POLITICAL: FDIC Insurance higher?

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080930/pl_bloomberg/ar8q_hit0nyi

Obama Proposes Increasing Federal Deposit Insurance to $250,000 Nadine Elsibai 1 hour, 58 minutes ago

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Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) — Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, today proposed increasing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. limit to $250,000 from the current level of $100,000.

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Sorry, I disagree. The taxpayer is not supposed to be an insurance company. The limit when it was raised led to the Savings & Loan problem. There’s no reason in today’s marketplace to have FDIC Insurance at 100k. I can understand wanting to protect small savers. But let them use Treasury Bills, just like the big boys. In the “old days” those were not available to the  little people. They are now!

No, no need for a larger FDIC, unless you want to insulate the bankers.

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LIBERTY: Who does own the gas station? Or, anything else for that matter.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/bilger2.html

Government Gouging by Aaron Bilger

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Unfortunately, the free market price system is currently being forbidden in Georgia and several other states. Politicians have enacted anti-“gouging” laws to punish sellers of gasoline who request too high a price. Whether such politicians are well-meaning but economically ignorant, or know the consequences but are cynically manipulating public distaste for higher prices despite this is up for debate, but the results are the same. Ethically, the results are detestable. Gas station operators are told in effect that they are not free; they must sell their product as an altruistic service to others rather than serving their own individual interests. Legislating an exact price ceiling (a maximum price at which gas could be sold) would be bad enough, but to compound the issue, an exact price is not given in anti-gouging laws. A supplier cannot even know if they may be violating the law, and must be constantly fearful of someone accusing them of charging “too much.” In Atlanta for now, the de facto result is gas station operators being afraid to price gasoline above $4–4.29/gallon. Asking a half-dozen local operators who ran out of gas as to why they do not raise prices resulted in the same general response; as one put it, “I cannot raise my price. It would be a crime.”

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The culprit behind the gas shortages this time is individual state governments rather than federal government, but the solution is the same now as it was then – for politicians to stop their harmful efforts to control prices. End anti-gouging laws, end the shortage.

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POLITICAL: The bailout is a vague pos!

Monday, September 29, 2008

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/023141.html

September 27, 2008

Don’t you love representative government?
Posted by Michael S. Rozeff at September 27, 2008 08:37 AM

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Don’t you love representative government? We take potshots at the bailout bill and send e-mails to Congress. Meanwhile, basically in secret, they introduce various plans. We are clueless as to what these plans are or mean. We do not know the details, only vague hints. We are totally unable to follow the debate much less influence it. Half the time or more, most Congressman likewise are clueless. A great deal of haste is involved (Haste makes Waste, remember?) We mainly get promises that, yes, a deal will be reached by Sunday, as if we actually wanted a deal. A deal before Sunday makes it easier to appear on talk shows. Then, suddenly, a bill will appear and be passed. We the people will then have spoken. Don’t you love representative government?

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We know they don’t read what they pass. Why should we be expected to pay for it?

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MONEY: Are we going to be left with a banking oligarchy?

Monday, September 29, 2008

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080929/wachovia_citigroup.html?.v=1

Citigroup to buy Wachovia banking operations
Monday September 29, 9:24 am ET

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NEW YORK (AP) — In the latest byproduct of the widening global financial crisis, Citigroup Inc. will acquire the banking operations of Wachovia Corp. in a deal facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

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Doesn’t anyone think that banks are becoming too big?

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FUN: Jersey State Motto

Monday, September 29, 2008

http://tslrf.blogspot.com/2008/09/joke-of-day_7327.html

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Joke of the Day- State Mottos

{Extraneous Deleted}

New Jersey: You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right Here!

{Extraneous Deleted}

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RANTING: Estimates? Gooferment estimates? ROFL!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2008/09/24/a_political_solution_part_ii

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Thomas Sowell :: Townhall.com Columnist
A Political “Solution”: Part II
by Thomas Sowell

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Estimates of how much money a government program will cost are notoriously unreliable. Estimates of the cost of the current bailout in the financial markets run into the hundreds of billions of dollars, and some say it may reach or exceed a trillion.

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Estimates are always wrong. In this case, we have no idea of the liability the congress critters are signing your children up for!

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POLITICAL: Corporations don’t pay taxes; people do. Zero the Corporate Tax Rate!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

http://www.doughroller.net/2008-presidential-elections/presidential-debate-fact-check-obama-mccain-economic-cla

First Presidential Debate Fact Check: Obama and McCain’s Economic Claims
Written by DR | Bookmarks: Reddit this, del.icio.us

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The first 2008 Presidential Debate saw both Senators Obama and McCain defend their economic proposals and attack the other’s plan. Facts, figures and statistics were flying back in forth during the exchange so fast it was difficult to keep up. So after the debate I watched the replay and read the transcript to pick out the economic claims made by both Presidential candidates. In this article, we’ll look at their claims to determine whether they are rock solid true (earning a score of 1), true but with a lot of spin (earning a score 2) or flat out, nose-growing false (earning a score of 3).

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MY COMMENT ON THIS STORY

Excellent job on fact checking. Calm and reasoned. Apparently fair.

I have no “dog” in this fight. I’m a little L libertarian. Don’t care much for either candidate.

I would like to comment on “Corporate Income Tax”.

It’s a sham designed to deceive the folks as to what is the overall level of taxation that Americans pay.

CORPORATIONS DON’T PAY TAXES OR FEES. YOU DO!

As a “frugal” site, I read often, I think you’d hammer this home.

Corporations are very much like a zero sum game. If they have a cost, they pass it along to the person who buys their product or services. If it’s a widget with a pound of steel in it, your paying for that pound. Price of steel goes up, the corporation marks up the price of their product. Simple enough. If they didn’t they’d go broke.

When the gooferment imposes taxes on Corporations, that’s just another cost that the business pass along to you. EXCEPT now you can’t see it. You don’t know what portion of the cost of a loaf of bread is taxes and what portion is bread.

It gets worse, regulations and laws add costs. They come to you hidden in the cost of the products.

It gets even worse, when the gooferment taxes a product that corporations use to make or deliver other products (e.g., gasoline), that tax is a tax on taxes. And is passed along and even buried further. It has an exponential effect!

I’ve seen estimates that the real tax percentage in products is HUGE! 50 to 75%!! I don’t think anyone can tell. AND that’s excatly the politicians purpose.

Bottom line: Corporate taxes imho should be ZERO!

Let’s put the cost of gooferment squarely out in the open! These bozos are no fools. There’s a reason that Tax Day is a half a year away from election day. That reason is that they couldn’t get it any further away.

So, when either candidate talks about corporate taxes, regulation, and fees, I think they are, possibly unknowingly (But I don’t beleive that) DEFRAUDING us from know the true cost of how badly we are being ROBBED!

sigh, imho,
wake up sheeple,
fjohn

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MONEY: Buying a “falling knife”?

Sunday, September 28, 2008

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCNnbO2lMJG4&refer=home

WaMu Failure Shakes Seattle, From Shareholder to Job Seeker

By Peter Robison and Dina Bass

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Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) — Sally Rawlings was one of the last people to buy shares in Washington Mutual Inc., showing faith that her hometown Seattle savings and loan would be able to weather its financial crisis.

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I’d suggest that she not go trying to catch “falling knives”. Although it is tempting, to buy low. But it’s low for a reason! Stop losses by not starting them?

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RANT: DRM never!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/26/walmart-shutting-dow.html

Boing Boing – A directory of wonderful things

Wal*Mart shutting down DRM server, nuking your music collection — only people who pay for music risk losing it to DRM shenanigans

Posted by Cory Doctorow, September 26, 2008 8:34 PM

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Hey suckers! Did you buy DRM music from Wal*Mart instead of downloading MP3s for free from the P2P networks? Well, they’re repaying your honesty by taking away your music. Unless you go through a bunch of hoops (that you may never find out about, if you’ve changed email addresses or if you’re not a very technical person), your music will no longer be playable after October 9th.

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That’s why I’d never buy anything with a DRM in it. I learned this lesson early and had it reinforced by Yahoo buying Real who bought whatever it was that I liked.

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RANT: SNY network leaves RU game to TALK about the Mets!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

What a joke.

RU was playing Morgan State. Not a big game by any means. But, SNY left live coverage of that for the Mets “post game” show, where they couldn’t show any of the game highlights. So they spent the better part of a hour TALKING about it. Talked it to death! How dumb!

Sorry RU, you deserved better!

They rejoined it with 2:57 left in the SECOND quarter with the score 35 zip. Game was over.

Why bother?

Just shows you the level of respect SNY has for its viewers.

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