(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Treasury has released a final statement for the month of March that demonstrates that financial madness has gripped the federal government.
During the month, according to the Treasury, the federal government grossed $194 billion in tax revenue and paid out $65.898 billion in tax refunds (including $62.011 to individuals and $3.887 to businesses) thus netting $128.179 billion in tax revenue for March.
At the same, the Treasury paid out a tota... (more)
Thank you Ben Bernanke for all the money printing. Thanks to a massive injection of cash into the financial system by the Federal Reserve and other central banks, the price of almost every major commodity has skyrocketed over the past six months. Now those price increases are starting to filter down to the retail level. During a recent meeting with USA TODAY's editorial board, Wal-Mart CEO Bill Simon said that rising inflation in the United States is "going to be serious" a... (more)
"Every single retailer has and is paying more for the items they sell, and retailers will be passing some of these costs along," Long says. "Except for fuel costs, U.S. consumers haven't seen much in the way of inflation for almost a decade, so a broad-based increase in prices will be unprecedented in recent memory."
If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government. ... (more)
An ironic story about Inflation, the Federal Reserve insist in saying that there is no inflation, yet there is a story today that the treasury is thinking about no longer printing One Dollar Bill, and the reason is because it is too expensive, because its cost is rising, they think that it may save us some money if we just make coins, One D... (more)
audits for the wealthy surged in 2010. Among taxpayers who reported $10 million or more in income in 2010, more than 18% were audited. That is up 80% from 2009, when only 10% were audited, and in 2008, when 9% were audited.
The rates were higher for other high-income taxpayers, too. The report showed that among taxpayers who repor
It's not always easy to feel sorry for sunny Florida. But it just got hit with another blow.
On Thursday, the Census Bureau revealed that 18% -- or 1.6 million -- of the Sunshine State's homes are sitting vacant. That's a rise of more than 63% over the past 10 years.
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RALEIGH -- Cautioning that the federal dollars in your wallet could soon be little more than green paper backed by broken promises, state Rep. Glen Bradley wants North Carolina to issue its own legal tender backed by silver and gold.
The Republican from Youngsville has introduced a bill that would establish a legislative commission to study his plan for a state currency. He is also drafting a second bill that would require state government to accept gold and silver coins as payme... (more)
Austrian School economists have often explained the business cycle using the metaphor of liquor or drugs. The expansion of paper money and credit gives a sense of exuberance, an economic high that leads to excessive risk-taking and ballooning production. But it can’t be sustained. There is a morning after.
Then what? There is a choice: more drugs and liquor or sobriety. Sadly, the economy – meaning the choices made by you, me, and billions of others &ndash... (more)
As YouTube and other digital media move beyond computer-savvy young people into the ranks of even stodgy businessmen, these subversive outlets become serious problems for the ruling elite. This trend is epitomized by the radical change in the Federal Reserve's image. In just a few short years, the Fed has transformed in public opinion from a mysterious, wise, and boring institution into a fascinating engine of corruption and comedy.
Anyone who has bought gold for the entirety of this bull market is always looking for signs of a top. Not to sell — one doesn't get rid of their insurance — but just to wait until the insurance goes on sale.
A price steadily holding over $1,400 per ounce (until the Japanese quake) has put gold on the cover of a few magazines, along with constant hawking of the yellow metal on daytime Fox News.
But there seems to be more talk about owning gold than... (more)
Seems like these days I hear a lot of whiney whiners whining about "out of control government spending" and "insane deficits" and such, trying to make hay out of a bunch of pointy-head boring finance hooey. Sure, $3.7 trillion of spending sounds like a big number. "Oh, boo-hoo, how are we going to get $3.7 trillion dollars? We're broke, boo-hoo-hoo," whine the whiners. What these skinflint crybabies fail to realize is that $3.7 trillion is for an entire year - which translates into o... (more)
This is a great discussion, his guests have some very perceptive observations about anti-free market propaganda in movies, for example the bad guy in the movie "Dirty Dancing" was shown holding a copy of Atlas Shrugged (before doing some nefarious deeds).
Mark Dice pulls up to a Taco Bell drive thru and hands the cashier an American Eagle 1 ounce gold coin, legal tender in the United States for fifty bucks, to pay for his 99¢ taco.
Marc Faber appeared earlier on CNBC in response to a plunging market, and gave his latest updated outlook on QE3... and 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 (not to mention 18). "We may drop 10 to 15 percent. Then QE 2 will come, (then) QE 4, QE 5, QE 6, QE 7—whatever you want. The money printer will continue to print, that I'm sure. Actually I made a mistake. I meant to say QE 18." Faber was modestly constructive on the Japanese selloff, which at one point hit 18% down in... (more)
Rocketing gasoline prices are causing consumer unrest. Government officials blame oil speculators, corporate greed, and OPEC, anyone but themselves. However, the US government has spent decades implementing policies that drive up gasoline and oil prices. From the oil-price controls of the 1970s to the windfall-profits tax of the 1980s to George W. Bush's order to purchase oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the aim of government policy appears to be to hurt gasoline buyers.
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First the great Larry Summers pronounced that the earthquake and tsunami will bring positive economic benefits to Japan. Now this morning’s New York Times greets us with the headline, “Japan's Strict Building Codes Saved Lives”. Not property rights and the desire of property owners to protect the value of their property. Not institutions that awarded wealt... (more)
We elect politicians because they lie to us. Any politician who told the truth would be tarred, feathered and driven out of town. We demand they lie to us. Likewise any bright young spark that wants to earn a nice income can enter the financial writing market and soon make his fortune.
It’s not necessary that he or she know anything about what they are writing about. If you want subscribers, all you have to do is learn to tell them just what they want to hear. People will pa... (more)
