Comments on: Aggravation II

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:13:15 +0000

There is going to come a point when people will be forced to stop pretending and admit: ~~It’s a dead parrot!~~ The system is broken and massive intervention is required!

It is a sad commentary on our system that reality and common sense have become “political”. We know what’s wrong, and we know how to fix it. The more time that passes until we fix it, the worse things will get and the more expensive.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:21:57 +0000

I like reading Bernanke’s speeches and papers. They reinforce my impression that he is a clear thinker who has spent a *lot* of time looking at exactly the situation we find ourselves in. He’s already thinking two steps ahead of the game — how to prevent inflation (i.e. how to un-print the money he’s printing) once the banks start lending again — when everybody else is still running around like a chicken with their head cut off. But problem is, he is *just* a central banker. He is constrained by his position in what he can say and in what he can do. But if you read between the lines, you get the impression that he is a very frustrated man right now because he knows what needs to be done once monetary policy reaches its limits, but he has no leverage to get anybody to do those things.

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:52:21 +0000

Yes… fun times for… some, not all. 😉

Swiss Bank Will Open Files to U.S. Authorities

UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland, agreed on Wednesday to divulge the names of well-heeled Americans whom the authorities suspect of using offshore accounts at the bank to evade taxes. The bank admitted conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and agreed to pay $780 million to settle a sweeping federal investigation into its activities.

It is unclear how many of its clients’ names UBS will divulge. Federal prosecutors have been examining about 19,000 accounts at the bank, but UBS ultimately may disclose the identities of only a few hundred customers.

But to some, turning over any names at all heralds the end of the secret Swiss bank account, whose traditions date to the Middle Ages.

“The Swiss are saying that this is the end of Swiss banking as they knew it,” said Jack Blum, an offshore tax specialist. “Nobody will trust the security of the Swiss bank account.”

As part of the settlement, UBS agreed to cooperate with a broad summons issued by the Justice Department to turn over the names. Under the terms of a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, the bank and its executives could be indicted if UBS didn’t identify the customers.

Prosecutors suspect that from late 2002 to 2007, UBS helped American clients illegally hide $20 billion, letting them evade $300 million a year in taxes.

I think you need to build more prisons. Oh wait… Obama can use Guantanamo for some real criminals! Won’t that be a change! Irony… I love it. LOL

*sigh* I just hope like heck that Bush/Cheney (and the rest of the gang) names are on that list! Is there any possibility of Justice? 🙂 I guess we can but hope!

Well, if nothing else… the idea does have much appeal. 🙂 The thought of the Bushmoron Gang Of Perv’s in Gitmo! LOL Who said irony was dead? Would mean one more great Discworld book as well. 🙂

OT: I have a lousy cold complete with lip sores. I hate summer colds, *sigh* So the site will be delayed. Probably a good thing, I’m not sure I like it now… I may make some changes… new coat of paint, some drapes… that kind of thing. 😉 LOL The functionality seems OK, I just don’t like the way it looks now. That’s easy to change though, when I feel better. 🙂

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:59:05 +0000

The defecation has impacted on the ventilation – “Greedspin” is talking about nationalizing banks, and Bernacki admits he’s out of ammo.

Maybe the Republicans in Sacramento were hoping for the state to win the lottery to close the budget gap. Our group of idiots gathers at the beginning of March for 60 days to screw up our economy. With 65% of both houses in the their hands as well as the governor’s mansion, they are forced to take responsibility for this disaster. You won’t hear Crist turning down any money from the Feds.

Fun times for all.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:36:20 +0000

Ah yes, the state lottery. Herebouts called "The Stupidity Tax". But I suppose if you have no other hope of a productive retirement, an almost zero chance is better than a zero chance... Ole' Helicopter Ben gave a speech yesterday where he verified some of my basic assumptions (assumptions based upon a fair amount of evidence, but assumptions nevertheless). Reading between the lines, ole' Ben is yelling at the top of his voice, "fiscal policy! fiscal policy! I've already done everything possible at the monetary policy level!" to anybody who will listen. - Badtux the Snarky Penguin Badtux´s last blog post..Ben Bernanke's speech yesterday

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:23:28 +0000

Don’t forget the “poor people’s pension” – the state lottery, John.

By: John J. McKay

John J. McKay — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:50:30 +0000

We're only a couple years behind you, so, in theory, Clever Wife and I have a little room to maneuver. All we have to do is both find better jobs than we ever were able to during good times and keep them for the next ten years. Oh yeah, and we have to do that now that we're on the receiving end of age bigotry. Actually, selling my mammoth book and having it shoot to the top of the best-seller lists is a more realistic plan. archy's last post - some shit about mammoths and unicorns

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:37:31 +0000

It also holds for a couple of family members who have assets they can’t use, because no one who wants them has the money to buy them.

My Mother’s cost-of-living increases were the only pay raises for anyone I know in the last few years. Everyone is in stasis waiting to see what’s going to happen.

Getting old really sucks.

By: fallenmonk

fallenmonk — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:06:01 +0000

Very accurate description of my circumstance right now Bryan. 59 years old and just recently unemployed. Done everything by the book. Almost a perfect credit score. Saved as much as I could thank goodness but my retirement savings are 50% of what they were a short time ago. Now I am faced with a very difficult job market and a poor chance of finding any meaningful employment and almost surely not at the salary I just lost. I have put the skids on. I am not spending a penny I don't have to. I have dropped every expense that is not absolutely necessary and cut but on everything. Any spare change is going "in the mattress". Right now my goal, besides finding another job, is to survive until I qualify for social security and medicare. Talking about entitlement reform is the last thing I want to hear from the government right now and every mention of it has me trying to figure out how much much more I can reduce my expenses. I've know for quite a while that it was going to get ugly and tried to prepare. Now I hear the government telling me that what little safety net I had is in danger and I am not happy about it at all. fallenmonk´s last blog post..More Good Change

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:55:44 +0000

I’ve seen a couple of articles about “no one” predicting this would happen. Two Nobel prize winners, Dr. Doom, etc. – all these guys have been warning about this mess for months and years, but were ignored. Everyone the media brought on to talk about it kept saying “the fundamentals are strong”. The media totally blows it and goes all Condi Rice to avoid taking any responsibility for not really looking at the problems and telling people what they found. You won’t find anything if you aren’t looking.