The Political Bridge

Gulf Arabs Are Planning to End Dollar Dealings for Oil

(This is an important story that has global finanicial and security implications...Iran has dumped the dollar in favor of euros)

The Independent

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Follow the Money: The Soros Management Fund Investing in Energy and Medicare Providers

George Soros is one of the Obama campaign for President's financial angels.  Following the Soros money, we see that alternative energy corporations and medicare providers should do will in the future...Hmmmm, Dr. Shlechter)

 

Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2009

The stakes in such energy companies asInterOil andHeadwaters are the latest in a series of energy bets by Soros. Nearly a third of the firm's equity assets were invested in energy, according to the most recent filings, according to FactSet Research Systems.  

Soros bought 7.1% of Emdeon - which sells payment and claim services to Medicare, Medicaid and private companies - some time after the company's mid-August initial public offering.

McClatchy Newspapers: U.S. Economic Crisis Was Long Time In The Making

Economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff answer that question(about the cause of the current crisis) in a provocative new book, "This Time Is Different."

  "If there is one common theme to the vast range of crises we consider in this book, it is that excessive debt accumulation, whether it be by the government, banks, corporations, or consumers, often poses greater systemic risks than it seems during a boom," they wrote.

"Infusions of cash can make a government look like it is providing greater growth to its economy than it really is..”  

Read More: "This Time Is Different"

 

More Breaking News from the Washington Post: Bank of America CEO Lewis Leaving by Year's End

NEW YORK -- Ken Lewis, the embattled CEO of Bank of America Corp., is leaving the company, succumbing to nearly a year of strife that followed his company's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.

The bank said in a statement late Wednesday that Lewis, 62, would retire as CEO and also leave the company's board by the end of the year. The company said his successor will be selected by the time he steps down Dec. 31.

Read More: BOA

Breaking News from the Washington Post: GM to Shut Down Saturn After Penske Walks Away

DETROIT -- General Motors Co. said Wednesday it would shut down its Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire it fell apart.

Penske, citing concerns of whether it could continue to supply vehicles after a manufacturing contract with GM ran out, ended talks with GM Wednesday to acquire the brand.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in statement that Saturn and its dealership network will be phased out.

Read More:Saturn Motors

Stocks tumble on drop in manufacturing activity, reports USA Today

NEW YORK — A surprise drop in a key regional economic indicator sent stocks reeling Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrials sliding more than 80 points.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index fell to 46.1 in September rather than rising to the 52 that economists expected. The index, considered a precursor to the national Institute for Supply Management index to be released on Thursday, pointed to a Midwestern manufacturing industry than is weaker than had been expected.

The news on the final day of the third quarter punctured a mild stock rally that followed an upward revision in the Commerce Department's reading for the second-quarter gross domestic product. The government said the GDP, the broadest measure of the economy, sank at a pace of just 0.7 percent in the spring. The new reading was better than the annualized 1.1 percent drop that economists were predicting.

But the Chicago PMI data are fresher, and therefore more troubling, than the GDP. And it reminded investors that the economy still has major obstacles to be overcome before a solid recovery can occur.

Read more: USA Today

In tight times, Congress boosts its budget, reports Politico

Congress is on the verge of giving itself a bump in its annual budget — even as local governments, families and businesses across the country are tightening their belts in the worst recession in decades.

Under a House-Senate conference measure, approved by the House last week and poised for passage in the Senate on Wednesday, spending for the legislative branch will increase 5.8 percent this year, boosting Capitol Hill’s annual budget to $4.7 billion.

The measure includes a hodgepodge of new funding for lawmakers: a $500,000 pilot program for senators to send out postcards about their town hall meetings, $30,000 for receptions for foreign dignitaries and $4 million for consultants — with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) getting up to nine each and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) getting up to three more.

Read more: Politico

Washington Post: Census Bureau Data Show Grim Effects of the Recession on Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance

A new comprehensive economic survey shows that the recession has plunged 2.6 million more Americans into poverty, wiped out the household income gains of an entire decade and pushed the number of people without health insurance up to 46.3 million.

 The grim economic statistics unveiled Thursday in the Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty and health insurance are destined to grow bleaker. Since the data were collected in the spring, millions of people have lost their jobs.

 

Read More: Grim Data

Reuters News Blog: Is Obama Planning a Value Added Tax Surprise for America?

September 28, 2009

 So John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama’s presidential transition team, says a value-added tax is “more plausible today” than ever, adding that “there’s going to have to be revenue in this budget.” A few thoughts:

1) Podesta is also president of the George Soros-funded Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank closely allied with the White House.

2)  It’s consensus among centrist economists, like those in the White House, that America will need to raise taxes to cover budget shortfalls and a VAT is the most efficient way of doing this.

Read More: Value Added Tax

Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization in America

 From the Bureau of Labor Statistics: U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for conomic reasons, as a percent of the labor force plus all marginally attached workers.

 

Month 8//08   4/09   5/09   6/09    7/09   8/09

Percent   10.9 15.8 16.4    16.5     16.3   16.8