Free Republic

In this issue: Construction Lending: The Next Shoe to Drop Lehman at the Center Iceland Guarantees What? Letters of Credit: Going, Going Gone? What to Do and Where Do We Go from Here? London, Stockholm, and California I have been writing for almost a year that the next shoe to drop on US banks would be commercial construction lending. Today we look at some hard numbers. We look across the pond to sort out the problems in Europe. We look at the consequences of the losses stemming from Lehman. Then we look at one of the more serious consequences of...

The only people who pay taxes in this country are consumers who make purchases or pay rent from their own income. Those taxes are paid at the point of purchase and at the time of purchase. Since the middle class comprises the largest group of consumers, they pay the greatest share of taxes regardless of the illusion created by a progressive tax scheme. The wealthy pay more taxes only to the extent that they may consume more. The truth of these statements will become self-evident with a few simple illustrations. That box of corn flakes on your kitchen tables contains...

"Soros, in short, is a major financial backer of the Democratic Party and will be in a position to collect on these debts if Hillary or Obama wins in November. Their election may depend on further substantial erosion in the national economy. Is it possible that the financial activities of Soros could make it more likely that the economy will go into a complete tailspin?" "Any economic problems will, of course, be blamed by the Democrats and the liberal media on President Bush and the Republicans. The Republicans may not be smart enough to recognize that hedge fund managers and...

Not that long ago, a dollar was worth a half-gallon of gasoline. Just a few days ago, a dollar was worth a little less than one-quarter-gallon of gasoline. When the value of the dollar is expressed this way, the question is did the gasoline become more expensive or did the dollar become worth less? The dollar is a commodity that is bought and sold, borrowed and loaned and not exempt from economic laws. When the government tampers with the value of the money supply and the value of gasoline, we end up with high energy costs that send a shock...

Just posting a headline as we will see it little place else from the MSM.

September 29, 2008 Brian Wesbury on the Bailout Vote Andrew Roth When it comes to understanding the economy, it's always smart to find out what economist Brian Wesbury is thinking. Here's his reaction (PDF) to today's vote in the House and the subsequent market decline. I highlighted what I thought were very strong points. Since the subprime crisis first became evident, we have steadfastly believed the US would avoid a recession. And, at least so far, it has. But with today’s vote, two things have happened. First, Congress finally said enough already with the knee-jerk responses to the crisis by...

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis? All I can say is WOW...if you find merit with this video please pass it on. It matters far more who can lead us out of a problem than who got us into the problem. However, it is difficult to know where we are going if we don’t know where we’ve been and it would seem foolish to seek relief from the very people who created the problem. This video plays at a pretty fast speed and it covers a lot of ground. Nevertheless, WATCH IT THROUGH TO THE END. It...

This is a video you should see if you want to understand what caused this crisis...post it everywhere!! Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o!!

This is a video you should see if you want to understand what caused this crisis...pass it on, post it everywhere! Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o

COPYING AND CIRCULATION IS ENCOURAGED.

My fellow Americans, Your urgent attention is needed for an emergency bail-out to avoid a financial melt-down. I am here at the Casino on the Indian Reservation and I am now facing a perfect storm of credit risk and complete lack of confidence in the ability to repay a multitude of obligations. This crisis has grown quickly and with little warning and the situation is indeed dire. Who knew playing a conservative game like roulette, betting on just red, would result in such unforeseen, widespread financial catastrophe? The roulette settlement was just the final stroke following the blackjack dealer hitting...

Now, that is funny. On a more serious note, the point of the video is true. American jobs that leave do so for good reason. Corporations can find cheaper labor overseas, which causes production costs to go down and prices on goods. This is good for the American consumer, and it also forces Americans to do what they do best, innovate. Making these jobs stay home only punishes the American consumer, just like tarriffs. Tarriffs are essentially government and corporations joining together to steal from the American consumer by overpricing goods.

My career at the Arizona Department of Transportation (AzDOT) wasn't planned from the start. I had some academic training in economics, but no background or training in transportation. As a libertarian, I had an instinctual aversion to government. However, after a lengthy dose of unemployment, I broke down and took what I felt would be a temporary position with AzDOT in 1976. My suspicions about government were confirmed early on in my employment. One of my first assignments was to analyze the "need" for commuter airline service subsidies in Arizona. I went into this study with virtually no knowledge of...

It’s not an easy task to find any Obama accomplishments. But the current banking crisis, driven by bad home mortgage lending policies over the last decade, provides a close up look at Obama’s past economic decision making, which happens to have played a major role in the current collapse of the mortgage and housing industries. In short, though Obama is on the campaign trail blaming the current economic crisis on President Bush and John McCain, it is actually Obama, the Congressional Black Caucus and Democrats who are at the root of today’s financial woes. Facts don’t lie... Politicians do! While...

Here is a video from a McCain rally today, where McCain criticizes Obama for trying to take advantage of economic woes for political gain. McCain hits Obama for his connections to Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, and Lehman Brothers:

WASHINGTON - The government said Wednesday that U.S. retail sales fell in July, the weakest performance in five months. The Commerce Department reported retail sales dipped 0.1 percent last month, as a variety of economic woes combined to blunt the impact of billions of dollars in government stimulus payments to U.S. households. It’s the first decline since sales had fallen by 0.5 percent in February. And it’s a worse showing than the flat reading economists had been expecting.

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2008 – Two U.S.-military sponsored economic reconstruction programs are helping to put thousands of Iraqi citizens into productive jobs while boosting the country’s business activity, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said today. In March 2007, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, directed his officers to find ways to provide jobs and increased opportunities for economic expansion, entrepreneurship and skills training for the people of Iraq, recalled Army Maj. Gen. Timothy McHale, director of personnel, logistics and resources for Multinational Force Iraq. The successful Iraqi First LOGCAP and Iraqi-Based Industrial Zone...

For years, the left have been building a superior online political infrastructure, cultivating a powerful online community of activists, dominating the blogosphere, and leaving conservatives at a severe disadvantage in a web 2.0 world. For conservatives tired of being left behind, we invite you to RightOnline. Join leading conservative bloggers and new media experts, America’s foremost experts in grassroots mobilization, representatives from influential conservative organizations, and hundreds of citizen activists this July 18th and 19th in Austin, Texas. RightOnline will serve as a meeting place for the free enterprise movement, focusing on how we can more effectively leverage the power...

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama will appear at Carnegie Mellon University Thursday, hosting a round-table conversation on competitiveness and the world economy. The morning panel discussion, which will be closed to the public, includes speakers from industry, labor and the academic world.The participants are to include: Lael Brainard, vice president of the Brookings Institution; Eli Broad, founder of the Broad Foundation; Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of Harlem Children's Zone; Steve Case, chairman and CEO of Revolution Health and former chairman and CEO of America Online; Susan Hockfield, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Federico Pe??a, former U.S....

Starting in May, the Treasury will begin sending economic stimulus payments to more than 130 million households. To receive a payment, taxpayers must have a valid Social Security number, $3,000 of income and file a 2007 federal tax return. IRS will take care of the rest. Eligible people will receive up to $600 ($1,200 for married couples), and parents will receive an additional $300 for each eligible child younger than 17. Millions of retirees, disabled veterans and low-wage workers who usually are exempt from filing a tax return must do so this year in order to receive a stimulus payment....

Are we headed toward bigger government? Senator McCain's position is that there is a role for government, and the primary thing is that you identify government's role and make sure that it does it well. The striking thing that has come out of the campaign is the degree to which the American people have lost trust in their government to pursue genuine national priorities, and there are three instances in which this gets voiced pretty clearly; probably the most vivid is the immigration debate, where people simply did not believe that the federal government [would secure the borders]...so Senator...

Italians vote as economic disaster looms By Malcolm Moore in Rome Last Updated: 2:41am BST 14/04/2008 Voting began yesterday in Italy's general election but the winner will inherit a country on the brink of disaster. A man in Sorrento was arrested after he announced 'politics makes me sick' and ate his ballot paper According to the International Monetary Fund, Italy's economic growth will not rise above 0.3 per cent this year, and could be zero. The country's growth is the slowest in Europe and Mario Draghi, the governor of the Bank of Italy, warned that "the crisis is not yet...

Soaring price of food 'leads to riots' By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent Last Updated: 2:45am BST 07/04/2008 Rising food prices threaten economic stability and could trigger riots, Gordon Brown has been warned. The World Bank said this week that the price of staple foods has risen by 80 per cent in the past three years. For consumers in wealthy nations such as Britain soaring prices are squeezing household finances and keeping inflation up. But for developing nations they can lead to malnutrition and social disruption. Food prices are being driven up by shortages of supply - often caused by bad...

Capt. Gregory Curry II, commander of Troop A, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division signs over a micro-grant to a general store owner in the Hawr Rajab area. Curry, of Walnut Creek, Ohio, said the purpose of the micro-grants is to improve and jumpstart the local economy. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Paredes. FOB KALSU — With security improving in Hawr Rajab, stores and schools are reopening and a number of programs are revitalizing a community once on the brink of chaos. In November 2007, al-Qaeda launched their last well-coordinated offensives into...

House Democrats sponsor economic forum U.S. congressional Democrats said they will have a forum with economic and financial experts looking at implications of problems in housing and credit markets. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said the economic forum will be Wednesday in the Capitol. Restoring the American dream for millions of our nation's working families has been a central priority for House Democrats, Pelosi said in a news release. Congress will continue to focus our attention and efforts on the strains Americans are feeling, especially with the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush believes it is too early to decide whether a second economic stimulus package is needed to ward off a recession but would not rule it out, governors who met with him said on Monday. After a $152 billion package was signed into law earlier this month, U.S. governors during a White House meeting pressed Bush to back another stimulus plan that would include funding for roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects. They argued that such a program would address unemployment and put the economy on a more sustainable path of growth. "We...

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to the United States in an "economic war" if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins court judgments to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets. Exxon Mobil has gone after the assets of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA in U.S., British and Dutch courts as it challenges the nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil project by Chavez's government. A British court has issued an injunction "freezing" as much as $12 billion in assets. "If you end up freezing (Venezuelan assets) and it harms us, we're going...

BREAKING NEWS: House of Representatives overwhelmingly passes economic-stimulus measure; Senate takes up bill next. Full story to follow shortly.

Its package may spend more for food stamps and unemployment benefits. Some fear the House-crafted compromise could be unraveled ...Greg Valliere, chief political strategist for the financial services firm Stanford Group Co., said he expected a plan to clear Congress, even if the Senate fiddled with it: "The Senate is notoriously independent and unwilling to be stampeded; this will be no exception." Still, he expected a package to become law within the next few weeks. "In the final analysis, most lawmakers are aghast to see their public approval ratings at all-time lows. This gives them an opportunity to show they...

1/4/2008 - LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- A recently-approved $300,000 construction contract promises economic growth for Afghans here, according to the Airman leading engineering efforts for the Mehtar Lam Provincial Reconstruction Team. The contract for the construction of four new agricultural buildings in the Mehtar Lam agricultural compound was signed Dec. 30, according to PRT engineer, Capt. Peter Joo. One of the agricultural buildings will be for farm equipment storage and maintenance, the second building will be for general purpose storage (to include feed and fertilizer) and the third and fourth, smaller buildings will be used for cool storage. "The...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — The road to economic prosperity south of Baghdad is being paved by Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. With assistance from the 2nd BCT embedded provincial reconstruction team, local government councils and Iraqi contractors, the task of restoring roads and improving roads damaged by war is in full swing. “It’s all about … helping the agricultural market in our area,” said Capt. Brian Love, ePRT military liason. The area, comprised of Arab Jabour, Hawr Rajab, Al Buaytha and Adwaniyah, is mainly agriculturally-based. The improvements, which began in October,...

Top White House economic adviser Allan Hubbard is expected to leave his post at the end of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday in its on-line edition. The resignation, the latest in a spate of White House departures as President George W Bush's term winds down, could be announced later in the day, the Journal said. Hubbard, 60, joined the White House as director of the National Economic Council after Bush's re-election in 2004. His departure would come as the Bush administration is facing a crisis in the mortgage industry that has caused rising housing foreclosures and...

Citizens in Baghdad’s Doura district go into a corner market to buy food. Neighborhoods in the district have shown a recent economic revival after years of fighting. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Timmons, 1st Infantry Division, Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — Bullet holes attest to the battleground that was this two-block portion of the Doura neighborhood. Just a few months ago, residents were afraid to step outside, leaving their neighborhood filled with garbage, without power and with most of its shops closed. That was until members of 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division,...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 14, 2007 – Bullet holes attest to the battleground that was this two-block portion of the Doura neighborhood. Just a few months ago, residents were afraid to step outside, leaving their neighborhood filled with garbage, without power and with most of its shops closed. Citizens in Baghdad’s Doura district go into a corner market to buy food. Neighborhoods in the district have shown a recent economic revival after years of fighting. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Timmons, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. That was until members of 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2007 – Security in Iraq has made tremendous gains, and now is the time to cement that security in place with economic gains, coalition officials said in Baghdad today. The U.S. Defense Department is spending money in Iraq to get basic services working and to prime the pump for private businesses, said Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation. Brinkley was joined at the news conference by Air Force Maj. Gen. Darryl Scott, commander of Joint Contracting Command Iraq, and Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, chief of Multinational Force Iraq Communications Division. Coalition...

Bin Laden never thought he could destroy the United States with bombs. In an interview shortly after 9/11 he said he expected the US to bankrupt itself. It seems that is well on our way to fullfilling his expectation. Of course the war in Iraq is costly but even more costly has been the effect of the war against terror has had on business. Seven hour border crossing cut trade not only directly but indirectly..those that never even try because its not worth it..and as the economic gloom increases other markets seem more attractive anyway. The constant drumbeat to increase...

The world’s financial system came precariously close to seizing up recently. In fact, as far as some big banks and financial institutions were concerned, for a moment in time, the system was in a full-blown cardiac arrest. Liquidity, the flow of money—the lifeblood of today’s economic structure—came uncomfortably close to clotting up in August this year. Defibrillators sizzling and money flowing, central banks around the world acted in concert to jump-start financial markets, slashing lending rates and injecting nearly a half trillion in dollar steroids into the economic pulmonary system. But contrary to what the big media outlets may have...

US imposes strict economic sanctions on Iran By Toby Harnden in Washington and Damien McElroy Last Updated: 7:45pm BST 25/10/2007 The United States has announced its toughest action against Iran since the aftermath of the 1979 revolution by instituting a raft of unilateral sanctions. The unprecedented steps are designed to cut international financial support to Teheran's theocratic regime as well as targeting Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corp, which is accused of supporting Shia insurgents in Iraq. Henry Paulson, US Treasury Secretary, and Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, announce the sanctions Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and Henry Paulson,...

This past month, the Bush Administration opened the U.S. border to trucks from Mexico. Trying to soften the blow, they called it a "pilot program" but it clearly sacrifices the economic security of American workers and the safety and health of the U.S. public on George Bush's altar of free trade. There is no better example of how big money has corrupted government decision making than cross border trucking. This scheme is opposed by the Teamsters and the entire labor movement, opposed by environmental groups and the Sierra Club, opposed by Public Citizen and a host of other non-governmental organizations,...

Wednesday, Oct 17, 2007 Governor Mitt Romney Excerpts Of Remarks At The Club For Growth (Live Via Video) Washington, D.C. Governor Romney On The Line-Item Veto: Governor Romney: "I should also note that perhaps the best way to get our spending down was to be able to use the line-item veto. I used that 844 times as Governor of Massachusetts. I'm glad I had it." Governor Romney On His Conservative Blueprint To Lower Taxes: Governor Romney: "Let me tell you what I'd do, as opposed to what Hillary Clinton would do with regard to our tax and spending policies. First...

Two engineers about to go on trial for allegedly stealing confidential computer chip designs from their Silicon Valley employer and a partner firm were indicted Wednesday on the rare and more serious charge of economic espionage, prosecutors said. The indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in San Jose accuses Lan Lee, 42, of Palo Alto, and Yuefei Ge, 34, a Chinese national living in San Jose, of orchestrating the computer-chip plot so they could go into business with the Chinese military. The men are accused of stealing secret data sheets and other confidential documents from NetLogic...

Over the past three weeks, 45 families and 31 individuals -- approximately 200 people -- entered Canada at the Detroit River crossings and applied in Windsor for shelter and social assistance after filing refugee claims with the Canada Border Services Agency. Municipal agencies dealing with the sudden influx of mainly Mexican refugee applicants are renting out hotel rooms and bracing for predicted thousands more to come. "I don't believe that Windsor's residents and taxpayers should have to foot the bill for U.S. immigration policy," Francis told The Star. He was referring to the suspected source of the problem -- a...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2007 – The provincial reconstruction team in Iraq’s Salah ad Din province is hard at work with local leaders to promote organization in governance, economic development, and rule of law, the team’s leader said yesterday. Steven Buckler, speaking with Internet journalists and “bloggers” in a conference call, said the Salah ad Din PRT has about 50 members. “A third of them are our security personnel, who escort us in the Humvees when we go into town,” he explained. The other two thirds, 35 or so, are a mix of civilian and military members. “We're in town five,...

Sir Larry Kudlow has got it, and I genuinely admired his flexibility in his view of the new economic reality. Unfortunately, in part based on the seduction of yesterday's remarkable rip back from disaster, others have not. Many on this site and elsewhere, including the cheering squad from CNBC who partied like it was 1999 only a month ago as the DJIA eclipsed the 14,000 level, contended that Thursday's ramp was a "psychological positive" and could be interpreted as the end of the recent swoon. They are guessing, and guessing has no role in an uncertain market. The market's action...

BAGHDAD — Military officials discussed current efforts in Iraq at the Combined Press Information Center Wednesday. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman; Paul Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, and Philip Reeker, counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, discussed economic and political efforts underway to assist the government of Iraq. Bergner opened the conference by talking about the building “tactical momentum” in the sixth week of the surge. Operations from Iraqi and Coalition forces made progress in a number of fronts, he said. “We continue to target the networks and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2007 – Ongoing, tangible progress is being made in Iraq across security, economic and political fronts, U.S. officials said in Baghdad today. (Video) Ongoing anti-insurgent operations conducted by U.S. and Iraqi security forces and Iraqi citizens’ growing rejection of insurgent-instigated violence are producing gains against al Qaeda and other extremists, Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. “We are now in the sixth week of the surge in operations, and we’re seeing some tactical momentum,” Bergner said. Operations by Iraqi and U.S. forces “have made...

Each year Mexicans in the United States send billions of dollars in remittances back to Mexico. In 2006, Mexicans working north of the border sent back US$23 billion. Remittances have become (after petroleum) the second highest legal source of income for Mexico. And that’s one of several reasons why Mexican leaders don’t want emigration to end. But are these billions of dollars really helping Mexico? You might think so, but if you look at the Mexican regions that receive high levels of remittances, they’re not exactly booming economically. Take for example Michoacan, President Felipe Calderon’s home state. That state is...

Monday, Jun 04, 2007 "The differences between us and the Republicans are major. And I don't want anybody in America to be confused about that." – Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) (CNN, Democratic Presidential Debate, Manchester, NH, 6/3/07) At Last Night's Democrat Presidential Debate, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Laid Out Her Vision For American Prosperity: Sen. Clinton Promised She Would Do The "Hard Work" Of Increasing Taxes On The American People. "I think it's important to remember that six years ago, we had a balanced budget and a surplus. And we did that the old-fashioned way, by cutting spending and raising...

BAGHDAD — The deputy commander of Multi-National Division-West and the governor of Al-Anbar province held a press conference at the Combined Press Information Center Tuesday. U.S.Marine Corps Brig. Gen. John Allen, deputy commander of MND-W, and Mamoun Sami Rashid Al-Awani, the governor of Al-Anbar province, discussed the progression of security and stability in Al-Anbar province. “The Al-Anbar province is in transition,” said Allen. “The recent improvement in the security situation across the province has created significant political and economic opportunities.” Recently, Al-Anbar citizens have made several big steps engaging al-Qaeda in the province and have grown politically and economically closer...

For the past five weeks, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Islamic Moral Brigades have been clashing with groups of young Iranians on the streets of Tehran and other major cities over the government's crackdown on "immodest dress." The crackdown is seen by many Iranians as another step toward an even more suffocating social atmosphere in the crisis-stricken country. Both Mr. Ahmadinejad and his mentor, the "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claim that the way young Iranians dress is the most immediate threat to their Islamist dystopia. Iranians demonstrating against poor working conditions clash with a security official, May 1, 2007. Television footage...