Thursday, May 26, 2011

Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, May 26, 2011


This should put a smile on your face...

(And if it doesn't... never return!)
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9 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20110524/pl_dailycaller/usdafinesmissourifamily90kforsellingafewrabbitswithoutalicense

* JUST READ THIS...

(*SHAKING MY HEAD*)

It started out as a hobby, a way for the Dollarhite family in Dixa, Mo., to teach a teenage son responsibility. Like a lemonade stand. But now, selling a few hundred rabbits over two years has provoked the heavy hand of the federal government to the tune of a $90,643 fine.

(*SIGH*)

The fine was levied more than a year after authorities contacted family members, prompting them to immediately halt their part-time business and liquidate their equipment.

* THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MUST BE CUT DOWN TO SIZE...!!! THESE PEOPLE ARE OUT OF CONTROL...!!!

[T]he Dollarhites face no accusation they mistreated any animals. Instead, they committed what’s called in regulatory parlance a “paperwork violation” under the Animal Welfare Act, a 1966 law intended to prevent the abuse of animals.

(*BANGING MY HEAD AGAINST THE WALL*) A "PAPERWORK VIOLATION." WITH A $90,643 FINE ATTACHED...!!!

* FOLKS... SERIOUSLY... READ THE FULL STORY. BLOOD WILL SHOOT OUT OF YOUR EYES!

May 26, 2011 at 8:04 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-26/fed-gave-banks-crisis-gains-on-secretive-loans-as-low-as-0-01-.html

Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc each borrowed at least $30 billion in 2008 from a Federal Reserve emergency lending program whose details weren’t revealed to shareholders, members of Congress or the public.

* "WHOSE DETAILS WEREN'T REVEALED TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS..."

“I wasn’t aware of this program until now,” said U.S. Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who chaired the House Financial Services Committee in 2008...

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

The $80 billion initiative, called single-tranche open- market operations, or ST OMO, made 28-day loans from March through December 2008...

Units of 20 banks were required to bid at auctions for the cash. They paid interest rates as low as 0.01% that December, when the Fed’s main lending facility charged 0.5%.

(*SMIRK*)

“This was a pure subsidy,” said Robert A. Eisenbeis, former head of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and now chief monetary economist at Sarasota, Florida-based Cumberland Advisors Inc.

(*NOD*)

Zurich-based Credit Suisse borrowed as much as $45 billion...

* YEP! AND ONCE AGAIN THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER IS PLAYED FOR A CHUMP. NOT ONLY DO WE SUBSIDIZE AMERICAN FINANCEERS, BUT ALSO FOREIGNERS!

The records don’t provide exact loan amounts for each bank. Smith, the New York Fed spokesman, would not disclose those details. Amounts cited in this article are estimates based on the graphs.

* WOULD NOT DISCLOSE THOSE DETAILS...?!?!

One effect of the program was to spur trading in mortgage-backed securities...

* BUT... BUT... BUT... TRADING IN MORTGAGE MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES WAS ONE OF THE MAIN CAUSES OF THE FINANCIAL COLLAPSE IN THE FIRST PLACE...!!!

* FOLKS... (*SIGH*)

May 26, 2011 at 8:16 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576343732346643992.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

The United States has a 35% federal corporate tax rate, the second-highest in the world behind Japan. But not all businesses are created equal when it comes to taxation. There are a few industries - and their customers - that pay more than their fair share: alcohol, tobacco, gambling and...

(*DRUM ROLL*) WAIT FOR IT... WAIT FOR IT...

...airlines.

Yes, airlines.

* HMM... YA HAVE TO WONDER IF SOMEONE AT THE WSJ HAS BEEN READING MY BLOG! (*CHUCKLE*)

Most Americans have no idea that their air travel is taxed at the same excessive level as products and services that are taxed to discourage their use.

* IF THAT'S TRUE, THEN IT'S ONLY BECAUSE MOST AMERICANS ARE IGNORANT.

Putting aviation in the "sin tax" bracket is absurd...

* SO ONE WOULD THINK...!

[T]he tax bite on a typical, $300 domestic round-trip ticket has nearly tripled to $61 today from $22 in 1972.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

Aviation levies have been on autopilot, rising steadily and without interruption for years. In the last 10 years alone, collections from U.S. taxes and fees have risen 38%.

Taxes increase the cost of everything transported by air - from perishable food to overnight parcels. They also make travel more expensive for vacationers and business travelers.

* AND THE "BUSINESS TRAVELORS" AREN'T PAYING FOR THEIR OWN AIRFARE - THEIR EMPLOYERS ARE. FURTHERMORE, THESE EMPLOYERS ARE WRITING OFF THE AIRFARE... INCLUDING FEES AND TAXES... AS BUSINESS EXPENSES. SO GUESS WHO PAYS THE SHORTFALL, FOLKS... GUESS WHOSE MONEY "MAKES UP" FOR THAT "LOST REVENUE" DUE TO CORPORATE WRITE-OFFS?

(*SMIRK*)

May 26, 2011 at 9:54 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0511/_7afd0b1d-fd69-4f0b-9fa9-c5e98b5cb77a.html

The budget proposal released by the White House back in February didn’t win a single vote in the Senate on Wednesday - the final tally was 0-97.

* KINDA TELLS YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW "SERIOUS" OBAMA IS ABOUT PROPOSING A RESPONSIBLE BUDGET.

* FOLKS... IF THIS HAD HAPPENED IN A PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY THEY'D BE A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE AND THE PRIME MINISTER WOULD RESIGN. HERE IN THE GOOD OL' U.S.A. IT'S SIMPLY BUSINESS AS USUAL. DISGUSTING.

May 26, 2011 at 2:45 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/05/gov_christie_to_announce_nj_pu.html

Gov. Chris Christie said this morning that the state will pull out of the region’s "gimmicky" cap-and-trade program by the end of the year.

* WELL IT IS GIMMICKY! (BUT I'LL LEAVE THE QUOTATION MARKS WHERE THEY ARE...) (*SMILE*)

"This program is not effective in reducing greenhouse gases and is unlikely to be in the future," Christie told reporters. "The whole system is not working as it was intended to work. It’s a failure."

* AIN'T IT REFRESHING TO HEAR A POLITICIAN TELL THE TRUTH - AND ACT ON IT?!

The decision will please...

* THE DECISION WILL PLEASE PEOPLE WHO USE ENERGY! MEANING ALL OF US! (JEEZ... THIS ARTICLE IS SKEWED LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE. SERIOUSLY... I URGE YOU TO READ IT AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THE LEFT SKEWS NEWS REPORTING LEFT.)

"RGGI drives up energy costs for consumers at a time when nobody can afford any additional taxes," Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington), who recently signed on to legislation to repeal the initiative, said in a statement.

* AND SHE'S RIGHT...!!!

May 26, 2011 at 2:45 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/26/tax-dollars-shrimp-treadmills-jell-o-wrestling/

[T]axpayer money has gone to fund such programs as Jell-O wrestling at the South Pole, testing shrimp’s exercise ability on a treadmill and a laundry-folding robot, all funded by the National Science Foundation.

(*SIGH*)

Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, said he identified more than $3 billion in mismanagement at NSF, ranging from questionable studies to exorbitant operating costs, and in some cases duplication by the science agency of operations performed by other agencies.

At a time when the federal government is struggling with record deficits and bumping up against its borrowing limit, Mr. Coburn said the agency is a prime example of the kinds of spending taxpayers should no longer tolerate.

* YA THINK...?!?!

May 26, 2011 at 2:46 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/43179580

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to 424,000 last week...

* AGAIN WITH THE "UNEXPECTEDLY" FOLKS... (*SMIRK*) (*ROLLING MY EYES*)

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast that claims last week would decline to 400,000, rather than rise.

* PERHAPS... JUST PERHAPS... (*PAUSE*)... REUTERS SHOULD POLL DIFFERENT ECONOMISTS... PERHAPS COMPETENT ONES...?

* HEY... JUST A THOUGHT!

May 26, 2011 at 2:46 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/268016/hellenic-handbasket-michael-tanner

Pop quiz: Which country is in worse fiscal condition - Greece or the United States?

This year Greece will run a budget deficit equal to 9.5% of its GDP.

But what about the United States? Our budget deficit this year is estimated to be roughly 10.8% of GDP.

* OOPS!

Greece’s overall national debt will be slightly higher than 150%of GDP by the end of the year.

* THAT'S JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG HOWEVER...

If Greece fully accounted for all of its future unfunded pension liabilities, its real debt would exceed 875% of GDP, nearly nine times the value of everything produced in the country over the course of a year.

* SCARY SHIT, HUH?!

But what about the United States?

Our official $14.3 trillion debt is only about 98% of GDP. Our debt won’t hit Greek percentages of GDP until 2020 or so.

(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)

On the other hand...

* UH... THE OTHER HAND...???

...if the unfunded liabilities of Medicare and Social Security are included, then our real total indebtedness tops 900% of GDP, putting us in worse long-term shape than Greece.

* AH, SHIT...!

[Our] spending numbers are even more frightening.

* GREAT...! (CONTINUE READING!)

Currently, the federal government spends slightly less than 25% of GDP.

* O.K. BUT...

State and local governments spend an additional 10% to 15% - therefore, total U.S. government spending runs between 35% and 40%, only slightly better than the Greeks’.

* HMM...

* OH! BUT WAIT! IT GETS WORSE...

[O]nce our entitlement programs - Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, as well as ObamaCare - really kick in, U.S. government spending will skyrocket.

Unless those programs are dramatically reformed, by 2050 federal spending will top 43% of GDP.

Throw in state and local governments, and total government spending will be closing in on 60% of GDP.

That would be considerably higher than in Greece today.

(*REACHING FOR THE SCOTCH*)

This country really has reached a moment of decision. Unless we face up to the need to radically reduce the size and cost of government, and to reform our entitlement programs, we are headed down the same road to ruin as the welfare states of Europe.

[T]he Greeks have at least begun, however tentatively and reluctantly, to cut back government spending. The United States remains in deep denial.

* OH... AND FOLKS... WHO'S GONNA BAIL US OUT...? NO ONE. (*SIGH*) GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES, FOLKS!

May 26, 2011 at 5:39 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/8534808/Japan-elderly-engineers-want-final-mission-to-Fukushima.html

* THE JAPANESE ARE AN AMAZING PEOPLE...

A group of elderly Japanese engineers are prepared to come out of retirement to fix the Fukushima nuclear power plant for their final mission.

More than 160 nuclear and civil engineers over the age of 60 are planning to set up a Skilled Veterans Corps to assist restoring control over crucial cooling functions at the tsunami-hit nuclear power plant.

Decades of professional engineering expertise combined with a desire to protect younger workers from radiation exposure have united the elderly workers in a desire to help fix the plant.

The idea was masterminded by Yasuteru Yamada, 72, a retired engineer formerly working in plant construction, who was alarmed by reports of young subcontractors, some unskilled in this field, undertaking the high-risk work.

"We shouldn't leave the work only to young engineers," he said. "Young people, especially those who have children in future, should not be exposed to radiation."

Under the new proposal, an independent body of skilled engineers over the age of 60 would be authorised by the government to take over ground work restoring cooling systems alongside Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which operates the plant.

(*HEARTFELT STANDING OVATION*)

May 26, 2011 at 6:00 PM

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