Happy Bipartisanship: Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran!

The first joint project by Congressional Republicans and Obama may be to attack Iran.

Stratfor has already recommended that Obama attack Iran to boost his standing in the US and increase the chance of winning in 2012 Presidential election. Now the good old war-mongering Republicans will be happy to assist him.

Senator Lindsay Graham Warns Of War With Iran, Confrontation With "Cheating" China (Tyler Durden, 11/06/2010 Zero Hedge)

With republicans back in control, it was only a matter of time before the military-industrial complex reminded the world of its existence. It took about 72 hours: republican senator Lindsay Graham, who apparently has not received the memo that all modern wars are now waged in binary, and are won by those who can push the FX bid/ask the furthest and the fastest away from equilibrium, spoke at the Halifax International Security Forum, giving a very distinct taste of what US foreign policy is about to look like: "Iran is a major threat to any conceivable world order" and that he sees an almost inevitable confrontation with Iran. As AP reports, the South Carolina Republican saw the United States going to war with the Islamic republic "not to just neutralize their nuclear program, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard, in other words neuter that regime." And the Democrats, still in shock over their recent pummelling, will likely not have the resolve to respond palliatively to such warmongering, which they likely deem as supported by the broad population: "US Democratic Senator Mark Udall, who joined Graham during a panel discussion at the forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, urged continued sanctions against Iran. But he also noted that "every option is on the table," a thinly veiled reference to possible military action." And just when the world was getting along so well, and all the international bickering appeared to be taking place over various Forex terminals...

Read the rest of the article at the link.

Now, the true Tea Party Congressmen and Senators, please stand up. Not the neocon kind of Sarah Palin and her ilk (and her puppet masters). And shut up a neocon idiot like Lindsey Graham who wants to drag the bankrupt US into another costly and probably endless war.

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OT: See the Music!

The greatest thing I've ever seen in a very long time.

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, by Johann Sebastian Bach, visualized by Stephen Malinowski:

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williambanzai7: Qantitative Easing State of Mind

This guy is funny. Catch him at Zero Hedge...

Sing along, folks.

QuaNTiTaTiVe EaSiNG STaTe of MiND...

(New York State of Mind, Billy Joel)

BillyBanzai7

Some Hong Kong folks like to get away

Take a holiday from the Asian trading hood

Hop a flight to Pattaya Beach

Or to Bollywood

But I'm taking a Greyhound

On the Hudson River Line

I'm in a Quantitative Easing state of mind......


... It comes down to unreality

And it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide

Don't care if it's a buyer's town or on the sell side

I don't have any sound reasons

I've left them all behind

I'm in a Quantitative Easing state of mind .......

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Why Is Obama Going to India, Anyway?

Anyone know? Why now?

(And why is Hillary Clinton out of the US for so long?)

Here's his trip in numbers... (Over the top is an understatement.)

• 3,000 personnel to accompany him, with 3,000 already in India (total 6,000);
• Included in that 3,000 who will accompany him, 200 of his court attendants aka personal staff, and 150 journalists;
• 250 CEOs of top US companies (so that they can outsource more to India, probably);
• He will fly in with 3 jumbo jets, and 2 jumbo jets already flown in with equipments;
• 40 aircraft will follow him around;
• 34 warships including an aircraft-carrier patrol the coast (the Pentagon denies this, to be fair);
• Hotel rooms booked: 570 at Taj Mahal, 125 at Taj President, 90 at Grand Hyatt and the Oberoi (total 785 rooms, which exclude banquet rooms which were also booked);
• 45-car presidential convoy;
• 300 local Indian policemen assigned to the hotel (Taj Mahal), prohibited from ever leaving the premise until Obama is gone (these unlucky cops were selected on their English language skills); that's on top of 300 US security personnel at the hotel;
• $200 million a day (in India, could be way higher in Korea and Japan).

It looks like the entire court aka the Washington D.C. ruling elites is temporarily relocating to India for some unknown reasons (other than for the Obamas to have another state-paid vacation).

Why India bothered to invite him (or accept to receive him) is a mystery to me. I guess they had no choice. The king's wish is their command. All they can do is to grumble and snicker at Obama anonymously.

The 10-day trip could cost $2 billion, if not more. This person says it is more than the inflation-adjusted cost of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, which comes at $1.8 billion.

Deathby1000papercuts.com has links and summaries on what's been reported about this strange trip. The image below is also from their site. (The original portrait was, of course, that of le Roi Soleil, Louis the Fourteenth of France.)

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The Ulsterman Report: White House Insider Review

For your weekend enjoyment... (Some of them were quoted in a Wayne Madsen Report article, which I posted here.) There are 13 of them so far.

The Ulsterman Report: White House Insider Review
(Ulsterman, 11/5/2010 NewsFlavor)

As we wait for our next interview with our White House Insider, let us take a look back on the information already given to us by this now (in)famous political operative…

White House Insider on Obama: The President Is Losing It.
White House Insider Part 2: The President Needs To Grow Up
White House Insider: What The Hell Have We Done?
White House Insider: The Clintons Are Going For It
White House Insider Update: President Clinton Intentions Revealed
White House Insider: Obama Battling Severe Depression
White House Insider: Obama Offering Hillary Clinton Vice President Position
White House Insider: Pelosi And Obama At War
White House Insider: Michelle Obama Blowout?
White House Insider: Coming Soon – Serious White House Scandal
White House Insider: “They were in shock at the President’s behavior.”
White House Insider: “President Obama Is Lost. Absolutely Lost.”
White House Insider: Pelosi Willing To Help Take Obama Down

The last piece is dated October 31, 2010. The next article should appear any day. Dismiss them as fairy tale, gossip, whatever, but I found many of them making sense.

And here's another rebuke from someone who supported and promoted the Candidate Obama...

Mort Zuckerman: America's Love Affair With Obama Is Over (11/5/2010 US News and World Report)

I utterly failed to see his "charm" and "charisma" that everyone was talking about during the 2008 campaign and after, so I don't quite share the anger and frustration of these former supporters who had promoted an amateur lacking real experience (Zuckerman's words) and who now complain about it, as if they suddenly realize this guy is an amateur lacking real experience.

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Pelosi Running for House Minority Leader

Whoever had thought she would retire was sadly, naively mistaken. So much for ending the partisanship. Republicans are rejoycing, understandably.

From The Hill "Republicans jubilant over Pelosi decision":

House Republicans expressed jubilation on Friday over Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) decision to stay in Congress and seek the job of minority leader.

GOP figures, who had spent the better part of the 2010 campaign looking to tie Democratic incumbents to the Speaker, welcomed Pelosi's announcement this afternoon that she would run for Democratic leader rather than resign her position and possibly resign from Congress.

"The Democrats' gift to Speaker Boehner: Pelosi as Minority Leader," said Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a deputy whip, on Twitter. "I endorse Nancy Pelosi for Minority Leader."

Some people just cannot let it go. They have to hog the attention, whether it is a good attention or not. All their lives they've been told they are great, they are the best, everything they've done has been a stunning success.

As for another one of such people in the White House, he is blaming the Democratic defeat on stupid Americans who didn't understand "the message". (Hahahahaha Obama just uttered what Gary North called "the proclamation for a die-hard loser".)

Good luck Dems.

I wonder if they get in line again, like they did for two years doing the bidding of the Speaker and the Prez, for the "good of the country" no doubt.

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First US Missile Attack in Gaza Against 'Al-Qaeda'

This is not reported anywhere else, but DEBKAfile says in the November 4, 2010 article:

A missile fired from an American warship in the Mediterranean hit the car in which Muhammad Jamal A-Namnam, 27, was driving in the heart of Gaza City Wednesday, Nov. 3 and killed him, debkafile's exclusive counter-terror sources report. Namnam was an operational commander of the Army of Islam, Al-Qaeda's Palestinian cell in the Gaza Strip. He was on a mission on behalf of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – AQAP to plan, organize and execute the next wave of terrorist attacks on US targets after last week's air package bomb plot.

According to our sources, the Palestinian cell members were planning to infiltrate northern Sinai from the Gaza strip over the coming weekend and strike American personnel serving with the Multinational Force and Observers Organization – MFO, which is under American command and is stationed at North Camp, El Gorah, 37 kilometers southeast of El-Arish.

In a coordinated operation, Al Qaeda fighters hiding up in the mountains of central Sinai were to have attacked US Marines and Air Force troops stationed at the South Camp in Naama Bay, Sharm el Sheikh.

The twin attacks were scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 7, or the following day.

Our sources say that, just as US-Saudi intelligence cooperation led to the interception of package bombs from Yemen last week, so too US intelligence-sharing with Egypt and Israel foiled a major Al-Qaeda terrorist attack on American personnel in Sinai. Egyptian intelligence picked up on Namnam's scouting forays of US forces and discovered him caching weapons and explosives ready for the Al Qaeda strike force's arrival from Gaza.

Well, did you know that US Marines and Air Force troops are in Sinai, 16 kilometers from the Israeli border?

Crude oil, gold, silver are up, even though the US dollar has rebounded today.

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Brave New, Unhinged World of Fed Running Amok

That's the impression I get, just by reading the headlines at Zero Hedge. This feels like a second death of the system (the first one occurred in September 2008), and I'm sure there will be a third one, fourth one, fifth one, down the toilet.


CLSA's Chris Wood Says Bernanke Will Continue "Mad Experiment" Until He Kills US Dollar Paper Standard, Looks Toward QE3

Fitch Puts Entire US Residential Mortgage Servicer Space On Negative Outlook Over Fraudclosure Concerns

Fed's Attempt To Bloat Curve Belly Is Successful As 5s30s Goes Ballistic

Silver Breaks $26; Shows What A Little RICO Lawsuit Can Do To The Price Of A Manipulated Commodity

An Angry Brazil Calls On US To Change Its Policy Stance

Market Prices In QE 7 As S&P Says Cost To Resolve GSEs Could Approach $700 Billion, Double FHFA Estimate

And that's not even half a page...

By the way, the Federal Reserve is celebrating 100-year anniversary of its birth, on Jekyll Island, on November 5 and 6.

Celebrating the 100 years of destroying the value of US dollars, celebrating their courageous launch of QE2 (3, 4, 5, 6, .... n, until the entire yield curve flattens at exactly zero percent). Crooks.

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US Military to Build a Tunnel for Obama to Visit Ghandi Museum in Mumbai

I mean, really. Why don't they simply order, with a threat of missiles lobbed from those 34 warships, that all residents of Mumbai completely evacuate the city for three days?

Tunnel for Obama near Mani Bhavan (11/4/2010 DNA India)

It could give a sense of superior American organisation, or be an indicator of a deep-set persecution complex. It could also be a manifestation of Uncle Sam’s penchant for a show of strength.

The matter pertains to US president Barack Obama’s planned visit to Mani Bhavan —the Gandhi museum — on November 6, soon after he reaches Mumbai. On Monday, US secret agents visited the museum to plan Obama’s security detail.

They were accompanied by officers of Mumbai Police and civic officials of the D ward (where Mani Bhavan is located). While inspecting the route and the buildings lining up the route to the museum, the Americans detected a skyscraper near Peddar road and also found the area to be highly populated.

Since it is difficult to monitor such a congested area, they came up with a quick solution which left the Indians accompanying them amazed: A bomb-proof over-ground tunnel — to be installed by US military engineers in just an hour.

The tunnel would be a kilometre long and measure 12ft by 12ft — enough to let Obama’s cavalcade pass through. The tunnel would be centrally air-conditioned, fitted with close-circuit television cameras, and will be heavily guarded at every point, including, of course, its entry and exit.

Details about when exactly the tunnel would be made were not forthcoming. But officials said that the structure would be dismantled immediately after Obama leaves the area.

I can't wait to hear about what they are planning for Mrs. Obama's shopping trips.

Make it $1 billion a day.

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India Removes Coconuts from Trees to Protect Obama

This was reported on a British paper. The former colonial overlord of India seems to be amused.

Coconuts removed from trees in preparation for Barack Obama's India trip (11/4/2010 Telegraph UK)

India is preparing for Barack Obama's first visit to the country by removing coconuts from palm trees in Mumbai to protect the US president.

Mr Obama will arrive in India on Saturday for the first leg of an Asian tour.

But as well as the usual security measures that come with welcoming a a visiting dignitary, Indian authorities have decided to go one step further, by removing all natural threats to the president as well.

All coconuts around the city's Gandhi museum, one of Mr Obama's stops in the city, are being taken down.

Mani Bhavan, where Mahatma Gandhi stayed during his freedom struggle against the British, is among five places the US president is visiting in Mumbai.

"We told the authorities to remove the dry coconuts from trees near the building. Why take a chance?" Mani Bhavan's executive secretary, Meghshyam Ajgaonkar, told the BBC.

Why take a chance, indeed! While they are at it, why don't they remove all those people living and working in Mumbai, too? There may be a "terrorist" or two among them. Why take a chance?

34 warships including a aircraft carrier will protect him from the coast of Mumbai. If Obama trips over a banana, Mumbai will be bombed into oblivion.

$200 million per day? Make it double at least.

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More on Ben's Op Ed

Re-read the paragraph I quoted in the previous post. In describing a "virtuous circle" he is confident he can achieve, Ben said:

For example, lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance. Lower corporate bond rates will encourage investment. And higher stock prices will boost consumer wealth and help increase confidence, which can also spur spending. Increased spending will lead to higher incomes and profits that, in a virtuous circle, will further support economic expansion.

Does he mention ANYTHING about EMPLOYMENT here?

Hell No.

My conclusion therefore, is that the "consumer" whose wealth will increase by higher stock prices is one and the same as the one who will issue corporate bonds at lower rates - whether as the management of the issuing corporations (you can bet they are not mom and pop shops) or as the management of Wall Street banks that will underwrite the bonds. Money raised by bond issuance will be spent on stock repurchase, to boost their company shares even more. They may occasionally fling a scrap to the rest of us, who will need to spend to buy food and gas and shelter. That will lead to higher incomes and profits for the large corporations and banks, and that will be considered economic expansion.

Ben and his "consumer" take us for fools. Obama doesn't care as long as he gets to fly to his billion dollar vacation aka state visits to Asia to greet the adoring crowd, Congress either doesn't care or hasn't a clue.

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Bernanke: Why the Fed Is Doing QE2

Buy anything! Stocks, commodities, houses. Ben will make sure they will go up in price, as long as they are priced in the US dollar! (Just don't worry about the decline of the dollar.)

In the Op Ed for Thursday for Washington Post, Ben Shalom Bernanke writes:

The FOMC intends to buy an additional $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by mid-2011 and will continue to reinvest repayments of principal on its holdings of securities, as it has been doing since August.

This approach eased financial conditions in the past and, so far, looks to be effective again. Stock prices rose and long-term interest rates fell when investors began to anticipate the most recent action. Easier financial conditions will promote economic growth. For example, lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance. Lower corporate bond rates will encourage investment. And higher stock prices will boost consumer wealth and help increase confidence, which can also spur spending. Increased spending will lead to higher incomes and profits that, in a virtuous circle, will further support economic expansion.

In other words, Ben promises that $600 billion (plus $300 billion from QELite) will boost the stock market, which in turn will give us a good enough illusion that things are going well.

I don't know whether I should laugh out loud or I cry.

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QE2 + QELite = $900 Billion

by the end of 2nd Quarter 2011.

From the New York Fed who will do the actual buying:

On November 3, 2010, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to expand the Federal Reserve’s holdings of securities in the System Open Market Account (SOMA) to promote a stronger pace of economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate. In particular, the FOMC directed the Open Market Trading Desk (the Desk) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to purchase an additional $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011.

The FOMC also directed the Desk to continue to reinvest principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities into longer-term Treasury securities. Based on current estimates, the Desk expects to reinvest $250 to $300 billion over the same period, though the realized amount of reinvestment will depend on the evolution of actual principal payments.

Taken together, the Desk anticipates conducting $850 to $900 billion of purchases of longer-term Treasury securities through the end of the second quarter. This would result in an average purchase pace of roughly $110 billion per month, representing about $75 billion per month associated with additional purchases and roughly $35 billion per month associated with reinvestment purchases.

$110 billion per month, $27.5 billion per week.

Turbo Timmy will have to get busy himself issuing more debt, just so that the Fed can buy it.

The stock market did its usual Down-Up-Down-Up-Down-Up and right now Down again, with less than 30 minutes of trading.

Now flat. Whatever.

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Ron Paul Will Chair the House Subcommittee on Monetary Policy

He is the Ranking Member now. About time.

He should be the chairman of the House Financial Service Committee, replacing Barney Frank, in my opinion...

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Contrarian Position on the Fed and QE2

As the stock market awaits with bated breath, economists and big fund managers are chiming in with their opinions on QE2. Their consensus? That QE2 won't work. That it will cause more inflation than the Fed wants.

It's one thing, I think, when non-MSM financial blogs like Zero Hedge warn us the ultimate futility and disastrous consequence of QE2; quite another when it is the MSM consensus.

It is possible that this is one of the rare incidents when the majority is correct.

So, what is the contrarian position to this majority? Naturally,

• QE2 will work; and
• QE2 won't cause higher inflation.

QE2 will work? Now I think about it, it may work. Not for the "economy" that the Fed is supposedly helping, but for the financial institutions, again, just like QE1. For the TBTF banks, it will be good to have additional $1 trillion or more as "excess reserves" at the Fed, in preparation for the MBS blow-up to come.

QE2 won't cause higher inflation? To the extent that the increased excess reserves are unlikely to flow into the real economy. But the size of excess reserves does seem to matter in signaling the "inflation expectation". But then, "inflation" that matters to the Fed is the core CPI that excludes energy and food, which at this point are the only things that struggling middle-class and working families may be buying.

What's the implication for the stock market? We're about to find out the first reaction in less than 20 minutes.

As I said yesterday, no one, nothing can legally stop the Fed right now.

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GOP Takes House, Dem Keeps Senate But Not By Many

For House,
Fox Network predicts GOP to gain 65 seats;
CBS News predicts GOP to gain 58 seats;
ABC News, the site doesn't load...

If CBS is right, Republicans will have 235 seats (majority 218), and Democrats will have 181. Before the election, Republicans had 179 seats, and Democrats had 256 seats.

For Senate, Democrats seem to have managed to hold on to a majority, 51 (with 2 independent Senators often voting with Democrats), and GOP 46, net gain of 6. Democrats went from 57 to 49.

Rand Paul, who won the Senate seat in Kentucky as the "tea party" Republican, said it well: that this is not the victory to celebrate for the Republican Party, but a second chance, to become the party for small, fiscally responsible government.

The election was widely seen as the nation's vote for or against Obama's presidency. In dismal February 2009 when Obama's stimulus bill was passed and the stock market kept tanking, I didn't even dare imagine that Americans would soon start questioning the government and the administration within 4, 5 months. Americans sure got angry, and got angry very fast.

I'm glad the election is finally over. I don't need to keep blocking the campaign ads that I don't want for this blog any more.

Now it's the Federal Reserve's turn on Wednesday. The FOMC meeting announcement is coming. QE2 is coming, whatever the size or scope may be.

But the Bernanke Fed had better watch out. Rand Paul may get the seat that Senator Bunning, his predecessor, has, in the Senate Banking Committee. Senator DeMint, whose "Audit the Fed" bill was blocked by Senate Democrats, also won today by a wide margin. Two Senators who are vocal critic of the Federal Reserve.

Too bad Peter Schiff lost in the Connecticut primary...

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No Photo-Op for Obama on Election Day?

No, because he already cast his vote last week by absentee ballot.

Huh?

I guess I'm used to seeing politicians casting their votes on an election day with cameramen right there to capture the moment...

Instead, he is supposedly learning what to say during his upcoming Indian trip, which may cost $200 million a day.

Peanuts! That is about 5 percent increase to the daily increase of the national debt ($4.16 billion).

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$200 Million A Day for Obama's India Visit???

That can't be right, can it?

But an Indian news outlet reports that's how much it will cost the US taxpayers for Obama's visit to Mumbai, India, which comes almost right after the election that is likely to cost his party dearly. Obama and his grand entourage are departing the US on November 5.

From NDTV:

Mumbai: The US would be spending a whopping $200 million (Rs. 900 crore approx) per day on President Barack Obama's visit to the city.

"The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit," a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said.

About 3,000 people including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists would accompany the President. Several officials from the White House and US security agencies are already here for the past one week with helicopters, a ship and high-end security instruments.

Obama will be in India for 3 and a half days from November 6 to November 9, when he departs for Jakarta, Indonesia.

If the above report is anywhere near accurate, the India leg alone will cost $800 million. It is a 10-day trip, I've heard. Indonesia (Nov 9-10), South Korea (G20 Summit, Nov 11-12), and Japan (APEC Summit, Nov 13-14) are not cheap destinations either.

The potential total for the trip: $2 billion.

Fit for an king, an emperor, a despot, a dictator, a fool.

A greater fool would be the taxpayers, who will be honored to foot the bill.

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November FOMC Meeting Starts Tomorrow

and concludes on Wednesday. The statement will be issued shortly after 2:00PM EST. If you still invest in the stock market, don't freak out if you see Dow spike 100 points in a matter of seconds and collapse 150 points the next few seconds. Traders (or algo bots) seem to enjoy doing that kind of theatrics at FOMC announcement. It's almost like a ritual.

However, this particular FOMC meeting may trigger different reaction from the market, all because of .....

QE2 or not QE2? How much? How long? What will the Fed buy this time?

The emerging consensus seems to be: Yes, the Fed's going to do QE2; it will be $500 billion or more for several months (6 months or so), and it will be Treasuries that the Fed will purchase, although there are some who expect mortgage-backed securities to be included in the purchase. (See Bloomberg for more.)

The consensus in the blogsphere is that QE2 will be the dumbest thing to do, which will damage the real economy by destroying the dollar. Zero Hedge's Tyler Durden called QE2 an act of war by Bernanke against the middle class and the holders of US dollar denominated assets.

The world as we knew it died already in September-October 2008. The world as we've known since then will die on Wednesday.

What's the big deal, you may ask. The Fed already did QE1, for more than $1 trillion. What's the big deal now with $500 billion?

Back when it did QE1, the purpose was to provide liquidity in the banking system which had frozen. This time, Ben and the Inkjets will do it to create inflation. In their minds, inflation means the economy is expanding. Inflation means more people are employed. Inflation means people are spending. If you think that's BS, it is.

Congressman Ron Paul wanted to audit the Fed. He wanted to do it for three decades. His bill finally passed the House in 2009. In the Senate, Senator Sanders capitulated and agreed to significantly weaken the Senate version of the bill. That was on the day of the "flash crash", May 6, 2010.

I'm more or less resigned to the fate that QE2 will bring. Why? Because I don't see any mechanism that can stop the Federal Reserve from doing what it says it wants to do "for the good of the country", where "the country" is represented by the bankers and politicians connected to them. No one can stop the Fed.

Just look at the website address of the Federal Reserve. The only entity that has ".gov" is Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in Washington DC, because the board members (currently 6) are appointed by the president and confirmed by Congress. Aha, you say, the Fed is a government agency! Well, not really. The board members are pre-selected and suggested by the member bankers, and all the president does is to rubber-stamp their choices. Ditto for Congress. The bank that will do QE2 is the Reserve Bank of New York, whose web address ends with ".org", just like all the other regional Feds. They are private entities.

If they screw up big time, what will happen to them? Nothing. Or I should say nothing bad.

Alan Greenspan presided over the dot-com bubble and the ramp-up of the housing market bubble and securitization bubble. What happened to him? He was given the knighthood, and awarded the most august honors in the US, France, and UK. Ben Bernanke declared the housing market was sound, and the problem was confined to subprime mortgages. Was he fired for his incompetence? He was re-confirmed for the second term as the Fed chief.

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Tea Party Elected Jimmy Carter

so says Jimmy Carter.

From Andy Barr of Politico today:

Jimmy Carter says he was elected president in 1976 by many of the same elements that fuel the new tea party movement.

“I don’t have any criticism of the members of the tea party,” the former Democratic president said Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”

Carter then claimed “a lot of those same people, 30 years ago, were the ones who put me in the White House.”

He distinguished, however, between the grassroots activists that he says helped elect him and the tea party, by arguing that the current crop “doesn't realize that they are financed by oligarchs, in the oil industry primarily.”

Carter also predicted that Democrats were sure to lose the House in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

“That's almost a foregone conclusion,” he said.

But, he said, he hopes Republicans won’t be able to take control of the Senate, too, adding “I don’t think they will.”

That's an interesting turnaround coming from Carter, who called the very "tea party" people who descended in Washington DC in September 2009 "racists" for opposing America's first black president.

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Wayne Madsen: 25th Amendment, Section 4 for Obama?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

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