G. Edward Griffin Unmasks "The Creature from Jekyll Island"

re: Let G. Edward Griffin Introduce You to The Creature from Jekyll Island...

Do you think that it’s possible to create money out of thin air? No? Would you be surprised if I told you that the Federal Reserve does this every day?

In his controversial book, “The Creature from Jekyll Island” G Edward Griffin opens our eyes to the inner workings of the federal reserve and how our country’s central banking system has set us up to fail. commercial banks, such as the Fed, create money out of nothing- they are able to multiply every dollar deposited NINE times!

This created money of course degrades the purchasing power of your dollar, and creates what Mr. Griffin refers to as a hidden tax built into our banking system.

Even more scary, Griffin explains that commercial banks love making huge loans to entities with little to no means to pay these loans back, because they make all their money from the interest on the loan!

Massive loans that go into default never affect the issuing bank because this would disrupt the economy too much.


You don’t want to miss THIS SHOW.

 Mr. Griffin will educate you on:
-The current economic crisis and how the Federal Reserve helped create it.

-How we can stop the bleeding in the banking system.

-The history of the Federal Reserve loaning money to 3rd world and unfriendly countries.

-What life will be like in the New World Order.

-Why the leaders of our country want to keep us at war.

 ...and a lot more.

Get your copy of the broadcast here:


http://podcast.talkradio1370am.com/kjcea2/3561162.mp3

Dr. Marc Faber on a Global Crash, the U.S. Treasury Bubble and China's Slowdown

LIE-BorGate: And Why It Matters to ALL of Us

re: the Big Momma of financial scandals?

"...At issue is a bad barrel, not a few rotten apples. Western banking is rife with fraud. The business model of major banks is grand theft."- financial writer Stephen Lendman




by Teresa Kuhn, JD, RFC, CSA
Living Wealthy Radio 
Authorized Bank on Yourself(r) Advisor


By now you have surely heard of the unfolding saga of the LIBOR scandal. 

Maybe you even yawned a bit as the reports rolled across your tv screen.  Banksters doing bad, bad things seemingly getting little more than ceremonial wrist slaps.


Another day, another financial scandal. (yawn)

We have so many of them lately that the public has simply tuned out.


Perhaps we are so busy trying to keep our own heads above water that we just can't process any more information, however important it may turn out to be.  

Or, that we are distracted with juicy celebrity gossip and reality shows to prevent us from thinking too critically about things which impact our financial futures.


In any case, it is high time Americans wake up amd face what is arguably the greatest financial scandal in recent history- the rigging of LIBOR rates by the "too big to fail" banks.


What LIBOR is.. and How It Affects EVERYTHING in Your Life



Think of LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) as being similar to the fan belt on your car.  When it is working, doing its' job silently in the background...you don't notice it or think about it.


However, when it breaks- chaos ensues and the entire engine shuts down.  


LIBOR is the rate-setting benchmark used by banks to determine the interest rates they charge one another. If you carefully read the teeny, tiny print on your credit card statement, you'll see references to LIBOR because it determines how much you pay in interest every month.



The higher LIBOR goes, the more it costs for individual, business, real estate,  and other loans. 

LIBOR is also the anchor for multimillions of dollars in financial contracts, including those funky "frankenvestments" about which I've written.(are you starting to see the implications here?)

Can We Just Forget This Ever Happened?


Barclays Bank, the major (but certainly not the only) player in the scandal did what banks caught in scandals usually do: it allowed its CEO to become the whipping boy. 

Barclay's CEO Bob Diamond was forced to resign, forfeiting a reported $31 million dollar bonus.

But don't worry about good old Bob.  He still gets his salary and benefits estimated to be worth in the neighborhood of $3 million dollars.  

Barclay's chairman Marcus Agius (great name for an emperor)  stepped down a day before Bob got fired.

As the sacrificial lambs were hustled out the door to their luxury digs, Bob Diamond was heard to remark that he hoped his firing would "help close this chapter and allow Barclays to move forward and prosper."

In other words: "I'm taking a hit for the company in hopes everyone will just forget about this scandal and let Barclay's get back to scamming as usual."

In case that doesn't work, there's always the "somebody else made us do it" defense.  In this instance, Barclays supporters (the politicians it "owns") are insisting that the former government leaders forced Barclays to lie about borrowing costs during the financial crisis. 


So far, only Barclays has admitted wrongdoing in the LIBOR-rigging scandal.   


The Financial Times reported:


“The bank admitted that it lowballed estimates of its borrowing costs from late 2007 to May 2009 because it wanted to reassure investors of its strength during the financial crisis and it believed other banks were doing the same.”

“It also admitted that its traders improperly influenced the rate submissions from 2005 to 2008 to make money on derivatives.”

 But, since banking is a cartel, we all know that there are many others involved.  As of today, these banks are undergoing limp-wristed government probes by politicians loathe to bite the hands that feed them:


Barclays, Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi,Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds, HSBC,HBOS, JP Morgan, Rabobank,Royal Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Canada,UBS,West LB, and Norinchuckin.  


Lots of the usual suspects in that list and, I suspect, the list will be longer before the year is out.


Stay tuned for another episode of "As The Cartel Turns."


Meanwhile check out this fascinating discussion about LIBOR and why it is easily the biggest financial scandal of our lifetime. "Cartel type behavior"

The Great and Gleeful Muppet Rip-Off...

re: They call us ordinary Americans... "MUPPETS"

  Sure I lost money Joe, but don't criticize them... 

  they're doing God's work...

by Teresa Kuhn, JD, RFC, CSA
Authorized Bank on Yourself Advisor
Living Wealthy Radio.Com


Not surprised...

That's my reaction to the apparent lack of fallout from the March resignation, effected in a decidedly uncomplimentary op-ed piece in the New York Times,  of one of Goldman Sachs' most influential and high-profile executives, Greg Smith.

Smith, former Goldman Sachs executive director and head of the firm’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa accused the banking giant of having lost its' moral compass, writing:

"It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as “muppets,” sometimes over internal e-mail. Even after the S.E.C.,\Fabulous Fab, Abacus,God's Work, Carl Levin, Vampire Squids? No humility? I mean, come on. Integrity? It is eroding. I don’t know of any illegal behavior, but will people push the envelope and pitch lucrative and complicated products to clients even if they are not the simplest investments or the ones most directly aligned with the client’s goals? Absolutely. Every day, in fact." (read the whole letter at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all?src=tp)

In the aftermath of Smith's revelations about the moral vacuum existing at the venerable institution, Goldman saw losses in the neighborhood of $2.2 billion.


But before you open that box of tissues and prepare to cry Goldman a river, remember that the supposedly "lost" $2.2 billion was already paid for in advance...with taxpayer money in the form of BAILOUTS. 

Remember those Keynes-on-steroid inspired handouts designed to lift all our sinking boats on a tide of economic recovery?

Yep, I can see how well THAT is working out.

I know by now, you've probably figured it out:  banks and Wall Street always win...

Always.

They play with loaded dice and marked cards and, just in case some lucky person figures out how to beat their system (a short-lived victory to be sure) the banks have made a way to ensure that they never have to pay the tab when they make risky loans or investments. 


Repercussions...Not  many

So, what did the American people learn from this nasty public meltdown of a Goldman derivatives peddler?

Not much, really. 

Sure, Goldman moaned and groaned about the relatively paltry sum of money lost due to Smith's revelations.

The "Occupy" wanna-be hippies demanded that heads roll, and politicians double-spoke about "investigating" and "regulating,"  then trotted off to get their dole money from their corporate sponsors.

Meanwhile, nothing really changed and Goldman Sachs, the elite's sacrificial cow, was left to go back to what it does best- selling uninformed people bundles of complicated, opaque junk that they pass off as legitimate investment opportunities.



"So, it’s business as usual, then, regardless of whether it makes most people howl at the moon with rage? Goldman Sachs, this pillar of the free market, breeder of super-citizens, object of envy and awe will go on raking it in, getting richer than God? An impish grin spreads across Blankfein’s face. Call him a fat cat who mocks the public. Call him wicked. Call him what you will. He is, he says, just a banker “doing God’s work”- The Times of London



Are You Ready to Bypass The Den of Thieves?

If you're tired of giving away your hard-earned money to banks and Wall Street then you should know:
There IS a better way.

Call me now and I'll send you free information on how you can escape the den of thieves and start controlling your own financial destiny.

800-382-0830

Wall Street Cons To Blame for City Meltdowns?

"If A Wall Street Banker ran the local convenience store.."

by Teresa Kuhn, JD, RFC, CSA

Bank on Yourself Authorized Advisor

www.ibankonmyself.com 

An interesting article on the left-leaning ALTERNET website by Thomas Ferguson caught my attention with  its' provocative headline:

 

How Wall Street Hustles America's Cities and States Out of Billions

While I don't necessarily agree with all of the article's conclusions (for example, I think he lets the unions and politicians off the hook too easily)...

Ferguson does, however,  do a great job of pointing out the fact that in addition to the Wall Street and banker con jobs served to individuals, there have been numerous schemes by that same group to bilk BILLIONS out of municipalities.

Ferguson seems startled to learn just how deceptively Wall Street and investment bankers market high risk products of dubious worth, confusing even sophisticated municipal purchasers and failing to provide a clear picture of possible negative outcomes.

Citing a report from the The Refund Transit Coalition, a coalition of unions and public interest groups, he details the ways in which Wall Street banks have for years been hustling American cities, states, and regional authorities out of BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars using slick marketing tactics and difficult-to-understand "Frankenvestments."

I'm not surprised at all. Wall Street and  "too big to fail" banks have made a cottage industry out of shifting risk away from themselves as quickly as possible and stiffing taxpayers and their own clients whenever they make a misstep.


Tales of the Frankenvestments

Ferguson, perhaps a bit less cynical than yours truly, seems genuinely floored by the revelation of the extent of the duplicity of "Frankenvestment" peddlers, writing about the "swaps" pushed by bankers:

"... If rates fell, then banks could make out big, while issuers faced disaster, because the latter still had to make the fixed payments on their bonds, while the banks’ payments would shrink as rates fell. In effect, issuers were gambling on interest rates and betting they somehow knew better than the banks what was going to happen. 

And, ah, yes, the final touch: With old style bonds, you could refinance if rates fell; with the new fangled derivatives, the banks made sure to impose huge termination fees.

The result, for years now, has been literally billions of dollars of losses for cities, states, and other local authorities, including school boards . Locked in by the termination fees, they can stay in the swaps and pay and pay as the banks’ payments to them dwindle. 

Or they can buy their way out of the swaps at preposterous prices –... New York State recently paid $243 million dollars to get out of some swaps, of which $191 million had to be borrowed."

The Alternet article illuminates a great truth I have proclaiming for several years now; one which many Americans are just beginning to fully grasp...

Banks and Wall Street are principally to blame for past and present economic disasters, including the current "Great Correction."

While failing, as many leftist ideologues do, to distinguish our current corrupt "crony capitalism" from true free market economics, Thomas Ferguson nevertheless makes the cogent observation that Wall Street has had more than a little to do with the red ink flowing out of many major US cities.

Writes Ferguson:

What has driven cities and towns to the brink is not demands from their workforce but the collapse of national income and the ensuing fall in tax collections. 

Or, in other words, the Great Recession itself, for which Wall Street and the financial sector are principally to blame."

However, Ferguson misses the point entirely when he tries to attribute the myriad issues surrounding Wall Street greed and deception to Republican politicians or "conservatives."

In my opinion, the theft of America's wealth is neither a Democratic nor a Republican issue- it is a PEOPLE issue, one which affects all of us, regardless of political affiliations and ideologies.  The "divide and conquer" mentality of the elite who run our country fosters counterproductive fighting between the "left" and "right," that serves to distract us from the real issue:

A select group of thieves and liars are robbing us blind while we spend our time debating politics...