Defense spending.
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Posted by Amorette Allison (+12509) 9 years ago
http://www.wired.com/dang...increases/

Yikes. I mean . . .YIKES! The INCREASE in our spending annually is more than Russia's ENTIRE budget. What the heck?!?!?!

[This message has been edited by Amorette Allison (4/5/2013)]
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Posted by Oddjob (+186) 9 years ago
Hey. You voted for the guy.

Twice.

In spite of the fact that Obama is responsible for nothing but rainbows, unicorns and golf outings, the Republicans are not doing this with 1/3 of the governing power. Nothing gets through the Senate unless Harry Reid wants it and nothing is appropriated without BO's signature.

Oh, and Bush? He hasn't been in town for a long while...He quit spending about $8 Trillion ago.

Don't sweat the small stuff, Amorette. Just remember the only thing you have to worry about is Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Romney's tax returns.
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Posted by howdy (+4947) 9 years ago
Hey oddjob, guess you never heard of the GOP personal use of the filibuster....the GOP control the senate quite well that way...do your research...
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Posted by Amorette Allison (+12509) 9 years ago
Yeah, Congress just rolls over and does whatever the president asks. I noticed that. That's why we have single payer health care, the wealthy are paying their fair share of taxes and the safety net for the poor, disabled, sick and elderly is so strong.

This has been going on for 50 years, under lots of presidents and lots of Congresses. It got worse when two trumped up wars were invented in order to ship pallets of cash. We need to stop saying "Well, YOUR guy. . ." and start saying, "Hey, this is out of control. No one in the military wants these overpriced weapons systems so why are we building them."
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Posted by Oddjob (+186) 9 years ago
Howdy said

"GOP personal use of the filibuster"

Google this....."Democrats" "Filibuster"

You need a little work on the research side yourself. Use of the filibuster has skyrocketed since 1994, when the Democrats lost a 40 year stranglehold on Congress.
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Posted by Richard Bonine, Jr. (+15423) 9 years ago
Amorette Allison wrote:


This has been going on for 50 years, under lots of presidents and lots of Congresses. It got worse when two trumped up wars were invented in order to ship pallets of cash. We need to stop saying "Well, YOUR guy. . ." and start saying, "Hey, this is out of control. No one in the military wants these overpriced weapons systems so why are we building them."


Exactly!
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Posted by coffeedrunk (+50) 9 years ago
This has very little to do with democrats and republicans, but a lot to do with lobbist. We have the best set of laws private interest can buy. The question becomes, what is their interest? Bush and Obama are the same puppets doing the same bidding for the same masters.

Bush started placing bases and troops around the nations which are controled by orthodoxical beleifs, and Obama is continueing that. Democrats are supposed to be anti-war, Right? If you think for one second that Obama is not about to take us to war, you are wrong.

You see Russia is dominated by the Christian orthodoxy, as Iran is dominated by the Sharia which is an orthodoxical form of the Muslim faith. China is a culture of Orthodxical traditionalist, which makes them an automatic enemy of the Progressive movement. The nations which Bush took us to war with are also Muslim orthodoxical systems. This is about doing away with the old ways, and replacing them with the newer and improved ways of tolerace and love of the eco-system Going green

This is, as President Bush said publically "a culture war". A lot of whites are being tricked into thinking that it is their culture which is being descriminated against, but this is only about 20% true. The main culture which is being targeted is the strongman, or (extremist).

This is nothing more than an attempt by the intellectual elite to take out what they see as useless eater and tough guys. Because they are pencil pushing worms which are spooked as easily as a herd of Mustangs.

Governments want populations which do not question them, and are willing to give their own life if their beliefs become outdated, all for the betterment of the world of course.

What happens when the secular progressives win this global war on the old ways and beleifs, then find themselves looking down the same barrel because their way is not progressive enough at that point.

Now here is a video which outlines all of the military bases we have, and where they are.

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Posted by Oddjob (+186) 9 years ago
Amorette said:

"This has been going on for 50 years, under lots of presidents and lots of Congresses."

Probably more like 150 years.

So what's the solution short of an armed insurgency by the people? Give me a reasonable scenario for how the Country can peacefully extricate itself from this mess.

The system is entirely rigged by collusion between both Parties who control an election process that will only allow the "chosen ones" to fill the seats. The Parties control the rules for primary elections and caucuses in every State to ensure no third parties and that the most malleable candidates end up on the ballots. Witness the actions by the GOP leadership in Nevada several years ago when they shut down the State Convention, as it appeared that Ron Paul supporters had enough votes to swing the National Convention delegation to Paul. The leadership was not ever going to let that happen.

And, they got away with it. The sheeple just bleated for a while, then wandered off.

Foolish Conservatives have blind, stupid hope for system change with the selection of so-called "Tea Party" candidates. What a laugh. Here we have Tea Party pretty-boy Marco Rubio, cavorting with the likes of Chuck Schumer, Dick Durban, John McCain and Lindsey Graham to enable the legalization of 20 million alien invaders. It didn't take much time or effort to roll Rubio and the rest will follow.

The Democrats. Hah! The Democrats are so far in the tank it doesn't even warrant discussion. They are of one socialist mind and body, and have been since Woodrow Wilson.

You want change? You want "common sense" solutions to runaway taxation, spending and graft? Well, you will never get it with the "untouchables" in control and you will never change it at the ballot box because the fix is in. We are already in a state of de facto Fascism because the Government feeds the corporations and in turn, the corporations are entirely dependent. Both feed off of your labor and the only way for them to survive is to enslave you by confiscating your wealth and property.

What is happening is uncontrollable and unsustainable, in spite of the propaganda coming from useful idiots like Paul Krugman and Ben Bernanke. You can't monetize increasing debt forever. Without serious restructuring, the US will suffer the same fate as Greece, Crete and eventually, the European Union. If you don't believe that, watch them as they have already started the move to confiscate private money and bank accounts. The same thing will happen here. The imposition of tyranny is coming because the crash is inevitable. That train has left the station.

Maybe now it's possible to understand why a significant portion of the population is preparing for war by grabbing every available gun and box of ammo.

They get it.
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Posted by Amorette Allison (+12509) 9 years ago
Okay. I give up. I'm going to hide in the basement with my guns and dried fruit and let the world go to hell in a handbasket. You've convinced me.

Sigh.
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Posted by Richard Bonine, Jr. (+15423) 9 years ago
What is happening is uncontrollable and unsustainable, in spite of the propaganda coming from useful idiots like Paul Krugman and Ben Bernanke. You can't monetize increasing debt forever.


"Idiot" and "Paul Krugman" don't belong in the same sentence. Since when have we actually tried what Mr. Krugman has recommended? I think his recommendations make a lot of sense and would avoid the impending collapse. Austerity has not worked anywhere it has been tried. We should take the hint and do something else, just as Mr. Krugman has suggested. Pretty sure he understands the issue better than you or I, Oddjob.
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Posted by coffeedrunk (+50) 9 years ago
Paul Kruger (krugman) said he would take the assests as well as print more fiat to help out an ailing nations economy.

http://beforeitsnews.com/...04472.html

Bens solution is more government controls like interest rates manipulations to improve credit and housing woes.

http://www.opednews.com/a..._solut.htm

I do not think it matters, since their interference and will to control the FREE MARKETS is where we went wrong in the first place. Untill control is taken away from the central banking regulators, and placed back in the hands of the people, we will continue this downward spiral. When we allow high frequency traders to naked short OUR monetary freedom, we give them the power to circuvent out electorial vote. When bankers collude with private interest to back housing loans for any specific group or groups, that is manipulation. That form of manipulation is different from the LIBOR type of manipulation, but it is equally as detrimental, as we found out in 2008.

Untill people as well as large banks and businesses are allowed to rise and fall based solely on their profitablity, we will be under the control of hidden socialism.
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Posted by howdy (+4947) 9 years ago
OMG, that type of thinking is what is wrong with this country IMO...to say Paul Krugmans ideas have been tried is not true...they haven't been...You, sir, invent as you go along apparently...I shall back away from this conversation as I cannot debate with a person that invents his own facts...over and out...

http://www.huffingtonpost...23857.html

[This message has been edited by howdy (4/7/2013)]
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Posted by Amorette Allison (+12509) 9 years ago
Um, free markets lead to the 1928 stock market crash and the 2008 stock market crash. "Free" markets suck up all the money until they collapse.

It is SO FRUSTRATING to try to talk to people who have all the answers. For example, there are no "illegal invaders." There ARE undocumented workers, only 11 million, not 20, and the flow of undocumented immigrants is the LOWEST it has been in 20 years. Blaming them is not helping anything. They are part of the economy and contribute to it and we need to figure out how to deal with them, not demonize them.

No, Krugman's ideas haven't been used. Austerity is killing European economies. We maybe should try something else.

De-regulation has made the economy worse. Lower taxes on the wealthy has made the economy worse. Maybe we should try the reverse and see what happens. Just for giggles.

A bunch of folks running around threatening to kill folks they disagree with does not help anything. Why not stop running around threatening folks and start talking to them. And, here is the biggie, LISTENING to them.
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Posted by Jeri Dalbec (+3264) 9 years ago
I really think that the book, "The Prophets of War" explains so much of the spending. It is all about Lockheed Martin and their hold on the Government. Almost every State has some business that contributes to the needs of the military and they use what would be the loss of a massive number of jobs as an excuse. So much to deal with and has been going on for years. Lots of idle "stuff" manufactured and sitting there.
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Posted by Gunnar Emilsson (+18349) 9 years ago
Yes, these guys are idiots. I have been reading Paul Krugman's column for at least 10 years, and as far as I can tell, the guy is rarely wrong. Go read his columns from 6-7 years ago. He was correct on so many things...the stimulus wasn't enough to get the economy going again, but enough to stave off the second Great Depression, and European austerity programs are doomed to fail. All of which came true.
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Posted by coffeedrunk (+50) 9 years ago
I agree that there was a lack of proper regulation of organizations such as Acorn, since their hand in the passage of the community reinvestment act of 1977 was the start of all the housing collapse. It was also their hand that forced the barbaric amendment to the act in 1995. Anyone who disputes these FACT is lost in the trueism of modern day finance.

Obama was a young budding politician and community organizer at the time supporting acorns position to easy lending regulations so that minorities could become home owners more easily. He suceeded in getting the bill passed, and fannie may and freddie mac (financial terrorist zombie banks) began giving out loans to people who had not only no credit, but bad credit as well.


It was actually an amendment to this act in 1995 that forced all banks to give loans to broke people, or be called racist and a non-equal oppurutunity lender, hence losing their FDIC support.

Fannie and freddie then took all of these "what they new were bad loans about to be in default" and packeaged them into collaterlised debt obligations and sold them to the rest of the banking industry, and due to the amendment in 1995 the banks had to buy or face certain harsh penalty.

The truth is that after 1971, all regulators and private interest groups began grabbing power and jocking for positions. The intelligent question would be to ask yourselves why after 1971, what happened in 1971 that made financial regulations so easy to manipulate.

In 1971 we left the system of finance where our money's value was tied to a finite amount of any one item (gold). Many people ask what is it that gives gold its value, and why would we want to use it? The only thing that gives any item its true value is supply and demand. If a government can print money at will, than everyone has it, so its value is less. But if money is scarce, then everyone wants it and its value is high. Gold is always a limited item, and takes labor to get it from the ground and into circulation.

This is why Gold is the ultimate store of value, and is the only system of exchange that has ever lasted, all fiats have fallen and will continue to do so.

Here are a two movies that outline Acorns hand in the subprime scandal to steal the wealth from hard working savers, and another to outline what a currency is, since you guys apparently do not comprehend.



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Posted by coffeedrunk (+50) 9 years ago
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Posted by Mary B. (+205) 9 years ago
It was actually an amendment to this act in 1995 that forced all banks to give loans to broke people, or be called racist


Please cite your [verifiable] source.
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Posted by Amorette Allison (+12509) 9 years ago
I got it from Faux News or InfoWars, which blames people of color for the collapse of the housing industries. The poor banks were just victims of those scheming PoC.

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Posted by Gunnar Emilsson (+18349) 9 years ago
"coffeedrunk" is high on something other than coffee, that's for sure.


When are our Lizard Overlords coming to take over Earth, coffeedrunk?
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Posted by coffeedrunk (+50) 9 years ago
http://www.federalreserve..._about.htm

The Community Reinvestment Act is intended to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations. It was enacted by the Congress in 1977 (12 U.S.C. 2901) and is implemented by Regulation BB (12 CFR 228). The regulation was substantially revised in May 1995 and updated again in August 2005.
The Fed, together with the other financial regulatory agencies, is currently considering what can be done to make CRA a more effective regulatory incentive going forward to address an unprecedented set of community needs in the wake of the foreclosure crisis. As part of this regulatory initiative, the agencies held CRA hearings and invited written comments on how to improve CRA in June 2010. In December, the agencies published amendments to the rule to encourage financial institutions to participate in activities aimed at revitalizing areas designated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for funds under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program



This is WIKIPEDIA

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA, Pub.L. 95-128, title VIII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977, 91 Stat. 1147, 12 U.S.C. ยง 2901 et seq.) is a United States federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to help meet the needs of borrowers in all segments of their communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

The Act instructs the appropriate federal financial supervisory agencies to encourage regulated financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered, consistent with safe and sound operation (Section 802.) To enforce the statute, federal regulatory agencies examine banking institutions for CRA compliance, and take this information into consideration when approving applications for new bank branches or for mergers or acquisitions (Section 804.)[6]

There are many more places in which information about the community reinvestment act can be found, these are only a couple. The federal rezerve admits ots intentions on there web site when explaining the CRA's purpose, it is to grade a community as a whole rather than an individuals credit worthyness. So if I have great credit, and save money to improve my fiscal position, then my neighbor can still screw it all up for me when it comes to my financing rates "which are adjusted due to ones credit rating". So the responsible savers pay for the scrubs, underachievers, and drug addicts. I fell to see the capitalist ideals at work here.
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Posted by Bob L. (+5098) 9 years ago
Holy poop, it's the stupidist man alive!

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Posted by Mary B. (+205) 9 years ago
From YOUR sources...

The Act instructs the appropriate federal financial supervisory agencies to encourage regulated financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered, consistent with safe and sound operation (Section 802.)


That sure sounds like "make loans to broke people, god dammit."

or be called racist


I know you must have provided this in your reference material, but I am missing it. Could you be so kind as to point out this verbiage for me?
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Posted by coffeedrunk (+50) 9 years ago
http://news.investors.com...htm?p=full

The democrats have actually admitted before congressional hearings that the CRA did "may have" ignite the housing collapse.

I am no Fox news watcher, I oppose the dems for interference with the free markets, as well as the repucks for their interference.

When legislation barred lenders from discriminating on the basis of race, they began to discriminate on the basis of geography, refusing to lend money for residences within areas deemed unsafe, which often were areas of minority concentration. This practice was called "redlining" because such areas were originally outlined in red on maps by investment bankers.

The community reinvestment amendments were designed to end the redlineing practice. Every time a bank or rich lender comes up with a set of guidelines by which it uses to judge a persons credit worthiness, some special interest comes along and regulates their money. I am not on the side of JP Morgan or the likes, but this was an attempt to bridge the gap between rich whites and poor minorities, and it back fired.

Shut your trap bob if you have nothing worth adding to the overall truth about the financial situation we are in.

[This message has been edited by coffeedrunk (4/8/2013)]
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Posted by cj sampsel (+483) 9 years ago
Thank you Coffeedrunk. With the ouster of Cheryl and Cactus Plains
MC.Com was getting pretty boring.
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Posted by Bob L. (+5098) 9 years ago
To the stupidest man alive:

I've forgotten more about the Community Reinvestment Act than you will ever know.

But you won't believe me, so how about the Comptroller of the currency:

The Comptroller of the Currency. John C. Dugan, agrees: "CRA [the Community Reinvestment Act] is not the culprit behind the subprime mortgage lending abuses, or the broader credit quality issues in the marketplace. Indeed, the lenders most prominently associated with subprime mortgage lending abuses and high rates of foreclosure are lenders not subject to CRA. A recent study of 2006 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data showed that banks subject to CRA and their affiliates originated or purchased only six percent of the reported high cost loans made to lower-income borrowers within their CRA assessment areas."**

* Remarks by John C. Dugan, Comptroller of the Currency, before the Enterprise Annual Network Conference (November 19, 2008 ), available at http://www.occ.gov/ftp/re...8-136a.pdf
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Posted by Richard Bonine, Jr. (+15423) 9 years ago
I thought the hard vs soft currency debate was settle during the Rutherford B. Hayes administration. I guess not.
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Posted by Amorette Allison (+12509) 9 years ago
Interesting character, Rutherford B. Promised to serve only one term and he did. We could use a man like Hayes these days.
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