Whatever medical science may profess, there is a difference between Life and survival. There is more to being alive than just having a heartbeat and brain activity. Being alive, really alive, is something much subtler and more magnificent. Their instruments measure blood pressure and temperature, but overlook joy, passion, love, all the things that make life really matter. To make our lives matter again, to really get the most out of them, we will have to redefine life itself. We have to dispense with their merely clinical definitions, in favor of ones which have more to do with what we actually feel. As it stands, how much living do we have in our lives? How many mornings do you wake up feeling truly free, thrilled to be alive, breathlessly anticipating the experiences of a new day? How many nights do you fall asleep feeling fulfilled, going over the events of the past day with satisfaction? Most of us feel as though everything has already been decided without us, as if living is not a creative activity but rather something that happens to us. That's not being alive, that's just surviving: being undead. We have undertakers, but their services are not usually required; we have morgues, but we spend most of our time in office cubicles and video arcades, in shopping malls, in front of televisions. Of course suburban housewives and petty executives are terrified of risk and change; they can't imagine that there is anything more valuable than physical safety. Their hearts may be beating, but they no longer believe in their dreams, let alone chase after them.
But this is how the revolution begins: a few of us start chasing our dreams, breaking our old patterns, embracing what we love (and in the process discovering what we hate), daydreaming, questioning, acting outside the boundaries of routine and regularity. Others see us doing this, see people daring to be more creative and more adventurous, more generous and more ambitious than they had imagined possible, and join us one by one. Once enough people embrace this new way of living, a point of critical mass is finally reached, and society itself begins to change. From that moment, the world will start to undergo a transformation: from the frightening, alien place that it is, into a place ripe with possibility, where our lives are in our own hands and any dream can come true.
So do what you want with your life, whatever it is! But to be sure you do get what you want, think carefully about what it really is, first, and how to go about getting it. Analyze the world around you, so you'll know which people and forces are working against your desires, and which ones are on your side... and how you can work together with us. We're out here, living life to the fullest, waiting for you—hopping trains across the United States, organizing political protests in French public schools, writing beautiful letters at sunrise in Bangkok. We just finished making love in the corporate washroom a minute before you walked in on your half hour lunchbreak. And Life is waiting for you with us, on the peaks of unclimbed mountains, in the smoke of campfires and burning buildings, in the arms of lovers who will turn your world upside down. Come join us!
read more
Monday, August 22, 2011
China Says US On Way To Default While Implying America Is Falsifying Its Accounting
Dow Jones Reports That A Chinese Think Tank Has Implied America May Be Falsifying Its Accounting And Says The United States Is On Its Way To Default
The Dow Jones news wire reports that a Chinese Think Tank has stated that “the U.S. may be on its way to default on its debt despite the U.S. government’s ability to print more money” which went on to implicitly accuse the US of fabricating economic data.Zero Hedge reports:
Of course, implying that the U.S. is falsifying economic data is not without basis.Chinese Think Tank Implies America May Be Falsifying Its Accounting, Says US On Way To Default
Submitted by Tyler Durden
08/21/2011 21:31 -0400
Joe Biden came to China, saw, and failed to conquer the locals’ ridicule.
Punctuating just how “effective” Biden’s visit to China was in order to “reassure that the US is solvent” (no seriously, that’s the name of the article) is a just released article in the Securities Times by Wang Tialong, member of Chinese think tank Center for International Economic Exchanges in which he went on to blatantly say that “The U.S. may be on its way to default on its debt despite the U.S. government’s ability to print more money, a Chinese think tank researcher said Monday.”
Now this is nothing new in the escalating war of words between the two countries, although increasingly China appears to be attacking the primary loophole that defenders of the unsustainable US debt use, namely the fall back to the USD as a reserve currency.
Wang went on further to implicitly accuse the US of fabricating economic data: “There is also no way to punish the issuer country if it falsifies its accounting and there is no way to restructure the issuer either, Wang said.”
Well, when China accuses the US of “falsifying accounting” you know you have hit rock bottom.
From Dow Jones:
The U.S. may be on its way to default on its debt despite the U.S. government’s ability to print more money, a Chinese think tank researcher said Monday.Slowly, surely, China is realizing that the endgame is nothing short of out of control debt inflation, which is precisely what having no way to “restructure the issuer” means.
There is no guarantee for sovereign debt, which increases the risks the lenders face, said Wang Tianlong, a researcher at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a think tank supervised by the country’s economic planner, adding that the issuer could be more careless in using the loans.
In the short term, the U.S. doesn’t have much ability to reduce its deficit, Wang said in an opinion piece published in Securities Times. He added that the U.S. lacks the political system to guarantee that it will not default on its debt.
There is also no way to punish the issuer country if it falsifies its accounting and there is no way to restructure the issuer either, Wang said.
Wang’s comments come after the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday the U.S. “never will default” on its government debt and reassured Beijing that Chinese investments in the U.S. are safe.
That plus sending the US to bankruptcy court may be somewhat problematic.
It also means that Chinese holdings of US debt will be increasingly worthless, and its population increasingly stabby as the price of hogs resumes its record climb.
The only alternative is for the CNY to float and for the Chinese, Russians and Germans to say enough to this broken economic model and launch a gold (and other hard asset) backed currency. The only question is when.
h/t London Dude Trader
Source:Zero Hedge
As previously reported, NPR says the real national debt is $211 trillion and not the official $14 trillion number and of course that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to manipulating economic data to cover up the financial terrorism the elite wages on the lower 99.99% of the population.
As another example, look at the historical Dow stock market chart when priced using government manipulated monetary techniques.
Dow Jones Historical Chart As Priced Using The Government's Monetary Manipulation Techniques
80 Years of the Dow Gold Ratio show a huge crash in the stock market being covered up by The U.S government's manipulation techniques
Hell, by design the Fractional reserve banking system is nothing more than a ponzi scheme itself.
Bloomberg reveals massive corruption in the private Federal Reserve
Activist Post
When the mainstream media is reporting stories like this, you know it is so serious that it cannot be ignored, even if they wanted to.
Today Bloomberg has revealed that the “Wall Street Aristocracy” received a staggering $1.2 trillion in loans. Yes, you read that right: $1.2 trillion.
The private Federal Reserve calls these hand-outs to their corporate cronies “emergency loans” but in reality they are nothing more than friends giving friends unfathomable amounts of money in order to “keep the economy from plunging into depression”.
Of course Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Bloomberg opt to characterize the giveaway of public funds as legitimate “unprecedented efforts” to help our withering economy, when this is far from the case as we have seen from the entire “stimulus” package that has just driven American deeper into the black hole of debt.
If Bernanke actually cared one iota about getting the American economy back on track, he would have given the money to the people of the United States.
This $1.2 trillion would be able to cover almost the entire 6.5 million delinquent and foreclosed mortgages of struggling American citizens. Instead, and not at all surprisingly, Bernanke and the Fed opted instead to give the money to their buddies.
The preponderance of the funds went to Morgan Stanley, who received $107.3 billion. Second was Citigroup, receiving $99.5 billion, and third was Bank of America who received $91.4 billion, according to information obtained via FOIA requests, months of litigation, and an act of Congress on behalf of Bloomberg.
Nearly half of the Federal Reserve’s top 30 borrowers as measured by peak balances were not American. A disturbing amount of money, which was given with American citizens as collateral, went directly to offshore European banks.
The Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh received $84.5 billion, UBS AG out of Zurich got $77.2 billion, German Hypo Real Estate Holding AG received $28.7 billion. Bloomberg reports that this equals an average of $21 million for every single one of Hypo Real Estate Holding’s 1,366 employees.
Bloomberg reveals a quite disturbing reality in the following paragraph:
The $1.2 trillion peak on Dec. 5, 2008 — the combined outstanding balance under the seven programs tallied by Bloomberg — was almost three times the size of the U.S. federal budget deficit that year and more than the total earnings of all federally insured banks in the U.S. for the decade through 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Federal Reserve is indeed working against the American people. They are deliberately destroying the value of the dollar, giving out free money to their cronies to the detriment of the American economy, and to make matters worse, they are promising to continue these practices.
One must remember, the recent audit of the Federal Reserve turned up a mind-blowing $16 trillion in emergency loans, which banks will pay back by borrowing from the treasury, continuing the vicious cycle that has brought us to where we are today.
Furthermore, recently the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan revealed the rationale behind this type of operation by saying that we would never default since we can just print more money.
These corrupt bankers think that they can continue blowing up the bubble ad infinitum. Unfortunately, that is just not the case and eventually this enormous financial bubble will pop, completely diminishing the value of the dollar and the stability (or lack thereof) of the American economy with it.
The article published by Bloomberg is a must read. While it is long, you would be doing yourself a disservice not to check it out here.
Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at admin@EndtheLie.com
GOP may OK tax increase that Obama hopes to block
News flash: Congressional Republicans want to raise your taxes.
Impossible, right? GOP lawmakers are so virulently anti-tax, surely they will fight to prevent a payroll tax increase on virtually every wage-earner starting Jan. 1, right?
Apparently not.
Many of the same Republicans who fought hammer-and-tong to keep the George W. Bush-era income tax cuts from expiring on schedule are now saying a different "temporary" tax cut should end as planned. By their own definition, that amounts to a tax increase.
The tax break extension they oppose is sought by President Barack Obama. Unlike proposed changes in the income tax, this policy helps the 46 percent of all Americans who owe no federal income taxes but who pay a "payroll tax" on practically every dime they earn.
There are other differences as well, and Republicans say their stand is consistent with their goal of long-term tax policies that will spur employment and lend greater certainty to the economy.
"It's always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn," says Rep. Jeb Hensarling, "but not all tax relief is created equal for the purposes of helping to get the economy moving again." The Texas lawmaker is on the House GOP leadership team.
The debate is likely to boil up in coming weeks as a special bipartisan committee seeks big deficit reductions and weighs which tax cuts are sacrosanct.
At issue is a tax that the vast majority of workers pay, but many don't recognize because they don't read, or don't understand their pay stubs. Workers normally pay 6.2 percent of their wages toward a tax designated for Social Security. Their employer pays an equal amount, for a total of 12.4 percent per worker.
As part of a bipartisan spending deal last December, Congress approved Obama's request to reduce the workers' share to 4.2 percent for one year; employers' rate did not change. Obama wants Congress to extend the reduction for an additional year. If not, the rate will return to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1.
Obama cited the payroll tax in his weekend radio and Internet address Saturday, when he urged Congress to work together on measures that help the economy and create jobs. "There are things we can do right now that will mean more customers for businesses and more jobs across the country. We can cut payroll taxes again, so families have an extra $1,000 to spend," he said.
Social Security payroll taxes apply only to the first $106,800 of a worker's wages. Therefore, $2,136 is the biggest benefit anyone can gain from the one-year reduction.
The great majority of Americans make less than $106,800 a year. Millions of workers pay more in payroll taxes than in federal income taxes.
The 12-month tax reduction will cost the government about $120 billion this year, and a similar amount next year if it's renewed.
That worries Rep. David Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and a member of the House-Senate supercommittee tasked with finding new deficit cuts. Tax reductions, "no matter how well-intended," will push the deficit higher, making the panel's task that much harder, Camp's office said.
But Republican lawmakers haven't always worried about tax cuts increasing the deficit. They led the fight to extend the life of a much bigger tax break: the major 2001 income tax reduction enacted under Bush. It was scheduled to expire at the start of this year. Obama campaigned on a pledge to end the tax break only for the richest Americans, but solid GOP opposition forced him to back down.
Many Republicans are adamant about not raising taxes but largely silent on what it would mean to let the payroll tax break expire.
Republicans cite key differences between the two "temporary" taxes, starting with the fact that the Bush measure had a 10-year life from the start. To stimulate job growth, these lawmakers say, it's better to reduce income tax rates for people and for companies than to extend the payroll tax break.
"We don't need short-term gestures. We need long-term fundamental changes in our tax structure and our regulatory structure that people who create jobs can rely on," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., when asked about the payroll tax matter.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., "has never believed that this type of temporary tax relief is the best way to grow the economy," said spokesman Brad Dayspring.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says payroll tax reductions give the economy a short-term boost. But it says the benefit is bigger if employers get the tax break instead of, or along with, workers.
Some top Republicans have taken a wait-and-see approach, expecting the payroll tax issue to be a bargaining chip in the upcoming debt reduction talks.
Neither House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, nor Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has taken a firm stand on whether to extend the one-year tax cut.
Most GOP presidential candidates also are treading lightly.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney did not flatly rule out an extra year for the payroll tax cut, but he "would prefer to see the payroll tax cut on the employer side" to spur job growth, his campaign said.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich said Republicans will fall under increasing pressure to extend the payroll tax cut. If they refuse, he said in a recent speech, "we're going to end up in a position where we're going to raise taxes on the lowest-income Americans the day they go to work."
Many Democrats also are ambivalent about Obama's proposed tax cut extension. They are more focused on protecting social programs from deep spending cuts. Some worry that a multiyear reduction in the tax designated for Social Security could undermine that program's health and stature.
For decades the payroll tax generated more revenue than the Social Security paid out in benefits. The excess was used to fund other government operations. Last year, however, Social Security benefits began outstripping revenue from its designated sources, forcing the program to start tapping its "trust fund" of government obligations.
Impossible, right? GOP lawmakers are so virulently anti-tax, surely they will fight to prevent a payroll tax increase on virtually every wage-earner starting Jan. 1, right?
Apparently not.
Many of the same Republicans who fought hammer-and-tong to keep the George W. Bush-era income tax cuts from expiring on schedule are now saying a different "temporary" tax cut should end as planned. By their own definition, that amounts to a tax increase.
The tax break extension they oppose is sought by President Barack Obama. Unlike proposed changes in the income tax, this policy helps the 46 percent of all Americans who owe no federal income taxes but who pay a "payroll tax" on practically every dime they earn.
There are other differences as well, and Republicans say their stand is consistent with their goal of long-term tax policies that will spur employment and lend greater certainty to the economy.
"It's always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn," says Rep. Jeb Hensarling, "but not all tax relief is created equal for the purposes of helping to get the economy moving again." The Texas lawmaker is on the House GOP leadership team.
The debate is likely to boil up in coming weeks as a special bipartisan committee seeks big deficit reductions and weighs which tax cuts are sacrosanct.
At issue is a tax that the vast majority of workers pay, but many don't recognize because they don't read, or don't understand their pay stubs. Workers normally pay 6.2 percent of their wages toward a tax designated for Social Security. Their employer pays an equal amount, for a total of 12.4 percent per worker.
As part of a bipartisan spending deal last December, Congress approved Obama's request to reduce the workers' share to 4.2 percent for one year; employers' rate did not change. Obama wants Congress to extend the reduction for an additional year. If not, the rate will return to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1.
Obama cited the payroll tax in his weekend radio and Internet address Saturday, when he urged Congress to work together on measures that help the economy and create jobs. "There are things we can do right now that will mean more customers for businesses and more jobs across the country. We can cut payroll taxes again, so families have an extra $1,000 to spend," he said.
Social Security payroll taxes apply only to the first $106,800 of a worker's wages. Therefore, $2,136 is the biggest benefit anyone can gain from the one-year reduction.
The great majority of Americans make less than $106,800 a year. Millions of workers pay more in payroll taxes than in federal income taxes.
The 12-month tax reduction will cost the government about $120 billion this year, and a similar amount next year if it's renewed.
That worries Rep. David Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and a member of the House-Senate supercommittee tasked with finding new deficit cuts. Tax reductions, "no matter how well-intended," will push the deficit higher, making the panel's task that much harder, Camp's office said.
But Republican lawmakers haven't always worried about tax cuts increasing the deficit. They led the fight to extend the life of a much bigger tax break: the major 2001 income tax reduction enacted under Bush. It was scheduled to expire at the start of this year. Obama campaigned on a pledge to end the tax break only for the richest Americans, but solid GOP opposition forced him to back down.
Many Republicans are adamant about not raising taxes but largely silent on what it would mean to let the payroll tax break expire.
Republicans cite key differences between the two "temporary" taxes, starting with the fact that the Bush measure had a 10-year life from the start. To stimulate job growth, these lawmakers say, it's better to reduce income tax rates for people and for companies than to extend the payroll tax break.
"We don't need short-term gestures. We need long-term fundamental changes in our tax structure and our regulatory structure that people who create jobs can rely on," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., when asked about the payroll tax matter.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., "has never believed that this type of temporary tax relief is the best way to grow the economy," said spokesman Brad Dayspring.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says payroll tax reductions give the economy a short-term boost. But it says the benefit is bigger if employers get the tax break instead of, or along with, workers.
Some top Republicans have taken a wait-and-see approach, expecting the payroll tax issue to be a bargaining chip in the upcoming debt reduction talks.
Neither House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, nor Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has taken a firm stand on whether to extend the one-year tax cut.
Most GOP presidential candidates also are treading lightly.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney did not flatly rule out an extra year for the payroll tax cut, but he "would prefer to see the payroll tax cut on the employer side" to spur job growth, his campaign said.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich said Republicans will fall under increasing pressure to extend the payroll tax cut. If they refuse, he said in a recent speech, "we're going to end up in a position where we're going to raise taxes on the lowest-income Americans the day they go to work."
Many Democrats also are ambivalent about Obama's proposed tax cut extension. They are more focused on protecting social programs from deep spending cuts. Some worry that a multiyear reduction in the tax designated for Social Security could undermine that program's health and stature.
For decades the payroll tax generated more revenue than the Social Security paid out in benefits. The excess was used to fund other government operations. Last year, however, Social Security benefits began outstripping revenue from its designated sources, forcing the program to start tapping its "trust fund" of government obligations.
McCain: Gadhafi Will Be Gone In a 'Matter of Hours'
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's rule in Libya was "nearing the end" and it is likely just a "matter of hours" before his ouster, Sen. John McCain told CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Sunday morning.
“We will be rid of a guy who has practiced the worst kind of brutalities,” added McCain, one of the leading foreign policy experts in the Senate.
Late Sunday night, machine gun fire engulfed all of Tripoli, according to correspondents on CNN and other networks.
Demonstrations broke out Sunday in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, a region that had been the center of pro-Gadhafi forces. Hundreds of rebel forces advanced to within 15 miles of Libya's capital of Tripoli Sunday, as anti-Gadhafi protests erupted in the city. According to the AP, the mood was euphoric, with some rebels shouting: "We are getting to Tripoli tonight."
"I believe that it's nearing the end," McCain said, of Gadhafi's rule.
McCain noted that, following the increased engagement of NATO forces in Libya, the implosion of Gadhafi's leadership "was something that was going to happen." But he lamented the drawn-out nature of the six-month conflict.
"I grieve a bit because this conflict didn't have to last this long," McCain told CBS' Norah O'Donnell. "The United States' air power could have shortened this conflict dramatically. Unfortunately we chose not to. We led from behind."
But the Arizona Republica said he thought the Libyan opposition movement would succeed- and that the ouster of Gadhafi would "send a message" to other nations seeking democratic transitions - and to other dictators.
"This will send a message to Bashir al-Assad, and to Yemen and to other dictators, that their time is nearing the end. This Arab Spring is echoing all over the world, from Russia to China to Israel... Since that young man burned himself to death in Tunisia, we are seeing a vastly changed world. We are going to have to make some adjustments.
"It's going to be a big challenge forming a new government, uniting a country that has never known democracy," he said. "We've seen the difficulties with other countries who made this transition, but we will be rid of a guy who has the blood of Americans on his hands."
"I think they can succeed," McCain added, of the Libyan democratic movement. "It's very difficult. There's tribal rivalries from a long time ago. They've never known democracy. They do have access to a lot of money. There's a lot of oil and a lot of assets there... But our European friends and we are going to have to help out a lot."
In a coordinated revolt that rebel cells had been secretly preparing for months, shooting started on Saturday night across Tripoli moments after Muslim clerics, using the louspeakers on mosque minarets, called people on to the streets.
The fighting inside Tripoli, combined with rebel advances to the outskirts of the city, appeared to signal the decisive phase in a six month conflict that has become the bloodiest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings and embroiled NATO powers.
But Gadhafi's fall is far from certain. His security forces did not buckle, the rebels appeared to control only a few neighbourhoods of Tripoli and the city is much bigger than anything the mosly amateur anti-Gadhafi fighters, with their scavenged weapons and mismatched uniforms, have ever tackled.
If the Libyan leader is forced from power, there are question marks over whether the opposition can restore stability in this oil exporting country. The rebels' own ranks have been wracked by disputes and rivalry.
Rebels said that after a night of heavy fighting, they controlled a handful of city neighbourhoods. But whether they hold on could depend on the speed with which the rebels elsewhere reach Tripoli.
"The rebels may have risen too early in Tripoli and the result could be a lot of messy fighting," said Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya. "The regime may not have collapsed in the city to quite the extent they think it has."
ADVANCE ON TRIPOLI
The closest front line was to the west of the capital, along a highway that traces the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
Rebel fighters returning from the front line said they they had taken the town of Jaddaim and that they were now about 20 km from Tripoli and approaching the city's outlying western suburb of Janzour.
A Reuters reporter near the front said he could hear shells landing, and could see columns of smoke. Ambulances rushed back from the front to a hospital in the nearby town of Zawiyah.
In Jaddaim, fighters were celebrating the advance, shouting "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is greatest!."
In Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city where the anti-Gadhafi revolt started and where the rebels have their main stronghold, a senior official said everything was going according to plan.
"Our revolutionaries are controlling several neighbourhoods and others are coming in from outside the city to join their brothers at this time," Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the rebel National Transition Council, told Reuters.
MESSAGE OF DEFIANCE
In an audio recording broadcast late on Saturday, Gadhafi -- whose location has been kept a secret since NATO warplanes started bombing government buildings -- made clear he had no intention of giving in to the rebels.
"Those rats ... were attacked by the masses tonight and we eliminated them," Gadhafi said. "I know that there are air bombardments but the fireworks were louder than the sound of the bombs thrown by the aircraft."
A spokesman for Gadhafi, in a briefing for foreign reporters, underlined the message of defiance.
The armed units defending Tripoli from the rebels "wholeheartedly believe that if this city is captured the blood will run everywhere so they may as well fight to the end," said the spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim.
"We hold Mr Obama, Mr Cameron and Mr Sarkozy morally responsible for every single unnecessary death that takes place in this country," he said, referring to the leaders of the United States, Britain and France, Reuters reported.
SNIPERS ON ROOFTOPS
A diplomatic source in Paris, where the government has closely backed the rebels, said underground rebel cells in the capital had been following detailed plans drawn up months ago and had been waiting for a signal to act.
That signal was "iftar" -- the moment when Muslims observing the holy months of Ramadan break their daily fast. It was at this moment that imams started broadcasting their message from the moques, residents said.
But the overnight fighting inside the city, while fierce, was not decisive. Rebels said they controlled all or parts of the Tajourah, Fashloom and Souk al-Jumaa neighourhoods but there was no city-wide rebellion.
In Tripoli on Sunday , the two sides appeared to be jockeying for control of rooftop terraces where they could place firing positions, possibly in preparation for a new burst of fighting after nightfall.
A rebel activist in the city said pro-Gadhafi forces had put snipers on the rooftops of buildings around Bab al-Aziziyah, Gadhafi's compound, and on the top of a nearby water tower, Reuters reported.
As he spoke, single gunshots could be heard in the background, at intervals of a few seconds.
"Gadhafi's forces are getting reinforcements to comb the capital," said the activist, who spoke to a Reuters reporter outside Libya.
"Residents are crying, seeking help. One resident was martyred, many were wounded," he said. It was not immediately possible to verify his account independently.
State television flashed up a message on the screen urging residents not to allow rebel gunmen to hide out on their rooftops.
"Agents and al Qaeda members are trying to destabilise and sabotage the city. You should prevent them from exploiting your houses and buildings, confront them and cooperate with counter-terrorism units, to capture them," it said.
PRESSURE
Western governments were cautious about predicting Gadhafi's imminent fall, but they said he was under unprecedented pressure.
"It's been clear that Gadhafi has not had a firm grip on reality -- as we heard from his comments last night -- and has not been interested personally in leaving or negotiating," said Alastair Burt, a foreign office minister.
"But those around him have continued to defect ... That pressure indicates that those around Gadhafi know what's going on. One can only hope that they're getting messages through to him," Burt told the BBC.
Ashour Shamis, a UK-based opposition editor and activist, said the Libyan leader's options were dwindling.
"Gadhafi's chances for a safe exit are diminishing by the hour. The more he stays the narrower his base, and the easier it will be for him to be caught or killed," Ashour "I think he's not being told the whole picture. (His son) Saif al-Islam is the one who is leading the fight for him."
© 2011 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
“We will be rid of a guy who has practiced the worst kind of brutalities,” added McCain, one of the leading foreign policy experts in the Senate.
Late Sunday night, machine gun fire engulfed all of Tripoli, according to correspondents on CNN and other networks.
Demonstrations broke out Sunday in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, a region that had been the center of pro-Gadhafi forces. Hundreds of rebel forces advanced to within 15 miles of Libya's capital of Tripoli Sunday, as anti-Gadhafi protests erupted in the city. According to the AP, the mood was euphoric, with some rebels shouting: "We are getting to Tripoli tonight."
"I believe that it's nearing the end," McCain said, of Gadhafi's rule.
McCain noted that, following the increased engagement of NATO forces in Libya, the implosion of Gadhafi's leadership "was something that was going to happen." But he lamented the drawn-out nature of the six-month conflict.
"I grieve a bit because this conflict didn't have to last this long," McCain told CBS' Norah O'Donnell. "The United States' air power could have shortened this conflict dramatically. Unfortunately we chose not to. We led from behind."
But the Arizona Republica said he thought the Libyan opposition movement would succeed- and that the ouster of Gadhafi would "send a message" to other nations seeking democratic transitions - and to other dictators.
"This will send a message to Bashir al-Assad, and to Yemen and to other dictators, that their time is nearing the end. This Arab Spring is echoing all over the world, from Russia to China to Israel... Since that young man burned himself to death in Tunisia, we are seeing a vastly changed world. We are going to have to make some adjustments.
"It's going to be a big challenge forming a new government, uniting a country that has never known democracy," he said. "We've seen the difficulties with other countries who made this transition, but we will be rid of a guy who has the blood of Americans on his hands."
"I think they can succeed," McCain added, of the Libyan democratic movement. "It's very difficult. There's tribal rivalries from a long time ago. They've never known democracy. They do have access to a lot of money. There's a lot of oil and a lot of assets there... But our European friends and we are going to have to help out a lot."
In a coordinated revolt that rebel cells had been secretly preparing for months, shooting started on Saturday night across Tripoli moments after Muslim clerics, using the louspeakers on mosque minarets, called people on to the streets.
The fighting inside Tripoli, combined with rebel advances to the outskirts of the city, appeared to signal the decisive phase in a six month conflict that has become the bloodiest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings and embroiled NATO powers.
But Gadhafi's fall is far from certain. His security forces did not buckle, the rebels appeared to control only a few neighbourhoods of Tripoli and the city is much bigger than anything the mosly amateur anti-Gadhafi fighters, with their scavenged weapons and mismatched uniforms, have ever tackled.
If the Libyan leader is forced from power, there are question marks over whether the opposition can restore stability in this oil exporting country. The rebels' own ranks have been wracked by disputes and rivalry.
Rebels said that after a night of heavy fighting, they controlled a handful of city neighbourhoods. But whether they hold on could depend on the speed with which the rebels elsewhere reach Tripoli.
"The rebels may have risen too early in Tripoli and the result could be a lot of messy fighting," said Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya. "The regime may not have collapsed in the city to quite the extent they think it has."
ADVANCE ON TRIPOLI
The closest front line was to the west of the capital, along a highway that traces the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
Rebel fighters returning from the front line said they they had taken the town of Jaddaim and that they were now about 20 km from Tripoli and approaching the city's outlying western suburb of Janzour.
A Reuters reporter near the front said he could hear shells landing, and could see columns of smoke. Ambulances rushed back from the front to a hospital in the nearby town of Zawiyah.
In Jaddaim, fighters were celebrating the advance, shouting "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is greatest!."
In Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city where the anti-Gadhafi revolt started and where the rebels have their main stronghold, a senior official said everything was going according to plan.
"Our revolutionaries are controlling several neighbourhoods and others are coming in from outside the city to join their brothers at this time," Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the rebel National Transition Council, told Reuters.
MESSAGE OF DEFIANCE
In an audio recording broadcast late on Saturday, Gadhafi -- whose location has been kept a secret since NATO warplanes started bombing government buildings -- made clear he had no intention of giving in to the rebels.
"Those rats ... were attacked by the masses tonight and we eliminated them," Gadhafi said. "I know that there are air bombardments but the fireworks were louder than the sound of the bombs thrown by the aircraft."
A spokesman for Gadhafi, in a briefing for foreign reporters, underlined the message of defiance.
The armed units defending Tripoli from the rebels "wholeheartedly believe that if this city is captured the blood will run everywhere so they may as well fight to the end," said the spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim.
"We hold Mr Obama, Mr Cameron and Mr Sarkozy morally responsible for every single unnecessary death that takes place in this country," he said, referring to the leaders of the United States, Britain and France, Reuters reported.
SNIPERS ON ROOFTOPS
A diplomatic source in Paris, where the government has closely backed the rebels, said underground rebel cells in the capital had been following detailed plans drawn up months ago and had been waiting for a signal to act.
That signal was "iftar" -- the moment when Muslims observing the holy months of Ramadan break their daily fast. It was at this moment that imams started broadcasting their message from the moques, residents said.
But the overnight fighting inside the city, while fierce, was not decisive. Rebels said they controlled all or parts of the Tajourah, Fashloom and Souk al-Jumaa neighourhoods but there was no city-wide rebellion.
In Tripoli on Sunday , the two sides appeared to be jockeying for control of rooftop terraces where they could place firing positions, possibly in preparation for a new burst of fighting after nightfall.
A rebel activist in the city said pro-Gadhafi forces had put snipers on the rooftops of buildings around Bab al-Aziziyah, Gadhafi's compound, and on the top of a nearby water tower, Reuters reported.
As he spoke, single gunshots could be heard in the background, at intervals of a few seconds.
"Gadhafi's forces are getting reinforcements to comb the capital," said the activist, who spoke to a Reuters reporter outside Libya.
"Residents are crying, seeking help. One resident was martyred, many were wounded," he said. It was not immediately possible to verify his account independently.
State television flashed up a message on the screen urging residents not to allow rebel gunmen to hide out on their rooftops.
"Agents and al Qaeda members are trying to destabilise and sabotage the city. You should prevent them from exploiting your houses and buildings, confront them and cooperate with counter-terrorism units, to capture them," it said.
PRESSURE
Western governments were cautious about predicting Gadhafi's imminent fall, but they said he was under unprecedented pressure.
"It's been clear that Gadhafi has not had a firm grip on reality -- as we heard from his comments last night -- and has not been interested personally in leaving or negotiating," said Alastair Burt, a foreign office minister.
"But those around him have continued to defect ... That pressure indicates that those around Gadhafi know what's going on. One can only hope that they're getting messages through to him," Burt told the BBC.
Ashour Shamis, a UK-based opposition editor and activist, said the Libyan leader's options were dwindling.
"Gadhafi's chances for a safe exit are diminishing by the hour. The more he stays the narrower his base, and the easier it will be for him to be caught or killed," Ashour "I think he's not being told the whole picture. (His son) Saif al-Islam is the one who is leading the fight for him."
© 2011 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
Maxine Waters Asks Bernanke About Matt Taibbi's 'Real Housewives On Wall Street' Ripoff Story On TALF, Taibbi Speaks With Eliot Spitzer (Congressional Video)
(Congressional Video)
Unsurprisingly, Waters isn't particularly upset about Wall Street wives gaming the system and ripping off taxpayers. Rather her concern (as usual) is focused on why minorities were not allowed to game the system and rip off taxpayers. Except, they were. TALF had a special focus on minority participation. Hey, at least she's consistent.
The original must read story from Taibbi is here:
Video - Taibbi with CNN's Eliot Spitzer in April when his story was first published.
This video has not not been posted before. It's especially solid.
The original must read story from Taibbi is here:
Matt Taibbi: The Real Housewives Of Wall Street: How Morgan Stanley Wives Christy Mack & Susan Karches Ripped Off Taxpayers In Geithner-Bernanke Bailout Scheme
---Video - Taibbi with CNN's Eliot Spitzer in April when his story was first published.
This video has not not been posted before. It's especially solid.
DEMOCRACY FOR SALE: Dylan Ratigan's Constitutional Amendment - Get Money Out Of Politics!
Video
This is a very big deal. But your help is needed. Do not read this story and simply go on to the next one. Politics will not be fixed unless YOU do something to fix it. The best way to make a difference is by spreading this story. Take 3 minutes, go to your email account and paste this link into a mass email to EVERY SINGLE PERSON in your address book. DEMAND that everyone who receives it, in turn sends it to their entire address book.
By Dylan Ratigan
It’s time to get things done and finally get money out of politics. Our Washington insider Jimmy Williams is now preparing a Constitutional amendment to get big money from special interests out of our political system. We all know that they buy access and influence through campaign contributions, and benefit from the big payoffs (examples: Wall Street, health care, banking) and, of course, provide a lucrative revolving door to soften the blow when elected officials leave office.
Steps are already being taken by some big names. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has urged fellow CEO’s and campaign donors to boycott campaign contributions until the parties actually do something constructive to fight long term fiscal concerns and the jobs crisis.
Former PA Gov. Ed Rendell has said he will support it as well:
Send us a message via this form or email us at MadAsHell@DylanRatigan.com, and we’ll post the best ideas on Monday and Tuesday.
By Dylan Ratigan
It’s time to get things done and finally get money out of politics. Our Washington insider Jimmy Williams is now preparing a Constitutional amendment to get big money from special interests out of our political system. We all know that they buy access and influence through campaign contributions, and benefit from the big payoffs (examples: Wall Street, health care, banking) and, of course, provide a lucrative revolving door to soften the blow when elected officials leave office.
Steps are already being taken by some big names. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has urged fellow CEO’s and campaign donors to boycott campaign contributions until the parties actually do something constructive to fight long term fiscal concerns and the jobs crisis.
Former PA Gov. Ed Rendell has said he will support it as well:
- There are so many legislators who have said to me, gosh, if I could vote in secret, I could vote for your proposal Governor because I know it’s the right thing to do. But I can’t do it. The other side will raise money on it and kill me. And that’s what’s so important — it is so important to get the influence of money out of politics. Because if you get the influence of money out of politics, we will get people who will actually vote their conscience. And I think that’s extraordinarily important. You’re right to say it’s not the lobbyists… but it is the moneythat perverts the entire process…. I would be interested in Jimmy’s drafting the amendment.
Send us a message via this form or email us at MadAsHell@DylanRatigan.com, and we’ll post the best ideas on Monday and Tuesday.
Catholic church used $400m in Irish bank loans to pay U.S. sexual abuse victims
- Allied Irish Bank behind pay-outs for four U.S. dioceses in 2007
- Loans signed off by bank's headquarters in Dublin
- Lawyers brand AIB the banking arm of the Vatican
By Choosing The Big Banks Over The Little Guy, The Government Is Dooming BOTH
Should Government Help the Little Guy or the Big Banks?
If the government is going to give anyone money, giving it to the little guy is arguably more fair than giving money to Wall Street fatcats.Moreover, as Steve Keen demonstrated mathematically in 2009, giving money to the debtors is much better for stimulating the economy than giving it to the creditors.
In addition, because runaway inequality causes depressions, helping out the little guy helps to stabilize the economy.
Government Has Picked Winners and Losers
The big banks were all insolvent during the 1980s.And they all became insolvent again in 2008. See this and this.
The bailouts were certainly rammed down our throats under false pretenses.
But here's the more important point. Paulson and Bernanke falsely stated that the big banks receiving Tarp money were healthy, when they were not. They were insolvent.
Tim Geithner falsely stated that the banks passed some time of an objective stress test but they did not. They were insolvent.
Both the creditors and the debtors were mortally wounded by the 2008 financial crisis. The big banks wouldn't have survived without trillions in handouts, guarantees, loans, idiot-proof profits courtesy of the government.
The little guy hasn't been helped since 2008. He has been left to suffer with his life-threatening wounds. See this, this and this.
So the government chose sides. The creditors were wiped out, just like a lot of Main Street was wiped out. In one sense, the government chose who would live (the giant banks and other bailed out and favored companies) and who would die (the other 99%).
But in fact, the big banks were no longer creditors after the 2008 crash. Specifically, the big banks which held the mortgages and the loans were wiped out.
The government moved the arms and legs of the big banks to pretend they were still alive ... and have been doing so ever since. But they were no longer going concerns after they went bust.
The government pumped blood back in these dead banks and turned them into zombies. They will never come back to life in a real sense ... they are still zombies, 3 years later.
By Choosing Wall Street Over Main Street, the Government Has Doomed the Economy
Many of the world's leading economists and financial experts say that by choosing creditors over debtors, the government is dooming the economy. See this and this.The big zombie banks can never come back to life, and - by trying to save them - the government is bleeding out the little guy.
By choosing the big banks over the little guy, the government is dooming both.
Open Letter to Warren Buffett: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Dear Warren,
If you are truly sick and tired of the “mega-rich” being “coddled” by a “billionaire-friendly Congress,” as you said in your recent NY Times editorial, why don’t you back up your words with some real action and put your money where your mouth is?
As you well know, though you may not admit it publicly, there is a system of political bribery in place that allows the “mega-rich” to control our political process, thus creating the “billionaire-friendly Congress” you claim to be against. Through campaign finance, lobbying and the revolving door the “mega-rich” are able to dominate and corrupt government policy.
If you are serious about what you say, it seems obvious that you would financially support politicians and organizations that seek to change these government rigging processes. Saying that you want to be taxed more by a paid off government, without changing the system that allows this corruption in the first place, sounds like meaningless rhetoric to me.
While you are at it, if you truly believe in free market competition, you must surely want to break up the “too big to fail” banks that have now rigged your beloved “free market.” Clearly, you can’t have free market competition when a few global financial institutions have consolidated so much wealth and power that they can crash the economy and then get paid off politicians and the Federal Reserve to throw trillions of dollars at a select few and rig the “laws” and “regulations” in their favor. That’s clearly not a free market based on fair competition. Once again, this a symptom of the system of political bribery.
So Warren, what do you think? Are you going to support efforts to make these urgently needed changes, or are you just making meaningless statements to ease your guilty conscience?
If you are truly concerned about the future of America, you should be fighting on these fronts.
I sincerely hope you are a man of your word.
If you would like to discuss these issues further or publicly debate them, please have your people get in touch with me.
Thank you for your time,
David DeGraw
Email: David[@]AmpedStatus[.]com
If you are truly sick and tired of the “mega-rich” being “coddled” by a “billionaire-friendly Congress,” as you said in your recent NY Times editorial, why don’t you back up your words with some real action and put your money where your mouth is?
As you well know, though you may not admit it publicly, there is a system of political bribery in place that allows the “mega-rich” to control our political process, thus creating the “billionaire-friendly Congress” you claim to be against. Through campaign finance, lobbying and the revolving door the “mega-rich” are able to dominate and corrupt government policy.
If you are serious about what you say, it seems obvious that you would financially support politicians and organizations that seek to change these government rigging processes. Saying that you want to be taxed more by a paid off government, without changing the system that allows this corruption in the first place, sounds like meaningless rhetoric to me.
While you are at it, if you truly believe in free market competition, you must surely want to break up the “too big to fail” banks that have now rigged your beloved “free market.” Clearly, you can’t have free market competition when a few global financial institutions have consolidated so much wealth and power that they can crash the economy and then get paid off politicians and the Federal Reserve to throw trillions of dollars at a select few and rig the “laws” and “regulations” in their favor. That’s clearly not a free market based on fair competition. Once again, this a symptom of the system of political bribery.
So Warren, what do you think? Are you going to support efforts to make these urgently needed changes, or are you just making meaningless statements to ease your guilty conscience?
If you are truly concerned about the future of America, you should be fighting on these fronts.
I sincerely hope you are a man of your word.
If you would like to discuss these issues further or publicly debate them, please have your people get in touch with me.
Thank you for your time,
David DeGraw
Email: David[@]AmpedStatus[.]com
Call Uncle Sam - Obama's Unhelpful Advice Leads To Bureaucratic Nightmare For Farmer And Politico Reporter
Video
This is a must read nightmare story. Follow the link and read the whole thing at Politico.
---
Politico
At Wednesday’s town hall in Atkinson, Ill., a local farmer who said he grows corn and soybeans expressed his concerns to President Barack Obama about “more rules and regulations” — including those concerning dust, noise and water runoff — that he heard would negatively affect his business.
The president, on day three of his Midwest bus tour, replied: “If you hear something is happening, but it hasn’t happened, don’t always believe what you hear.”
When the room broke into soft laughter, the president added, “No — and I’m serious about that.”
Saying that “folks in Washington” like to get “all ginned up” about things that aren’t necessarily happening (“Look what’s comin’ down the pipe!”), Obama’s advice was simple: “Contact USDA.”
“Talk to them directly. Find out what it is that you’re concerned about,” Obama told the man. “My suspicion is, a lot of times, they’re going to be able to answer your questions and it will turn out that some of your fears are unfounded.”
Call Uncle Sam. Sensible advice, but perhaps the president has forgotten just how difficult it can be for ordinary citizens to get answers from the government.
When this POLITICO reporter decided to take the president's advice and call the USDA for an answer to the Atkinson town hall attendee's question, I found myself in a bureaucratic equivalent of hot potato — getting bounced from the feds to Illinois state agriculture officials to the state farm bureau.
Here's a rundown of what happened when I started by calling the USDA's general hotline to inquire about information related to the effects of noise and dust pollution rules on Illinois farmers.
Continue reading at Politico...
---
Politico
At Wednesday’s town hall in Atkinson, Ill., a local farmer who said he grows corn and soybeans expressed his concerns to President Barack Obama about “more rules and regulations” — including those concerning dust, noise and water runoff — that he heard would negatively affect his business.
The president, on day three of his Midwest bus tour, replied: “If you hear something is happening, but it hasn’t happened, don’t always believe what you hear.”
When the room broke into soft laughter, the president added, “No — and I’m serious about that.”
Saying that “folks in Washington” like to get “all ginned up” about things that aren’t necessarily happening (“Look what’s comin’ down the pipe!”), Obama’s advice was simple: “Contact USDA.”
“Talk to them directly. Find out what it is that you’re concerned about,” Obama told the man. “My suspicion is, a lot of times, they’re going to be able to answer your questions and it will turn out that some of your fears are unfounded.”
Call Uncle Sam. Sensible advice, but perhaps the president has forgotten just how difficult it can be for ordinary citizens to get answers from the government.
When this POLITICO reporter decided to take the president's advice and call the USDA for an answer to the Atkinson town hall attendee's question, I found myself in a bureaucratic equivalent of hot potato — getting bounced from the feds to Illinois state agriculture officials to the state farm bureau.
Here's a rundown of what happened when I started by calling the USDA's general hotline to inquire about information related to the effects of noise and dust pollution rules on Illinois farmers.
Continue reading at Politico...
Social Security Disability Program Pushed To Brink Of Insolvency
WASHINGTON — Laid-off workers and aging baby boomers are flooding Social Security's disability program with benefit claims, pushing the financially strapped system toward the brink of insolvency.
Applications are up nearly 50 percent over a decade ago as people with disabilities lose their jobs and can't find new ones in an economy that has shed nearly 7 million jobs.
The stampede for benefits is adding to a growing backlog of applicants – many wait two years or more before their cases are resolved – and worsening the financial problems of a program that's been running in the red for years.
New congressional estimates say the trust fund that supports Social Security disability will run out of money by 2017, leaving the program unable to pay full benefits, unless Congress acts. About two decades later, Social Security's much larger retirement fund is projected to run dry as well.
Much of the focus in Washington has been on fixing Social Security's retirement system. Proposals range from raising the retirement age to means-testing benefits for wealthy retirees. But the disability system is in much worse shape and its problems defy easy solutions.
The trustees who oversee Social Security are urging Congress to shore up the disability system by reallocating money from the retirement program, just as lawmakers did in 1994. That would provide only short-term relief at the expense of weakening the retirement program.
Claims for disability benefits typically increase in a bad economy because many disabled people get laid off and can't find a new job. This year, about 3.3 million people are expected to apply for federal disability benefits. That's 700,000 more than in 2008 and 1 million more than a decade ago.
"It's primarily economic desperation," Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said in an interview. "People on the margins who get bad news in terms of a layoff and have no other place to go and they take a shot at disability,"
The disability program is also being hit by an aging population – disability rates rise as people get older – as well as a system that encourages people to apply for more generous disability benefits rather than waiting until they qualify for retirement.
Retirees can get full Social Security benefits at age 66, a threshold gradually rising to 67. Early retirees can get reduced benefits at 62. However, if you qualify for disability, you can get full benefits, based on your work history, even before 62.
Also, people who qualify for Social Security disability automatically get Medicare after two years, even if they are younger than 65, the age when other retirees qualify for the government-run health insurance program.
Congress tried to rein in the disability program in the late 1970s by making it tougher to qualify. The number of people receiving benefits declined for a few years, even during a recession in the early 1980s. Congress, however, reversed course and loosened the criteria, and the rolls were growing again by 1984.
The disability program "got into trouble first because of liberalization of eligibility standards in the 1980s," said Charles Blahous, one of the public trustees who oversee Social Security. "Then it got another shove into bigger trouble during the recent recession."
Today, about 13.6 million people receive disability benefits through Social Security or Supplemental Security Income. Social Security is for people with substantial work histories, and monthly disability payments average $927. Supplemental Security Income does not require a work history but it has strict limits on income and assets. Monthly SSI payments average $500.
As policymakers work to improve the disability system, they are faced with two major issues: Legitimate applicants often have to wait years to get benefits while many others get payments they don't deserve.
Last year, Social Security detected $1.4 billion in overpayments to disability beneficiaries, mostly to people who got jobs and no longer qualified, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
Congress is targeting overpayments.
The deficit reduction package enacted this month would allow Congress to boost Social Security's budget by about $4 billion over the next decade to invest in programs that identify people who no longer qualify for disability benefits. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that increased enforcement would save nearly $12 billion over the next decade.
At the same time, the application process can be a nightmare for legitimate applicants. About two-thirds of initial applications are rejected. Most of these people drop their claims, but for those willing go through an appeals process that can take two years or more, chances are good they eventually will get benefits.
Astrue has pledged to reduce processing times for applicants' appeals, and he has had some success, even as the number of claims skyrockets. The number of people waiting for decisions has increased, but their wait times are going down.
"It's ludicrous to say that the backlog problem is getting worse," Astrue said. "The backlog problem has gotten dramatically better."
Patricia L. Foster said she was working as a nurse in a hospital in Columbia, S.C., in 2005 when she was attacked by a patient who was suffering from a mental illness. Foster, 64, said she injured her neck so bad she had a plate inserted. She said she also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Foster was turned down twice for Social Security disability benefits before finally getting them in 2009, after hiring an Illinois-based company, Allsup, to represent her. She said she was awarded retroactive benefits, though the process was demeaning.
"I have to tell you, when you're told you cannot return to nursing because of your disability, you don't know how long I cried about that," Foster said. "And then Social Security says, `Oh no, you don't qualify.' You don't know what that does to you emotionally. You have no idea."
___
Online:
Federal disability programs: www.ssa.gov/disability/
Congressional Budget Office projections: www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index12375
Government Accountability Office report: www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-724
Applications are up nearly 50 percent over a decade ago as people with disabilities lose their jobs and can't find new ones in an economy that has shed nearly 7 million jobs.
The stampede for benefits is adding to a growing backlog of applicants – many wait two years or more before their cases are resolved – and worsening the financial problems of a program that's been running in the red for years.
New congressional estimates say the trust fund that supports Social Security disability will run out of money by 2017, leaving the program unable to pay full benefits, unless Congress acts. About two decades later, Social Security's much larger retirement fund is projected to run dry as well.
Much of the focus in Washington has been on fixing Social Security's retirement system. Proposals range from raising the retirement age to means-testing benefits for wealthy retirees. But the disability system is in much worse shape and its problems defy easy solutions.
The trustees who oversee Social Security are urging Congress to shore up the disability system by reallocating money from the retirement program, just as lawmakers did in 1994. That would provide only short-term relief at the expense of weakening the retirement program.
Claims for disability benefits typically increase in a bad economy because many disabled people get laid off and can't find a new job. This year, about 3.3 million people are expected to apply for federal disability benefits. That's 700,000 more than in 2008 and 1 million more than a decade ago.
"It's primarily economic desperation," Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue said in an interview. "People on the margins who get bad news in terms of a layoff and have no other place to go and they take a shot at disability,"
The disability program is also being hit by an aging population – disability rates rise as people get older – as well as a system that encourages people to apply for more generous disability benefits rather than waiting until they qualify for retirement.
Retirees can get full Social Security benefits at age 66, a threshold gradually rising to 67. Early retirees can get reduced benefits at 62. However, if you qualify for disability, you can get full benefits, based on your work history, even before 62.
Also, people who qualify for Social Security disability automatically get Medicare after two years, even if they are younger than 65, the age when other retirees qualify for the government-run health insurance program.
Congress tried to rein in the disability program in the late 1970s by making it tougher to qualify. The number of people receiving benefits declined for a few years, even during a recession in the early 1980s. Congress, however, reversed course and loosened the criteria, and the rolls were growing again by 1984.
The disability program "got into trouble first because of liberalization of eligibility standards in the 1980s," said Charles Blahous, one of the public trustees who oversee Social Security. "Then it got another shove into bigger trouble during the recent recession."
Today, about 13.6 million people receive disability benefits through Social Security or Supplemental Security Income. Social Security is for people with substantial work histories, and monthly disability payments average $927. Supplemental Security Income does not require a work history but it has strict limits on income and assets. Monthly SSI payments average $500.
As policymakers work to improve the disability system, they are faced with two major issues: Legitimate applicants often have to wait years to get benefits while many others get payments they don't deserve.
Last year, Social Security detected $1.4 billion in overpayments to disability beneficiaries, mostly to people who got jobs and no longer qualified, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
Congress is targeting overpayments.
The deficit reduction package enacted this month would allow Congress to boost Social Security's budget by about $4 billion over the next decade to invest in programs that identify people who no longer qualify for disability benefits. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that increased enforcement would save nearly $12 billion over the next decade.
At the same time, the application process can be a nightmare for legitimate applicants. About two-thirds of initial applications are rejected. Most of these people drop their claims, but for those willing go through an appeals process that can take two years or more, chances are good they eventually will get benefits.
Astrue has pledged to reduce processing times for applicants' appeals, and he has had some success, even as the number of claims skyrockets. The number of people waiting for decisions has increased, but their wait times are going down.
"It's ludicrous to say that the backlog problem is getting worse," Astrue said. "The backlog problem has gotten dramatically better."
Patricia L. Foster said she was working as a nurse in a hospital in Columbia, S.C., in 2005 when she was attacked by a patient who was suffering from a mental illness. Foster, 64, said she injured her neck so bad she had a plate inserted. She said she also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Foster was turned down twice for Social Security disability benefits before finally getting them in 2009, after hiring an Illinois-based company, Allsup, to represent her. She said she was awarded retroactive benefits, though the process was demeaning.
"I have to tell you, when you're told you cannot return to nursing because of your disability, you don't know how long I cried about that," Foster said. "And then Social Security says, `Oh no, you don't qualify.' You don't know what that does to you emotionally. You have no idea."
___
Online:
Federal disability programs: www.ssa.gov/disability/
Congressional Budget Office projections: www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index12375
Government Accountability Office report: www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-724
Copper theft left thousands without power in Florida
Power outages rarely get the attention of detectives. But a power outage on August 4th in Hudson is now under investigation by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
The outage lasted nearly two hours, leaving 6,000 people without electricity. At least 200 feet of copper wire was stolen from a substation owned by Withlacoochee River Electric.
Three people were captured on surveillance cameras stealing the copper. It may not be the first substation hit by the same group.
"It looks like they have targeted these substations. They've hit at least two," according to sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll.
"We're all sitting here having breakfast, I'm working on my computer and all of a sudden all the lights went out," Sue Cowan recalled. Cowan manages the Gulf Coast Resort. Luckily, it was only breakfast that was interrupted. It could have been worse...
Full story:
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...power-08192011
Biden tells China: US will never default on debt
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| US Vice President Joe Biden gestures after speaking to students at Sichuan University in Chengdu © AFP Peter Parks |
CHENGDU, China (AFP) - US Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that the world's biggest economy would never default on its debts, during a visit aimed at boosting Chinese confidence in America's beleaguered finances.
In a speech to hundreds of university students in the vast southwestern city of Chengdu, Biden also urged China to "cherish" a free flow of information between the government and public, as the communist state quells dissent anew.
Biden said at Sichuan University that the United States remained the "single best bet" for investment -- despite the historic downgrade this month of the country's top-notch credit rating by Standard & Poor's.
"The United States has never defaulted and never will," he said, on the final day of his first official visit to China as vice president.
China is the largest foreign holder of US debt, and Biden has used the five-day trip to assure its leaders that their massive investment remains safe after Washington narrowly avoided a catastrophic default earlier this month.
Chinese leaders including Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping have been conciliatory in their public appearances with Biden.
In sharp contrast, China's state media has accused US leaders of acting recklessly during a political impasse between the White House and Republicans over allowing the country's debt ceiling to rise.
The official Xinhua news agency -- which has published a number of blistering commentaries in recent weeks -- said Sunday "concrete actions are badly needed" by the United States to turn promises "into reality".
"It must end its excessive reliance on overseas borrowing, make substantial reforms and cuts to its bloated entitlement programs, reduce budget deficits and restructure its economy," Xinhua said.
China has used the proceeds of its thriving export machine to invest around $1.2 trillion in US Treasury bonds, and the world's second-largest economy has appealed for global financial stability as panic again grips markets.
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| China's share of the US debt © AFP/Graphic |
"In spite of the difficulties facing the US economy at present, I have full confidence that the United States will overcome these difficulties and get its economy back on the track of healthy growth," Wen told Biden.
Biden's visit has been aimed partly at building ties with his counterpart Xi, who is slated to be anointed as China's top leader next year but remains virtually unknown in US policy circles.
In Chengdu, Biden met Xi again and witnessed reconstruction efforts following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which left over 87,000 people dead or missing.
During his speech, Biden told his audience that "China should cherish an exchange between its citizens and students and their government," noting that "greater openness is a source of stability and a sign of strength".
"Prosperity peaks when governments foster both free enterprise and free exchange of ideas," he said. "Liberty unlocks a people's full potential and in its absence, unrest festers."
Biden raised human rights concerns during his meetings with Chinese leaders last week, US officials have said, but they refused to go into details of whether any individual cases were brought up.
Washington last week appealed to Beijing to free prominent rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who has not been heard of since last year.
But police have stepped up surveillance on dissidents and warned them against making any high-profile protests or attempting to meet Biden during his visit, activists said.
Chengdu, a huge conurbation of 14 million people, is the capital of Sichuan province, where nearly 200 of the Fortune 500 largest firms in the world have invested.
China and the United States have signed deals worth nearly $1 billion during Biden's trip, according to a US official who requested anonymity.
Following his stopover in Chengdu, Biden will visit Mongolia and close US ally Japan.
© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license
The Great Collapse Has Officially Begun
I’ve been warning of this for well over two years. My primary warnings were:
- 1) That 2008 was just a warm-up
- 2) That the REAL Crisis had yet to unfold
- 3) That the REAL Crisis would make 2008 look like a picnic
Well, the period I’ve been warning of is now here. What’s happening right now is not just a market crash, bear market, deflation, or any other item related to just one asset class.
Instead, this is a collapse of the entire US monetary and political system and the mentality of spending one’s way to wealth.
For 80+ years, the US has operated under a crony capitalist system in which politicians dole out political and economic favors to the chosen few whose bribes/donations funded their campaigns.
This system was aided and abetted by the US Federal Reserve, which dealt with any and all economic issues by printing more money. Whether it was the Asian Crisis, Long Term Capital Management, or the 2008 Crash, the Fed dealt with the issue by opening the floodgates and flooding the financial system with liquidity.
Aside from making moral hazard (the notion that those large firms who screwed up were never actually allowed to fail) the bedrock of the financial system, the Fed also blew a credit bubble which in turn funded bubbles in virtually every asset class: bonds, stocks, real estate, emerging markets, even some commodities.
Indeed, the vast majority of US economic growth over the last 40 years has been fueled by the Fed’s loose money policies. Bill King, an analyst and investor whom I admire, shared the below chart with me a while back. It charts US GDP growth in nominal terms (the dark blue line), the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the black line), and REAL GDP growth or growth that accounts for inflation (the light blue line).
As you can see, when we account for inflation, the US economic “miracle” of the last 30 years is in fact not all that miraculous. Take away easy credit and Fed funny money and the US GDP has barely grown at all since the ‘70s.
When your entire financial system is built on debt eventually you hit a brick wall. We did this in 2008. The Fed barely held the system together by going “all in” and funneling over $11 trillion in bailouts, backstopping the major US banks, and transferring north of $2 trillion in garbage debt to the public’s balance sheet (these are just the moves we know about).
This effort has now failed as the world collectively realizes that the Fed cannot hold the system together. This began to become clear when QE 2 spent $600 billion and the US got at most three months’ worth of improved economic data (while inflation exploded throughout the global economy, leading to riots, coups, and more).
In simple terms, we’ve now entered the Real Crisis, the END GAME, for our current monetary system. Before the dust settles on this mess, the US and its political, economic, monetary structure will look very very different.
However, before we get there, we will see riots, civil unrest, possibly martial law, for certain a Government shutdown, bank holidays, a debt default/ restructuring, the re-instatement of the Gold standard or something like it (possibly a basket of commodities), food shortages, and more.
We will also see trade wars, possibly another World War, a temporary backlash against globalization, a de-consolidation or fragmentation of corporate America, and other items.
In plain terms, we’re entering a period in history that will rival the Revolutionary war. This country will be very very different by the time it has ended. Many people will lose everything in this mess. Yes, everything. So if you have yet to take steps to prepare for this, you need to get moving NOW!
I can show you how. Indeed, my Surviving a Crisis Four Times Worse Than 2008 report can show you how to turn the unfolding disaster into a time of gains and profits for any investor.
Within its nine pages I explain precisely how the Second Round of the Crisis will unfold, where it will hit hardest, and the best means of profiting from it (the very investments my clients used to make triple digit returns in 2008).
Best of all, this report is 100% FREE. To pick up your copy today simply go to: http://www.gainspainscapital.com and click on the OUR FREE REPORTS tab.
Good Investing!
Graham Summers
PS. We also feature four other reports ALL devoted to helping you protect yourself, your portfolio, and your loved ones from the Second Round of the Great Crisis. Whether it’s my proprietary Crash Indicator which has caught every crash in the last 25 years or the best most profitable strategy for individual investors looking to profit from the upcoming US Debt Default, my reports covers it.
And ALL of this is available for FREE under the OUR FREE REPORTS tab at: http://www.gainspainscapital.com.
Federal Government conducts austerity measures against Medicaid patients
(Brian D. Hill)
Note: The cuts displayed in the photo of the letter are also available online due to investigative research.
Related: Obamas health care plan will end your “lounging the buffets” | USWGO Alternative News
Letter screenshots: Page 1, 2
Due to somebody leaking to us a Medicaid letter sent to every Medicaid patient, it states that all kinds of healthcare covered under Medicaid will be cut due to recent legislation, aka the Debt bill signed into law by Obama that also was responsible for the Super Congress.
The letter claims that these cuts is to eye exams at the eye doctor and optical supplies for adults, they may or not start cutting Durable Medical Equipment which has a very broad definition of any medical device used in the home to aid in a better quality of living (That means diabetic devices, pacemakers, and more can all be cut from Medicaid), and outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy visits will all be cut.
As a diabetic news writer and journalist I understand that eye exams at eye doctors are also necessary for monitoring any damage caused by type 1 and type 2 diabetes. By Medicaid cutting this they are hurting diabetics and other kinds of disabled people. Also eye exams are what every American needs whether disabled or not. By Medicaid cutting eye doctors out of the whole equation this will severely cut one of the needed services to diabetics and other people.
Austerity measures is used whenever a country is in terrible trouble under a very large deficit. Other countries have attempted austerity measures which caused massive riots and protests. Now that Medicaid is admitting to several forms of austerity cuts, will Social Security, Food Stamps (EBT), Medicare, Tri-care (veterans care program) follow suite?
With taxation without representation due to the plans of the Bilderberg financial banking elite, expect more cuts to Government welfare services and entitlement programs, expect to lose your pensions, and expect to work for your retirement until death.
Heres the text of the letter:
“Recent legislation has eliminated the coverage of eye exams and optical supplies for adults in the coming months.”
http://networkedblogs.com/lUtYL
Note: The cuts displayed in the photo of the letter are also available online due to investigative research.
Related: Obamas health care plan will end your “lounging the buffets” | USWGO Alternative News
Letter screenshots: Page 1, 2
Due to somebody leaking to us a Medicaid letter sent to every Medicaid patient, it states that all kinds of healthcare covered under Medicaid will be cut due to recent legislation, aka the Debt bill signed into law by Obama that also was responsible for the Super Congress.
The letter claims that these cuts is to eye exams at the eye doctor and optical supplies for adults, they may or not start cutting Durable Medical Equipment which has a very broad definition of any medical device used in the home to aid in a better quality of living (That means diabetic devices, pacemakers, and more can all be cut from Medicaid), and outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy visits will all be cut.
As a diabetic news writer and journalist I understand that eye exams at eye doctors are also necessary for monitoring any damage caused by type 1 and type 2 diabetes. By Medicaid cutting this they are hurting diabetics and other kinds of disabled people. Also eye exams are what every American needs whether disabled or not. By Medicaid cutting eye doctors out of the whole equation this will severely cut one of the needed services to diabetics and other people.
Austerity measures is used whenever a country is in terrible trouble under a very large deficit. Other countries have attempted austerity measures which caused massive riots and protests. Now that Medicaid is admitting to several forms of austerity cuts, will Social Security, Food Stamps (EBT), Medicare, Tri-care (veterans care program) follow suite?
With taxation without representation due to the plans of the Bilderberg financial banking elite, expect more cuts to Government welfare services and entitlement programs, expect to lose your pensions, and expect to work for your retirement until death.
Heres the text of the letter:
Recipient Notices, July 2011References that Legislation is being used to conduct austerity measures against Medicaid patients:
This notice is being sent to all Medicaid and NC Health Choice recipients so that everyone knows about the important information and changes.
Important Information For Medicaid Recipients Under Age 21
This pertains to all services mentioned in this notice. Children under age 21 who have Medicaid are entitled to medically necessary screening, diagnostic and treatment services that are needed to “correct or ameliorate defects and physical and mental illnesses and conditions” under the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program, regardless of whether the requested service is covered under the Medicaid State Plan. For more information about EPSDT, please refer to: http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dma/epsdt. EPSDT does not apply to children who have NC Health Choice.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MEDICAID AND NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH CHOICE FOR CHILDREN RECIPIENTS
This notice is to let you know about important information and changes that are taking place in Medicaid and NC Health Choice.
CARE-LINE Service Change
Effective July 1, 2011, CARE-LINE services will be discontinued. For questions or concerns after July 1, 2011, you can use the current CARE-LINE number (1-800-662-7030; TTY: 1-877-452-2514) to reach the DHHS Customer Service Center. The DHHS Customer Service Center is available Monday – Friday 8 am to 5 pm.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH CHOICE FOR CHILDREN RECIPIENTS
This notice is to let you know about important information and changes that are taking place in NC Health Choice.
New NC Health Choice (NCHC) ID cards will be mailed beginning September 15, 2011. The new cards are effective October 1, 2011. These new cards are gray in color with the NCHC logo at the top.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NORTH CAROLINA MEDICAID RECIPIENTS
This notice is to let you know about important information and changes that are going to be taking place in Medicaid medical services over the next several months.
Optical Services
Recent legislation has eliminated the coverage of eye exams and optical supplies for adults in the coming months. You will receive more information about when this change when it goes into effect in October.
Durable Medical Equipment
Due to the need for cost savings, Medicaid is examining ways to provide incontinence supplies more efficiently. We will provide information about any changes as they are developed.
Outpatient Specialized Therapies
Outpatient specialized therapies are provided in outpatient settings, such as the Health Department. Recent legislation requires that outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy visits for adults be limited to three (3) per year. Your provider will be able to tell you more about this change when it is made.
Bariatric Surgery
In the coming months, Medicaid will cover bariatric surgery provided in approved centers. Your provider will be able to tell you of this change when it is made.
Dental Services – Child and Adult
Recent changes to dental policy will affect the way that oral health care services are provided. Medicaid will no longer pay for the following services for all recipients:
•
Cast metal partial dentures. Medicaid will continue to cover acrylic partial dentures and allow replacement of acrylic partials every 8 years.
Medicaid will implement the following changes for scaling and root planing (deep cleaning) services for recipients of all ages:
•
Providers will be reimbursed for this service no more than once every 24 months rather than the current allowance of once every 12 months.
•
There will be an additional prior approval requirement before this service can be approved.
Please discuss these changes with your child’s dentist or your dentist to determine if the revised policy will affect dental treatment for either you or your family.
Carolina ACCESS
Carolina ACCESS wants to know how you feel about your health care or the health care of your child. Beginning in September 2011, you may be called and asked to answer some questions about your child’s health care. Beginning in October 2011, you may be called and asked about your health care. This will not take too much of your time. If you are called, the person will give you their name and tell you they are calling from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte on behalf of North Carolina Medicaid. They will give you some information about the study. By answering the questions, you will be a part of an effort to improve your health care services. Your answers will be kept confidential. No one at the doctor’s office or Medicaid will see any names or know how you answered the questions. We appreciate your participation to help us provide you with better services.
“Be Smart” Family Planning Program
Are you ready to be a parent? Are you ready for another child? Do you think you might want more children? If you answered no to any of these questions, you may want to take advantage of the opportunity to receive birth control supplies and health care services that are covered under the Medicaid “Be Smart” Family Planning program. The program is designed to reduce unplanned pregnancies and improve the lives of children and families in North Carolina, and there is no co-pay for the services. To start receiving family planning services if you are enrolled in the “Be Smart” Family Planning program, you will need to schedule an appointment for a yearly family planning exam. You can make an appointment for the exam at your local health department, health center/clinic or a doctor’s office that participates in the “Be Smart” program. If you have any questions about the services that are covered by the “Be Smart” program, please go to the Division of Medical Assistance website at: http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dma/medicaid/familyplanning.htm
Who to Contact With Questions About Information in This Notice: For questions or concerns please contact the DHHS Customer Service Center at 1-800-662-7030 (English/Spanish) or 1-877-452-2514 (this is a TTY number and only those with TTY equipment can talk to a person when this number is dialed). The DHHS Customer Service Center is available to assist you Monday – Friday 8 am to 5 pm.
“Recent legislation has eliminated the coverage of eye exams and optical supplies for adults in the coming months.”
http://networkedblogs.com/lUtYL
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