Gov. Rick Perry, the GOP presidential candidate who calls Social Security a “monstrous lie” and a “Ponzi scheme” has implied that future retirees can’t rely upon receiving benefits from the system.
Not only is Perry shooting wildly from the hip on these statements — a strategy cynically designed to attract angry, younger independent voters — he’s spewing some layered falsehoods that need to be addressed.
Social Security can not only be preserved for future generations, its coming fiscal shortfalls can be fixed relatively simply. What Perry also neglects to mention is that it’s one of the most successful anti-poverty programs in U.S. history.
The before-and-after Social Security picture is dramatic. Before Social Security, almost half of elderly Americans had income below the poverty line, reports the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Roughly 12 percent of elderly citizens are considered poor today. The program lifted more than 11 million out of poverty — more than 60 percent of those were women.
Here’s some even more relevant Texas-sized context: Today, more people are slipping back into poverty because of permanent job losses, recessions, a housing meltdown, stock-market downturns, reduced employment benefits, higher medical costs and stagnant wage growth. The U.S. poverty rate last year increased for the third straight year — the highest it’s been since 1993. Some 46 million have annual incomes below the poverty line of $22,113.
As the U.S. is saddled with the highest poverty rate among industrialized countries, why are the anti-poverty features of Social Security being attacked?
Social Justice: Current Affairs, Business, Politics, and all the reasons in the world to Thrive on Creative Discontent!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
UAW & GM reach accord
General Motors Co. (GM) will increase entry-level pay by $2 to $3 an hour as part of a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers, said two people familiar with the accord.
Starting pay will increase to about $16 an hour from $14 and rise to about $19 an hour from a previous maximum of $16, said the people who asked not to be identified disclosing details before they have been presented to union members for ratification. UAW President Bob King had said getting those workers a middle-class lifestyle was his highest priority.
“This is a wage gain in an economy that is cratering in some places,” Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said in a telephone interview today. “It’s an important symbol.”
GM will also pay a record $5,000 signing bonus if a majority of the 48,500 hourly workers vote to ratify the accord, the people said. That would cost the Detroit-based automaker $242.5 million. The accord also includes new jobs and better profit-sharing, the union said. Ratification votes will probably be held within 10 days, GM said.
The new entry-level wage will get workers close to the average manufacturing wage in the U.S., Shaiken said. In August, it was $18.90 an hour, according to the Commerce Department.
Starting pay will increase to about $16 an hour from $14 and rise to about $19 an hour from a previous maximum of $16, said the people who asked not to be identified disclosing details before they have been presented to union members for ratification. UAW President Bob King had said getting those workers a middle-class lifestyle was his highest priority.
“This is a wage gain in an economy that is cratering in some places,” Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said in a telephone interview today. “It’s an important symbol.”
GM will also pay a record $5,000 signing bonus if a majority of the 48,500 hourly workers vote to ratify the accord, the people said. That would cost the Detroit-based automaker $242.5 million. The accord also includes new jobs and better profit-sharing, the union said. Ratification votes will probably be held within 10 days, GM said.
The new entry-level wage will get workers close to the average manufacturing wage in the U.S., Shaiken said. In August, it was $18.90 an hour, according to the Commerce Department.
Eurozone stagnations.....
Europe projects an image of “ongoing conflict” between national governments and the central bank, hampering efforts to put the economy on a sounder footing, Geithner said at a banking conference in between euro meetings.
“Your financial challenges in Europe are eminently in your capacity to manage financially, you just have to choose to do it,” he said.
Echoes of that appeal came from ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, six weeks from the end of an eight-year term as the overseer of euro interest rates.
“Our permanent message is of course to be ahead of the curve,” Trichet told reporters. “All that I heard goes in this direction. But the problems are not words, the problems are deeds.”
The ECB was in the forefront again this week, joining other major central banks in offering dollar loans to ease a liquidity crunch that had confronted European banks with the highest costs for obtaining the U.S. currency in almost three years.
Finance chiefs stuck by the view that commercial banks have enough capital to ride out the turbulence that has driven the bonds of Greece, the epicenter of the crisis, to less than half their nominal value.
Trichet hailed an accord between governments and the European Parliament that will tighten the euro area’s economic management and make it easier to impose sanctions on countries that overstep the budget-deficit limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product.
The new rules, to take effect by Jan. 1, mark a “substantial improvement,” Trichet said.
“Your financial challenges in Europe are eminently in your capacity to manage financially, you just have to choose to do it,” he said.
Echoes of that appeal came from ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, six weeks from the end of an eight-year term as the overseer of euro interest rates.
“Our permanent message is of course to be ahead of the curve,” Trichet told reporters. “All that I heard goes in this direction. But the problems are not words, the problems are deeds.”
The ECB was in the forefront again this week, joining other major central banks in offering dollar loans to ease a liquidity crunch that had confronted European banks with the highest costs for obtaining the U.S. currency in almost three years.
Finance chiefs stuck by the view that commercial banks have enough capital to ride out the turbulence that has driven the bonds of Greece, the epicenter of the crisis, to less than half their nominal value.
Trichet hailed an accord between governments and the European Parliament that will tighten the euro area’s economic management and make it easier to impose sanctions on countries that overstep the budget-deficit limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product.
The new rules, to take effect by Jan. 1, mark a “substantial improvement,” Trichet said.
Friday, September 16, 2011
SPR release demonstrates healthy management of floor and ceiling approach to oil prices
It might not sound like much of a victory. The United States and other oil-consuming countries release emergency stocks of oil to put a lid on prices. The result: crude prices in London rise by $1 since the program began, three months ago.
But many oil experts say the strategic releases -- just the third-ever by a group of consumer countries -- were a major success. Not only did they likely avert a further rise in oil prices during the peak U.S. driving season, but they set a precedent for consuming countries to keep bullish oil speculators in check.
"The releases completely changed the psychology of the oil market," said Amy Jaffe, an energy policy expert at Rice University's Baker Institute in Houston.
"The move worked, as it has in the past, because speculators now have to worry that extra oil may come if prices reach a certain level. It showed they are willing to use the strategic reserves."
The program to release 60 million barrels by the 28-nation International Energy Agency, which formally ended on Thursday, was first announced on June 23, when it set off an immediate drop of $7 a barrel in Brent crude prices.
The program, led by the U.S. government, was controversial, with lots of oil market players deriding it as a political move to appease testy consumers, after U.S. gasoline prices rose to near $4.00 a gallon in May.
IEA's extra oil supplies may have helped accelerate a 22 percent slide in U.S. oil prices from 30-month highs near $115 in early May. U.S. crude traded below $90 on Friday.
While European benchmark Brent crude has bounced back to its June price levels, it has not come anywhere near a high of $127 a barrel reached in April, a price some economists warned could tip major economies back into recession.
The IEA releases came in response to surging oil prices and supply disruptions in war-torn Libya. As Libya starts to resume output following the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi's regime, the IEA says it sees no need to release more oil for now.
But many oil experts say the strategic releases -- just the third-ever by a group of consumer countries -- were a major success. Not only did they likely avert a further rise in oil prices during the peak U.S. driving season, but they set a precedent for consuming countries to keep bullish oil speculators in check.
"The releases completely changed the psychology of the oil market," said Amy Jaffe, an energy policy expert at Rice University's Baker Institute in Houston.
"The move worked, as it has in the past, because speculators now have to worry that extra oil may come if prices reach a certain level. It showed they are willing to use the strategic reserves."
The program to release 60 million barrels by the 28-nation International Energy Agency, which formally ended on Thursday, was first announced on June 23, when it set off an immediate drop of $7 a barrel in Brent crude prices.
The program, led by the U.S. government, was controversial, with lots of oil market players deriding it as a political move to appease testy consumers, after U.S. gasoline prices rose to near $4.00 a gallon in May.
IEA's extra oil supplies may have helped accelerate a 22 percent slide in U.S. oil prices from 30-month highs near $115 in early May. U.S. crude traded below $90 on Friday.
While European benchmark Brent crude has bounced back to its June price levels, it has not come anywhere near a high of $127 a barrel reached in April, a price some economists warned could tip major economies back into recession.
The IEA releases came in response to surging oil prices and supply disruptions in war-torn Libya. As Libya starts to resume output following the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi's regime, the IEA says it sees no need to release more oil for now.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
We have disasters in 48 of 50 states .... and where's Congress?
Do you ever wonder why you pay taxes; schools, infrastructure, disasters, national defense, social safety net, kindda makes sense.... think its called civilization...
The Democratic-led Senate on Thursday sent the House of Representatives a measure to fund disaster aid by twice as much as the House wants to spend -- laying the groundwork for another political showdown.
The Senate voted 62-37 to approve $6.9 billion to cover disaster response until October 2012.
But the measure is unlikely to pass the Republican-led House, which prefers to offset spending increases with cuts in another part of the budget.
After a record year for natural disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is running short on funds to help victims of hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.
FEMA had to suspend some payments for longer-term projects to have enough money to distribute to victims of last month's Hurricane Irene and other recent disasters. President Barack Obama has asked for $5.1 billion to boost FEMA's coffers.
Lawmakers from both parties say they want to help the disaster victims in a year in which Obama has declared a disaster in 48 of the 50 states. They just disagree on how.
"This is the only vehicle that we have before us to do long-term full funding for disaster relief," said Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. "Sending a strong vote from the Senate today will help us negotiate with the House."
Next week the House will consider a proposal that includes $1 billion in disaster aid to be made available right away. The money would be included in a must-pass spending bill to keep the government running past September 30.
House Republicans said the $1 billion would be offset by cutting a program that promotes electric vehicles.
Landrieu criticized the House plan as being a short-term proposal that will just partially fund a limited number of disaster relief programs for six weeks.
"You cannot budget for disaster relief in six-week segments," Landrieu said in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner. "Disaster recovery does not work that way ... . You cannot rebuild communities with six-week plans."
Senators from both parties, particularly those from disaster-struck states, have said recovery aid should not get tangled up in the partisan bickering that has dominated Washington budget talks this year.
The Democratic-led Senate on Thursday sent the House of Representatives a measure to fund disaster aid by twice as much as the House wants to spend -- laying the groundwork for another political showdown.
The Senate voted 62-37 to approve $6.9 billion to cover disaster response until October 2012.
But the measure is unlikely to pass the Republican-led House, which prefers to offset spending increases with cuts in another part of the budget.
After a record year for natural disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is running short on funds to help victims of hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.
FEMA had to suspend some payments for longer-term projects to have enough money to distribute to victims of last month's Hurricane Irene and other recent disasters. President Barack Obama has asked for $5.1 billion to boost FEMA's coffers.
Lawmakers from both parties say they want to help the disaster victims in a year in which Obama has declared a disaster in 48 of the 50 states. They just disagree on how.
"This is the only vehicle that we have before us to do long-term full funding for disaster relief," said Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. "Sending a strong vote from the Senate today will help us negotiate with the House."
Next week the House will consider a proposal that includes $1 billion in disaster aid to be made available right away. The money would be included in a must-pass spending bill to keep the government running past September 30.
House Republicans said the $1 billion would be offset by cutting a program that promotes electric vehicles.
Landrieu criticized the House plan as being a short-term proposal that will just partially fund a limited number of disaster relief programs for six weeks.
"You cannot budget for disaster relief in six-week segments," Landrieu said in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner. "Disaster recovery does not work that way ... . You cannot rebuild communities with six-week plans."
Senators from both parties, particularly those from disaster-struck states, have said recovery aid should not get tangled up in the partisan bickering that has dominated Washington budget talks this year.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
US$ 447 bn to create employment; a no brainer.....
Some 9.1% of Americans are currently out of work (nearly 43% of them have now been out of work for more than six months), an issue that is expected to dominate the election campaign. For this reason last September 8th President Obama unveiled the American Jobs Act, his latest stimulus plan, this time majorly intended to create jobs but also to spur the economy. Nearly all of the plan is made up of ideas that have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans. Now the plan (which at the moment it is just a President’s proposal) needs to be passed by the Congress (expected to be done yesterday).
The purpose of the American Jobs Act is according the White House: “to put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans – without adding a dime to the deficit.” The proposal includes more than $248 billion in tax incentives for small businesses and employers, according to administration estimates. The rest of the money would be devoted to infrastructure spending, state aid, unemployment insurance, and neighborhood rehabilitation. Overall, the bill would deliver roughly $450 billion in job creation measures, a majority of which would come in the form of tax breaks. Because the bill is mostly focused on 2012, it is similar in scale to the 2009 recovery act.
President Barack Obama’s jobs package could lift economic growth by one to three percentage points in 2012, add well over one million jobs and lower the unemployment rate by at least half a percentage point, judging by early estimates.
The American Jobs Act has five key components:
1. Tax Cuts to Help America’s Small Businesses Hire and Grow: new tax cuts to businesses that provide immediate incentives for firms to hire and invest. These tax cuts would be available to all businesses, regardless of size, but are designed to target their impact towards the smallest businesses.
Measures:
- A payroll tax cut to businesses, with a focus on small employers.
- A complete payroll tax holiday for new jobs or wage increases.
- Extend 100 percent business expensing through 2012 ($5 billion).
- Help entrepreneurs and small businesses access capital and grow.
■Changing the Way the Government Does Business with Small Firms.
■Reducing Regulatory Burdens on Small Business Capital Formation.
■Helping Small Businesses Compete for Infrastructure Projects.
■Passing Patent Reform.
2. Putting Workers Back on the Job While Rebuilding and Modernizing America: the purpose is to put Americans back to work in key areas that are central to America‘s future competitiveness. Repairing and modernizing classrooms across the country and making sure that teachers who have been laid off because of budget cuts can be brought back to work. It will take on the fact that the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) awarded the United States a ‘D’ for the overall condition of its infrastructure. Both to modernize the nation‘s roads, railways, airports and schools and to put hundreds of thousands of workers back on the job.
Measures:
- A Helping Hand for Veterans.
- Preventing Teacher Layoffs and Keeping Police Officers and Firefighters on the Job ($35 billion).
- Modernizing At Least 35,000 Public Schools – From Science Labs and Internet-Ready Classrooms to Renovated Facilities ($30 billion).
■Safer, Healthier, and Technologically-Advanced Schools of the Future.
■A Focus on Schools in Need.
■Modernizing Community Colleges to Train a 21st Century Workforce.
- Immediate Investments in Infrastructure ($50 billion).
■Investments in Making US’ Highway Systems Safer and More Efficient.
■Repairing Transit Systems and Improving Rail Systems.
■Improving Airports.
■Opportunities in the Transportation Sector.
■Funding for Innovative Transportation.
■Expediting High Impact Infrastructure Projects.
- National Infrastructure Bank ($10 billion)
■Independent, Non-Partisan Operations Led by Infrastructure and Financial Experts.
■Broad eligibility for Infrastructure and Unbiased Project Selection.
■Addressing Market Gaps for Infrastructure Financing.
- Project Rebuild: Putting People Back to Work Rehabilitating Homes, Businesses and Communities ($15 billion).
■Focus on Distressed Commercial Properties and Redevelopment to Stabilize Communities.
■Include For-Profit Entities to Gain Expertise, Leverage Federal Dollars and Speed Program Implementation.
■Increase Support for “Land Banking”.
■Create Jobs Maintaining Properties and Avoiding Community Blight.
- Expanding Nationwide Wireless Internet Services For the Public and the First Responders, in a Fiscally Responsible Way.
3. Pathways Back to Work for Americans Looking for Jobs: extension of unemployment insurance to prevent 6 million Americans looking for work from losing their benefits, while at the same time reforming the system to help support programs that build real skills, connect to real jobs, and help the long-term unemployed.
Measures:
- Reform Unemployment Insurance System to Provide Greater Flexibility, While Ensuring 6 Million People Do Not Lose Benefits ($49 billion).
■Rigorous Reemployment Assistance.
■Work Sharing: UI reform to prevent layoffs.
■State Flexibility for Bold Reforms to Put the Long-Term Unemployed Back To Work.
- Tax credits for businesses that hire the long-term unemployed ($8 billion).
■An Effective, Targeted Measure.
■Rising to the Challenge of Persistent Unemployment.
- Investing in Low-Income Youth and Adults ($5 billion).
■Support for Summer and Year-Round Jobs for Youth.
■Subsidized Employment Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals Who Are Unemployed.
■Support for Local Efforts to Implement Promising Work-Based Strategies and to Provide Training Opportunities.
- Ending Discrimination Against the Unemployed.
4. More Money in the Pockets of Every American Worker and Family: put more money in the pockets of working and middle-class Americans by providing tax relief to 160 million workers – extending the payroll tax cut passed last December. Congress approved a cut in the tax for workers last year, from 6.2% to 4.2%. But that measure was due to expire in December. Mr Obama wants to continue that cut next year, lower the tax even further to 3.1% for workers, and extend a similar cut to companies, at a cost of $240bn.
Measures:
- Cutting Payroll Taxes in Half for 160 Million Workers Next Year ($179 billion)
■A Targeted Tax Cut for American Workers.
■A Boost to Economic Growth and Job Creation.
■A Tax Cut That Has Received Bipartisan Support in the Past.
■Social Security Trust Fund Would Not Be Impacted by Payroll Tax Cut.
- Helping More Americans Refinance Mortgages at Today’s Historically Low Interest Rates.
The purpose of the American Jobs Act is according the White House: “to put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans – without adding a dime to the deficit.” The proposal includes more than $248 billion in tax incentives for small businesses and employers, according to administration estimates. The rest of the money would be devoted to infrastructure spending, state aid, unemployment insurance, and neighborhood rehabilitation. Overall, the bill would deliver roughly $450 billion in job creation measures, a majority of which would come in the form of tax breaks. Because the bill is mostly focused on 2012, it is similar in scale to the 2009 recovery act.
President Barack Obama’s jobs package could lift economic growth by one to three percentage points in 2012, add well over one million jobs and lower the unemployment rate by at least half a percentage point, judging by early estimates.
The American Jobs Act has five key components:
1. Tax Cuts to Help America’s Small Businesses Hire and Grow: new tax cuts to businesses that provide immediate incentives for firms to hire and invest. These tax cuts would be available to all businesses, regardless of size, but are designed to target their impact towards the smallest businesses.
Measures:
- A payroll tax cut to businesses, with a focus on small employers.
- A complete payroll tax holiday for new jobs or wage increases.
- Extend 100 percent business expensing through 2012 ($5 billion).
- Help entrepreneurs and small businesses access capital and grow.
■Changing the Way the Government Does Business with Small Firms.
■Reducing Regulatory Burdens on Small Business Capital Formation.
■Helping Small Businesses Compete for Infrastructure Projects.
■Passing Patent Reform.
2. Putting Workers Back on the Job While Rebuilding and Modernizing America: the purpose is to put Americans back to work in key areas that are central to America‘s future competitiveness. Repairing and modernizing classrooms across the country and making sure that teachers who have been laid off because of budget cuts can be brought back to work. It will take on the fact that the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) awarded the United States a ‘D’ for the overall condition of its infrastructure. Both to modernize the nation‘s roads, railways, airports and schools and to put hundreds of thousands of workers back on the job.
Measures:
- A Helping Hand for Veterans.
- Preventing Teacher Layoffs and Keeping Police Officers and Firefighters on the Job ($35 billion).
- Modernizing At Least 35,000 Public Schools – From Science Labs and Internet-Ready Classrooms to Renovated Facilities ($30 billion).
■Safer, Healthier, and Technologically-Advanced Schools of the Future.
■A Focus on Schools in Need.
■Modernizing Community Colleges to Train a 21st Century Workforce.
- Immediate Investments in Infrastructure ($50 billion).
■Investments in Making US’ Highway Systems Safer and More Efficient.
■Repairing Transit Systems and Improving Rail Systems.
■Improving Airports.
■Opportunities in the Transportation Sector.
■Funding for Innovative Transportation.
■Expediting High Impact Infrastructure Projects.
- National Infrastructure Bank ($10 billion)
■Independent, Non-Partisan Operations Led by Infrastructure and Financial Experts.
■Broad eligibility for Infrastructure and Unbiased Project Selection.
■Addressing Market Gaps for Infrastructure Financing.
- Project Rebuild: Putting People Back to Work Rehabilitating Homes, Businesses and Communities ($15 billion).
■Focus on Distressed Commercial Properties and Redevelopment to Stabilize Communities.
■Include For-Profit Entities to Gain Expertise, Leverage Federal Dollars and Speed Program Implementation.
■Increase Support for “Land Banking”.
■Create Jobs Maintaining Properties and Avoiding Community Blight.
- Expanding Nationwide Wireless Internet Services For the Public and the First Responders, in a Fiscally Responsible Way.
3. Pathways Back to Work for Americans Looking for Jobs: extension of unemployment insurance to prevent 6 million Americans looking for work from losing their benefits, while at the same time reforming the system to help support programs that build real skills, connect to real jobs, and help the long-term unemployed.
Measures:
- Reform Unemployment Insurance System to Provide Greater Flexibility, While Ensuring 6 Million People Do Not Lose Benefits ($49 billion).
■Rigorous Reemployment Assistance.
■Work Sharing: UI reform to prevent layoffs.
■State Flexibility for Bold Reforms to Put the Long-Term Unemployed Back To Work.
- Tax credits for businesses that hire the long-term unemployed ($8 billion).
■An Effective, Targeted Measure.
■Rising to the Challenge of Persistent Unemployment.
- Investing in Low-Income Youth and Adults ($5 billion).
■Support for Summer and Year-Round Jobs for Youth.
■Subsidized Employment Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals Who Are Unemployed.
■Support for Local Efforts to Implement Promising Work-Based Strategies and to Provide Training Opportunities.
- Ending Discrimination Against the Unemployed.
4. More Money in the Pockets of Every American Worker and Family: put more money in the pockets of working and middle-class Americans by providing tax relief to 160 million workers – extending the payroll tax cut passed last December. Congress approved a cut in the tax for workers last year, from 6.2% to 4.2%. But that measure was due to expire in December. Mr Obama wants to continue that cut next year, lower the tax even further to 3.1% for workers, and extend a similar cut to companies, at a cost of $240bn.
Measures:
- Cutting Payroll Taxes in Half for 160 Million Workers Next Year ($179 billion)
■A Targeted Tax Cut for American Workers.
■A Boost to Economic Growth and Job Creation.
■A Tax Cut That Has Received Bipartisan Support in the Past.
■Social Security Trust Fund Would Not Be Impacted by Payroll Tax Cut.
- Helping More Americans Refinance Mortgages at Today’s Historically Low Interest Rates.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
UAE International Procurement Network Indicted for Supplying Iran with U.S. Military Aircraft Components
Total of 12 Defendants in U.A.E, U.S., France, and Iran Charged
MACON, Ga. – Seven individuals and five corporate entities based in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), France, the United States and Iran have been indicted in the Middle District of Georgia for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to illegally export military components for fighter jets and attack helicopters from the United States to Iran. One of the defendants and his company were sentenced yesterday, with the individual receiving nearly five years in prison. Another defendant and his company have admitted their illegal conduct and also pleaded guilty in the investigation.
Federal prosecutors today unsealed a superseding indictment in Macon, Ga., charging eight of the defendants with conspiring to violate and violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions Regulations, as well as conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering and false statement violations. Charges against the four other defendants, who have pleaded guilty in the case, are contained in the original indictment in the investigation that was filed previously.
The indictment and other enforcement actions were announced by Todd Hinnen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Michael J. Moore, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia; Brock Nicholson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) office in Atlanta; Brian D. Lamkin, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Division; and Robert Luzzi, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Commerce Department, Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) Miami Field Office.
Two defendants based in the U.A.E. have also been indicted in the case. They are Aletra General Trading, a company in Dubai doing business as “Erman & Sultan Trading Co,” and Syed Amir Ahmed Najfi, an Iranian national and purchaser for Aletra. Najfi remains a fugitive.
Three defendants based in Iran have also been charged in the case. They are Sabanican Company, a company in Tehran, and its president, Hassan Seifi, an Iranian national, as well as Reza Seifi, an Iranian national and the managing director of Sabanican Company. Each of these defendants remains at large.
Defendant Najfi and his firm in the U.A.E. are alleged to have placed orders and purchased military aircraft parts, including those for the Bell AH-1 attack helicopter, from Todd and his company, The Parts Guys, in the United States. Todd and other conspirators then attempted to and did cause the export of the aircraft parts to the U.A.E.
MACON, Ga. – Seven individuals and five corporate entities based in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), France, the United States and Iran have been indicted in the Middle District of Georgia for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to illegally export military components for fighter jets and attack helicopters from the United States to Iran. One of the defendants and his company were sentenced yesterday, with the individual receiving nearly five years in prison. Another defendant and his company have admitted their illegal conduct and also pleaded guilty in the investigation.
Federal prosecutors today unsealed a superseding indictment in Macon, Ga., charging eight of the defendants with conspiring to violate and violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions Regulations, as well as conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering and false statement violations. Charges against the four other defendants, who have pleaded guilty in the case, are contained in the original indictment in the investigation that was filed previously.
The indictment and other enforcement actions were announced by Todd Hinnen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Michael J. Moore, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia; Brock Nicholson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) office in Atlanta; Brian D. Lamkin, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Division; and Robert Luzzi, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Commerce Department, Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) Miami Field Office.
Two defendants based in the U.A.E. have also been indicted in the case. They are Aletra General Trading, a company in Dubai doing business as “Erman & Sultan Trading Co,” and Syed Amir Ahmed Najfi, an Iranian national and purchaser for Aletra. Najfi remains a fugitive.
Three defendants based in Iran have also been charged in the case. They are Sabanican Company, a company in Tehran, and its president, Hassan Seifi, an Iranian national, as well as Reza Seifi, an Iranian national and the managing director of Sabanican Company. Each of these defendants remains at large.
Defendant Najfi and his firm in the U.A.E. are alleged to have placed orders and purchased military aircraft parts, including those for the Bell AH-1 attack helicopter, from Todd and his company, The Parts Guys, in the United States. Todd and other conspirators then attempted to and did cause the export of the aircraft parts to the U.A.E.
46 million Americans live in poverty...and Congress is busy doing what? Blocking the American Jobs Act!
The U.S. poverty rate remains among the highest in the developed world. Congress you are not doing your job!!!
The worst economic downturn since the 1930s has left a record number of Americans in poverty and created strains on the government’s safety net not seen in decades, according to a report issued Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Clearly the safety net has helped, but it’s got holes in it,” said Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and former White House economist.
With the unemployment rate stuck stubbornly over 9 percent, the poverty rate in the United States climbed to 15.1 percent last year — the highest level since 1993 — as the number of impoverished Americans swelled to a record 46.2 million, the Census report said.
The U.S. poverty rate remains among the highest in the developed world. Among 34 countries tracked by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, only Chile, Israel and Mexico have higher rates of poverty.
The rate would be even higher without a variety of government programs intended to blunt the impact of the worst recession since the 1930s. The Census estimated that the extension of unemployment benefits enacted in 2009, for example, helped another 3.2 million remain above the poverty line, which the government defines as an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four. Last year, the Social Security helped some 20.3 million seniors and disabled working-age adults avoid falling into of poverty.
Millions more households are collecting food stamps to stretch household budgets far enough to keep food on the table. Since the recession began in 2007, the number of households receiving food stamps has nearly doubled to 21.4 million.
Still, millions have fallen through the cracks of the government safety net. Tuesday's Census report found that the poverty rate rose faster in 2007-2010 than in any three-year period since the early 1980s, when households were battered by rising energy prices, high inflation and soaring interest rates as well as high unemployment.
The worst economic downturn since the 1930s has left a record number of Americans in poverty and created strains on the government’s safety net not seen in decades, according to a report issued Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Clearly the safety net has helped, but it’s got holes in it,” said Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and former White House economist.
With the unemployment rate stuck stubbornly over 9 percent, the poverty rate in the United States climbed to 15.1 percent last year — the highest level since 1993 — as the number of impoverished Americans swelled to a record 46.2 million, the Census report said.
The U.S. poverty rate remains among the highest in the developed world. Among 34 countries tracked by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, only Chile, Israel and Mexico have higher rates of poverty.
The rate would be even higher without a variety of government programs intended to blunt the impact of the worst recession since the 1930s. The Census estimated that the extension of unemployment benefits enacted in 2009, for example, helped another 3.2 million remain above the poverty line, which the government defines as an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four. Last year, the Social Security helped some 20.3 million seniors and disabled working-age adults avoid falling into of poverty.
Millions more households are collecting food stamps to stretch household budgets far enough to keep food on the table. Since the recession began in 2007, the number of households receiving food stamps has nearly doubled to 21.4 million.
Still, millions have fallen through the cracks of the government safety net. Tuesday's Census report found that the poverty rate rose faster in 2007-2010 than in any three-year period since the early 1980s, when households were battered by rising energy prices, high inflation and soaring interest rates as well as high unemployment.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Contagion stopped in Europe by China!!!
Asian stocks rose, helping the region’s benchmark index rebound from a one-year low, as oil and copper climbed, while the euro weakened toward a 10-year low against the yen before Italy sells bonds today.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.5 percent as of 1:05 p.m. after yesterday falling to the lowest level since Aug. 31, 2010. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.4 percent. oil gained 0.8 percent in New York, copper jumped 0.9 percent and gold rose 0.9 percent, Europe’s 17-nation currency slipped 0.2 percent to 105.42 yen. The cost of insuring Asia bonds against default snapped a three-day increase.
Italy will seek to raise as much as 7 billion euros ($9.5 billion) in a bond sale, after a government official said yesterday the nation held talks with China about potential investments in the euro region’s third-largest economy. The chance of a default by Greece in the next five years has soared to 98 percent as Prime Minister George Papandreou fails to reassure investors that his country can survive the euro-region crisis, credit-default swaps showed.
“The idea that the Chinese may step up and buy Italian bonds puts to halt the idea of contagion,” Jim Bianco, Chicago- based president of Bianco Research LLC, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The big question is whether they actually follow through and buy Italian bonds.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.5 percent as of 1:05 p.m. after yesterday falling to the lowest level since Aug. 31, 2010. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.4 percent. oil gained 0.8 percent in New York, copper jumped 0.9 percent and gold rose 0.9 percent, Europe’s 17-nation currency slipped 0.2 percent to 105.42 yen. The cost of insuring Asia bonds against default snapped a three-day increase.
Italy will seek to raise as much as 7 billion euros ($9.5 billion) in a bond sale, after a government official said yesterday the nation held talks with China about potential investments in the euro region’s third-largest economy. The chance of a default by Greece in the next five years has soared to 98 percent as Prime Minister George Papandreou fails to reassure investors that his country can survive the euro-region crisis, credit-default swaps showed.
“The idea that the Chinese may step up and buy Italian bonds puts to halt the idea of contagion,” Jim Bianco, Chicago- based president of Bianco Research LLC, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The big question is whether they actually follow through and buy Italian bonds.”
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Thank God or Mao for China!!
China’s record imports and a rebound in lending signaled strength in demand that offers a bright spot in a global economy contending with Europe’s debt crisis and weakening U.S. job gains.
Shipments from abroad jumped 30 percent and new local- currency loans were a more-than-forecast 548.5 billion yuan ($86 billion), government reports in the past two days showed. At the same time, August figures released Sept. 9 indicated that policy makers have made progress in stemming inflation, which eased from a three year high, to a 6.2 percent year-on-year pace.
The data may bolster confidence that the world’s second- largest economy is weathering both Premier Wen Jiabao’s campaign to defuse price pressures and financial turmoil abroad. Group of Seven finance chiefs vowed “a concerted effort” to support expansion on Sept. 9 as Europe’s debt woes and zero jobs growth in the U.S. increase the risks of a renewed recession.
“This all points to a robust economy, and a hard landing looks an increasingly distant scenario,” said Liu Li-gang, a Hong Kong-based economist with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. who previously worked for the World Bank. “China is less reliant on external demand and more dependent on investment and consumption, so the deteriorating global outlook will have less of an impact than during the previous financial crisis.”
Shipments from abroad jumped 30 percent and new local- currency loans were a more-than-forecast 548.5 billion yuan ($86 billion), government reports in the past two days showed. At the same time, August figures released Sept. 9 indicated that policy makers have made progress in stemming inflation, which eased from a three year high, to a 6.2 percent year-on-year pace.
The data may bolster confidence that the world’s second- largest economy is weathering both Premier Wen Jiabao’s campaign to defuse price pressures and financial turmoil abroad. Group of Seven finance chiefs vowed “a concerted effort” to support expansion on Sept. 9 as Europe’s debt woes and zero jobs growth in the U.S. increase the risks of a renewed recession.
“This all points to a robust economy, and a hard landing looks an increasingly distant scenario,” said Liu Li-gang, a Hong Kong-based economist with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. who previously worked for the World Bank. “China is less reliant on external demand and more dependent on investment and consumption, so the deteriorating global outlook will have less of an impact than during the previous financial crisis.”
The Third Jihad
No religious or political group should be able to open their doors, receive monies or operate without criminal law exposure in the USA unless they swear, and affirm to uphold the USA Constitution, and Bill of Rights.
Next, no religious institution in the USA should be allowed to teach it is supreme over any other form of faith.
The Third Jihad, the newest offering from the producers of the captivating documentary film, Obsession, explores the existence of radical Islam in America and the emerging risk that this “homegrown jihad” poses to national security, western liberties and the “American way of life.”
The film, which is narrated by devout Muslim American Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, opens with the following statement: “This is not a film about Islam. It is about the threat of radical Islam. Only a small percentage of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims are radical. This film is about them.”
In 72 minutes, the film reveals that radical Islamists driven by a religiously motivated rejection of western values cultures and religion are engaging in a multifaceted strategy to overcome the western world. In contrast to the use of “violent jihad” and terror to instill fear in “non-believers,” The Third Jihad introduces the concept of “cultural jihad” as a means to infiltrate and undermine our society from within.
Jihad Manifesto
In the film, The Third Jihad, prominent attention is given to a document used in the trial of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF).
The document, titled "An Explanatory Memorandum: On the General Strategic Goal for the Group," was originally obtained from the website of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, which made it publicly available, along with many other documents from the trial. The trial, which was one of the largest terror funding cases in U.S. history, recently ended in a conviction, with guilty verdicts on 108 charges.
The memorandum, which is understood to be a strategic document produced by the Muslim Brotherhood, has been widely analyzed, including, notably, in an assessment by Pentagon Joint Staff analyst, Stephen Coughlin. NEFA quotes Army Lt. Col. Joseph Myers, who writes about Coughlin's review:
This assessment makes the point that the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered a threat organization and the affiliated U.S. domestic Muslim NGOs and associations identified in the strategy document should likewise be considered part of the Muslim Brotherhood network, that these are 'front functional organizations operating as links and nodes of the overall network."
Coughlin writes that "It should be noted that the memorandum met evidentiary standards to be admissible as evidence in a Federal Court of law."
Stephen Coughlin's Department of Defense memo can be read here:
http://nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/HLF/CoughlinMemo.pdf
Some links for other articles mentioning the document:
http://www.douglasfarah.com/article/230/finally-the-smoking-gun.com
http://www.hudson.org/files/documents/CT6%20zeyno.pdf
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/homeland_security_implications_1.html
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/091707dnmetbrotherhood.35ce2b6.html http://cbs11tv.com/local/holy.land.foundation.2.506008.html
Next, no religious institution in the USA should be allowed to teach it is supreme over any other form of faith.
The Third Jihad, the newest offering from the producers of the captivating documentary film, Obsession, explores the existence of radical Islam in America and the emerging risk that this “homegrown jihad” poses to national security, western liberties and the “American way of life.”
The film, which is narrated by devout Muslim American Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, opens with the following statement: “This is not a film about Islam. It is about the threat of radical Islam. Only a small percentage of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims are radical. This film is about them.”
In 72 minutes, the film reveals that radical Islamists driven by a religiously motivated rejection of western values cultures and religion are engaging in a multifaceted strategy to overcome the western world. In contrast to the use of “violent jihad” and terror to instill fear in “non-believers,” The Third Jihad introduces the concept of “cultural jihad” as a means to infiltrate and undermine our society from within.
Jihad Manifesto
In the film, The Third Jihad, prominent attention is given to a document used in the trial of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF).
The document, titled "An Explanatory Memorandum: On the General Strategic Goal for the Group," was originally obtained from the website of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, which made it publicly available, along with many other documents from the trial. The trial, which was one of the largest terror funding cases in U.S. history, recently ended in a conviction, with guilty verdicts on 108 charges.
The memorandum, which is understood to be a strategic document produced by the Muslim Brotherhood, has been widely analyzed, including, notably, in an assessment by Pentagon Joint Staff analyst, Stephen Coughlin. NEFA quotes Army Lt. Col. Joseph Myers, who writes about Coughlin's review:
This assessment makes the point that the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered a threat organization and the affiliated U.S. domestic Muslim NGOs and associations identified in the strategy document should likewise be considered part of the Muslim Brotherhood network, that these are 'front functional organizations operating as links and nodes of the overall network."
Coughlin writes that "It should be noted that the memorandum met evidentiary standards to be admissible as evidence in a Federal Court of law."
Stephen Coughlin's Department of Defense memo can be read here:
http://nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/HLF/CoughlinMemo.pdf
Some links for other articles mentioning the document:
http://www.douglasfarah.com/article/230/finally-the-smoking-gun.com
http://www.hudson.org/files/documents/CT6%20zeyno.pdf
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/homeland_security_implications_1.html
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/091707dnmetbrotherhood.35ce2b6.html http://cbs11tv.com/local/holy.land.foundation.2.506008.html
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