Occupy Oakland

While I am not sure what the proper responce to the minority of protestors that threw rocks and bottles should be, I doubt it is this. It is clear by this video that the police are targeting non violent protestors, in this case one who was injured. 

Form the video it is not clear that the injured Iraq Vet was targeted in the initial incident where the tear gas cannister struck him, but it is clear that he and those who were trying to help him were targeted by a flash grenade. It would not be too difficult to determine who tossed the flash grenade, but I doubt we will ever know because of the "Blue Wall of Silence."

Of course the Police were totally honest about thier use of flash grenades and rubber bullets-well, maybe not. To be totally fair, the acting chief in Oakland denied the use of these items, at the same time saying they may have beed used by other departments beside his. In the modern era of 50% of the protesters carring cell phones with video cameras they should know better. 

Here is another example of the Police targeting non violent protesters. 

I think most of us have an assumption-we assume the Police tell the truth. This assumption, what I have been calling on this blog a template, is in need of some reconsideration. 

Both Parties Owed By Wall Street

I thought this cartoon illustrates our political situation. 

Ultimately, I am not convinced it matters who you vote for. 

Who Said This?

We need a President like this who can cut! Who said this:

“The one thing that we absolutely know for sure is that if we don’t work even harder than we did in 2008, then we’re going to have a government that tells the American people, ‘you are on your own,’”

I have no objection to a safety net, but that is not this person's proposal. What this implies is an impossibility. The government can not provide for you, for you are the government. A government that tells you that you can rely on it is a government that lies. This is our current government.

Our deficit is 1.4 trillion a year. We need to cut our Government spending by 40%. When Bachman mentioned this unpleasant fact in one of the debates, the crowd gasped. This was a Republican crowd that should have known better. 

I favor the expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts for the Fat Cats. In fact we need to let them expire for everyone. The expiration of these cuts is already factored in the the Congressional Budget Office deficit estimates. Even with a 4 trillion dollar tax increase over 10 years, we still need to cut 10 trillion from our spending. No one but Ron Paul is talking about this. Paul proposes keeping the Bush Tax Cuts and cutting spending even more, I do not feel this is practicable. 

Folks, if you rely on the government you are relying on a false god who will fail you in the end. 

Why Save?

In today's economic environment there is very little reason to save. If you do you get the proverbial shaft, while the government keeps the gold from the mine. 

There have been many examples of this. The first that comes to mind is the shafting the GM and Chrysler bondholders got in their bankruptcies. Secured lenders got less than unsecured lenders. One Chrysler bondholder that said he was going to sue was threatened by the government and he did not sue.  I doubt that the government was responsible for the death threats that the investor recieved. Property rights mean nothing anymore. 

The rate of interest that a saver recieves right now is less than the inflation rate. Of course, they also pay taxes on this "interest." This is a direct consequence of the actions of the Federal Reserve. 

The Obama regime will continue this in its latest plan to "help" homeowners who owe more on thier house than it is worth. From the Wall Street Journal:

The latest iteration came Monday, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency unveiled changes to a program meant to make it easier for underwater homeowners who are current on payments to refinance into a lower-rate mortgage. 

On the surface this does not sound bad, but it is another example of savers getting the short end of the stick:

Missing from that winners' list: investors who finance housing markets by purchasing mortgage-backed bonds. They will fund this new effort. Here is how: As homeowners refinance, investors who bought mortgage bonds will be given back their money and will have little option but to reinvest at far lower yields. The transfer is the difference in yield.

It is not that the bondholder is paid off, as in a normal refinancing, the bondholder instead just gets a lower rate of return than promised-without thier permission. 

Why save? Why invest? The Banksters are just going to take it from you. 

A Chart Is Worth 10,000 Words

The following chart tells us why the West is headed for a crisis. Note that the debt listed here does not include unfunded liabilities. For America this is an extra 75 trillion for Social Security and Medicare. 

Thanks to Charles Hugh Smith for the chart.