Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Fri 11.07.2008
Obama to talk economy, meet the press Barack Obama will have his campaign promises put to the test on Friday as he meets with economic advisers to discuss his transition to the White House and holds his first news conference as U.S. president-elect. After two straight days of huge losses on Wall Street, for a decline of roughly 10 percent since Tuesday's election, Obama will seek advice from seasoned economists, businessmen and policy experts on how to deal with the country's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Obama appoints key White House aides Barack Obama kept up the hectic pace of his transition on Thursday, moving to fill key positions in his White House and preparing to announce the most senior economic job in his administration. The flurry of appointments included Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois lawmaker, as chief of staff; David Axelrod, Mr Obama’s campaign chief strategist, as White House senior adviser; and Robert Gibbs, his campaign communications chief, as the White House press secretary – its public face. There was also speculation that Mr Obama would announce his Treasury secretary some time on Friday with Larry Summers, who held the job under Mr Clinton, and Timothy Geithner, the chairman of the New York Fed, topping most people’s lists.
Mother of All Short Squeezes for Gold? The following is a question that's been puzzling me for a couple of months,, and I thought that you might have a productive perspective on it. At issue is the disconnect between physical and paper gold, and what appears to be a looming, potentially disruptive, short squeeze as the December futures near settlement date. For the past couple of months, it's been getting increasingly difficult to acquire physical gold, particularly coins; when you can get them, you have to pay an increasingly steep premium to spot. So why not simply buy the futures and take delivery? You avoid both the premium and commissions. Great deal. But man! Do you ever have counter party risk.
Max Keiser - Comex default in December, $2000 gold in a day
Gold firms, platinum soars as dollar weakens Gold firmed in Europe on Friday as the dollar weakened against the euro, boosting the precious metal's appeal as a currency hedge, while platinum surged 5 percent as investors sought bargains after recent price falls. Traders are eyeing U.S. non-farms payrolls data due out later in the session for clues as to the next direction of trade in precious metals. Spot gold was quoted at $741.05/743.05 at 1038 GMT against $731.55 in late New York trade on Thursday. Platinum was at $856/876 an ounce against $823, having earlier touched a high of $865.50. Its sister metal palladium tracked it higher to a peak of $230 an ounce, before easing to $224/234 against $214.50.
Elko Glitters as Town Avoids 'Going to Hell in a Hand Basket' Jim Winer is so confident the gold- mining town of Elko, Nevada, will sidestep the recession barreling down on the U.S. that he's developing houses, offices and a shopping mall. "Everyone's hiring,'' said Winer as he drove past the site of a 55,000-square-foot office complex he's building for Denver- based Newmont Mining Corp. "Business is really good.'' The desert town is booming as investors seek refuge in gold while U.S. home prices slump, foreclosures rise and stocks recede. ``Help Wanted'' signs beckon along the main street as retailers and hoteliers gear up for growth in the heart of the biggest U.S. gold-producing area.
Treasury Is Working To Widen the Rescue A Dramatic Expansion Beyond Banking The federal government is preparing to take tens of billions of dollars in ownership stakes in an array of companies outside the banking sector, dramatically widening the scope of the Treasury Department's rescue effort beyond the $250 billion set aside for traditional financial firms, government and industry officials said. Treasury officials are finalizing the new program, which could ultimately involve hundreds of billions of the $700 billion rescue package, though the initiative is unlikely to be announced until the end of next week at the earliest.
Economy won't wait for Obama Treasury post, stimulus package demand quick attention While President-elect Barack Obama might like to sit back and bask in his victory for a few days, the quickly unraveling economy won't let him relax for long, analysts say. Less than a day after his election, signs of the long-running economic emergency re-emerged with reports that the nation's vast services sector fell into recession last month amid a loss of nearly 200,000 jobs - news that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging nearly 500 points in its biggest postelection loss.
Obama's plan can't help economy in short term Downturn accelerating, spreading globally; more job losses expected Election Day exit polls this week made clear that President-elect Barack Obama has a broad mandate to get the faltering U.S. economy back on track. There is no shortage of proposals already circulating in Washington. But as more reports pour in showing the downturn accelerating — and spreading around the world — the short-term impact of the new administration’s policies may be limited.
Goldman Forecasts Deepest Recession Since Reagan Era Goldman Sachs Group Inc. forecast the deepest U.S. economic contraction since the recession of 1982 after the unemployment rate climbed to the highest level in 14 years and payrolls tumbled for a 10th consecutive month. The economy will shrink 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter and 2 percent in the first quarter, compared with previous estimates of 2 percent and 1 percent, Goldman economists led by Jan Hatzius wrote in a research note today. That would be the largest back-to-back quarterly contraction since the start of the second year of Ronald Reagan's presidency.
Supply Destruction It’s been a brutal summer for the entire resource sector on both the metals and equities side, compounding an already nasty year. The past six weeks have brought one of the steepest sell offs we’ve ever seen for both commodities and materials stocks. There has been a lot of talk about demand destruction, but less focus, as usual, on the supply side of the equation. While we agree that slowing G7 economies are obviously taking their toll on demand, there are two sides to every market. In order to be able to gauge why and when the bottom is coming its important to follow not just changes in apparent demand, and price, but also the supply side response to them.
TARGET OBAMA FEARS OBAMA MAY NEVER MAKE IT TO THE WHITE HOUSE A MILITARY-style operation to keep Barack Obama alive was under way yesterday within hours of his victory. Even as the US President-elect celebrated with more than 160,000 supporters in Grant Park, Chicago, he did so from behind bullet-proof glass 12ft high and 3ins thick. Mr Obama, wife Michelle, running mate Joe Biden and his wife Jill were under instructions not to stray from the line-of-fire protection zone. This zone had been identified by FBI agents pointing lasers at the stage from every building surrounding the park. America will have to get used to such scenes. Such are the concerns for Mr Obama’s safety that many are already voicing their fears he may not even reach the White House. Emory Douglas of the Black Panthers rights group said: “Nothing can be taken for granted that he actually will be the next President of the United States. There are people who don’t want Obama in that position and some of them are powerful.
Inside the Ring Transition vulnerability The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that the United States is vulnerable to attack or other incidents during the presidential transition period and that the military is ready to respond. "When you go back and look at the number of incidents that have occurred three or four months before an inauguration to about 12 months out, back to the '50s, it's pretty staggering the number of major incidents which have occurred in this time frame," Adm. Michael Mullen said, noting that the danger is compounded by current world conditions.
Democrats Craft Economic Plan $100 Billion Stimulus in the Works As the euphoria of the election gave way yesterday to more sobering evidence of decline in the global economy, Democrats moved swiftly to convert their mandate into an economic action plan that could include up to $100 billion in immediate stimulus spending and new tax cuts for the middle class early next year. In Chicago, President-elect Barack Obama laid plans to meet today with his economic brain trust and conduct his first news conference since election night. In Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) huddled in separate meetings with top executives of Detroit's automakers, who appealed for additional government help to save the industry from collapse.
The Incredible Growing Government The U.S. Department of Commerce says that, the way it looks to them, even after spending a lot of time adjusting and smoothing and rounding the data so that things look as good as possible, third-quarter Gross Domestic Product is going to be down again - like this is some Big Freaking News (BFN) to us guys out here who are either being laid off, or hearing rumors that we are going to be laid off, or listening to other people yammering about how they were laid off, or being blamed for profit shortfalls and statistically poor performance, but which they calculate without any "smoothing" factors like how the customers are all a bunch of idiots and so are my stupid employees who plot against me behind my back. I mean, even though I yell at them every day to buy gold, silver and oil, none of them are buying gold, silver or oil, even at these incredible bargains! Just ask them!
Tough Sledding Ahead Surviving a coming USD collapse Now that the US election is over, we get to think about the Future. And, no matter how you look at it, the entire world, the West particularly, is in for tough sledding financially. First, we will continue to battle an emerging economic slowdown. Then, later, we will be battling world currency instability – we already have signs of this now. Even though gold and commodities have taken a big hit because of a general liquidation in everything, there is one thing none of us should lose sight of, and that is what happens when the USD finally lets go.
Welcome to Ubangastan It is now necessary to destroy the United States in order to resurrect America; the reason for that is the New World Order has destroyed America to create the banking oligarchy called the United States. The extent of that banking oligarchy is now apparent, first, with the so called bailout and second, with the coronation of our very own Marxist demagogue. Athens had Alcibades, who led them to disaster in Sicily during the War with Sparta in 415BC. Rome had its scheming generals in the final years of its Republic; now, the NWO vultures feasting on the rotting corpse of the American Republic have unleashed there own version called Barack Obama. The result will be the same as for both Athens and Rome: namely, the final disaster.
Cramer: Obama's Win Gives Us Two Markets In the short term I'm bullish; in long term I'm bearish, says Jim Cramer.
Ron Paul Warns Of Great Shift Toward Global Government Under Obama Congressman says president elect was chosen long ago to take care of the corporate elite Texas Congressman and 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul has warned that the euphoria surrounding the election of Barack Obama combined with the overwhelming fear of major international crises could facilitate a cataclysmic shift toward a new world order. Appearing live on the Alex Jones show earlier today, the Congressman spoke of a feeling of dread surrounding the change of guard both in the White House and on Capitol Hill: "I do feel it but I don't think it's brand new, I didn't wake up with it, I've had it for a while, I don't think the election was a surprise, but the rhetoric is getting pretty strong and they are getting very bold." he commented.
The International War on Free Speech Geert Wilders is a member of the Dutch Parliament and a documentary film producer; not exactly the person one would expect to find on the front line in the battle against both radical Islam and the Islamist assault on free speech. Yet, that is where the 45 year-old founder of the Party for Freedom stands. Wilders, by posting the infamous Danish cartoons of Muhammad on his website and producing a short film titled Fitna, has stirred international controversy that has prompted boycotts of Dutch products, condemnation by the UN Secretary General, constant death threats, and civil and criminal prosecution. Americans, especially politicians on the Left, should take notice.
The Federal Reserve Is Inflating at 341% per Annum. (Don't Look for the Decimal Point.) I have never seen anything like this. The adjusted monetary base over the last eight weeks has risen at 341% per annum. The increase in the monetary base is $300 billion. This indicates panic at the Federal Reserve. The financial system is coming unglued. The monetary base is high-powered money. For every dollar injected here, the money supply can rise by at least 10 to one. A 10% reserve requirement is imposed on large urban banks, i.e., a 10-to-1 multiplication factor. This is the fractional reserve banking process.
Just 3 ‘superbanks’ now dominate industry Sudden consolidation raises questions about regulation, consumer impact The financial crisis that has been sweeping the globe has reshaped nearly every corner of the economy, but no industry has been altered more radically than banking. Several of the nation's biggest banks have failed or been absorbed by healthier institutions, leaving three giant "superbanks" with an unprecedented concentration of market power: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
We only need one Bretton Woods II Next Friday, leaders of several of the world's most powerful countries will gather at the White House to address the burgeoning global financial crisis. The November 15 summit and an accompanying series of smaller meetings will weigh the potential for reforms of the international financial system, leading the meetings to be dubbed a "Bretton Woods II", in reference to the New Hampshire conference held in 1944 that created today's main global financial institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The assumption, thus, is that these meetings could be subject to scrutiny, and fundamentally challenge conventionally adopted notions of the rationale and mission of such institutions in the light of today's world dynamics.
Dollar Falls on Speculation Jobs Report Will Spur Fed Rate Cut The dollar fell against the yen and the euro on speculation a government report will show the U.S. economy lost the most jobs since 2003, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. The U.S. currency also declined versus the British pound as futures traders bet the Fed will cut borrowing costs by half a percentage point to 0.5 percent at its next meeting, compared with the U.K.'s benchmark rate of 3 percent. A Labor Department report today may show U.S. unemployment rose to a five-year high as the global economic slowdown worsened.
Zero Rate World May Lie Ahead as King, Trichet Cut The age of free money may be at hand. As major central banks slash interest rates with unexpected speed, benchmark borrowing costs are now below core inflation for the first time since the early 1980s, and policy makers are signaling they will go deeper. Yesterday's cuts by the Bank of England and European Central Bank, which came with the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan on the cusp of zero rates, are a bid to shock life back into their recessionary economies and strained money markets. It may be an uphill battle as consumers and businesses show greater interest in saving than spending, and banks hoard capital rather than lend it.
U.S. Jobless Rate Probably Climbed to Five-Year High President-elect Barack Obama may find out today just how big an economic mess he will inherit. The Labor Department will probably report that the jobless rate climbed to a five-year high of 6.3 percent in October, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Payrolls shrank by 200,000 workers, the biggest decline since the start of the Iraq War in March 2003, according to the economists.
Bleak Reports Keep Markets in Free Fall The political world shifted on Tuesday, but the change did little to ease the anxiety on Wall Street. Despite stabilization in the credit markets and lower interest rates around the globe, the last two days were the worst in the American stock market since 1987. In 48 hours, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped nearly 1,000 points, and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, a broader measure of stocks, lost nearly 10 percent of its value. “Normally markets are driven by fear and greed,” said Brian Gendreau, a strategist at ING Investment Management in New York. “Now it’s fear and fear.”
Retailers Report a Sales Collapse Sales at the nation’s largest retailers fell off a cliff in October, casting fresh doubt on the survival of some chains and signaling that this will probably be the weakest Christmas shopping season in decades. The remarkable slowdown hit luxury chains that sell $5,000 designer dresses as badly as stores that offer $18 packs of underwear, suggesting that consumers at all income levels are snapping their wallets shut.
Hospitals See Drop in Paying Patients In another sign of the economy’s toll on the nation’s health care system, some hospitals say they are seeing fewer paying patients — even as greater numbers of people are showing up at emergency rooms unable to pay their bills. While the full effects of the downturn are likely to become more evident in coming months as more people lose their jobs and their insurance coverage, some hospitals say they are already experiencing a fall-off in patient admissions.
Obama's Pulling for GM and Ford
Ford Has $2.98 Billion Operating Loss as Sales Plunge Ford Motor Co., with U.S. sales shredded by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, posted a third-quarter operating loss of $2.98 billion. The company said it used up $7.7 billion in cash and would cut more salaried jobs. The per-share operating loss of $1.31 was wider than the 93-cent average of 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Those figures exclude a gain for shedding future retiree medical bills under a new union contract that enabled Ford to post a net loss of $129 million, or 6 cents.
Ford Plans More Cuts as It Posts a $129 Million Loss The Ford Motor Company, battered by the weak economy and a shift in consumer preferences, announced more cost cuts on Friday and reported a third-quarter loss. Ford said it lost $129 million, or 6 cents a share, less than the $380 million, or 19 cents a share, in the third quarter a year ago. In its statement, Ford said it would cut another 10 percent of its salaried work force in North America. The company also said that it had used up $7.7 billion in cash.
Obama's record on firearms triggers run on sales in state GRAND JUNCTION - John Faulkner and his wife, Brenda, thought Wednesday was a good day to buy a handgun. "I'm 37 years old, and this is the first time in my life that I am really scared for our future," said Faulkner, an oil field worker, as he perused the collection of weaponry in A Pawn Shop here. At Aurora's Firing Line gun shop, Steve Wickham was also purchasing. "Anything I can get my hands on," he said as he cradled a $699 9mm handgun. Same thing in Lakewood: "I was selling guns before I even opened the door," said George Horne, owner of The Gun Room. "It's gone completely mad. Everyone is buying everything I've got on the shelves. Sales have been crazy."
Oil is set to bounce back to $100 a barrel Oil prices are expected to bounce back to over $100 a barrel following a recovery in the global economy and could reach as high as $200 by 2030. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the price of oil will average at around $100 over the next seven year before a steep climb to more than double.
What Obama will mean for the economy
Prepare for the Coming of Messiah Internationally renowned Jewish inspirational speaker Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis warns that we are feeling the "birth pangs of the Mashiach," with limited time to save ourselves from dark prophecies surrounding his arrival.
Pack Your Bags, Rahm Congressman accepts top job in Obama White House It's time to start packing for the Emanuel family. After "agonizing" about the decision to accept the White House Chief of Staff job, the Illinois Congressman has accepted the position, NBC is reporting. President-elect Barack Obama reportedly made the offer last week. "I know something about the White House," Emanuel said outside his home late Wednesday afternoon, referring to his time in the Clinton administration. "But I also know what it means to a family." Rep. Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, their son and two daughters are rooted in the North Side community where they live. Meanwhile, Crain's Chicago Business wondered (in print) about which other Chicagoans might be D.C.-bound with the president-elect. If inside Obama sources are accurate in their speculation, the list is considerable and includes some very big names, including Habitat Co. President and Obama friend Valerie Jarrett, strategist David Axelrod, top business folk like Penny Pritzker and Martin Nesbitt, the newspaper reported.
Obama offers top staff job to Emanuel President-elect Barack Obama pivoted quickly to begin filling out his new administration on Wednesday, selecting hard-charging Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff while aides stepped up the pace of transition work that had been cloaked in pre-election secrecy. . . . Several Democrats described a sprawling operation well under way. Officials had kept deliberations under wraps to avoid the appearance of overconfidence in the weeks leading to Tuesday's election. They said the group was stocked with longtime associates of Obama, as well as veterans of Clinton's White House.
Transition plays hardball with Emanuel, Gibbs on board Pair of tough political players sends no-nonsense message from president-elect "Change" was Barack Obama's campaign theme. "Change ... or else," might be a better mantra for the political hardball players he has chosen for two key roles in his administration. Rahm Emanuel on Thursday accepted Obama's offer to make him chief of staff. Key sources also confirmed that Robert Gibbs, Obama's bulldog of a senior aide, is in discussions about becoming the voice of the White House as its press secretary.
Biden keen to play a leading role Well before the election that elevated him to the second-highest office in the land, Joe Biden said he would be no Dick Cheney. "Vice-President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice-president we’ve had probably in American history," Mr Biden said in the TV debate with Sarah Palin, his Republican rival. His remark was a reference to Mr Cheney’s long quest to augment the power of the executive, particularly in areas such as the use of force, treatment of detainees and foreign policy. . . . But his voluble nature and passionate interest in foreign policy could lead to clashes with the future secretary of state. He once told Mr Obama that he would prefer the vice-presidency to a possible appointment as secretary of state.
Abu Hussein's invitation to Damascus In the Muslim world, men take pride in their first born baby boy and they are often called "the father of X" for the remainder of their lives. In turn, first born boys are named after their grandfathers, and this explains why Syrians affectionately call Barack Obama "Abu Hussein" (father of Hussein). He does not have a baby boy - just two beautiful girls - yet that doesn't really matter for the overwhelmed Syrians who woke up to hear the news coming in from Washington on November 5 that Barack Hussein Obama had become the 44th president of the United States. As far as they are concerned, his father's name is Hussein and when Obama gets a baby boy, he is going to call him Hussein. That is the tradition in the Muslim world after all, and Obama comes from Muslim lineage in Kenya. Gamal Abdul-Nasser of Egypt was "Abu Khaled", Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is "Abu Hadi", Palestinian Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat was "Abu Ammar" and for masses in the Arab world, Barack Obama is "Abu Hussein".
'Obama will be a great friend to Israel' One of the most sought-after people in Jerusalem in the early hours of Wednesday morning was US Ambassador James B. Cunningham. The US Embassy had set up an election-night monitoring system in one of the larger reception halls of the King David Hotel, with breakfast available to anyone who stopped by. When President-elect Barack Obama appeared on the large television screens strategically placed in different parts of the room, the chatter died down as everyone gathered to hear an historic victory address.
The game of crooked politics - Chicago does it best blog comment by a Chicagoan ". . . . It is indeed a bitter irony, Obama is an empty suit, a child of Chicago and Illinois crooked politics, expertly coached and abetted by his dear friend and ally, Rahm Emanuel. The legislation is nothing more than stunts to claim the Republicans stole elections. I'm sick of it. Rahm Emanuel, of Chicago, traded places with Blago in Congress; he left Clinton's staff where he was money man to be an investment banker at Meiserow financial, where the brother in law of Blago's financial guy, Filan worked selling hedge funds; inside dealing with state and local government and it's friends. I thought it was the Republicans who were rich? I won't go further, as you know the rest of the story, but Chicago and Illinois are experts at the game of crooked politics. . . ."
Absolute Enforcer' Emanuel Has Big Role in Obama's White House Barack Obama once joked at a charity dinner that when Rahm Emanuel severed his middle finger, it almost rendered him mute. Yesterday, Obama announced that Emanuel, an often-profane, combative Chicago congressman versed in the ways of the White House and Capitol Hill, would have one of the biggest voices in his administration: chief of staff. It's a role akin to being the chief operating officer of the nation, the gatekeeper to the Oval Office, a position that also requires the ability to deliver a forceful "no."
Who is Rahm “Rahm-bo” Emanuel? From Wikipedia His father, the Jerusalem-born Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a pediatrician and was a member of the Irgun, a militant Zionist group active during the British Mandate of Palestine.
Emanuel became a senior advisor to Clinton at the White House from 1993 to 1998. In the White House, Emanuel was initially Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and then Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy. He was a leading strategist in the unsuccessful White House efforts to institute universal healthcare and many other Clinton initiatives.[10] One of his proudest moments during the Clinton administration "was an event that touched his political sensibilities and his personal ties to Israel: the 1993 Rose Garden signing ceremony after the Oslo Accords between Israel and Palestine. Emanuel directed the details of the ceremony, down to the choreography of the famous handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat."[9] At this point of his political career he was known for his intensity. Notably, he reportedly told British Prime Minister Tony Blair, prior to Blair appearing in public with Clinton for the first time after the Lewinsky scandal, "This is important. Don't fuck it up."[10] Emanuel is said to have "mailed a rotting fish to a former coworker after the two parted ways."[9] On the night after the 1996 election, "Emanuel was so angry at the president's enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting 'Dead! ... Dead! ... Dead!' and plunging the knife into the table after every name."[2] His "take-no-prisoners attitude" earned him the nickname "Rahm-bo".[9] People who worked with Emanuel at that time "insist the once hard-charging staffer has mellowed out." He left the White House to accept a well-paid position at Dresdner Kleinwort investment bank in Chicago, where he worked from 1999 to 2002 and reportedly earned US$18 million.
Rahm Emanuel endorses the United States Public Service Academy Act. YOUR TAX DOLLARS will pay for 80% of this program; 20% from "private funding"
He alone, who owns the youth, gains the Future! -- Adolf Hitler, speech at the Reichsparteitag, 1935
Do your homework! Keep up with status of the proposed legislation; Go here: http://thomas.loc.gov and type in S.960 and H.R.1671
S.960 Title: A bill to establish the United States Public Service Academy. Sponsor: Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] (introduced 3/22/2007) COSPONSORS(22), ALPHABETICAL Sen Baucus, Max [MT] - 9/24/2008 Sen Bayh, Evan [IN] - 11/8/2007 Sen Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [DE] - 3/22/2007 Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] - 3/22/2007 Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 3/29/2007 Sen Cantwell, Maria [WA] - 2/7/2008 Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD] - 6/24/2008 Sen Casey, Robert P., Jr. [PA] - 9/24/2008 Sen Coleman, Norm [MN] - 9/21/2007 Sen Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX] - 3/22/2007 Sen Inouye, Daniel K. [HI] - 7/10/2007 Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] - 3/22/2007 Sen Landrieu, Mary L. [LA] - 3/22/2007 Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ] - 9/27/2007 Sen Levin, Carl [MI] - 4/2/2008 Sen Lincoln, Blanche L. [AR] - 5/4/2007 Sen Menendez, Robert [NJ] - 9/21/2007 Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. [MD] - 3/22/2007 Sen Murray, Patty [WA] - 1/30/2008 Sen Rockefeller, John D., IV [WV] - 9/22/2008 Sen Specter, Arlen [PA] - 3/22/2007 Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI] - 4/23/2007
Related Bills: H.R.1671
SUMMARY AS OF: 3/22/2007--Introduced.
Public Service Academy Act of 2007 - Establishes in the Department of Homeland Security a U.S. Public Service Academy for the instruction in and preparation for public service of selected individuals. Sets forth provisions relating to: (1) key personnel positions and faculty and departments; (2) student qualifications and requirements for admission; (3) procedures for the appointment of students to the Academy by Members of Congress and the President; (4) curriculum standards; and (5) study abroad requirements. Requires each Academy student to sign an agreement with respect to length of public service. Imposes tuition and cost repayment requirements for Academy students who fail to graduate or accept or complete assigned public service. Establishes a Board of Visitors to inquire into the efficiency and effectiveness of the operations of the Academy. Requires the tuition of each Academy student to be fully subsidized. Provides for public (80%) and private funding for the Academy.
H.R.1671 Title: To establish the United States Public Service Academy. Sponsor: Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] (introduced 3/23/2007) Cosponsors (123) Related Bills: S.960
THE RED CHINESE SECRET POLICE IN THE UNITED STATES So, the Red Chinese with the aid of their secret political police are able to funnel billions from dirty business coming out looking like soybean and foreign currency deals in Chicago. An instrumental reputed player/facilitator in all this has been Rahm Emanuel and his gang. On a local PBS TV outlet show in Chicago, Rahm bragged how as Clinton White House Senior Advisor he had a desk closest to the Oval Office. The TV cameras were allowed right into the White House to show this. In effect, Rahm is reportedly the Deputy Chief, for North America, of Israel's secret police, The Mossad. Rahm is permitted to have dual citizenship. During the Persian Gulf War, he went to Israel to serve in their armed forces, reportedly in an espionage capacity. And Rahm Emanuel apparently has two faces. He supposedly has been a Clinton administration loyalist. BUT, at the same time, he reportedly controlled and directed the Israel/Red Chinese secret police circle that manipulated Clinton on sexual scandals, diverting our attention from the oil fraud and similar important matters.
IMPORTANT LINK TO A SERIES OF EDITORIALS PLEASE READ THEM ALL! The Audacity of Socialism Barack Obama has styled himself a centrist, but does his record support that claim? In this series, we examine Senator Obama's past, his voting record and the people who've served as his advisers and mentors over the years. We'll show how the facts of Obama's actions and associations reveal a far more left-leaning tilt to his background - and to his politics.
TODAY'S BIG NUMBER: 1 MILLION JOBS LOST THIS YEAR TOMORROW, at precisely 8:30 a.m., Barack Obama will say to himself, "What did I get myself into?" I don't know that for a fact, of course. But I believe any reasonable person would ask that question once he realizes the true extent of the economic trouble the country is facing. What will prompt Obama's misgivings is the monthly report from the Labor Department about the number of jobs lost in October. With a little bit of luck (or perhaps un-luck), last month's number could push the number of lost jobs during 2008 to more than 1 million. Let me blind you with some numbers for a minute. So far this year, the Labor Department has announced nine consecutive months of job losses. If you total up the original announcements, the number equals 847,000.
Big 3 - Let Them Fail or spend another $25 bil to save jobs Brian Carney of WSJ discusses future of automotive industry
Chrysler cash drains away as crisis deepens: sources Chrysler LLC is rapidly burning through cash and being driven to prepare for a possible break-up if it can't clinch a merger with General Motors Corp or get government funding needed to ride out the economic crisis, people with knowledge of the situation said. Without new funding or a wrenching restructuring, executives have raised concern about the automaker's ability to finance its operations from existing cash beyond the first half of 2009, said the sources, who were not authorized to discuss Chrysler's performance.
Granholm pleads for auto, Michigan infrastructure aid Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued an urgent plea today to Democratic leaders of Congress to approve emergency aid for the ailing U.S. auto industry, and for $260 million to build new roads, sewers and other infrastructure in Michigan that she said would create more than 4,000 jobs. Granholm also said the state treasury department will give $150 million in cash to state banks and credit unions so they can give loans, particularly to businesses who are hamstrung by the current national credit crunch. The money will come from a state cash fund that isn’t tied up in investments. In a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Granholm asks for a stimulus package that will help 80,000 Michigan homeowners avoid foreclosures and that will extend unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks.
Workers fret as Ford, GM cuts expected Friday With their employers poised to announce billions more in losses and further job cuts on Friday, it's worry time once again at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. factories across North America. Both companies are spending billions more than they're making amid the worst economic crisis in decades. Both say that factory production needs to reflect declining sales, which means job cuts.
GMAC Leaves Individuals Holding Car Lender's Junk GMAC LLC may leave thousands of individuals on the hook for about $15 billion of junk-rated debt unless the auto and home lender finds a way to pay its bills. GMAC, the largest lender to car dealers of General Motors Corp., issued more than $25 billion of debt called SmartNotes over the past decade to retail investors. While GMAC has paid off the debts as they matured, five straight unprofitable quarters raised doubt about GMAC's survival, and SmartNotes due in July 2020 have lost about two-thirds of their value.
Oil 'to shoot back through $100' The oil price will shoot back through $100 a barrel as soon as economic conditions return to normal, and will break through $200 threshold by 2030, say officials at the International Energy Agency. The world energy watchdog is certain the "era of cheap oil" is over, according to research due to out next week. Indeed last year it had predicted the oil price would reach $108 in 2030 so has more than doubled its long-term price target. "While market imbalances could temporarily cause prices to fall back, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the era of cheap oil is over," says the IEA in the World Energy Outlook report, obtained by the Financial Times ahead of its release next week.
Russia fires warning shot over US missile plan Dmitri Medvedev is to go to Washington next week for the first time as Russian president, with the chances of a meeting with president-elect Barack Obama clouded by his decision to station missiles in the heart of Europe. Medvedev's military announcement, in a speech delayed by a month in order to coincide with the election of the new White House occupant, sent a hostile message towards an Obama administration, aimed to sow friction between European capitals and a new-look Washington, and sought to intimidate the Poles and the Czechs, who are to host the bases for the Pentagon's missile defence project. Iskander-M short-range missiles will be deployed in Kaliningrad, Russia's westernmost garrison, an isolated enclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.
Medvedev speech Nov 6, 2008 - cold war heating up?
Chinese hack into White House network Chinese hackers have penetrated the White House computer network on multiple occasions, and obtained e-mails between government officials, a senior US official told the FT. The cyber attackers managed to penetrate the White House system for brief periods that allowed them to steal information before US government experts each time patched the system. US government cyber experts suspect the attacks were sponsored by the Chinese government, although they cannot say for definite. “We are getting very targeted Chinese attacks so its stretches credulity that these are not directed by government-related organisations,” said the official.
China Minister Xie Leaves Peru Early to Fix Economy China's Finance Minister Xie Xuren was called back from an international economic conference in Peru before the meeting began, following orders from Beijing to help resolve problems at home, an organizer of the event said. . . . Xie arrived in Beijing to take care of some "urgent business," two finance ministry officials, who declined to be named, said today. They didn't elaborate. . . . Xie will not attend the Group of Twenty meetings in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this weekend, one finance ministry official said. Xie's attendance for next week's Washington summit on financial crisis is yet to be confirmed, the official added.
European leaders to press for action European leaders will propose a new global financial framework on Friday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the world's richest economies face their first year of contraction since World War Two. South Korea lowered interest rates by 25 basis points, its third cut in a month, after a deep rate cut by Britain and one by the European Central Bank on Thursday. Central banks around the world have stopped worrying about inflation and are focusing on trying to prevent the global financial crisis from turning into a deep downturn.
Chill winds blow through China's manufacturing heartland The global financial crisis is proving the final straw for exporters already punished by rising costs and a stronger currency The dislocated head of a baby doll stares blindly through the gate; WALL-E and Barbie Pet Doctor boxes are strewn across the yard. Two weeks ago, toymaking giant Smart Union was churning out goods for children across the United States and Europe. Now it is in liquidation and 7,000 former employees are in shock. "One day we went to work as usual, the next it was all closed," said Wei Sunying, gazing through the barred gate of the factory in Dongguan in southern China where she spent eight years painting plastic components in a fume-filled room. "Thousands of us are looking for jobs now. We walk around every day till our feet ache but we can't find anything."
Mugabe says Zimbabwe ready to work with Obama Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, whose government is under sanctions by Washington, says he is ready to work with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to improve ties. In a congratulatory message to Obama, Mugabe made no reference to the travel and economic sanctions imposed on his ZANU-PF leadership over charges of election rigging and human rights abuses, or to a deadlock with the Zimbabwe opposition over a power-sharing deal.
China tells rich polluting nations to change lifestyle Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said rich nations must abandon their "unsustainable lifestyle" to fight climate change and expand help to poor nations bearing the brunt of worsening droughts and rising sea levels. Wen told the opening of a conference Friday the financial crisis was no reason for rich nations to delay fighting global warming. "As the global financial crisis spreads and worsens, and the world economy slows down apparently, the international community must not waver in its determination to tackle climate change," Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
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