[Here] at The Daily Reckoning , we are in no hurry to pronounce judgment on Ben Bernanke’s plan to save the U.S. economy. We don’t have to. We knew it was a mistake from the very beginning. Exactly how the markets would react, we couldn’t say. But the idea of rescuing people from too much debt by lending them more money struck us a bit like serving martinis at an AA meeting; it was bound to lead to trouble.

David Walker Resigns as U.S. Comptroller General

“As comptroller general of the United States,” says David Walker, the federal government’s top accountant, ”there are real limitations on what I can do and say in connection with key public policy issues, especially issues that directly relate to GAO’s client — the Congress.”

You may recall, we’ve been traveling with David for more than a year documenting his efforts to educate the public on the fiscal issues challenging the country. Our film, I.O.U.S.A. featuring Mr. Walker among other luminaries, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2008.

Despite the “very difficult” nature of Walker’s decision, he has chosen to leave his post at the GAO to become the president and CEO of the newly founded Peter G. Peterson Foundation. He made the announcement to Congress today.

“While I love both my job as comptroller general and the GAO,” said Walker, “I love my country more. And I believe that leading this foundation represents a unique opportunity and will be good for my country. My new position will provide me with the ability and resources to more aggressively address a range of current and emerging challenges facing our country, including advocating specific policy solutions and courses of action.”

As the head of the Peterson Foundation, Walker will oversee the billion-dollar endowment of Pete Peterson – former Commerce Secretary, the founder of the Blackstone group, The Concord Coalition, and legendary advocate for government fiscal responsibility. Chief among Walker’s duties at the Peterson Foundation will be the funding and advocating of projects that will enhance public awareness of fiscal imbalance, government deficits, and nuclear proliferation.

“We are at a make-or-break point in American history,” Mr. Peterson said of his new foundation. “The entitlement monster is unfunded. We are dangerously dependent on foreign capital, our health care costs per capita are twice the level of the developed world. The goal is to integrate public policy and charitable giving and to answer this question: How do you educate a public that has become largely inert?”

It’s now up to David Walker to answer that question. Walker’s resignation, coupled with the launch of Peterson’s fund, has broad implications for the future of fiscal responsibility in the United States, and more specifically, the development of our documentary, I.O.U.S.A.

“The foundation is also going to end up funding other related efforts,” Walker told the Federal News Network in and interview this morning, “including potentially supporting one or more documentaries designed to get the message to millions of Americas… because they need to know in order to make more informed choices at the ballot box.”

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This week, David was on the Glenn Beck show to talk about our nation’s fiscal insolvency. Here is the clip on YouTube:

I am a big proponent of sound fiscal policies and living within our means. But as I considered the huge discrepency between what we have and what we owe, I started to wonder, “Why are we still here?” In other words, if we are insolvent, why can we still borrow and survive, even thrive?

It seems to have to do with force of arms. Because of our military strength, even though we are bankrupt as a nation, we still have the strength to decline repayment if we choose, or to protect our allies, and destroy our enemies. If a creditor comes to us and asks for their payment, we can say “No”.

But can that last? I don’t think so. I think there is a time coming soon when the demands of justice will overwhelm the power of armament. Justice is a power that works from the inside and the outside—it does not pick sides. Military strength, on the other hand, can decidedly be partisan—for now, we have more strength than our enemies. But when justice calls, it weakens resolve and leads us to questions ourselves—when the power of justice works from the inside, we may start to wonder what we are fighting to preserve.

Those who believe in entitlement to the world’s resources (e.g. those who refer to Iraq as an “American interest”) will fight to the end for “their slice of the pie”. But little by little, those of us who hear the calls for justice will have to admit—even if it is only in our hearts—that we have spent beyond our means, that foreign demand for repayment is a just demand. If we fail to uphold justice, America will fall from the inside out, hollow and devoid of integrity.

I believe that is why we must elect honest leaders and fiscally conservative politicians to the highest offices of the land.galleries female squirteramateur slutty wife xxx slut exhibitionisthairy natural katerina atkhairy young puusyamateur homemovies interracialfist anal fucingporn interracial bodybuildermom sohes fucks dad storydad looks mom daughter story fucksbond porn interracial - juliapissing voyer womenwomen squirting pics milkinsertion dildo extemegrils pissingamature girls youngnude ladies asianhairy pits asian armteen russian models nnher pissing slaveoversized clitsfree ringtones pcs sprint absolutelypolyphonic nokia 3585i ringtonepcs sprint free ringtones absolutelynokia cell free 2260 ringtoneringtone 2285 phone cell nokiaringtone 650 palmone treo7100g blackberry ringtonecellphone alltel ringtones Map

I wish it weren’t all bad news, however, because I do feel for the poor and middle class who are losing out during this crisis. On the other hand, I have no qualms about the lost fortunes of the greedy and unwise investors who are also “suffering”. With each boom that goes bust, we are a little closer to abolishing the federal reserve and returning to sound money that will enable the poor and working class to save their wealth and to prosper.

So rumor has it that Citibank may be in trouble. They are closing the window on “outgoing capital” for their customers. Most notably, from LeMetropoleCafe:

• Here’s a story that’s flown under the radar. Citibank is in serious trouble. You probably already knew that, given the fact the banks’ been begging for billions from SWFs. But did you know that in late December Citibank quietly announced a restriction on wire transfers? The bank told customers that outgoing wire transfers from the banks accounts would be limited to just US$2k per day. Hmm.
• But wait. There’s more. Last week, under the guise of responding to a wave of fraud from automated cash machines, Citi also announced a limit on cash withdrawls from its ATMs in New York City. And you thought the money in your bank account was yours.
• There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. But the simplest explanation is almost always the best. Citibank is in desperate need of its capital. The best way to keep your customers money is to prevent them from taking it out of the bank. It’s a kind of low-level, mild-mannered capital control.
• How has the Treasury managed the Citi crisis differently than the way the Bank of England managed Northern Rock? And what will the end result be for Citi? Stay tuned.

And this on the heels of a $15 billion write-down from Merrill-Lynch, a nearly bankrupt Countrywide Financial, and gold at $900 per ounce. And the credit-rating agency, Moody’s, has issued a warning to the US government that unless it gets its financial house in order, it will downgrade the government’s investment grade rating.

Whew! I think Goldman-Sachs and Morgan Stanley are right about a recession. If this gets you feeling “depressed”, may I suggest a remedy?

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And I believe the dollar’s loss is a big part of the reason we’re seeing the highest ever price in gold and oil.

Also, CNN is reporting a “brutal sell-off on Wall Street“. One news source indicated the loss may be on rumors that other SIV (structured investment vehicles) may be collapsing.

Here’s a humorous British comedy on what an SIV is if you’re new to the term (like me).ach loans studentdollar 10000 collateral loan nocalculator loan 100 conventionalloan definition 1307commerical loan 100abc maryland loans mortgages baltimore homecalifornia loan alameda officerillinois student loan acs Mapsex twilight moviesteen black exploited moviesmovies scat freesex sample movie clipsclips sex moviepolar express movieporn movies classicjapanese movies adult Map

I found this 1996 video production from the Mises Institute quite informative:

Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve

It’s 40 minutes long. Ron Paul is quoted a few times in there, back when he was “between elections” (he’s been in congress on and off for the past 25 years or so—1996 was an off year, I understand.)

My belief that we are in the middle of an economic “bust” motivated me to check it out.wireless acs ringtonelg christina ringtone aguilera free freeclick 1.2 converter one ringtone3200 lg ringtone game verizon3310 composer ringtonealltel 3587 ringtone nokiashop candy mp3 cent 50 ringtonealltell phone cell ringtone Map

I agree that our dollar is “on shaky ground” and that we may have some choppy times ahead, with or without the kinds of reforms that Ron Paul has advocated for 25 years. If you’re aware of the ways in which the U.S. economy is currently shifting downward, then you may feel like I do that change is inevitable. Therefore, an intentional switch back to the gold standard (with all of its short-term risks) would be far better than ignoring the fundamental problems in the economy.

If you’re curious about Ron Paul and his views on the economy, I invite you to read the aforementioned article. Taking it a step further, you might also be interested in the liberty dollar which I recently started “investing” in. I think of it as an investment in a philosophy as well as a commodity.about websites books websites loans personal401k loan real estatea loan payday with faxing noloan cash credit accounthttp 22 loan 32 paydayaccepted loanall mortgage loans aboutloans home 401kloans only 0 down interestequity debt loans alabama consolidation homemovies hot freefree teen movies nudesex straight free moviesxxx anime movies freefree xxx porn moviesmovies free gaygoo girls movies germanlesbian movies free Mapmotorola link ringtone 5 composernokia free phone cell 3390 ringtonedownload 3588i ringtone nokia freeringtone nokia 6102isamsung a920 ringtoneacross the field ringtone.99 ringtones nokia alltelt nokia mobile free 3390 ringtone Map

Banking was invented about 500 years ago as a way of keeping money safe, providing easier transfer of ownership of real money such as gold and silver through certificates, and of course as a way of creating capital for investment.

For the few people who owned banks, things really got interesting with the discovery and invention of Fractional Reserve Banking. Bankers knew that not everyone needed all of their gold all of the time—in fact, only a fraction of the clients needed a fraction of their deposits at any given moment. Using this knowledge, bankers would extend “credit” to people by essentially offering them money out of thin air and requiring that they pay back the loan in real gold. It was a brilliant idea that helped fund many ventures, made bankers into international power brokers, and generally helped Great Britain and other European powers expand their empires. (For a fascinating historical documentary on the origin of money, banking, and its influence in wars and politics, see The Money Masters.)

But the general level of trust in the bank can rise and fall with current events, and if it falls far enough we know there can be a run on the bank. In that situation, it’s possible that if enough people want to withdraw their deposits at the same time (trade their paper money for real commodity money such as gold or silver), the bank will suddenly be caught without its cover—and without enough actual assets to be withdrawn, the result is bankruptcy. The bank is discredited and a lot of people lose their savings.

In modern investment practices, there is a kind of activity that is strangely similar to this “fractional reserve banking” that allows money to be created out of thin air. It’s called a “naked short”. Essentially, a naked short is an IOU (”I Owe You”) on a stock. Rather than paying money and getting a share in a company, you can pay money (through a broker) and get an “IOU” for that share instead. Apparently, this has permitted a huge sum of money to be created and floated through the markets via hedge funds. It’s essentially the same as a bank making a bet that only a certain fraction of gold will need to be in circulation, and so it can print more paper money than it actually has in gold reserves. Likewise, naked shorts allow brokers and investors to create more stocks than actually exist.

When traders realize that an IOU is not precisely the same thing as a share, the game turns into musical chairs and we wait to see who’s sitting in a chair when the music stops. Of the people who need chairs, only a fraction will be seated.

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The Bank for International Settlements is also warning of dangers ahead, citing the Great Depression as a backdrop for comparison.

Personally, I’m not going crazy with fear, but as I’ve previously written, I decided to hedge my bets a little by investing in gold and gold stocks. We’ll find out soon if that was wisdom or overzealous worry.