Does Minimum Wage Hurt Workers?

What We Can Do To Balance The Budget: Video

The Bad Outlook for the Working Class American Man

MODERN TIMES/ROY EXPORT S.A.S. SCAN COURTESY CINETECA DI BOLOGNA

From:  The National Journal
by: Jonathan Rauch

This is an excellent read, it covers the reality of the American economy today and the truth.  I just had to include it here.  

"The higher you stood on the income ladder, the better you did; the highest-paid 1 percent of earners soared above and away from everyone else, practically occupying an economy of their own. By contrast, the bottom 90 percent of earners—which is to say, almost everyone—saw barely any increase, and much of what they did see came in the boom years of the late 1990s."

If the American economy were an automobile, you would say the transmission is failing. The engine works, but not all wheels are getting power. To put the matter less metaphorically: The economy no longer reliably and consistently transmits productivity gains to workers. The result is that many millions of Americans, in particular less-skilled men, are leaving the workforce, a phenomenon the country has never seen before on the present scale.

Well. That was a mouthful. It certainly bites off more than Washington’s polarized politicians can handle at the moment. In the next few months, they need to worry about the so-called fiscal cliff, the round of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that, if not averted, might start a recession. Plus a politically vexing debt-limit bill, which will need to be passed early in 2013. Plus a recovery that, for many Americans, feels more like a recession. (The median family income fell as much during the first two years of the recovery as it did during the two years of the recession itself, according to the Pew Research Center.) Plus a debt crisis and downturn in Europe. Isn’t that enough?

Sadly, no. The U.S. economy has weakened, and much needs fixing—beyond the fiscal cliff—if it’s to regain its strength. A reelected President Obama and a still-divided Congress face a lengthy To Do list for the economy. We’ve chosen eight entries: innovation, jobs, rising health care costs, entitlement programs,  college-completion rates, infrastructure, housing, and retirement security. None of them will be easy to fix.

But first, let’s consider a nexus of troubling economic trends that seem to be driving and deepening many of the specific problems—and may prove to be the most intractable problem of all. If economic strength means anything, it is that the economy can make almost everyone better off, thereby strengthening the country’s social fabric as well as its balance sheet. Such an economy unites rather than divides us.

Today’s economy, by that standard, is struggling. Its ability to deliver rising living standards across the income spectrum is in decline, and perhaps also in question. “This is a fundamental problem,” says Robert J. Shapiro, the chairman of Sonecom, an economic consultancy in Washington. “This is America’s largest economic challenge. People can no longer depend on rising wages and salaries when the economy expands.”

As other articles in this issue suggest, a number of policy responses are on the agenda already, such as creating jobs, helping more students finish college, and reducing wage-denuding health care inflation. Others, such as reforming the federal disability program, have yet to attract much notice. In truth, however, the extent of Washington’s ability to repair the economy’s gearbox is an open question, because the problem is complex. It implicates not just one slipped gear but many: disruptions in long-established connections between productivity and earnings, between labor and capital, between top earners and everyone else, between men and work, between men and marriage. Together, they are bringing the economy to a place where a large and growing group of people—indeed, whole communities—are isolated from work, marriage, and higher education. That place might look like today’s America, only with a larger welfare state. But it might just as easily bring social unrest and class resentment of a magnitude the country hasn’t known before.

SLIPPING GEARS

Begin with Chart 1. It shows one of the most basic of all economic relationships, that between productivity and hourly compensation. Productivity measures the value of the output (brake pads, stock transactions) a worker produces in, say, a day; compensation is a measure of earnings that includes the value of benefits such as health insurance. The chart also shows compensation for all U.S. workers and specifically for workers in production and nonsupervisory jobs—blue-collar and clerical jobs, for example.

For decades, productivity and compensation rose in tandem. Their bond was the basis of the social compact between the economy and the public: If you work harder and better, you and your family will be better off. But in the past few decades, and especially during the past 10 years or so, the lines have diverged. This is slippage No. 1: Productivity is rising handsomely, but compensation of workers isn’t keeping up.

More...

Congress is About to Pass A Bill That Restricts, Travel, International Banking and Driving

Congress Is About To Pass A Bill That Restricts traveling, driving and international banking
April 18, 2012 Madrid, Spain
Reposted from: Business Insider

The U.S. Passport Act of 1926 is an obscure piece of legislation that was enacted decades ago when the idea of passports started catching fire around the world. Subsequently absorbed into U.S. Code Title 22, the law was originally intended to authorize and issue passports for . .citizens to travel abroad.

Several years ago, the law was modified to provide the Secretary of State with the authority to revoke or deny a passport to any U.S. citizen convicted of engaging in immoral acts with minors overseas. Until now, this has been the only instance of excluding a U.S. citizen from travel abroad. But if Senator Barbara Boxer gets her way, there’s going to be one more.

As part of Senate Bill 1813 (known as MAP-21), Congress has inserted language that would oblige the Secretary of State to revoke or deny a passport to any U.S. citizen who the IRS Commissioner deems as having "seriously delinquent tax debt." For the purposes of MAP-21, "seriously delinquent tax debt" is defined as an amount in excess of $50,000 in which a notice of lien or levy has been filed in public records.

Bear in mind, this is strictly an administrative procedure; there is no due process. By comparison, even pedophiles go in front of a judge before losing their passports. Something is wrong with this picture. News of the 1676-page bill has broken across mainstream media outlets. Forbes, Fox Business, the Atlantic, BusinessWeek … everyone is reporting on this now. So far, though, no one in Washington has shown any intention of backing down.

I’ve taken the time to actually read the entire bill myself … I wanted to ensure that I understood it fully before telling you about it. And believe it or not, there are even dumber provisions within. For starters, in what may be one of the most depraved Big Brother moves on record, section 31406 of the bill makes it mandatory for "black box" event recorders to be installed in every new passenger vehicle starting with model year 2015.

Section 31504 requires the development of special alarm systems designed to remind drivers that there are other passengers in the vehicle. Duh. Then there are provisions for more taxpayer funding to subsidize the massively loss-making Amtrak … plus calls to develop more national, regional, and state-owned railways across the country.

Perhaps most important, though, is Title II of the bill – "Stop Taxhaven Abuse." Long story short, if the U.S. government decides in its sole discretion that a foreign jurisdiction is impeding tax enforcement, Uncle Sam can shut them out of the U.S. financial system, no questions asked. It’s just another measure to turn foreign banks into unpaid spies of the federal government … and limit financial freedom for U.S. citizens. This is a bully move, plain and simple.

Most of the global financial system depends on U.S. banks for correspondent accounts. When you wire money from Cambodia to Brazil, for example, the funds pass through New York. But these kill switch provisions are actually on very shaky legal ground. As several banker and attorney friends of mine in popular offshore jurisdictions like Panama and Labuan have told me, the new bill violates a host of trade agreements. Moreover, it may prove to be the final nail in the coffin for U.S. dominance in global banking … it’s almost as if Congress is daring the international community to come up with a better alternative.

As China opens its currency and economy more and more each day, it seems painfully obvious that a new solution is coming soon. Meanwhile, U.S. citizens would do well to start focusing on taking action while the window is still open. This involves seeking a second passport (lest you have yours revoked), moving gold out of the country, and establishing a foreign bank account.

Loretta Napoleoni: Rogue Economics

Rogue Economics explained, grab a cup of tea and sit down to watch.

Capitalism and Slavery- Rogue Economics

This is an interview on Democracy Now with a genial Italian economists Loretta Napoleoni. She explains why there is a current economic crisis, both in America and in Europe in a nutshell. The theory of Rogue Economics helps to put our situation into a different perspective in an intelligent and understanding manner.

Former Bank Employees Speak Out - Interviews

Former credit card department bank employees speak out regarding unethical credit card bank practices and incentives for the employees to make more money by gearing the customers into programs that are more profitable for the banks. They were encouraged to target the women and not the men to make these decisions. Even when the spouse tells the bank that their husband is serving overseas, they were told not to tell the customer about lower interest rates.

The Truth About Fraud and Bank of America Foreclosure

This video is spoken by Florida congressman Alan Grayson. He provides examples of the frauds and explains how the fraud works in true life events. He speaks against the power of the banks over the power of the people. He talks about robo-signers, false signatures, 60% of the U.S. mortgages are processed through the Bank of America. Courts have refused to believe that the robo-signers exist. He shows examples of the forged signatures. Factories of Fraud. The banks makes their money from foreclosures, not customers services; that is a $6,000 dollar profit.

Why Bank of America Fired Me

A women speaks about her personal experience as a customer service agent. She share how uncomfortable she was doing the things that they were requiring her to do in her job. She talks about the 29.99% interest rates for low income Americans. The $39.00 late fees and $39.00 over the limit fee and $15.00 inconvenience fee and how she had to deny those who did not make enough money to get on a lower interest rate, lower monthly requirement program.

No Wage Change in 30 Years

The people have been living with wage decline since republicans have had a voice in government!

For working people the economy has been in recession since 1973.
The GOP and the rich corporatra¬tists have made a mess of everything¬.
1. Before 1973, The inflation Adjusted Median Income rose at 2.5% per year:

1953 = $22,648
1973 = $34,762

2. From 1973 to 2009, Inflation Adjusted Median Income fell by $2,578.

1973 = $34,762
2009 = $32,184
U.S. Census

3. The same thing shows up in Weekly Earnings.

All earners:

1979 = $339
2008 = $339

No Change over 30 years

Men:
1979 = $412
2010 = $389

DECREASE of $23/week
BLS

4. While per capita GPD has doubled:

1969 = $21,021
2010 = $42,517
USDA

5. This is accomplish by shifting the income distributi¬on:
Share Of Aggregate Income by Quintile:

BOTTOM 20% - 1967: 4.0% 2009: 3.4% Change: -0.6%
LOWER MIDDLE - 1967: 10.8% 2009: 8.6% Change: -2.2%
MIDDLE CLASS - 1967: 17.3% 2009: 14.6% Change: -2.7%
UPPER MIDDLE - 1967: 24.2% 2009: 23.2% Change: -1.0%
UPPER CLASS - 1967: 43.6% 2009: 50.3% Change: +6.7%
BLS

Bottom line message: WORK MORE, PRODUCE MORE, BUT GET LESS”

Comparrison of the debt under different proposals

According to the CBO from 2012 to 2022:

I. Obama's Proposals:
a. Extends Bush Tax Cuts.
b. Repeals Alternative Minimum Tax AMT.
c. No Medicare Reductions.

These add $2.7-trillion to the deficit.

II. Ryan/Romney's Proposals:
a. Extends Bush Tax Cuts.
b. Repeals Alternative Minimum Tax AMT.
c. Tax cut for those making more than $1 million
d. A 20% cut to all tax rates.
e. Increase military spending by 4% GPD.

These add $8.3-trillion to the deficit, THREE TIMES AS MUCH AS OBAMA.

III. Sa.nt.or.um's Proposals:
a. Extends Bush Tax Cuts.
b. Repeals Alternative Minimum Tax AMT.
c. Cuts capital gains to 12%
d. Cuts personal taxes across board
e. Cuts corporate taxes by 1/2

These add $6-trillion to the deficit, or TWICE AS MUCH AS OBAMA

WalMart Stirs Concern over Workers Compensation System

By: Becca Aaronson
9 April 2012

When Walmart, one of Texas’ largest private employers, dropped out of the state’s workers’ compensation system in March, it was a heavy blow to advocates of the system who have watched more large companies offer private — and in many cases, less generous — injury benefits.

Texas is the only state in the country that allows employers of any size to decline to carry state-regulated workers’ compensation coverage. Businesses administer their own injury benefit programs, reaping big cost savings in exchange for exposing themselves to heightened liability risks. Target, for example, began administering its own injury care policy in 2005.

Fifteen percent of Texas businesses with more than 500 employees do not carry state workers’ compensation coverage, according to a 2010 survey conducted by the Texas Department of Insurance.

Daniel Morales, a spokesman for Walmart, said the company is “sort of late to the game” of switching to its own program. The new policy gives the company “an opportunity to provide better care for our associates while also better managing our costs,” he said.

Opponents of large companies forgoing the state system, like Rick Levy, a lobbyist for the AFL-CIO, say the practice poses a “real threat” to the workers’ compensation system. He said it puts competitive pressure on companies that remain in the system to find similar cost-savings in their budgets.

“You end up punishing the folks that are trying to do the right thing by making their life more difficult as this other option becomes more prevalent,” he said.

But Bill Minick, president of PartnerSource, which has designed injury benefit policies for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, including Walmart, said these private plans restore the balance between adequate benefits and employee accountability. Many of them require employees to report injuries in a timely manner, visit pre-approved physicians and follow medical advice, he said.

Terry Frakes, senior vice president of public affairs at Texas Mutual, the largest provider of workers’ compensation coverage in Texas, said he believes the benefits for injured employees are not as good under the private plans.

For example, Walmart’s in-house plan caps total medical coverage at $300,000 for individual injuries, compared with lifetime coverage for the injury under state workers’ compensation. The Walmart plan provides 90 percent of lost wages for injured employees for up to 120 weeks, compared with 70 percent of lost wages for up to 401 weeks under the state system. That is a maximum of $140,350 under workers' compensation and $54,000 under Walmart’s policy for employees who earn $500 a week.

But Frakes said mandating that all employers carry state workers’ compensation, as the AFL-CIO has proposed, would not lower premium rates and could endanger some businesses.

“If they were forced into the decision, they would have to make the decision, can they afford to buy a policy or do they go out of business?” he asked.

Steve Bent, the executive director of the Texas Association of Responsible Nonsubscribers, which advocates for private injury benefit systems said with rising workers’ compensation rates possibly motivating more companies to opt out, insurance companies could be pressured to keep premium rates low.

* This story did not originally say that figures used for maximum payments through workers' compensation and Walmart's policy were based on employees who earn $500 a week.

Texas Tribune
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Did you know that the U.S. Middle Class is Disappearing?
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History of the U.S. Dollar and Today's Economical Crisis
American Job Act Summary
Examples of U.S. Financial Corruption

Six ways to get the Rich Richer under Romney

1. Housing bargains – but only for the wealthy and uber-wealthy.  The largest transfer of wealth from the public to private sector. The federal government will be bulk-selling the massive portfolio of foreclosed homes now owned by HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to private investors — vulture  Read More... funds.  “You and I will not be allowed to participate” is that these properties will only be sold to those that can bring “a billion dollars or more to each transaction”

2. Tax breaks are good – especially if you’re rich - RYAN PLAN - $MANY TRILLIONS - PLUS CAYMAN and SWISS ACCOUNTS.  PAY FOR THIS CUTTING PROGRAMS FOR THE 99%.

3. Hedge funds: A typical minimum investment is $2.5 million, but many have much higher admission prices.  PLANNED SCAMS FOR THE RICH!

4. Borrowing is easy – if you don’t need the money
Mark Twain said, “A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.”

5. Buy low and sell high – easier if you’re rich - capitalize on bad times as prices plummet and demand drops and supply increases.

6. Good credit is money in the bank - More income and money you have, the easier it get credit at ZERO%
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 recalculating romneys four percent gimmick

Recalculating Romneys Four Percent Gimmick

2 April 2012  (Think before you vote...really)  This is one of the most important elections in our history, our future is at stake and this is not a time for playing around...(side note: Susan Brannon)

I have a new piece up at ForeignPolicy.com on Ron Paul and the Republican Party, focused in particular on the strong support that Paul draws from young people, with some additional speculation about where those young people will end up, if and when Paul steps back from his very public role. My instincts are that these young people are motivated at least as much by the ideas that Paul espouses as by Ron Paul, the person. If I am correct, many of them are likely to remain active in politics. I close with a warning to GOP leaders that they would be making a grave error if they ignored this libertarian-leaning voting bloc. Unfortunately, that is what the GOP’s leading candidate, Mitt Romney, seems to be doing by pushing a short-sighted plan for boosting military spending at a time when the country is awash in debt.

I have always been puzzled by the fact that conservatives who rail against welfare dependency here at home miss the pernicious effects of security dependency among our allies. Tim Pawlenty didn’t get it. Neither does Mitt Romney. Rather than questioning the mantras that have guided U.S. foreign policy for over a generation, Romney simply assumes that the United States will remain the world’s policeman, other countries will continue to free-ride on our security guarantees, and U.S. taxpayers will happily foot the bill. He proposes spending at least four percent of GDP on the military’s base budget, plus whatever additional money might be needed to fight the wars that he wants to fight (for example, this one).

I commented on the Four Percent Gimmick a few months ago, and now I have a bit more detail about Romney’s plan relative to the Obama administration’s latest 10-year projections. I alluded to these numbers in the ForeignPolicy.com piece, and below provide some more detail. (I am grateful, as always, for the help of my colleague Charles Zakaib in sorting through these, and in preparing the charts).



The chart above shows spending in nominal, current-year dollars, over the next ten years. The Obama administration plans to spend $5.7 trillion between 2013 and 2022 (the blue bars). If Romney keeps his promise of four percent for defense, he will spend at least $8.3 trillion (using OMB’s GDP projections) over that same period, an additional $2.58 trillion (the yellow bars). His budget in 2022 would top $1 trillion, and would be at least 61 percent higher than Barack Obama’s. He hasn’t said what other spending he will cut, or what taxes he would increase, to cover that difference. Until he does, it is logical to conclude that he plans to pile on more debt.

And we should remember that current laws call for even less spending than President Obama has proposed, but he has chosen to ignore the sequestration provisions of the Budget Control Act. GOP leaders in Congress seem equally disinterested in following through on their promise to kick the spending habit, and several have put forward plans to undo sequestration for the Department of Defense. Either way, the bottom line is more debt. As I speculate at ForeignPolicy.com, no wonder young people seem to like Ron Paul so much (and Mitt Romney so little).

Another way to demonstrate the absurdity of Romney’s plan is to control for inflation and compare it to future and past trends. Looking ahead, in constant, 2012 dollars, annual Pentagon spending will average $744.8 billion over the next ten years—again assuming the same GDP projections as Obama’s plan. That is 44 percent higher than Obama’s average budget (the bright pink line) over that same period, and nearly 59 percent higher than sequestration (the dark red line).

Now consider how this compares with the recent past. As you can see, Romney’s Four Percent Gimmick would result in taxpayers spending more than twice as much on the Pentagon as in 2000 (111 percent higher, to be precise), and 45 percent more than in 1985, the height of the Reagan buildup. Over the next ten years, Romney’s annual spending (in constant dollars) for the Pentagon would average 64 percent higher than annual post-Cold War budgets (1990-2012), and 42 percent more than the average during the Reagan era (1981-1989).





Mitt Romney may genuinely believe that today’s enemies are 42 percent more frightening than the big bad Soviets. He might believe that spending an average of $450 billion (in constant dollars) every year since 1990 has left the country dangerously vulnerable. If that is true, he should say so. More importantly, however, he should be compelled to answer the question on everyone’s mind: Where is he going to get the money to fund his Pentagon spending binge?

Cross-posted from Cato @ Liberty 
Related Information:
(Mar 01, 2012) - T12-0040 - Romney Tax Plan Without Unspecified Base Broadeners; Baseline: Current Policy; Distribution of Federal Tax Change by Cash Income Level, 2015

History of the Value of the U.S. Dollar and Today's Economical Crisis

Susan Brannon
30 March 2012

I decided to take a look at the U.S. dollar's value to compare it with today's in order to find out why the dollar continues to drop.  I wanted to know, when in the past has it dropped and what may have caused it.  I wanted to understand what we can do today, to help stabilize the American economy.  I don't take it for granted as "truth" when the media and politicians tell me (us: The Americans) that things are getting better, when all I need to do is to open my eyes and see in reality they are not and have not been getting better since they have been telling us for the past few years.  I have been feeling like a Ethiopian waiting for the rain to fall so my crop will grow and the rain never comes.

This may seem like boring stuff, but it is rather important for us to know and understand our "history" in relation to the U.S. dollar and the American economy.  It helps us to gain insights as to what we can intelligently petition our politicians to help create change to improve our lifestyles. What I discovered were two important years that the value of the U.S. dollar started to fall, never to regain its previous status.  The years were 1933 and 1968, both of which had something to do with changes in the Gold Standard Act.

The U.S. Dollar

In 1800 the estimated value of the U.S. dollar was $1.961 and continued to go up from the first railroad (1827) on through the California gold rush to an all time high of $4.00 in 1849.  It remained stable at $4.00 until 1853. 

From 1853 the value of the dollar started to drop until the development of the Marconi telegraph in 1895, where it went back to $4.00 followed by zero inflation until 1901. During zero inflation and the stability of the dollar, historical events such as the Klondike gold rush and the discovery of penicillin and the end of the Spanish-American war occurred.

In 1900, was the development of the Gold Standard Act, where gold became the sole legal-tender coinage of the United States, and set the value of the dollar at $20.67 per ounce. The gold standard act was suspended twice, and re-opened in 1914.

By the time the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, came into power the dollar was valued at 3.367 with a 2.4% inflation rate.  From then on the value continue to drop and inflation continued to bounce around until the great recession in 1920 when inflation hit 15.8% and the value was $1.667.

If we compare out current economic crisis to the great depression that started in 1929 through the 1930's, we will find that in 1929 the inflation rate was zero with a $1.949 dollar value and in 1932 with the development of the new deal and the Third Reich, the dollar went up to $2.577 after which the value has been dropping ever since.

In 1933, many countries went off the gold standard, and during the great depression people starting to hoard gold not trusting the dollar depleting gold reserves. This was an historical event for the American economy and its future.  In 1933, President Roosevelt implemented a series of Acts of Congress and Executive Orders, which suspended the gold standard except for foreign exchange.  As a result, the value of the U.S. dollar started do tumble. They revoked gold as a universal legal tender for debts, and banned private ownership of significant amount of gold coin.  At that time, the set amount of gold was $20.67 per ounce was lifted, allowing the dollar to float freely in the market.

Next, they devalued the the dollar on the foreign exchange and made the dollar a fixed price of $35.00 per ounce of gold.  This created more countries to exchange gold for dollars, to allow the U.S. to corner the world gold market. From 1933 the dollar value was $2.577 and slowly declined to $1.00 in 1967.

In 1968, the redemption of pre-1963 Federal Reserve notes for gold or silver officially ended.  For 177 years gold was set at fixed prices with the gold-based dollar with a long standing value of $35.00 for an ounce of gold.  The ability for the U.S. to control the market became too
complicated to manage, caused by economic and trade pressures, as a result the effort to control the private market price of gold was abandoned and a two tier system started.

This was the beginning of a time when the U.S. dollar was not worth a dollar anymore to $.960 in 1968. Central banks trading gold became a isolated event.  They would trade gold with each other at $35.00 per ounce, but would not trade with the private market, this pushed gold to the price of $43.00 per ounce by the end of the year. 

When the gold standard act was abandoned, the dollar became a free market, meaning that the value was based on what other countries felt the value was to the dollar, not backed by anything.  Prices became unstable, inflation was harder to control, it left unchecked balances to America's debt, and started chaotic "floating" of currencies valued against each other.

By 1972 the price of gold was over $70.00 per ounce and by 1973, the two-tier system was abandoned and the dollar was "self valued" at $.798.

By the official end of the Vietnam war in 1975, there was not enough gold to back the dollar and the value of the dollar fell to $.620.

Now we are under the Fiat standard that is, money not backed by any physical asset. In 2010, the value of the dollar fell to $.153.* 

The New York Times reported, that the dollar weighed against global currencies had "hit a 40-year low" in May of 2011.  This is because the Federal Reserve's policy of printing dollars to spry the economy is not working.  Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman believe that the cheaper dollar encourages "American manufactures to hire more aggressively." Has anyone seen that happen except for outsourcing?

The claim of the Federal Reserve to continue to print money in order to  "stabilize" the economy has not worked.  History has proven that the government continues to borrow and expand as long as the money is available and the government has not proven to spend any less than it has before.  They borrow money to bail out banks and on foreign investments with money that America does not have. 

America's unemployment rate in real numbers is estimated at 22.5%, according to WND while prices continue to rise.  When this happens, people spend less and cut back on just about everything that they can in order to survive month to month.  With less people buying, the harder it is for companies to keep their employees or stay open; it becomes harder for manufactures to stay open because of the lower demand and high cost of developing products.

Inflation is a real threat and here is why:
In the past forty years the U.S. dollar dropped in value by 72% compared to the Euro and 75% compared to the Japanese yen.  When America's purchasing power falls, inflation occurs,  drop of exchange rates can cause inflation, the national debt can cause inflation, price control of certain markets such as oil, can cause inflation.  

There is another problem, the reported inflation rates are not "real" numbers in terms of practical living.  For example, in 2011 a gallon of milk cost $3.39 in December. Compare that to the average price of $4.25 in March 2012 or a gallon of gas from 3.89 to $4.00 in 2012. This reflects much more than the reported inflation rate of 2.9% for February 2012.  The actual rate for inflation in 2011 was 9% based on consumer goods such as gas, food, house rent, compared to the reported amount of 3.5%.  In the end, if you receive a 3% pay raise, you will have lost 8.9% of your income due to "real" inflation numbers.  This is why American's are continuing to feel the pinch of the current crisis and do not feel that things are getting any better.

History tells us that if we went back to the Gold Standard, it would be easier to balance the budget, increase price stability and lower inflation.  It would put into a "check" of our spending and national debt. 

Conclusion:  Get back to the Gold Standard Act, to stabilize the economy, create checks and balances for national spending, and to help control inflation. 

*The "values" listed here are based on an old survey called "Prices paid by farmers" to approximate inflation.
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11. The Largest Event In Human History

You know, I hate this stuff like "conspiracy theories" type information.  However, I must say that I too have been watching (and posting) items of investigation regarding our global and American economy, politics and corruptions.  I have also noticed a "pattern" of cycles, and it is general knowledge that all life has its cycles. 

Health Care Reform's Impact on Small Business

'World fears US as a war-hungry drunk' - ex-Senator

ex-Senator takes the words out of my mouth

Gravel took the words out of my own mouth.  He is saddened about America, the state of our country and the money we spend on war instead of those who are going hungry in the U.S.  He wonders where are the morals of our leaders today.  With names are on lists, no trials, no reason for arrest is removing the governmental responsibility for their actions. Gravel says,  "Dropping bombs from the air, you don't see them die...but they are down there."  He also feels that, we have lost our sense in our morals and the "ability to govern ourselves.  The US has committed crimes against humanity and continues to this day.  The Bush war in Iraq, was a crime....Obama says, "Oh we don't look back."  Obama has been doing the exact same thing that the Bush administration." 

Did you know that America has ex pulsed over 500,000 people from the U.S. last year (2011).  Have you read this information in the news?  Why has not the media doing their "real" jobs.  This is what I say, the media is responsible to inform the citizens with facts and truths, not propaganda and lies as they have been doing so.  This is an insult to humanity and our intelligence.  The fact of the kicking people out of our country should be on the front page, they also were "Americans".  One day will they do the same thing to you or to me? 

Obama said, that "we are not going to take any money from special interests."  But, he has been, and has received over 1 billion dollars.  (More on that later) The Gravel says that, "Netanyahu is a liar, and Starkozy says this as well. Israel has weapons enough to start a third world war and we should be careful."

Gravel, feels that we need to leave the countries alone and they will take care of themselves.  "Leave them alone."  and get out of all the countries that we are terrorizing.  He adds, " We have lost our democracy, there are no democracies."

A few things that he mentioned in the video, "(World fears US as a war-hungry drunk')

"Corporations have no moral conscious and memory, they are designed to make money.  They should not be in command of society and our countries.  They are in command of society worldwide today. If this continues, then we will lead to the destruction of our planet. You see this today with the meltdown that is taking place.  They are all only to make a profit.  We need to control the corporations and take them out from controlling the countries.  "That is irresponsible corporate activity The people need a tool to control these things and that is the government.  The government is a tool, and if it is properly designed, and in the hands of the people, then the people will have a role of how things are run.  Marcus Sisrol said that, "People are free if they participate in power."  I know of know country in the world today that are really free."
Well said Gravel!

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Afghanistan: The history of the occupation