Than Iraq, CDS Prices Show (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)

LOVE IT… House Votes to Repeal “Job-Killing” Health Care Law 236-181

Dem Senators Who Are Pushing Card Check Want Their Own Secret Ballots

Failure. Economy Produces Less Jobs than Expected – December Unemployment Rate at 9.4%

Conservative Star Paul Ryan: “I Will Eat My Tie If Obamacare Reduces the Deficit”

The other new Chicago crony chief of staff

“9.4%” unemployment rate — with an asterisk; underemployment at between 16-19 percent, labor force shrinks

A bipartisan target: Obama’s czars

Obama Recruits Progressive Clinton-Era Advisor to Fill Economic Vacancy

MSNBC Tries to Explain Concept of Debt Ceiling with Human Prop

SurvivalBlog:

Steve K. recommended a YouTube video that includes clips from the 1981 movie Rollover.

The Big, Continuing Stories That Could Derail 2011

Recession turns to depression in Japan.

Here Come The “Tanks In The Streets” Threats!

Reasons Why 2011 Is Going To Be Another Bad Year For America’s Middle Class

29% of Americans Say it’s Difficult to Afford Food

Fed: Economy Still Weak Despite Improvements

Private-Payroll Report Lifts Hopes For More Jobs

Jump In Hiring Sends Bonds Lower And Stocks Higher

Numismatic’s Are Fool’s Gold

Inflation Jumps in Europe

Eco-bulb cost to treble: Makers cash in as the ban on old-style bulbs kicks in

World food prices at fresh high, says UN

Forecasters’ prediction for oil prices in 2011: Up, up, up

As food costs rise, retailers keep prices stable by shrinking package sizes, quantities

Financial News (Plus) Update – 01/02/11

“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” – Benjamin Franklin