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The latest figures I could find on Google was for the Fiscal year 2011. Reuters states that California debt per Capita is $3,060 in 2011. In part due to the housing catastrophe created under Bush and that we have the largest population of all the states. Also, that figure includes money borrowed to pay unemployment benefits up to that point. Also that figure includes pension plans that were underfunded by both Republican and Democrat run governors, a problem facing Red States as well. When you start to compare numbers you fail to recognize housing has begun to turn around here and jobless figures have dropped in our state and with more homes being bought, the tax base increases. And with a 1/8th cent per dollar sales tax we are back to balanced books. I am not sure where you came up with your numbers, but I cannot find those numbers anywhere. Please let me know where they came from, so we can compare figures, if you really want to show what is happening here in the Blue States. And when you mention the states with the lowest debt per capita you are not mentioning population that affected the housing collapse due to Wall St. and in Alaska they rely on oil revenue to balance their budgets and not goods production and housing. With a world- wide recession during that time period, it is easy to distort the whole picture when you pick and choose what information to use to back up your numbers and what economic factors skew those numbers. K.W.
Ken w you are a little tough on AZ. I have never been I a cleaner place in my life. Very friendly people, excellent road systems, low taxes and very low cost of living. my home the is in Scottsdale / Maricopa county and I feel very safe and secure With sheriff Joe running the place. Some of the greatest golf in the world. I love it.
Canada debt per cap. Is about $16,000 per person. I live in Alberta where we have ZERO debt. So I owe $16,000 CAN total compared to your combined debt of about $75,000 USD, Canada was just named the second best place to invest in the world, second only to Hong Kong.
Its ok our "shale oil" is going over seas. We are expecting both a west and a east coast pipeline to be approved shortly. both are in the final stages of there studies and there is very little opposition.
You win. We have given up on Keystone long ago. Be prepared for your energy costs to go up though. Exspecially in the mid west.
Kend, Are you really a progressive just making fun of right wing dweebs with these posts?...because that's how I've been viewing them........ don't mean to blow your cover or anything.
ken ware: Wow! Right on! Your last comment was fantastic! I hope you don't, however, beat me up too badly from my last comment about 9/11 yesterday...well, from Friday. But, hey, you're most welcome to comment.
DAnneMarc: Thanks for those links. I believe I had read the NY Times one before...but well worth reading again.
But, you know, it's pretty conclusive that Saudi Arabia was one of the key players in 9/11...but even they would not have been able to pull it off without US insider help by very powerful people.
So, the truth is eventually starting to leak out that confirms what many of us have believed all along...that 9/11 was mostly an inside job. They used rich and powerful people in Saudi Arabia and other countries to manipulate the "hijackers" into position to take the blame. It was a set-up.
And the US has long had all the technology that could electronically hijack airliners and guide them to their targets. It took a long while to plan this operation...lots of money...lots of insider manipulation (like making sure the "hijackers" got into the country and set up with flight schools that was nothing but a show to use as evidence against them)...like staging the military drills on that very day with almost a mirror scenario of what actually did happen.
It was a conspiracy between the US, it's butt-buddy Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and probably Israel. The US being the leading force behind it all. They had the means, they had the motive, and they had the opportunity.
And, you know, even if they were to release those 28 pages to the public...some, even then, would find a way to bury their heads in the sands of ignorance and fear. Personal dominant paradigms are hard to break when they've been so manipulated.
When you go from believing that our country is bestowed with good graces and that we set the standard in beneficence in the world to having to accept that we really are the dupes of an evil, ruthless, and extremely greedy ruling class, then it is just hard for many people to grasp.
People still believe that 9/11 was all done by 19 Muslims, planned by OBL, that did so merely because they hated us...jealous of our freedoms...or any other ignorant Bushisms that rolled off of his sh!t-licking tongue!
Kend - I have tried not to get down on anyone, even when they do not know what they are talking about. On Friday, I disagreed with many of the people who are afraid of the NSA and made statements that sounded completely biased, fearful and not based on facts concerning our 4th Amend. But, you make it difficult not to be sharped tongued, because you keep putting your foot in your mouth or in an even lower extremity of your body. I have lived my whole life in California, a blue state with a Dem. Gov. and a over whelming Dem. legislators in our Capital, with the exception of my military service. Yes, we have had some bad years, primarily because of our Republican Presidents screwing up our economy nationwide and a few Republican governors who put us in the red while claiming it was necessary to cut our educational programs and other parts of our great State in an attempt to privatize as much of our state as they could. NOW, we have Gov. Brown a moderate DEMOCRAT and we are gaining jobs faster than the national average, in the black not the red on the books, have reinvested in our schools and have put large sums of capital in a "savings account for any future catastrophe that might hit the state like a devastating earthquake (we have perfect weather here as you know, 69 degrees with a slight ocean breeze today in S. CAL., but mother nature gave us earthquakes to even things out!) So before you start to rattle off some more of your right wing propaganda, try checking the facts first, before you say the blue states are in trouble. As each year passes we have a lower and lower debt, thanks to the work of our Democrat Gov. and Legislators and the policies they have created. What is scary, is they let guys like you near a computer to spread your right wing propaganda and those that actually believe it. Also, you sure talk a lot about the states when you are a Canadian, who visits that hell hole of a red state, Az.! You know, the state that runs more like a military dictatorship with a racist governor who can not help opening her mouth and showing how backwards that place is. Gosh, I guess that would be the type of place you would take your vacations in And, by the way, the dirty shale oil you are so proud about exporting to America, it is not for our consumption. The refinery owned by the Koch brothers, will use a few Americans to run the refinery, but the gasoline is for ASIAN CONsumption not for American households. So your keystone pipeline will line the pockets of the K. Bros., while we run the risk of a spill of some the most environmentally unfriendly oil that has ever been produced. Keep your oil we don't need another oil spill like the B.P. spill in the Gulf. K.W. (If California was a country, we would have the 11th. Largest economy in the World, in case you wanted to start knocking our economy. Where does the whole country of Canada come in on that list?)
11 of the first 12 states are blue states are the highest debt per capita. Alaska a red state is #1 at $31,000 per person. Then in thousands the next 11 are blue states I quit at a dozen I think I made my point.
NJ - 29, HI - 29, CT - 27, IL - 21, OH - 21, RI -18, CA - 16, DE - 16, MA - 15, NY - 15. remember you also owe about $53,000 each for the fed debt.
So I guess if I listen to this report if my neighbor is in debt up to his eye balls, but he has a big $1,000,000 home, $250,000 RV, a $80,000 Caddy and a $80,000 Corvette, $50,000 speed boat, etc etc. but doesn't have a penny to his name he is doing better than the other neighbor with a $200,000 home a ford fusion and a mini van that is paid. I don't think so. sooner or later you have to pay for everything.
I guess it doesn't matter your grand children will pick up the tap.
sorry but how am I wrong here.
chuckle8; Feinstein's mail was running 400 to 1 against going into Iraq...and Snow's was 20 to 1? Says a lot about how effective people's letter writing to their representatives are, doesn't it? There's only one way things will change and we all know what that is but many people don't want to even think it...which means nothing will change...ever!
Where is the link to the report? I don't see it.
Kend, what would be really scary would be if anybody would by into your crap. I swear you're really getting even more careless and sloppy. You so obviously just made up a bunch of shit.
Greece's problem is the European Union which is the worst of both worlds. It's like the Articles of Confederation in the Early American History. Neither do member states have the independence to solve their problems themselves nor does the Union have a centralized mechanism for solving regional problems within it. It's no wonder a majority of the people on the continent are anti EU.
DAM -- Hardly anyone (except the media) was caught in that drumbeat. Diane Feinstein's mail was running 400 to 1 against going into Iraq. Even, Sen Snow (R) said her email was running 20 to 1 against going into Iraq. Both senators voted to go into Iraq.
Why are the people right so often?
Marc, I thought you might've started getting caught in the site's spam filter like I did, which is why I had to adopt another forum identity. I thought some right winger on the site may've exercised his perogative to flag your posts after you beat him up in an argument (wouldn't be Kend, he's an exeedingly good sport and has much too much class for that). Couldn't've been 'cause your long, loquacious, bloviating posts were so personally obnoxious that they rightly came to be considered spam as, was no doubt what happened in my case.
I'd like to encourage any of us to volunteer as forum moderators on the site, they seem to be shorthanded - I never got a response to my queries about what happened with my username after I filled out the form provided (five times). We need some fair minded people to step up. I would but I'm underemployed and looking for a job so I don't have time now.
Alice, Obama's N.L.R.B. appointments have been held up by filibuster and his recess appointments are challenged in court by the Republican Obstruction Machine. But even so, some think the N.L.R.B. was really created to take the power and democracy out of unions and think we were better off before when workers' organizations didn't have to be "recognized" by the N.L.R.B. and didn't have didn't have to be bound by union contracts under N.L.R.B. rules and could do a direct action any time they thought they were being dealt with unfairly (like our N.L.R.B. unrecognized workers' organization did).
Ken Ware ~ Long time no see. Hope all is well and you're enjoying your grandson. Before you lock up Edward Snowden and throw away the key you might want to read this article from the LA Times. Apparently all of this high tech surveillance nonsense and 3 (THREE) unnecessary illegal wars (and counting) came about because President Bush hid the fact that the royal family of Saudia Arabia financed and trained most of the terrorists on 911. Let's see, to put that into perspective it would have been like President Roosevelt blaming Pearl Harbor on Chile...
http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jul/29/opinion/oe-scheer29
As far as evidence that 911 was a cover up is concerned, this document is irrefutable. How much more implicated the White House is in 911 at this point is anyone's guess. This cover up obviously runs very deep. Nevertheless I much more appreciate the truth that Snowden revealed than the death and destruction of innocent people caused by The Bush Administration and all of their war criminal accomplices. I'm so grateful I never participated in that particular drum beat. I guess in the end, you just gotta follow your heart.
Welcome back buddy.
http://nypost.com/2013/12/15/inside-the-saudi-911-coverup/
http://my.firedoglake.com/yellowsnapdragon/2013/12/17/over-easy-revisiting-bushs-28-page-redaction-of-saudi-financing-of-terrorism/
I got a kick out of Thom's report in today's show about the NSA propaganda cartoons targeting children. And here I thought it was only adult programming that was doing that...like one of my favorite TV shows..Person Of Interest. So now they are grooming the modern day Hitler youth to spy on us all for the ruling elite. They'll be so brainwashed that they will even turn their parents in for saying anything bad against the state. Which, of course, will only be a confirmation of what the state already knows mommy and daddy tweeted.
America's CryptoKids..Future Codemakers & Codebreakers cartoon featuring the cool dude green turtle and a host of other cute little sleaze-toon characters.
Remember kiddies...it's illegal to break cryptologic codes protecting the privacy of people's files unless, of course, you are doing it for the NSA!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/us/on-childrens-website-nsa-puts-a-fur...
Thanks, Marc! I'm relieved.
Aliceinwonderland ~ I'm fine,. I've been busy this last week but have checked in every chance I've had. Not enough time to comment however. Thanks for your concerns.
Kend -- Every state in the union is required to have a balance budget except Vermont. What are you talking about? If you are talking about bonds floated to support investment in the future of the states, you are right. The main reason the debt per capita is so high in blue states are the repugs refusing to raise taxes to invest in the future. In CA we got rid of that repug control and now are debt per capita has been lessened.
Poor states vote republican because if they don't, they are afraid Companies will leave and unemployment will get worse. Also because of racism. The red states are ok with entitlements they are just not OK with "those" people getting them.
They aren't poor because they vote Republican. They are poor because it is their class, unfortunately and as most of this site has pointed out, there is a inequality problem in America.
I hate when Thom and Politico do things like this because they are misleading. Of course things will be better in states that spend more than others. look at the debt per capita. the blue states debt is though the roof. What happens when you run out of lenders and money. Greece thats what happens. No wonder all the blue states want to nationalize everything they are in big trouble. What is scary is that people by into the crap.
Would someone do some background on Colin Powell for Thom's education...please? Powel made his "chops" for along term military/political career while he served in Vietnam. Powell was put in charge of the "Mi Lai Massacre" atrocities and managed to get the world to believe that it was ALL Lt. Calley's [sp] responsibility. However...the FACTS ARE...that the Penatgon had earlier instituted a "ground fighting policy" of shooting first...killing anyone in the villages...including women, children and other innocents who just happened to live in their huts...and NOT ASKING QUESTIONS!
SOOO...it really gauls me to have Thom speak highly of Colin Powell...a "Pentagon Hitman" just as is John MacCain...who someone should ALSO do some background work on. Then you will see that THIS McCain-"the Black Sheep" of the McCain military family tree, was incompetent [losing FIVE aircraft]...and that after getting captured in Vietnam, he "sang like a bird" when tortured. AND, just because McCain WAS a McCain, he was offered "early release" from the North Vietnam POW facility, BUT it was refused, austensibly so that McCain could eventually become a "National Hero"...and important political figure...ALWAYS ON THE SIDE OF WHAT THE PENTAGON WOULD WANT!!! This is WHY he settled in AZ...the military, the repubs, the local conservatives, and AIPAC's assets in Pheonix, would get him easily elected every six years.
PLEASE...ask Thom to stop spreading "mis-information" about Powell and McCain...both are awful republican political/military "talking heads".
Thank you. Love, Peace and Progres...
robin hordon...Kingston, WA
There may be three republican TV responses to the State of the Union Address tomorrow. How could we get a response from the Democratic progressive caucus covered by the media? Someone needs to point out that republican budget cuts are called austerity outside the US and it is generally recognized as a harmful strategy. Politico does us a favor by pointing out austerity has already weakened most red states in the US.
Economic inequality, but not poverty could be fixed by raising the reserve ratios (in same cases are less than .5% when you consider GSE's and ABS lending).
The reserves ratios are what allows the banks or other lending institutions such as GSE's to lend against deposits. For instance if you deposit $100 in a bank and the bank has a 20% reserve ration it can lend $80. The person or people it can lend $80 too will also deposit the money in a bank and that bank will reserve $16. The next bank will get $64 and reserve $12.80 and so on. If you do all the math, all the banks together will lend $400 and reserve $100. A $100 deposit therefore creates $500 in assets or a multiplier effect of 5.
Other countries such as China are printing money and using their trade surpluses, the multiplier effect to buy US Assets to create Asset inflation. By printing foreign currency and buying dollars, it makes their currency weaker to the dollar, allowing them to increase their trade surplus. The bigger the trade surplus, the greater their ability to make the dollar weaker to their currency. Asset inflation makes their products cheaper than US products and it bids up the wealth of the rich elite. One person's asset is another person's debt. Asset inflation is making the wealthy very rich. While it should be taken into account that because the US is the largest economy in the world, our trading partners don't have anywhere else to put their dollars, strengthening the US dollar does cause their exports to priced less than US goods.
Debt deflation is what happens when assets such as homes, stocks and bonds (which lower interest yield when bond prices increase in value) all increase in value. An inflated stock market leads to debt deflation because people have to work longer before they can retire becasue stocks yield les than they did before. Low interest rates allow corporate raiders aka stock activists to use debts, derivatives (options, credit default swaps. secritzation) to drive stock market prices higer. 2013 was a record year for stock market activsim.
The greater the asset inflation, the greater the leverage until the whole thing crashes down. The government is the biggest enabler of it all by taxing unearned income not at all or very little. The deduction of interest allows for manipulation not to pay any tax at all.
Government leadership could simply fix inequality all by allowing debts to be written off and increasing fractional banking from 0% to a level where the productive economy is more advantegeous than risk arbitrage. Tax policy should also be changed to tax unearned ncome as much as earned income.
Once income inequality is fixed, then we could get back to the hard job of fixing poverty which will require progressive actioin. Tomorrow's words will just be some reassurance, feel your pain that does very little to cure inequality.
Total credit growth of the US 52 trillion dollars (3 times US GDP) http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/TCMDO
Rest of the World investment in the US. http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/ROWFDNA027N?cid=33246.
By the way... I miss you Marc! Wherever you are, and whatever you're doing, I just hope you are okay. I've been feeling your absence over this past week and am a little concerned. I realize it's awkward trying to connect like this on such a public forum but if you could give me some indication you're all right, I'd sure appreciate it. Hasn't been the same without you, my friend. - AIW
Don't be sorry. It's interesting that you knew him. And thanks for all your great work.
The NLRB sounds pretty worthless. I think we need more worker-owned cooperatives to break these noxious trends. - AIW
Not a bad ratio, considering the sad state of our media these days.