Obama Relies on Debt Collectors Profiting From Student Loan Woe; “You’re dealing with the federal government. You have no other options.”

From Bloomberg:

The debt collector on the other end of the phone gave Oswaldo Campos an ultimatum:

Pay $219 a month toward his more than $20,000 in defaulted student loans, or Pioneer Credit Recovery, a contractor with the U.S. Education Department, would confiscate his pay. Campos, disabled from liver disease, makes about $20,000 a year.

“We’re not playing here,” Campos recalled the collector telling him in December. “You’re dealing with the federal government. You [...]

March 26th, 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Category: All | Leave a comment

The treasurer of a major EU bank. “Am I going to buy Italian bonds? No.”

While some believe the ECB’s new collateral and loan rules amount to a backdoor QE, allowing banks massive firepower to purchase sovereign debt, the banks themselves think differently. “When investors are constantly asking what you have on your books, and the board is asking you to reduce your exposure, it doesn’t really matter,” says the treasurer of a major EU bank. “Am I going to buy Italian bonds? No.” (see also i, ii, iii)

December 18th, 2011 | Tags: , , , , | Category: All | Leave a comment

POLL: 7 in 10 small businesses not hiring

The Obama economy is so bad that 77 percent of small business owners do not plan to hire any more workers despite all of Washington’s hype that the business climate is getting better. Worse: 64 percent of small business owners in a new survey provided to Whispers see the nation teetering on the verge of another recession.

Most shocking of all in the survey of small and medium sized business owners [...]

November 7th, 2011 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Category: All | Leave a comment