dog's blog

Make no mistake, when (not if) it collapses yet again, you will be on the hook for the tab, and your children, and their children, and their children, etc... While we're at it, let's add banks, car companies, student loans, etc. to the list of things that we're on the hook for. Americans should never forget those who did this to their nation.

U.S. Taxpayers on Hook for $5 Trillion of Fannie, Freddie Debt ... No Matter What Barney Frank Says


...The U.S. government placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship in September 2008: "This means that the U.S. Taxpayer now stands behind $5 trillion of GSE debt," according to the Congressional Research Service.

The problem is that $5 trillion of so-called agency paper is not treated as if it is a debt of Uncle Sam for accounting purposes, says Richard Suttmeier, chief market strategist at Niagara International Capital and ValueEngine.com.

"Get it on the balance sheet - that's where it belongs," Suttmeier says. "Add it to the $14.2 trillion in [federal] debt and let's move on."...


...Coincidentally (or not), the FDIC is allowing U.S. banks until 2012 before forcing them to fully write-down bad or toxic loans, which is "another time bomb ticking," Suttmeier says. "They're hoping the public market comes back into the mortgage arena...

Read It

Census Question 9 — "Some other race" — "American". Pass it on.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/03/025780.php

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDAzNTgyZTM4NGRiMzUxNDk2MzljMDB...

http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/2010/03/09/i-am-an-american/

from American Thinker

Obama to move the goal posts on poverty measurement
Rick Moran
This is really insidious - a means to an end that will impoverish the lower middle class who will fall that much easier into poverty.

Read It

more nonsense from our overlords...but I guess the greens are not special interests since their objectives are noble

Culled out
Obama administration will accept no more public input for federal fishery strategy
By Robert Montgomery
ESPNOutdoors.com
The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

Read It

From the Wall Street Journal...and the new America

Details of “Einstein” Cyber Shield Disclosed by White House

"The program is designed to look for indicators of cyber attacks by digging into all Internet communications, including the contents of emails, according to the declassified summary."

Read it

Big shock. I believe the article is correct in that there is a bigger crisis heading our way, but, the solution is...more government intervention? Well of course, never let a crisis go to waste. Why not create the next big crisis and use it to nationalize all financial institutions.

Without more stringent reforms, "another crisis – a bigger crisis that weakens both our financial sector and our larger economy – is more than predictable, it is inevitable," Johnson says in the report, commissioned by the nonpartisan Roosevelt Institute.

Read it

The destruction of state sovereignty continues...

DEMINT: White House land grab
By Sen. Jim DeMint
Proposal to seize land would favor animals over Americans

"A secret administration memo has surfaced revealing plans for the federal government to seize more than 10 million acres from Montana to New Mexico, halting job- creating activities like ranching, forestry, mining and energy development. Worse, this land grab would dry up tax revenue that's essential for funding schools, firehouses and community centers."

Read it


I must admit, this shocked me..




This map details the percentage of state territory owned by the federal government. The top 10 list of states with the highest percentage of federally owned land looks like this:

1. Nevada 84.5%
2. Alaska 69.1%
3. Utah 57.4%
4. Oregon 53.1%
5. Idaho 50.2%
6. Arizona 48.1%
7. California 45.3%
8. Wyoming 42.3%
9. New Mexico 41.8%
10. Colorado 36.6%

The solution will be more money...always is. Remember HB1017 was going to fix the problem, the lottery was going to fix the problem, on-track betting was going to fix the problem, etc., etc., etc....

Oklahoma City Public Schools get failing grade on MAPS for Kids goals
"We haven’t achieved what we hoped to when this initiative came about in 2001,” said Dave Lopez, chairman of The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools’ board.

The report found the district was "unsatisfactory” or "needed improvement” in 17 areas of improvement that were established in 2001.

Read it all

Here are the contenders...you decide

Steve Hunt
http://www.huntformayor.com/

vs.

Mick Cornett
http://www.okc.gov/council/mayor/mayor.html

Wonder how many times this is going to be repeated in the upcoming months...

'Doomsday is here for the state of Illinois'
It will take a massive tax increase -- and $2 billion more in cuts -- to reach solvency, group says

February 22, 2010

BY DAVE McKINNEY Sun-Times Springfield Bureau Chief

To become solvent, the state must enact the largest tax-increase package in Illinois history, whack another $2 billion from already starved government programs and wrest major financial concessions from the state's unionized work force, a nonpartisan government watchdog contends.

(Read it All)

[Update 2/26/2010] - looks an event is scheduled for this Saturday

Taxed Enough Already! Join Daniel Hannan at the Brighton Tea Party.

Taxed Enough Already Join DANIEL HANNAN MEP at the Brighton Tea Party at 5.30 p.m. this Saturday 27 February at the Best Western Hotel, 143-145 King's Road, Brighton BN1 2PQ

The event will take place on the Conservative Party Spring Forum fringe, but is outside the secure zone, so all members of the public are very welcome to attend. Admission is free. Tea and other refreshments will be available at a small charge. Cash bar.

http://www.tfa.net/the_freedom_association/2010/02/brighton-tea-party.html

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Drop by their site and wish them luck...western civilization will thank you.

The European Tea Party

Study: States must fill $1 trillion pension gap

HARRISBURG, Pa. – States may be forced to reduce benefits, raise taxes or slash government services to address a $1 trillion funding shortfall in public sector retirement benefits, according to a new study that warns of even more debilitating costs if immediate action isn't taken.

The Pew Center on the States released a survey Thursday of state-administered pension plans, retiree health care and other post-employment benefits in all 50 states that blamed a decade's worth of policy decisions for leaving them shortchanged.

The result for some states will be "high annual costs that come with significant unfunded liabilities, lower bond ratings, less money available for services, higher taxes and the specter of worsening problems in the future," the study said.

The cost of the trillion-dollar shortfall, which will be paid over the coming decades, is about $8,800 for each American household. The study did not include many city, county and municipal pension plans, which are thought to have similar underfunding.

(Read more)

The arrogance of youth...66% ages 18-29 voted for Obama. Wonder if they've received their unicorns in the mail yet.

Greece loses EU voting power in blow to sovereignty
"The council of EU finance ministers said Athens must comply with austerity demands by March 16 or lose control over its own tax and spend policies altogether. It if fails to do so, the EU will itself impose cuts under the draconian Article 126.9 of the Lisbon Treaty in what would amount to economic suzerainty.
While the symbolic move to suspend Greece of its voting rights at one meeting makes no practical difference, it marks a constitutional watershed and represents"

Your read of the day...sorry for the gloom...

A Greek crisis is coming to America
It began in Athens. It is spreading to Lisbon and Madrid. But it would be a grave mistake to assume that the sovereign debt crisis that is unfolding will remain confined to the weaker eurozone economies. For this is more than just a Mediterranean problem with a farmyard acronym. It is a fiscal crisis of the western world. Its ramifications are far more profound than most investors currently appreciate.
Yea, read it all

Sound familiar?

Labour's 'secret plan' to lure migrants
"The Government has always denied that social engineering played a part in its migration policy.

However, the paper, which was written in 2000 at a time when immigration began to increase dramatically, said controls were contrary to its policy objectives and could lead to “social exclusion”.

Last night, the Conservatives demanded an independent inquiry into the issue. It was alleged that the document showed that Labour had overseen a deliberate open-door ­policy on immigration to boost multi-culturalism.

Voting trends indicate that migrants and their descendants are much more likely to vote Labour."
Read it...pass it along

but wait...there's more

The State Sovereignty Act HB 2810 Needs Your Support!
The State Sovereignty Act, HB 2810, which calls for federal taxes to be held in escrow by the state of Oklahoma before being paid to the federal government is being held up in a subcommittee and can now use your calls and emails to move it along. There are only a few days left before this bill will die for the session.
Please call/email these critical decision makers and ask them to put HB2810 authored by Rep. Charles Key on the agenda for the General Government & Transportation Subcommittee
If you live in one of these gentlemen’s district, your input is especially important.
• Rep Liebman is HD 82 (Oklahoma City and Warr Acres in OK County)
• Ken Miller is HD 81 OK County and Edmond, OKC area
• Speaker Benge is HD 68 Jenks TULSA, Sand Springs or Sapulpa as well as CREEK or Tulsa Counties
Representative Guy Liebmann Chairman of the General Government & Transportation Subcommittee
(405) 557-7357
guyliebmann@okhouse.gov
Representative Ken Miller Chairman of the Appropriations & Budget Committee
(405) 557-7360
kenmiller@okhouse.gov
Chris Benge Speaker of the House
(405) 557-7340
chrisbenge@okhouse.gov
Explanation of Bill:
Right now we pay our federal taxes directly to the IRS and the federal government takes it and hold it over our heads to get the states to do the federal government’s bidding.
HB2810 is designed to reverse that role.
If HB2810 passes then we will all send our federal taxes to the state government who will in turn pay them to the federal government for all of us.
If the federal government should do something that the state of Oklahoma believes is not in accordance with the constitution, (there is a procedure for doing this) then the state can delay or even withhold the funds.
It gives the state government some clout by which it can protect the sphere of authority that is rightfully ours in which to govern.

I think another storm is coming...or maybe we're in the eye of the current storm...

Greek Ouzo crisis escalates into global margin call as confidence ebbs

Flow data shows an abrupt withdrawal of German and Asian capital from Club Med debt markets. The EU's refusal to offer Greece anything beyond stern words and a one-month deadline for harsher austerity – while admirable in one sense – is to misjudge how fast confidence is ebbing. Greece's drama has already metastasised into a wider systemic crisis. The world risks a replay of the Lehman collapse if this runs unchecked, this time involving sovereign dominoes.

Read the article

from Barcepundit

SPANISH BANKS currently have some astronomical €325 billion ($456 billion) in non-performing loans by real-estate companies (link in Spanish). That's about a third of Spain's GDP, and the companies are alerting they're not going to be able to repay that.