Saturday, August 13, 2011

Stinging Blow to ObamaCare Delivered by 11th Circuit Court of Appeals

As reported here:

A divided three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Congress overstepped its authority when lawmakers passed the so-called individual mandate, the first such decision by a federal appeals court. It's a stinging blow to Obama's signature legislative achievement, as many experts agree the requirement that Americans carry health insurance — or face tax penalties — is the foundation for other parts of the law and key to paying for it.

The case will go next before either the full 11th Circuit or the US Supreme Court.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Newt Gingrich Rightly Slams Gang of Twelve on Secrecy

The DC has the story here. Newt called the Super Committee one of Washington's dumber ideas.

Sen. Rob Portman Will Shill for Gang of Six Taxes on Gang of Twelve

There's Portman on July 21 giving aid and comfort to the Gang of Six enemy while the US House is trying to push the only true plan to cut spending:


The bipartisan “Gang of Six” proposal on the deficit continues to draw attention from rank-and-file senators, even as House leaders come out in opposition to any plan that includes new revenues as part of a deal.

“It's a step in the right direction,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who was budget director under President George W. Bush, told us on ABC’s “Top Line” today. “It's the one effort out there where you've got Republicans and Democrats coming together. And I think it could actually mesh well with what I think is the ultimate solution here with regard to the debt limit increase.”

While many Republicans are pushing back against the notion of including revenues as part of any deal, Portman said tax reform must be built in to a bipartisan solution.

“We've signed up to the concept that we do need a bipartisan approach here, and it's got to deal with tax reform, and it's got to deal with the long-term problem -- which is sustainability of these entitlement programs,” Portman said.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

S and P 500 Downsy Daisy Upsy Daisy: Now 14 Percent Off April Highs

Another Jim Cramer machine-caused flash rally?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Watch For The Sucker Rally Starting From S and P 500 1100, She Says

“The sucker rally is what’s going to get people. Because then we’re going to implode from there.”

-- Kathy Boyle, president of Chapin Hill Advisors in New York, quoted here

People have been able to bank their gains comfortably in this cyclical bull for quite some time, but haven't because the alternative places to park profits all seem so unattractively high priced, and cash so unthinkable. Who wants to go from spectacular gains in equities to the somnolence of a money market account?

Trust me. Sleep is worth its weight in gold. And you're going to need it for what's coming.

S and P 500 Down 17.8 Percent Since April Highs


AP Reports Householders Converted to Renters Total 3 Million

With 3 million more expected by 2015:

Since the housing meltdown, nearly 3 million households have become renters. At least 3 million more are expected by 2015, according to census data analyzed by Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies and The Associated Press.

Read the rest of the story here, which says that the GSEs presently own 250,000 foreclosures.

Meredith Whitney's Caricature of Tea Party is Sexist and Liberal: Video and Transcript

She expressed her opinion on CNBC this morning (here is the video), saying the Tea Party is at bottom a phenomenon of unemployment, but composed mostly of freaked-out white men who've lost their jobs and their identities. She's obviously worried about it enough to offer advice to Machiavellian Democrats to defuse this supposed bomb before it's too late.

I guess she never examined the Gallup poll on the subject (here), which found that 45 percent of the Tea Party is female, is barely 5 percent more non-Hispanic white than the general population, and that the unemployment rate in the movement was lower than in the general population. Gallup concluded the Tea Party is fairly representative of the general population, unlike Whitney.

Sexist remarks start at 5:55 into the interview.

Translation: I'm a Machiavellian Democrat

Cost-Cutting and Job Creation Helped Republicans in Wisconsin

So says David Freddoso for The Washington Examiner here:


How did Republicans hold out? It hasn't hurt that Walker's reforms have dramatically helped school districts within the state save millions of dollars by abolishing the main Wisconsin teachers' union's insurance racket. Nor does it hurt that Wisconsin, under the business-friendly leadership of Walker and a Republican state legislature, created more than half of the jobs created in the United States during the month of June.

Republicans Keep Senate in Wisconsin Recalls Despite Millions Spent by Unions

The Republicans retained 4 of 6 seats in the unusual recall elections yesterday, narrowing their hold on the Wisconsin Senate to a 1 seat majority.

But two Democrats still face recalls next week. If they lose that would return the situation to the margins of the status quo ante and suggest that all the sound, fury and expense since March signified nothing, except folly.

Upwards of $35 million is being spent on the recalls, launched by angry unions and Democrats against Republicans under Governor Scott Walker who successfully pushed through legislation to curtail public union power over salaries and benefits in Wisconsin.

Read all about it at The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online, here:

By keeping a majority in the Senate, Republicans retained their monopoly on state government because they also hold the Assembly and governor's office. Tuesday's elections narrowed their majority - at least for now - from 19-14 to a razor-thin 17-16.

Republicans may be able to gain back some of the losses next week, when two Democrats face recall elections.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Jim Cramer's 'Machines' Cause Flash Rally, Reversing Some of Yesterday's Losses












Now 14 percent off the April highs.

S and P 500 is Almost 18 Percent Off the Recent Highs

And it's a long way back down to 683, another 39 percent.

Food Stamps in Michigan: 30K College Students Removed From Program

Who knew? Apparently that number on the program was huge, 10 times more than in other states.

New rules for eligibility are coming, requiring assets to be counted. Like lotto winnings.

The Detroit News has the story here:

Even after the recent removal of 30,000 college students from the food stamp program, close to 2 million Michigan residents — one in five — are on the program, [Brian] Rooney [Deputy Director, Department of Human Services] said.

Jim Cramer Blames The Machines


"You have to believe that it's related to the machines . . .."

Monday, August 8, 2011

Obama Talks Again of 'Balanced Approach' Meaning New Taxes, Market Tanks

CBS News reported here at 2:36 pm on the president's remarks made today after the lunch hour:

Mr. Obama noted that S and P attributed its downgrade in part to doubts about the U.S. political system's ability to act to reign in the nation's ballooning deficit and debt, and called for a "balanced approach" to deficit reduction - one that includes both tax increases on high earners and "modest adjustments" to Medicare and other health care programs.

At 1:47 pm the S and P 500 was down 56 points. At 2:18 pm it was down 67 points. By the close it stood at nearly 80 points down for the day:


Democrats Still Play The Dictator, Commit Crime Against Democracy: Attack Tea Party Over Credit Downgrade

Pat Caddell last September, referring to ramming ObamaCare down our throats:

"The Democrats had a chance to do this right — most people supported aspects of reform — but because of the way it was passed, as a crime against democracy, the country has simply not accepted it. The lies, the browbeating, the ‘deem and pass’ — all of it was a suicide mission. ...

“Democrats used to be the voice of the common man in America, not his dictator.”

The whole interview, here, is as applicable now as it was then.

China Lectures America While Failing To Comply With The Rules

From Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, here, who points out there is a dwindling supply of growth to steal from the future:

China has already pushed credit to 200pc of GDP. It cannot repeat the trick. ...

As for China's bluster, it is chutzpah and self-delusion. We all agree that the US needs to "cure its addiction to debts", but so will China soon.

China buys US debt in order to recycle $200bn a quarter in foreign reserves, hold down the yuan, and continue its mercantilist export strategy. If China had not distorted world trade in this fashion, the US would not be in such a mess.

Obama is Engineering the Decline of the American Republic

Rush Limbaugh said it, right?

No, Pete Wehner, here.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Real Clear Politics' Image of Obama Doesn't Match The Video

Are they having just a little too much fun?

We do that, but should they?

Seen here:

'And the glory of the Lord shone round about him.'

The Permabulls' Latest Ploy

You know your leg is being pulled when steep market declines are just flash crashes to be blamed on high frequency trading, but buying on the dips couldn't possibly be pre-programmed to cause flash rallies.

Have fun at the casino!