The Morality and Legality of Debt Jubilee, Part II

 

Jeff Nielson for Sprott Money

 

 

Part I of this series demonstrated how/why all of our government debts incurred in recent decades are the result of obvious and egregious fraud. These debts currently cripple our economies (and societies) with roughly 25% of every revenue dollar taken in by our corrupt governments being utterly wasted, making interest payments to financial parasites – criminal parasites.

 

This means that not only is it morally defensible (and imperative) that we wipe away these recent, fraudulent debts, it can be justified legally, in clear and unequivocal terms. But the question which remained from the opening installment of this series was with respect to the morality/legality of our historical debts. Could we, should we also erase the debts incurred by past generations, after we wipe away all of the recent years of debt-via-fraud?

 

Part I provided a clue/argument on how we should adjudicate the debts from our past, in the form of a quote from the late Charles Lindbergh Sr., former Republican Congressman, and a champion of the people in his own era, nearly a century ago:

Charles_August_Lindbergh

Our future and the future of our children have been doubly mortgaged by the wonderful profiteering schemes of the last eight years [1915 – 22], mortgaged on a larger scale than ever before. It is simply a larger installment of the great profiteering game, growing in its burden all the time andforcing us into greater and greater debt, debt that can never be paid under the present system of finance; but, on the contrary, will increase until by its own excesses it breaks down by forcing its own repudiation [i.e. Debt Jubilee]. It cannot much longer stand the strain imposed by its own plan.  [emphasis mine]

 

There are two themes which dominate this quote. First of all; the debts incurred in Lindbergh’s era – the original debts of our nations – were the product of a “game” (or a scam, or a fraud?). The banking cabal ofLindbergh’s era, the (direct) ancestors of today’s banking oligarchs employed coercion: “forcing” us into debt, and (via the arithmetic of compound interest) ultimately “forcing” us to repudiate that debt.

 

Clearly the original debts piled atop our nations were also the result of malice, coercion, and fraud. The malice and coercion are explicitly implied by the quote; the fraud is implicitly implied. Were the banksters of Lindbergh’s era – who also professed to be “the financial advisors” of our governments – telling our governments that the economic path they were leading us down could only end in disaster and bankruptcy? Of course not.

 

They professed to have a superior understanding of “finance”, and (like all Con Artists) they claimed the subtleties of this “finance” were too complex to grasp – for anyone lacking their “expertise”. Lindbergh understood in his own era, as it is understood here, that the majority of “finance” is nothing more than the application of arithmetic.

 

Any entity which steadily and relentlessly incurs debt will go bankrupt. There is no ‘magical’ means of manipulating one’s financial management in a manner which contradicts the most-basic principles of arithmetic. Were the political leaders of Lindbergh’s era simply too stupid to grasp the arithmetic of compound interest: that piling debt on top of debt must lead to bankruptcy (and Debt Jubilee)?

 

No. Just as with the political traitors of our own era; the means of “force” employed by the One Bank of Lindbergh’s era was the brute-force of corruption. The bankers bought our political leaders, and once in their service, those “leaders” (i.e. employees) feigned an incapacity to understand the simple mechanics of compound interest, and the inevitable result of serial debt. Quoting Lindbergh, again:

debt_jubilee(2)

 

…it has become a farce. Voters must realize that the old party leaders shout the ideals the people had in the original formation of the parties. Party leaders do that for propaganda purposes only.They proclaim good, and do evil.

 

The (U.S.) Two-Party Dictatorship described in these (modern) commentaries was already a fact of life one hundred years ago. Lest any reader make the mistake of interpreting any ambiguity in the preceding quote; Lindbergh is unequivocal in words which preceded that:

 

There is no material difference now in the old political parties [Republican and Democrat], except which shall control patronage [and thus collect the biggest bribes].

 

Clearly the debts incurred by the U.S. government of Lindbergh’s era, the U.S. debts incurred in our own era, and all the decades in between were a deliberate fraud perpetrated by the (supposed) government of the people, against the people. The combination of both fraud and malicious intent makes all of this debt blatantly illegal, and absolutely unenforceable.

 

However, what must be understood is that there is a totally separate basis for concluding that these debts were incurred as the product of fraud (in the strict, legal sense), and therefore legally unenforceable on this basis, as well. Thus for any who insist on blinding themselves to the rampant corruption of our traitor-leaders, there is still a binding, legal basis for repudiating these debts – all of them.

 

This other, fatal illegality in the origins of our debts, past, present, and future is founded in the legal doctrine of “fraudulent misrepresentation”. Under ordinary circumstances; if someone tricks us, and we suffer financial harm from that treachery, we have no legal recourse. We are (legally) victims of our own stupidity.

 

There is, however, a very large, distinct, and legally conclusive exception to this general rule. This relates to the legal concept known as “fiduciary duty”. Readers need not be intimidated by this jargon, as it represents a very simple principle. If someone proclaims themselves to be an expert, and also proclaims to be giving someone/some entity advice which is in their own best interests; this self-proclaimed “expert” creates a fiduciary duty for himself.

 

The expert (or “fiduciary”) has a legal duty of honesty. It is never allowable (or legal) for someone to gain the confidence of any person/entity by portraying one’s self as an expert, and then exploit that trust (and dependence) for their own financial advantage. Have the bankers of these Big Banks (the tentacles of the One Bank) portrayed themselves as “experts” when they advised our governments, and thus became fiduciaries? Obviously, yes.

 

The banksters have irrevocably portrayed themselves as fiduciaries (binding themselves by this legal duty of honesty) in both explicit and implicit terms. For proof of this; we need merely look around at the current generation of these financial experts.

 

According to Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of one of “the Evil Twins” of banking (Goldman Sachs); he considers himself and his banking brethren to not merely be “experts”, but High Priests of the world of finance:

 

I’m doing ‘God’s Work.’ Meet Mr. Goldman Sachs.

 

Note the deliberate capitalization of the word “work”. This devious snake not only wraps himself in
divinity (as he lies, cheats, and steals every day of his life); he claims that the “Work” he does is, itself, Divine – and thus beyond the comprehension of lesser mortals (like our governments).

 

For any banker apologists reading this, who don’t consider Blankfein’s explicit boast of being a High Priest as proof of the fiduciary status of these banksters; the implicit evidence is even more overwhelming. These High Priests award themselves astronomical salaries, orders of magnitude greater than the Average Person, and an order of magnitude greater than the politicians they advise – even if we include all their political bribes.

 

There are only three possible conclusions which can be deduced from the obscene levels of compensation which these banksters award themselves each year, concerning their own state of mind:

a)  They consider themselves experts.

b)  They consider themselves thieves.

c)   (A) and (B).

 

Even if these career criminals seek to profess that there was nothing strictly illegal concerning how they induced our governments into burying themselves (and us) in debt, even mere dishonesty is enough, by itself, to taint these debts (past, present, and future) and render them legally null-and-void.

 

here is one, final element necessary to conclusively prove “fraudulent misrepresentation”, and thus conclusively prove that all our governments’ debts are illegal and unenforceable. We must show that our governments relied upon these swindlers – as experts/fiduciaries.

 

Here, once again, the evidence is overwhelming. Going back to Lindbergh’s own era (and the “J.P. Morgans”, and other Snakes of that time); these High Priests have always enjoyed privileged status as “financial insiders”. They have always been privy to confidential information from our governments, concerning our markets, our economies, and the present and future policies they intended.

 

The banksters have used this confidential information to their (enormous) financial advantage, year after year, decade after decade, for more than a century. It’s known as “insider trading”, and it’s yet another crime which has been serially perpetrated by the High Priests. Putting aside all that additional crime; with the privilege of being (permanent) financial/economic “insiders” comes (legal) responsibility.

BANKSTERS-2BIG2JAIL

The fact that our governments have shared (financial/economic) secrets with the High Priests – for generations – is conclusive legal proof of the “reliance” we seek to demonstrate. One only shares their most important Secrets with their most trusted Advisors.

 

For one hundred years; these financial High Priests have had a binding, legal duty to advise our governments honestly – and to act in their/our best interests. For one hundred years; the High Priests have shamelessly betrayed us, to bring us to where we are today: buried in debt, and on the brink of bankruptcy.

 

These High Priests (of the same Big Banks) have not only been the “trusted advisors” of the U.S. government over the past century. They have been the trusted advisors of (nearly) every nation in the Western world over those hundred years. Our national debts, debts incurred at the explicit urgings of the High Priests are not merely illegal and unenforceable. They are a joke – a very, very bad joke.

 

This still leaves one, very large question unanswered as we head (rapidly and inevitably) toward Debt Jubilee. What about our own, individual debts? The majority of our populations are also seriously (if not terminally) indebted, and indebted to the same financial parasite: the One Bank.

 

Should all of our personal debts stand, when the fraudulent/illegal debts of our governments are inevitably (and legally) wiped clean? That final issue will be the subject of the third, and concluding installment of this series.

 

Part III coming later this week….

 

Jeff Nielson for Sprott Money




via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1AbJTli Sprott Money

Russian Central Bank Releases 7 Measures It Will Take To Stabilize The Financial Sector

In its latest effort to counter financial instability – and show its commitment to maintaining order and support for the economy – Russia’s Central Bank (CBR) has unveiled 7 new measures… Ranging from bank recaps to measures aimed at helping manage interest-rate and credit risks, the reaction in the Ruble is positive for now… as perhaps, taking a lesson from the US, The CBR removes Mark-to-Market accounting for various credit instruments.

 

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)

On measures of the Bank of Russia to maintain the stability of the Russian financial sector

1. The Bank of Russia will introduce a temporary moratorium on the recognition of the negative revaluation of securities portfolios of credit institutions and non-credit financial institutions, which will reduce the sensitivity of market participants to market risk.

2. To limit the impact of the revaluation of foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities on prudential requirements of credit institutions, the Bank of Russia plans to provide credit institutions temporary right to use in the calculation of prudential requirements on transactions in foreign currency rate calculated in the previous quarter.

3. The Bank of Russia will improve the mechanism of credit institutions in foreign currency. Within the framework of a currency Repo planned additional auctions for various periods of time if necessary. As part of the mechanism for providing loans to credit institutions secured by non-marketable assets (according to the Regulation number  312-P), is scheduled to begin providing loans to banks in foreign currency, secured credit claims in foreign currency to non-financial organizations.

4. The Bank of Russia considers the central counterparty on the Moscow Stock Exchange as an important institution for centralized distribution of liquidity among all financial market participants – both credit and non-credit financial institutions. To ensure the sustainability of the stock market for the Bank of Russia, if necessary, will provide support to the central counterparty on the Moscow Stock Exchange, market participants have confidence in the reliability of centralized clearing and continuity of its functions.

5. To empower Interest Rate Risk Management The Bank of Russia plans to:

– Temporary (up to 07.01.2015) not to apply the restriction values ??of the total cost of consumer credit (loan) at the conclusion of credit and microfinance institutions in consumer contracts (loan);

– Increase the range of the standard deviation of market interest rates on deposits in banks from the estimated average market interest rate to a maximum of 3.5 percentage points (instead of 2 percentage points at the moment).

6. To enhance the management of credit risks, the Bank of Russia intends to:

– To give credit institutions an opportunity not to impair the quality assessment of debt service, regardless of the assessment of the financial position of the borrower on loans restructured, for example, in the case of changes in the currency in which the loan is denominated, regardless of changes in the maturity of the loan (principal and (or) percent ), the interest rate;

– To give credit institutions an opportunity to make a decision on non-worsening assessment of the financial position of the borrower for the purpose of provision for losses if the changes in financial position due to the action imposed by individual foreign countries restrictive economic and (or) policy measures (Annex to the letter of the Bank of Russia from 21.10.2014 ?  184 -T);

– To increase the period during which the credit institution has the right not to increase the size Actual provision of loans to borrowers, financial position, and (or) quality of debt service, and (or) as collateral for loans has deteriorated as a result of an emergency, from 1 year to 2 years.

– To increase the period during which a credit institution can not form a provision for possible losses on loans for investment projects, while maintaining other existing minimum reserve requirements set depending on the number of years, the lack of payments on investment loans or entering the minor size;

– To cancel the increased rate risk with respect to loans to leasing and factoring companies – participants of the banking group, which includes the lending bank;

– Introduce a reduced weighting factor of risk for the ruble-denominated loans to Russian exporters under an insurance contract EXIAR (Export Insurance Agency of Russia).

7. In order to maintain the stability of the banking sector in the face of increased interest rate and credit risks of a slowdown of the Russian economy the Bank of Russia and the Government of the Russian Federation prepare measures to recapitalize credit institutions in 2015.




via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1AbAytD Tyler Durden

'Pro-Government' Millennials Take Government Jobs, Discover They Suck, Move to the Private Sector

A few years ago, the buzz was about “how
the millennial generation is the most pro-government generation and
what this means for our future” as the
Center for American Progress
put it in 2010. What it meant is
that a bunch of them took federal jobs hoping to work where the
action is, and discovered that laboring for Leviathan kind of
sucks. Now they’re streaming out of federal employment, a little
wiser for the experience.

According to the
Washington Post‘s Lisa Rein
:

Six years after candidate Barack Obama vowed to make working for
government “cool again,” federal hiring of young people is instead
tailing off and many millennials are heading for the door.

The share of the federal workforce under the age of 30 dropped
to 7 percent this year, the lowest figure in nearly a decade,
government figures show.

By comparison, about a quarter of the country’s labor force is
under 30. The article adds that “employees under 30 accounted for
nearly 9 percent of those who left the government in 2013, a
significant figure given their tiny presence in the workforce.”

The reasons for the exodus include a bureaucratic and byzantine
hiring process that moves at glacial speeds, government shutdowns
and limited opportunities once hired, and the bureaucratic internal
culture.

“I had fantastic mentors and teachers in government. But there
was a big question mark about what opportunities would be available
for me,” says Meghan Gleason, 29, who left the National Institutes
of Health to take a consulting job at KPMG.

This squares with the results of a recent
Office of Personnel Management survey
, which found millennials
rather less happy with their government gigs than federal employees
from older generations, though they tend to like their immediate
supervisors.

New-found disillusionment with the reality of
government extends beyond those who have actually worked in the
belly of the beast. In 2009, polling by the Pew Research Center
found that only 42 percent of millennials thought government was
“usually inefficient and wasteful.” Six in 10 Americans over 30
held that low view of the beast. But when Reason-Rupe
repeated the question earlier this year
, 66 percent of
millennials thought government was “usually inefficient and
wasteful.”

Reality is revelatory. And that “most pro-government generation”
is growing, as we all do, wiser with hard-earned experience.

from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1uYTF4M
via IFTTT

Rand Paul Says Common Core Will Kill Jeb Bush in the Primaries. He's Right.

Jeb BushNow that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is
“actively exploring” the possibility of running for president, his
likely Republican competitors are actively exploring ways to
discredit him. Sen. Rand Paul took the first shot on Tuesday,
asserting that Bush would have trouble prevailing in the GOP
primaries due to his support for the Common Core State Standards.
Paul told
The Washington Post
that Common Core would be a “big
problem” for Bush.

I expect that Paul is right. Very right. Common Core is
set of national curriculum standards that the federal government
strong-armed states into adopting. The standards erode local
autonomy over education policy and are extremely costly to
implement. They have also produced plenty of confused teachers,
parents, and children—and are anathema to the conservative
base.

It’s true that Mitt Romney managed to win the nomination despite
having an unpalatable former position on his election’s pivotal
issue—Obamacare. But Romney managed to hedge his previous support
for the program by insisting that he never would have taken it to
the federal level. Bush, on the other hand, isn’t hedging his
Common Core support one iota. He remains the most high-profile
supporter of national education standards on the right.

Anyone who expects rank-and-file conservatives to overlook the
issue is underestimating the extent of anti-Common Core sentiment
among the electorate. Bush’s support for Common Core won’t help him
much with independents or liberals, either, since the standards
aren’t very popular with those groups.

Given how badly Republican primary voters want politicians to
take a stand against Common Core, I don’t think the dreaded spectre
of another Bush vs. Clinton showdown is a reasonable fear.

More from Reason on Common Core and the Republicans

here
.

from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1GPJJ38
via IFTTT

A.M. Links: Judge Rules Obama Immigration Actions Unconstitutional, Senate Approves Tax Break Package, Apple Wins Anti-Trust Suit Over iPod Downloads

  • Omar of The WireA district court judge in
    Pennsylvania
    ruled that portions of President Obama’s executive
    actions on immigration are unconstitutional.
  • The
    Senate
    confirmed several judicial nominees and sent a package
    of tax breaks to the White House.
  • After years of drought
    California
    needs 11 trillion gallons of water to refill its
    aquifiers.
  • Federal officials say there’s no sign of a plot by the
    Sony
    hackers to attack screenings of The
    Interview
    .
  • A federal jury sided with
    Apple
    in an anti-trust lawsuit over the company’s decision to
    block music downloaded via competitor services from playing on the
    iPod.
  • Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) says he doesn’t see a problem with
    supporting the Dallas
    Cowboys
    . The Jets and Giants play in New Jersey but are called
    New York teams.
  • The Wire was better than Breaking Bad,
    according to
    Complex
    .

Follow Reason on Twitter, and
like us on Facebook. You
can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up
here
.

from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1uSHt4x
via IFTTT

Stocks Bounce But Credit & Crude Continue Slide

Hope abounds once again this morning. Stocks are up (albeit off their overnight highs) thanks to AUDJPY and the Ruble is ‘stabilizing’. However, the two crucial factors for recent volatility – crude prices and credit spreads – continue to slump. WTI crude is back below $55 (trading as low as $54.60 this morning) and HY credit spreads have pushed back to their wides around 406bps (disagreeing with stocks modest bounce).

Crude continues to slide…

 

As credit spreads widen…

 

But stocks want to rebound for now…thanks to AUDJPY

 

Well it is FOMC Day after all.

 

Charts: Bloomberg




via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1BXSBDd Tyler Durden

Consumer Prices Plunge Most Since Dec 2008

Great news: The prices consumers pay dropped 0.3% MoM in November – the biggest deflation since Dec 2008. Of course, The Fed will be in “considerable” panic mode at this data and may choose to crush the hope of so many that rate hikes are coming in mid-2015 as definitive evidence that the US economy is well on the road to recovery. Ex-Food-and-Energy, prices rose 1.7% YoY – slightly missing expectations of +1.8%. Of course, a big driver of this ‘transitory’ disinflation is a 10.5% YoY drop in Gasoline and 6.6% MoM drop in November. Despite this huge drop, and thge promises of various talking heads, airfares rose 1.36% in November (after also rising 2.39% in October) – so much for the benefits to the consumer.

 

 

The breakdown by component, showing the 6.6% plunge in gas prices, and the fuel oil index dropping 3.5% in November, its ninth consecutive decline.

Since everyone is most concerned by energy prices, here is what the BLS had to say:

The energy index declined for the fifth month in a row, falling 3.8 percent in November. The gasoline index continued to decrease sharply, falling 6.6 percent. (Before seasonal adjustment, gasoline prices fell 8.9 percent in November.) The fuel oil index fell 3.5 percent in November, its ninth consecutive decline. The gasoline index has fallen 10.5 percent over the last 12 months, and the fuel oil index has declined 10.1 percent. The index for natural gas also declined in November, decreasing 1.7 percent, but it has risen 3.2 percent over the last year. Electricity was the only major component index to rise in November; it increased 0.1 percent and has risen 2.8 percent over the past year.

So while gas prices dropped again, food rose, with the food index up 0.2 percent in November after increasing 0.1 percent in October.

The index for food at home rose 0.1 percent in November and has risen 3.4 percent over the past year. Indexes for major grocery store food groups were mixed in November, with three increases and three declines. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 0.6 percent in November after declining in October. The index for beef and veal rose 0.8 percent, its tenth consecutive increase. The index for nonalcoholic beverages rose 0.5 percent, and the index for other food at home increased 0.4 percent. In contrast, the fruits and vegetables index turned down, falling 0.7 percent in November after a 0.9 percent increase in October. The index for fresh vegetables rose 1.8 percent, but the fresh fruits index fell 2.9 percent. The indexes for dairy and related products and for cereals and bakery products both fell 0.2 percent. All six groups increased over the past 12 months, with increases ranging from 0.2 percent (cereals and bakery products) to 9.1 percent (meats, poultry, fish, and eggs.) The index for food away from home increased 0.4 percent in November, its largest increase since January 2012, and has risen 2.9 percent  over the past year.

And here is how everything else did:

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in November following a 0.2 percent increase in October. The shelter index rose 0.3 percent, with the rent index rising 0.3 percent and the index for owners’ equivalent rent increasing 0.2 percent. The index for lodging away from home was unchanged in November. The index for medical care rose 0.4 percent in November, its largest increase since August 2013. The index for prescription drugs rose 0.6 percent, while the physicians’ services index increased 0.5 percent. The airline fares index increased 1.4 percent after a 2.4 percent increase in October. The index for alcoholic beverages rose as well, increasing 0.8 percent. In contrast to these increases, the apparel index fell 1.1 percent and the index for used cars and trucks declined 1.2 percent. Several indexes posted more modest declines; the indexes for recreation, for household furnishings and operations, and for personal care all declined 0.2 percent, and the new vehicles index fell 0.1 percent. The index for all items less food and energy has risen 1.7 percent over the last 12 months. The shelter index rose 3.0 percent over that span, and the index for medical care increased 2.5 percent. Several indexes have declined over the last 12 months, including airline fares, used cars and trucks, household furnishings and operations, and recreation.

And now, back to the Fed.




via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1BXSDLd Tyler Durden

Interview: Ron Paul on Libertarian Foreign Policy

On May 15, 2007, at a Republican primary debate
in Columbia, South Carolina, longshot presidential candidate Ron
Paul shocked the room with his answer to a question about how 9/11
changed America: “Have you ever read the reasons they attacked us?
They attack us because we’ve been over there; we’ve been bombing
Iraq for 10 years.”

Then-frontrunner Rudolph Giuliani, visibly agitated, interrupted
the proceedings to condemn Paul’s “extraordinary statement…that
we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq” and then
demand a retraction as the crowd went wild. Campaign reporters,
straight and ideological alike, started writing Ron Paul’s
obituary. But a funny thing happened on the way to Paul’s seemingly
inevitable ostracism from the Republican Party for the sin of
noninterventionism: His star began to rise, while Giuliani’s
crashed and burned. 

Now retired from Congress after a second, more successful run at
the White House, Paul can gaze out at a world and a GOP that has
become much more sympathetic to his once-lonely view of the world.
There are entire armies of young libertarian activists—including
many recent military veterans—who got their introduction to the
philosophy through Ron Paul’s bracing criticism of U.S.
misadventures abroad. You can’t talk about libertarian foreign
policy without talking about—and to—Ron Paul. Reason
Editor in Chief Matt Welch caught up with the three-time
presidential candidate over the phone in October.

View this article.

from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1AohGpA
via IFTTT

"Ruble Trading To Resume"

As already noted, yesterday one after another FX broker scrambled to disconnected the Russian currency from the system due to “western banks stopping quoting pricing” and as a result of epic volatility (and as everyone knows, brokers prefer to only trade those pairs where they know with near certainty they can pick 1 pip or so from every trade which is why they prefer stability and orderly markets). However, in the aftermath of today’s announcement that the Russia finance ministry will join the central bank in selling reserves, the RUB has found a bid. And sure enough, here come the FX brokers barging back, advising that Ruble trading is set to resume this afternoon.

So enjoy the return of the USDRUB pair… at least until another burst of buying (i.e., RUB shorting) on any news out of Russian, sends risk assets – and energy – tumbling all over again at which point the Ruble will once again be halted from retail participation.




via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1zs6hqu Tyler Durden