Archive for the Bankruptcy Category

Covid-19 PanICdemic/Plague:  The State Of The States:  Bailout Or Bankruptcy? (July 20, 2020)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Bankruptcy, Pensions on July 20, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “There was a time when folks went into government not to get rich but to do right.”

J          “They may have told themselves that they entered to do good but they ended up doing well.  At the well.”

. . .

K          “Well, their pensions are not well.”

J          “The well is drying up.”

. . .

J          “States cannot deficit spend.  They cannot print money.”

J          “States cannot keep taxing the public or they will lose their public.”

. . .

K          “The supreme court justices of each state who have reviewed the issue regarding pensions have totally and dishonestly disregarded the clear conflict of interest and demanded that payment of their pension is the highest priority obligation of the citizens and the state government.”

J          “I would like some courageous governor very publicly to send the bills to the supreme court justices and tell the public that the court is not paying the obligations it proclaims need to be paid.”

. . .

K          “The criminal enterprise known as the federal government has bailed out anyone affiliated with powerful lobbyists including hedge funds that were engaged in premeditated and systematic criminal activity.”

J          “So are pensions no less corrupt than and thus possibly as deserving as the handouts to the hedge funds?”

. . .

J          “The current generation has no moral or ethical obligation to pay the debts of the past generation when all of the benefits went to the past generation.”

K          “My thought is to pass legislation to allow for a state to file bankruptcy so the framework is there to trim the benefits to align with the benefits of other ordinary citizens.  Looking at the fees generated in the Detroit bankruptcy as a gauge, the fees for just one state filing bankruptcy likely will be three to four billion dollars.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Government Bureaucracy 101 (September 26, 2016)”, “Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 1 (April 14, 2008)”, “Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 2 (April 28, 2008)”, other e-commentary under the Category on “Pensions”, and “‘Titters’ v. ‘Self-Unemployed’ (September 1, 2014)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Beat the rush, be the first to file

Beat the rush, be the first to flush

For folks not working for the government, your retirement party is now known as your funeral.

For folks who are “Self-Unemployed,” your last day on the job is also your last day on the planet.

“Perspectives on Race, Class, Gender, Titters and The Self-Unemployed 101” at 9 a.m. M W F at Mr. and Ms. R. Baron Hall taught by Adjunct Professor of Race, Class, Gender, Titters and The Self-Unemployed H. Sebastian . . . .

Covid-19 PanICdemic/Plague:  Taking Stock (June 22, 2020)

Posted in Bankruptcy, Blue States / Red States, Book Reference, Covid / Coronavirus, Freedom / Liberty, Law, Medicine, Privacy, Public Health, Wall Street, War and Wall Street Party on June 22, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Taking stock of the stock market is the stock in trade of the Federal Reserve.  The only certainty throughout this Plague is the Federal Reserve doing everything possible to protect and serve Wall Street.”

J          “Those on every street in and out of uniform who are obliged to protect and serve have protected and served the interests of Wall Street not Main Street.”

. . .

K          “It has been a tough few weeks to be a statue.”

J          “Some had to be moved.  But in their uncontrolled and unfocused rage, they may topple a statue of Lincoln without knowing who he was or what he did, albeit with alloyed motives.”

. . .

K          “This is also a tough time to be a state in the Union.  The federal government can print money at will in unlimited amounts forever until the rest of the world unseats the United States as the purveyor of the world’s reserve currency.  The towns, cities, counties, boroughs, water authorities and other political subdivisions can always file bankruptcy.  But the states are stuck because they cannot print money and cannot deficit spend and cannot file bankruptcy.”

J          “And cannot pay their bills.  The federal government has an out, the other governments have an out and the state governments are left out.  It will soon manifest and not be pretty.” 

. . .

J          “My initial fear was that it appeared to be some variety of the Hantavirus which is far more virulent and infectious than Covid-19.”

K          “My continuing fear is that it is becoming more virulent and infectious.”

. . .

K          “I do not know what to make of “Event 201” in October 2019 with the powerful players playing war games and discussing the outbreak of a Coronavirus at the very same time that the Coronavirus was breaking out.”

J          “The exercise let everyone know that they had more than a clue that the Plague was coming, but they were absolutely clueless about what to do about it as it came.”

. . .

K          “The proper use of masks was obvious.  I joined the cover up immediately and was the first Occidental in my Costco to wear a mask way back in early February.”

J          “Make masks great again.  We have always known that fact despite what those in power said and misled.  However, based on recent findings, the concern with spreading by contact with paper, door handles and the like is still a concern but a less urgent one.”

. . .

J          “Faux libertarians say their right to swing their fists only ends an inch from my nose.  However, their swing is still a battery against me and my nose.  And their refusal to wear a mask and cover their nose and mouth hits me right in my nose and mouth.”

K          “They say it is the hit to the kisser that can be the kiss of death.”

. . .

K          “We are in the halcyon days of the Plague.  When do we enter the next stage?”

J          “That is what I fear.  That is what I don’t know.  I’ll simply go on record as prognosticating ‘Winter’ at this time.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “On Freedom and Liberty (May 24, 2010)” and “Who Is Your Big Bad Bogeyman? (March 26, 2007)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Make masks great again

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered.  And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute.  History has stopped.  Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”  George Orwell, 1984  Orwell’s “Party” = War and Wall Street Party?

Title III –> Chapter 17:  Bankrupt States . . . Going Bankrupt (May 1, 2017)

Posted in Bankruptcy, Blue States / Red States, Canada, Cartoon Reference, Climate, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Kleptocracy, Pensions, Supreme Court on May 1, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Who thought the bricks would crumble.  The fifty brick house may not survive politically and will not endure economically.”

J          “The state of the states is dismal and abysmal.  When municipalities fold or water districts dry up, some interior curtain walls are dismantled and the curtains and furniture are sold.  Yet they are all just political subdivisions of the state, not a state itself.  Until recently, interior curtain walls were relieved whereas now the exterior load bearing walls are under stress.”

K          “Pick a metric.  If you input a realistic rate of return in calculating the solvency of state pension funds, most of them are not only under water, they are drowned with no chance of resuscitation or c.p.r.”

. . .

K          “Puerto Rico is the canary in the coal mine, the guinea pig and the alpha testing ground.  Congress concocted Title III’ as part of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) that imports many of the notions of bankruptcy law to address the island’s insolvency.”

J          “Up north, the HealthCare of Ontario Pension Fund directed funds it may not have to bail out the Toronto-based Home Capital Group for investments it never should have made.”

K          “That seems to be some type of capitalistic synergistic entropy.”

. . .

K          “On this Law Day, we should consider drafting and crafting a ‘Chapter 17’ provision to allow a state to file bankruptcy and write the next chapter in the Bankruptcy Code and American polity.  A PROMESA on steroids for the states.”

J          “The legislation may attract bipartisan support because half of the seriously distressed states are ‘red’ states and half of the seriously depressed states are ‘blue’ states.”

K          “Alaska, Kentucky, South Carolina and Louisiana counterbalance Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York among the states that are going.  Going states need some way to go.”

. . .

K          “State supreme court justices use their position and power to advance their economic interests and protect their pensions.  In the court across the street, federal bankruptcy court judges will be forced to distribute a smaller sum of money in a more equitable and efficient manner to all citizens.”

J          “This Republic had such great promise.”

. . . 

[See the discussion of the Peoples Climate March for climate, jobs and justice in “Climate March Draws Thousands of Protesters Alarmed by Trump’s Environmental Agenda” in “The New York Times” by Nicholas Fandos dated April 29, 2017, “Climate March draws massive crowd to D.C. in sweltering heat” by Chris Mooney, Joe Heim and Brady Dennis in “The Washington Post” dated April 29, 2017 and yesterday’s Doonesbury cartoon.]

[See the e-commentary at “Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 1 (April 14, 2008)”, “Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 2 (April 28, 2008)”, “Outsourcing Pensions? (Sept. 7, 2009)”, “Pensions, Conflicts Of Interest And The Illinois Supreme Court (June 1, 2015)”, “May Day (May 1, 2006)” and other e-commentary under the Category on “Pensions.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Chapter 17 – Coming to a state near you

The United States dominates the world not because it is a “City Upon a Hill” but because it shoots, and shoots regularly, from the top on the hill.

They Can Print Money (November 2, 2015)

Posted in Bail In, Bailout/Bribe, Bankruptcy, Banks and Banking System, FDIC, Federal Reserve, Kleptocracy, TARP, Wall Street on November 2, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

Q          “The FDIC can simply print money.”

B          “Maybe.  However, the response to the Big Jolt may be . . . nuanced?  By the government?  Let me explain.  Or at least confuse the issue.”

. . .

Q          “By any metric – economically, morally, psychologically, ethically, metaphysically, generationally – TARP was a grand fraud perpetrated on the American people.  And the central message is crystal clear – everyone in power knows that there are no limits or restraints of any kind to government criminality at the top.  They can simply print money.”

B          “Maybe.  During what I call the Financial Crime of 2008, the government could have nationalized the banks, but those in power allowed the banks to nationalize the government, in particular the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department.  The Fed and Treasury now have carte blanc to do anything that serves the interests of their Owners on Wall Street and with the Big Banks.  However, the FDIC may not have that absolute freedom and immunity from liability and accountability.  The bureaucrats in the bureaucracy at the FDIC bureaucracy may behave like bureaucrats.  Some risk-averse bureaucrat may seize up and say that she or he will not make the decision to commit the agency to exceed its authority because he or she may not have enough stroke to obtain immunity.”

Q          “The most risk-averse course of action still is to print money or create electrons.”

B          “Maybe.  The Owners have agreed that ‘bail ins’ are the answer to their self-created problem.  At some point, however, even J. Q. Public may say ‘bastante’ and swing by the bank and demand his or her deposits.” 

Q          “They will hand out a plastic card in lieu of physical cash.  Print money or produce plastic.  There is no difference.”

. . .

B          “Maybe.  Except that the fundamental problem today is not liquidity, it is solvency.  The system is insolvent.  Printing more money is akin to distributing cigarette butts.  The bucks, like butts, soon will not be cherished.”

Q          “At that point, we may be bartering cigarettes.”

B          “Maybe.  If they are available.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at (M)End The Fed (July 11, 2011).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank; give a man a bank and he can rob the world

Venturing A Few Unfounded And Unwarranted Predictions (July 13, 2015)

Posted in "L" Shaped Economy, Bankruptcy, Banks and Banking System, Collapse, Depression, Elections, Foreign Policy, Gold, Gold Standard, Kleptocracy, Money, Pensions, Quantitative Easing, Recession, SDR - Special Drawing Rights, Security State, Silver, Silver Standard, Supernova Dollar, Zero Interest Rate Policy on July 13, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

3          “Pensions will be even more problematic.”

4          “When the stock markets reset catastrophically, pensions will need to be reset correspondingly.”

3          “We will need to muster the collective intellect and imagination to craft a provision allowing states to file bankruptcy.”

. . .

3          “Interest rates cannot be allowed to rise and will not be allowed to rise beyond a nominal .25 percent.  Any greater rise would result in devastating financial and economic consequences.  Some nominal rise will be imposed to proclaim that interest rates can indeed rise above zero without negative consequence.  Those citizens who planned to fund a retirement with interest-bearing instruments have been sacrificed and will continue to be sacrificed without even a vote or even a debate on the policy.”

4          “Sacrifices have to be made.  Few folks are concerned or even aware that the Federal Reserve rather than the market sets interest rates.  The way I see it the Petrodollar will continue to rise as other currencies decline and those with the wherewithal seek the safety of the Petrodollar.  At this time.  The Petrodollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency and fundamentally weak foreign economies are a double magnet for money.  When the world establishes its own world currency such as a system of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) and circumvents the Petrodollar, the Petrodollar will explode and decline precipitously in value.  As I describe it, the ‘Supernova Dollar.’  The last American export – the Petrodollar and resulting inflation – will not be imported by the world.”

3          “Along those lines, the physical dollar will disappear from circulation in the United States before it disappears from the world stage.  The U.S. government and large corporations are slowly discouraging and will ultimately outlaw the use of dollars as ‘legal tender’ and as a medium of exchange.  Possession of gold and silver bullion by private citizens also will be outlawed.  The government will outsource to large corporations the issuance and control of the Universal Electronic Benefit Transfer (UEBT) cards to its subjects.  Current credit and debit cards will be re-purposed seamlessly.  The IRS will send a statement each year or even each month dictating one’s tax obligation and deducting the amount owed directly from one’s government controlled account.  As a consequence, everyone’s inclinations, transactions, and movements will be monitored and manipulated as necessary.”

4          “On the other hand, possession of gold and silver in any form by foreign citizens and governments will be the law and settled practice.  The West has readily abandoned gold and silver to an East that has eagerly absorbed the precious metals at rates that have been manipulated down by the West.  And gold and silver will be a component of the Special Drawing Rights.”

3          “The West will no longer be able to use paper and electronic transactions to manipulate the prices of physical gold and silver.”

4          “If the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) system and the Petrodollar are circumvented, the West will be less able to use paper and electronic transactions to manipulate prices.”

. . .

3          “The nations in the oil-producing regions will not fight over the oil they have but over the water they do not have with far less involvement of and intervention by the United States.”

4          “Nation-States will also disappear as thriving and functioning communities and be replaced by Corporation-States that dictate policy.  The United States Congress took the lead and sold out to become the ‘Citigroup-Congress’ recently.  More than just naming rights are involved.  Current nations are just entities that can be manipulated and maneuvered to go to war with each other when necessary.”

3          “Along those lines, shares in United States Senators will be sold more openly akin to shares in corporations.  The news will announce that shares in ‘Senator Larry Jenkins, Inc.’ are up 3.1 percent today on news that he will sell his vote for the Big Project.  The John Roberts Supreme Court has endorsed the two-step business plan.  If you pay a politician directly for a vote, you are in trouble; if you pay an intermediary that pays a politician for a vote, you are blessed.”

4          “Notions of freely-established supply and demand for goods, services and commodities will yield to quotas per subject each month.  Without functioning markets and with regular and systematic market manipulation and intervention, notions of inflation and deflation will be antiquated.  World population will continue to grow and resources will continue to be more precious which under the old paradigm would fuel inflation.  However, people will simply do without.”

3          “Along those lines, capitalism is a system that socializes the costs of activities and privatizes the profits.  The end stage is the emergence of a very small cabal who control all resources and allow the subjects access to just enough resources to subsist in a police state that throttles any debate or dissent.”

4           “The treatment of Cyprus and Greece are intermediate stages in the process.”

3          “The future is not unpredictable.”

. . .

[See the efforts to eliminate cash at http://betterthancash.org/.%5D

[See the e-commentary at Monitoring The Masses: The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

If you do predict a definite event, do not pick a definite date.  If you do pick a definite date, do not predict a definite event.  Unless you want to.

In the past, if you could predict the future accurately, you could make a fortune.  In the present, you can predict the future astutely, but you cannot do much to protect your fortune or your future.  Even if you want to.

“The best way to predict your future is to help create it.”  Attributed to Abraham Lincoln

There are few warning signs on the off ramp down the road to serfdom.

What about global climate change?

Prepping: Public And Private Perspectives (April 27, 2015)

Posted in Bail In, Bailout/Bribe, Bankruptcy, Banks and Banking System, Collapse, Debt/Deficits, Depression, Economics, Global Climate Change, Guns, Population, Recession on April 27, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C          “A system that cannot go on forever will not go on forever.  The System in its current incarnation cannot go on forever.  Thus, the debate shifts fundamentally from ‘if’ to ‘when.’  The syllogism suggests that fundamental change is in store.  Do we have the stores?”

D          “‘When’ not ‘if’ and also ‘what.’  Plan B is by definition less desirable than Plan A or presumably it would be Plan A.  The most desirable plan is failing.  What is Plan B?”

C          “The other systemic challenge is weather.  That problem like the financial machinations is also substantially man-made and man-modified.  Mother Nature allocates every region a specially-tailored natural catastrophe.  Florida and the Southeast get hurricanes, the Midwest gets tornadoes, the West Coast gets earthquakes, other regions get typhoons and cyclones.  And Mother Nature is shifting the script so that some areas get floods and some get drought.  The jet streams and the gulf streams are working in tandem to change things on the ground.”

D          “Leaves you wondering what is Plan B?”

. . .

C          “The script never varies.  The public Emergency Preparedness offices provide detailed lists of necessary supplies and valuable advice yet always unfailingly avoid even hinting that a gun, even one for hunting squirrels or pigeons, is a wise and prudent investment.  Some of them are reluctant even to mention acquiring a knife other than a pocket knife or perhaps a scalpel.”

D          “And the private sector prepper sites go to the other extreme and focus the entire discussion around guns and ammo and ammo and guns and guns and ammo.  The alpha, the bravo, the charlie and the delta of preparation for the Great Omega.”

C          “Get a gun.  We have a moral duty to protect our family and friends.  And get an LED flashlight.  And extra batteries.”

D          “And beans and bullets.  My personal Plan B combines public and private sector suggestions.”

. . .

C          “Going it alone is a failure from the start, yet desperately few humans have the intellectual and emotional software to engage others cooperatively.  Finding others who have resources, skills and tools is not promising.”

D          “At heart, the most prudent preparation is to restrain the dragons in our soul to free our mind.”

. . .

[And this past weekend, earthquakes in Nepal.]

[National PrepareAthon! Day on April 30 is a grassroots campaign for action to increase community preparedness and resilience.]

[See the e-commentary at Beans and Bullets (April 6, 2009), We Ain’t Ants; We Are Grasshoppers (April 9, 2012), On Community (June 3, 2013) and On Roiling And Rolling Collapse (March 9, 2015).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Get a garden rake, get a gun, get a grip

“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself; if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.” Attributed by some to Lao Tzu, but who knows.

“Romney – O’Bama Care” In Practice (February 9, 2015)

Posted in Bankruptcy, Congress, Federal Courts, Health Care, O'Bama, Romney, Supreme Court on February 9, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

T1          “One of the biggest misrepresentations of our generation is the statement by President O’Bama that a person could keep his or her insurance policy.  That ‘executive summary’ of the legislation by the Chief Executive led me to believe that the legislation was at least neutral if not benign.”

T2          “The legislation moved so fast that only a few on the inside knew what would transpire.”

T1          “The Federal Courts uniformly reject the doctrine that there is estoppel against the President or any federal official.  One of the great things about being on the inside of the Federal Government, for Republicans and Democrats alike, is that lies are not actionable and are blessed by the Federal Courts.”

T2          “No one cares.  And everyone on the inside gets a regular paycheck and a gilded pension.  And free health care.”

. . .

T1          “It was X dollars last year and then 2X dollars in December and then 3X dollars in January.  February brings a new number and a new nightmare.”

T2          “Before passage, a citizen filed bankruptcy after receiving health care.  After passage, a citizen files bankruptcy before receiving health care.”

. . .

T1          “Boehner does not have to navigate the mine field of ‘Romney – O’Bama Care.’  Pelosi does not have to navigate the mine field of ‘Romney – O’Bama Care.’  McConnell does not have to navigate the mine field of ‘Romney – O’Bama Care.’  Reid does not have to navigate the mine field of ‘Romney – O’Bama Care.’  They are all covered at no cost.”

T2          “No one cares about health care for the people.”

T1          “The Republicans are wasting tremendous money with all the repeated and futile votes to repeal ‘Romney – O’Bama Care’ without providing any alternative legislation.  The Supreme Court is not the forum because bad policy is not necessarily unconstitutional, it is just bad policy.”

T2          “The doctors and nurses have the most insightful perspective and provided the answer years ago.  A single payer system would work for them and their patients.”

T1          “The Republic cannot afford a single payer system and cannot afford not to have a single payer system.  The current schemes are so grindingly inefficient and unfair and only enrich insurance companies.”

T2          “No one cares.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at The “Contract with America”; The Congressional Reform Act of 2010 (March 29, 2010).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Stay healthy then die quickly

“Bail Ins” Are Globalized; “Bail Outs” Are Bailed Back In; No Bail For Bankers (December 29, 2014)

Posted in Bail In, Bailout/Bribe, Bankruptcy, Banks and Banking System, Congress, Dodd-Frank, National Defense Authorization Act / FY 2012, Volker on December 29, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Dodd-Frank (July, 2010) said ‘no’ to more ‘bail outs’ by the public for the ‘too-big-to-fail-and-too-big-to-jail’ Banks and then the Federal Reserve (December, 2012) said ‘yes’ to ‘bail ins’ by the depositors and then the G20 Nations (November, 2014) said ‘heck yes’ to ‘bail ins’ by the depositors and then Citicorp-Congress (December, 2014) said ‘hell yes’ to more ‘bail outs’ by the public for derivatives and other junk.  So many Christmas gifts, so little time.”

K          “Back to a ‘bail out’ of the Wall Street Bankers including all the junk bonds . . . that fuel the American shale oil boom.  That did not take long to cover them for their exposure in the Great Gas War.  The people, the pensioners and the depositors will suffer existential losses when the derivatives collapse.”  

J          “Citicorp-Congress also delayed implementation of the ‘Volker Rule’ that would provide for increased capital ratios and mark-to-market valuations.  Citicorp-Congress gave the ‘one-two punch’ to the public.”

K          “K.O.’d for Christmas.  All I got for Christmas is my two front teeth.  Knocked out.  By Congress.”

. . .

J          “The plaque proclaims that your deposit is insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC.  Everyone is fooled, yet no one is protected by the plaque in a serious financial plague.  When the Big Banks and their partners in crime on Wall Street fail, the FDIC will not be able to provide insurance for the depositors who are now on the hook.  Line and sinker.  Now on the line, the bottom line is that the depositors must ‘bail in’ the Big Banks and the public must ’bail out’ Wall Street.”

. . .    

[See the e-commentary at Bailouts: Out; Bail Ins: In; Slowly Boilin’ The Frog (April 15, 2013) and Globalizing The Bail In (July 8, 2013).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

We should be doing something to make the bankers worry about getting bailed out.

18 T Debt; 18 K Dow

Plus 4 T “Federal Reserve Debt” = 22 T “Federal Debt”

Plus 9 G (Gazillion) in Derivatives = some trouble

The Capitol Building on Jenkins Hill is now renamed the “Citicorp Dome”

And then take a look at the National Defense Authorization Acts of 2012 and 2014. 

Financial History:

1998:            Banks/Wall Street bail out Long Term Capital Management

2008:           Federal Reserve bails out Banks/Wall Street

201_:            International Monetary Fund bails out Federal Reserve; Taxpayers bail out Banks/Wall Street

201_:            God bails out the International Monetary Fund; No one bails out Taxpayers

201_:            God files Chapter 11 Reorganization; Taxpayers file Chapter 7 Liquidation

So, help us God, so help us God.

Bailouts: Out; Bail Ins: In; Slowly Boilin’ The Frog (April 15, 2013)

Posted in Bankruptcy, Banks and Banking System, Bernanke, Kleptocracy, Law on April 15, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

CD1      “Makes you wonder what we get for today’s tax payment.  The Dodd-Frank legislation states that we the taxpayers will not bail out banks and other connected businesses again for failed derivatives and the like.  So the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve (Fed) admit they cannot do their jobs and force the individual depositor to bail out the banks and other connected businesses.”

CD2      “At least now they claim that they will not take our tax dollars directly but will take our money indirectly.  Banks in America still exist to provide taxpayers with regular opportunities to bail them out.  And to pay huge and undeserved bonuses.  And on occasion to finance an upstart organic neighborhood grocery stand.”

CD1      “While individual states serve as laboratories for social and economic experiments, other countries provide insight into responses to social and economic problems.  The response in Cyprus to the banking crisis that afflicts every country today is revealing.  Instead of the taxpayers bailing out the bank, the banksters took deposits from individual depositors to cover shortfalls.  A ‘bail in’ rather than a ‘bailout’ is the way they brand it.”

CD2      “That has been the official policy in the United States and England since December 10, 2012.  The FDIC may promise to insure deposits up to $250,000, but that promise may be repudiated or supplanted or modified by the FDIC’s new formal and promulgated confiscatory policy.  They title their marching orders ‘Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions.’  The Federal Reserve joined in the task and in effect issued a joint press release stating:  ‘Your Deposits Are No Longer Insured.  Get Your Money Out Of Banks Now.’  Taxpayers cannot say that the government did not properly warn them.”

CD1      “The only event that really threatens the banking system is a literal run on the banks.  News broadcasts will have a field day interviewing those in line if they stay in line and the outraged ‘man on the street’ demanding his deposit.  However, by privately stealing funds from the public, there is no single public event to steel public attention and ire.”

CD2      “Failing banks were always taken over by a receiver and the small depositors recompensed by the FDIC.  However, if a bank fails today, the derivatives that doomed and continue to doom the economy are afforded super-priority status.  Ordinary depositors are booted to the back of the line.”

CD1      “Or the ordinary depositor is kicked completely out of the creditor’s queue and given worthless stock in the failed bank.  Four months have passed without an uncompensated failure.  A fortnight will pass and perhaps another four years without incident, but this banking fraud cannot go on forever.” 

. . .

CD1      “The insurance on up to $250,000 in deposits ostensibly provided by the FDIC has exacerbated the ‘moral hazard’ by disconnecting the individual investor from the process.  Individuals do not even make a cursory inquiry into the viability of a financial institution.”

CD2      “Should the depositor be obligated to do so or should the banking system be regulated and monitored by the government.  The answer is that the banks are inadequately regulated and monitored by the government, so by default it is ‘depositor beware.’”

CD1      “If depositors were rational as rationality is defined by economists and in the face of near zero transactions costs, they would transfer their funds to a credit union.  The National Credit Union Association (NCUA) has not joined the ‘bail in’ scheme publicly at this time.”

CD2     “A depositor who is rational as defined by economists realizes that interest rates are near zero and thus the benefit of leaving money in a bank is near zero unless the money is safe.  The potential costs are far more than zero and thus the depositor should transfer the money to a safe location such as a safe located in the basement.”      

. . .

CD1      “They say that if a frog in a pot of water is brought to a slow boil, it will not know or respond to what is happening, but if the frog is thrown in a pot of boiling water, it will jump out.”

CD2      “MF Global is forgotten.  They are slowly turning up the heat without response.”

CD1      “At least the frog reacts.  I’m tired of ‘bailing out’ and now ‘bailing in’ banks and am bailing on banks.”

. . .

[Peruse the government scheme titled “Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions” at http://www.fdic.gov/about/srac/2012/gsifi.pdf and the similar policy in New Zealand at http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/finstab/banking/4430900.html.]

[Reflect on the discussion in http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/national-planning-cyprus-style-solution-greens/5/150410, http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/ and http://webofdebt.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/winner-takes-all-the-super-priority-status-of-derivatives/.]

[See the “e-ssays” titled Money “In The Bank” Or “Under The Mattress” (October 8, 2012) and Boycott Big Banks – Vote Your Dollars (November 21, 2011).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

I am not so much concerned with the return ON my money as I am with the return OF my money.  Attributed to a number of wits.

“An efficient path for returning the sound operations of the G-SIFI [Globally Active, Systemically Important Financial Institution] to the private sector would be provided by exchanging or converting a sufficient amount of the unsecured debt from the original creditors of the failed company [meaning the individual depositors who were previously assured their deposits are insured] into equity [meaning worthless stock].  In the U.S., the new equity would become capital in one or more newly formed operating entities.”  Page 3 at Paragraph 13 of the publication “Resolving Globally Active, Systemically Important, Financial Institutions.”

Your Deposits Are No Longer Insured.  Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Get Your Money Out Of Banks Now.  Federal Reserve

The most condign resolution is to attach the salaries and retirement payments to the employees and retirees of the Fed, the FDIC, the SEC, the OCC, the CFTC, the DoJ, the BoE, the BoA, AIG, GS, S&C, C&B and others to fund any bank shortfalls.  And Congress, the President and the Supreme Court.  Problem resolved. 

“Open Bank Resolution”  “Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name.”

If banksters were branded terrorists, would there be prosecutions?

42

December 24 (December 24, 2012)

Posted in Bankruptcy, Banks and Banking System, Bernanke, Consumerism, Federal Reserve, Pogo Plight, Spending, Taxation on December 24, 2012 by e-commentary.org

. . .

TV        “You need a new car, you really smell bad and need to do something about it, you really, really need to sport an expensive watch and you really, really, really need to acquire expensive jewelry for the woman in your life or you are a total loser.”

. . .

LTR

Dear Billy,

I would like a regular 9 to 5 gig, a change of threads, a new straight razor and a short vacation.

Your friend,

Santa

P.S. – I’ve been nice.

P.P.S. – I don’t need a new ride, any cologne or a chronometer.  Ms. C. does not need any jewelry.  She says ‘hello.’  

. . .

[See the FBI documents that reveal secret nationwide monitoring of the Occupy Wall Street effort at http://www.justiceonline.org/commentary/fbi-files-ows.html.]

[See the research paper by the Congressional Research Service titled “Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top Tax Rates Since 1945” at http://graphics8.nytimes.com/news/business/0915taxesandeconomy.pdf.]

[See the “e-ssays” titled “Consume, Don’t Invest? (Nov. 9, 2009)” and Boxing Day (December 26, 2011).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Can I pay my Visa bill with my MasterCard?

Today is the 99 year anniversary of the creation of the Federal Reserve – a semi-quasi-proto-government-like being – not understood by 99.999999999 % of Americans.  To his (and our) credit, Bernanke is sharing the assumptions and strategy more transparently and considering the unemployment level because Congress directed the Federal Reserve to consider the unemployment level in its decision making.  To his (and our) detriment, he is subsidizing Wall Street with vast amounts of free money and saddling ‘Main Street’ with debt and creating unhealthy conditions for the economy in the intermediate term.