American Empire Spending Its Way to Oblivion

The U.S. Congressional Budget Office today announced, to a stunned audience of financial observers, that the federal government would run a $1.2 trillion budget deficit in calendar 2009. Why is the number so staggering? Because $1.2 trillion is equal to nearly the entire GDP of the nation of Canada.

The biggest flood of red ink the world has ever known

How much is $1.186 trillion — or $1,186,000,000,000, written out the long way?

Why do I bring this up? Because that $1.186 trillion figure is the projected 2009 deficit, according to the latest report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

And it is downright scary.

Jobless rate jumps to 7.2 percent in Dec.

The U.S. unemployment rate bolted to 7.2 percent in December, the highest level in 16 years, as nervous employers slashed 524,000 jobs. The labor market is expected to remain weak as mass layoffs continue.

Ohhhh, well......

Seen Enough

This has been a particularly tragic year in the deaths of notable people but coincides with one of the most 'suck ass' years I have seen in my 57 years. As one of my colorful Southern friends says, "I would rather kiss a pig on the ass than relive 2008."

Dow plunges 733 on new disheartening economic data

A board on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones Industrial Average Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008. Despair over the economy sent Wall Street plunging again Wednesday, propelling the Dow Jones Industrials down 733 points to their second-largest point loss ever. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The economy lurched deeper into the doldrums Wednesday and took the stock market down with it, sending the Dow Jones industrials to a staggering 733-point loss and erasing any hopes that the convulsions that have shaken Wall Street for a month were over.

US confronts possibility of long, deep recession

A homeless man sorts through his belongings on concrete banks of the Los Angeles River. The head of the San Francisco branch of the US Federal Reserve has said the country appears to be in a recession as the US government, for the first time since the Great Depression, took moves to partially nationalize major banks. (AFP/Getty Images/File/David Mcnew)

"In thinking about recessions, people will naturally think back to the last couple" in the early 1990s and in 2001, said Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto. "What they should be looking back at is further."

In Case You Missed This: Bin Laden: Goal is to bankrupt U.S.

The Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera released a full transcript Monday of the most recent videotape from Osama bin Laden in which the head of al Qaeda said his group's goal is to force America into bankruptcy.

Dow plunges more than 678 to fall below 9,000

Stocks plunged in the final minutes of trading Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrials down more than 675 points, or more than 7 percent, to their lowest level in five years after a major credit ratings agency said it was considering cutting its rating on General Motors Corp. The Standard & Poor's 500 index also fell more than 7 percent.

Stocks Plunge Again; Dow Under 9,000

The sell-off comes as investor confidence falls further, despite news that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson may use his new bailout powers to buy stakes in banks to help ease the financial crisis. General Motors is facing a major downgrade.

US debt clock runs out of digits

Until last month, the clock had enough digits to measure US debt levels

The US government's debts have ballooned so badly the National Debt Clock in New York has run out of digits to record the spiralling figure.

U.S. may take stakes in banks

Henry Paulson, U.S. treasury secretary, pauses during a news conference on Wednesday.

(Evan Vucci/The Associate Press)

Having tried without success to unlock frozen credit markets, the Treasury Department is considering taking ownership stakes in many United States banks to try to restore confidence in the financial system, according to government officials.

The American recapitalization plan - Nationalization by any other name...

LA killings put mental health counselors on alert about money woes

Los Angeles County Coroners remove one of six bodies found at a home in a gated community at Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles on Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. An unemployed accounting industry worker who was despondent over financial problems shot and killed his wife, three children, mother-in-law and then himself in an upscale home in a gated community, police said Monday. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Mental health counselors were on the alert Tuesday for calls from people depressed or possibly suicidal about money woes, after an unemployed financial manager killed five family members and himself.

Dow falls 508 as panic takes over Wall Street

The Dow Jones industrials fell 508 points, or 5.1%, to 9,447. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 108 points, or 5.8%, to 1,755, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was off 61 points, or 5.7%, to 996.

Disappointment over bailout plan triggers global sell-off

Closings for key Asia-Pacific stock markets. Global stock markets reeled Monday, as panicked investors scurried for cover on fears that a much-vaunted US finance sector bailout will fail to end a crippling credit crisis. (AFP Graphic)

"People are panicked that their bank is going to go out of business. People have just lost a lot of trust in the financial system and in these large institutions," said Anil Kashyap, professor of economics and finance at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. He suggested the crisis has morphed from a near shutdown in lending to a new, more dangerous phase in which financial and other companies face greater chances of insolvency.

Dow plunges 800 points amid global sell-off

Wall Street tumbled again Monday, joining a sell-off around the world as fears grew that the financial crisis will cascade through economies globally despite bailout efforts by the U.S. and other governments.

Wall Street suffered through another traumatic session Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials plunging as much as 800 points and setting a new record for a one-day point drop as investors despaired that the credit crisis would take a heavy toll around the world. The Dow also fell below 10,000 for the first time since 2004, and all the major indexes fell more than 7 percent.

Dow Jones Plummets - Again

The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 300 points in early trading, falling below 10,000 for the first time since 2004.

Bailout bill could cost US taypayers $1.8 Trillion

Last week, the Bush administration proposed a three-page bill to bail out Wall Street to the tune of $700 billion. It died in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week. On Friday, though, the House approved a far bigger, broader, and beefier version of the bill--which has ballooned to a remarkable 442 pages. The vote was 263 to 171, with the bulk of the opposition coming from Republicans. Because the Senate already approved the measure, it immediately went to President Bush, who signed it into law.

Economic recession, depression expected in U.S.

Adults in the United States keep gloomy views about their economy, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 36 per cent of respondents claim the U.S. economy is in a recession, while 33 per cent believe it is in a depression.

According to my count, that's 69% of Americans who believe their economy is in deep trouble...

Employers cut jobs by most in more than 5 years

In this July 30, 2008 file photo, Donte Walker reads job listings at the employment training facility, JobTrain, in Menlo Park, Calif. New applications for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week to a seven-year high due to a weakening economy and the impact of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, the Labor Department said Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

Employers slashed payrolls by 159,000 in September, the most in more than five years, a worrisome sign that the economy is hurtling toward a deep recession.

US financial crisis causes spike in online anti-Semitism

The US financial crisis has provoked an outpouring of anti-Semitism on the Internet, with Jews being blamed for the debacle on Wall Street, a monitoring group said on Thursday.

• "The age-old canards about Jews and money are always just beneath the surface," said Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which fights anti-semitism.
  

Mr. Foxman, you can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. Do you really think all of the American people are blind?

Some bailout no votes turn to yes

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., gestures during a press conference about the financial bailout package on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 in Washington. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

Desperate to avoid another market-crushing defeat, House leaders won key converts Thursday to the $700 billion financial industry bailout on the eve of a make-or-break second vote.

Looks like the fix is in...