Housing Bill, Part I
Overview
I have had several requests to comment on the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
This afternoon I read hundreds of pages of bill language. Essentially, my take on the bill is that …
Housing Bill, Part II
Nation State or Investment Syndicate?
One of the instructive features of the housing bill is the nature of creditor politics that is a subtext on housing and mortgage politics these days. One invest…
Housing Bill, Part III
Your House Is Bigger than My House
When I was Assistant Secretary of Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner, then Secretary of HUD Jack Kemp asked me to his office for a private discussion. He explai…
Housing Bill, Part IV
The Profits of Playing Ball
The housing bill brings up a number of important questions about the risks and rewards that result from government subsidy and bail outs.
One recent market commentator p…
Housing Bill, Part V
Where Is the Collateral?
Any government official asked to come up with a workout plan for troubled financial institutions, large portfolios of financial assets and liabilities and/or places that are…
Financial Permaculture: Business Models
What will be the successful business models of the future? This is an important conversation and our ally at Gaia Emerging has some thoughts. This is right in line with the mission investing conversa…
Pacifica Station Blacklists Commentator on Business & Economics
Pacifica Station Blacklists Commentator on Business & Economics
By Sam Smith – The Progressive Review (1 Aug 2008)
Admittedly Catherine Austin Fitts has a pretty unusual background for a commenta…
Pacifica Station Blacklists Commentator on Business & Economics
Pacifica Station Blacklists Commentator on Business & Economics
By Sam Smith – The Progressive Review (1 Aug 2008)
Admittedly Catherine Austin Fitts has a pretty unusual background for a commenta…
Message to KPFA Listeners
My being censored (1) (2) (3) is your financial opportunity.
KPFA was going to provide our 2-CD audio seminar Positioning Your Assets for Growth in Uncertain Times as a premium for donations of $120….
Falling Real Estate Values
Let me repeat something I said many times when I was Assistant Secretary of Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner during Bush I, lead financial advisor to FHA during the Clinton Administration, an in…
Denial Bliss
Sometimes it pays to NOT understand what is going on. Can you imagine being the person who had to write the current announcement on the Bear Stearns website if you were fully educated to the real deal…
Webstats
Reading the Solari webstats is always a fascinating prospect.
Ever since the sub-prime meltdown last August, the big mystery when I fire up my systems each morning is guessing who will be the larges…
Money & Markets – Week of 7.28.08
Schwarzenegger Orders Cuts Amid Fiscal Crisis
By Don Thompson – Associated Press (31 Jul 2008)
Fannie’s Favorite Son
By Matthew Lewis – The Center Blog PaperTrail (28 Jul 2008)
Brace for More Bank F…
Money & Markets – Week of 7.28.08
Schwarzenegger Orders Cuts Amid Fiscal Crisis
By Don Thompson – Associated Press (31 Jul 2008)
Fannie’s Favorite Son
By Matthew Lewis – The Center Blog PaperTrail (28 Jul 2008)
Brace for More Bank F…
KPFA’s Small Business Blacklist
For those of you following the censorship of Community Business on Flashpoints by KPFA and the finances of KPFA and Pacifica Foundation including their tax-exempt status, federal government funding, b…
KPFA's Small Business Blacklist
For those of you following the censorship of Community Business on Flashpoints by KPFA and the finances of KPFA and Pacifica Foundation including their tax-exempt status, federal government funding, b…
The Military Holds the Dollar Up
John:
My assessment is that 90% of the value of the U.S. dollar comes from the U.S. military. After we had our satellite systems in place, Cheney said “deficits don’t matter.” The US debt and defic…
The Myth of the Market
The Engine Room of American Monetary Policy
By Rob Kirby – FinancialSense.com (28 Jul 2008)
“Who hasn’t heard of the Federal Reserve’s vaunted interest rate policy group, the FOMC? We’re all awa…
Eclipse This Friday
This Friday, we will experience a solar eclipse. Here are links to learn more:
NASA Eclipse Web Site
Solari Eclipse of August 1, 2008 – at Wikipedia
Susan Johann
When I was wealthy, I would occasionally commission artwork. While I am rebuilding my wealth, I am going to post the people I intend to commission. One of my dearest friends, Susan Johann, is a phot…
Positioning Your Assets: Is Your Community Waving Goodbye to $3.3 Billion?
If a Single Household Loses $250,000, a Community Loses $3.3 Billion
As someone who lives in a rural community where everyone knows everyone else, I love to see people and communities prosper. In m…
Positioning Your Assets
In our new audio seminar, Positioning Your Assets for Growth in Uncertain Times, among the many issues we address are one of the risks of holding your savings in a currency that is falling in value re…
This Weekend National Debt Increased $800 Billion
This weekend each American became liable for another approximately $2,666 of debt (and counting) to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Congress Backs Rescue Package
By A…
Precious Metals – Week of 7.28.08
Gold Options Point to $1,200
By Frank Tang – Reuters (25 Jul 2008)
Geopolitical – Week of 7.28.08
All The Privileged Must Have Prizes
By John H. Summers – TimesHigherEducation.co.uk (10 Jul 2008)
The Border Wall – A Film
By Wayne Ewing
Kremlin’s Heavy Hand Triggers Foreign Exodus
By Ambrose Evan…
Food & Health – Week of 7.28.08
“Bridging Industry to Permaculture”
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Tomatoes – Rouge D’Irak
At RareSeeds.com
Pest Exterminator Lost in Outback Survives on Bugs
By Kristen Gelineau – Associated Press (30 Jul 2008)
How You Can …
Food & Health – Week of 7.28.08
Ecosutra
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Tomatoes – Rouge D’Irak
At RareSeeds.com
Pest Exterminator Lost in Outback Survives on Bugs
By Kristen Gelineau – Associated Press (30 Jul 2008)
How You Can Turn a Vacant Lot Into a Co…
National Australian Bank Mortgage Loss
NAB Will Shock Wall Street
By Robert Gottliebsen – Business Spectator, Australia (25 Jul 2008)
To the Business Speculator, Australia:
Good piece. Thanks.
You stated that “NAB had a 55 per cent loss…
How Does the Money Work at KPFA Radio and the Pacifica Network?
Given the suspension of Community Business – a segment I have been doing on Flashpoints on Wednesday night with Dennis Bernstein, I thought I would take a look at KPFA Radio’s financial informati…
Financial Permaculture: From the Invention Room
New Green Deal Same as the Last
Gaiapoiesis Blog (21 Jul 2008)
“The deep answer to all of the myriad of social justice, environmental justice, and resource depletion problems lies not in centralized …
Who Needs the Lottery?
Imagine if hundreds of student associations globally formed syndicates. Two hundred student associations at $5,000 each would create a $1MM in winnings.
AUSA Offers $5000 for Citizen’s Arrest of Rice…
Censored
Sasha Lilley
Interim Program Director
ipd@kpfa.org
Lemlem Rijio
Interim General Manager for KPFA
igm@kpfa.org
Dear Lemlem and Sasha:
I learned from e-mail which was cc:ed to me yesterday that:
1. …
Predatory Gentrification
I just got a call this morning from another tenant in a HUD affordable building that a large developer would like to control and tear down. These calls trickle in.
If you think predatory lending is …
Money & Markets – Week of 7.21.08
Ron Paul Discloses Housing Bailout Bill’s Money and Power Grab
By Chris Powell – GATA (24 Jul 2008)
Rescue for Fannie, Freddie May Cost Trillion, Senator Says
By Michael McKee & Bryan Keogh – Blo…
Money & Markets – Week of 7.21.08
Ron Paul Discloses Housing Bailout Bill’s Money and Power Grab
By Chris Powell – GATA (24 Jul 2008)
Rescue for Fannie, Freddie May Cost Trillion, Senator Says
By Michael McKee & Bryan Keogh – Blo…
In From a Network Member
Letter to the Editor:
The first page of Monday’s paper had an article entitled: “Fed will backstop mortgage giants”. The sub-title of the article was “Reserve Bank could lend help to Fannie Mae, Fred…
Mortgage Markets – Week of 7.21.08
Ex-convicts Active in Mortgage Fraud
By Jack Dolan, et al – MiamiHerald.com
Financial Orwell Unpacked
Spin #1: The problem has been unregulated markets.
Real Deal: The problem was a debt bubble engineered by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government with massive amounts of government guaranteed deb…
Solar Cycle Variations
For a number of years I have been interested in the impact of the solar cycle on weather, mood and other aspects of our lives that impact the economy and markets. I am convinced that understanding our…
Optimism Sinks With Home Equity….
Case-Schiller Home Prices and Consumer Confidence Index
By Natalie – Swivel Preview (10 Jul 2008)
Precious Metals – Week of 7.21.08
Governments Declare War on “Digital Gold” Services
By Mark Nestmann – nestmannblog (22 Jul 2008)
Internet Currency Firm E-Gold Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering
By Grant Gross – IDG News Service (21 …
Geopolitical – Week of 7.21.08
The Conscientious Objector
A new documentary film
~ Read about Desmond Doss at Wikipedia
Exposing Bush’s Historic Abuse of Power
By Tim Shorrock – Salon.com (23 Jul 2008)
Stealing America: Vote By V…
Financial Stock Shorts
SEC Short-Sale Rule Gets Negative Reviews
By Kara Scannell – Wall Street Journal (19 Jul 2008)
Life – Week of 7.21.08
Lonesome George May End Bachelor Days on Galapagos
By Alonso Soto – Reuters.UK (22 Jul 2008)
Food & Health – Week of 7.21.08
Hoarding Nations Drive Food Costs Ever Higher
By Keith Bradsher & Andrew Martin – New York TImes (30 Jun 2008)
World’s Biggest Food Storage Supplier Empty – Through ALL 2009
By Holly Deyo – Stand…
Food & Health – Week of 7.21.08
Hoarding Nations Drive Food Costs Ever Higher
By Keith Bradsher & Andrew Martin – New York TImes (30 Jun 2008)
World’s Biggest Food Storage Supplier Empty – Through ALL 2009
By Holly Deyo – Stand…
The Fitts Plan
The Backbone Campaign has asked Cabinet nominees to record recommendations for candidate positions. Here’s mine as nominee for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
Listen here >>>
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Read the tr…
Excerpts From My Letter to a Philanthropic Advisor
We live in a flow of economic warfare. There are no markets. There are resources, politics that weave into highly complex legal and regulatory issues, as well as operational and market issues which im…
Jim Sinclair on Share Certificates
Posted On: Monday, July 14, 2008, 9:33:00 PM EST
“Receiving Share Certificates For Stocks In An IRA Without Being Penalized”
Author: Jim Sinclair
Dear CIGAs,
The following comes with a disclaimer a…
John Templeton Dies – July 8, 2008
“Sir John Templeton was an investor and mutual fund pioneer who dedicated much of his fortune to religion and science. Templeton was born in the town of Winchester, Tennessee. He attended Yale Univers…
Jim Rouse
One of my favorite stories about community development was told to me by Jim Rouse and his colleagues about what happened at the charrette sponsored by the Rouse Company to design the planned city of …
Money & Markets – 7.14.2008
Money Supply (MZM) at 17 Jul 2008
St. Louis Federal Reserve Report
~ Previous blog posts on MZM: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
Frank Backs Linking Rescue Plan to U.S. Debt Limit
By Brian Faler – B…
Money & Markets – 7.14.2008
Money Supply (MZM) at 17 Jul 2008
St. Louis Federal Reserve Report
~ Previous blog posts on MZM: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
Frank Backs Linking Rescue Plan to U.S. Debt Limit
By Brian Faler – B…
Precious Metals – Week of 7.14.2008
What if Gold Gave a Party and Everyone Came?
By Peter Brimelow – MarketWatch.com (14 Jul 2008)
Geopolitical – Week of 7.14.2008
Michigan Talks Homeland Security With Israeli Police
ClickOnDetroit.com (17 Jul 2008)
The Black Ivies
By Sam Smith – The Progressive Review (16 Jul 2008)
ACLU Watch List Counter – Why are there so m…
Life – Week of 7.14.2008
Lifelike Dolls Repel and Attract
By Sophie Taylor – Reuters.UK (17 Jul 2008)
Today I learned a new word – Gunkholing
“Gunkholing is a boating term referring to a type of cruising in shallow or shoal …
More on Financial Permaculture
If we look at a community as a financial ecosystem with financial sustainability as one of our goals in achieving overall sustainability, one of the questions we should ask as we reduce waste is “who …
Mortgage Market Musing
Sometimes, it helps to step back and see the big picture.
Let’s say that I serve as the depository for a large government and I also own the central bank. I get my partners appointed to run the gover…
Mortgage Markets – Week of 7.07.08
Housing Market Meltdown Causes Massive Losses
By Dean Baker – The Center for Economic & Policy Research (9 Jul 2008)
Mortgage Market Basics
Fannie and Freddie are down again this morning…
Fed’s Discount Window Said Open to Fannie and Freddie
By Romain Bostick – Bloomberg News (11 Jul 2008)
In 1997, in my attempt to persuade US leaders…
Deja Vu View – No Accident
Our evaporating mortgage bubble represents the culmination of a long evolution of systemic mortgage fraud in the United States. If you want to understand the deeper story, here is the the update we wr…
The Mortgage Bear Growls
Fannie and Freddie are down this morning:
One consensus is emerging on line that the Fed is to blame for mortgage market woes:
Who Killed the Economy? – At Portfolio.com (24 Jun 2008)
The respon…
Who’s Who in the Housing & Mortgage Bubble
Given the interest in the housing and mortgage bubble, here are links to introduce leading institutional players in the governance, regulation and credit guarantee/enhancement of the US mortgage market.
As the housing and mortgage bubble was a component of the “strong dollar policy,” the same players are also present in the other components, including the suppression of the gold price (a necessary step that preceded this bubble as the suppression of the gold price turns off the financial “smoke alarm”) and the refusal to produce audited financial statements for the US government from fiscal 1995 to date (as required by law) thus allowiing trillions to go missing from the US government.
Who's Who in the Housing & Mortgage Bubble
Given the interest in the housing and mortgage bubble, here are links to introduce leading institutional players in the governance, regulation and credit guarantee/enhancement of the US mortgage market.
As the housing and mortgage bubble was a component of the “strong dollar policy,” the same players are also present in the other components, including the suppression of the gold price (a necessary step that preceded this bubble as the suppression of the gold price turns off the financial “smoke alarm”) and the refusal to produce audited financial statements for the US government from fiscal 1995 to date (as required by law) thus allowiing trillions to go missing from the US government.
Community Waste
I am quite inspired these days by the folks I am working with on sustainability issues here in Tennessee. (Example: see Financial Permaculture ) I asked one of our sustainability leaders recently for…
McMarvelous
Here is the heartwarming story of two British activists, Helen Steel and David Morris, achieving the impossible by rewarding McDonald’s lawsuit against them with a PR nightmare, a watchdog website “Mc…
Quote du Jour
Thanks to Caroline Casey at visionaryactivism.com for pointing this out.
The Bell Tolls for the Bubble
The inflation of the U.S. financial and mortgage finance stocks that began in the mid-1990’s with institution of the strong dollar policy, the suppression of the gold price and the movement of signifi…
Money & Markets – Week of 7.07.08
Russia is Most Likely Midwife of a Fairer World Economic Order
By Massoud Hedeshi – Al Jazeera.net (10 Jul 2008)
Money Supply (MZM) at 10 Jul 2008
St. Louis Federal Reserve Report
~ Previous blog …
Money & Markets – Week of 7.07.08
Russia is Most Likely Midwife of a Fairer World Economic Order
By Massoud Hedeshi – Al Jazeera.net (10 Jul 2008)
Money Supply (MZM) at 10 Jul 2008
St. Louis Federal Reserve Report
~ Previous blog …
Precious Metals – Week of 7.07.08
Reflections: The Death of Gallium
By Robert Silverberg – Asimov’s Science Fiction
Without Gold and Silver, You’re Already Confiscated
By Jason Hommel – Silver Stock Report (4 Jul 2008)
Geopolitical – Week of 7.07.08
Police Raid Berwyn Heights Mayor’s Home, Kill His 2 Dogs
Washington Post | 31 July 2008
Bush Signs Spy Bill and Draws Lawsuit
By Randall Mikkelsen – Reuters (10 Jul 2008)
Karl Rove Pulls No-Show o…
Food & Health – Week of 7.07.08
Cutting Out the Middlemen, Shoppers Buy Slices of Farms
By Susan Saulny – New York Times (10 Jul 2008)
Food Storage 102 – 2 Weeks Is Not Enough
Sharon Astyk’s Ruminations Blog (8 Jul 2008)
Turn Off …
Food & Health – Week of 7.07.08
Cutting Out the Middlemen, Shoppers Buy Slices of Farms
By Susan Saulny – New York Times (10 Jul 2008)
Food Storage 102 – 2 Weeks Is Not Enough
Sharon Astyk’s Ruminations Blog (8 Jul 2008)
Turn Off …
Community Wizards
I grew up in a community where all the kids freely used the “F” word. Then I went to work on Wall Street, where the “F” word was quite common. If you want a taste of the Wall Street culture multivaria…
History’s Actors
“In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn’t like about Bush’s former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to B…
History's Actors
“In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn’t like about Bush’s former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to B…
Fourth of July Mystery
We had our July 4th Parade this morning. We had our three fire trucks, lots of ATVs brimming with kids and flags and a procession of beautiful, polished tractors and farm equipment. One mysterious gen…
Jessie Helms Dies – July 4, 2008
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was a five-term United States Senator from North Carolina, and a member of the Republican Party. He served as chairman of the Senate Fore…
Y’All Are Welcome
I don’t know which is more nourishing – getting to know my cousin Jane or getting some of the Powell Farm’s sweet corn grown by her husband Billy and son Bob. You can do both this Saturday at the Farm…
Y'All Are Welcome
I don’t know which is more nourishing – getting to know my cousin Jane or getting some of the Powell Farm’s sweet corn grown by her husband Billy and son Bob. You can do both this Saturday at the Farm…
Deja Vu View – $59 Billion Missing from HUD
Inspired by an insight from our attorney, Carolyn Betts, and the practice of one of our favorite journalists, Sam Smith at Progressive Review, we are going to republish bits and pieces of previous art…
Vanity Fair on Bear Stearns
Bringing Down Bear Stearns
By Bryan Burrough – Vanity Fair (Aug 2008)
On Monday, March 10, the rumor started: Bear Stearns was having liquidity problems. In fact, the maverick investment bank had aro…
Ohio Does Sex and Mortgage Fraud
Mark Dann was the attorney general of Ohio. In January, Ohio Attorney General Mark Dann sued Freddie Mac and the members of its board:
Ohio Pension Fund Sues Freddie Mac
That was right after Clevela…
Mortgage Markets – Week of 6.30.08
Mortgage Ruling Could Shock U.S. Banking Industry
By Gina Keating – Reuters (30 Jun 2008)
Countrywide’s Pressures Mount
By Ruth Simon – Wall Street Journal (26 Jun 2008)
“The legal and financial pr…
Precious Metals – Week of 6.30.08
ECB is Done Selling Gold Through September
From Agence France-Press (1 Jul 2008)
On the Precipice
By James Turk – GoldMoney.com (28 Jun 2008)
Food & Health – Week of 6.30.08
The Doctors’ Revolt
By Roger Bybee – The American Prospect (1 Jul 2008)
Tonight for dinner I had the first fruits from my garden – Golden Scallopini Squash. It was simply incredible thanks to seeds f…
Food & Health – Week of 6.30.08
The Doctors’ Revolt
By Roger Bybee – The American Prospect (1 Jul 2008)
Tonight for dinner I had the first fruits from my garden – Golden Scallopini Squash. It was simply incredible thanks to seeds f…
Geopolitical – Week of 6.30.08
Ex-Agent Says CIA Ignored Iran Facts
By Joby Warrick – Washington Post (1 Jul 2008)
Agents Can Randomly Seize Travelers’ Laptops or PDAs
By Jim Puzzanghera – Baltimore Sun (29 Jun 2008)
Abu Ghraib I…
Money & Markets – Week of 6.30.08
Bankers Seen Holding Off Clear Channel Loan Sale to Next Week
By Cynthia Koons – Dow Jones Newswire (3 Jul 2008)
~ View previous blog posts: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
Vanity Plate Sold for $14 Million …
Money & Markets – Week of 6.30.08
Bankers Seen Holding Off Clear Channel Loan Sale to Next Week
By Cynthia Koons – Dow Jones Newswire (3 Jul 2008)
~ View previous blog posts: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
Vanity Plate Sold for $14 Million …
Life – Week of 6.30.2008
Local and National Outbreak of Grave Robbing
By Nicholas J.C. Pistor – St. Louis Post-Dispatch (30 Jun 2008)
Oklahoma Asserts Sovereignty
View the vote tally in the Oklahoma House of Representatives
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U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Gun Ownership
Wikipedia on Gun Politics
The Supreme Court Opens Fire
The Economist (26 Jun 2008)
Read the Supreme Court Decision
In From a Network Member
A Letter to My Stockbroker
February 2008
Dear John:
I sent you the article on Bill Gross of PIMCO because I was interested in someone who feels as I do—that the U.S. and the dollar are moving in t…
The National Security Business
Charlie Black, in an interview with Fortune, said “a fresh terrorist attack ‘certainly would be a big advantage to him [John McCain].'” Black also “said that the December assassination of former Pakis…
Request for Prayer and Financial Action
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision on Valdez, I would like to ask for prayers for all the people and living things harmed by the Valdez spill and for the people of Alaska. I would also reque…