Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Should the Government Remove Fuel Subsidies? / Politics / US Politics
By: Sam_Chee_Kong
Subsidy can be defined as a financial assistance to certain product or category of industry so that the price will be low, and hopefully continue to provide jobs and spin off other economic activity. Subsidies have been around for ages and it comes in many forms such as cash, labor, farm, export, consumption, education, housing and etc.
Fuel subsidy refers to the effort by the government to pay for the difference between the price of fuel in the pump and the actual cost of the product. So by paying the difference the government enables fuel to be sold at a lower price so that it will help ease the burden its people especially the lower income group.
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Wednesday, April 04, 2012
It’s Tax Time: Is It Time To Occupy The IRS? / Politics / Taxes
By: Danny_Schechter
Every year I trek down to a nondescript office building near Wall Street with a bag full of receipts and a belly full of anxiety.
When it’s tax time, I always hope for the best but…. I also had an accountant who I trusted to keep me on the up and up. He was recommended years earlier by the Yippie activist Abbie Hoffman, who wanted to avoid the Al Capone problem.
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Wednesday, April 04, 2012
U.S. Standing Down on Military Action as Iran's Internal Power Struggle Unfolds / Politics / Iran
By: OilPrice_Com
A strike on Iran, however limited, would push the current internal power struggle to a premature end that would not be in the US' best interests - that is the message, whether intentional or not, of the recent "intelligence leak" that has provided the Obama Administration with justification for standing down with regard to Iran.
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Wednesday, April 04, 2012
NHS GP's Engaging in Smoke and Mirrors Battle Over Control of £80 Billion Health Budget / Politics / NHS
By: N_Walayat
Mainstream press commentary gives the impression that there is a battle taking place between GP's who are either for or against the Coalition Government reforms for the transference of annual NHS commissioning budget of at least £80 billion into the hands of GP led consortia's across the country.
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
The "cashless society" and Total Monetary Surveillance / Politics / Social Issues
By: LewRockwell
Economic Collapse writes: Most people think of a cashless society as something that is way off in the distant future. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. The truth is that a cashless society is much closer than most people would ever dare to imagine. To a large degree, the transition to a cashless society is being done voluntarily. Today, only 7 percent of all transactions in the United States are done with cash, and most of those transactions involve very small amounts of money. Just think about it for a moment. Where do you still use cash these days? If you buy a burger or if you purchase something at a flea market you will still use cash, but for any mid-size or large transaction the vast majority of people out there will use another form of payment. Our financial system is dramatically changing, and cash is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. We live in a digital world, and national governments and big banks are both encouraging the move away from paper currency and coins. But what would a cashless society mean for our future? Are there any dangers to such a system?
Monday, April 02, 2012
Ron Paul on The Supreme Court and Obamacare / Politics / US Politics
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week the Supreme Court heard arguments concerning the constitutionality of the Obamacare law, focusing on the mandate requiring every American to buy health insurance or pay fines enforced by the IRS. Hopefully the Court will strike down this abomination, but we must recognize that the federal judiciary has an abysmal record when it comes to protecting liberty. It's doubtful the entire law will be struck down. Regardless, the political left will continue its drive toward a single-payer, government run health care system.
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Monday, April 02, 2012
The blind spot surrounding the 2005 'major restructuring' of the Goldman / Greek secret loan / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: ECB_Watch
The EU Commission was at the forefront of the response to the revelation in 2010 of irregularities in Greece's government statistics and in particular the 2.8bn Euros secret loan it received from Goldman Sachs in 2001 (Bloomberg). Has it delivered, and has parliamentary oversight been adequate?
Monday, April 02, 2012
The Great Depression II, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet / Politics / Great Depression II
By: James_Quinn
“Human history seems logical in afterthought but a mystery in forethought. Writers of history have a way of describing interwar societies as coursing from postwar to prewar as though people alive at the time knew when that transition occurred.” – Strauss & Howe - The Fourth Turning
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Niall Ferguson China, Turmoil and Triumph, a Flawed Understanding of China? / Politics / China
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Niall Ferguson's latest series on China to be broadcast in the UK ended in a highly convincing conclusion of what could come to pass, but I fear that Niall has let himself get too close to the subject at hand and miss the real big picture about why China is developing and where it is going, in a way he may again be repeating the mega mistake he made 12 years ago in 1999 with Gold when he stated :
"The twilight of gold appear[s] to have arrived. True, total blackout is still some way off...Gold has a future, of course.
"But mainly as jewelry." -Niall Ferguson
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Sunday, April 01, 2012
Greek Government Robbed Public Institutions to Complete the Bond Swap / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Global_Research
John Ward writes: “But Lucas my dear, if you run out of poor people, you can always steal from the sick”
REVEALED: HOW THE VENIZELOS GOVERNMENT SECRETLY REMOVED 70% OF MAJOR HOSPITAL, UTILITY & UNIVERSITY BANK ACCOUNT FUNDS TO PAY BONDHOLDERS
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Saturday, March 31, 2012
Obama Touts "Economic Recovery" Amidst Deepest Slump since the Great Depression / Politics / Great Depression II
By: Barry_Grey
While the United States remains mired in the deepest slump since the Great Depression, President Barack Obama is touting a modest improvement in employment over the past several months to boost his electoral prospects in November.
The three-month period from December through February has, according to the Labor Department, seen a net gain of 744,000 jobs, the largest for any three-month stretch since 2006. The official jobless rate has fallen from 9.1 percent in September to 8.3 percent in February.
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Saturday, March 31, 2012
The Fed's "Operation Twist". Europe and America. Grim Economic Prospects / Politics / US Economy
By: Bob_Chapman
Seven months after the official announcement on 9/21/11 of “Operation Twist” not much progress has been made at the long end of the market to reduce yields. The yield on the 10-year T-note has gone from 1.88% to 2.3% and the 30-year bond went from 3.03% to 3.41%. The episode has been marred by hedge fund and sovereign selling, which has left the short end a little higher, but the long end much higher. The question now is how much did this cost the Fed for such disappointing results?
Friday, March 30, 2012
Stormtroopin' USA, Redention, Indefinite Detention, Creeping Facism / Politics / US Politics
By: Richard_Mills
No term generates more confusion or misunderstanding than fascism, too many people believe that fascism exists solely in images on the History Channel - storm troopers pounding thundering jackboots down cobblestone streets of occupied countries while throwing up the Roman salute. But fascism is not defined by clothing, symbolism or salutes.
Fascism is a totalitarian system of government that bases its economy on capitalism, it's a marriage of government authority and military/police power managed by corporate influence.
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Friday, March 30, 2012
Who Captured the Fed? / Politics / Central Banks
By: Jesse
Future generations will look back and ask themselves, 'How could they not see what was happening? Were they blind?'
The Fed is not the only problem here, but a key enabler. White collar crimes and fraud flourished amongst the robber barons even in the days of the gold standard. It just was not as convenient, as easy, to defraud the people en masse through the debasement of the currency.
Friday, March 30, 2012
How to Prevent the Next Financial Crises / Politics / Financial Crash
By: Jesse
Nassim Taleb presents a very simple principle for avoiding financial crises.
But sometimes the simplest principles are the most difficult to implement. For example:
Read full article... Read full article...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with your whole heart, and your whole mind, and your whole strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the whole of the law.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Germany Monetary Policies Openly Working Against the ECB… What’s Next? / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Graham_Summers
While the mainstream financial media and 99% of investors continue to believe that Germany will align itself with the EU, we’ve been pounding the table Germany will in fact look after its own interests rather than the EU’s and that it might in fact leave the Euro temporarily.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Europe's Monetary Bazooka Will Fire Blanks / Politics / Eurozone Debt Crisis
By: Graham_Summers
Europe continues to take a page out of Hank Paulson’s “Crisis Combat” booklet, by unveiling one monetary “bazooka” after another. Obviously, EU leaders didn’t notice that Paulson’s “bazooka” completely failed to stop the 2008 Crash.
Even more strangely, they keep pulling out bazooka after bazooka, first unveiling the EFSF which was supposed to raise €1 trillion but failed to raise even €10 billion without having to intervene in its own bond auctions.
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Friday, March 30, 2012
Europe's Nuclear Exit Strategy / Politics / Nuclear Power
By: Andrew_McKillop
At this time in April 2012 the nuclear industry has springcleaned its rhetoric and is making predictable
rearguard action, claiming it isn't dead yet. What almost any honest observer will say is that just one
more Fukushima type disaster will totally seal the fate of nuclear power, relegating the nuclear industry
back to only the domains of weapons, medicine, engineering and research. As the Japanese government
is obliged almost daily to up the estimate of costs that it and taxpayers will have to bear for the
Fukushima disaster - the latest estimate is for a total of around 11 trillion yen to 2020 - Japan moves
further to a probable complete exit from nuclear power. The costs were simply too high, like the risks
which are perceived by public opinion as far too high.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Before Making That IRA Contribution, Make Sure Your Pension Plan Assets are Safe / Politics / Pensions & Retirement
By: Money_Morning
Larry D. Spears writes:
The middle of April is fast approaching and everyone knows what that means - time to get those 2011 income tax returns filled out and filed.
What few people realize is that they also have until Monday, April 16, to open a new individual retirement account (IRA) for 2011 or make your annual contribution to an existing one.
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Friday, March 30, 2012
Are High Taxes About to Make Silicon Valley Pack Up and Leave? / Politics / Tech Stocks
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes:
California Governor Jerry Brown is at it again.
He's cut a deal with the teachers' unions that would take the top rate of state income tax from 10.3% to 13.3%.
If passed on the November ballot, that would increase taxes on the top tier by a hefty 29%.
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