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An Easily Understandable Explanation of Derivative Markets

Maybe this will help you to understand how our country got into the financial shape that we find ourselves today.

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit.   She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar.  To solve this problem, she comes up with new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later.

She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

Word gets around about Heidi’s “drink now, pay later” marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi’s bar.  Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit.

By providing her customers’ freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages.  Consequently, Heidi’s gross sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets and increases Heidi’s borrowing limit.  He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral. Read more…

“One Nation” Painting

This is an incredible painting by Jon McNaughton.

This painting represents McNaughton’s response to criticism
of “One Nation Under God.”

Read the explanation below the painting and then view the painting.  You can move the mouse over any person (put it in the center of each face) and the right side of the screen gives a description of that person.  Just move the mouse, don’t click.

Notice Jesus Christ in the center with all his garments are explained. 
Notice Jesus Christ holding the U.S. Constitution..
Satan is also in the painting. Can you find him? I couldn’t !
This is incredible ! ! !

http://www.mcnaughtonart.com/artwork/view_zoom/?artpiece_id=353

Confessions of an Obamacare Supporter

The typical argument for ObamaCare is that it will offer better medical care for everyone and cost less to do it, but occasionally a supporter lets the mask slip and reveals the real political motivation. So let’s give credit to John Cassidy, part of the left-wing stable at the New Yorker, who wrote last week on its Web site that “it’s important to be clear about what the reform amounts to.” Read more…

THE LORDS OF ENTITLEMENT

The Wall Street Journal

Speaker Nancy Pelosi defied policy logic and public opinion late Saturday night, ramming through the House a nearly 2,000-page health-care leviathan that counts as the biggest expansion of the federal government since the New Deal. As President Obama likes to say, this was a “teachable moment” about our current government. Read more…

Round One to Obama

The Fed told Ken Lewis, Bank of America CEO, to go through with the purchase of Merrill Lynch or he would lose his job. Lewis did proceed with the purchase of Merrill and was forced, by Obama’s people, to take TARP monies. Now a over a year later, B of A wants to repay the first tranche of TARP – the Feds won’t allow it.  

Lewis was named Banker of the Year in 2001, and was the same year honored as Top Chief Executive Officer, according to US Banker. In 2007, Lewis was listed among the 100 Most Influential People in the world by Time Magazine. He was again named Banker of the Year in 2008, according to Wikipedia who conveniently leaves out all Federal involvement in the Merrill takeover. 

Lewis saw the handwriting on the wall and announced his retirement September 30, 2009.  This week the Obama’s Pay Czar, Kenneth R. Feinberg announced salaries and bonuses will be slashed by 90% in some cases – averaging a 50% cut to all top CEO’s of Bank of America, CitiGroup, American International Group, GM and Chrysler. 

Heavy handed tactics like these are being reported daily in this country where Freedom once rang out loudly in the Home of the Brave. How long until the Federal Government tells you what you can earn or where you can work? And where are the brave anyway?

Congress Grants Gays Hate Crime Protections

JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Physical attacks on people based on their sexual orientation will join the list of federal hate crimes in a major ex­pansion of the civil rights­era law Congress approved Thursday and sent to Pres­ident Barack Obama.

A priority of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D- Mass. , the measure expands current law to include crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disabil­ity. The measure is named for Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming college stu­dent murdered 11 years ago. To assure its passage after years of frustrated ef­forts, Democratic support­ers attached the measure to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill the Sen­ate approved 68-29. The House passed the defense bill earlier this month.

Many Republicans, nor­mally staunch supporters of defense bil ls, voted against the bill because of the hate crimes provision. All the no votes were Re­publicans except for Sen. RussFeingold, D-Wis. , who supported the hate crimes provision but op­poses what he says is the open-ended military com­mitment in Afghanistan. Read more…

Broken Promises

Oil Industry Has Warned About Declining Production

Alex Mills – President of the Texas Alliance of Energy Produc­ers

The Obama administra­tion stunned economists and energy policy experts recently with its new ra­tionale that the U.S. tax code has encouraged the “overproduction of oil and natural gas” since 1916.

The oil and gas indus­try has warned federal policymakers since the 1930s that unless the fed­eral and state governments worked with the oil and gas industry to increase production, the U.S. oil and gas industry would de­cline and the nation would become more dependent on foreign oil. Oil and gas producers pointed out that the Unit­ed States is unique in that it is the only nation that al­lows private ownership of minerals. Also, the United States has encouraged the development of oil and natural gas reserves through private businesses and not through a national oil company, as is the case elsewhere in the world. Read more…

Obama: No Added Troops Until Afghanistan Proves Reliability

ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will not commit more U.S. troops to Afghanistan until he is con­vinced that the central gov­ernment can be a credible and effective U.S. partner, a senior White House aide said Sunday.

But it was unclear wheth­er Obama intends to accept the recommendation by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, for thousands more American troops and other resources in the 8-year-struggle to stabilize Afghanistan.

The central question be­fore Obama, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said, is “not how much troops you have, but whether in fact there’s an Afghan partner.”

The issue of developing an effective Afghan central government has dogged the U.S. mission virtually from the war’s start after the at­tacks against the U. S. on Sept. 11, 2001. It gained new urgency after an Aug. 20 presidential election marred by charges of ballot-stuffing and voter coercion.

An election fraud investi­gation could lead to a runoff election between President Hamid Karzai and his top challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdul­lah.

A second round of bal­loting would have to be held before winter, which tradi­tionally begins in mid-No­vember. Once heavy snows block mountain passes, thereby limiting voter ac­cess to polling places, a run­off would have to wait until spring, leaving the coun­try in political limbo for months as the Taliban gains strength. Read more…