With debt negotiations stalling in Washington, gold is reaching new highs, standing at $1,622.49 an oz early Monday, while the USdollar is falling against the Swiss Franc and Yen. Investors are getting increasingly nervous with the debt ceiling dilemma still unresolved. The Dow Jones and S&P opened lower on Monday, with the only sign of life being companies like Apple. Moody's and the S&P are now saying that even if a short-term debt deal is passed, it may not be enough to stop a credit rating adjustment, and on Saturday warned that the "reductions of the magnitude now being proposed, if adopted, would likely lead Moody's to adopt a negative outlook on the AAA rating." Neither plan will save the United States. This is an ill omen for markets around the world, which have so far been unaffected by the crisis. Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, is trying to ease investor fears of default, saying, "We never do that. It's not going to happen." Reid and Boehner are writing their own bills, hoping that by presenting both that the talks would be reinvigorated. After being ditched on Sunday by members of Congress, Obama has decided to stay away, in a bid that his absence will breed results. However, on Monday he again called for a plan that would slash spending but also raise revenues (a nice word for taxes) for large corporations and the rich. I think Obama is correct in trying to incorporate measures from both parties, but the U.S. is still going to be left with obligations which it can't pay back, with a Chinese official saying the U.S. has already technically defaulted by weakening its dollar. On Wednesday, just six days before the deadline, both the Senate and the House had to scrap their plans and restart.
Members in Congress weren't just unable to come to an agreement between Democrats and Republicans, it was also hard on the individual party level. Boehner didn't have enough votes from his own party to pass his bill through the House on Tuesday, so he later placed a balanced-budget amendment into his plan, hoping that it would give it enough Tea Party support. However, the Senate Majority leader said he would kill the Republican bill in the Senate, mentioning “this is likely our last chance to save this nation from default.” None the less, he said that he would present something to the Senate on Friday--possibly some agreement between the two bills from both chambers. Jay Carney, a White House spokesman, lamented on the proposed plans, "We have a divided government. We have a two-party system. No party controls every branch of government. Compromise is the only option", but ironically, Boehner's bill was ridiculed and compared to the Grinch who stole Christmas by the White House because of its two-step process, saying “Happy Holidays America: Boehner plan would have the debt ceiling all over again during the holiday season, which is critical for the economy.” Insult slinging like this is one of the main factors in why a package hasn't been passed yet, with Carney calling the GOP "incredibly juvenile" and actively "trying to stick the President with default" on Fox News. Obama said he would veto the two-part bill if it managed to get through anyway. To show how far down the line we are getting, a group of House Democrats, led by Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), are calling on the President to raise the debt limit if Congress can't pass one in time. They are invoking the 14th Amendment and the phrasing that the US government's debt validity "shall not be questioned". Clyburn later compared this measure to the Emancipation Proclamation, saying, "It was an Executive Order. We integrated the armed services by Executive Order. We integrated public schools by Executive Order. Sometimes executives must order that things get done." Obama has said in the past that he will not use the amendment to raise the ceiling, though lamented that is was "very tempting" at a La Raza conference last week. The crowds reaction to this creeps me out. As of Saturday, July 30th, Boehner's bill passed the house but was quickly killed by Reid in the Senate. Now it appears both bills are dead, with only three days left to go.
A Republican representative from Iowa, Steve King warned that Obama risked impeachment if a bill did not pass, and he may be right. Americans will be rioting in the streets if their Social Security and Medicare checks do not go out, a possible refreshing turnaround from peoples' normal boredom with real issues. And honestly, the president may deserve it. Earlier in the week, a Republican aide reported that a two-part bipartisan plan proposed by Reid and McConnell, which would raise the short-term debt and follow that by further conferences "to find long-term savings", was rejected by the White House. This is laughable, and goes to show that Obama does not hold the American people above his own stalwart beliefs. At the end of the week, we are still left without a solution, and Obama could have fixed it. In Europe, Moody's cut Greece's debt rating to Ca, bringing the country even closer to default, saying, "The announced EU programme... implies that the probability of a distressed exchange, and hence a default, on Greek government bonds is virtually 100%." This makes Athens' rating the lowest in the world and almost guaranteed to default. Fears are also burgeoning in the UK, with growth falling well below forecasts. The economy only grew by 0.2% in the second quarter, stoking accusations that the UK may also lose its Aaa standing. Healthcare rationing is now being ratcheted up in the country, with procedures like "hip replacements, cataract surgery, and tonsil removal" being held from the public. Meanwhile in Italy and Spain, bonds are declining with fear that the aid Europe provided for may not be enough. In Michigan, more populated sections of Detroit will be given higher levels of services, with "things like tree trimming, attracting businesses, code enforcement and public lighting will get more attention in the city's best neighborhoods" (CNBC). Sections will also be decided on their ability to survive into the future. Bank of America has plans in Detroit and other Midwest cities including Cleveland and Chicago to donate houses to a "local agency that manages blighted property," which then would destroy the properties. Detroit is dying, and we shall see it in our lifetime.
The West, which stood at the peak of civilization for almost 300 years, may finally be falling behind other nations beating them at the their own game. Both the dollar and the euro stand on precarious grounds, with the stock market falling in America on Friday upon news that growth slowed to an "anemic" pace because of the Japan disaster and the threat of a government shutdown in the first quarter, and actually was precariously near contracting into a recession. Second quarter growth fell well behind projections at 1.3%, and the first quarter was revised to 0.4% from 1.9%, with economists fixing the projected growth for the 4th quarter down to 2.3% from 3.1%. Buried at the bottom of the article linked above by Lucia Mutikani is that inflation in the US (not including food prices mind you) rose to 2.1%, higher than the Fed's sought after 2.0%. Inflation numbers have been baked for a long time by not including commodities like food, and focusing on real estate values. These numbers are scary, and with the debt talks still stalled in Washington are economy is fast approaching a cliff. It's easy to lose the confidence you have, and hard to get it back. Latest financial news show that Apple, the largest tech company in the world, has more cash than the United States Treasury. Matt Rosof in a Business Insider article reports that "in other words, the world's largest tech company has more cash than the world's largest sovereign government. That's because Apple collects more money than it spends, while the U.S. government does not."
The biggest municipal default in the history of the US is being prepared in Alabama's Jefferson County. Two county commissioners claim there is an 80% chance of defaulting. With a debt over $3 billion and the largest population in the state, the impact of this will be unprecedented. In the coming months and years watch this become common, for cities and states as well. According to a Washington Post-ABC New Poll, almost a third of Americans believe that the President is hurting the economy, and their lives, with his policies. The other side of the aisle was not left out of the peoples' scorn however, with an equal number blaming the Republicans for the current state of affairs. On jobs, they are even more angry, with 65% blaming the GOP and 52% Obama, with the overwhelming majority being down on the nation's economy and the ease of finding a job (90% and 80% respectively). The break down of the party structure is in its early stages. People no longer care who is in Washington, only that something is being done to help their lives (or stay out for us Libertarian minded persons). More critically perhaps, the president is losing the support of liberal Dems, including African Americans, with one article reporting that minorities have the largest wealth gap from whites in history. Even Bernie Sanders, an Independent Senator from Vermont who usually sides with the Dems on issues, said recently, "I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition." If Obama is going to win the next election, he needs to regain support not only from the liberals, but also the independents who voted for him 2008, And he also has to work on job growth, which was at a 3-month high at the end of July--judged by how many people are applying for unemployment benefits. However, Bloomberg's Consumer Confident Index decreased to negative 46.3 and only six percent of people had faith that economy was in good shape.
While most of Congress worked to raise the debt ceiling, a secret committee met to talk about a surveillance bill which was passed during George W. Bush's tenure. It approves 16 spy agencies activities and was set to expire in 2012. The Obama administration has made it clear that it doesn't want that to happen. The surveillance state is spinning out of control. Soon there will no bastion of privacy left. The TSA is preparing new behavior detecting strategies for airports, with Pistole has said will involve more dialogue with passengers. These procedures have been quite effective in Israel; however, they involve more racial and religious profiling.
Europe is on high alert after Anders Breivik told a judge that there are two similar cells which exist within the EU. His lawyer, Geir Lippesad, says the killer is insane and was on drugs when he was shooting to make him more 'strong and efficient'. He is currently on suicide watch. Anders believed his terrorist actions were in attempt to save the Continent and Christendom from the danger of Islam after admitting to both incidents (in Oslo and on the massacre on Utoeya isle). He, however, denied committing in any criminal activities and any thing he did was in fact a way to stop the encroachment of "Marxists" and "Muslims" into European society. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the PM of Norway in the '80s and '90s and a member of the Labor party, was his "main target" because of her liberal policies which allowed more foreigners to enter the country. However, she had left Utoeya before he arrived because he was "delayed". According to his manifesto, the killer's intentions were to bring about a cultural revolution. In his mind, the huge threat of multiculturalism and Islam needs to be extirpated, wanting to drive out the invaders and remake a Christian Europe. Interestingly, in several pictures he appears in Free Mason garb and was a member of group proclaiming to be a new age Knights Templar. The alternative press are already declaring that this was an inside job akin to 911, 711, and Oklahoma City, with drills taking place in Oslo the day before the attack happened. Could Breivik's rampage be a distraction away from the imminent threat of Greece's default, and the spreading contagion across Europe? It also coincides with American propaganda warning about "White al-Qaeda". The DHS released a video last week which depicts white terrorists attempting to bomb American targets. Daniel Taylor of Infowars reports that western governments will now move inward against their own citizens to root out terrorism. Always be suspicious of these attacks. Who is to gain the most? Do their stories hold up after further scrutiny? No killing is commendable, ever--not by you, not by your government. It was reported by Alex Jones' Prison Planet on Monday that Anders' name was known by the police before they arrested him. This discrepancy is strange--why did they know his name? There has also been conspiracy theories bristling around why it took 90 minutes for the authorities to reach Utoeya, and that when they approached him, they asked him for him by name. Parts of his 1,500 page Manifesto have been directly plagiarised from the Unabomber's Manifesto, with only key words changed to match his ideology, it was discovered. The Western media has linked his choice to steal from Kaczynski without crediting him to his extremist beliefs. There has been some speculation that his Facebook and twitter profiles may have also been tampered with, changing his religion to Christian and politics to conservative after the shooting took place. In a WND article, there is even some question what religion he identified with. Breivik writes, "As this is a cultural war, our definition of being a Christian does not necessarily constitute that you are required to have a personal relationship with God or Jesus." Some see this attack as a possible globalist retaliation against Norway's support of Palestine in the coming September UN vote for recognition, and its planned leave of Libya airspace in August.
Russia warned the US Wednesday that if Congress passes legislation critical of Russia's human rights record it will no longer cooperate with the US on Iran and start selling dangerous materials to Afghanistan. Recent leaks have made the situation between the Americans and Russians more ice-y. It was revealed that the Eastern country may have played a part in the 2008 explosion at the American embassy in Georgia. It was not immediately clear why. The Federation has played in an intimate role recently in brokering negotiations with Libya. It also has a growing influence across the Mid East and fears the Americans are encroaching on its historical territory. As if also to spite Washington, Russian officials announed plans to end the International Space Station in 2020. Petulant politicians on the other side of the Pacific blasted Moscow for bluffing, as Putin mentioned he is thinking of returning to the presidency in 2012. In China, officials proclaimed its intentions to refit an imported Soviet aircraft carrier Wednesday, and that it would be attempting to build two of its own. This is an escalation of tension in the region, with the Chinese telling the Americans to keep its spy planes from its coast after a PRC jet 'repelled' a US craft near Taiwan last month. China has been stalking up on missiles and submarines and launched its largest amphibian dock landing warship, Jinggangshan, which can hold "1,000 soldiers, helicopters, armored fighting vehicles, boats and landing craft" recently. The Asians are increasing their military spending as America looks to pull back its. It appears that OPEC will soon be led by a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Commander Rostam Ghasemi is on the fast track to head the cartel of oil producing nations. This is a strategical move by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who is on razor's edge with the Ayatollah controlled Guard. By positioning the Commander at the seat of OPEC, he may ameliorate tensions between Khamenei and himself. Ghasemi himself has had sanctions placed on him from the U.S., EU and Australia. China and Iran have also been cozy-ing up to each other with their oil-goods swap talks. An alliance in the East may be a headache for the West, which is still threatened by Iran's increasingly brazen attempts at creating a nuclear warhead and proxy battles in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Yemen.
Iranian Qassem Suleimani, a man as illusive as Keyser Soze, is said to be the real honcho in charge in Iraq, with growing influence in the Muslim world, including Syria. His name is spoken with both reverence and fear inside the sectarian country--his deadly al-Quds force is responsible for all but two of the military deaths of Americans (under the guise of the Keta'ib Hezbollah and the Promised Day Brigades) in June and has been allied with Assad's force in Syria squelching unrest. A record number of Iranian weapons are being found in Iraq, proving the that the Shia country is trying to stoke unrest and keep Iraq in a stable form of chaos. The three-star army general, Mike Oates, said, “Their intent is to bleed U.S. forces on the way out of Iraq for some sort of moral victory, as well as to reestablish coercive control over Iraqi governors in the south by showing off their capacity to carry out these kinds of sophisticated attacks.” In Syria, a voice of the protests, a songwriter, was found with his throat carved out, a warning from the regime to scare its dissenters. Syria demonstrators are disappearing at a rate of one every hour, according to a Guardian article. 12,617 activists are still being held by the government. On the other side of the border, Turkey's military chiefs resigned in protest of Erdogan's treatment of other senior officers. Turkey needs to show a united front against the specter of Iran if they want to maintain their influence in the region. NATO has yet to comment on the incident. Protesters, including the Muslim Brotherhood and more conservative Islamic groups like the Salafists, poured into Tahir Square in Egypt this week, in protest of the delayed trials of Murbarak and police officers who shot demonstrators earlier in the year. A New York Times article reports that they want to overthrow the military regime, which they see as a continuation of the outed president's government, and implement Sharia law. A pipeline going into Israel from Egypt was attacked again. No one was killed, but it is a worrying sign that the post-revolution country may be sliding into anarchy, with one blogger calling the protests in Tahir Friday, “The Friday of Disunity: A carnival of reaction and bigotry.” NATO's campaign in Libya may also be falling apart, with a rebel leader Younes getting shot by people on his own side Thursday and the Obeidis, his tribe, declaring revenge on the perpetrators. Both the UK and the US were considering allowing the rebels to open an embassy in their capitals (laughable because of al-Qaeda's presence in the group), but the insurgency is losing ground and credibility in Libya.
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