Oil Shipping Rail Regulations......

Thursday April 24 – The NY Times reports on the slow pace the US is taking to regulate safer oil transport on the rail.  Canada got it done but the US is dragging it’s feet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/business/trailing-canada-us-starts-a-push-for-safer-oil-shipping.html

Wed April 30^th – Rail car carrying oil derails and explodes in Virginia.  Everybody questions where are the regulations???????  They obviously didn’t read the NY Times.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-0501-train-derail-20140501,0,5379538.story#axzz30QYb4mJY

Capital Punishment....Sometimes it hurt. OK with me.

"Somebody died because of the state's incompetency," Dieter says

Um……It was an execution. The man dying was the point.

And yes, yes I agree he shouldn’t be tortured in the process……. but I also have a hard time finding sympathy for a guy who……

“was convicted of shooting 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman and watching two accomplices bury her alive in 1999.”

That doesn’t sound like a guy who should be playing the victim card. He was laying on the execution table for a reason.

They should fix the process and continue right on. Anybody who bury’s another human being alive gets what they get.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/usanow/2014/04/29/oklahoma-executions-drugs-lethal-injection/8476389/

GM cost Taxpayers 11.2 Billion....Thanks now off to China.

US Taxpayers lost 11.2 Billion on the GM bailout……..Not 10.3 Billion they originally told us.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/us-government-says-it-lost-112-billion-on-gm-bailout/article18337200/?cmpid=rss1

Hey what is a billion dollars? Don’t even worry about it. Nobody is paying the slightest bit of attention anyway.

The important thing is GM is now healthy and able to move more production to Communist Red China.

http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/6664

So what if US Taxpayers lose out. So what if US workers lose out. So what if US consumers lose out (when GM cars turn off and crash)…That is all A OK.

As long as the executives and Wall Street are doing well....that is what is truly important. 

Verizon watching you night and day and then selling you out........

The NSA and Obama are not the only ones tracking your every move. Verizon is watching you night and day as well. Not just what you are doing on your cell phone either.

“Verizon will monitor not just your wireless activities but also what you do on your wired or Wi-Fi-connected laptop or desktop computer — even if your computer doesn't have a Verizon connection.”

“The company will then share that additional data with marketers.”

"Verizon makes it seem like they are doing us a great favor," she told me. But what the company is really doing, she said, is collecting data on her whole family's computer usage and sharing it with its business partners.

Even worse, Verizon is enrolling customers in the "enhanced" program by automatically downloading software into their computers, which customers may not even know is happening.

If Verizon Wireless customers want to keep their computers off-limits to the company's marketing affiliates, they'd have to go to the trouble of opting out.

This is one of the more outrageous examples of how businesses loudly proclaim their commitment to safeguarding consumers' privacy while quietly selling us out to the highest bidder.

"The holy grail for profiling people is to follow them from one device to another," said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego. "We're going to see more and more of this."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20140425%2c0%2c5339459%2cfull.column#axzz2zvTyP4Ug

The details of how Verizon can pretend to protect your privacy while at the same time sell you out…….

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/9/4187654/how-carriers-sell-your-location-and-get-away-with-it

Energy Consumer Bill Of Rights to fix Deregulation......

Connecticut wants to pass a consumer “bill of rights” to protect consumers who have gotten robbed blind by deregulated power companies.

We were told deregulation was being done to benefit the consumer.

That is what we are ALWAYS told.

Everyone’s number 1 priority (all the time) is the consumer. Companies want to protect the consumer. The government wants to protect the consumer. It is very touching.

But a funny thing happens every time a market is deregulated (to protect the consumer)……….. that is the consumer gets screwed. Royally and completely screwed. Not just once or twice……. but EVERY TIME.

We were told if the regulations were throw in the garbage that would enable free market forces to take hold. The result (through competition) would be lower prices and more choice. That sounded spectacular…..Yes lets do that.

When all the laws were in the garbage the consumer would stand atop the mountain (arms raised) in victory. Yay consumer......

Yet in Connecticut consumers (who went to these new power suppliers) their bills doubled. Sometimes their bills tripled. Astonishing I know….. Who would have thought.

After the pillaging NOBODY was held accountable…….. because no laws were broken. No laws were broken because all the laws are over there in the garbage can.

So now the big scramble is on to try and help all the infuriated consumers / voters. So we will get a bill or rights.

Oh good. That should fix everything.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/25286756/new-protection-created-for-electric-supplier-customers

Connecticut is not alone in this mess. This has been going on a very long time.

Here Bill Clinton is in 1998 telling California how amazing power deregulation is going to be. You are all going to big winners once this law passes…..yes you are….. Get ready…

http://articles.latimes.com/1998/mar/26/business/fi-32797

Here we are in 2000 with all of California being royally screwed by deregulated power companies (Enron). Bill Clinton was nowhere to be found while the rolling blackouts happened. Funny how that works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis

Mrs Obama handed resume by little girl.......

A little girl hands Michelle Obama her dads resume because her dad has been out of work for 3 years and can’t find a job. 

Mrs. Obama was “taken aback” by the little girl. 

Mrs. Obama is obviously not aware what is going on in her country. 

How could she be aware really?  When she gets into her private limo.  Then gets into her private helicopter.  Then gets into her private 747….. Sometimes it can be hard to really understand how the real world is.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/04/24/obama-barack-michelle-take-our-daughters-and-sons-to-work-day/8097275/

The ironic part is as Mrs. Obama was accepting this little girls resume, her husband was in Asia doing everything he can to pass the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)….or NAFTA on Steroids as it has been called. 

That plan will send many, (many, many) more US jobs straight out of the country.  That will decrease the chance fathers (like the little girl getting a hug from Michelle) will ever be able to find work again. 

Democrats pretend to hate the trade deal (big election coming up…..get your Democratic game face on).  Labor groups hate the deal.  Environmental groups hate the deal.  Yet Obama (who got support from all of those groups, but never has to run again) can’t get it passed fast enough. 

The sooner it is passed….. the sooner more US jobs can be killed off…… the happier US corporations will be. 

Nobody hates US jobs more then US corporations, and nobody wants to please US corporations more then President Obama.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/obama-trans-pacific-partnership-asia-105955.html

So I hope the little girl enjoyed the hug from Michelle.  That is about the only support she will get from the Obama family.  Good luck with that job search.

Forced Arbitration.....

“It just became nearly impossible to get a deal on a General Mills product without forfeiting your rights to sue the company.”

“This policy, known as "forced arbitration," is becoming common among companies seeking ways to prevent users and customers from joining together and suing for millions of dollars for things like false advertising.”

“General Mills recently paid $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over Yoplait Yoplus yogurt. In late 2012, it settled another suit over the word “strawberry” on label for Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups (a product which does not contain actual strawberries).

A California judge recently refused to dismiss a case suing the Nature Valley brand over the word “natural," since its products contain some processed ingredients.”

“It’s essentially trying to protect the company from all accountability, even when it lies, or say, an employee deliberately adds broken glass to a product.”

(These corporations don’t want to be accountable to ANYONE. Not their employees. Not to their customers. Certainly not to the Government. They want to be able to do whatever they want, whenever they want, and have nobody be able to question anything.

Here you can save $1.50 on Lucky Charms….. but if your kids gets sick (because we cut corners) it is not our responsibility. Thank you for your loyalty to General Mills. Now f*** off.)

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/04/general-mills-facebook-sue/360826/

Sometimes company’s like Monsanto can get the government to protect them by law. They can then do whatever they want and the results are YOUR problem….

Of course if the government won’t cooperate with this ploy then please use our coupon.

Meanwhile CVS and Target are having you sign away all your Hipaa rights simply by picking up your prescription. You sign their little electronic box (without reading it of course) and now CVS can talk about you (and your medical issues) with whoever they like. Isn’t that great?

The government is fine with this they just want them to be a LITTLE less shady about the practice.

http://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2014/04/23/senate-passes-pharmacy-rewards-program-privacy-bill-a-493511.html

Unemployed not playing golf.......

Golf wants to make the hole bigger because the PGA is freaking out (in the last 10 years) people are fleeing the game in record numbers. 

The problem with golf is NOT the hole size. The hole size has been the same size for over 100 years. The problem with golf is the dead US economy.

Young people don’t play golf because it is expensive. Young people have no jobs. No jobs = No golf. They also have no hope of getting jobs, and mountains of college debt.

Golf clubs cost a lot of money. Playing golf costs a lot of money.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/19/sports/golf/in-a-hole-golf-considers-digging-a-wider-one.html?_r=0#

The PGA can make the hole 40 feet across and the problem will not go away.

If the PGA is really concerned they have only one option. They need to yell at their corporate sponsors “STOP GETTING RID OF ALL THE US JOBS YOU FRICKEN MORONS”…… that (and ONLY that) will fix the problem.

Anything short of corporate America no longer systematically dismantling the American Middle class, will not solve the problem.

That problem is getting dramatically worse by the day.

Don’t take my word for it either. Just read the news.

The middle class is being bludgeoned to death, and you don’t have to look far to see it.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/22/opinion/hickey-affordable-housing/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101602523

Welfare for NBA Billionaire owner......

Herb Simon Net worth $2.2 BILLION DOLLARS. 

He owns 242 MILLION square feet of Real Estate across America, Europe and Asia. He is also owner of the NBA Indiana Pacers. 

But the taxpayers of Indiana are supposed to believe that he can’t afford to operate his NBA team without Government Welfare.

The Government is all too happy to hand it over to him too.

$164 MILLION Dollars in tax payer provided welfare coming right up.

Welfare for poor people……. Hell no. Welfare for Billionaires……. Absolutely. It is imperative.

Rich people will tell you all about how they make their own way in this world…… but when you squint you quickly see that is hogwash.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10783137/indianapolis-approves-10-year-indiana-pacers-deal

http://www.forbes.com/profile/herbert-simon/

Pulitzer for Snowdens good work.......

A Pulitzer thanks to Edward Snowden. He might have to hide out but others get to enjoy the fruits of his hard work.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2014-pulitzer-prizes-honor-nsa-revelations/

Chronic Sickness In Unemployment......

While the total number of people employed increased by a seemingly impressive half a million, a whopping 83% of those job gains came from temporary workers.

The US labor market is sick. More than five years after the failure of Lehman Brothers, the number of full time employed workers in the US is still 4 million less than in December of 2007.
Economists are rattled by a US labor market that is unable to absorb all the people entering the labor force.

(Rattled Economists should give me a call. I can explain it to them. There are no jobs because every product in every store says “Made in China” Any questions? We will have a quiz tomorrow)
this means that millions of people who joined the national work force were never able to find a job.

(Exactly right. The jobs are gone. They are in China, They are in India. They are in The Phillipeans. They are in Mexico. The companies might be American. They might be flying the American flag in front of their corporate headquarters but the workers are ANYTHING but.)

What makes this so troubling is that young entrants to the labor force who fail to find a job will be less productive for almost their entire working lives. (Yes plus they have mountains of student loan debt. Large mountains.)

In the first few years after people enter the labor force, they enjoy the steepest learning curve. So the average worker who starts his or her career in their mid-twenties has the most to learn and learns the quickest. By the time this worker reaches their early to mid-thirties, the learning curve levels off as they reach their peak earnings and productivity years.

However, if labor market entrants struggle for years to find their first job they are set-back several years in terms of on-the-job skills. So during what should be the worker’s peak earning years either salary or productivity or both fall short due to lack of experience.

This is why rising youth unemployment, those 18-29, is such an eye opener. (blame Corporate America. The same corporate America who says they cannot find qualified people and must have foreign workers. They are responsible for all of this.)

the declining labor force rate has created an additional 1.95 million young adults that are not even counted anymore as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The current unemployment rate for youngsters aged 18-29 is 16%.
Global corporations are increasingly agnostic to the citizenship and location of their workers and will direct jobs and investment capital to the location with the highest potential return. If Toyota or Microsoft Microsoft find more productive employees in Shanghai and Munchen than in Dallas and Seattle, they will act accordingly. (NOT more productive….Just cheaper)

US corporations just don’t trust this economic recovery. (Really….I wonder why? If they want to know who to blame they should look in the mirror.)
S&P just reported that corporations are hoarding unprecedented levels of cash, but crucial capex is 25% below historical normal levels. Capex is capital expenditures, job creating corporate investment.

From 2011-13: US Corporate Cash Cash Pile Rose to $3 Trillion (Unprecedented levels of cash for corporations bellyaching they can’t hire anyone because they don’t have any money. Please give us tax breaks because we are so poor…..wink, wink)

if US corporations had used a normal, historical use of cash, a stunning $900 billion would have been positioned in job creating investment. (That is OK because Obama spent 800 Billion in stimulus trying to cover up all the money corporate America wasn’t spending. He is such a team player)

In 2007 the participation rate for workers below 20 years of age was 41% but has now dropped below 33%. The unemployment rate in this group is currently 22% vs. around 16% in late 2007. (The Mcdonalds jobs that used to be done by high school kids are now being done by adult workers who have been laid off by corporation. That leaves no jobs for the high school kids. It all trickles down just like Reagan told us. At least the bad stuff does.)

among the more than 10 million people that are unemployed, close to 65% are unemployed for more than 2 weeks. Before the “great recession” only around 30% of the unemployed were out of a job for more than 2 weeks. In those days, a lot of workers decided to resign from their current job to find a better one elsewhere; a sign of a healthy labor market. Today, the majority of unemployed are long-term unemployed.

The end result of the ailments of the US labor market is that fewer workers are financing a growing army of people that are relying on government support in one form or another. The government is taking an increasing portion of the paychecks of this shrinking workforce to finance all these support programs.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymcdonald/2014/04/04/the-chronic-sickness-of-the-us-labor-market/

Caterpillar Hiding Profits......

Caterpillar hiding profits in Switzerland to avoid paying US taxes. They don’t feel it is their responsibility to pay into the US tax system. They are a “Global” company.

Yet (in 2009) there Caterpillar was (front and center) to receive their share of Obamas $787 Billion dollar stimulus. They were happy to tell everyone all about how Red White and Blue they were back then.

Yes when the free money is being piled on the table they are happy to pledge allegiance. God Bless America……..

But when it comes to paying their fair share suddenly they not interested. It is like being covered by auto insurance but never paying any premiums. Good deal if you can get it.

Unfortunately if you try and get it they will put you in jail.

In 2009, as the Caterpillar executives were salivating at the thought of free taxpayer money, they were also simultaneously laying off thousands of US Workers. Neat how that works.

To recap –

Laying off US workers (which hurts the US economy) causing a need for stimulus in the first place……Yes absolutely.

Taking free taxpayer money (to help fix the broken US economy….which they helped break)……..Yes absolutely. A Big corporate salute on that premise.

But Paying US taxes, to help contribute to the system that directly benefits them……Yeah sorry, not really going to happen. Thanks for asking though.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/03/31/caterpillar-senate-offshore-tax-strategy/7114837/


From 2009 - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/politics/13obama.html?_r=0

Best Government Money Can Buy.....

The best government money can buy. 

That is if you have the money. If you do then you are in great shape. You should be doing cart wheels in the street. 

If you are NOT rich though, there is no delicate way to say this…..but you are completely phucked. I mean really, really, really phucked. 

You want your government to represent you (that is a nice thought) but unfortunately the rich people (and the corporations) want the government to represent them too.

The problem is their interests are not the same as your interests. So who is going to get their way? It is not a trick question. The answer is NOT you.

So the court reaffirmed money is speech….So does that mean I can hand chief justice Roberts money? I mean I am free to stand on the steps of the Supreme court and yell and scream my opinion. I am free to hold up a sign. So why can’t I hand him $20,000.00?

If money is speech then the rich people have a lot more free speech then the poor people. That is not new, as it is why our country has been in a ditch for 14 years. That ditch is going to get A LOT deeper now. Those results will be paid for by the poor people. Just the way the founding fathers envisioned it.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/02/high-court-voids-overall-contribution-limits/

GM Negligence......

“Todays GM will do the right thing”. 

Yesterdays GM…..Not so much. 

These companies always like to make it seem like before they were completely inept and corrupt but now everything is all fixed.  Trust them.

Ms. Barra is not even the person who should have been testifying in front of congress.  They should have dragged the CEO from 2001 in wearing hand cuffs.

In 2001 GM had a choice.  Spend .90 per vehicle to fix a problem they knew existed.  Or save the .90 and risk people being killed.   They saved the .90 and 13 people died as a result.  The engines shut down.  The power steering locked.  The air bags shut off.  GM cars went careening out of control.

That is criminal negligence, and GM executives should be going to jail.

In the end the .90 savings didn’t even matter as GM still plunged into bankruptcy.  Tax payers still were called on to provide bailout money.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/04/01/gm-barra-recall-congress/7151849/