AIG Forcing Poor To Choose Between Running Water And Food

Taxpayers in the poorest parts of the county are getting plundered by the same institutions they bailed out. One example is AIG’s underhanded fleecing of residents of rural Kentucky.

1) Democrats work on multibillion-dollar jobs package (LA Times)

“Troubled by the rising jobless rate, President Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress are assembling a new jobs package that would devote billions of dollars to projects meant to put people back on payrolls in 2010 and keep them working.

Discussions over the scale of the bill are fluid, but lawmakers said the intent was to move swiftly and get a bill to Obama’s desk as early as January.

The renewed push to create jobs is driven by a recognition that the $787-billion stimulus program enacted in February is not a sufficient remedy for an unemployment rate that stands at 10.2%.”

• 2) Another prediction of hyperinflation

“John Ing, the president of Maison Placements Canada Inc., said mounting U.S. debt is at the heart of gold’s current run.

“Despite big profits, Wall Street remains over-leveraged and undercapitalized,” he said in a note to clients. “To us it looks like another downturn is in the offing that will test the previous lows, cause the dollar to fall even further which will push gold beyond $2,000 an ounce in a made in America hyperinflation.””

• 3) UAE faces up to $184 billion total debt: BofA-Merrill Lynch (Reuters)

“LONDON (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirate (UAE) has total debt amounting to $184 billion at the end of 2009, according to estimates by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, which said the region faces a heavy redemption schedule until 2013. Dubai’s shock announcement this week that it is seeking to suspend payments on debt of its state-owned conglomerate Dubai World and property subsidiary Nakheel has roiled global markets, raising fears that the emirate which funded a spectacular building boom on a mountain of debt could default.”

• 4) Michigan’s economic future is more bleak than first believed

“ANN ARBOR - Every November, University of Michigan economists hold a two-day seminar and issue predictions for the state’s economy over the next year.

Last week, they unveiled their newest forecast. Possibly the best short way to sum it up would be something like this:

However bad you thought things were, they are worse. Michigan’s automotive, manufacturing-based economy is history, at least as a mass employer of millions. The old days are never coming back, and the state will continue to lose jobs for years to come.”

• 5) Modesto 2nd quarter sales tax off 22%

“Springtime didn’t put a spring in local shoppers’ steps this year.

Sales tax receipts across the region took a dive during the second quarter, with Modesto weathering a 22 percent drop compared with the same period last year, according to revenue analysis firm MuniServices LLC.

Modesto’s double-digit slide was the worst quarterly performance the city has seen in the past year. Most area cities saw similar declines. Riverbank was the sole bright spot: Its sales tax receipts declined a mere 7 percent.”

• 6) Phoenix braces for more cuts to services

“Phoenix number crunchers already are projecting up to a $95 million shortfall in the current fiscal year, and that’s not even factoring in the deficit expected for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.

The city’s balance sheet is so out of whack because Phoenix’s sales-tax revenue remains about 20 percent lower than two years ago, with no signs of a recovery. State-shared income-tax revenue is forecast to be about 35 percent less than two years ago because of layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs. And the cash-starved Arizona Legislature is poised to take a big chunk of Phoenix’s $378 million-a-year state-shared-revenue fund to solve its own fiscal problems.”

• 7) Budget gap forces N.J. to seek out more cuts

“Wednesday’s revelation that sagging tax revenue and higher expenses widened the budget gap to five times larger than expected is the latest hurdle in an ongoing fiscal battle that has dogged Corzine.

Pulling out the red pen to make cuts has become a familiar exercise for Corzine, who lost his re-election bid to Chris Christie earlier this month.

“We’ll have meetings, just like we would normally. We’ll come up with answers,” the governor said. “Certainly before Christmas.”

The governor may freeze up to $400 million in payments to schools, higher education, hospitals, pension funds and municipalities, according to information tucked into a bond disclosure sent to Wall Street investors.”

• Ports face crisis as volumes fall (Financial Times)

“The world’s container ports industry is facing a sharp reversal in its fortunes as the sector’s first ever year-on-year fall in volumes forces an abrupt change from breakneck expansion to retrenchment.”

“London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants forecasts a year-on-year fall of 10.3 per cent in containers moved this year, compared with 4.6 per cent growth in 1982, the previous worst year since 1956, when container shipping started.”

• 9) Utilities Seek Round of Rate Increases

“Pension obligations are another weight on the sector. Moody’s Investors Service estimated that the industry faced as much as $40 billion in underfunded pension obligations at the end of 2008.

Moody’s warned in a recent report that rate increases stemming from increased utility spending could result in consumer pushback, as electric utility costs rise from the 3.5% of disposable household income they represent today to 5% to 10% of disposable income. Moody’s said it is waiting for “the theoretical inflection point beyond which consumers will no longer tolerate annual rate increases without protest.”"

• 10) NC cities, counties may see higher pension costs

“The state will have to boost employer contributions to the pension fund for its retirees from the 3.57 percent of payroll level it has been in recent years to 6.71 percent in the fiscal year beginning in July, the state treasurer’s office said last month.”

• 11) State and local unfunded liabilities at over $5 trillion?

(Here’s where he’s getting his info)

“In 2008, states alone reported about $1 trillion in unfunded pension liabilities. However, the authors point out that their discount rate is totally bogus. Using more appropriate discount rates, they find that the lower bound for the UPL is $1.3 trillion while the upper bound is $3.2 trillion. The $3.2 trillion is, as they argue and I would agree, closer to reality.

But wait, there’s more. That was only the state pensions. Local pensions add up to another $1 trillion in UPL, bringing the grand total to $4.2 trillion.

But wait, there’s more. This only includes pensions and says nothing about state retiree health benefits. Their stated unfunded liabilities are around $0.3 trillion. Grossing it up three times in-line with their pension estimates and you get another $1 trillion in unfunded state retiree health benefits.

Now we have a grand-total of $5.2 trillion in unfunded state and local pension and retiree health care benefits. That’s about 5 times more than all currently-issued state general obligation bond debt (about $1 trillion). So if folks are worried about the scope of state GO debt, then they should be sh**** on themselves about the $5.2 trillion.

Throw in the current deficit, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and, heaven forbid, Obamacare . . . and the country is positively, absolutely, without a doubt BROKE! There is no way we can pay for one of these items, much less all of them.

Maybe we should stock up on gold. If gold is already booming because of what the feds are doing, wait till folks get a better understanding of these liabilities . . . gold has only begun its bull run.”

• 12) Contra Costa pension costs to climb 77 percent or more

“Halfway To Concord has learned that…For every dollar Contra Costa County spends today to support already unsustainable employee retiree pensions costs, over at least the next six years, taxpayers will be on the hook for 77 cents more, a shattering increase that harbors dire consequences for county government.”

• 13) “Ben Bernanke Has Never Gotten Anything Right,” Peter Schiff Says: Fed Officials Respond (Video)

…………After seeing all of the boneheaded responses to the financial crisis, can we just name this little guy Ben?

- Saxplayer00o1