I should have known that even a milquetoast approach such as this would be too much for the Dims and the GOP corruptocrats to swallow. Now these egg-sucking dogs have spent the week since fighting over two plans that are complete crap and cut nothing.

Even though we are not going to actually default on our debt payments, the media and the Dims continue to use that word to scare you into swallowing anything they pass and call “cuts” which is complete B.S. Their only concern is that they are able to keep sailing the seas on the U.S.S. Gravytrain all the while stealing from you, me, our kids and our grandchildren.

Their goal? To make it through the next election so the theft can continue. It doesn’t really matter, they’re not going to do enough to avoid the downgrade anyway, which may be just as bad as a default.

Tennesseans, don’t worry though. We’re good for at least six weeks if they can’t cobble together a fleece deal.

So you’ve got a few weeks still to stock up on those critical items – food, water, supplies and most importantly, ammo. This is also a disturbing reminder about how dependent we are on the Feds for 44% of our budget. That, in itself, is nauseating.

Until the corruptocrats in D.C. start listening to Sens. Coburn, Demint and Paul, we’re going down the toilet for good. For a country that has allowed this to go on for decades (and even worse, would elect a street-trash community-organizing nothing like Obama), we may damn well deserve it.

UPDATE: Dammit.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will demand a seat in the table for the final talks on the national debt limit, putting a strong liberal voice in the room.

Pelosi and House Democrats were left out of the negotiations between President Obama and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last year that extended nearly all of the Bush tax rates though 2012.

Pelosi didn’t participate in the final high-level talks over fiscal 2011 spending levels either.

But now she’s demanding her say at a time when many of her House Democratic colleagues are disappointed in Obama’s level of consultation with their caucus.

I’m sorry.  I thought the point of budget negotiations was to actually accomplish something.  Not to interject “a strong liberal voice” to ensure nothing gets done.

These protestations from the Iron Bitch who locked Republicans out of all discussions during her Reign of Error, capped off with a stroll across the capitol with a super-sized gavel while she laughed and laughed, is so rich that it deserves a tax cut.  “A strong liberal voice”, Alzheimer’s what’s the difference?

Me Neither: Remember when Madame House Frau Natasha Pelosovic allowed a "strong conservative voice" in healthcare negotiations?

Or, perhaps we should just pass the new budget so she can find out what’s in it.  Or, just “deem it” to have passed without even having to vote on it.

Here you go, Ma’am.  I found a chair that’s just about your speed.  Try not to bang it too loudly.

Code Pink approved

Now I realize that picture is a bit insensitive and probably violating ADA standards given Great-Grandmother Pelosivic’s disabilities.  Should budget negotiations drag on too long, we can make accommodations so that she can still participate without sacrificing her dignity.

Flexing her muscle, Pelosi asked for and got a meeting with Obama on Thursday morning to discuss the next phase in the negotiations.

At her age, she shouldn’t be flexing so much though I do concede that she knows how to make a stink if she doesn’t get her way.

Here is a simple, non-hysterical look at the coming collapse. At least the GOP is making an effort for once.

They have still not touched Social Security, which is mandatory if we are to avoid the collapse.

Soon we will have new Obamabux and will be able to get rid of all those dollars with old white men on them. FREEDOM!

(Video from the excellent FerFal at ModernSurvivalist)

Oh wait, I forget. When the Dim-O-Cracks say “new tone”, that should be translated as conservatives bringing their own lube and bending over more politely so the Dims don’t have to put forth so much effort when fiscally raping the country. There’s just nothing sadder than a socialist not getting his/her way.

Of course, that’s never where it stops with the community-organizer-in-chief’s little thugs and thugettes. They have now gotten together (more than likely with Bracky’s co-biographer, Bill Ayers) and have penned a group death threat against the GOP Senators who dared to find a way to uphold the rule of law in Wisconsin. The criminally insane authors of this screed should be locked up and given life in prison.

I really don’t care if this is some kind of joke from some nameless, illiterate product of the Wisconsin public schools, it should be treated with great seriousness. It certainly would be if these threats were made against a bunch of Dims.

It is, however, very entertaining to watch the union rent-a-thugs and useful idiots weep and gnash their teeth as they lose their power to continue bleeding the state’s taxpayers. We just have to hope this spreads to all 57 states sooner rather than later.

Pencil-necked Twerp / Chicom Houseboy to Americans: You Haven't Begun To Suffer Enough For Us To Care

Because $4.00 a gallon isn’t that big of a deal and partly because so many people are out of work that they don’t notice since their 2 years worth of unemployment checks keeps the Netflix account current:

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told lawmakers Thursday that the U.S. and other nations are prepared to tap back-up oil reserves if Libya unrest continues and severely disrupts oil supplies.

…

“It’s important to note that there is considerable spare oil production capacity globally, and we and other major economies possess substantial strategic reserves of oil,” he said in prepared remarks. “If necessary, those reserves could be mobilized to help mitigate the effect of a severe, sustained supply disruption.”

The Treasury secretary reassured lawmakers that underlying inflation remains low nationwide. And he said the U.S. has “considerable spare oil production capacity” it could consider tapping in the event of a “major” supply disruption.

In other words, nevermind that iceberg – FULL SPEED AHEAD! Let’s not break-up OPEC now while they are weak.

Tell us, oh wise, pencil-necked twerp – what constitutes a state of emergency?  Five dollar a gallon gas?  Six?  Ten?  We should wait until the problem has exploded in our monthly credit card statements before we address it.

Can anyone recall an economic boom or recessionary recovery period being helped by sky high energy costs?

When asked how long Americans can expect prolonged oil price hikes and whether longer-term hikes would slow economic growth, Geithner said that was “not something we can know for certain today.”

“Most investors regard this as a temporary increase and expect prices to come down gradually over the rest of this year,” he said. “That would give us more confidence, if that was right, that it will have modest effects on growth and inflation.”

Bill Clinton these guys ain’t.  He felt your pain too much.  These guys?  Not a bit.  Cold and sterile to the 800 lb. gorilla that robs the pockets of the working poor on a daily basis.

Don’t worry about it though.  We’re only projected to have 1.2 million home foreclosures this year so it’s not like you would have spent that extra money you saved on something more important – like making your mortgage payment.

Besides, if things keep going the way they are you’ll be able to take that high speed train to the unemployment office.

Crime and unemployment: everyone knows that they go together. Right? Unemployed people, desperate for enough money to pay their bills, buy groceries, and get medical care (since those heartless Republicans think “don’t get sick” is a health care plan), must turn to crime. At the very least, disheartened men sitting at home are going to lose their tempers, get into fights, and shoot their spouses.

Like most conventional wisdom among the elites, it turns out not to be true.

Mr. Cramer proceeds with several charts showing the declining crime rate in several violent categories which I’m not disputing.  What I contend is that what he’s calling a lack of correlation is based on a lack of causation.  Which may be lulling him into a false sense of security about his fellow man.  Something that’s not taken into account here is how the availability of easy revolving credit can effect these numbers.

Can we examine the credit histories of America’s Most Wanted?

Think about how when gas jumped up to over $4.00 a gallon a couple of summers ago and you had an increase in “drive-offs”.  People who make less than $15 an hour, simply cannot afford the gas to drive back and forth from work.  Well, they can’t afford to pay *cash* for it.  The working poor.

So everything is getting charged to the Visa or Mastercard with the expectation that making minimum monthly payments allows you to afford your lifestyle and not turn to crime.  Revolving credit allows you to weather the storm of temporary unemployment, underemployment or outside factors beyond your control like gas and food prices.  As long as you have available credit, you’ll charge it and in a worst case scenario file bankruptcy on it.

Robbing people, breaking into cars or homes and assaulting people for money is a risky and dangerous business.

Committing crimes in person opens you to all of the legal consequences of the criminal courts.  If you commit theft with a revolving credit facility that you have no intention of ever paying back the worst you are going to face will be a screaming wife, a frowny salesperson at Rooms-to-Go and a Chapter 7 Trustee.

The number of Americans filing for bankruptcy rose 14% in the last year. More consumers declared bankruptcy in the 2010 fiscal year than in any year since 2005, when changes to federal bankruptcy law caused a spike in filings.

Tough choice between the two.  99 weeks of unemployment pay gives you a two year cushion to help steer you in the direction of the latter.  In fact, our infinite Unemployment Bailout is essentially bailing out the Credit Card companies if we figure that these people would have filed bankruptcy two years ago.

Let’s also not ignore that the person who is unemployed or underemployed is the person whose dependent may be the criminal and whose financial support effects their decisions.  Assuming that violent, “street-level” crime is a young man’s game.  A young man who still lives at home with one parent.

Our economy is not going to get any better as long as credit keeps getting offered to people not qualified to receive it.  Have Bank of America and Chase learned that basic lesson yet?

With incomes generally flat to declining (in real terms) and interest rates at or below historic norms for better than a decade, it’s no wonder that Americans have become more reliant on credit to both smooth out the monthly cash burn as well as provide the extra funding for trips, home repairs, education, small discretionary purchases (cell phones and other personal technology) and other expenses that would have traditionally been drawn from income growth in decades past.

Many of these typical costs and expenses are the basis for driving our now largely service-based economy so in a sense, our overall economic growth has come partly as a result of our “access to” and “willingness to employ” credit.

…

Looking at the following chart although one could conclude that Americans are becoming more aware of the burdens of debt, cutting back to the tune of 9.43% on a year-over-year basis (nearly the most significant annual rate of decline on record), it’s more than likely the case that this contraction is occurring as a result of lenders simply continuing to pull back, limiting access to credit.

When available revolving credit dries up, your prisons will runneth over.  The Credit Card companies are happy to take your unemployment check but that money should not be sent out the door to make the same mistake all over again.

We’re a country that doesn’t make anything anymore.  We are simply employed to provide Customer Service to our decline.

On that note, I just may go to church this morning.

You might have also heard that much of the money wasn’t being lent out to small businesses.

So, where is the money going? Good question. Being a third rate blogger who is confused by numbers but excited by anecdotes, I would like to put forward a theory. They are using the generous slathering of no-strings-attached money poured upon them under the watchful gaze of “Sheriff Joe” to expand.

Let’s take a quick tour around my neighborhood.

The dots in blue are the existing banks, the red ones are under construction as I type this.

The last bank to be built in the area. Nice, shiny and redundant

A grove of trees last week. Today home to a brand-new bank 600 yards south of #1.

Added bonus. The WSFS bank’s construction was financed by… Applied Bank! Hmmm. Doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling about leaving my money with WSFS if they can’t finance their own construction!

Here’s the bank that prompted this little photo-essay. Jack the kindly old man who ran the local landscape nursery for 25 plus years sold his land for one-point-something million to the bank thereby giving himself a nice retirement and his neighbors a good shaft.

Remember when you were eight hours late on your credit card payment and the faceless, impersonal d-bag at the faceless, impersonal “too big to fail” bank jacked your rate to 29.99%? Well your late fee enabled Bank of America to open this gem right here. Thank you!

And to round off our little tour, meet the bank across the street from B of A. Because, let’s face it, if you overshoot your bank by 20 feet, you might as well open up a new account

See the difference?  Because I don’t.

The guy who spends his whole life thinking about how to screw people in the ass has a plan to stop the ebbs and flows of the global market with some prescription-strength Astroglide applied liberally.  Yea, yea, yea.  A hammer sees every problem as a nail.

QOTD from the prolapsed Prole himself:

Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.) said that a bank tax and other tough new measures would be introduced by the individual countries, but in a coordinated way to prevent bankers from moving from one place to another to escape regulation.

“Lenin might have been able to put socialism in one country, but tough bank regulation in one country ain’t going to happen because we will lose people,” said Frank, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, a key spot for any American decisions.

But don’t call them Bolsheviks.  It’s like poison complaining about a skull and crossbones on it’s warning label.

Shorter Frank:  Wenin put sociawism in one country but what we need is a Gwobal Weninist so that the sands of other people’s money won’t swip through our fingers.

You have the head of the House Financial Services Committee arguing in favor of Global Leninism.

You can go ahead and pull your money out of the stock market now.