To President Obama: STOP LYING
The Market Ticker ® - Commentary on The Capital Markets
Posted 2010-07-19 09:37
by Karl Denninger
in Editorial
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To President Obama: STOP LYING
 

This is a total load of crap:

This week, many of our largest corporations reported robust earnings – a positive sign of growth.

This last week large banks reported the******of the public once again, with "profits" that came from skimming off pieces of production from common Americans.  Every dollar a bank "makes" is one it takes from a productive person in this country, just as every dollar the government taxes is one it takes from a productive person.

But too many of our small business owners and those who aspire to start their own small businesses continue to struggle, in part because they can’t get the credit they need to start up, grow, and hire. 

Capital formation does not come from borrowing.  It comes from savings.  But your policies, along with those of George W. Bush and the Federal Reserve under both you and he, have intentionally destroyed the return available on savings.

Therefore, you have sought to intentionally and willfully destroy capital formation, which is the source of entrepreneurship and small business formation.

This is a fact and no amount of spin will change it.

You have chosen to protect those who made bad bets in their lending through government largesse and manipulation of the markets. 

You have permitted banks to lie about the quality of their alleged "assets" by getting rid of mark-to-market accounting and nightly collateral and margining for OTC derivatives.

Instead of allowing the market to enforce discipline, you have tampered with the market, protecting those "big businesses" and their revenue siphons which have bled the economy dry.

The problem is not the absence of government "help".  It is the presence of government interference which has stifled small business growth and formation, and no amount of further tampering will make the situation better.

Three times, the Senate has tried to temporarily extend that emergency assistance.  And three times, a minority of Senators – basically the same crowd who said “no” to small businesses – said “no” to folks looking for work, and blocked a straight up-or-down vote. 

Some Republican leaders actually treat this unemployment insurance as if it’s a form of welfare.

It IS welfare.

Only the first 26 weeks of unemployment is actually a self-insurance program paid for by employees in the form of lower wage offers from their employers, compulsorily taxed (through both direct taxes and compulsory insurance payments) into an alleged fund that is then disbursed when one loses their job.

The entire rest of the so-called "EUC" benefit - second and third tier - is indeed WELFARE.  It is a transfer payment from the general fund of the government to a person, not a payment of insurance upon loss, but rather a direct transfer.

Two years of these payments - 99 weeks - is more than enough.  Indeed, that is a sufficient amount of time for someone to earn an associates degree in a local community college - if they bothered to do so.

But through the last year we have seen repeated "sob stories" of people who are on their last dollar as the EUC welfare ceases.  And what do all of these sob stories have in common?

$100 cell phone plans, $75 cable television and Internet bills, $300 electric bills blasting air conditioning into the summer heat.

Thrift?  Where?

You would think that when someone loses their job they would immediately cut back on these non-necessary purchases.  Purchases that nobody needs.  You and I grew up in a world without cable TV, cell phones and in many cases (including mine) air conditioning. 

That's five hundred dollars a month in many of these households that is being spent unnecessarily. 

Oh sure, it's nice to have those things.  And when one has a job, one can afford those things.  But when one does not have a job it is not government's responsibility to cover the comforts that employment brings to one's personal situation.

Wake up Mr. President. 

Your policies, just as those of the previous President Bush, are the reason there is no capital formation in this country. 

YOU, ALONG WITH BERNANKE AND CONGRESS, HAVE INTENTIONALLY AND WILLFULLY DESTROYED CAPITAL FORMATION IN THE UNITED STATES WITH YOUR INCESSANT BAILOUTS AND HANDOUTS.

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User Info To President Obama: STOP LYING in forum [Market-Ticker]
Blackswan
Posts: 5588
Incept: 2007-11-06
Gold
Just outside of Philly
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But seriously Karl you have to extend Unemploy Bennies. There is a new season of Entourage coming out on HBO and not everyone who wants an Iphone 4 has got one yet. You are heartless.


Has he told the truth about anything? I think he even lies about his smoking and quiting?



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“It’s checkmate. Everywhere it’s checkmate.”
Hugh Hendry
Irishsamurai
Posts: 1150
Incept: 2008-11-03
Green
GA
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Asking Barry to stop lying is akin to asking him to stop breathing ... it is the essence of who he is.

No longer do I believe that he is an idiot who doesn't understand what he is doing ... he is a genius who is doing exactly as he (or whoever pulls his strings) intends ...

God Bless America.


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“Why is it the ship beats the waves when the waves are so many and the ship is one? The reason is that the ship has a purpose.” - Churchill
Docj
Posts: 1009
Incept: 2009-09-10
Silver
Duck & Cover
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Remember, this is the same guy who had Benron at his side less than a month ago running the jive about the 'recovery' 'strengthening' - all data and evidence to the contrary - and continues to run the jive about how his $900B 'stimulus' plan has 'created or saved 3.6 million jobs'.

But sure, let's extent EUC forever - and created yet another class of clients for the ever-growing monster that is The State. Why not? If we're going to crash - and we most certainly are - why not hit the wall at Warp 9? It's not like it's going to suck any more or less than hitting the wall at Warp 2.

God Lord - just when I start to think I can't loathe these bastards any more they lower the bar for me again.

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The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation it is impossible they should be enslaved. - John Adams
Cjworkman
Posts: 7948
Incept: 2007-08-22
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I don't think he's lying.

I just think he's financially dumb.

It's very eye opening when you find out that NO ONE, not one single person in his administration has run a business.

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5755hsa
Posts: 651
Incept: 2008-09-07
Green
North of 40 in the land of pathetic highways
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"Some Republican leaders actually treat this unemployment insurance as if it’s a form of welfare."
Probably more than some republicans think this Barry. I think Cj has it spot on, he's a financial idiot.

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Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc'-ra-cy) - a system of government where the
least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing,
and where members of society least likely to succeed, are rewarded with goods paid for by the
confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

Reason: spelling
Hirooonoda
Posts: 131
Incept: 2009-07-31


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Karl: I'm curious, we're 18 months into the Obama presidency. Why even bother mentioning Bush? I mean why not throw in Clinton while you're at it.

Let's face it, Obama has had enough time to right the wrongs of the foolish Bush administration.

Yes, we all know Bush was an idiot, but true leaders lead, they don't go around like Obama foisting blame on everyone else.
Ribbit
Posts: 1792
Incept: 2007-09-10
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Wales, UK
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Cjworkman:"It's very eye opening when you find out that NO ONE, not one single person in his administration has run a business."

Oh they have Cj, they most certainly have.

Other people's businesses.

Into the ground.

Politicians the World over tend to be remarkably practiced and skilled in just that ability.

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If the State was a Nanny, it would have been fired for incompetence, unreliability, and having its hands in the till, a very long time ago now.
Nashvillian
Posts: 165
Incept: 2008-12-01
Green
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Karl:"You (Obama)have chosen to protect those who made bad bets in their lending through government largesse and manipulation of the markets. You have permitted banks to lie about the quality of their alleged 'assets' by getting rid of mark-to-market accounting and nightly collateral and margining for OTC derivatives. mInstead of allowing the market to enforce discipline, you have tampered with the market, protecting those 'big businesses' and their revenue siphons which have bled the economy dry."

Regarding capital formation, the tail wags the dog. It is debt and its service that's driving policy, not the formation of capital to invest in concerns that would produce taxable profits. I may be wrong, but I think this administration is obsessed with maximizing revenue against which we can add more debt. We tax the big earners the most (it's politically popular), so it's inevitable under a progressive tax scale that the government encourage wealth to pass through the hands of the highest brackets as often as possible to maximize revenue, even at the expense of the poor and middle classes (who, on ballance, are a wash when it comes to revenue). And as you've noted time and again, when a corporation posts earnings it's not necessarily from the actual creation of wealth, but from manipulating numbers, with government approval.

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Each gun invited into a school for protection carries a risk of an unintended death. For any one weapon the risk may be inconsequential. Before deciding to place 500,000+ guns in 130,000 schools, the risk must be calculated.
Bagbalm
Posts: 4321
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I agree with Cj. If you asked the people in this administration to define business terms I believe few could do so. If you asked them to write a business plan it would be something an elementary school child would formulate. And yet we expect them to make a business plan for the country. What you will get from them is a jumble of politically correct phrases echoed from from academia. Wealth is to them what the wealthy have. It is a natural bounty that exists like a spring from the ground. It appears like lunch for a child and child-like they have no regard for how it came to be. They are concerned with how it is divided. The wealthy keep it because they are selfish and have no regard for the poor (who are just as good as them - no better! Because they have suffered and thus built character.)

Asdqwe
Posts: 132
Incept: 2010-06-18


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Don't make the O-man mad. He'll open a can of Whoop-azz on 'ya and then have to go play 18 holes and smoke a pack to de-stress. He's a great leader. I hope kids look up to him as a role model just as much as pro basketball players.
Asfg3
Posts: 158
Incept: 2008-08-29
Green
South Florida
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Obama continues to speak as though he on the campaign trail. Listening to him is about a effective as listening to Bernanke. They spew more lies than the GOM oil volcano.

I wonder if he realizes just how insignificant he has become as President. All words, no action.
Tristan
Posts: 572
Incept: 2009-04-08
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Spirit of '76
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Docj wrote..
If we're going to crash - and we most certainly are - why not hit the wall at Warp 9? It's not like it's going to suck any more or less than hitting the wall at Warp 2.

Faster would suck less because an "orderly descent" will just slowly suck every resource dry. The end will be the same, but in one case the industrial capability and equipment will be in decent working order while in the other it would have been liquidated or destroyed already. If we're going to rebuild, we want a fast collapse to save what resources we have left.
Bagbalm
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Maybe he should have his Secret Service boyz behind him flash a nine on the opposition if he gives a little sign. Remind them why he is to be respected.
Stoverny
Posts: 391
Incept: 2009-02-25


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I agree with the point about the unemployed with their smartphones and cable TV, etc. It's ludicrous what people consider "necessities" nowadays.

However I don't agree with the idea that all these people could have found a job within 99 weeks if they tried harder. Our ponzi economy has collapsed, and with it the jobs. There are what, 5 or 6 applicants for every available position? Where are all these people supposed to work? There are NO JOBS.

People used to join the middle class via manufacturing. When that collapsed (thanks to globalization), they turned to construction and homebuilding. Now that has collapsed. Where are the millions supposed to find jobs? There are none.

The banks are reaping record profits and paying record bonuses thanks to a taxpayer bailout. THEY should be funding a massive nuclear plant building/infrastructure program that will put the unemployed back to work, repair our crumbling roads and grid, and help move us towards true energy independence.
Willy2
Posts: 263
Incept: 2009-05-10

Netherlands
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Of course, Obama's lying. What would you think foreign investors would do tomorrow if he would say today that the US economy is going ""down the drain"" ?
Oky1
Posts: 76
Incept: 2010-04-30

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Brother can you spare a Dime of your government Welfare Check?


Karl, I understand what you are saying about the unemployment benefits, but I feel the urge to point out the hypocrisy & add a bit of sarcasm.


How about we get the Oil companies & the energy sector to share some of their government welfare checks with the current unemployed?

I’m sure Wallst Banks & Insurance companies would also love to share a piece of their never ending government welfare checks with the unemployed.

Once we get Energy, Banks & Insur on board we shouldn’t have any trouble at all getting the Farmers & the Service Employees International Union to chip in some of their government funded Welfare Checks to the unemployed.

And as long as the US gov has resources to give away to transnational corporations & savers are willing to fund paying the interest on the growing national debt I see no reason at all why everyone in American can’t continue to forever receive their own personal gov. Welfare Check! LOL;)




I seen the news of Goldman Sachs settling for $550 million to settle conflicts of interest...
And something about Microsoft’s $600M to EU for consent decree violations last year,
But is it also true Tony Hayward of BP... “he wants his life back”... that his yacht has a value of $750M?

If true that would mean Goldman settled their massive fraud case for less then the price of a used yacht, say it isn’t so???
Halfbrite
Posts: 2459
Incept: 2008-10-13
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Arizona via California
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Cut off EUC? I don't think so.

Capitalism still works as intended for all of us "little people". If you don't pay your rent, your family is living on the street. The strong survive, the weak die, and there is no free lunch. Deal with it.

However, when stupid, uninformed people elect a government that:

Perverts capitalism.
Confiscates an unreasonable amount of wealth by force.
Causes and increases unemployment.
Guarantees destruction of your savings.
Treats our constitution like toilet paper.
Rules as kings of old.
Rewards incompetent, criminal friends of the crown.
Has your children die to defend the crown.
Plays golf while doing all of the above.

Cutting EUC is just wrong, imo.

Our capitalist system, the greatest achievement of mankind, under all leaders starting with Reagan, has become a broken ponzi. Right now, it's every man for himself - we've hit the iceberg, the ship is sinking.

The only thing productive people in America can do now, is to drown with some dignity - don't take the life preserver from those doomed souls now floating in the water - at least let's all go down together, and not squabble over who will be the first to die for our corrupt monarchy.

Borrow the money, print the money, who cares - extend euc indefinitely.

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"That which cannot continue, will not continue. Brace for impact!"
Bagbalm
Posts: 4321
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Just North of Detroit
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The one thing I can say for unemployment extensions is they may be cheaper than the riots, sabotage and crime cutting them off could trigger.

Reason: bad grammar
End_the_bubbles
Posts: 9596
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The New 3rd World
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He's not lying and he's not stupid.

Simply put:

HE IS A COMPLETE & TOTAL FRAUD!

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In the long run even the most despotic governments with all their brutality and cruelty are no match for ideas. Eventually the ideology that has won the support of the majority will prevail and cut the ground from under the tyrant's feet and rise in rebellion to overthrow their masters.
Docj
Posts: 1009
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Quote:
Faster would suck less because an "orderly descent" will just slowly suck every resource dry.


That's a fair point, Tristan. But arguing as Advocatus Diaboli I would suggest that the "overpressure" effect from such a crash could cause the trough to be rather deeper before bottoming (look at a pressure-v-time of an explosion in air and you'll see what I'm talking about).

I'm still all-for the Warp 9 approach, though. Just not quite yet - I still have some debt I'd like to unburden before the repo exercises get underway. And some more ammo to practice with, of course!

Quote:
HE IS A COMPLETE & TOTAL FRAUD!


Good luck selling that line to the sheeple on the Yahoo! News forum - the comment section is a laugh-riot.

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The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation it is impossible they should be enslaved. - John Adams

Reason: Added reply to ETB.
Gloomboomdoom
Posts: 236
Incept: 2010-06-25
Green
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Great ticker, GEN! Emailed it to my list as usual.

Is it just me or is anyone else mad that we can keep handing out all this money to FOREIGN governments yet cannot do anything productive with that money domestically (like not spending any of it at all!)?

Yet again, more FOREIGN AID announced to the tune of $500 million to Pakistan today!

I agree we need to stop with the free welfare and handouts to people that can, but will NOT work. However, if the Republicans do wish to cut down on spending in general, attention must be raised to this issue of endless foreign aid to foreign countries.

WHEN WILL THIS MADNESS END?
Templar223
Posts: 779
Incept: 2008-04-28
Green
Champaign, IL
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Quote:
There are NO JOBS.


Bull****

There are jobs. I've got three openings right now.

The jobs that are out there just don't pay $25-100 an hour to which some are accustomed.

John
Donethat
Posts: 780
Incept: 2009-04-22

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Obama is as about as relevant as the band leader on the deck of the Titanic.
The end of the economic world as we know it continues with the K-wave.

The elephant is not 99 weeks of unemployment, the elephant is that we are going to a 40% U6 unemployment rate, deficit or no deficit.

The US already has about 13 million fewer full time job holders than in 2007.

Does not matter whether they have an AA or a BS, most unemployed will have to create their own jobs.
Kab
Posts: 1857
Incept: 2009-04-02

Colorado
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Quote:
Bull****

There are jobs. I've got three openings right now.

The jobs that are out there just don't pay $25-100 an hour to which some are accustomed.

John


We have three openings too, maybe four, I can't be bothered to keep up with them. My uncle has turned down a job in California because it paid less than unemployment. Now that people are rolling off the extended benefits perhaps there will be no jobs after they get off their couches and work.

Quote:
Karl: I'm curious, we're 18 months into the Obama presidency. Why even bother mentioning Bush? I mean why not throw in Clinton while you're at it.


Good point but let's put it in perspective: with 99 weeks there's people who have been on unemployment since before Obama's inauguration.
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