GM, Chrysler shake up…

It is something you would expect from the conservative right wing, telling Chrysler to get bigger by merging with Fiat. This deal does a few things that I consider contradictory. First it is inviting Fiat to import cars into America, made easy through the Chrysler Auto Dealership McCartel. The thing that boggles me is all this talk about “Too Big to Fail”, but not too big for Fiat.

I am amazed we haven’t seen a public uproar about the de-regulation that has allowed these monopolies to exist. Think about it, if there were say 60 auto companies that all had to compete with each other for our hard earned dollars, do you think there would be a lot more options and more economical automobiles. it is safe to assume the answer would be yes, but we in this generation will never know.

This is the generation of “BIG”. the banks are too big to fail, the auto makers are too big to fail, the insurance companies are too big to fail, which all makes America “Too Big to Fail”. What a rediculas position for a (so called) capitalist society to be stuck in. In a poker game when there are only 10 people holding all the chips, we refer to it as the final table.

The fact is that from the time of Nelson D. Rockafeller and Dale Carnegie, almost every corporation, including Union Pacific through Microsoft have done things that would land most of us in prison for the rest of our lives, but in this country we reward them with trillions in bailout money while we gnaw on our tonges to subdue the pain of our teeth.

I think the bottom line is that monopolies are dangerous to any capitalistic society. It is the precurser to imperialism, especially when they are able to dictate the behaviors of a Nation’s Government that was built on the plateform of a “Democratic Republic”.

re⋅pub⋅lic  /rɪˈpʌblɪk/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ri-puhb-lik]  –noun

from the latin Res publica, literally meaning “public issue” or “public matter”.

1.	a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.

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Music for the Soul

Do you ever just drift into a feeling, gazing out a window, that just wraps you up like a baby blanket. Maybe its the music your listening to, or someone who represents your true animas, who knows. One thing is for sure though. These are the moments we live for in increments of bliss whether or not we do it consciously, it’s there..

So, why do we spend our days enslaved to an idea of happiness that only represents the shadows of this hope we live for. Man, I’ll tell you what!

Welp… I guess that’s it. From here on out I am only living for one dynamic between physics and Tronic. I can’t think of anything more interesting when it comes down to it.

I really think our purpose in life is self discovery and exploration of this dimension of existence. Everything else is wasting time. It would be so amazing and dynamic if everyone focused their intentions toward these truths within us.

I admit it is very tempting being part of a greater purpose and that’s why many of us do the very thing that feeds our lifestyle, but imagine swimming in a unified dream of consciousness together discovering all the intricacies about it.

Congress Averting another Catastophe: But this time a Revolution

Man, talk about a close call. The public uproar on the whole AIG bonus Scandal was quite a fervent scene to observe. Congress was so worried about it that they basically lynched anyone who was supposed to get any kind of bonus, that had anything to do with any financial agency that took Fed or Treasury funds.

The problem is that it reminds me of the day the Treasury announced the take-over of Freddie and Fannie. I really think it was the first wave of panic that started the horrible conditions we see today. The second shock was letting Lehman Bros. fail… but the biggest shock so far was when Congress’ Lame duck Republican leaning vote against the original TARP Funds. That was the shot heard round the World.

Within a few hours of the outcome, the LIBOR jumped more than 200 basis points and essentially shut down all loaning. This was the real Credit Crisis. Everything previously experienced was just a warm up. After that everything became a shock to everyone…

So, here we are. 2 years after the fall of the Real Estate Bubble and things were starting to look as though there might be a shift in the momentum, of what many are hoping would be the bottom of this deflationary period, and Congress sounds the Alarm!

I wonder how many people will show up for work tomorrow. At least the ones that are being held responcible for cleaning up the mess at AIG might not be interested in working for free… The one thing that’s certain is that we will find out whether or not Liddy was telling the truth, in his testimony to Congress. He said that without the people who are receiving the bonuses, it would leave about $1.6 Trillion of risk unmanaged, and that that would lead to the collapse of AIG. And… according to Ben Bernanke, a collapse of AIG would lead to a World Financial Systemic Collapse.

hmm… It should be an interesting week ahead.

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Depression talk leads to Panic, so lets just stop!

Well, that wasn’t much of a depression, if the numbers are honest. New Unemployment claims slowed in it’s high paced increase and there were a noticeable difference in the announcements of future lay-offs. In the past weeks we saw a lot of huge numbers being announced, and recently we are hearing numbers around 2-3000, and far less announcements at a time.

Of course this isn’t spectacular news, but what it does say is there is a curve in the track and we starting to level out a bit. The stock markets, after being constantly terrified about every piece of news, is beginning to slow its drops and has even had a few positive days. The Fed and Congress aren’t just sitting on their hands any longer, which in itself offers a sense of doing and as long as things are looking better that will translate into confidence.

It was interesting to listen to the AIG hearing yesterday before the finance subcommittee. I love that Barney Frank drew an early line with Liddy about the fact that he wasn’t responsible for the contracts which allowed AIG to pay out bonuses. The part I can say I enjoyed the most was the transparency that was created in the repetitive grilling this guy took. I think that AIG and Congress should agree to present information before the American People until the full amount is paid. As a shareholder I want to know what the direction and integrity of my company is.

I was particularly interested in hearing that Mr. Liddy was intent on keeping the American People in his sights as he worked out “Unwinding” the different part of AIG’s risk, and has a plan to sell off the good units of the company until the US is paid back. To me this is like kicking the tire of the car after a few miles since we patched the hole. It seems to be holding, and it will not be the major issue with the future collapse of the economy. Now we just need to eliminate a few other details, like a bottom for housing prices and new home starts and Retail. Once we see that I think we should be back on the tracks and no longer tumbling down Alice’s Rabbit Hole!

Short Selling out Americans

Last night the Daily Show ran a piece on a Wall Street habit refferred to as Short Selling. Short selling is essentially; borrowing someone elses stock and selling it at the current price, then buying the stock back at a lower price and returning it to the original owner. I’ve written about this in the recent past, but feel I need to bring this up again.

The biggest problem with Short Selling, short of selling someone elses 401k for your own profit, is that it is counterproductive to the goals of seemingly everyone else who has anything to lose in the business and financial world. I guess that would be the rest of us! While we (The US Treasury Dept. and the Fed) are pumping Trillions of dollars into the financial industry heavy investment is out there leading us further into a depressed state of the economy. I’m sorry, but WTF!

I don’t understand why this ISN’T illegal. Everything about it seems shady, if not dead wrong. If I want to bet on a stock going down, why shouldn’t I be required to use my own money and stocks to do so, say buying a “Put” rather than stealing someone elses profits from there stock portfolio. It’s funny and ironic that soon it will be too late to put an end to this illicit deceptive act of STEALING from the American Trust, and we the People are going to need a scape goat to hang in time square for letting our money be used to make us poor!

I think we should start with “The Banker Friends” to begin with. It was Bernenke that signed the agreement with AIG about paying the bonus to their various departments, which we all know meant paying the villains in this movie! It is and was the SEC that allowed all these horrible business practices that got us to here…

So, here we are looking back down the hallway of choices that brought us to where we are and nothing will ever change that. It has happened and is happening, and no one can see past their thin vail of politics or their wigs of financial wealth to reason with the need to do things honestly. What a shame!

So Proud We all are!

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More:

This is the kind of thing that really frustrates me about our country… This is meant to be a Representative Government! We place individuals in positions of trust in the hope they will do their jobs and keep the public interests at the forefront of their doings, and no matter how much we would like to think it, these individuals are influenced by money and power and finally turn on their handlers, namely the Public Trust!

I can write all I want about it, but nothing I say will ever give back the Trillions of Dollars stolen or lost by the very people we Trust to be the Good Stewards of our Faith in our ethics as a Nation; as an Ideal!

As the Libor Moves…

It wasn’t more than a few hours, or maybe even minutes, that the Libor jumped an unprecedented 2.5 points. The event sent a panic through the financial markets of the world. Overnight every world market had record 10% losses. Why did the banks act at the moment of this congressional move to vote down the TARP Program. I think it was good timing.

It forced Congress to do it again. It was a similar tactic that was used in France shortly after their bitter defeat to the British. Nathen Rothschild approached to King of France and suggested he banked with the Bank of London, which had just recently corner the market of Sterling from funds it had stolen from King Hess. Then it occured to me…

A prolonged downturn in property value would hurt the countries that owned the most, and I began to wonder. Is this a powerful play of money against China. Are we watching a very complicated move by the Bank of London. The key to the plan is to cushion the financial institutions of the west thoroughly in order to maintain a prolonged effect. All China has is its growth, its momentum, which is entirely dependent on exporting.

I’m guessing it is a combination of things, but the first that comes to mind is the East Asian IMF. That could be a conflict of interests to the current paradigm leaders. The other part I’m considering is the control over China’s monetary policy. This is the thing that all, so called, private institutional Federal Reserve Systems have over the currencies they police. These institutions are controlled by the banks. Their roots go back to people like JP Morgan, who was known to be an agent of the Rothschild’s.

We have unwittingly become pawns in a game far beyond the scope of most people’s perspective. Carried out in small clubs among friends our fates and financial security is devised by the ambitious. This is the dark side of the American Dream, the vale of narcissism. We have become so proud of ourselves never asking how… never asking why…

We are a nation, as the western mind is a nation. We have dominated the way the world is allowed to become and it, along with most of its people, is sick and confused about these two simple questions. You know, how could you do it? How could you ignore our right to self empowerment. Why did you change our drive, make us sick and criminal in the quest for more, like you… I like Coca Cola!

60 Minutes with Ben Bernanke

When he was asked “why” are you appearing for an interview, Ben (may I call you Ben?) responded… “These are unusual times!”. Ferderal Reserve Chiefs never give interviews, so Yes, it is an extraordinary time.

He also said it gave him the chance to speak directly to the American People. I, on the other hand, have to blog in order to gain such hope, that anyone wants to really hear anything I have to say. So, you go Ben…

Oh, hey since I’ve got you on the show, do you mind if I ask you an unrehearsed question? “Why are you still ignoring the Mortgage Securities issue. The fact that all these banks are still hiding the amount and real values of all these, “what does wall street call them?”, oh yeah! Toxic Assets. If my memory serves me, you did the same thing in the beginning as the foreclosures began in late 07, and had these results. Weird, so…

Now you go on 60 minutes and tell the AMerican People that the probl;em with the financial system is the financial system, sell us on further bailout “political will”, while you continue to ignore what still seems to have no answer. Nice…

Well here’s my opinion, and you can put this on 60 Minutes!).. Take the paper from the banks as collateral, let them value it as they like and we’ll loan’em the dough. Then! We take all this paper and assemble a crack team of trackers and those ladies that do all those puzzles in the kitchen, and find the missing real estate. Put all those rotten piece of collateral into nice easy to manage mortgages. Then return the assessed value in real estate back to the bank. Once the debts are reassembled, as mortgages, they will have a very clear value and other banks will know for a fact that there books are clean.

Or, come up with something else that doesn’t involve giving the banks more money without a plan to resolve the real issue! It’s the paper that got us here… Come on, Ben!

The Social Experiment of the United States of America

When we are born they should give us a manual of civic duties, so we didn’t get our hopes too high that we might be part of a real cultural society. It’s too big of a let down to realize that when you are 2 years old, most of our toys are designed to enhance our strengths and lead us away from our liabilities, so that in the future we might be a better trained employee.

Within the next few years we will be asked over and over what we plan to be when we grow up. It is the question on every adults mind until we are sure about our answer. Mine was a bike mechanic, maybe you choose a nurse or a policeman. Whatever it was I’m sure it had no bearing in the real application of your values along the road to slavery. Well, that is, other than the greesy haired pimply kid who later became the town Sheriff.

The fact is you may have gone to college, maybe your parents could afford to send you to Standford, which is like being a made man in the Mafia of our economy. On the other hand you, like me, are probably not one of the chosen, and had to pay for your tuition, books and rent through school working part-time and borrowing up to $30,000 or more for 4 years. The question is not what you are going to do for a living at this point, it is more like what do I need to do to get out from under this debt, which means you’ll now have to pay for all those drunken frat parties with your soul. Oh, and that liberal point of view you picked up when you were a freshman, that too will have to go… It’s time to work!

You might ask yourself, one day years later when you are tinkering with a lamp in the garage, “how did this happen”. The fact of the matter is that you were engineered all along. First by your programmed parents and then everything from your toys to the cartoons you watched. Corporations have always been on the constant threshold of every trend in order to stay one up in the PR war to shape your loyalty and devotion to a system that places you high on the list of statistics, making you better workers and followers of the mainstream. Frankly, Better Consumers! …Just not for the reasons you’ld think!

The main reason to make and keep such Happy Machines, well rewarded for their voluntary servitude, is to avoid any kind of social uprising that would empower the people, rather than the financial system, to make the choices that truely shape our lives and our culture. It’s funny to hear people talk about the freedoms we enjoy here in America, like Freedom of Speech, without thinking about the fact that every amazing orator, who wasn’t inline with the mainstream views, has either been ridiculed by the Media, or killed by, God knows who. There have as well been threats from the other side, but the Mainstream Financial Capitalist Army being well financed has better security forces.

Throughout the history of the US, it has used it’s military forces anytime there is a threat to the so called, Common Good. This argument, in its many different facets, has been used to control the support of the people since the Whiskey Riots of the late 18th Century. The illusion is that it is the government who is controlling this sway held over the American people. the real enemy is the banking and financial institutions who control the Libor and the various Federal Reserve Systems that have been established over the years by the various banking institutions that control them. And, if you find that hard to swallow, try this, consider whether or not Ben Bernanke would have delved out 2 Trillion Dollars to the banks had he worked for the taxpayers?

Some day, in America, Americans need to assume their own Culture and decide what we are to become without the influences of others who may or may not have our best interests in mind.

AIG and the Mad Money Method

I am Appalled! Is anybody watching this AIG Scandal as it enfolds. Now the Company we just bailed out of bankruptcy is grooving on business as usual, while we scratch our head confused an angry… WTF!

Today, as I’m sure you’ve seen by now, AIG announced it will be paying 165 Mil, of our money, in bonuses, to the department that was largely responsible for AIG’s collapse. “Look you lost control of the ship and crashed, sorry about your bonuses”, but this isn’t what was said at all!

Lets just take a minute and consider a few things. First of all, what are we paying for when we talk about bailing out AIG. The Fed and the Treasury Dept. said that AIG’s collapse could lead to a systemic break down. The thing you’ve got to keep in mind is that they are talking about the existing financial system and I don’t have a problem with that. This one is so corrupt that it is willing to lie cheat and steal, “business as usual”, right through are hard earned tax money. Expecting it!

Look you CAN NOT give money you didn’t have! Especially not to pay for these Leaders of Anti-Trust’s luxury yachts, while Mr. and Mrs. Jones are getting hurled out on the street, after being unemployed by the same company, just after loosing their entire 401k in the Great Crash of 08. This entire financial crisis was brought to you by greed, arrogance, and manipulation. Weighing in on your future!

The fact is that entire system is build on a solid foundation of people (consumers) buying products and services on a constant basis! It needs to be deflated, but I’ll go one more step and announce that it as well needs to redefine itself on the natural progressions of human evolution, or acclimation depending on how you look at it. Frankly most of us are tired of something and mostly each other.

So, let me get this straight, AIG insured the Subprime Mortgage Securities. The securities went bad, due to poor risk assessment and you want us to bail you out now. Didn’t we cover your clients, for you, already with something like $2 trillion in bailout and stimulus packages, and now you want to give some of the money were providing for your salvation to the driver of the wrecked vehicle. Fuck That, lets just step outside and settle this right now!

We Own You, Citi!

Now that we own a 36%, most likely majority, stake in Citibank I would like to propose a solution to help ease the suffering of its stock holders, the American People. Lets trim down the company and sell off all the divisions of the bank until it is NOT “Too Big to Fail”. All those little subsidiaries and other companies that Citi purchased during its rise to being too big can now go back to being their own little businesses. At least that’s my vote, since I now own it!

Assessing the companies risk, based on the conditions of the present financial climate, I feel that this decision, which may effect the lives of many of the companies stock holders in a positive way should begin commencing now.

One of the things that totally amazes me is that Congress hasn’t begun the Anti-trust hearings for these bailout banks, and the auto makers. Who wants to have a few companies that are too big to fail ever again? Oh, but wait! That’s just how it is…

Yesterday I watched a Documentary on the Labor Movement of the early 20th Century, when the IWW was trying to get an 8 hour work day for ALL workers in America. The government of the US finally got so disgusted with this sense of an empowered workers organization that they arrested all the Union leaders and sentenced them to prison for causing disruption to the American way of life, and it dawned on me! This has always been a war, and as long as socialism was the enemy, the Company of the United States of Wealthy Corporations would use every tool in its arsenal of abuse to discourage anyone from ever joining sides with the enemy…

It amazes me (an yet doesn’t surprise me) that there isn’t the biggest outcry in American History, for the heads of the Corporations and Financial Institutions, that have put our children’s and their children’s future at risk. Remember, when Bush took office in 2001 there was a 6 Trillion Dollar Surplus in the US budget, and that administration along with the previous Republican Congress’ habit of deregulation turned our country completely over to the point that the rating firms are watching to see if the US Credit rating might not be threatened, by the massive debt we’ve accumulated.

There has always been a tenuous thread of difference between the Social and Capitalist leans in America, and it usually takes a time like this to point out the massive division of wealth that the rich enjoy when we forget the lessons of the past. Greed has never made our country prosperous for very long. When Reagan pushed for the trickle down economic measures that brought us out of the 70’s recession, it barely lasted through his term in office, and the same thing happened during the second Bush. It doesn’t work and deregulating the financial institutions, trusting them to monitor and assess their own risk leads to greed, and not longevity of prosperity for everyone, because the flawed part of the Trickle Down part always gets stuck in linings the rich pockets.

I think it’s hilarious that Fox News and some Conservative Politicians are calling Obama a Socialist like its a bad thing, while using the excuse “I Worked Hard for What I Have”. Excuse me, but who worked hard? To me it looks like all those people who are losing their jobs right now were some of the hardest working people out there. Most CEOs don’t even do their own dishes, let alone work. And if you think that’s not the truth, ask them, or better yet let them try to make billions of dollar without our help. See how long that lasts. What a joke…