Federal Government Mortgage Bank

My cousin makes an interesting proposal

Almost everybody would like lower house payments, no federal income tax, and no more bailing out of the banking institutions. The new paradigm would be to have the federal government be the mortgage banker.  They would basically lend our own money back to us at 3 percent.


Use less than 1 percent of that to run the program and the remaining 2 + percent to finance the federal government budget.  Thus eliminating the need for an income tax.   Why do we need the bankers  to skim off of billions and billions?


Dana Erickson

_________

Interesting idea, Dana. The Feds kind of do that now through Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, FHA, and VA. But if the Feds Directly deposited funds in mortgage banks, with the banks making low interest loans to homebuyers? I don't see why this would not work. And the Feds could slow down the time on foreclosures during tought times to balance out poor economic times. 

I will pose the question to my mortgage banker friend and see what she thinks.

Craig

Unfair Attack

This email is zipping around.

"The President ordered the cabinet to cut a whopping $100 million from the $3.5 trillion federal budget! 

I'm so impressed by this sacrifice that I have decided to do the same thing with my personal budget.. I spend about $2000 a month on groceries, household expenses, medicine, utilities, etc, but it's time to get out the budget cutting ax, go line by line through my expenses, and cut back! 

I'm going to cut my spending at exactly the same ratio -1/35,000 of my total budget. After doing the math, it looks like instead of spending $2000 a month; I'm going to have to cut that number by six cents! 

Yes, I'm going to have to get by with $1999.94, but that's what sacrifice is all about. I'll just have to do without some things, that are, frankly, luxuries. 

(Did Obama actually think no one would do the math?) 

John Q. Taxpayer "

________________


Craig -  I did check the math and the date of the original Presidential order, and read the original article.


This order occurred at his first cabinet meeting back in early 2009.


By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer 
Monday, April 20, 2009


"President Obama plans to convene his Cabinet for the first time today, and he will order its members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days, according to a senior administration official.


Although the budget cuts would amount to a minuscule portion of federal spending, they are intended to signal the president's determination to cut spending and reform government, the official said."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/20/AR2009042000641.html
______________


I was going to put the original email on my blog as a legitimate hit on the Obama Administration until I saw the date of the original order. The email sounded like a pretty reasonable critique of the tax and spend President until you check the date and read the original article, which clearly states it is a first and symbolic action. To me the email is a pretty lame and partisan attack.


There are enough legitimate things on which to criticize the President. This is not one of them.

Photo from the Christian Science Monitor

Muammar al-Gaddafi

Great to see that Muammar al-Gaddafi appears to be on the way out. This clown is a murderous dictator who directed the bombing of the plane over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 259 people. And he has murdered and cheated his people for many years.

Now let us hope that the Libyans can create a decent government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_al-Gaddafi

Metro GDP

Map of metro percent change in real GDP per capita. Detroits problems are no surprise but Atlanta is unexpected.

Here are the top ten large metros:

Row	Metro	2001	2009	Pct Change
1	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	41,256	50,863	23.29%
2	Oklahoma City, OK	39,573	48,507	22.58%
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	67,299	79,604	18.28%
4	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA	44,252	51,035	15.33%
5	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	63,260	72,259	14.23%
6	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA	46,147	52,158	13.03%
7	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	59,801	67,344	12.61%
8	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	37,960	42,521	12.02%
9	Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY	31,160	34,472	10.63%
10	New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA	49,100	53,835	9.64%

Click to read the article

Wisconsin Budget Fights

The State of Wisconsin is gaining the national spotlights with their efforts to reduce governmental costs by lowering wages and or benefits of governmental workers. They are also trying to reduce the strength of their unions.


Progressives are outraged. They view this as a terrible attack. The Huffington Post article is typical of their views.


Click Here for the Progressive View


And Here


The conservatives are also outraged. 


Click Here for the Conservative View


And Here




The pundits have a vested interest in stirring the pot and getting everyone agitated so that they, the pundits, will get better ratings and more money. So in general you should recognize that and not get too angry about the situation.

My Moderate View

This is a pretty straight forward contests between the Conservatives who want to lower government costs, and the Progressives who want to keep benefits for their constituents which includes government employees. No surprise there.

It all depends on your viewpoint. If you were a government employee in Wisconsin, you would be on the Progressive side of the argument. If you were a Wisconsin tax payer, you would likely prefer the Conservative side of the argument.

It is interesting to note that the Conservatives are working on local government employees not including Police and Fire services. Police and Fire service folks have the highest benefit package in local government, but they are popular with Conservatives and in general supportive of conservatives, so their benefits and salary have not been targeted.

In the past government employees were paid less then the private sector. But several wrenching recessions have lowered real wages for the private sector, while government has continued to grant raises and more benefits to governmental workers. It is clear and obvious that private workers would resent this.

And of course as a resident of Illinois next to Wisconsin and a Chicago Bears fan still hurting after the Cheese Head Packers beat us, I say a pox on them. May their cheese curdle.

Socialism

Interesting Article in Inc Magazine on Norway - Sounds very good despite high taxes. I am 1/2 Norwegian - wonder if they would let me stay there?

In Norway, Start-ups Say Ja to Socialism

We venture to the very heart of the hell that is Scandinavian socialism—and find out that it’s not so bad. Pricey, yes, but a good place to start and run a company. What exactly does that suggest about the link between taxes and entrepreneurship?

Click to Read

Income Inequality

Mother Jones points out the growing income inequality in America. They use eight interesting charts and graphs in their presentation. The one below shows that most of the increases in income went to the top 1% and top 20% of households.

Much of this is due to the internationalization of the world economy. Our educated folks who create much of our wealth have benefited from our corporations expansion into the rest of the world. Our folks who are in manufacturing have been badly impacted, since they are competing with very low wage countries who are making so many things cheaply.  


Government workers have been insulated from many of these changes. But now governments must cut back drastically, and government employees will also share the cuts.


What to do about it?  The Democrats say increase subsidies to the poor. The Republicans say no to that - they want to grow the economy to resolve these issues.


How many more years will our production class folks suffer?  Probably for a very long time. China, India, and numerous other poor countries are making fast strides in manufacturing. And they have an enormous number of people who will be glad to take low wage jobs, which are still a big step up for them.


Not an easy problem.

Click to Read More

Tea Party Budget Cuts

Politics is always messy. Governments do have to get their budgets balanced. That is either increasing taxes, which is very unpopular, or lowering costs, which means cuts in spending, which usually means cutting people. Not easy or a good deal.


The Tea Party is proudly taking the lead in lowering Federal Expenditures. I think it would show great leadership for all of them to cut their pay and benefits 10% to show the rest of us how to do it.


Anyone want to bet on the chances of that change?

Went to a seminar on aging yesterday.


Very depressing.


We are getting older. I was shocked. SHOCKED!!


I am a hypochondriac so am now convinced I am getting that disease I can't remember the name of where you can't remember stuff.


Early signs are inability to remember, inability to do simple jobs you used to be able to do, depression, and irritability.


I have all those disabilities.


Medicines don't work well.


You should exercise, loose weight, control blood pressure and cholesterol, and stay mentally active.


The thought of all that really depressed me, so I ate cheeseburgers and drank red wine.


Problem solved. In fact I can' t remember why I was depressed.


Where am I?  Who am I?

Loonies

. Loonies to the Left of Me, Loonies to Right of me, 
Volleyed and Thundered

I find the flame throwing pundits on the left and right interesting. They often say outrageous things to get attention and ratings. And the ones who are good at it can become very rich. So there is a strong incentive to keep pushing the envelope and keeping your base aroused and indignant and listening.


Rush Limbaugh is the most successful on the right.  Ed Schultz is trying to do the same from the left.  Listening to these guys can be entertaining, but a little like having a fascination with nude mud wrestling - you don't really want people to know you like it. 


And you should not form your political opinions just by listening to them. And if you do listen to them, you should listen to their equivalent on the other side, to make sure what you learn is fair and balanced.


WARNING !  If you only listen to one side, your brain will begin to list left or right. This is of course dangerous to your mental health and to be avoided.






The Rush Limbaugh Show is the most listened to radio talk show in America, broadcast on over 600 radio stations nationwide. It is hosted by America's Anchorman, Rush Limbaugh, also known as:  America's Truth Detector; the Doctor of Democracy; the Most Dangerous Man in America; the All-Knowing, All-Sensing, All-Everything Maha Rushie; defender of motherhood, protector of fatherhood and an all-around good guy.



Why is the Ed Schultz Show hotter than a polar bear in Pensacola? Easy. Because he is so different from every other talk show host and TV host, and so much like the 3 million Ed Heads who tune him in for the unvarnished truth. He's a straight talking, no-nonsense voice of reason in unreasonable times

Defense Spending

Paul Krugman is one of my favorite liberal Economists. As he shows in the graph above and the article on the link below, defense spending has been steadily dropping as a percent of our national Gross Domestic Product. That does not mean it can't be cut more, but it does mean that cuts in defense spending will not solve our deficit problems. For that we either need more taxes, and/or cuts in entitlements.


Click to Read the Article

Federal Money Management

Click on the link below to see how your Federal Government takes care of your money. Pretty interesting.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJqM2tFOxLQ&feature=player_embedded

Emergency Response and Reconstruction Command

Proposal

The United States is frequently charged with resonding to emergencies and requirements to reconstruct areas after disasters and wars. And we are occasionally self tasked with  a nation building task such as our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This is very difficult and we do not do it very well. The military and various Federal agencies relearn the techniques frequently, throwing untrained people into a very difficult situation and telling them to figure it out on the fly. This is not the way to do it. This is the way we did it in New Orleans. And it is the way we did it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, and World War II.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND RECONSTRUCTION COMMAND

ERARC

I propose that we create a new major US Military Command that will focus on these important issues. It would be commanded by a four star General and have a large civilian component, including many agencies such as FEMA. This Command would train for emergency response and the nation building mission. It would be the major command for crisis and emergency response.

By creating a Command that focuses on Emergency Response and Nation Building we focus full time on these important issues. The Command would train and promote people based on their efforts and expertise in these areas.

Let us examine how we respond to emergencies. The Hurricane in New Orleans is a good example. The local and State response was poor. The Feds came in but were unfocused. It was not clear who was in charge and what they were doing. The new Command would be in charge day one, under the direction of the President.

This new Command would be the organization leading the rebuilding and development of Afghanistan and Iraq. Rather then tasking the best infantry trained General and conventionally trained troops to do the job we would task a General and personnel who were trained and experienced in these important issues.

Afghanistan`

Caught a presentation from the  U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan.  Pretty tough deal. The gentleman presenting thought they were doing good work, but that Afghanistan is so dysfunctional that nothing very good will result.


The United States helped set up the Afghan Government. It is very centralized with provincial Governors appointed by the central government. Afghanistan is tribal and fights all central authority. Not smart. This would not have been the military's call - sounds like some real smart guys from the State Department from Ivy League schools. Any workable government in a place like Afghanistan should have been a bottom ups democracy. 


One of these days we must leave.  


This long war does not seem to be headed anywhere good. We achieved our goal of stopping terrorist attacks on  the United States homeland. The fear is of course if we withdraw from the middle east and then a major terrorist attack on the US homeland results.  This keeps us in the war - afraid to leave.


Tough deal with no good options.
____________________


I met with another Marine Reserve friend. He tells me that some of his fellow Reserve Marines have made three deployments to the Gulf already, and are being required to go again. This is getting very disruptive for them, their families, and their full time civilian jobs.

Social Security - 3rd Rail

I received an email recently beating up on former Senator Alan Simpson. One paragraph stated that:


"3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud."
____________________________


Craig - Well, not exactly.  Social Security has generated a surplus for many years. It was "lent" to the regular part of the Federal Government and spent. So the Federal Government, of which we are a part, owes money to Social Security, of which we are a part. So we owe ourselves money. And we owe some money to foreign investors as well.


The system is set up as pay as you go, with current workers paying the Social Security of retirees. When the current workers retire they will receive money paid by younger workers. This would work forever, except that for some future years the pig in the python baber boomers are too great in number for a reduced number of workers to support, and because our great health care system keeps people alive much longer.


So, we either have to raise Federal government taxes, probably income taxes to "pay back" funds to the social security system, or raise social security taxes, or reduce social secrurity benefits, or raise the retirement age. 
_____


The original email points out why politicians all dodge and duck this issue. Simpson is actually one of the adults here, calling out that we need to fix this problem and gives a reasonable plan to fix the problem. And he can do this since he is no longer running for office. This is a classic example of killing the messenger.


We will eventually fix this. It is not that difficult. And those of us who are now Social Security age will probably adovocate for higher taxes, or higher retirement age for future retirees. In other words, keeping our kids working longer years to support us.


Is this a great country, or what?

_____________________

 Complete Email

THIS SENIOR CITIZEN NAILED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of Obama's deficit
commission, calls senior citizens "the Greediest Generation" as he
compared Social Security to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
August, 2010."

Here's a response in a letter from a unknown fellow in Montana ... I
think he is a little ticked off ! He also tells it like it is !

"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight...

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY
YEARS.

2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15
years old. I am now 63).

3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other
Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for
decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give
OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus
bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme
that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.

4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the
proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing
retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to
age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the
goalposts YET AGAIN.

5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare
from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the
game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to
such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the
bills.

6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our
entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why?
Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that
you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come
to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.

To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on
your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for
YOU.

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during
your pathetic 50-year political career?

2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and
how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the
American taxpayers?

3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?

4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you
proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual,
have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators who are
"greedy". It is you and they who have bankrupted America and stolen the
American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for
what? Votes. That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America 
for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You
know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.

PASS IT ON!!!!

"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an
intellectual could ignore or evade it" -- Thomas Sowe

Feds Teach Budgeting

I think this is pretty funny. The Federal Government is going to teach our children how to budget. Probably will use the Federal Government Department of Education. Thank heaven for the foresight and leadership of our Dear Leaders.

Lord, help us. Lord, hear our Prayer.

______________________________

U.S. Treasury Department
Office of Public Affairs

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION RELEASES ‘EDUCATOR TOOLKIT’
FOR THE 2011 NATIONAL FINANCIAL CAPABILITY CHALLENGE

Toolkit Includes Ready-to-Use Lesson Plans on Budgeting, Saving, Investing, and
Other Critical Skills That Will Help Students Build Secure Financial Futures

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the Obama Administration released a new “educator toolkit” with lesson plans that teachers can use to help students prepare for the upcoming 2011 National Financial Capability Challenge. The Challenge, which will include a voluntary online exam for high school students that begins as of March 7, helps teach young Americans about saving, budgeting, investing, and other important skills critical to building a strong financial future. The highest scoring students on the exam will be recognized through a national awards ceremony in Washington, DC and other high-scorers will receive official award certificates.   

“Empowering students with the knowledge they need to make smart financial choices about saving, budgeting, and investing for the future is good for the long-term strength of our economy,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “It will help ensure that young people have the skills they need to achieve financial security, and that will help us continue to build this recovery on a strong and sustainable foundation.”

“Our students need to graduate high school ready for college and career if they’re going to compete in a global economy,” said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.  “Incorporating financial literacy, through Treasury’s online educator toolkit or other significant learning materials, will encourage students to make smart long-term investments, such as preparing to pay for college.”  

The educator toolkit, which is available online starting today at http://www.challenge.treas.gov/toolkit, covers five core competencies of financial education: earning, spending, saving, borrowing, and protecting against risk. It includes a collection of lesson plans from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and non-profit organizations that are designed to help teach students important financial skills, such as developing a personal spending plan, balancing checking and savings accounts, understanding the costs of benefits of buying insurance, using credit wisely, minimizing exposure to identity theft, and making smart investments in their future through education.

Additionally, for the first time, this year’s educator toolkit will include interactive online lessons and Spanish-language materials. The toolkit can be used not only to help prepare students for the Challenge’s online exam, but also for year-round classroom instruction on financial capability.

More than 76,000 students and 2,500 educators in all 50 states participated in last school year's National Financial Capability Challenge. This year’s exam will be available online between March 7 and April 8, 2011. Educators can administer the exam to their students at any time during that window. To register for the Challenge, educators should visit http://www.challenge.treas.gov between now and April 8.

The Challenge is one of many important steps the Obama Administration has taken to help empower Americans through improved financial capability. In November, the Administration unveiled a new coordinated National Strategy for Financial Literacy to help guide the ongoing efforts of the federal government and private organizations to empower Americans with the financial skills they need to strengthen their long-term economic security and stability. Additionally, the Administration established the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to provide advice on how to maximize the effectiveness of existing private and public sector efforts, and to identify new approaches to increase financial capability.

In November, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, and U.S. Department of Education announced a new partnership to encourage schools and financial institutions to work together to increase students’ financial capability, access to federally-insured deposit accounts, and savings.  And  just last month, Treasury launched a pilot program to offer safe, convenient and low-cost financial accounts for the electronic delivery of federal tax refunds to those Americans with limited or no access to traditional banking services.

Irena Sendler - Profile in Courage

During WWII Irena Sendler saved numerous children from  the Nazi holocaust. She managed to smuggle out 2500  children. She was caught and her. Irena kept a record  of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept  them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.  After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have  survived it  and reunited the family.  Amazing courage. http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/sendler.asp http://www.irenasendler.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Sendler _____________________   Let us never forget!