Oh…THOSE Twin Quakes
January 5th, 2009Well lookie here: Twin Quakes popping all over the place lately. There were the two around December 26th that affected 95,000 people. Then we had the twin 7+ quakes Sunday morning off Indonesia that touched off some small tsunamis in Japan. Early, it seems, but not wrong on that linguistic set; still pondering all the ‘financial earthquake’ and ‘financial market aftershocks of Madoff which made this all a very confusing stew… Well, at least that’s done…unless we have the BIG follow-on quake today or tomorrow. That’d be a bummer…
And the largest of all bummers would be for these latest twins to be leading into something popping off at Yellowstone and there a,re some who are quite worried about what could be happening (or about to happen) there…noting as one author does, that the caldera is a little late for a major eruption. About 40,000 years late…and yeah, that would sure fill in the dislocation/isolation/aid from foreign countries linguistic set, and maybe ruin enough food production down wind to bring along those food shortage and rationing descriptors. But let’s not go there…probably just petulant magma flowing.
I hope.
Obama’s (New & Improved) Free Lunch Deal
Let me see if I have this right: The US is running a budget deficit right now thanks to (count ‘em as we go) the War in Iraq, the War in Afghanistan, miscellaneous wars and low intensity conflicts, bailouts for banksters, foreign aid, and pork for the gang that doesn’t think straight inside the Beltway. So much so they are pimping around a hike in the gas tax.
Fine. That’s America, warts and all.
Now, along comes the new kid and he puts together a speech which according to one headline will include 600,000 new government employees! OMG, has anyone but me started to wonder “What are they going to be doing?” Jiminy Christmas - What’ll they all do? Spies to spy on the spies? Auditors to audit the auditor’s auditors? On my tax tab?
Here’s the Magic: At the same time, there’s talk that the prez-elect is looking at a $310-billion dollar tax cut.
I hope you understand that massive increases in the self-employment tax is not considered an income tax inside the Beltway. Nope; the screwing of small business is how Big Business keeps small guys small.
Only the rich get to have Boards of Directors and take the hefty part of their pay as stock options which are usually held offshore, which get taxed at a big fat zero when exercised in some tax haven and then the money wired back into the US tax-free. These are the same folks that bitch about the ‘commoners’ who put in 70-hours a week, not counting soccer practice, but you knew all that, right? Like I said, warts and all.
I’ll start watching the wires for the ‘walks on water’ reports…
Bye-Bye Bill Department
Seems that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is pulling his nomination to be Commerce Secretary since a grand jury is looking at a little commerce related to how some of his key donors picked of lucrative state contracts.
Let me see here. This would make Richardson the first “Soon to be ex Commerce (even before confirmation hearings) appointee”? I’m sure they’ll come up with some other ex-Clintonista for the gig…no worries.
The New York Coronation
What Monday would be complete without my usual rant about how America has its elected aristocracy which is why it’s only a matter of time before Caroline Kennedy becomes Hillary’s replacement. The NY Times coverage is good. But, I reckon it’s as good as a done deal since what once passed as leadership in America has evolved in the MSM to brand royalty, star power, and money-raising. Which (besides a state income tax) explains in part why I don’t live in New York, huh? Wonder how many trees have been killed covering this?
War Toll
The score is now Palestinians 531, Israel 1 with almost 2,500 Palestinians an d 55 Israelis injured, if I’ve got the score coming out of Gaza right.
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I don’t know about you, but I am personally embarrassed that the US blocked a cease-fire call at the UN. Why the U.S. couldn’t act like a genuine world thought (and moral) leader and draft and present its own cease-fire proposal instead of waiting for an Arab-drafted plan (unacceptable!) is just beyond me. (Unless I follow the money, of course. Then everything in Washington makes sense.)
At least the head of the UN has enough sense to keep pressing for international action to stop the killing.
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Now that Israel has cut Gaza in half, the end high profile warring is likely within a day or three says my best source on these matters.
“Who’s your source?”
You really want to know? OK: It’s the price of gold. Down almost $23 when I looked this morning and that means peace is out there in the wings somewhere and someone’s got the nod. Again, follow the dough and you’ll seldom be wrong. I’m gonna turn you into an economist yet.
Speaking of wars: 40 dead in a Shiite mosque bombing in Baghdad.
Markets/The Week Ahead
Auto sales and construction spending today (after the market gets its first cup of coffee) then tomorrow we get factory orders. Along about Thursday the Fed comes out with the Consumer Debt report - which they persist in calling consumer credit despite my protestations. Then on Friday the unemployment rate comes out. I look for this one to be a big pop upward. A sort of ‘evening of the books’ before the next crowd comes into office. 7% wouldn’t surprise me, and maybe 7.1%. In fact, we’re in the position now where paradoxically, a high unemployment rate is good because it will stampede the Beltway Buffoons into spending even more of our money that they don’t have.
Is this a great country, or what?
