Bernanke & Mainstream Media Continue the Charade

I haven’t added much to the blog lately because it’s all been more of the same. Political and financial leaders continue to lie to us. Government economic data continues to give an inaccurate picture of the true state of our economy. Mainstream media continues to place a positive spin on all economic data out there. Manipulated stock markets continue a steady climb into the stratosphere with no real trading volume, etc, etc.

I noticed that Ben Bernanke said today he expects a ‘moderate recovery’. Remember this when everything begins to rapidly fall apart. Remember this when he gives us a number of excuses why his predicted ‘recovery’ crashed and burned. Remember this when the global elite propose a ‘solution’ to our predicament. Remember this when you learn the truth.

I also noticed that J.P. Morgan Chase reported 1st quarter profits of over $3 billion. It’s not hard to make profits when you are either borrowing at 0% interest rates and then loaning that money at 5-20% or if you are simply creating money out of thin air and then charging the American people interest on your worthless money. Keep in mind that if our banks were required to mark their loans (residential, commercial, CDO’s, etc.) to market – our banking system would have already failed. Billions of losses related to residential housing, home equity, commercial real estate and CDO’s – have not been recognized. Ask yourself why. It’s a show being orchestrated by some very evil people.

Meanwhile the world’s economy continues to collapse. Greece anyone?

While we continue to hear about recovery from Mr. Bernanke and read about banking profits at some of our largest institutions – the real story is not on page 1. The real story of our economy is playing out across America every day. Each day I read articles like the ones below.

When everything comes crashing down – ask yourself why you didn’t see it coming.

I’ll give you the answer now – you were relying on yourself and the world to guide you.

The world is lying.

jg – April 14, 2010
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U.S. Postal Service risks taxpayer bailout: GAO

Karey Wutkowski

WASHINGTON

Mon Apr 12, 2010 5:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service could be on its way to a taxpayer bailout unless it takes extreme steps to become financially viable, according to a congressional report released on Monday.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the postal service faces "daunting financial losses" of more than $238 billion over the next decade.
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RETAIL VACANCIES CONTINUE TO CREEP HIGHER

APR 13, 2010 10:08 AM

Real estate research firm Reis Inc.’s data for the first quarter of 2010 shows that fundamentals at neighborhood and community centers and regional malls continued to slide. And while the pace of declines in occupancies is slowing, rents are still falling at a brisk pace.

Vacancies at both property types rose. For shopping centers, vacancies are at their highest point since 1991 and for regional malls vacancies are at their highest point since Reis began tracking the figure at the end of 1999.
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Strip mall vacancies hit 30-year high

By: Eddie Baeb and Todd J. Behme

April 12, 2010

Chicago strip malls are emptier than they've been in at least 30 years, and they're likely to get even emptier.

The vacancy rate at area shopping centers has climbed for three straight years to 11.8%, the highest since at least 1980, when real estate research firm Reis Inc. began tracking the data. Properties tracked include small centers and larger ones anchored by supermarkets or national discount chains.
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20 houses demolished, many more to go as Lansing, county clean up

Clutter is plainly visible through the windows facing Prospect Street, where Ingham County Treasurer Eric Schertzing shows a keen eye for features that either mean the Lansing house's salvation or demolition. He lists the assets that could keep bulldozers from tearing apart the structure at 1207 Prospect St., a foreclosed parcel falling into disrepair: newer roof, nice wood, decent foundation and close proximity to Sparrow Hospital.

Among the negatives: an unsettled porch and the clutter that can be seen through the windows.

Soon, city and county officials will decide whether the parcel will be rehabilitated into a more appealing structure or taken down with approximately 225 others through a $23 million federal program aimed at putting a chokehold on blight threatening foreclosed properties.
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City considers vacant-building fees

By Timothy Roberts

EL PASO-Across El Paso, there are an estimated 5,600 vacant and unoccupied homes and commercial buildings, and city officials want to keep track of them all.

So the city’s Department of Development Services is working on an ordinance that would require property owners to register unoccupied homes or other structures.
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Detroit-area home sales up 6.2%

BY GRETA GUEST

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Home sales continued to climb in parts of metro Detroit in March, fueling price increases and whittling down the number of houses on the market.

In Detroit, the median sales price last month was up 33% to $7,725. And the number of houses for sale in Detroit dropped by 28% to 3,919 from 5,460 last March. Yet 804 homes sold in the city last month, compared with 1,173 in March 2009.
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Teachers’ Pension Gap May Be Triple That Reported

April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Taxpayers across the U.S. owe public school teacher retirement accounts about $933 billion, nearly triple the amount reported by the plans themselves, a study says.

The $332 billion gap estimated by teacher retirement funds between what they have on hand and the cost of promised benefits is low because it includes an “aggressive” 8 percent assumption on future investment earnings, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research said in the study, released today. It also doesn’t reflect the full cost of stock market losses suffered in the past two years, the New York-based research organization said.
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Does the State of Illinois owe you money?

The state has more than $5 billion in unpaid bills, and a lot of that money belongs to businesses all across Illinois doing work with state government. Does the state have an outstanding balance on your books?

The Quad-City Times will be telling the stories of local businesses, organizations and individuals struggling with late payments from the state.
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Illinois ‘Poster Child’ of Debt Crisis Draining State Services

April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Illinois, the second-lowest-rated U.S. state after California, must fend off a “financial implosion” as its unfunded liability for retiree benefits threatens spending for other services, a group of community leaders warned.

The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, led by former and current executives, is pressuring Governor Pat Quinn and other state leaders to control growth of pension costs they say put the state at risk of fiscal collapse. Members of the group, which estimates the state’s retirement-related liabilities at $130 billion, are speaking out as Illinois enters its general-election season.
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Unfunded-Liabilities Nightmare in CT [Jack Fowler]

The good folks at the Yankee Institute for Public Policy have just released a gut-punch of a report [PDF] revealing that “Connecticut’s true unfunded liability for pension and other retirement benefits is much bigger than widely assumed.”

Connecticut's pension system serving 175,000 active and retired state employees, teachers, and those in the judicial system reports an unfunded liability approaching $16 billion — an amount nearly equal to the state's entire annual budget. Yankee's analysis concludes the real unfunded liability is between $51 billion and $81 billion — or at least three times as much. Yankee believes the state has counted on unrealistic assumptions about discount rates and rates of return in underestimating the real magnitude of the problem. Yankee concludes that Connecticut should move swiftly from a defined benefit to a defined contribution pension plan for government workers as part of getting retiree liabilities under control, or else the state will face yet more pressure for yet higher taxes.