So High Above

The United States Department of Health and Human Services released the 2009 Poverty Guidelines. For a single person the Department considers $10,830 as the poverty level. Taking this figure in context that means that the United States Department of Health and Human Services believes that a person can live on $10,831 and not be in poverty. That would mean that the person would be able to maintain shelter, food and clothing for under $30 a day. Since August of 2008, the American Citizen has seen the United States Treasury Bailout multinational corporations where their executives are making in excess of of $5 Million Dollars a year. So the Treasury Department sees the Federal Government as an insurance for the continuation of income for Executives who are earning more than $13,000 per day, while the Department of Health and Human Services believes that a person can live on less than $11,000 per year. The United States Government does not have an obligation to secure the lifestyles of th

Congressional and Governmental help is desperately needed by the American People to regulate the loan sharking activies of the Credit Card Industry. Thanks to the revamped Bankruptcy Bill that was passed during the Bush Administration's Republican controlled Congress Credit Card Companies were given free reign to charge loan sharking rates on credit cards. Credit Card Rates charged by the credit card industry were always excessive but thanks to the revamped Bankruptcy Bill they now have the legal blessings of the Federal Government to set punitive interest rates that will keep Americans repressed throughout their lives. The revamped Bankruptcy Bill allows credit card companies to randomly raise rates after a cardholder borrows the money. If a cardholder made a purchase at 3.99% interest and has been paying that bill promptly, a late payment to another company gives the credit card company the right to raise the interest rate on the debt to them which is being paid on time. This was

The United States Congress is on a two-week vacation. This is disgusting being that they have failed to accomplish much of anything at a time when the Nation is suffering the poorest economic downturn since the Great Depression and maybe the worst economic downturn of the entire history of the Nation. Since this Congress has been in session they have failed to address the pilferage of the American Consumer by the Credit Card Industry that is charging loan sharking rates on consumer debt. Congress has made sure that the wealthiest Corporations in America received enough federal Bailout money to maintain the conspicuous consumption standard of living that they have become accosted to and they have enough money in their Treasuries to continue political contributions even at the expense of emptying the United States Treasury. There has not even been one piece of legislation proposed by any Congress person or Senator to apply Usury Laws to loan sharking credit card companies, or to demand

The classic view of an empire in distress has always been summed up by the phrase, Nero fiddled while Rome burned". A new phrase can be added to the lexicon, "Congress played games while the People lost their Future". This Congress under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid seems to wander aimlessly from one fund raising event to the next without taking a proactive step in the direction of helping the American People. While they continue to appropriate Bailout Money for every multi-national corporate entity on earth not one piece of legislation has been proposed or enacted to stop these corporations from prying on the People. We have a Nation where Credit Card Companies are worse than a neighborhood loan shark, where interest rates with late fees and over-limit fees added to the interest costs of borrowing exceed 50% in a lot of cases. Even with the best of creditworthiness interest rates are commonly exceeding 15% even though these companies are borrowing

The conclusion of the months of examining the Auto Industry by the Auto Committee appointed by the Obama Administration is that they are better off dead. After propping up the Auto Industry and letting it continue to burn cash, the Administration has basically decided that the Auto Industry would best be restructured in Bankruptcy. The conclusion that the Bankruptcy Code is the best route for a streamlined Auto Industry is most likely the correct choice. The questions that arise from this conclusion are; Why did the USA waste Billions of Dollars waiting to come to this conclusion, and why is Bankruptcy not the correct choice for the Financial Industry. The Financial Industry and the Auto Industry are both in trouble for similar reasons, bad management, greed, excessive loans, and no plan for the future. The Financial Industry continued to sell unregulated leveraged derivatives based on the premise that growth would continue indefinitely, every student of economics knows that this is no

After months of dire predictions from the various Financial Network Anchors, reporters and editors, these same people are telling us that the worst is over and we have seen the bottom of the economic crisis. Their reasoning is that the stock market has been rallying. However, a look at history will show that even in the depths of the most vicious Bear Markets there are rallies that often times bring the indexes up by as much as twenty percent before they reverse give it all back and tack on another 5 % on the downside just for good measure. The important events in March that caused this rally are not the Treasury Plan, or the announcements by banks that they are doing better. Stock market rallies in the middle of a prolonged Bear Market are usually caused by a beast known as short covering. This is when sellers of stock that they do not own begin to buy the stock to cover their position to lock in a profit. As they begin to buy stock to cover their short position it causes a short sq