OBAMA-BERNANKE INFLATION - Simple dollar dynamics rears its ugly head

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2009. Last year's winner was then-President-elect Barack Obama. The 2007 winner was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Other previous winners have included Bono, President George W. Bush, and Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos. Image Credit: urbandigs.com

OBAMA-BERNANKE INFLATION - Simple dollar dynamics rears its ugly head

'Tis the season to be jolly, a Christmas season song lyric cajoles, yet all the American public can see is a political system and an economy in complete disarray.

We are treated to an endless menu of Christmas specials on television and, of course, Oprah Winfrey has to weigh in with a fluff piece of an interview that starts off with a contrived impromptu drop by visit with the President and first lady for a chat. In the interview, Barack Obama could not resist the temptation to answer a question about the "grade" he would deserve for the performance of the first eleven months of his time as President of the United States. Most good politicians would beg off answering the question ... but not this Oscar and Nobel awarded political radical. Nope, he had to give himself a B+ ... and went on to say that if he is able to sign a bill (any bill) that addresses health care, he would figure that an A- would be the better and appropriate grade.

Today, the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke was tapped to be on the cover of TIME Magazine as the "Person Of The Year" stating that the economy would be much, much worse if the Fed had not taken such extreme measures to stop the panic. There's a vast difference between 10% and 25% unemployment, between anemic and negative growth.

This begs the question, however, on ... what happens when the leadership of the Federal Government passes legislation (TARP, two Omnibus, and one Stimulus bill totaling about $4 Trillion plus dollars) that open up the spending of future generations of uncollected tax revenues and places this money into an economy that is not producing goods or services to back up or justify the value of these extra dollar bills in circulation?

Too many dollars chasing the once stable prices on goods and services creates a situation where it takes two dollars to match the value of something that was once valued at one dollar when a stable and consistent money supply dictated this as the cost of the good, service and a living profit. Increase the money supply and prices have to be reset to reflect this simple dynamic.

Welcome to the age of Carter's Second Term ... welcome to the age of INFLATION!

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may be running out of room to pump money into the financial markets and cut interest rates to rescue the economy. Image Credit: urbandigs.com

This excerpted and edited from the New York Post -

Economy bubbles up with wholesale inflation
By PAUL THARP, New York Post - Last Updated: 8:52 AM, December 16, 2009

So much for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke telling the country not to worry that zero percent interest rates might spark inflation.

Economists' worst fears were realized yesterday when the Labor Department said wholesale prices climbed a surprising 1.8 percent last month -- double what economists had predicted and the second-biggest November jump in a decade, following the stunning 2.7 percent surge two years ago at the start of the housing collapse.

The government report said factories are saddled with sharply rising energy and materials costs, among other growing expenses. The higher costs could be passed on to factory customers and consumers, analysts said.

The Labor Department also said core inflation, which excludes the major consumer purchases of food and energy, posted its sharpest increase in more than a year at 0.5 percent.

The surprise jump means analysts will pay even closer attention to today's government report on consumer prices, which could help determine whether inflation has spiked enough to undermine the economy's slow recovery.
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Bernanke, meanwhile, told lawmakers the US economy is still too sluggish with lots of "slack" in factory capacity to support any lasting or serious price hikes.

"The bulk of the evidence indicates that resource slack is now substantial," Bernanke said in a written response to a lawmaker's questions. "I continue to expect slack resources, together with the stability of inflation expectations, to contribute to the maintenance of low inflation in the period ahead."
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Some economists believe the Fed will ignore the inflationary red flags.

"The 1.8 percent jump in wholesale prices is a red herring," said economist Paul Dales at Capital Economics. "The Fed is not going to see this as any indication that their actions are triggering higher inflation."
Reference Here>>

We can expect an economy that will end up worse than any experienced during the "progressive-minded" rule of Jimmy Carter.

Executive Branch Incompetence Crisis - Obama Delivering Obama

Barack Obama administration - This map of Barack Obama administration relationships is interactive. Ctrl-Click to activate (new window), once at the mapsite, click on names to explore and expand. (Requires Java.) - Image Credit: muckety.com

Executive Branch Incompetence Crisis - Obama, Delivering Obama

In the first fifty days of this once promising run of this nation's "First Elected Black President", we are set back on our heels as to how incompetent a government administration and its parts can be.

Where is the "Card Check" process for competence in Government when we need it?

I suppose this is what we can assume to be the norm going forward when we keep voting into office ACORN promoting, Tax increase loving (now with Omnibus $18,584 per household - soon to be upped to $80,000 with the Obama budget proposal), Freedom reducing, Organized Labor supporting, Social Engineering addicted, Government enlarging, Free Enterprise punishing, Judicial Branch lawmaking, Lawyer Class zealots from primarily the Democrat Political Party, with appropriating class Republicans!

Truth is, we have only ourselves to blame ... and boy, are we stupid.

The Government is only a reflection of ourselves and what we are willing to put up with when we set in motion a steady reliance on a central power assistance in our lives without an adherence of standards.

We, at MAXINE, believe this is what we can expect to happen when we see a mission creep of ""Corporate" (both private and public) selfishness.

An assistant shows the mock 'reset' button that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handed over to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, March 6, 2009. Clinton handed Lavrov the block with a red button marked "reset" in English and "overload" in Russian, a reference to a speech by new US Vice-President Joe Biden in January signalling that the Obama administration wanted vastly improved ties with Russia. Image Credit: Fabrice Coffrini

This excerpted and edited from Pajamas Media -

A Presidential Crisis of Competence
They (mostly) know not what they’re doing.
March 11, 2009 - by Tom Blumer - BizzyBlog.com via Pajamas Media

Less than two months into this administration, three things are clear.

First, its agenda is every bit as radical as many of us expected and feared.
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That some Obama supporters are surprised is a “tribute” to a media elite that treated decade-plus relationships with radicals Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, and others as “distractions from the real issues,” and to a McCain campaign that refused to treat Obama’s candidacy as the threat that it was, and now is.

Second, despite strong signals that he is guiding the ship of state in the wrong direction, Obama and his administration have largely refused to bow to reality.
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While the markets continue to beg to differ, Obama has been essentially indifferent.

The third clear thing is the one that has apparently blindsided Obama fans the most, but should have been the least unexpected: He and his administration seem not to know what they’re doing. Pick almost any area and you’ll find a trail of incompetence that goes well beyond benign rookie mistakes.

The administration’s nominee vetting record has become a national joke that could take up this entire column.

Then take the economy (please). We knew before the election that Obama doesn’t understand the difference between net worth and income. His statement about “profit-to-earnings ratios” comes from that same well of ignorance.
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Barack Obama has surrounded himself with the likes of tax cheat Tim Geithner, who scares the markets almost every time he opens his mouth. Meanwhile, the new Treasury secretary has somehow managed not to hire 14 key people he needs. Could it be that there is a shortage of qualified people standing in line to be participants in what is shaping up to be the mother of all train wrecks?

Obama, as president-elect, cheered as General Motors and Chrysler received taxpayer bailouts. Apparently neither the incoming nor outgoing administration considered the obvious problem that fewer consumers would buy from the two bailed-out companies either for philosophical or practical reasons (or both).
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Meanwhile, in a laugh-so-you-won’t-cry story, Geithner is heading an administration delegation that will “visit GM’s technical center in Warren, Michigan, to see car and truck models and learn about the technology being developed.” Uh, don’t lenders usually see what’s going on at the borrower’s place before they cut the loan check? Even staunch Democrat Jim Cramer has been forced to conclude that “it’s amateur hour at our darkest moment.”

The administration’s foreign policy crackups may not be as obvious just yet.
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Start with the Russia-Iran missile defense saga. Step one was the overture: “Obama ‘ready to drop shield plans for Russian help on Iran.’” Step two, the backhanded dismissal, followed shortly: “Medvedev rejects Obama missile defense deal.” Step three was the blowback, as noted by Charles Krauthammer: “The Russians have dismissed it. We end up being humiliated. We look weak in front of the Iranians, and we have left the Poles and Czechs out to dry in return for nothing.”

While supposedly making a point that this administration will “reset” relationships throughout the world, the secretary of state’s entourage botched a Russian translation. (Those who cite the alleged decline in goodwill towards the U.S. have yet to explain why France, Canada, Germany, and other countries moved significantly to the right under Bush’s watch.)

Obama recently told the New York Times that the U.S. is not winning the war in Afghanistan and was considering (in the Times’ paraphrase) “reach[ing] out to moderate elements of the Taliban.”
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Obama infuriated the UK last week in more ways than can be counted here. Now we’re supposed to believe that the UK snubs occurred because the poor guy was “too tired,” the same lame excuse that was used to explain away his 10,000-died-in-Kansas gaffe during the presidential campaign.
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Obama, with no previous executive experience, appears to be falling into the same trap as Democrats Clinton and Carter before him: too obsessed with detail and failing to sufficiently delegate.

Incompetents often try to cover up their failures by attacking others and denying the obvious. This explanation would be consistent with the White House’s thin-skinned blasts at CNBC’s Cramer and Rick Santelli, and the president’s stubborn refusal to characterize his “spread the wealth” policies as what they are: socialist.
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One thing we do know: Obama and his peeps [heads should roll] want to be totally in charge of health care. Feeling better now?
Reference Here>>

With the passage of the "Omnibus" spending bill yesterday and the soon to be considered and passed Obama Administration $3.6 Trillion dollar budget proposal ... we may have created a one-party Government that has become - "To Big To Succeed!"