Money Meltdown: U.S. Taxpayers Lose $1.3 Billion to Bankrupted Chrysler & The Fed Audit Exposes $16 Trillion in Secret Loans

Are the snow balls rolling in July, or what?

U.S. Taxpayers Lose $1.3 Billion to Bankrupted Chrysler
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the American people had lost $1.3 Billion from the government bailout of Chrysler.  Apparently, the Treasury Department considered this loss a success because the auto industry is showing signs of recovery.  

"In the year leading up to the Chrysler and General Motors' bankruptcies, the auto industry lost 400,000 jobs. Since the bailout, about 113,000 of those jobs have been recovered."

We are nearing 4 years after the TARP Bailouts of the auto-industry.  So, the creation of about 113,000 jobs in four years after the industry lost 400,000 jobs is success?  Are you kidding me?  About three fourths of those lost jobs still do not exist 4 years later, and the American tax payers lost over $1 Billion!  In my opinion, there isn't a damn thing successful about that.  Should we even consider the added tax revenue lost due to the continued unemployment for those roughly 300,000 people whose jobs still do not exist?

I am still waiting to be convinced the TARP program was necessary, let alone successful.  Perhaps the readers can provide some insight for us all in the comments section?  It is pure speculation to make claims about what would have happened had none of the bailouts occurred, but it sure makes one curious to wonder if the sky would have indeed stayed in place without it.  It isn't like the sky isn't still falling anyways!  Then, there is this...

The Fed Audit Exposes $16 Trillion in Secret Loans


Again, I am in no position to adequately provide a cost/benefit analysis of whether or not $16 Trillion in "secret loans" is for the benefit of the average, middle-class Americans, but I'll go with my gut and say it probably has nothing to do with stabilizing the American economy and benefiting average Americans, especially considering it has been revealed in the past that the Fed has made these sorts of exorbitant loans to foreign banks and governments.  However, I do know that $16 Trillion dollars entering the market place sounds like a record breaking increase in the supply of the dollar, especially if even a fraction of this money enters the marketplace.  The inflation from such belligerent monetary policy alone is something I'd rather average Americans did not have to face.  It reminds me of a conversation I had years ago where a family member stunned me by saying he believed "they" were purposefully destroying the dollar.  I'm still debating with myself whether that is true, or whether "they" are just that ignorantly egotistical and irresponsible.



A pizza guy by the name of Herman Cain who once served on the board of the Federal Reserve said, "There are no secrets going on in the Federal Reserve to my knowledge."  Well, Mr. Cain, your knowledge is inadequate.  You wish to be the next President of the United States?  Hahaha...Good one, Mr. Cain, and you have jokes?!



I never thought I'd be posting a link to Senator Barney Sander's website.  The guy is a full-fledged, self-proclaimed socialist, which isn't a position I agree with at all, but nonetheless, I do appreciate his exposure of the recent Fed Audit.  Here it is in its entirety...

July 21, 2011
The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. "As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world," said Sanders. "This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else."
Among the investigation's key findings is that the Fed unilaterally provided trillions of dollars in financial assistance to foreign banks and corporations from South Korea to Scotland, according to the GAO report. "No agency of the United States government should be allowed to bailout a foreign bank or corporation without the direct approval of Congress and the president," Sanders said.
The non-partisan, investigative arm of Congress also determined that the Fed lacks a comprehensive system to deal with conflicts of interest, despite the serious potential for abuse.  In fact, according to the report, the Fed provided conflict of interest waivers to employees and private contractors so they could keep investments in the same financial institutions and corporations that were given emergency loans.
For example, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase served on the New York Fed's board of directors at the same time that his bank received more than $390 billion in financial assistance from the Fed.  Moreover, JP Morgan Chase served as one of the clearing banks for the Fed's emergency lending programs.
In another disturbing finding, the GAO said that on Sept. 19, 2008, William Dudley, who is now the New York Fed president, was granted a waiver to let him keep investments in AIG and General Electric at the same time AIG and GE were given bailout funds.  One reason the Fed did not make Dudley sell his holdings, according to the audit, was that it might have created the appearance of a conflict of interest.
To Sanders, the conclusion is simple. "No one who works for a firm receiving direct financial assistance from the Fed should be allowed to sit on the Fed's board of directors or be employed by the Fed," he said.
The investigation also revealed that the Fed outsourced most of its emergency lending programs to private contractors, many of which also were recipients of extremely low-interest and then-secret loans.
The Fed outsourced virtually all of the operations of their emergency lending programs to private contractors like JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo.  The same firms also received trillions of dollars in Fed loans at near-zero interest rates. Altogether some two-thirds of the contracts that the Fed awarded to manage its emergency lending programs were no-bid contracts. Morgan Stanley was given the largest no-bid contract worth $108.4 million to help manage the Fed bailout of AIG.
A more detailed GAO investigation into potential conflicts of interest at the Fed is due on Oct. 18, but Sanders said one thing already is abundantly clear. "The Federal Reserve must be reformed to serve the needs of working families, not just CEOs on Wall Street."
To read the GAO report, click here.

 Source:  http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9e2a4ea8-6e73-4be2-a753-62060dcbb3c3

Norway Terror Attack Originally Framed as Muslim Extremism, But Quite the Opposite

As the world received the first images and commentator responses yesterday, it became evident early on that the mainstream networks, in the U.S. at least, were content with projecting an initial suspicion, if not declaration, that the attacks were more than likely the result of Muslim extremists, or "terror cells" established in Scandinavia.

There is plenty of evidence of the initial hysteria toward Muslim Extremists, but this, in particular, is notable:

The New York Times originally reported:

A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at C.N.A., a research institute that studies terrorism.

In later editions, the story was revised to read:

Initial reports focused on the possibility of Islamic militants, in particular Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or Helpers of the Global Jihad, cited by some analysts as claiming responsibility for the attacks. American officials said the group was previously unknown and might not even exist.

By the time reports confirmed the shooter at the labor party camp was a blonde Caucasian, I thought for sure this typical speculation would come to end. However, immediately after hearing this first confirmation, the CNN desk reporter interviewed what initially appeared to be an expert with unique insight to the situation, but who simply turned out to be CNN Executive Editor Tim Lister. This man went on and on about why Muslim Extremists would want to attack Norway, which basically boiled down to some cartoons made about Muhammad years ago that just so happened to have originated in Denmark, Norway's neighbor. I rolled my eyes as a completely unrelated event and a string of fallacious reasoning were being used to further propagate minds with fear and paranoia toward the Muslim world.

In reality, Norway seems like one of the least likely countries for extremist Muslims to hold animosity toward, for a variety of reasons:

~Norway has endorsed Palestinian statehood. See this, this and this.

~Norway has excluded Isareli investments. As Haaertz reported last year: "Norway’s 450 billion euro oil-riches fund has excluded two Israeli firms involved in developing settlements ... on ethical grounds, Norway’s finance ministry said on Monday."

~Indeed, Senator Lieberman has accused Norway of promoting anti-semitism

~Norway has also announced its plan to withdraw from the Libyan war.

~The summer camp where the shootings took place had just concluded a pro-Palestinian rally the day before

AUF WANT BOYCOTT: Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store was met by demands that Norway must recognize a Palestinian state when he visited the Labour Youth League summer camp at Utøya Thursday. Here the Minister ushered around in the camp of the AUF leader Eskil Pedersen. (Reuters)

See Translated Story Here.

~Israel's Foreign Ministry says Norwegian authorities funding anti-Israel film, exhibition, and play. Norway: We support freedom of expression

This is all very familiar and related to Norway's Prime Minister's words yesterday following the attacks...

"No one will bomb us to silence. No one will shoot us to silence. No one will ever scare us away from being Norway," Mr Stoltenberg said in a public address yesterday.

You see, the Prime Minister of Norway is a member of the Labour Party that was holding the camp on the island where the tragedy struck. This political Party has a history of criticism toward the policies of Israel. In fact, in 2002, they called for Ariel Sharon and other Israeli leaders to be put on trial for crimes against humanity.

As it turns out, the terrorist attacks yesterday WERE NOT the work of a Muslim at all, but in fact, were the result of a terrorist who is now being portrayed as in opposition to Norway's multicultural society, which is the media's way of avoiding the obvious. The terrorist yesterday was Anti-Muslim. His name is Anders Breivik, and it is believed he killed over 80 people acting alone, although that is hard for me to believe.

Information is still coming in about this man, but one thing seems clear.  He went on a killing spree because he hates Muslims, and apparently, is willing to use terror and mass murder to try to persuade his fellow countrymen that any sympathies toward the plight of the Palestinians is unacceptable.

Considering our media is undoubtedly content with continuing their theme that the Muslim world should be feared, and consequently hated and killed, I expect this news story to be swept under the rug and quickly forgotten.

If there is legitimacy in the argument that Muslim clerics hold responsibility and should speak out in condemnation when Muslims commit acts of violence, then I expect to hear from John Hagee, Pat Robertson, Wolf Blitzer, Bill O'Reilly, and all of the other media pundits and pulpit pundits who constantly spread their racist fear-mongering and hatred toward the over a Billion Muslims (up or down depending on who you ask) whom we share this world.  As far as  that logic goes, THIS BLOOD IS ON THEIR HANDS!


If you need proof of the killer's motivations, read his own words...

Anders-Breivik-From-Document-No



I would like to thank Washington's Blog for completing some of the initial evidence presented here.

Anonymous: What Are We Capable Of?

http://www.whatis-theplan.org/