Welfare-Warfare State

Treasury’s Lew: Congress Needs to Pass Debt Limit

"Congress needs to raise the debt limit and take away the 'cloud of uncertainty' about the nation's ability to pay its bills, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said. 'The fight over the debt limit in 2011 hurt the economy, even though, in the end, we saw an extension of the debt limit. We saw confidence fall, and it hurt the economy. Congress needs to do its job. It needs to finish its work on appropriation bills. It needs to pass a debt limit,' Lew said on NBC's Meet The Press. Senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill are trying to come up with must-do legislation to keep federal agencies running after Sept. 30 and prevent the possibility of a government shutdown." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTreasury’s Lew: Congress Needs to Pass Debt Limit

Cities’ Strategy in Health Insurance for Retirees: “Dump Them Into ObamaCare!”

"The 61 largest U.S. cities in 2009 were in the hole by about $118 billion to retirees’ health insurance obligations. They now think they have a way out: default on these obligations and force retirees into ObamaCare. This gets the obligations off their backs and onto the backs of the federal government. This is what Detroit is doing. Other cities’ officials are impressed. But Detroit is declaring bankruptcy. How can the other cities get out from under without declaring bankruptcy?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCities’ Strategy in Health Insurance for Retirees: “Dump Them Into ObamaCare!”

NYC welfare food is shipped in barrels to the Dominican Republic – then sold on the black market

"New Yorkers on welfare are buying food with their benefit cards and shipping it in blue barrels to poor relatives in the Caribbean. But not everyone is giving the taxpayer-funded fare to starving children abroad. The Post last week found two people hawking barrels of American products for a profit on the streets of Santiago. 'It’s a really easy way to make money, and it doesn’t cost me anything,' a seller named Maria-Teresa said Friday. She said her sister has Bronx grocers ring up bogus $250 transactions with her EBT card. In exchange, the stores hand her $200 cash and pocket the rest. No goods are exchanged." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYC welfare food is shipped in barrels to the Dominican Republic – then sold on the black market

Auditor Urges Safeguards as USDA Pays 6,336 Dead People

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture may have improperly paid as much as $36 million in aid to 6,336 dead people, according to government auditors who recommended stronger safeguards. Random sampling of USDA’s program rolls with the Social Security Administration’s master list of dead individuals found that 6,336 people got conservation aid, crop-insurance subsidies or disaster assistance more than one year after they had died from 2008 through 2012, the Government Accounting Office said today in a report. Payments to the dead 'may call into question whether these farm safety net programs are benefiting the agricultural sector as intended.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAuditor Urges Safeguards as USDA Pays 6,336 Dead People

Bill Bonner: Goodbye, Motor City

"Motor City has been flattened. Now it’s being scrapped. The largest municipal bankruptcy in history. Detroit was once one of the richest…and most dynamic…cities in the world. And it was the centre of America’s most profitable industry: automobiles. German and Japanese automakers had the good fortune to be bombed out in World War II. But Detroit grew bigger…more prosperous…and full of zombies. Yes, dear reader, Detroit is a zombie story. Since 1971, almost all big stories have a zombie angle. Because the credit-based monetary system that Richard Nixon put us in is a perfect habitat for zombies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Goodbye, Motor City

In cash-strapped Detroit, few critics question new sports arena funding

"The Tigers’ home stadium Comerica Park, which opened in 2000, was built at a cost of $300 million, 38 percent of which was publicly financed. Ford Field, the Lions’ domed stadium, was built next door to Comerica and opened in 2002 at a cost of $430 million, 36 percent of which was publicly financed. A state board recently approved issuing bonds to help pay for a new arena for the Red Wings at the heart of a proposed 45-block entertainment district just north of downtown. The total project is slated to cost $650 million. About 44 percent of the project would be financed through public sources." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn cash-strapped Detroit, few critics question new sports arena funding

Should Detroit’s Bankruptcy Be an Early-Warning Sign for Washington?

"There’s no way a bailout of Detroit goes through the House of Representatives. Heck, I don’t even think it could make it through the Senate. So some folks on the left would be justified if they asked why the high rollers on Wall Street supposedly deserved a bailout a few years ago but they don’t get one today. The answer, of course, is discrimination by color. But I’m not talking black vs white. The color that matters in politics is green. The financial industry dispenses huge campaign contributions to both sides of the aisle, and the bailout was their payoff. Public employee unions, by contrast, give almost every penny of their money to Democrats." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingShould Detroit’s Bankruptcy Be an Early-Warning Sign for Washington?

America’s public finances: The Unsteady States of America

"Detroit’s population has fallen by 60% since 1950. The murder rate is 11 times the national average. The previous mayor is in prison. Shrubs, weeds and raccoons have reclaimed empty neighbourhoods. The debts racked up when Detroit was big and rich are unpayable now that it is smaller and poor. Though some of its woes are unique, a crucial one is not. Many other state and city governments across America have made impossible-to-keep promises to do with pensions and health care. Detroit shows what can happen when leaders put off reforming the public sector for too long." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerica’s public finances: The Unsteady States of America

US blows out $16.7 trillion debt limit

"The US Treasury has already exceeded the federal legal borrowing limit of $16.7 trillion in May. That signals the main structural problems remain unresolved putting at risk the fragile recovery. The country’s outstanding public debt is already $38.82 million above the statuary debt ceiling and now at $16,738,220,000,000.00, according to Treasury data. In the debt ceiling debate two years ago, lawmakers and the White House battled for months before Obama signed an increase into law on Aug. 2, 2011, the day the Treasury Department warned that US borrowing authority would expire, Reuters reports." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS blows out $16.7 trillion debt limit

Obama, Republicans gear up for bruising U.S. budget fight

"Another dramatic showdown between Republicans and the White House over federal spending looks inevitable this fall, with scary talk of government shutdowns and default on government debt. While Capitol Hill analysts are not predicting catastrophe, they have several reasons to worry that the conflict just weeks away could be even worse than usual. Obama and Congress face two fiscal deadlines in quick succession. They must agree by October 1 on a stop-gap measure to keep the government funded or face a shutdown. And in early November, Congress must raise the legal limit on the country's borrowing authority or risk an unprecedented default." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama, Republicans gear up for bruising U.S. budget fight