US Said Preparing New Laws To Seize Americans Retirement Accounts

First They Destroy Private Healthcare in America – Yes, the socialist Democrats won their first battle to destroy the private healthcare system in the US but the automatic IRA bill now in Congress is their next attack to also control, confiscate and destroy the private retirement system. Ultimately, nationalizing healthcare is designed to create a major new government revenue stream by replacing private health insurance with a nationalized, mandatory, government program and their goal is identical with your retirement plan.

Washington will decide the annual forced healthcare premiums on all Americans with the middle and upper wage earners paying far higher premiums than the subsidized voting constituencies who will be the primary beneficiaries of the program. Their goal is to allow Washington to steal much of the annual health premiums (taxes) for current revenue needs and to bailout and subsidize with your premiums the health programs for the voting blocks of poor and underemployed, illegals, unions and the millions of city, county, state and federal government employees. Eventually there will be no private competition available except for the very wealthy and Washington will constantly increase premiums just as they raise taxes today.

Next They Steal Your Private Retirement Benefits – Just as with the Obama Administration plans eventual nationalization of healthcare, the tremendous amount of funds in private retirement plans and IRA accounts are also being targeted to meet future revenue needs. Bills have just been introduced in both the House and Senate to create the new Auto IRA accounts which will at first be voluntary but later will become mandatory like Social Security and I expect the early 3% employee after tax contribution levels to eventually rise to 10 to 15% of compensation rising even more than Social Security has increased over the years. Read this August 17th article in Investment News at for more information.

Just Robbery Pure & Simple – The Auto IRA is the first step to grab and control your retirement assets and replace our private system with a forced, government controlled Social Security type program. In addition they will force much of your retirement funds into buying junk treasury bonds along with the Federal Reserve when the dollar/national debt crisis hits as billions of retirement funds become the buyer of last resort when the rest of the world are dumping dollars and treasury securities. Americans with substantial private retirement benefits will also likely be “means tested” out of their promised Social Security benefits and discover their private retirement benefits will be subject to confiscatory levels of taxes and penalties which will even target previously taxed Roth IRA accounts.

Bipartisan Theft – But don’t think a GOP victory in the fall elections or 2012 will safeguard your retirement assets as Washington’s need for new wealth is a bipartisan effort by both political parties. Note that the leading “Washington based” conservative think tank disagrees with my analysis of the threat to your retirement assets. I take exception to the views of David John, The Heritage Foundation’s leading analyst on issues relating to pensions, financial institutions, asset building, and Social Security reform but read his The Automatic IRAs: A Conservative Way to Build Retirement Security and you will see how even some traditional conservatives are supporting the latest Washington retirement wealth and power grab.

Read More About the Retirement Threat & Protection Solutions – I have already covered the proposals in detail in two lengthy online reports: Get Ready For the Obama Retirement Trap at published on 1/28/2010 and The 10 Step Countdown To Retirement Plan Nationalization at published on 3/22/2010.

Please take the time to review both reports in detail which covered the threats when the Obama Administration first proposed this new program back in January 2010 and also read David John’s glowing support for the new Washington retirement scheme. Then decide for yourself if Washington is here to help you for a change or out to steal you blind as usual. Together, the reports above provide a confiscation timeline and actions you can take now to defend your retirement security and benefits.

Broomall Pathmark to close; 108 jobs slashed

There is more bad news on the job front as Labor Day looms, with still another supermarket closing in the county that will cost more than 100 jobs.

The Pathmark supermarket in the Broomall section of Marple Township has alerted the state it will close its doors on Oct. 13. The ailing supermarket chain will ax all 109 jobs at the site.

It's one of two Pathmarks targeted for closing; the store in Bristol, Bucks County, also will be closed, costing another 109 jobs.

The moves are part of a restructuring by Pathmark's parent company, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc. The chain, based in Montvale, N.J., indicated last week that it would shutter 25 of its 429 stores. More than 2,000 employees will be affected.

The Pathmark closings come just days after Genuardi's supermarket closed two stores in the region, in the Glen Eagle Shopping Center in Glen Mills, and another store in Tredyffrin.

A third Genuardi's, in the Edgmont Square Shopping Center near Newtown Square, closed July 17 after being open for about 15 years.

Genuardi's continues to operate 30 stores in southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey. Its Delaware stores were rebranded as Safeways when the massive Pleasanton, Calif.-based supermarket chain purchased Genuardi's in the early 2000s.

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., or A&P, operates 429 stores in eight states under names such as Waldbaum's and Pathmark. Founded in 1859, A&P is one of the nation's first supermarket chains.

Watch Former Fed Governor Fred "Napoleon Dynamite" Mishkin In Dire Need Of A Diaper Change

Some time ago we penned a post, titled"Mishkin On Iceland: "Nothing Is F*#&ed Here Dude" which discussed the former Fed director's March 2006 analysis "Financial (IN)Stability In Iceland." Those interested in our original observations of Mishkin's horrendous analysis (of what proved to be the first bankrupt European country of the new century, but certainly not last) can find them at the original link. Yet continuing with the Duderino references, today, new shit has come to light, which once again confirms that not only is the Fed populated by the most intellectually incapable and corrupt people, but that anything coming out of Columbia University (and the Ivy League in general) is not worth the paper it is printed on. Watch the attached clip to see a former Fed director go from comfortable, to fidgety, to stuttering, to thoroughly discredited, to in dire need of diaper change, in under 2 minutes. Last but not least, here is the soundbite of the year: "You have faith in the central bank." No further comment necessary.

Recovery to slow as firms less optimistic

The economic recovery looks set to slow down during the second half of the year following a fall in confidence among businesses, research indicated today.

Nearly a fifth of businesses now feel less confident about the coming year than they did during the second quarter, according to accountancy body ICAEW and accountants Grant Thornton.

The groups said the emergency Budget, which set out a range of tax rises, and the looming Comprehensive Spending Review, had taken its toll on firms' confidence.

The renewed caution among companies caused the groups' business confidence index to drop back four points during the third quarter to 21.5, indicating the recovery could slow down.

Michael Izza, chief executive of ICAEW, said: "UK businesses that came through the recession are now facing the challenge of surviving the recovery.

"They still don't know what the future holds and are uncertain about how the mood of fiscal austerity will impact the economic recovery.

"Government needs to deliver on its commitment to ensure Britain is open for business while taking the tough decisions required to tackle the deficit."

But despite the fall in confidence, there was a notable improvement in firms' finances, with both turnover and profit growth returning to positive territory for the first time since the beginning of 2009, at 1.6% and 1.7% respectively.

Capital investments are expected to rise by 2% during the coming year, while research and development budgets are set to increase by 1.4%.

At the same time, companies reported their smallest annual fall in staff numbers since the first quarter of 2009, while they expect the number of people they employ to increase by 1.1% during the next year.

But they are predicting only modest pay rises for workers, with salary growth expected to be around 1.5% during the next 12 months.

Scott Barnes, chief executive of Grant Thornton, said: "Clearly economic conditions remain tough but there are signs that some companies are looking to switch from short-term survival measures to opportunities for growth."

Paulson's Quick Draw

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the man who said that subprime was contained and that the Bazooka in his pocket would never be used, now assures us that the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be costless to taxpayers. Despite the near euphoria that the plan has sparked on Wall Street, the move will go down in history as the biggest policy blunder of all time, and will be credited as a pivotal point in the financial collapse of the American economy. The ultimate cost to Unites States citizens will be in the range of hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps more.

The original idea that gave birth to Freddie and Fannie, which is to make housing more affordable to average Americans, should now be seen as farcical. Their new goal is to keep housing prices high. Absent Freddie and Fannie, housing prices would fall sharply and the mortgage market would stabilize. Americans would once again be able to buy affordable houses with mortgages they could actually repay –just like their grandparents did. Instead they will keep overpaying for houses, burdening themselves with excessive payments in the process, and ultimately sticking taxpayers with the bills when they default.

In contrast to Paulson’s continuous misreading of the market, I have consistently predicted the failure of Freddie and Fannie. I did so in my book Crash Proof, and in numerous speeches, commentaries and television appearances. I also was quick to point out that Paulson’s Bazooka would not remain holstered for long.

There is absolutely no substance to Paulson’s insistence that based on the government’s first claim on the future profits of Fannie and Freddie, the plan offers protection for taxpayers. There will be no future profits, just more heavy losses. Americans will now have unlimited ability to continue to overpay for houses and commit to mortgages they can’t afford. In fact, the plan insures that eventual public sector losses will vastly exceed those that would have befallen the private sector in a free-market resolution.

Paulson claims that his goal is to stabilize the mortgage market. But the best way to do so would be to allow housing prices to fall to a market clearing level. As long as home prices remain artificially high, the risks of mortgage lending will keep credit tight, and the high costs of mortgage payments will keep potential buyers on the side-lines. With private lenders justly cautious, the government intends to hold open the lending spigots, without the pesky concerns over losses or financial risk. The hope is that the new lending will prevent home prices from falling further. It won’t work. The government “solution” will simply delay the fall of artificially high home valuations and temporarily preserve the illusion of prosperity.

In order to preserve current home prices, the government will be forced to maintain the lax lending standards that got us into this mess in the first place. Since all the losses will now be borne by taxpayers, those lax standards will be much more problematic. The moral hazard that existed prior to this bailout has become that much more hazardous. Every mortgage now insured by Fannie and Freddie is the equivalent of a U.S. Treasury bond. This allows anyone to borrow on the full faith and credit of the U.S. government so long has the money is used to buy a house. In addition, mortgage lending will now be a government function, run with Post Office-like efficiency.

Of course the biggest collateral damage caused by Paulson’s bazooka is the large hole ripped through the already tattered U.S. Constitution. If the government can do this, does anyone believe there is anything it can not do? In effect the Federal government now has absolute power to corrupt absolutely.

© 2010 Euro Pacific Capital, Inc. All rights reserved.

We're alive! TV images of Chilean miners 18 DAYS after being trapped... but it will be months until they are rescued

• Miners' message from 2,300ft below: 'All 33 of us are fine in the shelter'
• It will take months - maybe not until Christmas - to get them out, say experts
  
• Men are in a mine shaft shelter the size of a small apartment
  

Rescue workers were today battling to reach 33 miners trapped underground for 18 days in a Chilean mine.

Experts said it would take months to dig the men out after they managed to attach a paper message to a probe sent 2,300ft below the surface to find them.

The discovery of the miners yesterday sparked scenes of joy among relatives waiting at the surface since the August 5 accident at the small gold and copper works.

Scroll down for video report

This TV grab shows part of the head of Florencio Antonio Avalos Silva, one of 33 trapped miners. Chilean National TV (TVN) passed a camera 2,300ft down through the borehole to get images of the trapped men who have been there for 17 days

Celebration: Chilean President Sebastian Pinera holds a note from the 33 miners trapped in the copper and gold mine in Copiapo, in the north of the country. It reads 'All 33 of us are fine in the shelter'. The men have been there since August 5

The miners are 4.5 miles inside the winding mine and about 2,300ft vertically underground. They are inside a mine shaft shelter the size of a small apartment.

Holding the message aloft for TV cameras at the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile, President Sebastian Pinera said 'It will take months' to get the miners out.

He added: 'It will take time, but it doesn't matter how long it takes to have a happy ending.'

'The 33 of us in the shelter are well,' read the message written with red paint on the piece of paper that Pinera held up on television.

Rescuers lowered a television camera down the bore-hole, and some of the miners looked into the lens.

Some were bare-chested because of the heat in the mine, and officials said they looked in better-than-expected condition.

As night fell, elated relatives of the trapped miners gathered with rescue workers around bonfires for a barbecue, celebrating with traditional live music and dance.

Happiness: Chile's Mining Minister Lourence Golbourne, right, celebrates with the nation's president, wearing a blue shirt, and relatives

All alive: A poster of all 33 men made by relatives who have held a vigil at the San Jose mine since the collapse

'We didn't sleep. We stayed up all night long hoping for more news. They said that new images would appear, so we were up hoping to see them,' said relative Carolina Godoy.

In the capital of Santiago, around 200 people gathered at the main plaza, waving flags to celebrate the news. Drivers honked their horns and diners applauded in restaurants.

The miners are 4.5 miles inside the winding mine and about 2,300ft vertically underground. They are inside a mine shaft shelter the size of a small apartment.

Authorities said they had limited amounts of food, and doctors advised sending down glucose, enriched mineral water and medicines as well as other foods.

Health officials estimated the miners may have lost about 17.5lb to 20lb each.

Deep in the mine, located near the northern city of Copiapo, there are tanks of water and ventilation shafts that helped the miners to survive.

They used the batteries of a truck down in the mine to charge their helmet lamps, some of which were shining in the television images.

Vigil: Relatives continue their celebrations into the night after learning the men are alive

Rescue effort: Workers insert a probe into the mine shaft in a bid to make contact with the miners

'God is great,' 63-year-old Mario Gomez, the eldest of the trapped miners, wrote in a letter to his wife attached to the drill along with the message, which Pinera read on television.

'This company has got to modernise. But I want to tell everyone I'm OK, and am sure we will survive,' he added.

Gomez's 28-year-old daughter said: 'When he comes out, I'm going to give him a million kisses. No-one will be able to take this happiness away from me.

'I've never felt anything like this in my life. It's like being born again. I can't wait to talk to him.'

Rescuers plan to reinforce the bore-hole and then send narrow plastic tubes called 'doves' down it with food, hydration gels and communications equipment.

However the mine is unstable, and rescue workers were forced to abandon attempts to dig past the main cave-in and down a ventilation shaft.

The plan is now to dig a new shaft to enable the trapped miners to leave, which will take months.

Rescue workers said it could take as much as 120 days to dig a new tunnel to reach them.

Sadness: Before the men were found, relatives of the miners struggled to cope with their emotions as they waited for news of their fate

Prayers and candelit vigils were held every night by relatives desperate for news about the miners

Enlarge

The men were working at the San Jose mine, near the city of San Jose Copiapo, in the north of the South American country, when the rock above them collapsed

Pinera fired top officials of Chile's mining regulator and vowed a major overhaul of the agency in light of the accident.

The country is the world's number producer of copper and although large-scale mining accidents are rare, 16 workers have been killed at the San Jose mine alone in recent years.

The men already have been trapped underground longer than all but a few miners rescued in recent history.

Last year, three miners survived 25 days trapped in a flooded mine in southern China, and two miners in north-eastern China were rescued after 23 days in 1983. Few other rescues have taken more than two weeks.

The miners' survival after 17 days is very unusual, but since they've made it this far, they should emerge physically fine, said Davitt McAteer, who was assistant secretary for mine safety and health under U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Mr McAteer said: 'The health risks in a copper and gold mine are pretty small if you have air, food and water.'

Still, he said the stress of being trapped underground for a long period of time can be significant.

'There is a psychological pattern there that we've looked at,' he added. 'But they've established communication with the guys; there are people who can talk them through that.'

The hole already drilled will be used to send down small capsules containing food, water and oxygen if necessary, and sound and video equipment so the miners can better communicate with loved ones and rescuers. That two-way communication may be key to keeping them thinking positive.

Government urged to reveal 'true' national debt of £4.8 trillion

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has calculated that the national debt is £4.8 trillion once state and public sector pension liabilities are included, or £78,000 for every person in the UK.

Stacking up: the national debt equates to £78,000 for every person in Britain Photo: GETTY IMAGES

The IEA raised its concerns after the latest public finances data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this week, which showed that the total debt, excluding bank bail-outs, is £816bn – itself a record high. However, the figures strip out the state's pension liabilities in a contravention of standard accounting practices.

Mark Littlewood, the IEA's director-general, said: "The latest official national debt figure is seriously misleading. Looming in the background are pension liabilities. These should be moved to the forefront.

"The ONS should include these liabilities in their calculations. It is shocking enough to see official figures revealing a jump in national debt over the last year from the equivalent of 48pc of GDP to 56pc, but the grave reality is that our real national debt stands at 333pc of GDP."

Nick Silver, an IEA research fellow, said the full figure, including the £1.2 trillion public sector pension liability and £2.7 trillion state pension liability, should be published either monthly or annually alongside the net debt data for reasons of transparency.

The ONS has already begun to assemble the data, publishing the full list of Britain's debts and liabilities for the first time in July, which came to a total of between £3.68 trillion and £4.84 trillion.

Aileen Simkins, ONS director of operations on economic statistics, said the figures would be updated in September and that the ONS plans to compile and release them on an annual basis "to begin with".

"We are in no doubt that there is a bigger number that is also relevant to public data," she said. "We think it is important to have more transparency on public sector debt – looking at figures that go beyond standard monthly net debt and include state and public sector pensions."

The ONS numbers included a £1 trillion to £1.5 trillion liability for the Government's stakes in the part-nationalised banks, equivalent to the relevant portion of their total liabilities, £1.35 trillion for state pension liabilities, and £1.2 trillion for public sector pensions.