Rand Paul’s Hilarious Explanation of Obamacare

Rand Paul’s Hilarious — Yet Revealing — Obamacare Explanation: Guess What New Injury Codes Are Included

May 28, 2013

The Blaze - Obamacare will require doctors to use roughly 122,000 new medical diagnostic codes to inform the federal government of injuries sustained by Americans, so says Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

The new codes, Sen. Paul explained, include classifications for "injuries sustained from a turtle," "walking into a lamppost" and "injuries sustained from burning water skis."

"Your government just wants to take care of you," he added, criticizing the new law's 9,000-plus pages of new regulations. "They don't think you're smart enough to make these decisions."

Physicians currently have about 18,000 medical diagnostic codes to choose from to help them inform insurers of their patients' ailments. However, as Paul (himself a physician) notes, Obamacare includes a mandate for 140,000 of those codes -- and some of them sound downright ridiculous.

"Included among these codes," the senator continued, "will be 312 new codes for injuries from animals; 72 new codes for injuries just from birds; 9 new codes for 'injuries from the macaw."'

"The macaw?" he asked. "I've asked physicians all over the country, 'Have you ever seen an injury from a macaw?"'

He continued, adding that he had found "two new injury codes under Obamacare for 'injuries sustained from a turtle."'

"Now, you might say, 'Well, turtles are dangerous' -- but why do you have to have two codes?" he asked.  "Your doctor has to inform the government whether you've been struck by a turtle or bitten by a turtle."

He added:  "There is a new code for ... walking into a lamppost. There's also a code for 'walking into a lamppost, subsequent encounter.'"

"I guess that's if you don't learn," he added. "[T]here is [also] a code ... for 'injuries sustained from burning water skis."'

Though the Republican senator delivered his speech earlier this month to the Iowa Republican Party, his Obamacare remarks have only recently gained traction online: see video by clicking on the headline link.

War with Syria: The Road to Tehran Goes Through Damascus

"The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap." - Isaiah 17:1

In Damascus, A View Of Syria's War Turned Inside Out

May 28, 2013

NPR - Many years ago, the president of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, approved the construction of a new presidential residence on a mountainside above Damascus.

Assad never occupied the building, saying his successor should take it. When his son Bashar Assad became that successor, he didn't move into the house, either. He preferred a residence down the slope.

But there is still a presidential complex at a crest of the mountain, with a balcony overlooking the city sprawling below. Should Syria's president choose to lounge on that balcony on any given afternoon this week, the younger Assad would see black smoke from artillery strikes as his army fights for control of the suburbs against the rebels who want to oust him.

Traveling to Damascus produces a view of Syria's war turned inside out. The international community may view Assad as a pariah, but in the capital he is still president, his face on billboards and posters. What some outsiders may see as bad news is received here as good news, while the good news is bad. Even people who acknowledge Assad's flaws often grimly hope for the rebels to go away: They believe the government's description of the rebels as terrorists and foreigners out to destroy the country.

We arrived in Syria during the same weekend that the government agreed "in principle" to peace talks with the rebels, but there is no sign of peace in the capital. The road to Damascus, lined with purple flowers, is also lined with soldiers: We stopped at one military checkpoint after another on the short drive in from Lebanon.

One of the guard booths featured a poster of Assad and a label describing him as the maker of surprises and overcomer of crises.

Right now the crisis is the survival of his regime. Thousands of armed men patrol a secure zone in the heart of the city. Some are regular army soldiers in uniform; others are neighborhood teenagers with T-shirts and Kalashnikovs. Assad's government has armed many military veterans and others, supplementing the manpower of armed forces he did not entirely trust.

Many of these recruits are drawn from religious minorities — Shia Muslims, Christians, Druze and especially Assad's own Alawite sect. Fighters from the Shia group Hezbollah have also come from Lebanon. They oppose a rebellion that includes many of the majority Sunni Muslims.

An uprising that began as a drive to remove Assad has led to fears of sectarian war.

Fear And Frustration

At the center of this ancient city is a centuries-old mosque; it is almost as old as Islam itself, and for centuries before that it was a Christian church and a Roman-era pagan temple. But Damascus is better known for trade than for religion. Around the mosque, we walked the stone-paved streets of the ancient bazaar.

Business is bad, as we learned in the shop of a fabric seller. Syria's currency has plunged in value. That drives up prices of the imported goods he sells. Almost every day, the price changes, he says.A customer may order cloth at a certain price: "Half an hour later," the man says, "I call and find out [the] latest shift in the exchange rate," and he discovers it will cost him more to import the cloth than he would earn from the sale.

Like many people in Damascus, this man declined to give his name and said nothing against the government of Bashar Assad. 

Business groups of all sects have been among Assad's major supporters. Yet the fabric seller is clearly frustrated by the war.

"I would like to shout to everybody," he says, "don't go the way of sectarian divisions."

Fighting has already driven him out of his suburban home, in a no man's land between the army and rebels.

He's one of many people struggling to live normally in a city where life is not normal at all.

Suburban War Zone

Our first night in Damascus, we went out for dinner on a rooftop restaurant. It was in the old walled city. The waiters served a spectacular stream of dishes including kibbeh and kabob. Yet we were down the street from a Christian church whose bishops have been kidnapped. And the restaurant offered us an excellent view of what seemed to be tracer shells streaking across the sky.

Our dinner companions told us rebels have been fighting the army for months in the eastern suburbs. We could hear the explosions. Once daylight came, the shelling continued, so we drove toward the blasts.

We were soon driving through the area of fighting: mile after mile of rubble; buildings that had been half-destroyed, entirely destroyed; houses with holes punched into them.

We passed what used to be a giant strip of suburban auto dealerships, of the kind you might see in America. Now the cars are gone, except for the ones left burned out on the road.

I made some audio notes, talking into the tape recorder:

"Tank treads left on the street ... piles of fruit left on the road as if a fruit truck spilled its load. The Volvo dealership is shut down ... "

A child plays in a dusty courtyard of half-finished apartment buildings, now housing refugees, in a suburb of Damascus. The complex is deemed safe because artillery has landed across the street but not yet here. 

Syria's government media say the army is clearing out foreign terrorists in this suburb called Douma.

Syrian rebels have been sending out videos of men, women and children they say are civilians killed by government shelling.

In another Damascus suburb this week, the rebels contend they were attacked with chemical weapons.

'It's Normal Here'

A little beyond the battle zone, we encountered a row of apartment buildings still occupied. Some of the buildings were only partially completed before the war, and their concrete shells have become shelters for refugees from the zone we just passed.

We walked up the rough steps of one building with a man we'll call Walid. He lives here now with his sister, her daughter and her 14-month-old grandson. When they fled home in Douma, the family salvaged an ornate wooden wall clock but no furniture. We sat beneath that clock, talking while sitting on mats on the floor. The family said they felt safe enough — stray artillery shells have landed in the field across the street, but not on this side.

Walid's sister said the family stayed in town through months of shelling but finally fled on a day when the explosions became "unbearable." They loaded the family into somebody else's car and drove until they found this empty building. Many refugees live here with their families. 

We asked if the many children in the complex are accustomed to the gunfire. The sister answered:

"I am old enough and I still get scared, so what do you think about the little ones?"

The family serves Turkish coffee in ornate china cups but has no glass in the windows. Walid, who used to work in construction, has helped to fix up the place a bit. Improvised electric wiring stretches from room to room.

"It's normal here," he said.

Maybe that's the strangest thing of all — that his life is normal for Damascus.

Other buildings near Walid's are filled with manufacturing employees, who see the smoke of burning buildings out their windows but still work their shifts at steel plants up the road.

Two of those plants melt down scrap metal, and we saw workers use a metal claw to sort through a mountain of scrap. The claw was picking up the remnants of many past lives — car parts, strips of chrome, bits of buildings, rebar, sheet metal, giant steel wheels.

Here we can see the only thing that's certain about Syria's future: The war's destruction will in time create more wreckage for the pile.

90 Percent of Federal Departments Should be Eliminated

"If we eliminated all of the Unconstitutional Federal Agencies it would be a great step. Reforming the Social Programs as well. Federal Agencies not only cost money, they screw with job creation and oppress the people. Just getting back to following the law, the Constitution, would be a great step in the right direction. That would bring us out of this. We need to get rid of the enemy within as well, the Federal Reserve Bank Owners who control our economy and won't be audited, because they are stealing us blind and manipulating our whole country. Tax increases don't increase revenue, in fact right now they would seriously crush revenue and they would seriously crush what's left of the economy. It's all been statistically laid out by a series of actual results. Tax cuts raise more revenue because they kick up the economy. Tax increases decrease revenues because they kill the economy. Taking money out of the economy for the government to spread around just kills the economy, it doesn't help. They can't create wealth so the jobs are dead ends, and they take capital out plus they make it harder to keep alive in business because of the lower margins of income that causes, when it's hard enough to stay afloat as it is."[jeweljvh]

"SS and Medicare are self-sustaining. We pay special taxes to support 'entitlement' programs and if the programs were eliminated we'd expect those taxes to stop. What if we cut our defense budget by, say, half? The US has been on a constant war footing since WWII. We now spend more on defense than all the rest of the world combined, but no politician believes this is enough, and they all try to outdo each other with defense increases. If you take all the nations in the world who could possibly wish to harm us, we spend 16 times as much as they do combined. What if we only spent, say, 8 time as much?" [Mr. Smartypants]

What Federal Departments Should be Eliminated? 90% of Them

March 7, 2012

usa-wethepeople.com - One of the big myths out there believed by both the left and right is that we need the federal government to regulate profit crazed maniacs who would sell our children morphine and poisoned milk. Little thought goes into this logic peddled on Main Street. It is accepted as gospel, capitalist are crazed lunatics willing to kill grandma to make a profit.

But if a company sold a harmful product wouldn’t they get sued if we had property rights enforced?
Hush citizen!

The truth is the federal agencies are there to protect the elites by crushing Main Street. And Main Street supports the theft. We are held hostage by a privileged class and we enjoy it, often refereed to as the Stockholm Syndrome.

It is a wonderful thing for the government thugs when they can steal your money and brainwash your children into believing the theft is justified by educating helpless children in government schools. 90% of Americans are brainwashed fools, and we don’t even realize it.

And to top it off the thieves get the people to play blue team/red team politics so the theft is concealed from the public. Like a magician the ignorant masses are fooled year after year. Go Red Team/Go Blue Team!!! Ra, ra, ra.

Below is a blog from Ludwig von Mises on 2-29-2012 by http://www.lewrockwell.com/.

The article briefly covers the regulatory history that should be taught in Universities and Colleges across America. Instead we get “government is good, fiscal policy” and “Federal Reserve is good, monetary policy” propaganda. Complete hog wash economics that is nothing but a smoke screen to hide the elites theft from the public. For every 100 students who take economics maybe 1 will see the malicious fairy tales for what they really are.

Enjoy;

“Socialists want socialism for everyone else, but capitalism for themselves, while capitalists want capitalism for everyone else, but socialism for themselves.

Neither Ted Kennedy nor Jane Fonda practices a vow of poverty, nor are they taking any homeless into their mansions, while too many big companies try to short-circuit the market with government privileges. And one way they do it is through the regulatory agencies that acne Washington, DC.

If I may make a public confession (counting on the charity of Mises Daily readers): I used to work for the US Congress. I’ve since gone straight, of course, but the experience had its value, much as the future criminologist might benefit from serving with the James Gang.

For one thing, being on Capitol Hill showed me that, unlike the republic of the Founding Fathers’ vision, our DC Leviathan exists only to extract money and power from the people for itself and the special interests.

Ludwig von Mises called this an inevitable “caste conflict.” There can be no natural class conflict in society, Mises showed, since the free market harmonizes all economic interests, but in a system of government-granted privileges, there must be a struggle between those who live off the government and the rest of us. It is a disguised struggle, of course, since truth threatens the loot.

When I worked on Capitol Hill, Jimmy Carter was bleating about the energy crisis and promising to punish big oil with a “windfall profits tax.” But I saw that the lobbyists pushing for the tax were from the big oil companies. And, after a moment’s thought, it was easy to realize why. There was no windfall-profits tax in Saudi Arabia, but it did fall heavily on Oklahoma. And as intended, the tax aided the big companies that imported oil by punishing their competitors, smaller, independent firms.

In the ensuing restructuring of the industry, also brought about by the price and allocation regulations of the Department of Energy, the big firms bought up domestic capacity at fire-sale prices, and then the Reagan administration repealed the tax and the regulations. Meanwhile, the big companies received contracts from the Department of Energy to produce money-losing “alternative fuels.”

In every administration, the tools of inflation, borrowing, taxation, and regulation are used to transfer wealth from the people to the government and its cronies.

At times, one or another of these tools becomes politically dangerous, so the government alters the mix. That’s why the Reagan administration switched from taxes and inflation to borrowing, and it’s why the Bush administration, with the deficit a liability, calls for more taxes, inflation, and regulation.

Authors note, here are the White House Tables, Table 1-3, that prove Reagan had no interest in reducing the size of government. Reagan set the then post WWII record for a budget deficit of 6% of GDP in 1983, a record that was not broken until the Obama Administration.

A tremendous amount is at stake in the re-regulation of the economy advocated by the Bush administration. Just one clause in the Federal Register can mean billions for a favored firm or industry, and disaster for its competitors, which is why lobbyists cluster around the Capitol like flies around a garbage can.

While claiming to need more money for — among other vital projects — a trip to Mars supervised by Dan Quayle, the president is boosting the budget of every regulatory agency in Washington.

Here are just some of those agencies, and the way they function:

Founded by Richard Nixon, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an antientrepreneur agency. Not only does OSHA target small- and medium-sized businesses, its regulatory cases are easily handled by Exxon’s squad of lawyers, while they can bankrupt a small firm.

Also founded by Nixon, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issues regulations drawn up in open consultation with big business — regulations that often conform exactly to what those firms are already doing. Small businesses, on the other hand, must spend heavily to comply.

Another Nixon creation is the Environmental Protection Agency, whose budget is larded with the influence of politically connected businesses, and whose regulations buttress established industries and discriminate against entrepreneurs — by, for example, legalizing pollution for existing companies but making new firms spend heavily. [EPA Secretary Lisa P. Jackson lives the good life on the taxpayers dime protecting special interest groups.]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development was founded by Lyndon B. Johnson, but its roots stretch back to the housing policy of the New Deal, whose explicit purpose was to subsidize builders of rental and single-family housing. Since LBJ’s Great Society, HUD has subsidized builders of public-housing projects, and of subsidized private housing. How can anyone be surprised that fat cats use HUD to line their pockets? That was its purpose.

The Securities and Exchange Commission was established by Franklin D. Roosevelt, with its legislation written by corporate lawyers to cartelize the market for big Wall Street firms. Over the years, the SEC has stopped many new stock issues by smaller companies, who might grow and compete with the industrial and commercial giants aligned with the big Wall Street firms. And right now, it is lessening competition in the futures and commodities markets.

The Interstate Commerce Commission was created in 1887 to stop “cut-throat” competition among railroads (i.e., competitive pricing) and to enforce high prices. Later amendments extended its power to trucking and other forms of transportation, where it also prevented competition. During the Carter administration, much of the ICC’s power was trimmed, but some of this was undone in the Reagan administration.

The Federal Communications Commission was established by Herbert Hoover to prevent private property in radio frequencies, and to place ownership in the hands of the government. The FCC set up the network system, whose licenses went to politically connected businessmen, and delayed technological breakthroughs that might have threatened the networks. There was some deregulation during the Reagan administration — although it was the development of cable TV that did the most good, by circumventing the networks.

The Department of Agriculture runs America’s farming on behalf of producers, keeping prices high, profits up, imports out, and new products off the shelves. We can’t know what food prices would be in the absence of the appropriately initialed DOA, only that food would be much cheaper. Now, for the first time since the farm program was established by Herbert Hoover, as a copy of the Federal Food Administration he ran during World War I, we are seeing widespread criticism of farm welfare.

The Federal Trade Commission — as shown by the fascist-deco statue in front of its headquarters — claims to “tame” the “wild horse of the market” on behalf of the public. Since its founding in 1914, however, it has restrained the market to the benefit of established firms. That’s why the chief lobbyists for the FTC were all from big business.

When then-Congressman Steve Symms (R-ID) tried to partially deregulate the Food and Drug Administration in the 1970s to allow more new drugs, he was stopped by the big drug companies and their trade association. Why? Because the FDA exists to protect them.

OSHA, CPSC, EPA, HUD, SEC, ICC, FCC, DOA, FTC, FDA — I could go on and on, through the entire alphabet from Hell. I have only scratched the villainous surface. But according to the average history or economics text, these agencies emerged in response to public demand. There is never a hint of the regulatory-industrial complex. We’re told that the public is being served. And it is: on a platter.”
Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. is chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, editor of LewRockwell.com, and author of The Left, the Right, and the State. Send him e-mail, rockwell@mises.org.

Flashback: Senator Ron Paul Introduces $500 Billion in Spending Cuts

January 27, 2011

blog.jabi.com - In the face of an ever-expanding national debt, newly elected Senator Rand Paul is taking a bold and proactive step in protecting our national security and lowering our deficit. By introducing $500 billion in spending cuts today – to be enacted over one year – Sen. Paul is starting an important conversation with his Senate colleagues about how to fix our nation’s current economic situation.

“I am proud to introduce my own solution to the mounting debt our spendthrift, oversized government has accrued. By rolling back to 2008 levels and eliminating the most wasteful programs, we can still keep 85 percent of our government funding in place,” Sen. Paul said today.

“By removing programs that are beyond the constitutional role of the federal government, such as education and housing, we are cutting nearly 40 percent of our projected deficit and removing the big-government bureaucrats who stand in the way of efficiency in our federal government,” he continued.

Rand Paul calls for total elimination of the following bureaucracies:

• Government Printing Office: Eliminated
  • The advancement in technology and innovation has brought about the electronic age, an era that includes very little reason for the government to continue printing large amounts of documents, most of which can be found and read on the internet.
• Agriculture Research Service: Eliminated
  • Per the CATO Institute: “Most American industries fund their own research and development programs. The agriculture industry is a notable exception. USDA spends about $3 billion annually on agricultural research, statistical information services, and economic studies.”
• National Institute of Food and Agriculture: Eliminated
  • National Institute of Food and Agriculture is the parent agency to the Agriculture Research Service. NIFA is essentially the communications arm to spread ARS information to the public.
• Natural Resources Conservation Service: Eliminated
  • This issue is best left up to the states to determine what the best way is to preserve and protect their environment. The balance of using the resources available for production, conservation, and recreation is best decided by from people in the region.
• Foreign Agricultural Services: Eliminated
  • Originally, this agency was created to manage our agricultural trade agreements and the daily/weekly prices of agriculture commodities across the globe. In a world of constant information, we do not need this program putting out daily reports regarding the fluctuations of commodity prices.
• Department of Energy: Eliminated
  • Created in 1977, the purpose and intent of the Department of Energy was to regulate oil prices. The DoE today
    reflects an agency that encompasses national security activities such as nuclear weapon production, maintenance,
    and cleanup which are better suited for the Department of Defense, and other activities that are nothing more than
    corporate handouts.
• Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Eliminated
  • Rather than providing a one-time stop for families on their way out of poverty, public housing has largely been a failure. Public housing projects have become havens of crime and dysfunction, driving away the very business investment and homeowners that would revitalize a city block.
• Bureau of Reclamation: Eliminate
  • Established in 1902, the Bureau of Reclamation has held a majority of the dams, hydroelectric power plants, and canals in the western most 17 states. They are the largest wholesaler of water in the country and provide water for farmers in those states.
  • Owning a majority block of energy and water resources is not the business of the federal government. Water rights should be controlled by the states and agreements can be made between the states to ensure water supply to all.
• Bureau of Indian Affairs: Eliminate
  • For far too long, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has swindled and mismanaged billions of dollars in Indian trust funds. Former Special Trustee Thomas Slonaker in 2004 testified that they Department of the Interior and the BIA were incapable of reform and were unwilling to hold people accountable for their actions. In addition, Paul Homan also has testified before Congress saying that a “vast majority of upper and middle management at the BIA were incompetent.
• Office of Justice Programs: Eliminated
  • The Office of Justice Programs does not directly carry out law enforcement or justice activities, rather OJP performs studies on the pressing crime-related challenges that confront the justice system and provides grants to try and help cities and counties reduce their crime rates. In effect, OJP has evolved into a multi-billion dollar subsidy to the budgets of local governments.
• Amtrak Subsidies: Eliminate
  • Created by an act of Congress in 1970 to provide passenger rail service, Amtrak has yet to turn a yearly profit.
• International Assistance Programs: Eliminate
  • The people of the United States are some of the most generous individuals anywhere in the world. When a tsunami
    hit Indonesia and an earthquake hit Haiti in recent years, Americans opened their wallets and hearts to help provide
    assistance to those in need. Taxpayer dollars spent on official development assistance (ODA) have been wasted
    through a failed assistance giving model.

Plenty of independent and efficient consumer groups exist throughout the United States, and Consumer Reports is just one example. It is time that the federal government retreats from such services, as its presence in this arena is unnecessary and was never intended in the first place.

The Founding Fathers did not envision a government that included funding for the arts. They understood that what one citizen may see as a favorable artistic expression may offend another. This is why the arts are better left to private support; it is not government’s role to pick and choose which artists should be subsidized.

No media outlet should exist which requires government support to survive; especially in the case of NPR, which makes no apologies for its often one-sided, government subsidized options. Further, PBS has produced many hit television shows that will be able to produce revenue for continued broadcasting; as it is, public dollars are subsidizing the creation and growth of lucrative brands that generate millions of dollars of merchandising revenues. The American taxpayer deserves better.

• Affordable Housing Program – Eliminated
• Commission on Fine Arts – Eliminated
• Consumer Product Safety Commission – Eliminated
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting – Eliminated
• National Endowment of Arts – Eliminated
• National Endowment for Humanities – Eliminated
• The Smithsonian Institution – Privatized
• State Justice Institute – Eliminated

The above are only the bureaucracies Senator Rand Paul’s bill would eliminate. To see additional reductions to other bureacracies:

• Read the entire overview
• Read the Bill

The Political Crisis – There is a political crisis right now. It is the result of governments becoming gorged with power and running amok with the undisciplined exercise of power.

178 Government Agencies We Should Get Rid Of Immediately

The DaleyGator
July 9, 2012

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Administration on Aging (AoA)
African Development Foundation
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Agricultural Marketing Service
Agricultural Research Service
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (Treasury)
AMTRAK (National Railroad Passenger Corporation)
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Appalachian Regional Commission
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
Arctic Research Commission
Arms Control and International Security
Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Interagency Coordinating Committee
Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation
Bonneville Power Administration
Botanic Garden
Broadcasting Board of Governors
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
Bureau of Industry and Security
Bureau of International Labor Affairs
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Bureau of Public Debt
Bureau of Reclamation
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
Chief Acquisition Officers Council
Chief Financial Officers Council
Chief Human Capital Officers Council
Chief Information Officers Council
Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
Commission of Fine Arts
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission)
Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Community Planning and Development
Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Corporation for National and Community Service
Council of Economic Advisers
Council on Environmental Quality
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Denali Commission
Department of Commerce (DOC)
Department of Education (ED)
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Department of Labor (DOL)
Domestic Policy Council
Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs (State Department)
Economic Adjustment Office
Economic Development Administration
Economic Research Service
Economics & Statistics Administration
Election Assistance Commission
Elementary and Secondary Education
Endangered Species Committee
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Energy Information Administration
Environmental Management (Energy Department)
Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board
Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC)
Federal Consulting Group
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
Federal Geographic Data Committee
Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
Federal Housing Finance Board
Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds
Federal Interagency Committee on Education
Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy
Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer
Federal Labor Relations Authority
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
Federal Transit Administration
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
Financial Management Service (Treasury Department)
Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, National Commission
Fish and Wildlife Service
Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services
Foreign Agricultural Service
Foreign Claims Settlement Commission
Fossil Energy
Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
Government National Mortgage Association
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration
Health Resources and Services Administration
Helsinki Commission (Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe)
Indian Arts and Crafts Board
Information Resource Management College
Innovation and Improvement Office
Institute of Education Sciences
Institute of Peace
Interagency Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group
Interagency Council on Homelessness
Inter-American Foundation
International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB)
Japan-United States Friendship Commission
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
Joint Fire Science Program
Lead Hazard Control (Housing and Urban Development Department)
Legal Services Corporation
Marine Mammal Commission
Marketing and Regulatory Programs (Agriculture Department)
Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
Merit Systems Protection Board
Migratory Bird Conservation Commission
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Minerals Management Service
Minority Business Development Agency
Mississippi River Commission
Multifamily Housing Office
National Agricultural Statistics Service
National AIDS Policy Office
National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare
National Capital Planning Commission
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
National Drug Intelligence Center
National Economic Council
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
National Gallery of Art
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
National Institute for Literacy
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Labor Relations Board
National Science Foundation
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Northwest Power Planning Council
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
Office of Government Ethics
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Office of Thrift Supervision
Open World Leadership Center
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Pardon Attorney Office
Peace Corps
Policy Development and Research (Housing and Urban Development Department)
Political Affairs (State Department)
Postsecondary Education
Presidio Trust
Public and Indian Housing
Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (State Department)
Radio and TV Marti (Español)
Railroad Retirement Board
Regulatory Information Service Center
Rehabilitation Services Administration (Education Department)
Research, Education and Economics (Agriculture Department)
Research and Innovative Technology Administration (Transportation Department)
Risk Management Agency (Agriculture Department)
Rural Business and Cooperative Programs
Rural Development
Rural Housing Service
Rural Utilities Service
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
Science Office (Energy Department)
Social Security Advisory Board
State Justice Institute
Stennis Center for Public Service
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Surface Transportation Board
Susquehanna River Basin Commission
Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Vocational and Adult Education
White House Commission on Presidential Scholars
White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance
Women’s Bureau (Labor Department)
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Related:

$1.4 TRILLION IN SAVINGS - Recommendations for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (September 2011)

The U.S. Senate Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is tasked with identifying between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion in cuts before the January 15, 2012 deadline. In support of the Select Committee’s work, the minority staff of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia found more than $1.4 trillion in savings over 10 years in areas under t he subcommittee’s jurisdiction. More than half of these recommendations had been identified previously elsewhere, and the subcommittee is pleased to commend these good ideas of others to the attention of the Select Committee. In total, the potential cuts in one subcommittee’s jurisdiction amounted to about $1.4 trillion over 10 years — approximately $130 billion dollars in savings in fiscal 2012 alone — a number that suggests the Select Committee can succeed at its vital work if it has sufficient support f rom Congress.

Proposed Federal Budget Terminations and Savings to Taxpayers (2008)

Over the long term, as federal involvement in thetargeted activities ended, it would be up to state governments, businesses,consumers, and private charities to determine whether those activities were

worth sustaining without federal help. Could an entrepreneur make Amtraksucceed in the marketplace? Let’s privatize it and find out.

 

U.S. Department of Education Should Be Eliminated (Along with Other Federal Agencies) and State Sovereignty and Rights Should Be Restored as Intended by the Founding Fathers

Today's education system is driven by money from the federal government and private foundations, both working hand-in-hand with the Education Establishment headquartered in the federal Department of Education and staffed by the National Education Association (NEA). These forces have combined with psychologists, huge textbook publishers, teacher colleges, the healthcare profession, government bureaucrats, big corporations, pharmaceutical companies and social workers to invade local school boards, classrooms and private homes in the name of "fixing" education. The record shows that each of these entities has benefited from this alliance through enriched coffers and increased political power.

The entire history of the education restructuring effort is carefully and thoroughly documented in a book called The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America. The book was written by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt, a former official at the Department of Education in the Reagan Administration. While there in 1981-1982, Charlotte found the "mother lode" hidden away at the Department. She found all of the education establishment's plans for restructuring America's classrooms. Not only did she find the plans for what they intended to do, she discovered how they were going to do it and most importantly why.

Since uncovering this monstrous plan, Charlotte Iserbyt has dedicated her life to getting that information into the hands of parents, politicians and the news media. Iserbyt's book details how several wealthy families and their foundations began to implement a goal for a seamless non-competitive global system for commerce and trade.Schools were transformed from institutions that produced well educated individuals into training centers to produce compliant workers for a collectivist society. The wealthy families and foundations included The Carnegie Corporation and the Rockefellers. Their foundations [click here to read what Norman Dodd discovered about these foundations] today continue to lead the way in the development and funding of programs that are at the center of America's education system.

The process to restructure America's education system began in the opening years of the twentieth century and slowly picked up speed over the decades. The new system used psychology-based curriculum to slowly change the attitudes, values and beliefs of the students from those of earlier generations that identified strongly with liberty, patriotism, the work ethic, and comparable American values.

- The "Fix" That's Destroying Education in America (Excerpt), February 19, 2001

Some states push back against new school standards

May 28, 2013

AP - Some states are pushing back against a set of uniform benchmarks for reading, writing and math that have been fully adopted in most states and are being widely put in place this school year.

The new Common Core standards replace a hodgepodge of educational goals that had varied greatly from state to state. The federal government was not involved in the state-led effort to develop them but has encouraged the project.

While proponents say the new standards will better prepare students, critics worry they'll set a national curriculum for public schools rather than letting states decide what is best for their students.

There was little dissent when the standards were widely adopted in 2010, but that begun changing last year and debate picked up steam this year. The standards have divided Republicans, with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush championing them and conservatives such as Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, opposing them.

Lawmakers and governors are reviewing the standards in Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Indiana, Alabama, South Carolina and Utah. Grassley, meanwhile, persuaded eight other senators to sign onto a letter in April asking the Senate Appropriations Committee to stop the Education Department from linking adoption of the standards to eligibility for other federal dollars. That same month, the Republican National Committee passed a resolution calling the standards an "inappropriate overreach."

Kristy Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Bush-backed Foundation for Excellence in Education, said conservatives historically have supported higher standards and greater accountability.

"The fact that they are opposed to Common Core now is a little surprising and disappointing given the fact that states came together to solve a need," Campbell said, adding that the new standards will allow for state-by-state comparisons that haven't been possible before. "We are going to have more rigorous assessments that are going to test kids against those higher standards and hopefully achieve what we all want, which is a dramatically greater quality of education in America."

The American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative, Washington-based think tank that espouses conservative policies in state legislatures, debated in November whether to oppose the Common Core standards. The group ultimately decided to remain neutral, but its discussion, along with concerns raised by conservative groups such as the Goldwater and Pioneer institutes, caught the attention of lawmakers.

States that adopt the standards are supposed to use them as a base on which to build their curricula and testing, but they can make their benchmarks tougher than Common Core. While the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, found the new standards to be more rigorous than those that had been used by three-quarters of all states, critics question what will happen in states whose previous standards were tougher.

"So in that regard we really viewed Common Core as the race to the middle, not to the top," said Jamie Gass, director of the Center for School Reform at the Pioneer Institute.

Questions about testing also have arisen. In New York, among the first states to test students based on the standards, some students complained this spring that the Common Core-aligned English exams were too difficult to complete in the allotted time, and there were reports of students crying from stress.

Jonathan Butcher, education director for the Goldwater Institute, based in Phoenix, said opposition also is gaining traction because states and districts are at the point where money has to be appropriated to pay for the standards.

"As soon as states had to start spending money on the Common Core, as soon as it became a line item in the budget, people sit up and take notice," Butcher said. "And that wasn't going to happen until now, until states started to implement it. So it's unfortunate that there is so much attention to it so late in the game but that's kind of where we are. As soon as it starts to become a money issue people will pay attention."

Calculations on the cost of implementing the standards vary, with the Pioneer Institute and two other anti-Common Core conservative think tanks estimating it will cost $16 billion over seven years. Meanwhile, the Fordham Institute, which is pro-Common Core, said the cost over a one-to-three-year transition period could range from $8.3 billion to breaking even or even saving money, depending on things like whether the states purchase hard-copy textbooks or use open-source learning material written by experts, vetted by their peers and posted for free downloading.

One issue is that new tests tied to the standards will be computerized, requiring some states and districts to make technology upgrades. The Pioneer analysis included those technology costs; the Fordham one didn't.

In backing ultimately unsuccessful anti-Common Core legislation in Missouri, Rep. Kurt Bahr, a Republican from the St. Louis suburb of O'Fallon, said he was concerned that many communities lacked the bandwidth and hardware to administer the tests.

"We don't have that connectivity," Bahr said. "It's about to become a massive pocketbook issue."

The standards are the result of an initiative sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Carrie Heath Phillips, who oversees implementation of the standards for the council, played down the concerns about cost, noting that states periodically update their standards and that spending money to implement new ones is nothing new. She also acknowledged that technology upgrades can be a real issue for states that haven't invested in it, but asked, "If you're not moving into the 21st century now in 2013, when are you going to?"

The standards have a long list of supporters, including the National Parent Teacher Association, several education associations and businesses such as the Boeing Co. and Microsoft Corp.

Literacy teacher Jessica Cuthbertson said she attempted to fully implement the new standards in her sixth-grade Aurora, Colo., classroom for the first time this year and found her students' writing was "substantially better."

"I feel that often the debate isn't about the learning," said Cuthbertson, who also trains teachers to use the new standards as part of her job with a virtual teacher leadership initiative called the Center for Teaching Quality. "We're not talking about what the kids are producing and doing with these cool standards. We're talking about the big brother federal government controlling curriculum. I don't think it's really grounded in student learning, and yet in the hands of teachers focused on student learning, I just think there is nothing but hope."

While the federal government wasn't involved in developing the standards, it has provided $350 million to two consortiums developing Common Core tests. The federal Education Department also encouraged states to adopt the standards to compete for "Race to the Top" grants and seek waivers around some of the unpopular proficiency requirements of the No Child Left Behind federal education act.

"They have done some things that have kind of muddied the waters at the very least," said Butcher of the Goldwater Institute. "It's hard for me to say, 'Well, clearly the federal government has no interest in this.'"

But in Michigan, where the Republican-led Legislature is taking steps aimed at halting the standards, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is defending them as a "really important opportunity" for the state.

"Unfortunately, it's been too much about politics," he said. "It's being viewed as the federal government putting another federal mandate on us. ... It was the governors of the states getting together ... to say we want a partner at the national level and all levels to say, 'Let's raise the bar.'"

Related:

• The U.S. Department of Education Should Be Abolished: Start by Ending the Federal Programs 'Race to the Top' and 'No Child Left Behind'
• Eliminate the U.S. Education Department and the Department of Energy Before Raising Taxes and Cutting Medicare and Social Security

Drones: Insidious, Silent, Distant Killers

Dronestagram: What the Drones See

May 28, 2013

ABC News - As insidious, silent, distant killers whose doings crop up in the news often enough so that they’ve become a household concept, drones are far from fully understood.

Drone attacks, until recently, went unconfirmed and unexplained, although their consequences reverberated in foreign lands and policies. President Obama recently announced restrictions on the scale and scope of drone strikes after the killing of  four Americans  in Yemen in 2009 was confirmed. There are still thousands of drone strikes that have not been officially acknowledged, along with an unknown number of casualties.

James Bridle, an artist and writer, has posted Google Earth images on Instagram of drone strike locations as determined by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which relies on a variety of local and international sources to piece together locations and possible casualties. Bridle points out that the images are of  "places most of us will never see. We do not know these landscapes and we cannot visit them."

He hopes that the images will “[make] these locations just a little bit more visible, a little closer. A little more real.”

Click headline link above for images.

Netanyahu's Hardliners are Skeptical of Reaching Peace with the Palestinians and are Strong Proponents of Building Settlements in the West Bank

AP Interview: Israel deputy FM proud to be settlerAP Interview: Israel deputy FM proud to be settler

May 28, 2013

AP - Zeev Elkin has faced a wave of criticism since he was made the de facto chief of Israel's Foreign Ministry two months ago: He isn't prepared for compromise with the Palestinians. He doesn't speak English well enough. He is a West Bank settler.

But Israel's deputy foreign minister, who is the top official until a new foreign minister is named, makes no apologies for his ideology or background, and in fact thinks they are an advantage. Claiming to reflect the "real positions" of most Israelis, Elkin says the world should get used to dealing with Jewish settlers and right-wing Israeli politicians.

"It is a mistake to think the Foreign Ministry needs a person whose views the world would rather hear but do not reflect the government or the majority in Israel," Elkin said in an interview. "You cannot fool the world."

Elkin, a rising star in Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, was handed the No. 2 spot at the Foreign Ministry following parliamentary elections early this year.

Netanyahu has promised the foreign minister's job to his political partner, Avigdor Lieberman. With Lieberman on trial on fraud and breach of trust charges, he is unable to assume the post.

For now, Netanyahu has taken on the foreign minister's job until Lieberman's trial ends, handling many key diplomatic functions while Elkins oversees the ministry's day to day affairs.

The job is the latest stop for the fast-rising Elkin, a 42-year-old immigrant from the former Soviet Union who holds degrees in mathematics and history. In the previous government, he was the chairman of Netanyahu's governing coalition, one of the most important and influential positions in parliament.

Elkin is among a group of young, hard-liners who rose to prominence in Netanyahu's Likud Party during a primary vote last year. These officials, including Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon and the Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, are skeptical of reaching peace with the Palestinians and strong proponents of building settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Edelstein also lives in the West Bank. Lieberman, the would-be foreign minister, is also a settler, and Netanyahu's trade minister, Naftali Bennett, leads a pro-settler religious party and himself is a former head of the settlers' council.

The presence of so many Jewish settlers in key positions has drawn accusations that the new Israeli government is the most pro-settler in history, and raised deep Palestinian suspicions about Israel's willingness to make concessions for peace.

The Palestinians and the international community reject Jewish settlements as illegal or illegitimate, and continued Israeli construction is at the heart of a nearly 5-year-old deadlock in peace efforts.

Speaking slightly accented Hebrew in a soft monotone voice, Elkin said the settlements, home to more than 500,000 Israelis, have become a fact of life that must be recognized.

With so many settlers, "naturally they are represented in the hallways of government," he said. "I am not embarrassed of being a settler. I don't think I need to apologize to anyone about it."

Danon, the deputy defense minister, said he couldn't agree more, saying that Israel is "proud" of its settlers, and that giving them important jobs would help negative perceptions of them worldwide.

"I do not see any difference between a Jew who lives in a Jewish community in Judea and Samaria or elsewhere," he said. "When you meet those people, maybe the image that you have is a different one than the reality."

But Zehava Galon, leader of the opposition Meretz Party, said Elkin's appointment sent a bad message to the world.

"When our foreign relations are based on a settler agenda it is problematic," she said. "These are people with an agenda to keep settlements and not reach a compromise. I don't understand how they can manage Israel's foreign relations."

For now, Elkin's ideological leanings have not been much of a problem. He said meetings with foreign diplomats have been pleasant and professional, and in many cases, he knows them personally from his past work in parliament.

In addition, Netanyahu has distanced Elkin from key issues, particularly in dealing with U.S. efforts to restart peace talks with the Palestinians. Netanyahu handles the contacts with the Americans himself and has delegated Justice Minister Tzipi Livni to serve as his chief negotiator if peace talks resume.

Elkin said he has no problem with this arrangement, noting that in Israel's fragmented political system, prime ministers have historically reserved key diplomatic functions for themselves.

Elkin said he still deals with "98 percent" of Israel's diplomatic issues, which is more than enough. He recently joined Netanyahu at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where Israel pressed the Russian leader not to ship advanced weapons to Syria. Elkin refused to divulge details of the talks, saying only that they were "constructive."

Elkin said that he has not allowed his personal views on the Palestinian issue to affect his professional work. He has already assigned a small team of Foreign Ministry workers to assist Livni in her attempts to restart talks with the Palestinians, and said he would expand the team if negotiations resume.

And while Elkin opposes the Palestinian demand to freeze settlement construction, he said it is "no secret" that the government has greatly limited settlement projects in recent weeks at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's urging.

Elkin heaped the blame for the current impasse in peace efforts on the Palestinians, accusing them of setting unrealistic conditions at the outset of talks, promoting hatred and glorifying violence. Such accusations, denied by the Palestinians, are common among Israel's right wing.

If Israel and the Palestinians somehow defy the odds and reach a deal, Elkin signaled he would not stand in the way.

"I am a democrat and therefore willing to accept any decision made by a democratic majority," he said.

He just might not be part of the government if it reaches that point.

"If I feel I can't represent the government, I will not stick to my chair," he said.

Liberman: Hezbollah can strike any point in Israel

May 28, 2013

JPOST.COM - Former FM warns Iran "running at frantic pace toward atomic bomb"; says "no question that Assad has used chemical weapons.

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Avigdor Liberman warned Tuesday that "Hezbollah possesses weapons to hit any point in Israel."

According to Channel 2, Liberman told fellow FADC members that, amid threats from the "radical axis" of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, "what's needed now is perseverance and decisiveness."

The former foreign minister warned that Iran is "running at a frantic pace toward an atomic bomb."

Liberman also addressed reports of Syrian chemical weapon use, stating that their was "no question" that Syrian President Bashar Assad had used chemical arms in his fight against armed opposition in the country.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz was also scheduled to address the FADC Tuesday. He was expected to discuss the IDF's efforts to adjust to cuts to the defense budget.

South Korea Halts 2 Nuclear Plants for Using Control Cables with Fabricated Test Results

SKorea idles 2 nuke plants after cable tests faked

May 28, 2013

AP - South Korea has idled two nuclear power plants after finding that test results for crucial control cables were falsified in a new blow to an industry mired in a graft scandal and safety lapses.

South Korea's trade and energy ministry said Tuesday a company contracted to conduct tests fabricated the results for cables that failed to meet international standards for capacity to withstand changes in voltage and pressure. It warned that the plant shutdowns would result in summer power shortages.

The cables control valves that are responsible for cooling nuclear fuel or preventing the release of radioactive materials during an emergency. Another four nuclear reactors that were either shut down for scheduled maintenance or under construction were also using cables that had failed the tests.

"If these control cables do not operate well during an emergency, we viewed that it would not guarantee to cool nuclear fuels or to shut off radioactive materials," South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said in a statement.

It said the cables, which were in use since December 2011, failed nine of 12 tests pertinent to their operation in a "loss of coolant accident."

Han Jinhyun, vice trade and energy minister, declined to name the company while the government's investigation is ongoing. The ministry will sue the company and also ask prosecutors to launch a probe, he told a press conference.

The revelations add to public worries about nuclear safety and power shortages during the summer when demand is at its peak. They are a new blow to South Korea's ambitions to export its nuclear technology.

With the shutdown of the Shin-Kori No. 2 and Shin-Wolsong No. 1 reactors to replace cables, a total of 10 nuclear plants are now offline.

The minister said it would take around four months to replace the cables and warned "unprecedented power shortages" are expected in coming months.

"There is no means to increase power supply in the short term, so we expect we need to lower demand considerably to weather the crisis," he said.

Last year, the South Korean nuclear industry was rocked by revelations that thousands of components used in nuclear plants had falsified quality certificates. Dozens of employees at state owned nuclear power plant operator, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., were prosecuted for taking bribes from contractors to accept substandard parts and machinery.

The investigation into the cable problems began after the nuclear safety commission received tips through a whistleblowing channel that was set up in the wake of last year's scandal.

"This incident is more serious than previous scandals because it is wrongdoing by a company that is supposed to oversee products," said Kim Ik-jung, a medical professor at Dongguk University who has become prominent as an anti-nuclear activist since the government decided to build a nuclear waste dump in Gyeongju city where he lives.

"Corruption is widespread in the nuclear industry because there is no agency that can truly regulate Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power," he said.

South Korea has 23 nuclear power plants which supply about 30 percent of its energy and plans to add another 11 reactors by 2025.

China Has World's Second Largest Economy

China Stocks: Why Goldman Likes This Market Laggard

May 28, 2013

CNBC- Chinese equities, together with the country's economic performance, have repeatedly disappointed investors in recent months, but U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs remains optimistic that the laggard will deliver solid returns this year.

Investors, according to Goldman Sachs, are now focusing more on the pace of reforms than on government stimulus in the world's second largest economy, which is trying to rebalance away from an over dependence on exports and investments to being more consumption-led.

The bank wrote in a report on Monday that its expects economic reforms to accelerate further in the second-half of the year that will boost investor sentiment and in turn provide a fillip to stocks.

"The market's response to progress on reforms has been more pronounced, whereas reactions to cyclical stimulus have held less and less conviction," wrote Helen Zhu, chief China equity strategist at the bank.

"Over the coming months we expect reform news flow to intensify and still see opportunity for reform progress to support valuations towards our year-end target," she said. The bank expects the MSCI China to rise 14 percent from current levels.

The MSCI China is down 3.7 percent year to date, underperforming the benchmark Shanghai Composite, which is up 1.2 percent over the same period. The Shanghai market is still a laggard relative to regional peers like Japan and Australia.

Reform Minded

There are a number of signs that the new leadership intends to be progressive, she said, pointing to their greater tolerance for slower more balanced growth and increased focus on tackling corruption.

The most important reform milestones in the coming months include the government's urbanization blueprint – expected to be unveiled in June or July – as well as the third plenary session of Congress scheduled for October where the government will present its medium to longer term objectives for the country.

"More specific policy priorities are likely to be clarified and we hope to see some easy-to-achieve objectives reiterated while new goals are also likely to be introduced," she said, referring to the third plenary session of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China which has historically been a meeting when decisions on major economic reforms are made. 

The last such session was held in 2008.

"Some investors have expressed impatience to wait until the fall for full clarity on the reform agenda, but we think this timeline is customary and within reason," Zhu said.

Investors Overlook Stimulus
 
According to the bank, investors are reacting less to the prospect of fresh stimulus or even positive money supply data that reflect the impact of an accommodative monetary policy.

"More recently, accommodative monetary policy has been met with skepticism. Whereas 12-24 months ago, a large money supply print was generally embraced by the market and quickly rewarded, recent reaction has been more muted," she said.

Zhu added that robust money supply growth is currently being met with significant concern among investors who are questioning whether policymakers are losing control of the shadow banking system, and how the government intends to control such leverage.

"In an informal poll of several hundred investors taken at our February 2013 macro conference in Hong Kong, 87 percent of respondents indicated a preference to see China reform, even at the cost of GDP [gross domestic product] and thus earnings growth," she said, highlighting investors' desire for reforms.

Related: 

• Outlook for China's Economy Just Keeps Getting Worse 
• China President Takes Charge of Sweeping Economic Reform Plans 

Read About China and the End Times...

Clinton Dynasty Working with Bill Gates and the Banking Cartel to Reduce the Population

A Bush or Clinton has been in the White House since 1980, and Bush's cousin, Obama, continues the Bush-Clinton Dynasty that is ushering in the New World Order, a one-world totalitarian government under the United Nations with a global currency and new age religion. Longtime, deeply loyal associates dominate the White House inner sanctum, and veterans of Clinton's presidency hold vital jobs throughout the government. And just like his cousins Bush and Cheney, Obama uses the "war on terror" and politics of fear to push the agenda of the secret international banking cabal, the invisible money power that rules America from behind the scenes.[Source]

Chelsea Clinton eyes global projects, gay rights

May 28, 2013

AP - Chelsea Clinton said Tuesday she plans to become increasingly involved in the international health projects of her father's foundation and to speak out for gay rights.

The only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton told The Associated Press during a visit to Malaysia that her focus will be on the Clinton Foundation's work, especially "related to health, not just in the United States but also around the world."

Clinton said on the sidelines of a women's conference in Malaysia's main city that she hopes to return to Southeast Asia, specifically Myanmar, where the foundation will work with authorities to distribute medicine and health products, including HIV drugs and child vaccines, at cheaper prices.

Clinton visited Myanmar earlier this week at the start of initiative to provide water purification packets to areas with unsafe water supplies. Her mother, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, made a groundbreaking visit to Myanmar in 2011 and helped nudge an elected government toward democratic reforms.

"I hope to go back soon" to Myanmar, Clinton said. "My father and my husband are quite jealous now because my mother and I both have been to the country, and they have not."

From Malaysia, Clinton travels to Cambodia to launch an effort to slash HIV-related infections and deaths.

"My goal is always to do as much as I can in whatever area I'm working in," she said.

She added that besides the Clinton Foundation's initiatives, she was committed to supporting gay rights, including marriage equality.

"It just seems so fundamental to me. I'm able to marry the person I wanted to marry," Clinton said. "That's the fundamental human imperative. Those of us who have been lucky enough should expand these rights to others."

Clinton often tweets messages supportive of gay rights. Earlier this month, she called it "progress" when France's new gay marriage law came into force and urged her followers to help build "an equitable world for all" while marking International Day Against Homophobia.

Clinton laughed off a question about whether all the work would leave her time to start a family with her husband.

"My mother asks me that all the time, and anything my mother asks me is fair game," she said.

Germany Sees Youth 'Revolution' If Welfare Model Scrapped; German Economy is Strong and Unemployment Low Compared to Other Countries in the EU

Europe must urgently tackle youth unemployment, the French, German and Italian governments said May 28, 2013, urging action to rescue an entire generation who fear they will not find jobs. Some 7.5 million Europeans aged 15-24 are neither in employment nor in education or training, according to EU data. Youth unemployment in the EU stood at 23.6 percent in January, more than twice as high as the adult rate.

Germany sees "revolution" if welfare model scrapped

May 28, 2013

Reuters - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned on Tuesday that failure to win the battle against youth unemployment could tear Europe apart, while abandoning the continent's welfare model in favour of tougher U.S. standards would cause "revolution".

Germany, along with France and Italy, backed urgent action to rescue a generation of young Europeans who fear they will not find jobs, with youth unemployment in the EU standing at nearly one in four, more than twice the adult rate.

"We need to be more successful in our fight against youth unemployment, otherwise we will lose the battle for Europe's unity," Schaeuble said.

While Germany insists on the importance of budget consolidation, Schaeuble spoke of the need to preserve Europe's welfare model.

If U.S. welfare standards were introduced in Europe, "we would have revolution, not tomorrow, but on the very same day," Schaeuble told a conference in Paris.

"We have to rescue an entire generation of young people who are scared. We have the best-educated generation and we are putting them on hold. This is not acceptable," Italian Labour minister Enrico Giovannini said.

Germany in particular, weary of a backlash as many in crisis-hit European countries blame it for austerity, has over the past weeks taken steps to tackle unemployment, striking bilateral deals with Spain and Portugal.

German ministers told the conference that, to help young people find jobs, Europe must continue on the path of structural reforms to boost its competitiveness as well as make good use of available EU funds, including 6 billion euros that leaders have set aside for youth employment for 2014-20.

While all agreed on the urgency needed to tackle youth unemployment, ministers offered no concrete plans, insisting Europe must be pragmatic and work on various strands.

Schaeuble said this was why Germany had also decided to strike deals with countries such as Spain and Greece.

"Let's be honest, there is no quick fix, there is no grand plan," said Werner Hoyer, head the European Investment Bank.

Together with ministers, he said policies aimed at boosting youth employment must focus on small and medium-sized enterprises as they are the main entry point to the labour market for most.

More than half of Spain's under 25-year-olds are jobless, as are nearly 40 percent in Portugal. In Greece, youth unemployment shot to a record 64 percent in February.

In March 2013, the lowest youth unemployment rates were in Germany and Austria, both below 8 percent, highlighting the wide disparities within the EU.

The youth employment crisis will be a central theme of a June EU leaders' summit, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has invited EU labour ministers to a youth unemployment conference in Berlin on July 3.

Following up on an idea aired earlier this month, French President Francois Hollande urged the euro zone to work towards a joint economic government with its own budget which could take on specific projects including tackling youth unemployment.

VW agrees hefty pay deal for German workers

May 28, 2013

Reuters - Volkswagen granted its German factory workers an inflation-busting pay rise on Tuesday, the latest hefty wage hike in Germany as union demands meet support from politicians seeking both to woo local voters and underpin the wider EU.

Germany faces federal elections in September which have emboldened unions to press for salary increases popular with the public. But Berlin is also hoping the round of salary increases can encourage Germans to spend more on goods and services from weaker euro zone economies, evening out imbalances and boosting the bloc as a whole, after the International Monetary Fund pressed the German government to act.

VW's pay deal - which lifts wages 3.4 percent from September, then by another 2.2 percent from July 2014 - matches an agreement negotiated earlier this month by the IG Metall union for Germany's 3.7 million engineering and metal workers. Inflation is currently running at just 1.2 percent.

"This and other similar wage deals will encourage Germans to spend more, supporting German economic growth but also helping euro zone rebalancing," said Christian Schulz, an economist at Berenberg Bank.

By increasing labour unit costs the deal at VW - Europe's largest carmaker - and others will reduce German competitiveness and level the playing field with countries still struggling to fire up their economies following the debt crisis.

Private consumption almost exclusively drove German growth in the first quarter, and wage hikes together with low unemployment are likely to boost it further.

VW had urged staff to settle for a "moderate" pay increase as a prolonged global slump in car sales hurts sales and profits.

"We're pushing the envelope of what's feasible, given the difficult market situation in Europe and tough international competition," VW human resources chief Horst Neumann said in a statement on the pay deal, which will apply to 97,000 workers at its six western German plants and 5,000 employees at the financial services division.

Deliveries of VW's main namesake brand tumbled 10.9 percent in the German home market between January and April and fell 7.9 percent across austerity-strapped western European countries. First-quarter operating profit at the German multi-brand group plunged by a quarter to 2.34 billion euros (2 billion pounds).

The new wage accord also includes a one-time contribution of 300 euros to each worker's corporate pension plan, the company said. Apprentices will be paid 27 euros per month towards their pension plans under the 20-month deal slated to expire on February 28, 2015.

Russia to Send Missiles to Syria 'to Deter Hotheads' Who Back Foreign Intervention; Israel Minister Warns Russia Against Arming Syria

An advanced anti-aircraft system destined for Syria has not left Russia yet, but Israel will know how to act if it does, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday. Yaalon's remarks appeared to contradict Israel's air force chief, who said last week the shipment of S-300 missiles was "on its way" to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is battling a popular uprising that has turned into a civil war. Israel is alarmed by the prospect of Russia supplying advanced weapon systems to Syria, saying such arms could end up in the hands of arch-foe Iran or the Lebanese Hezbollah group. "I can say that the shipments are not on their way yet," Yaalon told reporters. "I hope they will not leave, and if, God forbid, they reach Syria, we will know what to do," he said, without disclosing how he came by the information. Although Israel has not publicly taken sides in the Syrian conflict, Western and Israeli sources say it has launched air strikes inside Syria to destroy weapons it believed were destined for Hezbollah guerrillas allied to Assad. Russia's foreign minister said on May 13 that Moscow had no new plans to sell the S-300 to Syria but left open the possibility of delivering such systems under an existing contract. [Reuters]

Russia to send Syria air defense system to deter "hotheads"

May 28, 2013

Reuters - Russia will deliver an advanced air defense system to the Syrian government despite Western opposition because it will help deter "hotheads" who back foreign intervention, a senior Russian official said on Tuesday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also accused the European Union of "throwing fuel on the fire" by letting its arms embargo on Syrian expire, saying it would complicate efforts to arrange an international peace conference.

His remarks toughened Russia's defiance of the United States, France and Israel over the planned sale of precision S-300 missile systems to President Bashar al-Assad's government, which is battling a Western and Gulf Arab-backed insurgency.

"We think this delivery is a stabilizing factor and that such steps in many ways restrain some hotheads ... from exploring scenarios in which this conflict could be given an international character with participation of outside forces, to whom this idea is not foreign," he told a news conference.

Western experts say the air defense system could significantly boost Syria's ability to stave off outside intervention in the more than two-year civil war that has killed more than 80,000 people.

The S-300s can intercept manned aircraft and guided missiles and their delivery would improve Assad's government's chances of holding out in Damascus. Western nations say the Russian arms deliveries could increase tension and encourage Assad.

Moscow is standing firm on the sale, despite a trip to Russia by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this month in which he pleaded with President Vladimir Putin to halt the delivery, and a veiled warning of a military response by Israel.

"I can say that the shipments are not on their way yet," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday at a conference near Tel Aviv. "I hope they will not leave, and if, God forbid, they reach Syria, we will know what to do."

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Russia has sent anti-missile defense systems to Syria before, but says it has not sent offensive weapons or arms that can be used against the anti-government forces. A source close to Russia's state arms exporter said a contract to supply Syria with fighter jets had been suspended.

Ryabkov was unable to confirm whether S-300s had already been delivered but said "we will not disavow them".

Russia has been Assad's most powerful ally during the conflict, opposing sanctions and blocking, with China, three Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolutions meant to pressure the government to stop fighting.
Moscow opposes military intervention or arming Syrian rebels and defends its right to deliver arms to Assad's government.

Ryabkov said the failure by the EU to renew its arms embargo on Syria at a meeting on Monday would undermine the chances for peace talks which Moscow and Washington are trying to organize.

"The European Union is essentially throwing fuel on the fire in Syria," he said of the EU compromise decision which will allow EU states to supply arms to the rebels if they wish.

His comments were echoed by Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, who also criticized a visit to Syria on Monday by U.S. Senator John McCain, who met rebels fighting Assad's government.

Britain and France, which opposed renewing the arms embargo, have made clear they reserve the right to send arms immediately, despite an agreement by European countries to put off potential deliveries until August 1, but have made no decisions yet.

A senior French official said the S-300 was brought up at talks between French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris on Monday.

"Obviously it poses a huge problem for us because if they deliver these weapons - they are ground-to-air missiles - and if we were to set up air corridors, then you can see the contradiction between the two," the official said.

Israel says Russian weapons sent to Syria could end up in the hands of its enemy, Iran, or the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Israeli Strategic Affairs and Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said the S-300 could reach deep into the Jewish state and threaten flights over its main commercial airport near Tel Aviv.

Israel minister warns Russia against arming Syria

May 28, 2013

AP - Israel's defense minister is signaling that his military is prepared to strike shipments of advanced Russian weapons to Syria.

Israel has been pressing Moscow not to go through with a promised delivery of advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Damascus. Israel fears the missiles could slip into the hands of hostile groups like Hezbollah.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday that Israel believes the missiles haven't been shipped yet but the military "will know what to do" if they are delivered.

Yaalon spoke at an annual home front drill preparing for missile attacks. This year's exercise comes at a time of heightened concerns that Israel could be dragged into the Syrian civil war.

Israel is believed to have carried out recent airstrikes on weapon depots inside Syria destined for Hezbollah.