Post-Election: Will California Lead the Nation?

For good or bad, California has been the trend-setter of things to come for the rest of the country.

This time, post-election, California has:

Passed Proposition 30 to raise tax on California residents supposedly pay for "education":

A frend was in a gathering at a public school yesterday, where the educators and administrators and well-wishing moms and dads were gloating over the passage of Proposition 30 which will tax every California residents extra so that California schools have "enough" money to "educate" children. Knowing how these school administrators earning 6-figure salaries have squandered money that was borrowed on the back of the California taxpayers in the past, she wondered how they would justify burdening their fellow Californians for more waste. Well, the cure-all slogan is the same after all: "It's for the kids!" This particular school hopes to use the new-found money to purchase tissue paper boxes, among other things.

Prop 30 will not only raise taxes on the income of more than $250,000 (which in California is not that rich, particularly in Bay Area) for seven years, but also hike the already high sales tax by a quarter percent for four years. However, nowhere is it said that the money raised will be definitely used for schools. Minor details for these educators.

Handily defeated Proposition 37 that would have required labeling of GMO food:

Flawed as it may have been, Californians overall were easily persuaded by the coalition of big ag and food businesses in the US with a ton of money (Monsanto, whose ex-VP advises Obama on food safety, alone spent $8 million to defeat the Proposition 37) not to require GMO labeling because "it will hurt small farmers and retailers". Eat GMO and support small farmers! (Oh wait, have I heard that before somewhere else?)

Handily voted in Proposition 39 on "green initiatives" (supposedly):

The proposition was bankrolled by a hedge fund manager to the tune of 32 million dollars. Prop 39 will requires multistate businesses to pay income taxes based on percentage of their sales in California, and dedicate revenues for five years to clean/efficient energy projects. After that, the money may be used for schools. Sure.

So who is this hedge fund? Farallon Capital management LLC is based in San Francisco, catering to high net worth individuals. Mr. Thomas F. Steyer, who generously "donated" 32 million dollars to his campaign for Prop 39, is the Co-Senior Managing Member of the firm.

Let's see, which companies will be the first to simply pick up and leave California? Oil and gas companies are my guess.

And most importantly,

Handed Democratic "super majority" in the State Assembly:

What does that mean? It means the Democrats in the Assembly alone can amend the state constitution, override the governor's veto if they are so inclined, pass anything including raising taxes without Assembly vote or public vote. I'm sure it will be either "for the kids" or "for the environment" or "for stopping global warming". Or better yet, "for fiscal responsibility". The easiest target will be Proposition 13. The next easiest will be to charge sales tax on food, with a promise that low-income families will be exempt.

Overall, rent seekers' victory over the productive class that is getting smaller almost by the hour.

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Marc Faber's Asset Protection Plan: Machine Gun, Tank

He's joking, he says. He lists these two items to protect against "unintended consequences of market manipulation" by Mr. Bernanke under Mr. Obama, who he says "basically doesn't care about piling up debt".

"[U]nintended"?

From Zero Hedge (11/7/2012):

Faber on President Obama’s reelection:

“I am surprised with the reelection of Mr. Obama. The S&P is only down like 30 points. I would have thought that the market on his reelection should be down at least 50%...I think Mr. Obama is a disaster for business and a disaster for the United States. Not that Mr. Romney would be much better, but the Republicans understand the problem of excessive debt better than Mr. Obama who basically doesn't care about piling up debt. You also have in the background Mr. Bernanke, who with artificially low interest rates enables the debt to essentially escalate endlessly.”

Onwhere he sees the equity markets given Obama’s reelection:

“You have offsetting factors. The problem with Mr. Obama is that you get more regulation and it’s disincentive for businessmen to hire people. You probably also get higher taxes, so in terms of the economy, he is very negative in my view. But you still have Mr. Bernanke, and you still have because of money printing very high corporate earnings. They are now coming down, but they are still at the elevated level. You have money printing supporting the market and on the other hand, you have an economic slowdown globally which will affect earnings negatively. It is difficult to tell where the market will go because we have so much manipulation. I think, minimum, it will drop 20%.”

On how investors should protect their assets:

“They should buy themselves a machine gun…I need to buy a tank. Joking aside, look, we have manipulated markets. Whenever you manipulate markets, you will get unintended consequences. i think the reelection is unintended consequence of money printing, that favors the so- called 0.25%. It was easy for the Democrats to attack the wealthy fat cats of Wall Street, the elite, and the privileged people to portray them as a profiteer of the system, which to some extent, they are. Not because they wanted to but because Mr. Bernanke enabled them to be profiteers. We have a situation where you have today Mr. Obama, I doubt he will stay at the presidency for another four years. I think there will be so many scandals, but that’s another story.”

Zero Hedge has the video of Mr. Faber's interview with Bloomberg TV.

The stock market looks to stage a DCB (dead cat bounce) from the drop of over 300 points in Dow Jones Industrial on Wednesday, with Dow E-Mini futures (December) right now 34 up from the close of the day. Not much of a bounce but flat-lining. For now.

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Post Election, US 10-Year Note and Smith & Wesson Up, Up and Away

10-Year Treasury Note: Risk off, or simply front-running Ben.

Smith and Wesson: Risk on, or front-running Obama. Gapped up on a heavy volume.

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US Presidential Election: It's 4 More Years with Obama

Declares CNN, NBC.

Four more years with Ben Bernanke the Money Printer is also assured. Good luck with that, too.

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Quick check on the Japanese reaction is very favorable, not at all surprising from a country with 86% support for Obama. Many on Twitter says Obama is better for Japan.

Huh?

But as I said before, these people are in a fairyland where the US will press TPP, GMO, Ospray, military bases, more US Treasury purchase on Japan and somehow the president of the US is not involved in any of these. Not to mention it is the land where radioactive materials are safe as long as the government says so.

Also, as a country who has been still attempting to resurrect the moribund economy for over 20 years using the Keynesian method of the government-led "stimulus" and has so far miserably failed, they wish for the handy defeat of the Republicans in the 2014 election so that the US money printing and government-led "stimulus" under Ben and Obama will continue.

It's amusing to read Nikkei, who seems to think there is a vast majority of middle class Americans (i.e. working for GM and Chrysler in Ohio) who ardently supported Obama for the economic recovery. Sure. Middle class.

And the Japanese are happy to see "Sesame Street" continues.

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US Dow Futures Down 111 Points, S&P Down 14, Nasdaq Down 21, Gold Up, 10-Year Note Up, JP Yen Up, Risk Off

Screenshot from Bloomberg:

Gold is holding. From Kitco:

US Treasury 10 year note (price), from Ino:

US dollar index, from Ino:

And where is money going from US dollar? Japanese yen:

It looks like "risk off". Pricing in 4 more years in the doldrums under the incumbent, it seems. The only thing for sure is the Fed chairman's money printing.

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US Presidential Election: Vote Counting Has Started

Obama got Vermont, Romney got Kentucky, West Virginia, according to AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney captured Kentucky and West Virginia and President Barack Obama countered with Vermont on Tuesday night in a duel for the White House shadowed by a weak economy and high unemployment that crimped middle class dreams for millions.

In the popular vote, Romney led 51 percent to 48 percent with less than 1 percent of the nation's precincts tallied.

Japan's Nikkei says Romney got Indiana. The Japanese media's coverage of the US election has been pretty much in line with that of the US mainstream media such as New York Times and Washington Post.

Fox News's tally is right now 78 Obama, 82 Romney. It doesn't seem to be a big surprise so far. Romney leads in popular vote.

The magic number is 270.

Go Obama! cheer the Japanese net citizens.

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NY Staten Island Residents in Dire Need for Fresh Underwear

"Election? What election?" must be the thinking of the residents today on Tuesday November 6.

"Hurricane damage? What hurricane damage?" must be the thinking of most of the US mainstream media, whose coverage of the Hurricane Sandy damage in the northeast US has been minimal; what little they've reported is mostly about Manhattan, or about President Obama's very brief visit to New Jersey.

The Staten Island Borough President says "It's like a third-world nation."

And "Nor'Easter" is coming.

From Fox News New York (11/6/2012):

Plea for underwear on Staten Island

Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro says the people of his community are in desperate need of fresh underwear.

"It's like a third-world nation," Molinaro said in a phone interview on Tuesday's Good Day New York.

He says so much other clothing has been donated that they are not accepting anymore.

"What we do need right now is underwear; undergarments for children and adults," Molinaro says. "That we need desperately."

Molinaro says that people can bring underwear to Miller Field on Father Capodanno Blvd. or New Dorp Lane.

The Borough President is very concerned about the storm that is expected to hit the island on Thursday.

"The protection we had at the shoreline is all gone," Molinaro says. "A lot of our berms are gone."

He says a five foot storm surge could create new devastation.

"The problem that we're having is that there are so many people without electric, in homes that are partially destroyed, they're afraid of looters and we have to reach them."

As for the election, he says that is not high on his list of priorities.

"I have not checked on the voting process. I'm not concerned about it. I'm not interested at all. I got people that are still trapped in their houses. Hundreds of people are without lights. Hundreds and hundreds of people are without shelter and we have a major storm coming. The furthest thing from my mind is the voting."

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US Presidential Election: NBC Revealed "Result" One Day Early

In the meantime in the US, one day before the presidential election, NBC inadvertently released the screen of the "result" of the presidential election. As Politico's Dylan Byers notes, a test page for Tuesday's election results has gone public on NBC.

NBC's "result":

• Popular vote Romney 55%, Obama 43%, with 16% in;

• Electoral College Obama 280, Romney 257, with 270 needed to win

From Politico (11/5/2012):

Don't worry, Obama fans. The screen has since been corrected, and CNBC's Jim Cramer (of Mad Money fame) is predicting 98-440 (electoral college) landslide victory for Obama.

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President Obama Enjoys 73.7-Point Lead Over Mr. Romney, in Japan

The chart below is from France 24, quoting AFP (11/2/2012):

It is amusing to see these numbers and occasional chatter on Japanese Twitter praising how wonderful Mr. Obama is for America and Japan, while the same people are opposing the US presence in Japan and East Asia and vehemently against the TPP trade pact and hate Monsanto and GE.

I suppose they are saying President Obama is not in charge of anything that displeases the Japanese - i.e. he is not in charge of anything (therefore he can do no wrong), but purely a symbolic figure of "hope" and "change".

They may not know either that GE's CEO is Mr. Obama's job czar, and the former Monsanto VP and lobbyist is his food safety czar. If they do know, probably they don't believe.

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OT: US Presidential Debate No.2 in Word Clouds

via Zero Hedge (10/16/2012):

Obama: Governor Romney just got going sure want people jobs

Romney: People get going jobs four years president

Anheuser-Busch provided free beer crafted in small batches to the reporters.

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Democratic Strategist: Look, Romney Cheated! He Took Out Some Suspicious White Object (Cheat Sheet) from His Pocket! ...... Oh Never Mind It Was a Handkerchief...

From CBS News (10/5/2012; part)

Upon Further Review: Mitt Romney May Have Cheated To Win The Debate

...But there was a moment in the debate that will be discussed in the days ahead that everyone missed until yesterday.

A review of the debate tape reveals that, apparently, Mitt Romney needed a cheat sheet to keep the lies straight.

The rules of the presidential debates are clear about not bringing outside notes and presidents and aspirants have followed the rule for decades.

Video of the first eleven seconds of the debate available on YouTube shows Mitt Romney reaching into his pocket at the moment he is out of view of those in front of him, he used the lectern as a shield, and removing what appears to be folded papers from his pocket.

We see this because the camera that was broadcasting was behind Romney. Those in the audience and the moderator may have been shielded from his sleight of hand, but not the viewers.

Romney then proceeds to unfold the item in front of him. ...

Well never mind that he was seen wiping off his face with this suspicious white item.

Then, Democratic strategist Mr. Bill Buck later issued an update after this "Romney cheated!" meme traveled fast and wide on the net, and said it was just a handkerchief after all, and went on to ridicule Romney for carrying a handkerchief in his pocket and using it:

Update (from the same article):

The evidence seems to indicate it was a handkerchief. So there you have it folks. The mystery seems to have been solved.

But ye olde Mitt Romney saying, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, doesn’t seem to hold true for news aggregator that just this week promoted a five year old story that was covered five years ago — and was not a story.

I have no desire to be part of the peddlers of conspiracy and falsehoods like the birthers or the truthers.

I did write an essay pointing out that there were questions that should be asked and that there was suspicious behavior on the part of Mitt Romney.

Those questions have been put to rest. Honestly, I do not know a person that carries a cloth rag in their pocket when they have a runny nose — it is a little gross.

It doesn’t change the fact that it is incredibly stupid to walk into a Presidential debate and sneak something from your pocket. There is advance staff to take care of tissues.

It also doesn’t change the fact that Romney distorted his campaign proposals and presented a very different version of Mitt Romney than the one that has been running for President for more than half a decade.

So it seems that Mitt Romney did indeed memorize his lies rather than bring a laundry list of them with him. And he carries a hanky.

About Bill Buck

Bill Buck is a Democratic strategist, President of the Buck Communications Group, a media relations and new media strategies consulting business based in Washington, DC, and Managing Director of the online ad firm Influence DSP. He has over twenty years of international and national communications experience. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.

I guess there is no news editor at CBS when it comes to verifying an attack piece on the president's foe.

The commenters in the comment section of the article are accusing CBS of furiously deleting comments that ridicule the article. Currently, there are 96 comments, but some are saying at one point there were over 800 comments. The article has been retweeted 8,600 times. If you google "Romney cheated", it returns over 11 million results.

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CNBC: 'We're Heading for Recession,' Says Sam Zell

For those of you in countries which count on the senseless consumer spending in the US (China and Japan, for example), things may not happen to your liking.

From CNBC via Yahoo Finance (10/2/2012; emphasis is mine):

A compounding lack of confidence in the future has kept American companies from investing in their businesses and is leading the country back into recession, real estate mogul Sam Zell told CNBC.

The CEO of Equity Group Investments, which holds multiple publicly traded companies primarily in the real estate space, said a lack of leadership in Washington is keeping the $2 trillion or so of cash on company balance sheets on the sidelines.

That's happening even as the Federal Reserve continues pumping liquidity, which Zell said is being used only to prop up the stock market.

"Nobody wants to make commitments beyond tomorrow," Zell said during a"Squawk Box" interview. "One of these (recession) triggers is when enterprise projects start getting delayed. We're heading for a recession and that's exactly what you're looking at now. You're looking at capital expenditures across the board being deferred for a reason: There's no confidence."

The U.S. economy remains mired in high unemployment, at 8.1 percent, and low growth, in which gross domestic product gained just 1.3 percent in the second quarter.

While not mentioning President Barack Obama by name, Zell has been a critic of the administration and said it is "using the executive branch to legislate by fiat or by threat."

Zell has donated $70,000 to the campaign of Republican challenger Mitt Romney through the candidate's political action committee.

"We need leadership, not criticism. We need encouragement, not discouragement," he said. "Until that scenario changes, I think the United States is, quote-unquote and I hate to use this word, in a malaise."

Yet Zell said he does not envy whoever wins the race because of the myriad challenges the country faces.

"Whichever guy wins is going to have to do an enormous amount of stuff very immediately," he said. "It's very hard and, based on all the stuff we're looking at, very hard not to assume that we're on the cusp of going back into recession."

In case of Europe's euro zone, recession is already happening. The central bank of Australia (Reserve Bank of Australia) cut the key rate on Tuesday by 0.25% to 3.25% in order to aid the economy which is slowing in tandem with that of China. The US is doing fine so far, cooking the stats.

Unlike in the fall of 2008 when there was Lehman Brothers to blame for the global recession that ensued with the global stock market crash, who are they going to blame this time?

Central banks in Europe, the US, the UK, and Japan will simply double and triple their reserves by lifting every offer across the financial markets, saying "We just need to do more, and things will improve!"

(Where's the spaceship to any planet where there is no central banker and central government?)

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Mitt Romney Selects Paul Ryan as VP Candidate

From AP (8/11/2012):

AP source: Romney picks Ryan for running mate

By KASIE HUNT and STEVE PEOPLES
Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has picked Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan to be his running mate, according to a Republican with knowledge of the development. They will appear together Saturday in Norfolk, Va., at the start of a four-state bus tour to introduce the newly minted GOP ticket to the nation.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to disclose the decision.

In a statement issued Friday night, Romney's campaign would say only that the running mate would be revealed at 9 a.m. EDT at the Nauticus Museum. Berthed at the museum is the USS Wisconsin - which offered a hint about Romney's choice.

...

Ryan, 42, is viewed by some in the Republican Party as a bridge between the buttoned-up GOP establishment and a riled-up tea party movement that has never warmed to Romney.

As the chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan could help Romney make the argument that only the GOP ticket knows how to turn around a nation in the midst of a sluggish economic recovery. As talk about Ryan swirled this week, Democrats have been castigating Romney for embracing the Ryan-sponsored budget proposal that critics say is painful to the poor and elderly. It was a sign of the line of attack to come.

The move also now links Romney directly with House Republicans, including no-compromise tea partyers who have pressed for deep spending cuts. Obama has been casting House Republicans as an impediment to progress in the often-gridlocked Washington.

At the same time, Ryan on the ticket could help Romney become more competitive in Wisconsin, a state Obama won handily four years ago but that could be much tighter this November.

(Full article at the link)

(Phew. Glad it was not General "Betray Us" Petraeus or Condi "Mushroom cloud" Rice...)

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