Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, October 13, 2010


I definitely need to get me one of these...!
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3 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1288443

[Democratic] U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, immersed in one of the toughest political fights of his career, took a free private jet to the Virgin Islands courtesy of a Maine congresswoman’s billionaire fiance - whose company received a $200 million federal bailout...

(*SMIRK*)

Frank...flew to the tropical paradise for a vacation in 2009 on a $25 million jet owned by Paloma Partners honcho S. Donald Sussman, the fiance of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine).

* I WONDER IF OL' BARNEY KICKED IN A FEW BUCKS TO "OFFSET" THE FLIGHT'S CARBON FOOTPRINT? (*CHUCKLE*)

Paloma Securities - a subsidiary of Sussman’s Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund - received $200 million in 2009 as part of the $180 billion federal bailout of troubled insurance giant AIG, records show.

* NICE... REAL NICE...

Republican National Committee spokesman Parish Braden said: “Barney Frank’s acceptance of a lavish gift from a hedge fund manager, an industry he is responsible for regulating, is a troubling conflict of interest that raises serious questions about his judgment.” Bielat added: “Typical. Barney keeps showing how career politicians work - they use our dollars for their favors. It may be legal, but it’s wrong and that’s why we need a change.”

* WELL... HARD TO ARGUE WITH ANY OF THAT.

Frank, who voted for the bailout in October 2008, took the trip around Christmas 2009. He reported the trip in required House financial filings and valued the flight at $1,500. He originally listed the trip vaguely as “first class round trip travel by private aircraft” in a congressional filing in May. In July, he amended the report to show he traveled from Portland, Maine, to the Virgin Islands. He called the discrepancy a “clerical error.”

* HEY, FOLKS... ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN LEASE A $25 MILLION JET FOR $1,500....??? (*SNORT*)

Sussman, a huge Democratic campaign donor with homes in Maine and Connecticut, lives in St. John, Virgin Islands. Spokespersons for Sussman and Pingree declined to comment. Pingree also is facing criticism from the Maine GOP for using Sussman’s jet.

October 13, 2010 at 4:32 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39641282

Gold settled up to end above $1,370 an ounce on Wednesday, boosted by worries over dollar depreciation after the Federal Reserve signaled it will start buying government debt again to "stimulate the economy."

* I PUT THE ABOVE "STIMULATE THE ECONOMY" PHRASE IN QUOTES BECAUSE THE PLAIN ENGLISH TRANSLATION IS "FURTHER UNDERMINE THE ECONOMY."

[I]nvestors sought safe havens while the Fed and other central banks profess readiness to inject more money into the financial system...[as] the dollar fell broadly on reinforced expectations of more U.S. easing.

* FOLKS. NOTICE THAT SUMMER'S OVER AND RATHER THAN GOING DOWN FROM THE SUMMER MONTHS GAS PRICES ARE ACTUALLY RISING...??? FOLKS. THE DEMOCRATS WANT INFLATION. (DO YOU...???)

Axel Merk, portfolio manager of the Merk Hard Currency Fund, said that the Fed and other central banks are trying to weaken their currencies...

* FOLKS. LET ME ASK YOU THIS: IF THE HEADLINE WAS "CIA UNVAILS EVIDENCE POINTING TO A JOINT CHINESE/RUSSIAN PLOT TO UNDERMINE THE DOLLAR" WOULD THAT CONCERN YOU...??? WELL, FOLKS... THE HEADLINE HERE IS "BEN BERNANKE AND THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION PLOT TO UNDERMINE THE DOLLAR." I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'LL TAKE TO WAKE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE UP TO WHAT THESE BASTARDS IN WASHINGTON ARE DOING... (*SIGH*)

Axel Merk, portfolio manager of the Merk Hard Currency Fund, said..."With the weaker dollar, inflation will pick up in the commodity space, which is the most sensitive to monetary stimulus."

* DUH! FOLKS... IN PLAIN ENGLISH... YOUR STANDARD OF LIVING IS GOING TO GO DOWN...!!! YOU'LL PAY MORE FOR LESS...!!!

October 13, 2010 at 4:45 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39626759

Big U.S. cities could be squeezed by unfunded public pensions as they and counties face a $574 billion funding gap, a study to be released on Tuesday shows.

* BY "UNFUNDED" THEY MEAN POLITICIANS HAVE "WRITTEN BAD CHECKS" YET UNLIKE IF YOU TRIED TO DO SO AT YOUR LOCAL SUPERMARKET, THESE SCUM WON'T BE ARRESTED... THEY WON'T GO TO JAIL... INDEED, MOST WILL BE RE-ELECTED.

The gap at the municipal level would be in addition to $3,000 billion in unfunded liabilities already estimated for state-run pensions, according to research from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the University of Rochester.

* BTW, $3,000 BILLION = $3 TRILLION. (THAT'S "TRILLION" WITH A "T.")

“What is yet to be seen is how this burden will be distributed between state and local governments and whether the federal government will be called upon for bail-outs,” said Joshua Rauh of the Kellogg School.

* OF COURSE SINCE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS BASICALLY BANKRUPT AS WELL...

(*SIGH*)

Current pension assets for plans sponsored by Philadelphia can only pay for promised benefits through 2015, while Boston and Chicago would deplete their existing funds by 2019. Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Florida and St Paul have current pension assets that can only pay for promised benefits through 2020.

Local governments use unique accounting methods that many, such as Mr Rauh, believe understate obligations.

(*SMIRK*) "UNIQUE," HUH...??? AGAIN... IF A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL OR A PRIVATE ENTITY EVER TRIED TO PULL THE CRAP THAT THE FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS PULL HE OR SHE WOULD BE CUFFED, TRIED, CONVICTED, AND JAILED FOR FRAUD.

October 13, 2010 at 4:53 PM

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