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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rock_nj who wrote (161122)	2/18/2009 4:11:46 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 362809

It’s Getting Ugly: Economist Says Hoard Gold & Scotch Williams predicts hyperinflationary depression will mean a $100 dollar bill is worth less than toilet paper Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Tuesday, February 17, 2009 Respected economist John Williams, editor of ShadowStats.com, a popular website that tracks real inflation figures, is advising that people hoard physical gold as well as food items in bulk so that they have some means with which to barter as the economic crisis turns ugly. “Three or four years into the future I think we could be in a hyperinflation, within the current year you’re going to see much higher inflation than most people are looking at,” Williams told MarketWatch. Williams said that his definition of hyperinflation would be a situation in which a $100 dollar bill would become more functional as a piece of toilet paper than a store of value. “This is a time when you want to preserve your wealth and assets because inflation will knock the value out of it,” he added, advising that people buy physical gold and assets other than the U.S. dollar. “Then when the hyperinflation hits you’ll see disruption of normal commerce, you won’t have enough $100 dollar bills to buy what you want,” said Williams, adding that items to barter with, such as a bottle of scotch, would be more valuable than actual cash, even in large quantities. Williams said that such items should be procured now in bulk so people had some means with which to barter and get them through rough times. At least as far back as April 2008, six months before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, Williams predicted that the world economy was entering a phase of “hyperinflationary depression” that would peak in 2010. In a hyperinflation special report, Williams said that the U.S. was on an irreversible course of “financial armageddon” that would likely lead to “extreme political change and/or civil unrest”. Top trends forecaster Gerald Celente has echoed Williams’ advice, remarking recently that putting food on the table will become a primary concern over buying gifts at Christmas. Watch the clip below. prisonplanet.com

To: Rock_nj who wrote (161122)	2/18/2009 4:30:08 PM
From: SiouxPal	Respond to of 362809

Got it, and remember anybody can change their picks until 5 pm this Friday.

To: Rock_nj who wrote (161122)	2/19/2009 2:59:56 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362809

Mr. Obama’s Foreclosure Plan _____________________________________________________________ Lead Editorial The New York Times February 19, 2009 The anti-foreclosure plan announced by President Obama on Wednesday is a decisive break from the Bush administration’s disastrous protect-the-banks-but-not-the-homeowners policy. The president has promised that it will help as many as nine million American families refinance their mortgages or avoid foreclosure. That’s a good start, but given the dire state of the economy, we fear it still may not be enough. For two years, while house prices cratered and mortgage defaults soared, the Bush administration stubbornly refused to compel the mortgage industry to clean up the bad loans that had been made so recklessly; it even refused to give banks any incentives to do so. Some two million families lost their homes to foreclosure. The Obama plan will provide up to $75 billion, mostly from the bank bailout fund, to help lenders and borrowers come to new terms. That could allow up to four million at-risk homeowners stay in their homes. Most of the money will go for incentive payments to encourage lenders to modify troubled loans and for subsidizing lower interest rates to reduce borrowers’ monthly payments. (After five years, the interest rate will begin to gradually adjust upward again.) Equally important, Mr. Obama is coupling the incentives to bankers with a big stick — support for a change in the law that would allow bankrupt homeowners who cannot come to new affordable terms with a lender to have their mortgages modified under court protection. Mr. Bush stubbornly opposed that idea, too. The plan will also provide help for homeowners who may be struggling, but not delinquent, making it easier for them to refinance their loans to lower rates. Loans that are owned or backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — about half of all mortgages — will be eligible for refinancing even for homeowners who have less than 20 percent equity in their homes. That will allow up to an estimated five million homeowners to trade their current mortgages for loans with lower rates, making repayments easier and possibly heading off future defaults. The truly worrisome part of the Obama plan is that it does not forcefully address the fact that some 13.6 million homeowners — and counting — are stuck in mortgages that have balances that are higher than the value of their properties. Reducing the interest rates on the loans may make their mortgages affordable — for now. But if a family has a setback, like unemployment or illness, even the new lower payment may prove too onerous. Without an equity cushion to fall back on, default and foreclosure may be impossible to avoid. Similarly, if the family has a big expense — for a new roof or new plumbing — it would not make sense to plow more money into a home in which they have no equity. In those circumstances, declaring bankruptcy may be a homeowner’s only option. Mr. Obama must fight for bankruptcy reform legislation that is expansive enough to accommodate borrowers who cannot make payments for reasons beyond their control. It will be a tough fight. The mortgage industry — which has carefully cultivated friends on both sides of the political aisle — will press for a bill that makes it as difficult as possible for borrowers to seek bankruptcy protection. Mr. Obama must not back down. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company