Are “The Hunger Games” realistic? Yes and there are ample historic examples. The Soviet Union operated on that basic premise for decades. Specifically various regions (Districts) operating a very monolithic economy with all planning and distribution through a central authority or city (Moscow). Such a system inherently breaks down if not for the sheer...
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Ponder the concept of tech so amazing that it must get Federal loans. Considering the track record of Federal government giving loans and the following exchange between Energy secretary Steven Chu and Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and you just might cringe. Sen Al Franken: And it’s really…I’ve been there and it’s just an amazing...
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Why? Because he stepped down. At a critical point in the new Republic, when traditions had not yet been solidified, he voluntarily gave up power and went home. A tradition that held till Franklin Roosevelt, who couldn’t give up power, only after he died in office did he go home. After that we passed an amendment limiting...
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A lot of retirement planning are based on a 7% rate of return. Especially pension plans that are not subject to change. With the Federal Government keeping interest rates artificially low these pension plans are having a hard time delivering. Additionally the amount of money that people not on pensions have to save prior to...
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Best explanation I have read yet on why we should watch very closely what happens to Greece. From the Daily Capitalist. We need to follow Greece because their default and withdrawal from the eurozone would set off major consequences to the European Monetary Union, and thus the EU, that are unforeseeable. A default would...
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Judge for yourself. This is the actual language. Standard And Poors Report. Some highlights. That I think represent the tone and bring out the points the media as usual is missing. My take, S&P reduced the rating because: 1) Recent events in Washington have left S&P doubtful congress can act effectively to deal...
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By any measure this has been a hard and long recession, and many of us are not convinced it is over. Particularly worrisome is the millions of men who have dropped off the face of employment statistics. Men who have just disappeared. No statistic the Federal Government keeps tracks them. If they are working...
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Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary (BLS.gov) If you click on the graph to the right and expand or zoom in on Connecticut you can barely see a tiny bit of blue. That blue represents job growth since the MAX jobs lost point during the 2007 Recession as of this past May 2011. ...
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The number of minivans in the school parking lot was a giveaway. The budget passed 181 Yea, to 50 Nay (or something close to that). No drama, no questions. Just the check in and voting. This was the third budget vote and essentially the same budget tax increase and spending wise. The bottom line...
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The U.S. Treasury has been dipping, or as it is also known “disinvesting”, into the G-fund and the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF). In a nutshell, since the debt ceiling breach in mid May, Tim Geithner has replaced one IOU (that of the Fed) with another (that of the Treasury) in the...
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The government long ago, (Jimmy Carter time frame) eliminated certain items from the official calculation of the rate of inflation. Specifically food and energy (gas). The graph below calculates inflation with the old formula with food and energy included and compares with the new and improved government approved inflation rate. The data speaks for...
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From the Shadow Stats Website: The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers. The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline...
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Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5 http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12999.html Executive Summary A Few Factoids Thirty years ago, ten percent of California’s general fund went to higher education and three percent to prisons. Today, nearly eleven percent goes to prisons and eight percent to higher education.1 China is now second in the world...
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Lee Pacchia of Bloomberg Law interviews Harvey Miller on the new bankruptcy procedures pushed through by congress. Essentially limiting the rights of creditors.
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Late breaking news: Jimmy Carter the former President of the United State and now 3rd World Country Election Monitor is rushing to Bridgeport Connecticut. Says the former President: “Thar be disshunfanized people up thar”. Through a translator the ex-President stated, “It’s a human right for all to express themselves through the ballot box, the...
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Ct Taxes In The News
