Middle Class Dismissed

IRS Wants to Be Exempt from Obamacare While also Making the Rest of Us Comply

"There are lots of despicable people in Washington engaged in a lot of unsavory behavior, so it would be very difficult to get agreement if you asked regular people to select the most odious feature of the political class. Many people would probably choose corruption as the defining characteristic of Washington, and it would be hard to argue with that choice, but I think hypocrisy is an even better choice. There’s something fundamentally wrong when people push for policies while making sure they don’t have to abide by the results. Yet it happens all the time in government." Continue reading →

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Are We Investing or Are We Just Dodging Thieves?

"The skill we need today is not traditional investing skill; it is thief-dodging skill. It consists of knowing the thieves’ techniques and whom they are targeting, of knowing the bad neighborhoods to avoid, knowing how to avoid being a target, trying to stay one jump ahead of them as they target new victim groups. These are skills people had back in the Dark Ages, and as we enter a new Dark Ages, these are skills we need again. Millions of middle class Americans are being wiped out by thieves, and millions more will be wiped out as trends continue. But those who can successfully dodge the thieves can continue to maintain some civilized standards as they hope for better days." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAre We Investing or Are We Just Dodging Thieves?

Pentagon considering separate combat training for men and women

"Senior military personnel are considering giving women different military training than men, The Washington Times reports. The effort was proposed by Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Niki Tsongas at a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing because so far, she says training systems do not 'maximize the success of women.' Army Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, serving as deputy chief of staff for personnel, considers separate training programs to be more about considering all soldiers as individuals, citing a need to explore how the training process works." Continue reading →

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Girl Scouts auction off plantation amid financial troubles

"The camp in South Carolina is one of dozens of Girl Scout camps in 28 states that have closed, been sold or are for sale as chapters across the United States face financial struggles. The realignment that took full effect in 2009 consolidated local councils. It reduced their number by two-thirds, eliminated staff jobs and set new Girl Scout priorities for building leadership skills. Girls Scouts has about 2.3 million youth and about 800,000 adult members nationwide. The organization is struggling with plummeting membership, a dearth of adult volunteers, declining cookie sales and a pension fund that is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt." Continue reading →

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Chris Martenson: Bankers Own the World – And are ultimately destroying it

"It wasn't that many decades ago that a list of the top companies with the most wealth and influence would have been dominated by companies that produced real, tangible products – that is, those that created wealth by adding value to goods by transforming resources into products. Companies like GE, GM, IBM, Exxon, and other industrial giants would have been the wealthiest, because, well, they create actual wealth. Today the top fifty companies in the 'super-entity' list of 147 from the above study is concerning. Out of the fifty, 17 are banks, 31 are an assortment of investment, insurance, and financial services companies, and only 2 are non-financial companies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChris Martenson: Bankers Own the World – And are ultimately destroying it

Iceland proposal to write off debt triggers S&P outlook downgrade

"Standard & Poor’s yesterday added its voice to a chorus of warnings against a pledge by Iceland’s new government to write off as much as 20 per cent of all its citizens’ mortgage debt. The promise of debt relief was the main campaign pledge of the Progressive party and the Independence party. They focused on inflation-linked loans, payments on which soared following the country’s deep financial crisis owing to a 36 per cent depreciation of the currency. Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson said before the April election he would pay for the mortgage write-off through funds raised from imposing a haircut on foreign creditors of Iceland’s failed banks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIceland proposal to write off debt triggers S&P outlook downgrade

Ageing population pushes welfare bill to crisis point

"In a report released tonight, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that the proportion of GDP spent on jobseekers’ allowance, pensions and other 'public social spending' stood at 23.8 per cent — the same as it was in 2010. The Paris-based think tank warned that unless action was taken to cut the cost to the state of Britain’s rapidly rising elderly population, the health and pensions systems could collapse. Ddespite broadly positive signs, economic activity is still well below the level enjoyed before the financial crisis and Britain faces years of austerity and uncertainty." Continue reading →

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Bankruptcy Litigation Does Not Generate New Wealth

"The only viable long-term strategy for claimants is to focus on doing whatever it takes to help the city/county start generating new wealth. But this is far more difficult than hoping to win some court ruling, and it also requires sacrificing the dearly held belief that fantasy entitlements should be made real by somebody, somewhere. Which brings us to the ultimate make-us-whole fantasy, the Federal bailout of every bankrupt city, county and state in the nation. Every constituency is of course first in line in terms of being deserving of 'what's owed to me.' Unfortunately for those counting on the Grand Federal Bailout, the queue at the Federal bailout window is already long." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBankruptcy Litigation Does Not Generate New Wealth

2013 Bitcoin Mid-Year Review and Outlook

"The past six months may one day prove to be among the most important in bitcoin’s history. As global events sparked increasing need for frictionless wealth transfers, bitcoin’s popularity ballooned and ignited a conversation that will likely continue to flourish in the years to come. Growth in bitcoin’s value was outpaced only by the incredible interest from entrepreneurs, investors and the press. In this 27-page report we cover the major events from the first half of 2013 and what to look out for in the months ahead." Continue reading →

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What’s Up with Inflation?

"Many argue that these weightings skew the CPI lower, as do hedonic adjustments. The motivation for this skew is transparent: since the government increases Social Security benefits and Federal employees' pay annually to keep up with inflation (the cost of living allowance or COLA), a low rate of inflation keeps these increases modest. Those claiming the weighting is accurate face a blizzard of legitimate questions. For example, if healthcare is 18% of the U.S. GDP, i.e. 18 cents of every dollar goes to healthcare, then how can a mere 7% wedge of the CPI devoted to healthcare be remotely accurate?" Continue reading →

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