THE HILL POLL: Voters oppose raising the $14.3T debt ceiling
By Erik Wasson - 02/07/11 12:29 AM ET
Only 27 percent of likely voters favor raising the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, while 62 percent oppose it, according to an exclusive poll for The Hill.
The poll found solid opposition from Republicans and also from independent voters, who are critical to President Obama’s re-election in 2012.
Seventy-seven percent of likely GOP voters and 64 percent of independent voters said they don’t want the debt ceiling to be raised. Even among Democrats, more oppose raising the ceiling (46 percent) than support it (42 percent).
Winning the congressional vote to raise the debt ceiling is a crucial test for the president. House and Senate Republicans are using the vote, which must take place soon, in an effort to secure deep spending cuts from the White House.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House officials warn of dire consequences if the debt ceiling is not raised.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke also warned lawmakers last week not to use the vote as a bargaining chip, saying it would be “catastrophic” if the nation defaulted. But the poll, conducted by Pulse Opinion Research among 1,000 likely voters, suggests the administration’s message is not resonating beyond the Beltway.
The poll also finds the public continues to believe President Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus package failed to help the economy.
Only 36 percent of voters surveyed said stimulus spending creates jobs, while 48 percent said flatly that it does not. Crucially, 61 percent of independent voters took that negative view.
Only 40 percent of likely voters say the $787 billion stimulus package helped. While 69 percent of Democrats say it boosted growth, 56 percent of independents think the stimulus hurt or had no impact on the economy.
The president’s budget, due Feb. 14, will call for more spending on infrastructure, research and development and education. The polls suggest the public is unreceptive to the idea, so Obama might find it tough to get these budget requests through a Republican House clamoring for deep cuts.
Voters split on Obama’s economic policies. Forty-four percent in the survey said the policies are hurting the economy, while 41 percent said they are helping. The poll’s margin of error is 3 percent.
By a 47-37 percent margin, independents said Obama has hindered the economic recovery.
Party affiliation made a big difference; 68 percent of self-identified Republicans said the president’s policies are hurting the economy, compared to 71 percent of Democrats who said they are helping.
The poll also asked likely voters if Republican control of the House of Representatives would help or hurt the economy, or have no impact. The survey found 44 percent of respondents said it will help, 30 percent said it will hurt and 20 percent said it will have no impact.
The nation’s jobless rate dipped to 9 percent on Friday, which the White House touted as evidence that its economic policies are having a positive effect. But the economy only added 36,000 jobs in January.
“The overall trend of economic data in recent months has been encouraging, as initiatives put in place by this administration are taking hold, but there is still considerable work to do,” White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee said Friday.
House Republicans, however, make the case that their new majority is responsible for the encouraging news.
“Today’s [jobs] report … does reflect an economic climate that has a measure of greater certainty thanks to the work of Republicans at the end of the last Congress to stop a massive tax hike on families and small businesses,” said House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.).
The Hill’s poll was conducted by telephone on Feb. 1.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
RawStory.com: Pulitzer winner tells Raw Story, "US empire could collapse at any time,"
Market Shorter Headlines
RawStory.com: Pulitzer winner tells Raw Story, "US empire could collapse at any time,"
America's military and economic empire could collapse at any time, but predicting the precise day, week or month of its potential demise is unattainable, according to a former New York Times war correspondent who spoke with Raw Story.
"The when and how is very dangerous to predict because there's always some factor that blindsides you that you didn't expect," Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges said in an exclusive interview. "It doesn't look good. But exactly how it plays out and when it plays out, having covered disintegrating societies, it's impossible to tell."
He explained that he learned this lesson as events unfolded around him in the fall of 1989. Then, members of the opposition to the Soviet Empire told him that they predicted travel across the Berlin Wall separating East from West Germany would open within the year. "Within a few hours, the wall didn't exist," he said.
Hedges was one of the 131 activists were arrested in an act of civil disobedience outside the White House yesterday, even as Obama was unveiling a new report citing progress in the Afghanistan war.
Speaking to Raw Story on Wednesday night, he said the signs of US collapse are plain to see and compared the country's course through Afghanistan to Soviet Russia's. "We're losing [the war in Afghanistan] in the same way the Red Army lost it," he said. "It's exactly the same configuration where we sort of control the urban centers where 20 percent of the population lives. The rest of the country where 80 percent of the Afghans live is either in the hands of the Taliban or disputed." "Foreigners will not walk the streets of Kabul because of kidnapping, and journalists regularly meet Taliban officials in Kabul because the whole apparatus is so porous and corrupt," he said.
One day after this interview was conducted, reports hit the global media noting the CIA's warning to President Obama, that the Pakistan-supported Taliban could still regain control of the country.
Hedges predicted that President Obama's war report released Thursday would "contradict not only [US] intelligence reports but everything else that is coming out of Afghanistan." His prediction came startlingly true: the CIA's own assessment was said to stand in striking contrast with President Obama's report.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, insisted that the US controlled more territory in Afghanistan than it did a year ago.
'A corporate coup d'état in slow motion'
Hedges said he attended the protest and planned to get arrested because he is against the corporate powers that have enveloped the nation.
"We've undergone a corporate coup d'état in slow motion," he said. "Our public education system has been gutted. Our infrastructure is corroding and collapsing. Unless we begin to physically resist, they are going to solidify neo-feudalism in this country."
"If we think that Obama is bad, watch the next two years because these corporate forces have turned their back on him," Hedges warned.
Hedges, author of "Death of the Liberal Class," said that his vision of America is one with a functioning social democracy, which stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of the corporate state.
"American workers, as they are repeatedly told, will have to become competitive with prison labor in China," he said. "That's where we're headed, and all the pillars of the liberal establishment are complicit in this."
"At least if you get sick in the UK, you don't go bankrupt or die," he added.
Hedges said that another pressure point is the US dollar, which he pointed out had been dropped by Russia and China in favor of modified ruble/renminbi exchanges.
"A few more deals like that, and our currency becomes junk," he said.
RawStory.com: Pulitzer winner tells Raw Story, "US empire could collapse at any time,"
America's military and economic empire could collapse at any time, but predicting the precise day, week or month of its potential demise is unattainable, according to a former New York Times war correspondent who spoke with Raw Story.
"The when and how is very dangerous to predict because there's always some factor that blindsides you that you didn't expect," Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges said in an exclusive interview. "It doesn't look good. But exactly how it plays out and when it plays out, having covered disintegrating societies, it's impossible to tell."
He explained that he learned this lesson as events unfolded around him in the fall of 1989. Then, members of the opposition to the Soviet Empire told him that they predicted travel across the Berlin Wall separating East from West Germany would open within the year. "Within a few hours, the wall didn't exist," he said.
Hedges was one of the 131 activists were arrested in an act of civil disobedience outside the White House yesterday, even as Obama was unveiling a new report citing progress in the Afghanistan war.
Speaking to Raw Story on Wednesday night, he said the signs of US collapse are plain to see and compared the country's course through Afghanistan to Soviet Russia's. "We're losing [the war in Afghanistan] in the same way the Red Army lost it," he said. "It's exactly the same configuration where we sort of control the urban centers where 20 percent of the population lives. The rest of the country where 80 percent of the Afghans live is either in the hands of the Taliban or disputed." "Foreigners will not walk the streets of Kabul because of kidnapping, and journalists regularly meet Taliban officials in Kabul because the whole apparatus is so porous and corrupt," he said.
One day after this interview was conducted, reports hit the global media noting the CIA's warning to President Obama, that the Pakistan-supported Taliban could still regain control of the country.
Hedges predicted that President Obama's war report released Thursday would "contradict not only [US] intelligence reports but everything else that is coming out of Afghanistan." His prediction came startlingly true: the CIA's own assessment was said to stand in striking contrast with President Obama's report.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, insisted that the US controlled more territory in Afghanistan than it did a year ago.
'A corporate coup d'état in slow motion'
Hedges said he attended the protest and planned to get arrested because he is against the corporate powers that have enveloped the nation.
"We've undergone a corporate coup d'état in slow motion," he said. "Our public education system has been gutted. Our infrastructure is corroding and collapsing. Unless we begin to physically resist, they are going to solidify neo-feudalism in this country."
"If we think that Obama is bad, watch the next two years because these corporate forces have turned their back on him," Hedges warned.
Hedges, author of "Death of the Liberal Class," said that his vision of America is one with a functioning social democracy, which stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of the corporate state.
"American workers, as they are repeatedly told, will have to become competitive with prison labor in China," he said. "That's where we're headed, and all the pillars of the liberal establishment are complicit in this."
"At least if you get sick in the UK, you don't go bankrupt or die," he added.
Hedges said that another pressure point is the US dollar, which he pointed out had been dropped by Russia and China in favor of modified ruble/renminbi exchanges.
"A few more deals like that, and our currency becomes junk," he said.
SEC Charges Hedge Fund Managers and Traders in $30 Million Expert Network Insider Trading Scheme
SEC Charges Hedge Fund Managers and Traders in $30 Million Expert Network Insider Trading Scheme
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2011-40
Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 2011 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York-based hedge fund and four hedge fund portfolio managers and analysts who illegally traded on confidential information obtained from technology company employees moonlighting as expert network consultants. The scheme netted more than $30 million from trades based on material, nonpublic information about such companies as AMD, Seagate Technology, Western Digital, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Marvell.
Additional Materials
SEC Complaint
News Conference Remarks by Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami
The charges are the first against traders in the SEC’s ongoing investigation of insider trading involving expert networks. The SEC filed its initial charges in the case last week against technology company employees who illegally tipped hedge funds and other investors with material nonpublic information about their companies in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in sham consulting fees.
In its amended complaint filed today in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC alleges that four hedge fund portfolio managers and analysts received illegal tips from the expert network consultants and then caused their hedge funds to trade on the inside information.
“It is illegal for company insiders who moonlight as consultants to sell confidential information about their companies to traders, and it is equally illegal to buy that corruptly obtained information and trade on it,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Instead of competing on a level playing field with other investors, these hedge fund managers sought to illegally trade today on what others would not learn until tomorrow.”
The SEC’s ongoing investigation is focusing on the activities of expert networks that purportedly provide professional investment research to their clients. While it is legal to obtain expert advice and analysis through expert networking arrangements, it is illegal to trade on material nonpublic information obtained in violation of a duty to keep that information confidential.
The technology company insiders who tipped the confidential information were expert network consultants to the firm Primary Global Research LLC (PGR).
The SEC’s amended complaint alleges:
Samir Barai of New York, N.Y., the founder and portfolio manager of Barai Capital Management, obtained inside information about several technology firms from company insiders, and then traded on the inside information on behalf of Barai Capital.
Jason Pflaum of New York, N.Y., a former technology analyst at Barai Capital Management, obtained inside information about technology companies and shared it with Barai. After Pflaum shared the confidential information with him, Barai used it to illegally trade on behalf of Barai Capital.
Noah Freeman of Boston, Mass., a former managing director at a Boston-based hedge fund, obtained inside information regarding Marvell and shared it with Donald Longueuil of New York, N.Y., a former managing director at a Connecticut-based hedge fund. Longueuil caused his hedge fund to trade on the inside information. Freeman also obtained inside information about another technology company and caused his hedge fund to trade on the nonpublic information.
The SEC’s amended complaint charges each of the defendants with violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and additionally charges Barai, Pflaum, Freeman and Longueuil with aiding and abetting others’ violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint also charges Barai, Pflaum and Barai Capital with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The complaint seeks a final judgment permanently enjoining the defendants from future violations of the above provisions of the federal securities laws, ordering them to disgorge their ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and ordering them to pay financial penalties.
Sanjay Wadhwa, Jason Friedman, Joseph Sansone, Daniel Marcus — members of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit in New York — have conducted the SEC’s investigation with Matthew Watkins, Neil Hendelman, Diego Brucculeri and James D’Avino of the New York Regional Office. The SEC’s litigation effort will be led by Valerie Szczepanik and Kevin McGrath. The SEC thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in the matter.
For more information about this enforcement action, contact:
George Canellos
Director, SEC’s New York Regional Office
(212) 336-1020
David Rosenfeld
Associate Director, SEC’s New York Regional Office
(212) 336-0153
Sanjay Wadhwa
Deputy Chief, Market Abuse Unit, Division of Enforcement
(212) 336-0181
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2011-40
Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 2011 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York-based hedge fund and four hedge fund portfolio managers and analysts who illegally traded on confidential information obtained from technology company employees moonlighting as expert network consultants. The scheme netted more than $30 million from trades based on material, nonpublic information about such companies as AMD, Seagate Technology, Western Digital, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Marvell.
Additional Materials
SEC Complaint
News Conference Remarks by Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami
The charges are the first against traders in the SEC’s ongoing investigation of insider trading involving expert networks. The SEC filed its initial charges in the case last week against technology company employees who illegally tipped hedge funds and other investors with material nonpublic information about their companies in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in sham consulting fees.
In its amended complaint filed today in federal court in Manhattan, the SEC alleges that four hedge fund portfolio managers and analysts received illegal tips from the expert network consultants and then caused their hedge funds to trade on the inside information.
“It is illegal for company insiders who moonlight as consultants to sell confidential information about their companies to traders, and it is equally illegal to buy that corruptly obtained information and trade on it,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Instead of competing on a level playing field with other investors, these hedge fund managers sought to illegally trade today on what others would not learn until tomorrow.”
The SEC’s ongoing investigation is focusing on the activities of expert networks that purportedly provide professional investment research to their clients. While it is legal to obtain expert advice and analysis through expert networking arrangements, it is illegal to trade on material nonpublic information obtained in violation of a duty to keep that information confidential.
The technology company insiders who tipped the confidential information were expert network consultants to the firm Primary Global Research LLC (PGR).
The SEC’s amended complaint alleges:
Samir Barai of New York, N.Y., the founder and portfolio manager of Barai Capital Management, obtained inside information about several technology firms from company insiders, and then traded on the inside information on behalf of Barai Capital.
Jason Pflaum of New York, N.Y., a former technology analyst at Barai Capital Management, obtained inside information about technology companies and shared it with Barai. After Pflaum shared the confidential information with him, Barai used it to illegally trade on behalf of Barai Capital.
Noah Freeman of Boston, Mass., a former managing director at a Boston-based hedge fund, obtained inside information regarding Marvell and shared it with Donald Longueuil of New York, N.Y., a former managing director at a Connecticut-based hedge fund. Longueuil caused his hedge fund to trade on the inside information. Freeman also obtained inside information about another technology company and caused his hedge fund to trade on the nonpublic information.
The SEC’s amended complaint charges each of the defendants with violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and additionally charges Barai, Pflaum, Freeman and Longueuil with aiding and abetting others’ violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint also charges Barai, Pflaum and Barai Capital with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The complaint seeks a final judgment permanently enjoining the defendants from future violations of the above provisions of the federal securities laws, ordering them to disgorge their ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and ordering them to pay financial penalties.
Sanjay Wadhwa, Jason Friedman, Joseph Sansone, Daniel Marcus — members of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit in New York — have conducted the SEC’s investigation with Matthew Watkins, Neil Hendelman, Diego Brucculeri and James D’Avino of the New York Regional Office. The SEC’s litigation effort will be led by Valerie Szczepanik and Kevin McGrath. The SEC thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in the matter.
For more information about this enforcement action, contact:
George Canellos
Director, SEC’s New York Regional Office
(212) 336-1020
David Rosenfeld
Associate Director, SEC’s New York Regional Office
(212) 336-0153
Sanjay Wadhwa
Deputy Chief, Market Abuse Unit, Division of Enforcement
(212) 336-0181
Paul Tudor Jones Calling A Top?
Paul Tudor Jones Calling A Top?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/09/2011 11:21 -0500
Ben BernankePaul Tudor Jones
Wondering why the market suddenly appears as if Bernanke said he thought the dollar has hit a technical bottom? The reason is that there is a rumor (for now) that Paul Tudor Jones has just called a top in the S&P, and is also expecting a bounce in bonds. Unclear if PTJ used the Tepper "balls to the walls" trademark when referring to the selling that may commence. And boy are we hoping the selloff with a huge surge in volume that resulted, is not a response to what one man thinks or else there really is no point in trading anything ever again.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/09/2011 11:21 -0500
Ben BernankePaul Tudor Jones
Wondering why the market suddenly appears as if Bernanke said he thought the dollar has hit a technical bottom? The reason is that there is a rumor (for now) that Paul Tudor Jones has just called a top in the S&P, and is also expecting a bounce in bonds. Unclear if PTJ used the Tepper "balls to the walls" trademark when referring to the selling that may commence. And boy are we hoping the selloff with a huge surge in volume that resulted, is not a response to what one man thinks or else there really is no point in trading anything ever again.
Frontrunning: February 9
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/09/2011 08:56 -0500
British PoundGermanyInternational Monetary FundratingsReutersTARPTrade BalanceUnited Kingdom
•Two Fed Skeptics of Bond Purchases Say Inflation Underscores Stimulus Risk (Bloomberg)
•'Heavy Lifting’ Looms as China Rate Below Inflation (BusinessWeek)
•Rothschild to take control of the weather next (EarthNews)
•Underground world hints at China's coming crisis (Telegraph)
•Wait A Minute--Why Should I Hate Bernie Madoff? (Forbes)
•Egyptian Unrest Throws Deficit Goals Off Course as Yields Rise (BusinessWeek), all they need is Paulson pitching blank check TARP now
•SEC to Wean Markets Off Credit Ratings (Reuters)
•You don't say: Commodity prices could squeeze economy, just as in 2008 (Barrons)
•And speaking of, did anyone even notice that Moody’s lowered Jordan's debt outlook (BusinessWeek)?
•Asia Fights Inflation With Stronger Currencies (WSJ)
British PoundGermanyInternational Monetary FundratingsReutersTARPTrade BalanceUnited Kingdom
•Two Fed Skeptics of Bond Purchases Say Inflation Underscores Stimulus Risk (Bloomberg)
•'Heavy Lifting’ Looms as China Rate Below Inflation (BusinessWeek)
•Rothschild to take control of the weather next (EarthNews)
•Underground world hints at China's coming crisis (Telegraph)
•Wait A Minute--Why Should I Hate Bernie Madoff? (Forbes)
•Egyptian Unrest Throws Deficit Goals Off Course as Yields Rise (BusinessWeek), all they need is Paulson pitching blank check TARP now
•SEC to Wean Markets Off Credit Ratings (Reuters)
•You don't say: Commodity prices could squeeze economy, just as in 2008 (Barrons)
•And speaking of, did anyone even notice that Moody’s lowered Jordan's debt outlook (BusinessWeek)?
•Asia Fights Inflation With Stronger Currencies (WSJ)
Lets Review and Rewind Back to the start of the Shit Storm
Submitted by: Francis Soyer
020911
Here is a clip when the shit first hit the fan roughly 2 years ago. Listen to the commentary closely and the assesment on what the consequences would and could be. Fast forward to today and look at the dollar index or UUP if you want to see it in etf form. Yes it is disturbing. What is more disturbing is: why is this the only guy up on capital hill who gets it? And if he is NOT the only one who gets it, why is he the only one talking about it or who actually has a pair, and is trying to do something about it?
I can only suppose one of two scenarios. One is that the combined IQ's of the rest of the House and Senate is about the same as an empty beer can or Two that their moral compasses are so fucked up its a wonder they can find their way to chambers to cast votes for their campaign finance buds.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)