Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The coming credit crunch crisis... you can help with your tax free donation!

So, we all know that after the mortgage here comes the credit crunch.

Stating the obvious here...

bankdeals.blogspot.com

"The FDIC released its Quarterly Banking Profile for the second quarter. As expected, the financial condition of many banks have worsened."

Excerpts from the press release:

The FDIC's "problem list" grew to 117 institutions from 90 at the end of the first quarter. That is largest number on the list since the middle of 2003. Total assets of problem institutions increased from $26 billion to $78 billion, with $32 billion coming from IndyMac Bank, F.S.B., Pasadena, CA, which failed in July. "More banks will come on the list as credit problems worsen," Chairman Bair added. "Assets of problem institutions also will continue to rise."

The FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund reserve ratio fell. Due to a significant increase in loss reserves, including reserves for failures that have occurred since June 30th, the DIF balance fell to $45.2 billion at the end of the second quarter, down from $52.8 billion at the end of the first quarter.


"The FDIC won't say which banks are in its problem list. However, based on the total assets of these institutions, we know which banks are NOT on the list. The total assets is $78 billion with $32 billion coming from IndyMac Bank which failed in July. That leaves $46 billion for the other problem banks."

Best comment on the blog:
"Lol...The FDIC fudges numbers as bad as the crooked banks."

Indeed, my anonymous friend... LOL indeed.

Is this for real?

Yep:

Reuters: FDIC may borrow money from Treasury: report
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) might have to borrow money from the Treasury Department to see it through an expected wave of bank failures, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The borrowing could be needed to cover short-term cash-flow pressures caused by reimbursing depositors immediately after the failure of a bank, the paper said.


So, your tax money (and mine) will be used to bail out banks who made some very bad business decisions.

So how is our government doing to help alleviate the situation?

Well, our government is helping people build new homes - by allowing donations to build new homes to be tax free. So that is the good news.

There is a small caveat...

It is not in America...

Reuters: US tax breaks help Jewish settlers in West Bank

The United States says Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank threaten any peace between Israel and the Palestinians -- yet it also encourages Americans to help support settlers by offering tax breaks on donations.

As Condoleezza Rice flew in on Monday for another round of peace talks, Israeli and American supporters of settlements defended the tax incentives, which benefit West Bank enclaves deemed illegal by the World Court and which the U.S. secretary of state has said are an obstacle to Palestinian statehood.

Pro-settler groups say they are entitled to the tax breaks because their work is "humanitarian", not political(...)


See, Americans, it's like this - your mother may get sick, you may spend a fortune on trying to cure her, running up medical, hospital, doctor bills till you have to foreclose on the house, and the American government will help you... by sending a sheriff to forcibly throw you out of your house (or shoot you, whatever works).

However, there is always money for our friends - the settlers - in Israel.

Which is interesting, because there is no money for YOU.

No money to help YOU.

Oh sure, there is money to invade and occupy Iraq, there is money to bomb Iran, there is money to train crazed jihadists/mujahedin from al Kaida in Iraq and send them into Iran, there is money to bail out criminals running banks and the criminal syndicate that is the American banking system, there is money for our "friendly" settlers in Israel to build more and more settlements, but so sorry, Mr. American Joe Schmoe - there is no money for YOU.

The full extent of tax-exempt U.S. funding for settlements is unclear because so many groups are involved and their spending practices are not always transparent.

But a review by Reuters of U.S. tax records found 13 tax-exempt organisations openly linked to settlements that have raised more than $35 million in the last five years alone.


Indeed?

All those donations are tax free.

To build new settlements in Palestinian land.

The goal is obvious - to build as many settlements as possible in Palestine, to squeeze the Arabs (and a few Christians) as much as they can, to grab all water, good arable farm land resources as possible from the Arabs.

The whole situation is absurd, as it is the official policy of the United States that the settlements are a thorny issue and indeed, under the Bush Road Map (to peace) plan there was an agreement to halt all new settlement building.

Haaretz, dateline 6/15/2008:
Under the U.S.-backed road map peace plan, Israel has pledged to halt all settlement activity. But Olmert has said he would continue building in West Bank settlements that Israel expects to retain under a final peace agreement.


On Saturday, Rice also expressed concern about settlement building, labeling it a "a problem." She further stated saying Israel had not done enough to ease restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank.

"Look, it's a problem and I think it's a problem that we're going to address with the Israelis," Rice said of recent Israeli settlement construction announcements as she flew to Tel Aviv on her sixth trip this year to try to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Ahead of Rice's arrival, Israel said it had approved construction of 1,300 new homes in an area of the West Bank that the Israeli government considers part of Jerusalem.


I am glad that I live in such a powerful global power super state that is the United States.

Miss Rice, representing the interests of the USA and world peace, goes to Israel and quietly asks why, even though the Israeli government agreed to Bush's Road Map plan, which included a halt on any new settlements, are the Israelis not complying.

And she is... mocked, laughed at, scorned, and told to take a hike (in a diplomatic language, but still...).

Yes, indeed, the USA is a global super state, indeed...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very well written my friend, and this needs to be brought to the attention of the people.

I will spare you my incendiary remarks (which are in no way aimed at you), and will post them on digg. I have a solution, but would be far more surprised if it were supported by the masses than I would to find widespread criticism and opposition.

As you have probably figured out I do very little tongue biting, and some think me to be insane to carry it to the extent that I do. I say let them think on.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget that the FDIC just announced that it will need to borrow from the treasury to meet its short term obligations. Our Ship of state is beginning to take on more water than we can bale out.