ttown, we were discussing that Rob Kirby article on Friday if you look back a few posts. What's your take on his findings? From what I found looking at the same data, there are questions left unaswered. In fact I emailed the USGS and asked their rep when could we expect to see an annual report for 2007 that would list the value of the gold compounds for that year.
Kirby's response has left me unimpressed. I'll stick with my analysis of whats happening with "gold compounds". In any case this seems too marginal a subject to pursue deeper.
I would agree that the obsuring or altering of govt stats is a marginal topic of little use. It's been going on for years so why fight it? First CPI started getting massaged in 1983 and then in the 1990's things went haywire. The numbers for jobs, unemployment, GDP, GDP deflator, are all cooked to various degrees. M3 was tossed in 2005 so why not the value of "gold compounds" at the end of 2006. If you really want to save some money, toss out the entire USGS gold surveys, after all, who uses them other than Rob Kirby? Did the US bankers plan to export bank gold in 2007 and beyond so decided to not make that public information? I for one would think it would be a big problem if the sheeple found out that their gold had been used in price suppression schemes for years. It would make them think about what is better to own, gold or the dollar? (ie should I own the item that the govt has been trying to keep the price down on, or the item whose price has been falling for 7 years whose price is supported by PPT and others?)
And yes, "gold compounds" do include melted coin bullion and even bank gold bars. Kirby also did some research on gold bullion flows a few years back and noted that something other than pure gold bars were showing up in quantity in the Bundesbank inventory (ie melted coin gold). Considering that the largest owner of melted coin gold is the US (from the 1930's) it wouldn't take a genius to figure out the most probable source. Is it just coincidence that Germany, Dubai, and others are now passing on "free" foreign stowage and asking for their gold back? It still comes down to the fact, if you the means and access, and it will help your cause, and there will be no punishment since you "enforce" the laws, why wouldn't govt and it's hired hands not meddle in all aspects of gold inventories, price discovery, and trading just like they do with UST Bonds and the dollar? To not do so would imply that they are stupid.
As far as taxing gold, let's not forget that the biggest holders of bullion gold will likely be the very players that have been manipulating it for years (the big banks, powerful politicians, etc.). Do you think the Rockefeller, Bush, Cheney, Rubin, Clinton, Paulson, and Greenspan families will be pushing for a gold tax considering they most likely have nice stashes of the metal well hidden from public view?
The sad part about reading this little article other than disencouraging people to set aside non taxed money for personal healthcare is that nothing is proposed about the delivery of the healthcare itself. There are many issues that come to the front of the mind without much searching...
1. Anything going to be done about the practice of suing the pants off of any MD or any hospital if anything at all goes wrong? Hint...Nope. That's a fair percentage of your doctor bill, paying the insurance on malpractice or actually, paying the premiums of the MD's for malpractice insurance and this has absolutely nothing to do with the delivery of medicine. Could they make the MD's immune to law suits and let the liability fall to the states that license them in the first place or maybe that's just too radical an idea for right now?
2. Anything about the delivery of medicine such as if the govt (you and I) is going to greatly expand the access to medical care then just who is going to deliver that care...hummmmmmmm. Considering that the doctors are working 30 hour or so shifts right now and say you increase their work load about 50% and poof up a few thousand instant MD's all the sudden and all this with an even more chincy medicaid pay out...how's that supposed to work? Clue...it ain't gonna work. Another clue...private delivery of care to those that can affort it is gonna be getting very pricey.
3. Anything here about responsibility for preventive care...well, nothing seems to be conspicuous at first glance but maybe there is something in there about getting annual physicals and colonoscopies or maybe that's still the patient's responsibility, at their descretion...maybe they should be mandatory? Hey, those smoking cessation programs aren't money makers anyway so we don't want to spend time on that. Preventive care is way too expensive to be providing in basic govt. health coverage. Good idea?...Nope.
4. Deny flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts because they are pre tax deductions, hummmmm, that should really be a big income source for the national budget. Mary and Bill squirelling away $50 a pay check for their future medical expenses...big drain on the treasury. Maybe people will just skip getting those pricey prescriptions altogether and maybe that extra trip to the dentist for that crown isn't so necessary after all since you don't really need that tooth to chew and maybe that annual physical only needs to be every 5 years instead of every year and you will be one of the lucky ones that just doesn't get colorectal cancer. Yep, we can't be letting those people be shortcutting the income tax system just to be getting a little health care. Gonna save the govt a lot of money here...nope.
5. Let's just throw a lot of money at expanding care, tax everything we can that is even medically related and keep doing the same thing we have been doing for the last few years or so but more of it and get everybody in the system; we can't have people taking individual responsibility for their health care...we'll tell them when they need something and just what it is that we think they need. It's all good, trust the govt. here.
I would suggest that we look closely at the existing medical delivery system in place and propose how to make that more efficient before we just throw a bunch of money at it hoping that it will somehow get better. We have not had a major reorganization of how medical services are delivered that I can recall. Granted this is a necessary effort and now is a good time to do it but lets not just throw money at it, tax those that get it, and expand care in a system that can't even take care of the existing need.
For example...what about small clinics at public parks? Putting a little mediclinic in all the pharmacies/drug stores (works where it has been tried), maybe provide transportation to the poor (other than the ambulance call to 911 for a boil on the foot) so they can get some preventive care, how about requiring people get an annual physical to be eligible for medical benefits in the first place oh yeah, that mandatory illegal drug test...hummmmm; there are just so many ways to work this out and it should not cost an arm and a leg to get it working right. For example, let lvns dispense 90% of primary care, and let the MD's take care of stuff that is life threatening or critical to survival only. We really need to do something besides throw money at this topic because given no other mandate...that's just what they will do, throw our money at it and in case any one has looked behind the curtain lately, we are pretty much out of money anyway.
The point, which Kirby mentions and then seems to completely ignore in his analysis is that the gross weight of a gold compounds vastly exceeds the weight of the pure gold in the compound. He can't take the gross weight given and then multiply it by the price of gold
A quick stochiometric calculation shows that AuCl3 = 64.93% Gold, and HAuCl4 = 57.97% Gold.
Even if the totals shown in the report are pro-rated for the actual % gold contained in the molecular formulas - if the compounds are indeed auric chloride and chorauric acid, the increased exports of "gold compounds" greatly understate the values stated for 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Therefore, the "gold compounds" are not those compounds, OR the data is being falsified. Take your pick.
Could these compounds simply be low grade ore? And why would they ship out low grade ore instead of refining it nearby?
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
Those compounds should not be low grade ores as there are separate categories for ores & concentrates and also dore & precipitates. The ores are <10% of the dore & precip. and can be ignored. Fwiw >90% of all the dore & precipitates go to Switzerland And if you do the math on the ore/dore, the value indicates a very high percentage of pure gold in the 50-65% range. So those are very concentrated gold products. It may look marginal, but I'd like to find out if this is a smoking gun or a wet water pistol.
Regarding "A quick stochiometric calculation shows that AuCl3 = 64.93% Gold, and HAuCl4 = 57.97% Gold"
To further clarify the point () -- it seems likely that the term "gold compounds" is being used in a non-technical sense - to include, as RR alluded to, products such as paint that have very small amounts of gold. Therefore, the stochioemtric analysis does not lead to meaningful information.
What did Marie Antoinette say during the French Revolution? Let them eat crow? Well, that's what I'm having today. There is a need to know, even if you end up being wrong. I recall the scene from Dirty Harry where Harry stares down the wounded bank robber as the two of them ponder whether he fired 5 shots or all 6. "Well do you feel lucky....punk?" The robber decides not to reach for his weapon only a few inches away......and responds with "I got's to know." And then Harry pulls the trigger while said robber grimances. Ahh, just a blank!
Today I received a requested spreadsheet from the USGS courtesy of gold specialist Micheal George. He provided all "gold compound" data from 1996 to 2008 for every nation that ever exported a gold compound in any of those years. What a guy! And he also provided $ pricing/kg of all products by country for each year. Fwiw South Africa, Australia, Peru, Turkey, and many others haven't received exported gold compound in any qty for years. One can only suppose they have other means of getting it. Singapore, China, and Canada are the big 3 in this area with another 10 nations filling up approx 95% of all exports. It was pretty easy to pull out bullion/bullion equivalent transfers. There were some. But.....not after 2002...and nothing of quantity. In every case we're talking quantities of usually less than 100 kg and never more than 300 kg. I would assume that during the 1996-2002 period, countries such as Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, France, Hong Kong, Korea, etc. received small quantities of bullion per whatever financial/political reason. Or maybe the stuff was concentrated gold medicinals or something similar. But from 2003-2008 there are no such transfers of any quantity that would easily have skewed the dollar value per kg.... which typically averaged $15-$25/kg during these years. It's still paint and worth about $8-12 per pound (ie $65-100/gal). There are not hundreds of tons of gold showing up here, probably not even a single ton in any year. I did provide Rob Kirby with a copy of the spreadsheet. Either the verbal information he received over the phone from the USGS was in error or a miscommunication ensued, or the USGS provided me with a doctored spreadsheet. In any case, my mining expedition is done. Rob did reply to my findings but based on his earlier conservation with the USGS representative, it was clear to him then that the $$ values listed (at that time) made the guy very uneasy. A final lingering thought. If this data was that easy to put togther and get to me in 24 hrs, why couldn't the USGS have posted the 2007 data on their website a year ago or even months ago?
So we close the chapter on serepticious gold transfers hidden in USGS reports. Q.E.D.
Some encouraging news was provided from the Pending Home Sales Index for April, which increased 6.7% from March, led by a 32.6% increase in the Northeast. By region, increases were also seen in the Midwest (+9.8%) and the West (+1.8%) while the South declined -0.2%. All regions, with the exception of the West (-2.9%) saw pending home sales at a higher level than the year-ago period... The uptick in April, which marked the third straight monthly increase, was attributed to record low mortgage interest rates, the first-time buyer tax credit, and near record affordability.
Cohodk, don't the home sale figures include foreclosures (banks take the property) as well as bank auctions (banks sell the properties)? Wasn't it also the case that many banks were delaying foreclosures just prior to the stress tests being completed? In this way they didn't have to claim losses on them yet and screw up their asset ratios. One would now logically expect that the backlog of pending foreclosures would start to swell the home "sales" figures as the banks catch up on their "paperwork." The stats need every cherry "greenshoot" of growth they can get.
I just can't feel sorry for these people. Reality just doesn't seem to sink in for them. They are still maintaining a $960,000 condo in NYC.
Last month, for the first time, the Arayas didn't make a mortgage payment. Their savings are almost depleted. The mortgage, taxes and fees for the family's condo cost $6,200. Combined, he and Denise bring in $4,000 a month. Three months ago, he and his wife applied to restructure their mortgage. The bank told them it is still processing the request. They fear foreclosure and bankruptcy
Well the Chinese got rid of a few of those worhtless paper dollars!
I wonder if they want AIG cheap?
Chinese company to buy Hummer By John Reed in London and Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai
Published: June 2 2009 13:04 | Last updated: June 3 2009 07:52
A Chinese company is to buy Hummer, the General Motors brand known for its military-inspired off-road vehicles and seen as a symbol of gas-guzzling, road-hogging American excess.
Hummer’s sale to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company will close this year, marking one of the biggest overseas acquisitions in carmaking by a Chinese group.
Wikipedia "AM General is an American heavy vehicle manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, best known for the civilian Hummer and military HMMWV." >>
GS, I believe AM General sold the Civilian only model to GM, so China will not be making our military version, just the civilian version.
Hummm...17% of the money is dole. Not bad. And the article tells us that most of it is because of Bush...this is good for the media, good for the current administration, good for the folk getting those buks...it's all good!
<< <i>Hummm...17% of the money is dole. Not bad. And the article tells us that most of it is because of Bush...this is good for the media, good for the current administration, good for the folk getting those buks...it's all good!
At the risk of upsetting some who do not like to use or see charts, I post the following. I will not make any comments on it other than that I believe the next few weeks will offer some incredible trading opportunities in equities, PM, Treasuries and currencies.
Cohodk has previously suggested a 300 pt move coming in the Dow. But no direction yet given. It seems to me it wants to continue upwards towards 9000, possibly much higher. I know it won't upset me if charts are posted here.
The jobs report today was +100K to +200K better than many analysts were predicting kick started a brief rally in the DOW. I just knew that the number would be better than expected considering the BDM model was kicking in a ton of jobs from brand new businesses. This month at +220K jobs added by BDM was almost as good as last months +226K. Once again, many new jobs added in construction, utilities and transportation, finance, education and health services, professional and business, and manufacturing. If you're not seeing those new jobs in your area, please write to the BLS to ask them where specifically you have to look to see them.
Without the BDM assist, the report would have been 565,000 jobs lost. If using the unemployment change from 8.9% to 9.4% thats 775,000 jobs lost. Next month's report should also be "positive" with another +150K to +200K BDM jobs being kicked in. But from there the numbers slide the rest of the year. Bet it does set up for more DOW bullishness and Jolly Green Giant Shoots....or is that his sidekick Little Green Sprouts?
"It seems to me it wants to continue upwards towards 9000, possibly much higher." Yep, seems strange but it sure seems that way to me too. I'm sure there's a reason, I just don't see it yet. What I do see is penny stocks gaining 50 cents in a day on news and then falling back to where they were. Kind of like GM has been doing in bankruptcy or astc or evso, stuff like that. One day they're a buk and a half the next day they're 85 cents. I'm seeing that in others that I watch like wtr, aa...One exception seems to be F; it was a buck and a quarter then it was 6 bucks and it hasn't looked back. Now if you're playin' miners right now...good luck; darned if I can figure them out right now. I'm not telling anyone how to play, just offering my notes as forum fodder.
The "improved" employment figures seem to be calculated based on folk coming off of unemployment because they have exhausted their eligibility so there are fewer people filing for unemployment ergo more people must be workin'. Best tell here is to just scan your local classified in the jobs section every Sunday and see what's being offered. Here, a few (pretty few) engineering/architecture jobs, lots of medical jobs, lots of sales jobs, a few clerical and teaching and then it thins out pretty quickly. I wouldn't say there is a bounty of choices for those that want to work here and the job market doesn't seem to be expanding but if you want work here, you can find it. Interesting short story...a couple of us were kinda grousing at work and then this department head shows us a stack of employment applications a full inch and change thick for a job that pays 24k/yr. He said "This is reality." Normally, they would have 6 or so applications for that job.
Any other "market data" out there on local employment situations?
1. The BDM creates fantasy jobs for fantasy people.
2. The Inflation Guide lines are jury rigged to reduce inflation by at least 2-3%.
3. The budget, much like a bra less female, has no restraint.
4. All Governments will always choose to inflate rather then deflate the economy.
5. Only Governments are allowed to create National debt that can not and will not ever be repaid.
6. We are presently living in the greatest Ponzi scheme to ever befall civilization. It is measured in the 100s of trillions of dollars.
7. The only way out, is to follow the bible which states that all debts are forgiven after 7 years. In the Worlds case. All debts are canceled and the world starts anew from the ashes.
Did you know that FDIC Bank Insurance is only valid up to the amount of money in the FDIC Reserves?
The more money the Government prints, the less our money is worth. It is a massive confiscation of wealth without out having to raise taxes.
Does printing trillions of dollars of worthless Government Bonds and buying them back with worthless printed dollars really make any sense to anyone?
All professional, paid lobbyists, should be used for mulch in the corn and wheat field.
All politicians should be limited to $100,000 total in contributions. Of which, no single contribution shall be larger then 10 dollars. Violation of this rule will case the politician to be forbidden to run for any public office or be appointed to any office for a period of loo years.
All politicians who are pedophiles,perverts, alcoholics, drug addicts, on the take, or are guilty of a felony shall be banned from public office for the rest of their normal lives.
Lawyers shall be banned from holding public office.
Failure to balance the annual budget, shall cause a 25% reduction in the Pay of Congress for the entire fiscal year.This loss is never to be returned.
The Congressional cafateria and exercise rooms shall charge full retail prices for the service or food served.
Any member of congress who shall miss more then 6 days of work, other then certified illness, shall be docked one days pay for each excessive day of absence.
Government officials shall be forbidden employment in industries that they have had government authority over for a minimum of 25 years after leaving government service. People hired from industry to serve in government positions that regulate such industries must sever all pay, stock, options and future pension credits with such indistry for a period of 25 years after leaving said Government position.
Brígido de Jesús González lived in Queens, N.Y., for the past 20 years, working as a landscaper to support his wife and kids back in El Salvador. But with the recession clobbering his business, the illegal immigrant decided to pack up and return to his native country -- for good.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
Finally, we are seeing some progress on the idea of flat tax. This would put a boat load of people out of work doing the returns but it would create an equal number of jobs counting all the money as it comes in. I'm for a flat tax at point of sale collected in conjunction with applicable sales taxes, no filing, no forms, no nothing but give them the money and be done with it. I'm very glad to see this in mainstream media finally. As California goes, so goes the nation.
Edited to add: The main objection to this tax is that it taxes the poor at the same rate as the wealthy. Am I wrong here in thinking that if you everyone is taxed equally then it is a fair tax? There is no reason why you can't charge a surgcharge for high income folks or that you can't return some of the tax income to the poor in the form of construction of more subsidized housing or increasing food credits or better health care for the folk that don't have much wherewithall. I'm certainly not for giving the poor checks or charging them less than a fair rate of tax. I guess this issue could become the lynchpin for public debate that could prempt the class wars and whether these class wars are really necessary; if there is nothing to fight over, how can there be a war. We really need to have this discussion now, in the national public venue. Flat and fair tax for all...it's about the money.
If you look at a very long term chart on gold (100 yrs) and if you compare percent moves w/nasdaq and S&P, you will see that gold has the potential for $7,000.00 + before being as a bubble such as the nasdaq, S&P, or dow has experienced. The bubbles revolve from stocks to commodities, bonds, realestate, etc...... Follow the bubbles
NumbersUsa, FairUs, Alipac, CapsWeb, and TeamAmericaPac
The PEW Hispanic group has been producing skewed numbers for years. They have an agenda and they create the statistics and polls to support it.
Feel good, don't worry, sleep tight, warm and fuzzy, ........ ease your concern, don't worry be happy....... Thats the way a really big horse once took an impregnable city.
NumbersUsa, FairUs, Alipac, CapsWeb, and TeamAmericaPac
"The number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million in May, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 7.0 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 4.5 percent- age points. (See table A-1.)"
<< <i>The PEW Hispanic group has been producing skewed numbers for years. They have an agenda and they create the statistics and polls to support it. >>
I believe it. Remember that 37% of all statistics are made up.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Brígido de Jesús González lived in Queens, N.Y., for the past 20 years, working as a landscaper to support his wife and kids back in El Salvador. But with the recession clobbering his business, the illegal immigrant decided to pack up and return to his native country -- for good. >>
for every story like this there are those of legal immigration, growing businesses, 'spawning' from a work hard ethic. the American Dream is not an excluisve European club of immigrants. it's a pertinant article for illegal immigration, many were in the construction business, too, now gone because of no work.
the farm labor, IMHO is a differnent topic entirely.
When a person does the research and has been on the inside of the political debates, sat down with local chiefs of police, read the crime reports and basically stick to the facts, and not the mass media and school indoctrination that began in the early 60's , an eye opening experience could occur. This is a Humongous issue with a huge capital H.
Immigration is a wonderful benefit of the world, but uncontrolled immigration has been the death of more than one organization of persons.
Just immgine if PCGS were to grade coins of people whom did not pay their subscriber fees, did not follow protocol, did't pay the proper fees, etc, etc..... They would lose control quickly of their business model and if not corrected would go bankrupt.
Their are many millions of citizens who donate to charities, to their communities, to their places of worship, with time and monies on an individual basis. And we as The United States are the most benevolent society that this world has known in regards to outlay of monies and food to countries that are not as fortunate. If this is to continue, we must reign in our over the topwelfare/socialistic leanings that have overwhelmed the minds of our citizens since the 60's.
NumbersUsa, FairUs, Alipac, CapsWeb, and TeamAmericaPac
There is no reason why you can't charge a surcharge for high income folks
Neat! That might create a whole new middle man. There would be people paying other people to go buy things for them at lower tax rates. Or maybe Grandpa would buy the cars, boats, and appliances for everyone in the family.
The number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million in May, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 7.0 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 4.5 percent- age points. (See table A-1.)"
Is this what the news reported last week????
The 787,000 number didn't show up in the majority of reports last week probaby because it's a HUGE and scary number for a one month increase. But it is correct nontheless since that works out to be the gain from April's 8.9% to May's 9.4% of the "work force." What was more commonly reported was the 9.4% number AND "only" 345,000 jobs lost in May per the BLS monthly stats. This would imply that another 432,000 workers become officially unemployed via means other than being reported by their employers as losing their jobs during the month of May combined with the BLS BDM inputs. It should also be noted that the BLS birth death model added +220,000 new jobs for May via their black box formula (ie not real jobs counted via actual surveying). Next month's BDM will also add a similar quantity before falling back signficantly the rest of the year.
Just my humble opinion on the single rate "flat" tax;
For those people who do not like the idea of the rich paying the same rate as the poor there is a simple solution.
The first $22,000 of wages is not taxed. The folks on minimum wages would rarely have to worry about taxes at all.
Just one voice; the folks who decide such things haven't asked me. Not has the Congress asked me if I think the cent and paper dollar should continue production....
<< <i>Just my humble opinion on the single rate "flat" tax;
For those people who do not like the idea of the rich paying the same rate as the poor there is a simple solution.
The first $22,000 of wages is not taxed. The folks on minimum wages would rarely have to worry about taxes at all.
Just one voice; the folks who decide such things haven't asked me. Not has the Congress asked me if I think the cent and paper dollar should continue production.... >>
<< <i>When a person does the research and has been on the inside of the political debates, sat down with local chiefs of police, read the crime reports and basically stick to the facts, and not the mass media and school indoctrination that began in the early 60's , an eye opening experience could occur. This is a Humongous issue with a huge capital H.
Immigration is a wonderful benefit of the world, but uncontrolled immigration has been the death of more than one organization of persons.
Just immgine if PCGS were to grade coins of people whom did not pay their subscriber fees, did not follow protocol, did't pay the proper fees, etc, etc..... They would lose control quickly of their business model and if not corrected would go bankrupt.
Their are many millions of citizens who donate to charities, to their communities, to their places of worship, with time and monies on an individual basis. And we as The United States are the most benevolent society that this world has known in regards to outlay of monies and food to countries that are not as fortunate. If this is to continue, we must reign in our over the topwelfare/socialistic leanings that have overwhelmed the minds of our citizens since the 60's. >>
Very good read. My take is that maybe....Europe sees that America will not be there all the time because it is becoming socialist, handicapped, and pandering to all and appeasing to everyone and European voters have decided to take matters into their own hands and regain control back from the socialists. Of course the spin (and I've seen this movie before) is that the force gaining power are all fascists....very predictable. I am going to Germany and Northern Ireland for three weeks starting next week. I find it very interesting that when I go out with the "boys" to the pubs the conversation turns to American/World politics faster than a Corvette travels 0-60! They normally feel very empowered because they know more about American politics than the average American...they are right. I have had some wonderful conversations with my buds across the Atlantic, but they are at a disadvantage, sorry to say. The "conversations" with my German relatives are rather deer-in-the-headlights episodes...they just don't get it, but the Irish blokes are looking for a conversation just get rowdy and fight. Please pray for us because this Marine is getting older and I feel they don't know the odds.
The "conversations" with my German relatives are rather deer-in-the-headlights episodes...they just don't get it, but the Irish blokes are looking for a conversation just get rowdy and fight. Please pray for us because this Marine is getting older and I feel they don't know the odds.
Have a great time, comrade!
Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally
with more Mexicans leaving the U.S. than coming in.(LINK)
Brígido de Jesús González lived in Queens, N.Y., for the past 20 years, working as a landscaper to support his wife and kids back in El Salvador. But with the recession clobbering his business, the illegal immigrant decided to pack up and return to his native country -- for good.
THIS IS AN ABSURD STATEMENT. IT IS COMPLETELY UNTRUE AND TOTALLY SUPPORTS THE MYTH THAT INFORMATION GLEENED FROM THE INTERNET CAN BE RELIED UPON.
THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT MORE ARE SNEAKING IN AND LEGALLY IMMIGRATING TO THE U.S.A.
MEXICO'S ECONOMY IS DRAMATICALLY WORSE THAN OURS AND COMBINED WITH THE FACT THAT THE DRUG WARS ARE OUT OF CONTROL AND THE DRUG CZARS ARE INCREASING THEIR ABILITY TO RUN MEXICO, MORE LAW ABIDING MEXICANS ARE FLEEING MEXICO ALONG WITH THE PEASANTS WHO HAVE LITTLE OR NO EDUCATION, TRAINING OR WEALTH.
STATISTICS DERIVED FROM LOBBYING GROUPS OR THE GOVERNMENT CAN BE VIEWED FOR WHAT THEY ARE. GARBAGE.
Comments
roadrunner
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
And yes, "gold compounds" do include melted coin bullion and even bank gold bars. Kirby also did some research on gold bullion flows a few years back and noted that something other than pure gold bars were showing up in quantity in the Bundesbank inventory (ie melted coin gold). Considering that the largest owner of melted coin gold is the US (from the 1930's) it wouldn't take a genius to figure out the most probable source. Is it just coincidence that Germany, Dubai, and others are now passing on "free" foreign stowage and asking for their gold back? It still comes down to the fact, if you the means and access, and it will help your cause, and there will be no punishment since you "enforce" the laws, why wouldn't govt and it's hired hands not meddle in all aspects of gold inventories, price discovery, and trading just like they do with UST Bonds and the dollar? To not do so would imply that they are stupid.
As far as taxing gold, let's not forget that the biggest holders of bullion gold will likely be the very players that have been manipulating it for years (the big banks, powerful politicians, etc.). Do you think the Rockefeller, Bush, Cheney, Rubin, Clinton, Paulson, and Greenspan families will be pushing for a gold tax considering they most likely have nice stashes of the metal well hidden from public view?
roadrunner
The sad part about reading this little article other than disencouraging people to set aside non taxed money for personal healthcare is that nothing is proposed about the delivery of the healthcare itself. There are many issues that come to the front of the mind without much searching...
1. Anything going to be done about the practice of suing the pants off of any MD or any hospital if anything at all goes wrong? Hint...Nope. That's a fair percentage of your doctor bill, paying the insurance on malpractice or actually, paying the premiums of the MD's for malpractice insurance and this has absolutely nothing to do with the delivery of medicine. Could they make the MD's immune to law suits and let the liability fall to the states that license them in the first place or maybe that's just too radical an idea for right now?
2. Anything about the delivery of medicine such as if the govt (you and I) is going to greatly expand the access to medical care then just who is going to deliver that care...hummmmmmmm. Considering that the doctors are working 30 hour or so shifts right now and say you increase their work load about 50% and poof up a few thousand instant MD's all the sudden and all this with an even more chincy medicaid pay out...how's that supposed to work? Clue...it ain't gonna work. Another clue...private delivery of care to those that can affort it is gonna be getting very pricey.
3. Anything here about responsibility for preventive care...well, nothing seems to be conspicuous at first glance but maybe there is something in there about getting annual physicals and colonoscopies or maybe that's still the patient's responsibility, at their descretion...maybe they should be mandatory? Hey, those smoking cessation programs aren't money makers anyway so we don't want to spend time on that. Preventive care is way too expensive to be providing in basic govt. health coverage. Good idea?...Nope.
4. Deny flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts because they are pre tax deductions, hummmmm, that should really be a big income source for the national budget. Mary and Bill squirelling away $50 a pay check for their future medical expenses...big drain on the treasury. Maybe people will just skip getting those pricey prescriptions altogether and maybe that extra trip to the dentist for that crown isn't so necessary after all since you don't really need that tooth to chew and maybe that annual physical only needs to be every 5 years instead of every year and you will be one of the lucky ones that just doesn't get colorectal cancer. Yep, we can't be letting those people be shortcutting the income tax system just to be getting a little health care. Gonna save the govt a lot of money here...nope.
5. Let's just throw a lot of money at expanding care, tax everything we can that is even medically related and keep doing the same thing we have been doing for the last few years or so but more of it and get everybody in the system; we can't have people taking individual responsibility for their health care...we'll tell them when they need something and just what it is that we think they need. It's all good, trust the govt. here.
I would suggest that we look closely at the existing medical delivery system in place and propose how to make that more efficient before we just throw a bunch of money at it hoping that it will somehow get better. We have not had a major reorganization of how medical services are delivered that I can recall. Granted this is a necessary effort and now is a good time to do it but lets not just throw money at it, tax those that get it, and expand care in a system that can't even take care of the existing need.
For example...what about small clinics at public parks? Putting a little mediclinic in all the pharmacies/drug stores (works where it has been tried), maybe provide transportation to the poor (other than the ambulance call to 911 for a boil on the foot) so they can get some preventive care, how about requiring people get an annual physical to be eligible for medical benefits in the first place oh yeah, that mandatory illegal drug test...hummmmm; there are just so many ways to work this out and it should not cost an arm and a leg to get it working right. For example, let lvns dispense 90% of primary care, and let the MD's take care of stuff that is life threatening or critical to survival only. We really need to do something besides throw money at this topic because given no other mandate...that's just what they will do, throw our money at it and in case any one has looked behind the curtain lately, we are pretty much out of money anyway.
Rant off...
Edited for typo
A quick stochiometric calculation shows that AuCl3 = 64.93% Gold, and HAuCl4 = 57.97% Gold.
Even if the totals shown in the report are pro-rated for the actual % gold contained in the molecular formulas - if the compounds are indeed auric chloride and chorauric acid, the increased exports of "gold compounds" greatly understate the values stated for 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Therefore, the "gold compounds" are not those compounds, OR the data is being falsified. Take your pick.
Could these compounds simply be low grade ore? And why would they ship out low grade ore instead of refining it nearby?
I knew it would happen.
Brazil gold import/exports & compounds....still deciphering this one.
roadrunner
To further clarify the point (
Today I received a requested spreadsheet from the USGS courtesy of gold specialist Micheal George. He provided all "gold compound" data from 1996 to 2008 for every nation that ever exported a gold compound in any of those years. What a guy! And he also provided $ pricing/kg of all products by country for each year. Fwiw South Africa, Australia, Peru, Turkey, and many others haven't received exported gold compound in any qty for years. One can only suppose they have other means of getting it. Singapore, China, and Canada are the big 3 in this area with another 10 nations filling up approx 95% of all exports. It was pretty easy to pull out bullion/bullion equivalent transfers. There were some. But.....not after 2002...and nothing of quantity. In every case we're talking quantities of usually less than 100 kg and never more than 300 kg. I would assume that during the 1996-2002 period, countries such as Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, France, Hong Kong, Korea, etc. received small quantities of bullion per whatever financial/political reason. Or maybe the stuff was concentrated gold medicinals or something similar. But from 2003-2008 there are no such transfers of any quantity that would easily have skewed the dollar value per kg.... which typically averaged $15-$25/kg during these years. It's still paint and worth about $8-12 per pound (ie $65-100/gal). There are not hundreds of tons of gold showing up here, probably not even a single ton in any year. I did provide Rob Kirby with a copy of the spreadsheet. Either the verbal information he received over the phone from the USGS was in error or a miscommunication ensued, or the USGS provided me with a doctored spreadsheet. In any case, my mining expedition is done. Rob did reply to my findings but based on his earlier conservation with the USGS representative, it was clear to him then that the $$ values listed (at that time) made the guy very uneasy. A final lingering thought. If this data was that easy to put togther and get to me in 24 hrs, why couldn't the USGS have posted the 2007 data on their website a year ago or even months ago?
So we close the chapter on serepticious gold transfers hidden in USGS reports. Q.E.D.
I hads to know.
roadrunner
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
LINK
Regarding the pending home sales this morning,
From Briefing.com...
Some encouraging news was provided from the Pending Home Sales Index for April, which increased 6.7% from March, led by a 32.6% increase in the Northeast. By region, increases were also seen in the Midwest (+9.8%) and the West (+1.8%) while the South declined -0.2%. All regions, with the exception of the West (-2.9%) saw pending home sales at a higher level than the year-ago period... The uptick in April, which marked the third straight monthly increase, was attributed to record low mortgage interest rates, the first-time buyer tax credit, and near record affordability.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
<< <i>Ahh, just a blank! >>
not even loaded.
roadrunner
I dont expect RE to go up, in fact it may still be at this level 2 years from now. But even that would not mean that RE has not in fact bottomed now.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
dow fall and gold rise from seeking-alpha
I just can't feel sorry for these people. Reality just doesn't seem to sink in for them. They are still maintaining a $960,000 condo in NYC.
Last month, for the first time, the Arayas didn't make a mortgage payment. Their savings are almost depleted. The mortgage, taxes and fees for the family's condo cost $6,200. Combined, he and Denise bring in $4,000 a month. Three months ago, he and his wife applied to restructure their mortgage. The bank told them it is still processing the request. They fear foreclosure and bankruptcy
Box of 20
I wonder if they want AIG cheap?
Chinese company to buy Hummer
By John Reed in London and Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai
Published: June 2 2009 13:04 | Last updated: June 3 2009 07:52
A Chinese company is to buy Hummer, the General Motors brand known for its military-inspired off-road vehicles and seen as a symbol of gas-guzzling, road-hogging American excess.
Hummer’s sale to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company will close this year, marking one of the biggest overseas acquisitions in carmaking by a Chinese group.
O.K. does this mean the Chinese will have the U.S. government contract to make the
Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, nick-named "Humvee")
Wikipedia
"AM General is an American heavy vehicle manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, best known for the civilian Hummer and military HMMWV."
<< <i>O.K. does this mean the Chinese will have the U.S. government contract to make the
Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, nick-named "Humvee")
Wikipedia
"AM General is an American heavy vehicle manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, best known for the civilian Hummer and military HMMWV." >>
GS, I believe AM General sold the Civilian only model to GM, so China will not be making our military version, just the civilian version.
File under: Your Money
<< <i>Hummm...17% of the money is dole. Not bad. And the article tells us that most of it is because of Bush...this is good for the media, good for the current administration, good for the folk getting those buks...it's all good!
File under: Your Money >>
Where's my $17,000?
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
thanks
some things will crash and burn, others will rise and shine.
choose your poison or tonic wisely.
Great jobs report at only -345,000. Birth Death Model adds +220,000
The jobs report today was +100K to +200K better than many analysts were predicting kick started a brief rally in the DOW. I just knew that the number would be better than expected considering the BDM model was kicking in a ton of jobs from brand new businesses. This month at +220K jobs added by BDM was almost as good as last months +226K. Once again, many new jobs added in construction, utilities and transportation, finance, education and health services, professional and business, and manufacturing. If you're not seeing those new jobs in your area, please write to the BLS to ask them where specifically you have to look to see them.
Without the BDM assist, the report would have been 565,000 jobs lost. If using the unemployment change from 8.9% to 9.4% thats 775,000 jobs lost. Next month's report should also be "positive" with another +150K to +200K BDM jobs being kicked in. But from there the numbers slide the rest of the year. Bet it does set up for more DOW bullishness and Jolly Green Giant Shoots....or is that his sidekick Little Green Sprouts?
roadrunner
Yep, seems strange but it sure seems that way to me too. I'm sure there's a reason, I just don't see it yet. What I do see is penny stocks gaining 50 cents in a day on news and then falling back to where they were. Kind of like GM has been doing in bankruptcy or astc or evso, stuff like that. One day they're a buk and a half the next day they're 85 cents. I'm seeing that in others that I watch like wtr, aa...One exception seems to be F; it was a buck and a quarter then it was 6 bucks and it hasn't looked back. Now if you're playin' miners right now...good luck; darned if I can figure them out right now. I'm not telling anyone how to play, just offering my notes as forum fodder.
The "improved" employment figures seem to be calculated based on folk coming off of unemployment because they have exhausted their eligibility so there are fewer people filing for unemployment ergo more people must be workin'. Best tell here is to just scan your local classified in the jobs section every Sunday and see what's being offered. Here, a few (pretty few) engineering/architecture jobs, lots of medical jobs, lots of sales jobs, a few clerical and teaching and then it thins out pretty quickly. I wouldn't say there is a bounty of choices for those that want to work here and the job market doesn't seem to be expanding but if you want work here, you can find it. Interesting short story...a couple of us were kinda grousing at work and then this department head shows us a stack of employment applications a full inch and change thick for a job that pays 24k/yr. He said "This is reality." Normally, they would have 6 or so applications for that job.
Any other "market data" out there on local employment situations?
2. The Inflation Guide lines are jury rigged to reduce
inflation by at least 2-3%.
3. The budget, much like a bra less female, has no restraint.
4. All Governments will always choose to inflate rather then deflate
the economy.
5. Only Governments are allowed to create National debt that can not
and will not ever be repaid.
6. We are presently living in the greatest Ponzi scheme to ever befall
civilization. It is measured in the 100s of trillions of dollars.
7. The only way out, is to follow the bible which states that all debts are
forgiven after 7 years. In the Worlds case. All debts are canceled and the world
starts anew from the ashes.
Did you know that FDIC Bank Insurance is only valid up to the amount of money
in the FDIC Reserves?
The more money the Government prints, the less our money is worth. It is a massive
confiscation of wealth without out having to raise taxes.
Does printing trillions of dollars of worthless Government Bonds and buying them back
with worthless printed dollars really make any sense to anyone?
All professional, paid lobbyists, should be used for mulch in the corn and wheat field.
All politicians should be limited to $100,000 total in contributions. Of which, no single
contribution shall be larger then 10 dollars. Violation of this rule will case the politician
to be forbidden to run for any public office or be appointed to any office for a period of
loo years.
All politicians who are pedophiles,perverts, alcoholics, drug addicts, on the take, or are guilty of a felony
shall be banned from public office for the rest of their normal lives.
Lawyers shall be banned from holding public office.
Failure to balance the annual budget, shall cause a 25% reduction in the Pay of Congress for the entire
fiscal year.This loss is never to be returned.
The Congressional cafateria and exercise rooms shall charge full retail prices for the service or food served.
Any member of congress who shall miss more then 6 days of work, other then certified illness, shall be docked
one days pay for each excessive day of absence.
Government officials shall be forbidden employment in industries that they have had government authority over
for a minimum of 25 years after leaving government service. People hired from industry to serve
in government positions that regulate such industries
must sever all pay, stock, options and future pension credits with such indistry for a period of 25 years after leaving
said Government position.
Camelot
It's GUESS THE CHART DAY
with more Mexicans leaving the U.S. than coming in.
Brígido de Jesús González lived in Queens, N.Y., for the past 20 years, working as a landscaper to support his wife and kids back in El Salvador. But with the recession clobbering his business, the illegal immigrant decided to pack up and return to his native country -- for good.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
For your consideration: Flat Tax
Edited to add: The main objection to this tax is that it taxes the poor at the same rate as the wealthy. Am I wrong here in thinking that if you everyone is taxed equally then it is a fair tax? There is no reason why you can't charge a surgcharge for high income folks or that you can't return some of the tax income to the poor in the form of construction of more subsidized housing or increasing food credits or better health care for the folk that don't have much wherewithall. I'm certainly not for giving the poor checks or charging them less than a fair rate of tax. I guess this issue could become the lynchpin for public debate that could prempt the class wars and whether these class wars are really necessary; if there is nothing to fight over, how can there be a war. We really need to have this discussion now, in the national public venue. Flat and fair tax for all...it's about the money.
and a link. i even made a comment on the article FWIW
WSJ article poses ? if gold was headed for a bubble..
i guess this is in the personal finance section of the paper weekend WSJ
(x2,Meltdown),cajun,Swampboy,SeaEagleCoins,InYHWHWeTrust, bstat1020,Spooly,timrutnat,oilstates200, vpr, guitarwes,
mariner67, and Mikes coins
If you look at a very long term chart on gold (100 yrs) and if you compare percent moves w/nasdaq and S&P, you will see that gold has the potential for $7,000.00 + before being as a bubble such as the nasdaq, S&P, or dow has experienced. The bubbles revolve from stocks to commodities, bonds, realestate, etc...... Follow the bubbles
The PEW Hispanic group has been producing skewed numbers for years. They have an agenda and they create the statistics and polls to support it.
Feel good, don't worry, sleep tight, warm and fuzzy, ........ ease your concern, don't worry be happy....... Thats the way a really big horse once took an impregnable city.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: MAY 2009
"The number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million
in May, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent. Since the start
of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has
risen by 7.0 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 4.5 percent-
age points. (See table A-1.)"
Is this what the news reported last week????
<< <i>The PEW Hispanic group has been producing skewed numbers for years. They have an agenda and they create the statistics and polls to support it. >>
I believe it. Remember that 37% of all statistics are made up.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
1. Tomorrow will come
2. The sun will rise somewhere in the world
3.AU, AG & Plats will still be desirable tomorrow
4. Most of us will still be as dumb
tomorrow, as we are today.
5. Somewhere, a child will go hungry tonight.
Camelot
<< <i>Immigration problem fixing itself?
with more Mexicans leaving the U.S. than coming in.
Brígido de Jesús González lived in Queens, N.Y., for the past 20 years, working as a landscaper to support his wife and kids back in El Salvador. But with the recession clobbering his business, the illegal immigrant decided to pack up and return to his native country -- for good. >>
for every story like this there are those of legal immigration, growing businesses, 'spawning' from a work hard ethic. the American Dream is not an excluisve European club of immigrants. it's a pertinant article for illegal immigration, many were in the construction business, too, now gone because of no work.
the farm labor, IMHO is a differnent topic entirely.
Immigration is a wonderful benefit of the world, but uncontrolled immigration has been the death of more than one organization of persons.
Just immgine if PCGS were to grade coins of people whom did not pay their subscriber fees, did not follow protocol, did't pay the proper fees, etc, etc.....
They would lose control quickly of their business model and if not corrected would go bankrupt.
Their are many millions of citizens who donate to charities, to their communities, to their places of worship, with time and monies on an individual basis. And we as The United States are the most benevolent society that this world has known in regards to outlay of monies and food to countries that are not as fortunate. If this is to continue, we must reign in our over the topwelfare/socialistic leanings that have overwhelmed the minds of our citizens since the 60's.
Neat! That might create a whole new middle man. There would be people paying other people to go buy things for them at lower tax rates. Or maybe Grandpa would buy the cars, boats, and appliances for everyone in the family.
Is this what the news reported last week????
The 787,000 number didn't show up in the majority of reports last week probaby because it's a HUGE and scary number for a one month increase. But it is correct nontheless since that works out to be the gain from April's 8.9% to May's 9.4% of the "work force." What was more commonly reported was the 9.4% number AND "only" 345,000 jobs lost in May per the BLS monthly stats. This would imply that another 432,000 workers become officially unemployed via means other than being reported by their employers as losing their jobs during the month of May combined with the BLS BDM inputs. It should also be noted that the BLS birth death model added +220,000 new jobs for May via their black box formula (ie not real jobs counted via actual surveying). Next month's BDM will also add a similar quantity before falling back signficantly the rest of the year.
A different perspective on US health care costs and longevity vs the world
We've all seen the stats at time but this was a good short refresher.
roadrunner
Tonight is a very difficult evening for Socialists in many nations in Europe
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
For those people who do not like the idea of the rich paying the same rate as the poor there is a simple solution.
The first $22,000 of wages is not taxed. The folks on minimum wages would rarely have to worry about taxes at all.
Just one voice; the folks who decide such things haven't asked me. Not has the Congress asked me if I think the cent and paper dollar should continue production....
<< <i>Just my humble opinion on the single rate "flat" tax;
For those people who do not like the idea of the rich paying the same rate as the poor there is a simple solution.
The first $22,000 of wages is not taxed. The folks on minimum wages would rarely have to worry about taxes at all.
Just one voice; the folks who decide such things haven't asked me. Not has the Congress asked me if I think the cent and paper dollar should continue production.... >>
What about that pesky payroll/employment tax?
<< <i>When a person does the research and has been on the inside of the political debates, sat down with local chiefs of police, read the crime reports and basically stick to the facts, and not the mass media and school indoctrination that began in the early 60's , an eye opening experience could occur. This is a Humongous issue with a huge capital H.
Immigration is a wonderful benefit of the world, but uncontrolled immigration has been the death of more than one organization of persons.
Just immgine if PCGS were to grade coins of people whom did not pay their subscriber fees, did not follow protocol, did't pay the proper fees, etc, etc.....
They would lose control quickly of their business model and if not corrected would go bankrupt.
Their are many millions of citizens who donate to charities, to their communities, to their places of worship, with time and monies on an individual basis. And we as The United States are the most benevolent society that this world has known in regards to outlay of monies and food to countries that are not as fortunate. If this is to continue, we must reign in our over the topwelfare/socialistic leanings that have overwhelmed the minds of our citizens since the 60's. >>
I feel your pain.
R95
<< <i>Interesting.....
Tonight is a very difficult evening for Socialists in many nations in Europe >>
Very good read. My take is that maybe....Europe sees that America will not be there all the time because it is becoming socialist, handicapped, and pandering to all and appeasing to everyone and European voters have decided to take matters into their own hands and regain control back from the socialists. Of course the spin (and I've seen this movie before) is that the force gaining power are all fascists....very predictable.
I am going to Germany and Northern Ireland for three weeks starting next week. I find it very interesting that when I go out with the "boys" to the pubs the conversation turns to American/World politics faster than a Corvette travels 0-60! They normally feel very empowered because they know more about American politics than the average American...they are right. I have had some wonderful conversations with my buds across the Atlantic, but they are at a disadvantage, sorry to say. The "conversations" with my German relatives are rather deer-in-the-headlights episodes...they just don't get it, but the Irish blokes are looking for a conversation just get rowdy and fight. Please pray for us because this Marine is getting older and I feel they don't know the odds.
R95
Have a great time, comrade!
I knew it would happen.
with more Mexicans leaving the U.S. than coming in.(LINK)
Brígido de Jesús González lived in Queens, N.Y., for the past 20 years, working as a landscaper to support his wife and kids back in El Salvador. But with the recession clobbering his business, the illegal immigrant decided to pack up and return to his native country -- for good.
THIS IS AN ABSURD STATEMENT. IT IS COMPLETELY UNTRUE AND TOTALLY SUPPORTS THE MYTH THAT INFORMATION GLEENED FROM THE INTERNET CAN BE RELIED UPON.
THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT MORE ARE SNEAKING IN AND LEGALLY IMMIGRATING TO THE U.S.A.
MEXICO'S ECONOMY IS DRAMATICALLY WORSE THAN OURS AND COMBINED WITH THE FACT THAT THE DRUG WARS ARE OUT OF CONTROL AND THE DRUG CZARS ARE INCREASING THEIR ABILITY TO RUN MEXICO, MORE LAW ABIDING MEXICANS ARE FLEEING MEXICO ALONG WITH THE PEASANTS WHO HAVE LITTLE OR NO EDUCATION, TRAINING OR WEALTH.
STATISTICS DERIVED FROM LOBBYING GROUPS OR THE GOVERNMENT CAN BE VIEWED FOR WHAT THEY ARE. GARBAGE.