Friday, March 29, 2013

Hang the bastards.........

Another non-Russian, non-oligarch, non-billionaire, non-tax-evader speaks up...

So much has been written of the Cypriot bail-ins and massive haircuts for the uninsured depositors - assumed to be nasty oligarchic Russian money-launderers - that, it appears, the reality for people living in Cyprus has been forgotten.   The Sydney Morning Herald reports, real lives have been destroyed. 65-year-old John Demitriou retired (back) to the picturesque fishing village of Liopetri, Cyprus, with his life-savings of around $1 million living off the interest it paid from Laiki 'Popular' Bank and spending it on his grandchildren. He was in no hurry to invest it; to spend it on big purchases.

Then, after being told just last week by his bank manager, "there's no problem, nothing to worry about," he so painfully notes, "I went to bed Friday as a rich man. I woke up a poor man," as Laiki's depositors over EUR100,000 were devastated thanks to the bail-in. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs notes, "there is no need for special measures," to help John (or the other 5000 Cypriot-Australians on the island) as he exclaims, "it's not Russian money; it's not black money; it's my money."

Via Sydney Morning Herald,

''Very bad, very, very bad,'' says 65-year-old John Demetriou, rubbing tears from his lined face with thick fingers. ''I lost all my money.''   John now lives in the picturesque fishing village of Liopetri on Cyprus' south coast. But for 35 years he lived at Bondi Junction and worked days, nights and weekends in Sydney markets selling jewellery and imitation jewellery.  He had left Cyprus in the early 1970s at the height of its war with Turkey, taking his wife and young children to safety in Australia. He built a life from nothing and, gradually, a substantial nest egg. He retired to Cyprus in 2007 with about $1 million, his life savings.  He planned to spend it on his grandchildren - some of whom live in Cyprus - putting them through university and setting them up. There would be medical bills; he has a heart condition. The interest was paying for a comfortable retirement, and trips back to Australia. He also toyed with the idea of buying a boat.  He wanted to leave any big purchases a few years, to be sure this was where he would spend his retirement. There was no hurry. But now it is all gone.  ''If I made the decision to stay, I was going to build a house,'' John says. ''Unfortunately I didn't make the decision yet.

''I went to sleep Friday as a rich man. I woke up a poor man.''

His money was all in the Laiki ''Popular'' Bank which was the main casualty of Cyprus' bailout package set by the European Union. Laiki is to be dismantled. Savings of less than €100,000 are to move to the Bank of Cyprus. Anything more than that will almost certainly be wiped out as the bank is wound down, its remaining assets taken by the bank's creditors.

Last week he heard a rumour that the bank was in trouble and went into Aiya Napa to ask his bank manager - a friend - if he should move his life savings.

''There's no problem, nothing to worry about,'' he was told.

Not so. ''I go to bed and I can't sleep. I walk around, I have a coffee. I am thinking about my family.''

John's tears flow. As he chokes up, his son George, who moved to Cyprus in 1990, explains.

''The whole family, we used to work at the markets. I would work at the markets on the weekend to help my parents while my mates were off having fun. Honest work in honest jobs. Now all that hard work is paying the debts of other people and the government. It's disgusting, to be honest.''

George says he can start again - if things get worse he and his family might move back to Australia.

''But not my dad. He can't go back to Australia. He is not allowed to fly because of his heart, and anyway where would he live? He has no house. He will have €100,000 left to live off. Soon he's not going to have a cent to his name.''

John has a thin hope. His money was sitting in the bank in Australian dollars instead of euros, so he wonders if it would be exempt from the bank's collapse. But the bank's doors are closed, so he doesn't even know to whom he should put that argument.

''For the moment I am 'sitting on charcoal', as they say,'' waiting to see if he gets burnt.

''It's not Russian money, it's not black money. It's my money.''

There are almost 5000 Cypriot-Australians on the island. Most are - or were - self-sufficient veterans of the 1950s engineering boom or the 1974 war who came back to retire or to be with family (John is looking after his 90-year-old mother).

This week Britain stopped paying pensions into Cypriot accounts, advising expatriates to open a British bank account instead.

Australia's high commission in Nicosia has already fielded inquiries from dual nationals seeking advice on their pensions. They were told to set up different payment arrangements, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

''We expect the main impact will be for Australians who have invested large sums in Laiki Bank or the Bank of Cyprus,'' she said. ''There is no need for special measures at this stage.''

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The MSM


$1 trillion in student loan debt with 36% defaulting, incomes back to 1970-80 numbers, more retirees getting SS, drones, Europe cratering and record high military suicides.

But gay marriage is in the news.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

SCOTUS speak...........

Liberals 1970's:  Marriage is an archaic ritual, just a piece of paper. Let's live together.

Liberals 2013:  The world will end if homosexuals can't marry.

Liberal failures..........

If Democrats were right, Detroit, Chicago and DC would be model cities with virtually no crime or poverty.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

All over 6 pounds..........



Jordan Parisian had it going last week.  Four fish over six pounds!

Mitt in LaJolla.............


Romney lost because the conservative virtues - the traditional American virtues of greatness;  liberty, hard work, free enterprise, private initiative and aspiration to greatness, no longer inspire or motivate a majority of the electorate.
Come to think of it, the simplest reason why Romney lost was because it is impossible to compete against free stuff.

I hope to run into him sometime down by LaJolla Cove some fine morning.  

He gave it a great shot.   He lost.  So did America.

Truthful humor...........

Was standing at the counter at Chic-Filet yesterday trying to pull a $5 bill from my wallet for a large bowl of chicken noodle and a couple of $1 bills fell on the counter.    A couple of black gals who worked there were hooting and laughing at me trying to collect my bills.   I was laughing with them and told them my middle name was Obama; you get something for nothing ...... 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Cyprus and the Russians

The Russians are more than a little perturbed.   They don't take kindly to loss of their loot.   I have been saying for years, Jim Cramer aside, that the richest man on Planet Earth is Vladimir Putin.    He probably makes Warren Buffet look like chump change if the truth were known.

I might think twice about being a Cypriot Olympic athlete in Russia.  

I thought Greece was the tipping point.  Now Cyprus?   The US market behaves as if the macro picture matters not.   Do fundamentals still matter?  What are fundamentals?

It has a 1999 feeling about it.    Just sayin..........

Friday, March 22, 2013

Montana road kill...........

With the law being changed in Montana to allow residents to "harvest" road killed animals I can't help but think of a couple of young hungry cowboys on a hot summer night with a case in the truck.    

Somehow this has got to be a good thing but............. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Bernanke testimony today.........


Bernanke doesn't see 'MAJOR RISKS' to the United States from Cyprus.

Just like he didn't see 'MAJOR RISKS' in the housing markets, sub-prime derivatives or the banks in 2007.

This guy is a key reverse indicator folks. A tool of epic proportions. Be ready.....

Using fire on the farm..........


I love working my ass off at Pamelot.   Good for the soul, good for the body.  Having a valid fire permit is mandatory!


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

some Tuesday humor.......

Dear Government,

Please make me stop writing bad checks.

Signed,

Ben Bernanke

Monday, March 18, 2013

Mom..........

Fourteen short years ago today my Mom went to be with her Creator.

I was lucky.  I chose great parents.  I love you Mom.

Stay in school.........

Among college grads, 12% of first births are outside marriage. For high-school dropouts, it's 83%.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

My job, plain and simple..........

 
I don't get paid to be an optimist, I don't get paid to be pessimist, I get paid to be a realist - and a prudent fiduciary of the capital that clients entrust us with.

After that and if I have time I care about the social issues of the world.

Saturday, March 09, 2013

Trust me, this time it is NOT different............




The MAJOR difference between this bubble and others is that this is completely unnatural. There's no natural demand or boom in a business cycle.  It is pure unadulterated manipulation of the markets with monetary policy.  That's all it is.

The decrease in the unemployment rate comes from people who are not looking for jobs because they are on disability or given up hope or simply are making too much money on the dole.  The numbers are designed to show that when the unemployment rate goes up, they can attribute it to the fact that the survey was taken before sequestration, so that when they report worse numbers in the future they can say it was because of the effect of reducing government spending. 

Friday, March 08, 2013

Debt and more DEBT!!!!

In the past 5 days alone, total Federal Debt rose from$16.640 trillion to $16.701 trillion as of moments ago: an increase of $61 billion in five days, amounting to $198,697,068 for every of the 307 Dow Jones Industrial Average points "gained" this week. Because remember: US debt is the asset that allows the Fed to engage in monetization and as a result, hand over trillions in fungible reserves to banks... mostly foreign banks.

From Debt to the Penny:

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Food Stamps, SNAP, WIC.......

I wonder if CNBC will have a special, a celebration and a tribute to everyone that has received food stamps when we hit 50,000,000 people on the dole.

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

The last time the DOW was this high.............

  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: Then 14164.5; Now 14164.5

  • Regular Gas Price: Then $2.75; Now $3.73

  • GDP Growth: Then +2.5%; Now +1.6%

  • Americans Unemployed (in Labor Force): Then 6.7 million; Now 13.2 million

  • Americans On Food Stamps: Then 26.9 million; Now 47.69 million

  • Size of Fed's Balance Sheet: Then $0.89 trillion; Now $3.01 trillion

  • US Debt as a Percentage of GDP: Then ~38%; Now 74.2%

  • US Deficit (LTM): Then $97 billion; Now $975.6 billion

  • Total US Debt Oustanding: Then $9.008 trillion; Now $16.43 trillion

  • US Household Debt: Then $13.5 trillion; Now 12.87 trillion

  • Labor Force Particpation Rate: Then 65.8%; Now 63.6%

  • Consumer Confidence: Then 99.5; Now 69.6

  • S&P Rating of the US: Then AAA; Now AA+

  • VIX: Then 17.5%; Now 14%

  • 10 Year Treasury Yield: Then 4.64%; Now 1.89%

  • EURUSD: Then 1.4145; Now 1.3050

  • Gold: Then $748; Now $1583

  • NYSE Average LTM Volume (per day): Then 1.3 billion shares; Now 545 million shares
  • Monday, March 04, 2013

    Food for thought.............

    If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If the only school curriculum allowed to explain how we got here is evolution, but the government stops a $15 million construction project to keep a rare spider from evolving to extinction ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor, or check out a library book, but not to vote who runs the government ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If the government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than ten rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders in Egypt ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If, in the largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If an 80-year-old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If children are forcibly removed from parents who discipline them with spankings while children of addicts are left in filth and drug infested “homes”... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing, and free cell phones ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If the government's plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working with 99 weeks of Unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can’t find work ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If you pay your mortgage faithfully, denying yourself the newest big screen TV while your neighbor buys iPhones, TV's and new cars, and the government forgives his debt when he defaults on his mortgage ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    If being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you more "safe" according to the government ... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

    Friday, March 01, 2013

    Too dam good not to share.........

    by Brandon Smith of Alt-Market blog

    Washington is laying on the malaise pretty thick lately over automatic budget cuts set to take effect in March, with admonitions and partisan attacks galore. Of course, those of us who are educated in the finer points of our corrupt puppet government are well aware that the public debate between Democrats and Republicans amounts to nothing more than a farcical battle of Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots with only one set of hands behind the controls. The reality is, their decisions are scripted, their votes are purchased, and they knew months ago exactly how America’s fiscal cliff situation would progress. The drama that now ensues on the hill is meant for OUR benefit and distraction, and no one else.

    The Obama Administration warns that “sequestration” (austerity) will result in a return to recession for the U.S. News Flash, folks! The country never left the recession that officially began in 2008. Sorry to burst that inflated recovery hopium bubble…

    Janet Napolitano warns that cuts will result in a greater risk of terrorist attacks. Apparently, an extra $85 billion per year buys us complete safety from the Muslim boogeyman, though the DHS has been far more concerned with “homegrown extremists” (people like me) than Al-Qaeda lately…

    The White House and DHS has warned that funding for border control may be diminished, and the southern border will be left “wide open” to infiltration. Apparently, the White House is not aware that the southern border is ALREADY wide open. If they were truly concerned about the porous border, maybe they would refrain from decisions to release over 10,000 illegal immigrants from holding before cuts have even been finalized, sending a clear message to Mexico that there will be no consequences for anyone sneaking into the U.S. without permission…

    The DOD warns that cuts to defense will result in a weakened military posture for America, and yet, our posture has already been greatly weakened by our numerous illegal wars in the Middle East (some overt, some covert). I have yet to see any tangible assessments on how our continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan has made our nation safer…

    Let’s put all of this into perspective; America’s current annual deficits have exceeded $1 trillion for the past four years. Our official national debt has expanded nearly $7 trillion in the span of five years. Through QE3 (QE infinity), the Federal Reserve is now pumping over $85 billion (that we know about) per month into our financial system. And in March, the federal government is being asked to cut $85 billion over a span of six months?

    It sure seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the massive expenditures already taking place. Yet, these moderate cuts are being heralded as a sign of fiscal apocalypse by the White House and others. Why? Because America has reached the point at which any disruption in government liquidity will damage our recovery fantasy, and the establishment is acclimating us to the coming crisis so that we don’t immediately take up our torches and pitchforks. The lie is so tenuous, that the fiat must forever flow, or the illusion crumbles. Not only must spending continue unabated, it must also EXPAND with each passing year in order to handle the growing liabilities of entitlements and interest payments on capital already borrowed. Even the smallest of cuts could indeed send our economy into a tailspin (with a little help from the Federal Reserve and reduced currency creation), because that’s exactly how desperate our circumstances are.

    Of course, the establishment plans to make matters worse by applying cuts where they will be most painfully felt by the populace. The fear mongering is reaching fever pitch with threats of wide open borders, weakened military superiority, lost government jobs, unemployed teachers, etc. But let’s imagine, just for one blissful moment, that the government was NOT utterly criminal and subversive; what kind of cuts would an honest government make right now in order to counter the dangers of debt disintegration and dollar devaluation?

    …I really don’t know because I’ve never lived under an honest government. I have little personal experience in how one would behave. However, here is what I would cut from the budget…

    Unnecessary Foreign Aid

    Will some cuts be made to foreign aid after “sequestration”. Yes. But nowhere near enough. The U.S. spends around $50 billion a year on foreign aid, including $3 billion in “direct assistance” to Israel (meaning they get a lot more money and equipment through indirect means), $2 billion to Iraq, $1.7 billion to Pakistan, $1.4 billion to Egypt, $1.2 billion to Haiti (actually, the Hatians are the only people on the list so far that actually need the money), and $1 billion to Kenya (…Kenya?). The list goes on and on. Even Mexico gets around $400 million a year in foreign aid from the U.S.

    The establishment has conditioned the general public to consider any suggestion of cutting foreign aid to be taboo. Politicians on both sides of the aisle will wail and scream at the thought of reducing aid to Israel or other Middle East nations. That said, the bottom line is that we cannot afford it. You may believe every dollar to these countries results in the thwarting of evil doers and the filled bellies of orphan children. It doesn’t matter, because we can’t afford it. You may believe the whole of America’s international reputation and diplomatic sway hangs in the balance over foreign aid expenditures, but this is irrelevant, because we can’t afford it.

    The most detrimental threats to the U.S. are INTERNAL and financial, not external, and cutting foreign aid would alleviate those detrimental threats by about $50 million dollars. I’m a little tired of hearing how America is supposed to “export democracy” and keep its fingers in the cookie jars of nations around the world. This is a globalist philosophy that has never borne fruit and never will. It is time to bring the money back home where it might actually do some legitimate good.

    Occupation Wars

    The Neo-Cons played the American people like a banjo for nearly a decade claiming first that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were necessary in order to defuse Al Qaeda influence. Then, when we realized that the resource rich fields of the Middle East were the true target, rather than the “terrorists”, they changed their tune and claimed that now it would be “irresponsible” to leave the region, regardless of the fallacy of the mission, because if we did innocent people would be left to chaos and ruin.

    Ultimately, the Neo-Cons never cared about the innocent citizens of Iraq or Afghanistan, they only cared about manipulating the American public into acquiescing to continued occupation, and that is exactly what they did. Today, the Obama Administration carries on exactly where the Neo-Cons left off, using the same propaganda and the same lies with a new face and a new presentation.

    Original cost estimates of the two invasions were around $100 billion for a two year involvement, and the American people were assured that this was all that was needed. Today, over a decade later, the costs have escalated to at least $4 trillion (Obama's claim of a $1 trillion price tag is an outright fabrication), and still have not abated. If the government truly wanted to save massive amounts of capital and shield the populace from debilitating service and entitlement cuts, they would bring the troops home; ALL OF THEM, and stop flushing money down the toilet in the Middle East.

    Instigations Of Foreign Insurgencies

    Why is the Obama Administration continually pouring money into the coffers of Middle Eastern insurgencies led by Al Qaeda operatives that supposedly hate the U.S.? They did it in Egypt, they did it in Libya, and now they are doing it in Syria. Is Obama an idiot, or, is there a greater purpose at work? Is the goal to deliberately destabilize the region, or are they doing it out of blind hubris and stupidity? In either case, all the money being showered on these civil wars is a wretched waste, and should be stopped.

    TSA Thugs

    The Transportation Security Administration is the most hated institution in America. It is reviled across the country and its dubious purpose is questioned by almost everyone. Americans, no matter how uneducated and oblivious, still do not like being molested by blue gloved bureaucratic freaks with preexisting criminal records. We do not like having our small children molested by them either. We do not like being irradiated so that our naked pictures can be stored in a central database. We do not like thugs, brown shirts or blue shirts, ordering us around and looking down their noses at us. Frankly, Americans have a history of shooting those kinds of people…

    DHS head Janet Napolitano has already released warnings ahead of budget cut decisions stating that the TSA may be on the chopping block, and that this would put American travelers “at risk”. I highly doubt that this is the plan, though…

    The TSA is not meant to protect the citizenry in any way. It is a conditioning machine for the masses, and nothing more. It is designed to inhibit our natural rebellion against personal search and seizure tactics, and make us apathetic to deeper intrusions into our privacy. That is all. I find it highly unlikely that the establishment would dismantle such a useful tool of oppression. But, if Napolitano is sincere, then I say go for it Janey, do your worst! Abolish the whole damned agency, because if you don’t, eventually, we’ll do it for you.

    The Criminal ATF

    The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms has a long history of questionable and often illegal activities, usually ending with the murder of civilians with dissenting views. However, the latest snafu involves a much larger conspiracy, culminating in the agency being caught red handed feeding American weapons to violent Mexican drug cartels in an effort to stigmatize gun ownership in the U.S. and to wrongly attribute deaths in the border region to American gun dealers. This debacle is known as “Fast and Furious”.

    Eric Holder, Attorney General of the U.S. and a staunch proponent of the ATF, has defended the Fast and Furious agenda to the point of contempt of Congress. Holder is a gun control advocate and key player in the current attacks on the 2nd Amendment, despite his habit of protecting agencies that feed weapons to psychopathic drug lords.

    Any agency with this much schizophrenic disregard for the rights and safety of Americans should be wiped from the ass-end of history. It also has an annual budget of $1.2 billion, which could be spent in far better places, to be sure.

    Big Brother DHS

    What exactly does the Department of Homeland Security do that the FBI and the CIA did not already do before its inception? The great lie spread in the wake of 9/11 was that various alphabet agencies were not “in communication” with each other, and that intelligence gathered was not “reaching the right people”. Of course, Bush had received several warnings pre-9/11 of impending attacks, and the FBI and CIA on more than one occasion had the opportunity to apprehend Osama Bin Laden, but were thwarted by the Administration itself, sending a clear message that the government catches “terrorists” only when it WANTS to catch a terrorist.

    The DHS was established as a means to centralize information sharing, but it has become much more. It now encompasses and directs much of the internal law enforcement outfits of the U.S. through so-called fusion centers, and even plays a growing role in external matters. Much of the analytical paperwork coming out of the agency, though, does not deal with foreign enemies like Al Qaeda. Rather, the agency is almost obsessively focused on “domestic threats”, like returning war veterans, Constitutionalists, gun rights champions, Ron Paul supporters, and Liberty Movement activists.

    In the end, the DHS is intended to combat a specific opponent, and that opponent is obviously the American people.

    The DHS is set to absorb $2.6 billion in cuts if sequestration goes though, causing the organization to spew dire prophecies of doom. Yet, the DHS is projected to have a $9 billion surplus by the end of 2013, and apparently has enough funding to place orders for over 2 billion rounds of combat ammunition (not for training purposes, sorry disinfo-agents). I say cut the head off the beast. Remove DHS, save American liberties, and spend those billions elsewhere.

    Gitmo-Style Black Sites

    I find it highly distasteful and disturbing that the U.S. government is operating black sites like GITMO where they can torture and murder in obscurity, rather than having to answer to the public, all while instituting these activities in our name. The common argument is that these prisons are necessary to isolate the most volatile of villains, and obtain vital data in the war on terror. Well, despite what you may have seen in the movie ‘Zero Dark Thirty’, torture rarely if ever produces reliable and concurrent intel that can be acted upon to prevent any impending attack, or apprehend any enemy agent. And, after what we saw at Abu Ghraib, the government has proven itself absolutely untrustworthy to handle incarcerated prisoners in any capacity, let alone in places where independent oversight does not exist.

    Didn’t Obama make a campaign promise in 2008 to shut down GITMO, by the way? Why not do it now, save the country some cash, and end a disgusting and immoral practice that demeans the whole of our society?

    Domestic Drone Programs

    Why does the federal government need 30,000 drones in the skies over the heads of American citizens? Why is this being pursued? If the government seeks to make war on the American people, then by all means, admit that this is the goal and at least we will know the rationalization for spreading a spider’s web of remote controlled technotronic death from sea to shining sea. This is the only POSSIBLE purpose that such a fleet of drones could serve. If this is not the reason for the escalation of drone activity, then there is no logical reason, and they should be perfectly willing to end these programs, saving the U.S. millions if not billions of dollars.

    Corporate Welfare

    Long before the banker bailouts and the "too big to fails", government has been pouring free money into the coffers of international corporations that were already claiming billions in capital. This welfare has reached epic levels; around $93 billion by some estimates. Why? Maybe because the establishment knew years ago that these companies were headed for debt implosion. Or, maybe because D.C. is a revolving door and corporate vampires like to spend time in the public sector bleeding taxpayers dry. I don't know. What I do know is that whatever purpose corporate welfare was supposed to serve, it failed. We are in the midst of the most extensive economic crisis of all time, and many of the companies that received welfare for the past couple decades are debt addled failures that provide little in job creation. It's time to cut our losses...

    The Obama Family’s Extravagant Vacations

    All this panicked discussion on budget cuts, yet, no one seems to be talking about reducing the most frivolous of expenditures. The Obama family’s four trips to Hawaii alone have cost Americans tax payers at least $20 million (this is a very conservative estimate)! Why is the nation pounding its collective head against the wall over extreme national debt obligations while this joker and his overprivileged family are spending a thousand times more on each of their vacations than any other citizen?

    Hey Obama, try a trip to Florida, you money swilling bastard! Maybe you could squeeze it in for under a million? Take a swim in the Everglades perhaps, the water is fine…

    One Day Soon, Everything Will Be Cut…

    If Americans are frightened of a small budget cut of $85 billion, imagine what they’ll do when they realize this is just the beginning of the avalanche. It will not be long before our foreign creditors turn away from the Dollar and begin using alternative currencies like the IMF’s SDR basket. At that point, the purchasing power of the Greenback will be severely suffocated, and the numerous social services the public enjoys today will be buried as well.

    Some people might question why I did not include any entitlement programs or social support in my list of needed budget cuts. I would only point out that such programs are not long for this world anyway, and though most of them shouldn't exist in the first place, the expenditures listed above are even more peripheral. The feds will keep welfare going for as long as possible, in order to subdue public response and soften collective rage, but there will come a time when the food stamps, medicare, disability payments, and other subsidies will suddenly stop. EU members like Spain are a perfect example, stealing over 90% of social security funds in order to maintain a façade of solvency, while others are raiding retirement funds and employee pensions, all because austerity measures are exhausting entitlement pools. This is where the U.S. is headed, and it cannot be avoided. Not through fiat printing, or any other nonsensical strategy.

    My goal was to merely point out that there are plenty of irrelevant federal appendages out there that could be amputated, but probably won’t be, while other more useful programs will come under fire. In the end, the budget cuts are not about saving money; they are about social maneuvering and political gain. They will be used as an excuse for everything, and will produce nothing favorable, not because cuts are not needed, but because the people in charge of them are not trustworthy.