Obama Folds: You ‘Can’ Keep Your Plan (For Now) – Live Webcast

Between last night’s dismal reality of enrollees in Obamacare, the collapse to record lows of Obama’s approval rating, and the growing disillusionment among the President’s own party have forced the administration to “fix” Obamacare. As Politico reports, the president’s proposal would allow insurers to offer plans in 2014 that were previously slated to sunset this year, but require the companies to let consumers know how — if at all — their policies don’t comply with the minimum benefits of the Affordable Care Act, according to a source briefed on the proposal. Insurance companies are not amused as risk pools will need to be adjusted. We leave to our policy-changer-in-chief to explain the nuances of this fiasco and why this is not a “fold”, not an admission that the law is FUBAR, and not in any way similar to the Tea-Party’s suggestion that Obamacare be delayed by one year

 

As CNN reports:

As the story of the Obamacare website fiasco unfolds, senior administration aides tell me that the President is “mad, frustrated and angry.

 

Mad that his signature legislative achievement is stuck at the gate, frustrated that he’s running out of time to fix it and angry that he’s got a second-term agenda now going nowhere. He’s so furious, in fact, that he stepped out of character to vent to an assembled group of top aides. “If I had known (about the website problems),” the steaming President reportedly said, according to The New York Times, “we could have delayed the website.”

Live Feed:

 

 

Can we get a web cam of Ted Cruz’s office?


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/_gyfnUcMVTQ/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Obama Folds: You 'Can' Keep Your Plan (For Now) – Live Webcast

Between last night’s dismal reality of enrollees in Obamacare, the collapse to record lows of Obama’s approval rating, and the growing disillusionment among the President’s own party have forced the administration to “fix” Obamacare. As Politico reports, the president’s proposal would allow insurers to offer plans in 2014 that were previously slated to sunset this year, but require the companies to let consumers know how — if at all — their policies don’t comply with the minimum benefits of the Affordable Care Act, according to a source briefed on the proposal. Insurance companies are not amused as risk pools will need to be adjusted. We leave to our policy-changer-in-chief to explain the nuances of this fiasco and why this is not a “fold”, not an admission that the law is FUBAR, and not in any way similar to the Tea-Party’s suggestion that Obamacare be delayed by one year

 

As CNN reports:

As the story of the Obamacare website fiasco unfolds, senior administration aides tell me that the President is “mad, frustrated and angry.

 

Mad that his signature legislative achievement is stuck at the gate, frustrated that he’s running out of time to fix it and angry that he’s got a second-term agenda now going nowhere. He’s so furious, in fact, that he stepped out of character to vent to an assembled group of top aides. “If I had known (about the website problems),” the steaming President reportedly said, according to The New York Times, “we could have delayed the website.”

Live Feed:

 

 

Can we get a web cam of Ted Cruz’s office?


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/_gyfnUcMVTQ/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Senate Republicans Blast John Kerry Iran Briefing For Being “Solely an Emotional Appeal,” Warn of a “Future of Nuclear War,” Democrats Mostly Mum

don't fuck this one up guysIt’s hard not to wonder whether the
interest by some senators to bring fear mongering on Iran back to
the forefront of Washington’s agenda is related to what a shit job
that body’s done on everything from developing a federal budget to
passing the mess that Obamacare has revealed itself to be as is in
the first place. It’s certainly also possible that Secretary of
State John Kerry is so far down the rabbit hole of “the White House
is never wrong” that he can’t make a credible argument in favor of
an Administration policy even when that policy is sound.

Whatever the case, John Kerry was apparently not successful in
convincing Senate hawks that renewing sanctions while negotiations
with Iran have not yet collapsed is a bad idea. In fact,
Republicans
reportedly stormed out
of yesterday’s briefing while Democrats
didn’t want to comment.
Via Foreign Policy
:

“It was solely an emotional appeal,” Sen. Bob Corker
(R-TN) told reporters after the briefing. “I am stunned that in a
classified setting, when you’re trying to talk with the very folks
that would be originating legislation relative to sanctions, there
would be such a lack of specificity.”

“Today is the day in which I witnessed the future of nuclear war in
the Middle East,” said Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), a staunch Iran hawk.
“This administration, like Neville Chamberlain, is yielding large
and bloody conflict in the Middle East involving Iranian nuclear
weapons.” Kirk added that he felt the briefing was
“anti-Israeli.”

The vituperative GOP response was matched by relative silence by
exiting Democrats.

“I’m not gonna comment,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA).

“No comment,” said Tim Johnson (D-SD), the chairman of the Senate
Banking Committee.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) declined to answer questions about sanctions
as he ascended a congressional escalator. 

“Was this a helpful briefing?” asked The Cable.

“Yes. Very helpful,” said Reid.

When asked how so, Reid did not elaborate.

Corker, Kirk and the rest can read a case against new Iran
sanctions not rooted on emotional appeal
here
. John Kerry’s welcome to lift from it, no footnotes
necessary.

They can all also read more Reason commentary on Iran here.

from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/14/senate-republicans-blast-john-kerry-iran
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The Only Two Charts That Matter For The Fed

Here are the only two charts that matter:

First, the Fed now owns a third or 32.47% of all 10 Year equivalents, up 32.22% from the prior week, and rising at a pace of 0.3% per week.

 

Second, the Fed is now monetizing a record 70% of all net US 10 Year equivalent issuance.

 

That is all.

Source: Stone McCarthy and RBS


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/EqvtxoYWPjo/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Ohio Governor Delays Man’s Execution over Prospect of Organ Donations

Ronald PhillpsRonald Phillips was supposed to
die today in Ohio, sentenced to be executed for raping and killing
a 3-year-old girl. He made an unexpected last-minute request: to

donate his organs
after execution. His attorney said in a
letter that it wasn’t a delaying tactic but an attempt to “do a
charitable act,” reported the Associated Press. Phillips’ own
mother could be a potential beneficiary of such charity. She is on
dialysis for kidney disease.

Prison officials initially rejected the request because it was
made so late they couldn’t accommodate him. But Ohio Gov. John
Kasich announced that the state will delay the execution until July
in order to determine if organ donation is a possibility. The
Columbus Dispatch

reported
:

Kasich’s action is unprecedented in the nation in the case of an
imminent execution, a death-penalty expert said.

The Republican governor said he halted Phillips’ execution “so
that medical experts can assess whether Phillips’ nonvital organs
or tissues can be donated to his mother or possibly others.”

“Ronald Phillips committed a heinous crime for which he will
face the death penalty,” Kasich said in a statement less than 18
hours before the condemned man was to be lethally injected using
two drugs never before used in combination. “I realize this is a
bit of uncharted territory for Ohio, but if another life can be
saved by his willingness to donate his organs and tissues, then we
should allow for that to happen.”

The governor said if Phillips “is found to be a viable donor to
his mother or possibly others awaiting transplants of nonvital
organs, such as kidneys, the procedures would be performed and then
he would be returned to Death Row to await his new execution
date.”

A commenter at the Dispatch noted the connection
between what may happen to Phillips and the “Known Space” sci-fi
works of author Larry Niven, where the Earth’s government used
condemned criminals for organ replacements, ultimately leading to a
repressive society where every crime was made a capital crime (for
the sake of my future as a presidential candidate, I haven’t read
these works myself and am taking the explanation from Wikipedia).

Fortunately, given where real science is actually heading with

bioengineering and 3D-printing new body parts
, we won’t likely
be descending into Niven’s scenario.

More Reason on organ donations, and the restrictive regulations
that result in a governor hoping to get a condemned man’s kidneys,
here.

from Hit & Run http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/14/ohio-governor-delays-mans-execution-over
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Yellen Timestamp: “No Bubble”

For the benefit of the revisionist media (if there is any media left) once the final asset bubble has popped in a few years time, and which like now will try – incorrectly – to make Yellen appear Oracular in her prophetic “bubble warnings”, we would just like to “timestamp” what she just said:

  • YELLEN SAYS FED DOESN’T SEE BUILDUP OF FINANCIAL RISKS
  • YELLEN SEES LIMITED EVIDENCE OF ‘REACH FOR YIELD’
  • YELLEN SAYS FED LOOKS OUT FOR ANY POTENTIAL ASSET PRICE BUBBLES
  • YELLEN DOESN’T SEE `MISALIGNMENTS’ IN ASSET PRICES

So there you have it: No risks, no bubbles, and on the record. Thank you Mr. Chairwoman. And now, you may continue BTFATH.


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/NtSwqL7ZruQ/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Yellen Timestamp: "No Bubble"

For the benefit of the revisionist media (if there is any media left) once the final asset bubble has popped in a few years time, and which like now will try – incorrectly – to make Yellen appear Oracular in her prophetic “bubble warnings”, we would just like to “timestamp” what she just said:

  • YELLEN SAYS FED DOESN’T SEE BUILDUP OF FINANCIAL RISKS
  • YELLEN SEES LIMITED EVIDENCE OF ‘REACH FOR YIELD’
  • YELLEN SAYS FED LOOKS OUT FOR ANY POTENTIAL ASSET PRICE BUBBLES
  • YELLEN DOESN’T SEE `MISALIGNMENTS’ IN ASSET PRICES

So there you have it: No risks, no bubbles, and on the record. Thank you Mr. Chairwoman. And now, you may continue BTFATH.


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/NtSwqL7ZruQ/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Gold Spikes As QEeen Yellen Mentions Fed’s Tools (Then Slides As She Warns “QE Can’t Go On Forever”)

UPDATE: Gold is slipping back as Yellen notes:

  • *YELLEN SAYS QE `CANNOT CONTINUE FOREVER’
  • *YELLEN SAYS FED TAKES RISKS OF QE `VERY SERIOUSLY’

 

Yesterday was equity markets turn to get all exuberant over Yellen’s promises. Today, it is the reality that she will do whatever it takes and her mention of data-dependence and ongoing use of Fed tools that is sending gold (and silver) higher.

 


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/wGJw4uHHADs/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Gold Spikes As QEeen Yellen Mentions Fed's Tools (Then Slides As She Warns "QE Can't Go On Forever")

UPDATE: Gold is slipping back as Yellen notes:

  • *YELLEN SAYS QE `CANNOT CONTINUE FOREVER’
  • *YELLEN SAYS FED TAKES RISKS OF QE `VERY SERIOUSLY’

 

Yesterday was equity markets turn to get all exuberant over Yellen’s promises. Today, it is the reality that she will do whatever it takes and her mention of data-dependence and ongoing use of Fed tools that is sending gold (and silver) higher.

 


    



via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/wGJw4uHHADs/story01.htm Tyler Durden

Talking Real Money: World Monetary Reform

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,283.25, EUR 955.23 and GBP 801.53 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,276.00, EUR 951.25 and GBP 798.75 per ounce.

Gold rose $4.40 or 0.35% yesterday, closing at $1,273.30/oz. Silver slipped $0.19 or 0.92% closing at $20.56. Platinum fell $5.55 or 0.4% to $1,424.20/oz, while palladium fell $9.50 or 1.3% to $727.97/oz.

Gold inched up again after Federal Reserve Chairman nominee Janet Yellen said the U.S. economy and labor market must improve before QE is reduced. This lifted confidence as silver prices recovered from their lowest levels since August. “The focus for the bullion market may shift to the upcoming testimony by Yellen,” James Steel, an analyst at HSBC, commented. “Chinese gold demand remains brisk. However, gold is likely to remain on the defensive in the near term”, wrote Steel.

The latest long term gold trend research from Nick Laird at ShareLynx indicates that the price of gold may rise in the near future. In the chart below, Nick references those periods from the past when it was prudent  to buy and to sell. He also indicates that this particular period, November 2013, may be a prudent time to to buy. This chart reaffirms GoldCore’s long term outlook for the price of gold.


Long Term Gold Trend (www.sharelynx.com)

“Sometimes it’s not enough to know what things mean, sometimes you have to know what things don’t mean.” Bob Dylan

The Bank of England says the UK recovery has taken hold and Chancellor George Osborne is reported as saying “the report was proof the government’s economic plan was working.” The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said the bank will not ‘consider’ raising interest rates until the jobless figure falls below 7%.

However, The Bank of England threw a get-out-of-jail card on the table and said that there was a two-in-five chance of the unemployment rate reaching the 7% threshold by the end of 2014. And then added that the corresponding figures for the end of 2015 and 2016 are around three in five and two in three respectively. What exactly does the Bank of England mean or what does this not mean?

The financial crisis of 2007-2008 has sparked the most intense interest in international monetary reform since Richard Nixon closed the gold window at the New York Fed and devalued the U.S. dollar in 1971. Nixon’s action was widely seen at the time as presaging the end of the dollar-based world trade and financial system. On the face of it, this probably wasn’t an unreasonable expectation at the time. Within fewer than ten years, however, it was proven to be far off the mark. The dollar fell alright, but by the middle 1980s had recovered strongly.

In retrospect it is clear why the dollar sceptics were wrong. To begin with, the U.S. economy was still the world’s largest and the U.S. was still the leader of the “free world,” that is to say the world outside the communist bloc. The NATO countries of Western Europe were wholly dependent on the U.S. for security as well as for markets.

The same applied to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, while the signatories of the secret UK/USA intelligence agreement (the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) represented the Anglo core of the old British Empire, a group with no interest in seeing the dollar replaced. Communist Russia and China were in no position to register an opinion, much less offer an alternative. By default, the dollar soldiered on, thanks to the geopolitical realities of the time.

But what about today’s realities? Continue this fascinating story in our November edition of Insight – Talking real money: World Monetary Reform.

Click here to download your own copy of Talking real money: World Monetary Reform

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via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/nkU5IH8gGv0/story01.htm GoldCore