Dec 2011
Kabuki financial theatre – Congress net worth up 15 percent from 2004 to 2010 while the average American sees their net worth decline by 8 percent in the same timeframe. Welcome to plutocrat USA.
We truly have the best government money can buy. From 2004 to 2010 members of Congress increased their median net worth by 15 percent while the average American saw it fall by 8 percent. Yet this fall in net worth does little justice to the rising cost of food, energy, healthcare, and college expenses that have eaten away any iota of progress families try to achieve in a prosperous nation. The fact that Congress presided over a Wall Street pilfering of the middle class and income inequality never seen in the history of the United States, we are starting to get a full understanding of what it is to live in a full-fledged plutocracy.What is the median household income in the US? A crisis spanning multiple generations and the taboo of household income.
Household income is a taboo topic even though people have a visceral enjoyment of spending their hard earned money. As we go out and spend during this holiday season many people have absolutely no clue what other family members or neighbors make . Some would argue that household income is absolutely private and I would agree to a certain point.
How much does the Average American Make? Breaking Down the U.S. Household Income Numbers.
How much does the typical American family make? This question is probably one of the most central in figuring out how we can go about fixing our current economic malaise. After all, we don’t hear many people saying in today’s world that they have too much money. The median household income in the United States is $46,326 . Here in California people have a hard time understanding that yes, 50 percent of our population live on $46,000 or less a year.
I was thinking about writing a novel about what might happen if a man who hates America and wants to bring it down is somehow elected president. What would he do? I sketched out a few plot elements, and you can decide whether this will fly. First, the Trojan Horse president would initiate unprecedented spending, driving the debt up by more than $4 trillion just in the first three years.
KNIGHT: Our Trojan Horse president
By Jessica Wohl Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:48pm IST (Reuters) - Retailers were bracing for a busy day on Monday, as a day off for many Americans and warm, dry weather were expected to entice shoppers looking for deep discounts. Chains were also hoping that shoppers coming in to redeem the millions of gift cards given as presents might be willing to spend a bit more cash of their own.
U.S. stores hope for Mega Monday of brisk sales
Police: Several Fights At MOA, 9 Arrested
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) – Police arrested nine people at the Mall of America Monday, the day after Christmas, after multiple fights broke out, authorities said. Mall of America officials released a statement saying that around 4:20 p.m. 50 juveniles caused a large disturbance in the north food court. Witnesses said the fights started after there were reports that rappers Lil’ Wayne and Drake were visiting the Mall. Police, however, did not comment on these rumors.
Given what happened to UBS ($780mm in fines), the other banks have no choice but to fold and hand over the info. This second story ratchets things up a bit and brings it home:( Link ) A federal district court judge has given the Internal Revenue Service permission to serve a “John Doe” summons on the California State Board of Equalization demanding the names of residents who transferred property to their children or grandchildren for little or no money, from 2005 to 2010. The IRS has used John Doe summons to seek lists of American taxpayers unreported offshore accounts at Swiss Bank UBS and at HSBC’s bank in India.
The IRS & DOJ Are Grabbing New Powers In The Hunt For Revenue
Court Description: ORDER signed by Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. on 12/15/2011 GRANTING 4 Renewed Petition for Leave to Serve "John Doe" Summons filed by United States of America.
Document 6 :: United States of America v. John Doe :: 2:2010mc00130 :: California Eastern District Court :: US Federal District Courts Cases
Dec 18, 2011 - 17:19 The United States authorities have offered to lift the threat of legal action against 11 Swiss banks in exchange for information, a Swiss paper reported on Sunday. The SonntagsZeitung says it has discovered that Michael Ambühl, who heads the Swiss state secretariat for international financial matters, and who has been conducting negotiations with the US authorities for several months, presented representatives of the banks with the deal on Friday. It quotes “one of those involved” as saying each of the 11 banks will be offered a deal similar to that accepted by the UBS bank in 2009 after it was discovered that it had helped US clients to hide their assets from the US tax authorities.
US offers Swiss banks a tough deal to avoid prosecution, says SonntagsZeitung
US Stocks: Stocks Slump 1%, Led by Materials; Vix Jumps - US Business News
Stocks finished near their worst levels Wednesday, with the S&P falling into negative territory for the year, as the euro tumbled and investors remained on the sidelines amid what is expected to be a light news week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 139.94 points, or 1.14 percent, to finish at 12,151.41, led by BofA and Alcoa. The S&P 500 fell 15.79 points, or 1.25 percent, to end at 1,249.64, snapping a five-day winning streak and slipping back into negative territory for 2011. The Nasdaq tumbled 35.22 points, or 1.34 percent, to close at 2,589.98.US Stocks: Dow Logs Gain in Volatile 2011; S&P Ends Flat - US Business News
Themes to Watch for in 2012 Expectations for a good year in 2012, with David Sowerby, Loomis Sayles and Ryan Detrick, Schaeffer's Investment Research. The SEC got a fresh dressing-down from the judge who rejected its $285 million settlement with Citigroup , as he said the regulator kept him out of the loop on its efforts to salvage the case. Meanwhile, Verizon scrapped its proposal to charge customers an extra fee for some payment types, citing “customer feedback.”“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” - Mark Twain I published my predictions for 2011 on January 3, 2011 in my article 2011 – The Year of Catch-22 . Humans evidently enjoy being embarrassed by how pitiful they are at predicting the future, because we continue to do it year after year. The mainstream media pundits don’t dare look back at their predictions or the predictions of the Wall Street shills that parade on CNBC and get quoted in the Wall Street Journal, eternally predicting 10% to 15% stock market gains.