More Bailouts from Fed to Save ... Governments

The Federal government (through the quasi-private Federal Reserve Bank) is the only level of our government who can coin money. So profligate spenders at state, county and local levels are going bankrupt , especially under the weight of bloated salaries and pensions for pubic workers.

Mish reports a story of the pending bankruptcy in Miami.

The city of Miami is in such financial dire straits that commissioner Marc Sarnoff is using the "B" word, bankruptcy.

"We are not the only city, municipality to be going through this. It looks like Los Angeles sometime next week or the week after will be going bankrupt. It looks like there will be 30 more cities following suit."

Increases in public worker salaries is one of the main reasons why the budget is so tight. The average salary for a Miami city employee is $76,000. The average salary for a Miami city resident is $29,000.

Employee pensions are choking the budget too. In 2000, pension payouts cost taxpayers $16 million. In 2009 that number spiked up to $70 million.

Not un-coincidentally, state governements all over are cutting pay, payrolls and crushing pension benefits:

• Education Minnesota Drops Opposition to Curbing Benefits


• The Atlantic reports: Public Pensions Headed for Disaster


• New York City's pension contribution for 2011 is projected at $7 billion, more than 10% of the entire budget.


• Even the New York Times cries: Padded Pensions Add to New York Fiscal Woes

more than 100 retired police officers and firefighters are collecting pensions greater than their pay when they were working. One of the youngest, Hugo Tassone, retired at 44 with a base pay of about $74,000 a year. His pension is now $101,333 a year.

This widespread and obscene theft of public money is unsustainable and is crashing down all over ... as it must.

EXCEPT .... to the rescue is the nanny of all nannies -- the bottomless pit of money from the Federal government:  Sen Bob Casey (D-NJ) has proposed bill S.3157 to "save" public pensions .. those pensions that pay public workers 2-4 times the average private individual ... with the money from .. you got it .. the poorer private individuals.

I think few in the private sector voted for this "fundamental change" in America -- where private individuals are plundered for the benefit of overpaid public workers.  This has to end NOW, or it will crash in an ugly fashion.

End Civil Forfeiture

Quote of the Day: "Under civil forfeiture, police and prosecutors can seize your car or other property, sell it and use the proceeds to fund agency budgets, all without so much as charging you with a crime. Unlike criminal forfeiture, where property is taken after its owner has been found guilty in a court of law, with civil forfeiture, owners need not be charged with or convicted of a crime to lose homes, cars, cash or other property. Americans are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but civil forfeiture turns that principle on its head." - The Institute For Justice, "Policing For Profits"

Civil asset forfeiture is the practice of seizing and keeping property that police claim was used in a crime.

* The government does not have to prove their claim in court under the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt"
* Instead of "innocent until proven guilty" the property owner must prove innocence at his or her own expense
* Incredibly, the funds necessary to pay for that defense are often also confiscated

Police departments are growing more dependent on forfeitures to pay for their budgets. This means no one is safe . . .

* Instead of "protecting and serving" the people, police are pressured to investigate "crimes" which provide the best opportunity to seize property and cash,
* You can lose your car, your cash, or other property through a simple misunderstanding, or because you "look" suspicious
* And even where there are state laws protecting the innocent against abuses, the federal government rewards local police departments for evading state law!

Civil asset forfeiture is a moral and constitutional outrage. Yet the courts permit it. Only public pressure will bring this corrupt and barbaric practice to an end, so we're asking you to tell Congress to End Asset Forfeiture.

You may borrow from or copy this letter . . .

The Institute for Justice report "Policing For Profit," offers a sobering look at asset forfeiture in the United States today. Local law enforcement have used asset forfeiture proceeds to . . .  http://tinyurl.com/22p2oop

* purchase football tickets for the district attorney's office

* purchase TV ads for the district attorney's re-election campaign;

* fund a "training seminar" in Hawaii for the staff of the district attorney's office

In one instance, $250,000 was donated to the sheriff's alma mater for a scholarship!

Amazingly, most of this money was taken from people who were never even charged with a crime, let alone convicted. It was stolen money.

"Policing For Profits" also reveals that . . .

* A survey of 770 law enforcement executives found that nearly 40% viewed civil forfeiture as a necessary budget supplement
* A sample of 52 police departments in Texas found that forfeiture proceeds accounted for 14% of their budgets
* There is very little accountability or oversight on how the money is spent

There are a few states with reasonable safeguards designed to protect the innocent against asset forfeiture abuse, but the federal government circumvents these state laws through a program called "equitable sharing." Local police can seize property and hand it over to the federal government in order to bypass state controls.

* The local police agency can get as much as 80% of the proceeds back from the Federal government
* The true owner must fight in federal court for the return of his or her property
* Instead of the government proving guilt, the owner must prove innocence
* The costs of challenging forfeiture is often so great that many forfeitures go unchallenged

In addition, the federal government itself has cleared a $1 billion profit from civil forfeiture. And yet, 80% of the property owners are never even charged with a crime. They are victims of government theft!

I have no problem with laws that require individuals convicted of heinous crimes to forfeit criminal profits and the property they used in the crime. But taking property without even pressing criminal charges is naked theft AND YOU KNOW IT.

The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments say that no person can lose his of her property without due process of law. Honor your oath of office. Repeal the federal forfeiture laws and end equitable sharing.

END LETTER

You can send your letter through DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.

If you are as outraged at civil asset forfeiture as we are, we encourage you to forward this message to your friends and share this on Facebook.

Thanks for taking action!

James Wilson
Assistant Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org

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Taxes Eat 42% of Canadians' Income - Can Happen in the USA

Here you go, from the Fraser Institute in Canada.

• The Canadian Consumer Tax Index tracks the total tax bill of the average Canadian family from 1961 to 2009. The total tax bill of the average Canadian family, including all types of taxes, has increased by 1,624 percent since 1961.


• Taxes have grown much more rapidly than any other single expenditure for the average Canadian family. In contrast to the jump in taxes, spending on shelter increased by 1,198 percent, food by 559 percent, and clothing by 526 percent from 1961 to 2009.


• In 1961, the average family had an income of $5,000 and paid a total tax bill of $1,675 (33.5 percent). In 2009, the average Canadian family earned an income of $69,175 and paid total taxes equaling $28,878 (41.7 percent).


• The average Canadian family now spends more of its income on taxes than it does on the basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing. In 1961, the average family used 56.5 percent of its income on basic necessities, while only 33.5 percent of the family’s income went to taxes. In 2009, the proportion of income consumed by taxes had increased (to 41.7 percent), while the fraction of income spent on food, shelter, and clothing had dropped dramatically (to 37.1 percent).

Why Canada?  Everyone that I meet in the USA says: "Why can't we have the economy (motored by oil), the health care (run by governments) and the economic stability (Run by excessive taxation) like they have in your home country of Canada?"

Canada is another one of the "canaries in the coal mine" about the creeping socialism all over the world.  Greece, Spain, Italy ... somewhere down the line is Canada and the USA.

The report continues on ...

Including deferred taxes (deficits) means the tax bill of the average Canadian family has increased by 1,793 percent since 1961.

Yikes!  I just don't get it!  Governments all over have been spending FAR MORE than they can afford, racking up, especially, future pension liabilities for everyone .... then when the economy collapses, we do a bail-out.

Imagine what is going through the mind now of an average frugal German .. who is asked to bail out Greece.  Greeks are living far beyond the means ... but will they cuts liabilities? not when Germans will send them cash.

I chatted with a friend last evening who told me that he had a huge sum in municipal bonds. I cautioned him, noting that Central Falls RI went bankrupt this week, and many states SHOULD follow.  His response: "Oh, the Federal government will just bail them out of the bonds get in trouble."  He said this after a 20 minute rant on the size and invasiveness of government.

We all may be capitalists, but but we like the nanny state.  Until we throw out the bums who would spend and tax us to oblivion, and change this attitude ... we are screwed.  But, on the horizon, I expect we will see more Chris Christie's -- honest, straight-talking politicians who aren't in government to line their own pockets.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is a Breath of Fresh Air

I can't add anything more than the following video.  Christie for President!!!

Gov Christie calls S-L columnist thin-skinned for inquiring about his 'confrontational tone'

Obama Makes Move That Will Lead to Internet Censorship

Under the cover of "net Neutrality", the Obama administration has moved closer to regulating free speech on the internet.

Vis:

1. In April, the Supreme Court threw out the FCC rule that dictated whether or not internet providers could throttle users of programs like BitTorrent.


2. Not happy with the SCOTUS affront to POTUS, last week, the FCC declared that the Internet is a public utility.  if this stands, the government can control content -- your free speech, your RIGHT to disagree with the policies of this (or any) government.  It makes, as Pamela Geller writes, Obama the Julius Caesar of the Internet.


3. Should you worry?  Hell yes!

On Saturday in Virginia, Obama gave a speech where he said:

And meanwhile, you’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank that high on the truth meter.  And with iPods and iPads; and Xboxes and PlayStations -- none of which I know how to work -- (laughter) -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.  So all of this is not only putting pressure on you; it’s putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy.

What the hey ?!  Free flow of "information" is putting pressure on our democracy?

This is a very disturbing set of events.

I'm Getting Ill Watching the Wave of Socialism Washing Over America

I just spent the last few weeks in France, watching the local Progressive politicians argue over who should pay for what failure.

I was stunned by a report in the International Tribune that described Germany's dilemma:  Thrifty German citizens are being asked to bailed out profligate spending Greeks ... or bailout the German banks that invested in Greek bonds.

What about a third option?  LET THEM FAIL AND LET THE BANKS AND THE GREEKS PAY FOR THE DECISIONS THEY MADE?

This bailout mentality has gripped the (once) civilized world.  I'm depressed about the future and I am personally look for ways to protect myself from the insanity going on.