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For the love of all that is holy, please stop depositing so much cash in the banks. They've already got the Holy Grail. They certainly don't need yours!

Some of us would like to actually earn more than 0.49% on 5-year CDs again. So stop already!


2.47% total return in 5 years? I say bury that cash instead! What's the worst that could happen?

The Worst that Could Happen


Do *not* weasel your investment! Bury it deep! Cash makes a horrible mulch!

This is gardening advice and as such should not be confused with investment advice.

See Also:
Hyperinflation Theories Poned Again

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

"Declaration" by John Trumbull depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

As Americans watch and witness the evolution of our democratic republic as it locks itself into partisan ideological positions that may result in the shutdown of our government and have far reaching global economic implications I found some solace, and hope, in the following article. I have reproduced it here (in full) in the hopes that authentic modern day Patriots will rally around our defining principles and "do the right thing."

By James Roger Sharp - This year marks the 237th anniversary of our revolution and independence. And while we celebrate this milestone, it should not be lost sight of that the American Revolution is universally viewed as one of the most extraordinary and significant events in modern history. A major catalyst for revolutions throughout the globe, it made the United States the very symbol of human freedom.

As Americans seemed to be moving inexorably toward independence in 1776, they shared a strong sense that they were seeking something that had far greater significance than simply gaining independence from England. Rather, they saw themselves as inventing a new kind of society based upon the sovereignty of the people and their natural rights to freedom--a society that would be the envy and goal of all peoples on earth.

In a bold and electrifying document, the Declaration of Independence, our Founders proclaimed to the world that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Clearly, the Revolution did not accomplish all of these lofty aspirations immediately. Millions of Africans remained in slavery until the Civil War, and women and minorities are still fighting to become fully equal partners with men. But, as incomplete as the Revolution was in the fulfillment of its remarkable idealism, it was the impetus for a process of change that is still working itself out within our society to fulfill those noble objectives.

Abraham Lincoln later eloquently summed up the meaning of the Declaration when he said that the Founders had not intended to declare "all men equal in all respects." But rather had meant to "set up a standard maxim for free society, which should be... constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere."

But how successful are we in the twenty-first century in measuring up to the expectations of our Founders? Are we "constantly" laboring for and "spreading and deepening" the values and beliefs of the Declaration?

In a number of categories, we seem to be falling short.

For example, wealth is more unequally divided today than in the age of our Founders. At the time of the American Revolution, the wealthiest 10 percent owned approximately 45 percent of the wealth. In this century the top 10 percent own roughly 66 to 70 percent of it. Furthermore, it is estimated that the United States now has a greater gap between rich and poor than any other western democracy.

This disparity undoubtedly would have alarmed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Louis D. Brandeis (1916-1939). He is reported to have said that "We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."

In addition, our political system often appears to be a closed, isolated and stultified one run by politicians more concerned with being reelected than carrying out their governing responsibilities.

Despite the historic low approval rating of Congress, incumbents have become nearly unbeatable. With their name recognition and money from lobbyists and other special interests acting as formidable deterrents to challengers, incumbents were reelected to their seats in Congress 94.1 percent of the time in the 22 years from 1988 to 2010.

Furthermore, state legislatures redraw congressional district boundaries every 10 years to take into account new census data and carve up states in such a way as to almost guarantee a solid majority in those districts for one party or another.

This gerrymandering aggravates the undemocratic non-competitiveness of Congress. In the 2012 election, for example, Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives won a national plurality of 1.4 million votes. Despite this, the Republicans--because of the congressional redistricting after the 2010 Census--retained their 234 to 201 majority in the House. Only one other time since World War II has one party won a plurality of the vote, without gaining the majority in the House of Representatives.

The 4th of July, then, is perhaps the best time for each of us to take stock of our commitment to our Founders' vision of a society dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.

It is obvious that we have made enormous progress as a nation since the American Revolution. We are still the beacon of hope for oppressed peoples throughout the world. But, there cannot be a relaxed resting on our laurels attitude, but rather the safeguarding of our democracy requires a jealous and vigilant guarding of our democratic principles and a constant striving to bring our society in harmony with the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, which was and continues to be the emblematic credo that defines us as a nation.

The following words of Louis Brandeis are making a lot of sense in our current climate of believing the reciting Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham" on the floor of the United States Senate should be considered representative on 21st century American beliefs.

'We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both.'

Good night and good luck America. We're certainly going to need it.

Via: Memeorandum

September 26, 2013
China investment opportunities today: Jim Rogers


Based on what I've heckled about China on this blog in the past, I'd definitely be throwing my hands up if I moved to China to learn Chinese. I'd be surrendering to the totalitarian authorities. No doubt about it. Sigh.

So yeah, if forced to choose, I'd prefer to go to Denmark to learn Danish' or something.

I consider myself very fortunate to have been born in America. This freedom allows me to publicly state that I believe Jim Rogers is a total doofus. This is not his first quote of the day. He's always full of inspiring "sarchasmic" witticisms!

This post inspired by "The High Price of Digging Up Dirt in China" as seen at Credit Bubble Stocks.

Although the report comes originally from Maariv, an Israeli paper notorious for being far left and their reports have been far from the truth, I submit this to you, my truth seeker, so you can make an honest assessment.

Some Israeli government analysts believe Iran already has at least one nuclear bomb, an Israeli journalist wrote in an article published Friday.

Shalom Yerushalmi, writing in the national daily Maariv, said that “government security sources up to date on development in Iran,” told him recently that Tehran has crossed all points of no return and already has its first nuclear weapon, and maybe more.

The report marks the first time a government official has been quoted saying Iran already has a nuclear weapon. No sources in the piece were named.

The information, if true, would mark a major shift in international relations and would be a game changer in terms of a regional power balance.

“It’s too late for Israel [to prevent an Iranian bomb]. Iran has crossed all the borders and all the constraints, and it has a first nuclear bomb in its possession, and maybe more than that,” Yerushalmi writes, basing himself on what he says is the assessment he heard this week from state security sources. ”We are facing a historic change in the strategic balance of forces in the region.”

He then quotes a source who he says is deeply familiar with what he calls the relentless war against the Iranians. “This is no longer about how to prevent a bomb,” the source is quoted saying, “but about how to prevent its being launched, and what to do if and when.”

Yerushalmi, still basing himself on the anonymous security sources’ assessment, goes on to compare the current behavior of Iran’s Supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and new President Hasan Rouhani, in their interactions with the West, to a soccer coach at the end of a hard-fought match which he knows he has now won. The Iranian leadership is behaving with the air of “those who have achieved their target, and therefore can today afford to be more generous and to offer new (self-serving) messages.” The Iranian leadership can afford to be friendlier, he writes, “because victory has been secured.”

Maariv led its Friday paper with a photograph of a smiling Rouhani, alongside the headline, “What’s hiding behind the smile,” and a sub-headline quoting the security sources saying Iran now has “at least one bomb.” It then adds that most in the security establishment, however, still believe that this “nightmare scenario has not yet been realized.”

While most Western countries believe Iran’s nuclear program is intended for military purposes, officials in Israel, the US and elsewhere say Tehran has yet to “break out” toward a bomb, a process that could take over a year.

Iran, which on Thursday agreed to renewed talks with world powers on curbing its nuclear program, says its program is for peaceful purposes.

On Friday, Iranian and UN officials met to discuss whether to resume inspections meant to determine whether Tehran worked on atomic arms, in a test of pledges by Iran’s new president to reduce nuclear tensions.

Iranian envoy Reza Najafi said in Vienna that it would be unrealistic to expect that “in just one day of meeting we can solve our problems.”

Herman Nackaerts of the International Atomic Energy Agency said only that he hoped the meeting could “intensify the dialogue.”

The UN agency wants access to a site it suspects was used to test conventional explosive triggers meant to set off a nuclear blast.

A report released last month by the IAEA said that while Iran was testing new centrifuges, which could help it eventually create a nuclear weapon, its uranium stockpile was still below the amount needed for a bomb.

“It is unlikely, at this point, that Iran could dash toward further enrichment to weapons-grade without the IAEA detecting Tehran’s activities,” Reuters quoted the Arms Control Association, a Washington-based advocacy and research group.

Israel sees an Iranian nuclear weapon as an existential threat, and Jerusalem has campaigned vigorously around the world for heavy sanctions to be placed on Iran, with a threat of military action should those fail to stop the nuclear program.

Next week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to deliver a speech at the United Nations during which he is expected to press for maintaining pressure on Iran despite a recent easing of tensions between Tehran and the West. In comments Tuesday, Netanyahu urged the world not to be “fooled” by Iran’s newly moderate rhetoric, which he said was a “smokescreen” to obscure its continued drive toward nuclear weapons.

“Israel would welcome a genuine diplomatic solution that truly dismantles Iran’s capacity to develop nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said. “But we will not be fooled by half-measures that merely provide a smokescreen for Iran’s continual pursuit of nuclear weapons. And the world should not be fooled either.”

SOURCE

If true this would explain why Iranian President Hasan Rouhani is talking about the UN stopping the sanctions.  After all they have already gotten nuclear weapons and sanctions did not stop them.  But President Barack Hussein Obama's appeasement not only is helping Iran, he is pleased with the progress they achieved.  Along with forcing Israel into the Auschwitz Borders, Obama is well underway to appease his Muslim masters and destroy the West in the process.  For after all  Obama has been in communications with Iran, capitulating to their demands, and accepting the fact that Iran not only has a nuclear weapon, but will attack Israel with the weapon while the world stands by as they finish the job Hitler started.

Immigration judge gave Guerrero six months to find an alternative to stay in the U.S.

The following chart shows the inverse of the 10-year treasury yield. Why the inverse? At 0%, one could borrow an infinite amount of money and still pay the interest payments in full (without even breaking a sweat). When seen this way, 0% isn't a floor. It's infinity!


Click to enlarge.

Note that there has been a trend change. As seen in the difference between the red and blue exponential trend channels, the inverse is growing even faster than it once was. What does this mean? Rising interest rate environment my @$$! That's what. Just an opinion of course. Your opinion can and probably does vary.

But before you disagree, consider this. Our modern financially innovative over-leveraged society *requires* an exponentially increasing amount of leverage, lest it seize up (again). If not, please provide evidence to the contrary. I'm all ears. Further, an economy seizing up tends to be disinflationary (compared to what it was before it began to seize).

If I am right, then we better start learning Japanese economics, because that's where we are headed apparently. Welcome to the era of perma-ZIRP. And when I say perma-ZIRP, I do not mean over the next 10,000 years. It could easily be a LOT longer than most people think though. For savers looking for a relatively safe return, I expect the beatings to continue until morale improves. It's one reason I have not been scared about locking in long-term interest rates whenever the opportunity presented itself.



This is not investment advice. It's just the opinion of a perma-bear. That said, who honestly believes that the hangover is passing? We're not just drinking a hair of the dog that bit us. We're attempting to drink the whole frickin' dog again. Good luck on that one long-term!

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart

American Exceptionalism Diluted by Illegal Immigration
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**************

Throughout history governments had lied to their constituents.  It is an indisputable fact of life. We Americans have been lied to, by our government, mercilessly, since our founding.  No matter where in the world you are reading this, rest assured your government has lied to you and may, even now, be lying to you… even as you peruse this article.

Today, in America, the Big Lie the government is peddling to Americans (I mean OTHER THAN OBAMACARE!) is two fold.  The first part of the lie is:  we can’t get rid of the 12 million, or so, illegal immigrants in this country.  The second part of the Big Lie is the current immigration reform bill proposed by the Congress is NOT an AMNESTY BILL.

I mean, come on folks, don’t tell me we can’t get rid of 12 million illegal aliens in this country!    Because we can! 

Prosecute the employers who have them on their payrolls.  Put an employer in jail for hiring them!  I mean mandatory jail time, not just a fine or a slap on the wrist. 

Repeal the “Anchor Baby” law.  (Any baby born in the US is automatically an American Citizen.)  It’s being used as a loophole to bring the families of those babies across the border and onto all the welfare programs offered to American citizens.  It’s draining the American taxpayer. As a matter of fact, if there were absolutely NO government benefits for illegals in this country the flow of illegals north, across the US/Mexico border, would be cut, overnight, by at least 2/3rds!

Plus, stop sending them back to Mexico only to have them return at the earliest opportunity.  Put them in jail.  I mean, put them to work on the roads, as we do chain gangs in the Southern United States.  I don’t mean for a few months, I mean for a decade or more.  

Put a bounty on all illegal immigrants within the borders of the US.  Allow private citizens to detain them and turn them in at police stations, anywhere, and collect the bounty on the spot.  Why, my own county would have the area football stadia filled by the end of the weekend!  I expect I could take a couple of dozen into custody within a mile, or two, of my own home!  Here in NC, Tar Heels would relish an opportunity to do something constructive for their state and their country… such as rounding up these criminals.  Already, some Tar Heel store owners are publicly wearing side arms to protect themselves and their businesses, as a result of high concentrations of Illegal aliens in their neighborhoods.

We have vast areas of uninhabited desert in the southwest of this country.  Why not locate “internment camps” in those deserts, away from civilization, and intern those breaking into our country… indefinitely!

But, you say, there are 12 MILLION of them!  Well, if that figure overwhelms you, consider that when the bill before Congress is signed into law, that 12 million will be able to bring over about 4 more, per head, and you are looking at a figure closer to 50 MILLION than 12 Million!  How does that grab you, huh? 

Dear reader we are looking down the barrel of the largest transfer of wealth in the history of America! 

… And build a damn WALL (not a flimsy fence) along the US/Mexico Border replete with machine gun emplacements, land mines, and electrified barbed wire, and anything else that will stop that illegal flow into our country!  I am way past tired of being preyed upon by our neighbors to the South!  If we can patrol the borders of Middle Eastern nations, then we can damn well patrol the borders of our own country!

While I am at it, I am sick and tired of being told by the liberals to be compassionate!  Look, I’m on compassion overload! It tends to anger me when I offer a helping hand to someone only to have him, or her, lift my wallet!  So, don’t try to put a guilt trip on me about being compassionate to my fellowman!  I’m way past that!

If you are as fed up with this Bovine Scatology the politicians in Washington are trying to sell us then let them know.  And keep telling them until they understand that if they pass this legislation they will be out of a job!

Look, we all know what is behind this.  The two major political parties in this country see amnesty for the 12 million illegals, and their relatives, as 50 million new voters for the Democrats and 50 million cheap labor hands for the GOP! It’s as simply as that!  Frankly, they’re not considering what is good, or bad, for the country… they are seeing the advantage for them, and their political party, and nothing more! 

Never in my lifetime have I seen a national legislature of the US as totally disconnected from the citizens of this country as the current crop in DC.  From the White House, to the Congress, to the Supreme Court, they have managed to isolate themselves into some sort of cocoon in which they insulate themselves from contact with the Great Unwashed… you and I!  What we have… is a government out of control!  And that is totally unacceptable in America.

The latest iteration of the "AMNESTY Bill" must be stopped!  Otherwise, America, as we know it and have known it, will be no more!  This is one invasion America cannot survive. 

© J. D. Longstreet

Angelica D. Belen

Great praise! The weekend is finally upon us! I know everyone says they need a weekend to recharge, but I really need it. I have what you could call a lot of good problems - lots of work (wahoo and thank God), two big secret projects I can't share yet but they are mongo time suckers, and a new school who "encourages" a lot of participation from their Kindergarten parents. Oy people!

So because of all of that, I apologize for being patchy as of late. I might be that way for a few more weeks but hang in there with me, I promise it will be worth it.

And although all of that is true, it isn't the most exciting fess up. So I'll share another with you...


Bruce Willis was my first legit crush. And because of that crush, I was compelled to create this...work of art.

I ripped this page out of the TV Guide, (I couldn't be bothered to take the time to cut the page out - a sign of DIY sloppiness to come) and covered that horrible Cybil Shepard's face with my own. It appears that there was no tape in the house, as I made due with band-aids. (again, a sign of my future DIY prowess) And, I obviously pinned this on numerous bulletin boards by the pin marks in my nose and eye. This is me, 100%. As my husband says, "I love how shoddy your workmanship is."

A bulletin board was not its first spot though as I vividly remember taking Elmer's glue (again, I couldn't find tape) to GLUE this to my bedroom wall. Yes, you read that correctly.

So there you go. How is that for a confession? I heart Bruce Willis - circa 1986. He was a funny smart ass - what's not to love?!

It should be noted that I did move on to more legit crushes (for the time) - like a Johnny Depp, circa 21 Jump Street, life size poster and so on. I know, I do have good taste in men.

Now your turn. Who was your first crush? How did you share it? Wasn't Moonlighting a good show? And by the way, per the picture, I wonder what the 'special surprise' was!

Jakiyah McKoy

Senate MUST NOT Ratify UN Small Arms Treaty!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
*********

We have warned our readers numerous times that the Obama Administration WILL make an effort, at some point in his term in office, to institute some form of gun control on Americans. He has made a number of attempts so far and he is not done yet -- not by a long shot.


There can be no question the "Obamatons" have little regard for the US Constitution.  It is but a speed bump in their drive toward establishment of a Socialist/Marxist America.  And they will use whatever method or means necessary to accomplish their goal. 

After their withering pressure on the Supreme Court produced a ruling in their favor on Obamacare they are convinced they now have the highest court in the land in their pocket and, therefore, only one thing stands in the way of their goal of that Socialist/Marxist America -- millions of guns in the hands of some pretty PO'ed Americans!

But, WAIT,  as they say on the TV commercials.  Obama has help coming from, where else -- the UN! 

Remember the UN Small Arms Treaty we have warned about for at least four years now?  Well, it's here.  John Kerry, the current US Secretary of State, just signed the accursed thing.  

The Washington Times said:  "The language of the draft agreement is so expansive it wouldn’t take an Obama-appointed judge very long to extend the treaty to cover the domestic firearms market as well. If American jurists continue to be enamored by the popular trend to consider international precedence when making U.S. rulings, you can kiss the Second Amendment goodbye."  SOURCE: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/5/the-un-is-coming-for-your-guns/

Back in October of 2009, the then US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, publicly announced that the US WOULD support UN negotiations of an Arms Trade Treaty to regulate international gun trafficking.  The Bush administration, you may remember, and, notably, former Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations, John Bolton, OPPOSED negotiations of this treaty for years.

Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has said: "Conventional arms transfers are a crucial national security concern for the United States, and we have always supported effective action to control the international transfer of arms. The United States is prepared to work hard for a strong international standard in this area."

The US then joined a vote, which was almost unanimous; to adopt a resolution, which would set a schedule, a timetable, on the proposed Arms Trade Treaty.  Within that resolution was a proposal to finalize the accord in the year 2012.

It is now 2013 and the process has officially begun -- and our President supports it.

Do you begin to understand, just a bit maybe, why those little militia units continue to pop up in the woods across America?  Still think they are ALL completely crazy, huh?  Look.  There are times when paranoia can be your friend -- especially when someone is out to get you! 

It would be a mistake to think we have a "delusional" Commander-in-Chief.    You may think he SEEMS to believe he has dictatorial powers already. 

Take a deep breath.  You might want to sit down for this ...

The plain truth is -- HE DOES HAVE SUCH POWER -- and he is giving himself even more by issuing executive orders the American public knows nothing about -- but -- when enacted will have the force of LAW and will place every single American under the direct command of the President of the United States. 

Congress? Forget Congress. They will have zero power.  The ONLY person with power will be the President and he will be, IN FACT, the Dictator of America.

I've been taken to task a few times for my defense of "honor."  Maybe some of my critics will begin to see why I feel honor is so extremely important in our national leaders. 

I believe the Founders of this country, when they wrote the founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution,  just ASSUMED that the generations of Americans to come would instinctively elect "men of honor" to fill the important post of President.  As we now know -- they were mistaken.      

Of course, I have no way of knowing, for certain, what is in the minds of the people who would take America's freedom and make Americans slaves. but I must tell you, I took an oath, way back in the 1950's, as a soldier, and again in the 1960's as a law enforcement officer,  and for the life of me, I do not recall an expiration date on that oath.  All of us who raised our hands swore to uphold the constitution and to protect it. We swore to protect this country from all enemies foreign and domestic.

I am not unique.  Millions of Americans have taken the same oath.  It seems to me that I am bound by that oath to alert my fellow Americans to a threat I perceive aimed at this country and its citizens.
 

America has reached a tipping point.  Events over the next few weeks and months will determine if America holds on to her remaining freedom and liberty or slides into the septic tank of socialism and enslavement to the state.  We are already a far distance down that slippery slope.

I suggest that we all contact our Senators (while we still have that freedom) and insist that they resist ratification of the UN Small Arms Treaty when it comes before them.   

And finally, the powers of the President, I mentioned above, can only be brought under control by amending the constitution.  Since "honor" can no longer be assumed in our Presidents, or our presidential candidates, then I suggest we need to amend the constitution in order to protect the constitution, itself, and the freedom of the American people from a "rogue" President.

Yes.  Sadly, we HAVE come to this.

© J. D. Longstreet

Thomas P. Roszak and Amanda M. Luke

You earned it Teddy Baby!!!!

h/t Progressive Eruptions

Here's what we now know about monetary tapering policy:

1. The paper must be tapered. T'Paper!
2. The last attempt was a one hit wonder.



Give a little bit of heart and soul
Give a little bit of love to grow
Give a little bit of heart and soul
And don't you make me beg for more

Give a sign, I need to know
A little bit of heart and soul

Walking on the water, walking on the air
That was the heart of the love we shared
Do you keep secret left untold
Can't give love, heart or soul

I used to have a lover with a Midas touch
I turned to gold but he turned to dust
Left me for another, I turned to stone
Now give me love, heart and soul

Living in a fantasy
There's never any room to breathe
Hoping every waking hour
You'll turn around and say that we can start

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs Tyranny

Please excuse any misspellings or word salads as I've just returned from a Green Eggs and Han dinner (party).

We just witnessed the agonizing and self serving theatrics from Texas Republican Senator Ted the Green Eggs and Ham Man Cruz making a mockery of our system of government. With his monumental waste of time and money he put on full display the sad reality that the party he represents has nothing to offer the American people that would be better, and thus more cost effective than ObamaCare, aka the ACA.

There was a time, in the now rapidly fading past, that America actually had a opposition party that had principles, a vision, and a plan for the nation. Today this party (the party of Republicanism) has been overtaken by the most militant and willfully intransigent segment of our society. Our nation as a result has become more divisive and less reasoned than our wise and forward thinking forefathers most certainly would have envisioned and wished for their progeny.

But, after all is aid and done it is the 21st century and as we are all aware this is the time of the special interests and corporate supremacy. Of course we all know the common working stiffs and conscience peons (aka the ones without health insurance because they don't earn enough to both support their families and still have enough left to afford to pay the $6,000 plus/year premiums that their company can't afford), are nothing more than lackeys and thus undeserving of government sponsored healthcare insurance. Of course we all know about those lazy individuals that can't find work because it is better for business to ship jobs offshore for lower wages than to spend time being concerned over the long term impact to our nation and it's security. Besides, we have insidious and invisible bogeymen to conquer.

But enough of this off the wall, illogical, unreasoned and outside the box thinking by a strong advocate for constitutionally sound as well as forward looking limited government patriot.

From the NEW REPUBLIC - Draw your conclusions as you will.

What the hell is John Boehner thinking? I don’t mean that strictly in a rhetorical sense, though it’s hard not to slap your head when you see the most powerful Republican in the country lurching from one cockamamie strategy to another. I mean it quite literally: What is Boehner’s personal calculation when it comes to navigating the various challenges—potential government shutdown, potential debt default, lunatic Republican caucus—he faces over the next few weeks?

The conventional wisdom is that Boehner cares most about avoiding a government shutdown, since he knows how damaging it would be to the Republican Party, which would take the overwhelming share of the blame. “[M]ake no mistake, the incentives are still heavily for Boehner to cut a deal and avoid a shutdown at all costs,” political scientist Jonathan Bernstein wrote last week in The Washington Post. Smart commentators on the right have echoed this analysis. “Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are just as convinced as ever that a partial government shutdown would not advance any conservative goal, and just as determined to avoid one,” wrote National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru a few days later.

But while it’s certainly the case that Boehner thinks a shutdown would be terrible for the party, and that he’d prefer to avoid one, it’s not at all clear it’s in his interest to do so. Why? Because there are two things Boehner presumably cares about more than avoiding a shutdown: not being ousted as Speaker, and raising the debt ceiling by mid-to-late October so as to avoid a debt default. The latter would be far more damaging to the economy than a shutdown, and therefore more devastating to the Republican brand. Unfortunately for Boehner, the only plausible way to both keep his job and avoid a debt default is … to shut down the government when the fiscal year ends next week.

Here’s why: Tea Party conservatives in the House, following the lead the distinguished non-filibusterer from Texas, are all keyed up for a confrontation with Obama in which they refuse to fund the government unless they can simultaneously defund (or rather, “defund”) ObamaCare. {Continue Reading}

PS: Check in with Thomas Paine and contemplate his views. All of them. Yes, the same Thomas Paine that penned Common Sense, the small publication that moved a group of colonists to fight for INDEPENDENCE and throw off the yoke of an unrepresentative government. A government that didn't give a s*it about the common man..

Via: Memeorandum

Some consumers have yet to be contacted by Medrano Express or its agents about undelivered packages abroad for over a year.

Click to enlarge.

Department store sales per employee and adjusted for inflation are going parabolic! Yay.

September 26, 2013
Fox Business News: JCP Shares Rebound; Retailer Pleased with Progress


The headline actually makes sense! Way to go Fox Business News!


The retailer must be very pleased indeed! Let's look closely at the rebound in shares too while we are at it. Shares fell a whopping 15% yesterday and are currently bouncing back up 3% today. Yes, indeed! Very pleasing!

September 24, 2013
Sears Canada CEO to leave amid clash over revamp


Boo! Hiss!


Boo! Hiss!

What about Macy's? No need to worry! That stock's been on fire lately! Just like it was in 1999 and 2007! What's the worst that could happen?


Click to enlarge.

Macy's stock has been flubbered! To infinity and beyond!


No more stress! No more pressure! From here on out, it's nothing but exponentially increasing corporate profits! Thanks to this new and improved Fed, recessions will never be tolerated again! Hurray!

Flubber trends were first discovered by Rob Dawg in the comments found here. Genius!

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart
Yahoo Finance: Macy's Historical Prices
St. Louis Fed: CPI