Janet Yellen Sees The Problem Too.

Janet Yellen came to the same conclusion I came to.

The Rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. See you thought I just make this stuff up.

The Fed Chairman agrees with me. How nice. Now is the Fed going to do anything to fix the problem? Of course not….don’t be silly. But acknowledging it is always a nice first step.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday expressed deep concern over widening economic inequality in the country

Yellen said steady growth in inequality over the past several decades represents the most sustained rise since the 19th century. Living standards for most Americans have been “stagnant,” while those at the very top have enjoyed significant wealth and income gains

“I think it is appropriate to ask whether this trend is compatible with values rooted in our nation’s history, among them the high value Americans have traditionally placed on equality of opportunity,

Yellen listed four factors that can influence economic opportunity: investing in education for young children, making college more affordable, encouraging entrepreneurship and building inheritance.

(She forgot the part about not sending all your jobs to Communist Red China and India. I am sure she meant to say that though.)

the Fed has been frequently criticized for exacerbating the country’s yawning disparity in wealth as its easy-money policies helped Wall Street rebound quickly from the financial crisis.

(That is true….It is Janets fault the rich have all the money. She hopes you don’t notice her role in that though. Just look away.)

Yellen did not address in her prepared text whether the Fed has contributed to inequality. (The Fed has contributed) Nor did she weigh in on whether it may actually be slowing down economic growth, (Of course it is slowing down economic growth….If all the money is in the hands of a couple of hundred people, and they are not putting that money back into the economy, then how is the economy supposed to grow?) an idea that is gaining traction among economists but which remains controversial.

former Fed governor Kevin Warsh called the central bank’s actions a form of “reverse Robin Hood” (Take it from the poor and hand it to the rich….That is pretty much what has been happening.)

Yellen pointed to Fed data showing that the bottom half of homeowners by wealth lost 61 percent of the equity in their homes between 2007 and 2013. The top 5 percent lost 20 percent.

During testimony on Capitol Hill in February, she called the problem “one of the most disturbing trends facing the nation

Inequality has risen to the point that it seems to me worthwhile for the U.S. to seriously consider taking the risk of making our economy more rewarding for more of the people,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/17/yellen-depth-and-breadth-of-u-s-inequality-greatly-concern-me/

Walmart Already projecting another Year of Failure......

Walmart already warning that unemployed Americans will not be buying their made in Communist Red China merchandise this year either. 

They didn’t buy it last year.  They didn’t buy it the year before last year.  They won’t be buying it next year either. 

You (Walmart) can save all the money in the world by laying off American workers, and moving productions to communist Red China. But at the end of the day you (Walmart) will be the big loser. 

When the doors get locked, and the cash drawers are counted, what they always see is the money that was projected (hoped) would be there, is not there. 

In the past the bad news came out in January.  This year we are not even at Halloween and Walmart is already putting up the white flag of surrender.  They already see (what I see) that is unemployed Americans will not be buying their made in Red China merchandise. 

Nice try…But you fail.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/business/walmart-lowers-its-sales-outlook-as-holiday-forecasts-darken.html?_r=0

Ebola...20 years to get prepared...But did they?

As our country struggles to deal with the threat of Ebola I am reminded of this 48 hours program I watched in 1994.  It is all about how the United States is not prepared for a viral outbreak and it highlights Ebola. 

That was 20 years ago. 

It seems in the 20 years since this show aired not a lot has changed.  It seems the country is still not prepared.

Lets hope in the coming weeks the country does what it failed to do in the last two decades and gets better prepared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjTSYW3nVwA

Wal-Mart Dumping Their Healthcare expense onto the Taxpayer......

Wal-Mart just announced their 30,000 part time employees would be losing their health insurance.

As I stated before, the entire point of Obama Care is to end employer provided healthcare. Obama Care provides the framework for that to happen. As we see, it is happening.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/07/news/economy/walmart-health-benefits/

In 2009 Wal-Mart supported President Obamas plan for Obama Care. Many employers were against the idea, but Wal-Mart was a big cheerleader. Wonder why…..

At the time Wal-Mart bragged about how companies should be forced to provide healthcare. Wal-Mart worked hard to portray themselves as the good guy…..looking out for the workers.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB124640564559176649

To Wal-Mart’s glee Obama Care did pass.

In 2013 it became noticeable that Wal-Mart was only hiring part time workers. If you wanted a full time job, don’t apply at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart was only hiring part time….Huh, I wonder why……

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/13/us-walmart-hires-temps-idUSBRE95C05820130613

This week it became obvious why, as all their part time employees were told they were on their own.

The good news is because Wal-Mart pays so poorly, and because their workers are all part time…… they would be eligible for Obama Care subsidies. So instead of Wal-Mart paying for their employees healthcare, now taxpayers can pick up the tab.

Corporations love when taxpayers pick up the tab. It is the best! Wal-Mart couldn’t be happier. Their plan (to dump their expenses on the taxpayer) took a few years but was finally realized.

Once again the worker (and the taxpayer) get screwed.

AIG Lawsuit....Pure Balls

AIG’s Former CEO Hank Greenberg is suing the US Government for $40,000,000,000.00. 

He is suing because the US Governments bailout of his company caused the stock price to go down. 

Hank Greenberg was the largest share holder in AIG.  So Hank lost the most money.  Hank is very upset about this.  He wants you to pay for it.

The stock did not go down because the government bailed out the company.  The stock went down because Hanks leadership was so incredibly poor.  The company was driven into the ground while Hank was behind the wheel.

If the government didn’t bail out AIG, what would their stock price be?  The government didn’t bail out Lehman Brothers…Have you bought any of their stock recently?  Is anyone suing the government? 

The government didn’t bail out Bear Sterns….Any idea what their stock price looks like today?

So the government spends $185,000,000,000.00 bailing out AIG.  The bailout is agreed to (and signed off on) by Hank Greenberg. 

AIG proceeds to take hundreds of millions (of that money) to pay corporate bonuses.  Then because the stock price went down (due to their sh*tty management) now they want the tax payer to cover the cost of the lost stock value too. 

Pure balls……

Hank also thinks it is unfair that the government demanded an interest rate no lower then 12%.  Somehow to hank this is outrageous.  Millions of Americans hold credit cards with interest rates between 15-35%.  Nobody is suing because of that outrage. 

That is how people are treated all the time by big corporations.  But when it happens to a corporation…Oh man then there is a lot of sulking.

The judge should crumple up the lawsuit and throw it in Hank Greenbergs face.  He should then slam his gavel on the bench and yell “GET OUT”!

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/06/news/companies/aig-geithner-bernanke-paulson/

Skyrocketing Cancer Drugs.....

Pharmaceutical companies gouging patients with skyrocketing prescription drug costs.

George W Bush was Mr. conservative. Conservatives HATE government spending. Conservatives HATE entitlement programs.

Yet in 2006 George W Bush passed Medicare Part D. One of the biggest entitlement programs in a generation. This program provides old people with pharmaceuticals, paid for by the tax payer.

Now why would Bush do that? Well because the Pharmaceutical industry pays billions to the politicians.

Pharmaceutical companies want to sell expensive drugs. Old people need expensive drugs. Unfortunately old people don’t have money. But the government always has money.

So Big Pharma gives the old people the drugs. The government gives the pharmaceutical companies the cash. Everyone is happy.

Written into Medicare Part D is the inability for the government to put price controls, or negotiate on price. The price is whatever the industry says it is, and that is it.

The politicians passed the law (as they were instructed) and now we have skyrocketing prices.

The same drugs can be found (outside of the United States) for 50 to 80% lower Prices. Other countries have price controls.

The American pharmaceutical scam works best with Cancer Drugs. You have cancer..... so you can either pay the outrageous price, or you can Die. Good luck with your decision.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-cost-of-cancer-drugs/

Rich Giving Less, Middle Class Giving More........

Sure rich people have more money than at any time in the history of planet Earth. So what? That doesn’t mean any of it is going to charity. F-** that! Money only has value if you keep it for yourself. Let the less fortunate figure it out on their own. Not your problem.

Yes it is true that Ronald Reagan told you it would all trickle down. Unfortunately Reagan lied to you. It never trickles.

Meanwhile the struggling middle class is giving more money to charity anyway. Sure the jobs are all going away, and the money is all drying up….. but who cares. There is always enough to help the less fortunate.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/rich-americans-donating-analysis-article-1.1964337

Unbelievable Unemployment Numbers Just In Time......

The other day the jobs report came out and it was unbelievably positive.  The keyword being unbelievable. 

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/03/news/economy/september-jobs-report-unemployment-below-6-percent/

The August jobs report was dreadful, but magically one month later it is all peaches and cream. 

That works out great because in another 30 days there is a huge mid term election.  A positive jobs report will make everyone want to run and reelect the Republicans and Democrats doing such a fantastic job.

If you remember two years ago (almost to the day) there was another huge election.  The Sept 2012 jobs report came out and was also unbelievably spectacular. 

The August 2012 report was dreadful too, but again (right before the election) everything became rosey. 

In 2012 Jack Welsh (former rock star CEO of GE) said the Obama unemployment numbers must be fixed. 

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/10/meet-the-unemployment-rate-truthers.html

If anyone knows what real unemployement looks like it is Jack Welsh.  He pretty much invented Unemployment.  His nick name at GE was Neutron Jack.  Like the Neutron Bomb, Jack made all the employees disappear, but the buildings all remained.  At GE Jack laid off over 100,000 people.  It didn’t even make him blink.  He never met a worker he didn’t want to terminate.  Wall Street cheered every time he did it.  He was revered.  Jack knew the only thing that matter (in business) was the stock going up.  The easiest way to accomplish that is layoffs.

Anyway, when Jack said the numbers were fixed people made fun of poor jack.  But in November 2012 (after the election) it was announced the numbers were indeed manipulated, and the government investigated.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/issa-demands-answers-after-report-of-fudged-unemployment-data/

So are the numbers in 2014 fake too?  You can decide for yourself.

JP Morgan loses 76 million customer records......

Here we go again. 

December 2013 Target announces losing 40 million customer accounts due to their crappy outsourced IT.

Sept 2014 Home Depot announces losing 60 million customer accounts due to their crappy outsourced IT.

October 2014 JP Morgan announcing losing 75 million customer accounts due to their crappy outsourced IT.

Notice a trend?

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/jpmorgan-discovers-further-cyber-security-issues/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Here JP Morgan is announcing they are sending more IT work to India.  Home Depot did the same thing.  Target did the same thing.  They all ended up with the exact same results.

Notice a trend?

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2009/gb2009039_431274.htm

You thought JP Morgan was only incompetent when it came to the financial crisis.  You didn’t even know their incompetence extended right into their IT dept too. 

Yup JP Morgan might be too big to fail…. but they are not too big to be completely incompetent.

All these companies love to pretend how secure they all are.  But the reality is they have no idea how to secure their networks.  Neither do their outsourced workers in India.  Hackers were in the JP Morgan network for a month before anyone had any idea something was a miss.  That is not good.

When Target screwed up who really cared…I mean middle class people shop there.  But JP Morgan has the fat cats.  The big tycoons.  The fat cats are not going to take kindly to JP Morgan saving a buck (by going to India) resulting in all their clients financial data being compromised.  I bet there will be a lot of yelling.

US Defending Democracy By Doing Nothing

We are always told the United States defends Democracy around the world. Historically that has been true.

When then the Soviet Union threatened Western Europe the United States was there. We are still there.
When communism threatened the Korean peninsula, the United States was there. We are still there.
When communism threatened Vietnam, the United States was there. We lost that one though. Can’t win them all.
When Communism threated Cuba the United States took action.

Today Communism is threatening Hong Kong, and the United States is nowhere to be found. Obama doesn’t say a word about it.

I am not saying the United States should drop 70K troops into Hong Kong. But President Obama could stand in front of the Presidential podium (With the American Flag behind him) and pledge his support for the protestors. Words the President Of The United States speak carry a lot of weight. But of course Obama is not going to do any such thing.

The thought of Chinese tanks mowing down innocent (peaceful) Democracy protestors is a scary one. But not as scary (for Obama) as Wal-Mart stores having empty shelves 3 months before Christmas. Oh shudder that thought.

If the Chinese ships stop showing up (at the port of San Diego) full of merchandise, that is the most horrific thought there is. Blood can be washed off the streets. That is not even a problem. But a dismal 4th quarter…I hyperventilate just thinking about it.

So the Hong Kong protestors will remain on their own. Obama will remain facing the other way whistling. China will bide their time before ending the nonsense…...Democracy please…. And CEO’s across American will pray Communist Red China continues filling those cargo ships full or crap.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/hong-kong-protests/hong-kong-cops-warn-pro-democracy-protesters-serious-consequences-n216471

The NFL Gets 12 Billion More......

After Ray Rice knocked out his girlfriend, and Adrian Peterson whipped his kid with a stick, people wondered why Roger Goodell still has a job.

Here are 12 Billion reasons why Roger Goodell still has a job.

1 TV deal = 12 Billion Dollars. The NFL has lots of TV deals. Roger Goodell oversaw all of them.

As long as the money continues to roll in, Roger Goodells job security will be bullet proof.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24733096/nfl-directv-sign-new-deal-reportedly-worth-12-billion-over-8-years

The Billionaires want all the beaches too.......

Not only do the Billionaires want ALL the money for themselves. They also want all the beaches too.

If average people want to go to the beach they are free to fill their bath tubs and pretend.

The coastline is for the rich people.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/california-governor-signs-law-force-billionaire-restore-beach-access-n216181