Debt // Current TV

The Question was Asked How Do You Propose To Reform Our Largest Entitlement Programs...

Reform: These Seven Solutions I proposed, would solve the defect problem, save... more

charkeseharvey
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United Kingdom Talk Wednesday 1st February 2012

Wednesday's talk show. Subscribe to my You Tube channel. Username ChrisReardonUK... more

ChrisReardon
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10 days ago
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Ron Paul: Cut Spending Overseas! Don’t Punish Innocent People at Home

Ron Paul on the Jason Lewis Show 1/30/12... more

JRBarilla
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11 days ago
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WHACKO-TV HOMELESS AND FREE

From the extreme off-Broadway musical IF HOMELESS PEOPLE COULD FLY, comes the opening... more

dwightdouglas
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17 days ago
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Thom Hartmann from Iceland - Where Banksters robbed the people blind

On the one hand, Iceland is the happiest country in the world, with a world-class... more

Vierotchka
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29 days ago
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Nobody Understands Debt

By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: January 1, 2012 In 2011, as in 2010, America was in a... more

Vierotchka
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Occupy Iowa for Ron Paul!?!?

At the Mitt Romney event on 1/1/12 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

JRBarilla
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Odious Debts

"Odious" debts, incurred and used for ends which, to the knowledge of the... more

camdic
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Voice in the Wilderness: America leads in World Debt-United States of America leads in Miltary Spending-America leads in Economical Aid to Foriegn Countries.

America leads in World Debt-United States of America leads in Miltary Spending-America... more

charkeseharvey
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You Like Ron Paul Except For His Foreign Policy?

So, you'd vote for Ron Paul if it weren't for his wacky foreign policy?... more

JRBarilla
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52 comments

Why on Earth Would We End the Fed

Some people think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government institutions. They are private monopolies which prey upon the people of these United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers; foreign and domestic speculators and swindlers; and rich and predatory money lenders."

– The Honorable Louis McFadden, Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee in the 1930s

The Federal Reserve (or Fed) has assumed sweeping new powers in the last year. In an unprecedented move in March 2008, the New York Fed advanced the funds for JPMorgan Chase Bank to buy investment bank Bear Stearns for pennies on the dollar. The deal was particularly controversial because Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, sits on the board of the New York Fed and participated in the secret weekend negotiations.1 In September 2008, the Federal Reserve did something even more unprecedented, when it bought the world’s largest insurance company. The Fed announced on September 16 that it was giving an $85 billion loan to American International Group (AIG) for a nearly 80% stake in the mega-insurer. The Associated Press called it a "government takeover," but this was no ordinary nationalization. Unlike the U.S. Treasury, which took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the week before, the Fed is not a government-owned agency. Also unprecedented was the way the deal was funded. The Associated Press reported:

"The Treasury Department, for the first time in its history, said it would begin selling bonds for the Federal Reserve in an effort to help the central bank deal with its unprecedented borrowing needs."2

This is extraordinary. Why is the Treasury issuing U.S. government bonds (or debt) to fund the Fed, which is itself supposedly "the lender of last resort" created to fund the banks and the federal government? Yahoo Finance reported on September 17:

"The Treasury is setting up a temporary financing program at the Fed’s request. The program will auction Treasury bills to raise cash for the Fed’s use. The initiative aims to help the Fed manage its balance sheet following its efforts to enhance its liquidity facilities over the previous few quarters."

Normally, the Fed swaps green pieces of paper called Federal Reserve Notes for pink pieces of paper called U.S. bonds (the federal government’s I.O.U.s), in order to provide Congress with the dollars it cannot raise through taxes. Now, it seems, the government is issuing bonds, not for its own use, but for the use of the Fed! Perhaps the plan is to swap them with the banks’ dodgy derivatives collateral directly, without actually putting them up for sale to outside buyers. According to Wikipedia (which translates Fedspeak into somewhat clearer terms than the Fed’s own website):

"The Term Securities Lending Facility is a 28-day facility that will offer Treasury general collateral to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s primary dealers in exchange for other program-eligible collateral. It is intended to promote liquidity in the financing markets for Treasury and other collateral and thus to foster the functioning of financial markets more generally. . . . The resource allows dealers to switch debt that is less liquid for U.S. government securities that are easily tradable."

"To switch debt that is less liquid for U.S. government securities that are easily tradable" means that the government gets the banks’ toxic derivative debt, and the banks get the government’s triple-A securities. Unlike the risky derivative debt, federal securities are considered "risk-free" for purposes of determining capital requirements, allowing the banks to improve their capital position so they can make new loans. (See E. Brown, "Bailout Bedlam," webofdebt.com/articles, October 2, 2008.)

Continued............

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10489Some people think that the Federal Reserve Banks are United States Government... more

PetEr_Alan_ColE
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1 month ago
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Sarah Palin trashes National Endowment for the Arts

March 16, 2011 | 2:58 pm
Television commentator and half-term Alaska governor Sarah Palin trashed the National Endowment for the Arts recently, describing the agency as "frivolous" in a Thursday interview on a Fox News talk show. [http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/transcript/sarah-palin-talks-wisconsin-union-battle-julianne-moore-playing-her-hbo-movie#ixzz1GnICRkVo]
"NPR, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, all those kind of frivolous things that government shouldn't be in the business of funding with tax dollars -- those should all be on the chopping block as we talk about the $14-trillion debt that we're going to hand to our kids and our grandkids," Palin told right-wing host Sean Hannity. "Yes, those are the type of things that for more than one reason need to be cut."
Palin did not elaborate on what the other reasons might be for chopping the NEA budget. But the government of every major civilization in world history has also prominently funded the arts.
The comment about the NEA came during a discussion of the ailing U.S. economy. Palin is certainly conversant with frivolous activity, but her grasp of the economy is weak.
Debt reduction would barely be affected by penciling out the small federal arts agency, which currently operates on a $161-million annual budget. Palin's support of a federal subsidy for the notorious "bridge to nowhere" in her state became a campaign issue when she ran for vice president on the 2008 Republican ticket. That local project carried a price tag of $223 million.
"Reality is we have 15 million Americans who are out of work," said Palin. Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry supports 5.7 million jobs and generates $166.2 billion in annual economic activity, according to Americans for the Arts. [http://www.artsusa.org/information_services/research/services/economic_impact/default.asp] The NEA is one linchpin in that sizable economy.
In the interview Palin made no statement advocating similar budget cuts to her home state as she recommended for the NEA, which is also in the cross hairs of Washington's Republican leadership. Palin's Alaska gets $1.84 in federal spending for every dollar its citizens pay in federal taxes. [http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-11-14/news/27081146_1_alaska-snooki-reality]March 16, 2011 | 2:58 pm Television commentator and half-term Alaska governor Sarah... more

Judgian12365
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2 months ago
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Why Iceland Should Be in the News But Is Not

An Italian radio program’s story about Iceland’s on-going revolution is a... more

worrg
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3 months ago
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David Cameron: our plan to cut debt is failing

David Cameron and his senior ministers have admitted for the first time that there is... more

aileenalmeda
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3 months ago
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Wave of suicides among Indian farmers due to BT cotton/agrarian policies largest in recorded history

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16112805 The record suicide rate among... more

JanforGore
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3 months ago
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13 comments

Federal Reserve confirms it's a private corporation and pays dividends to shareholders

Humboldt State University was visited by David Lang and Yelena Takhtamanova from the... more

DavidHaynie
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3 months ago
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Surging US national debt - What is the best debt relief option for the debtors | www.thepoliticus.com

The US national debt has recently surpassed the debt ceiling and has reached a... more

dcherry
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3 months ago
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Bill Clinton Chats with Jon Stewart [Extended Interview] (VIDEO)

Clinton talks about his “beef with the Tea Party and with the... more

StewSteve
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3 months ago
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US and Europe Enraged Over Greek Democratic Referendum To Approve Eu Bail-Out Deal

George Papandreou has announced that there will be a Greek referendum to approve the... more

JanforGore
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3 months ago
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How The California Culinary Academy (& other for profit colleges) Prey on America's Youth & Why We Should Stop Them

Matt Gratz, Political Fail Blog The American dream is a phrase that once meant an... more

Pfailblog
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3 months ago
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