by Jack
Today it’s the banks in Cyprus…tomorrow American banks. Well, maybe not tomorrow, but it could happen here and don’t ever think it couldn’t Bunky!
Cyprus is a big banking center for Russian oligarchs and mob guys. These new robber barons use Cypress like our big time drug dealers use the Bahamian banks. As a result, Cyprus has a lot of regular savings money as well as laundered Russian money in it — some estimates say that nearly a third of all deposits in Cypriot banks are from Russian nationals despite the fact that Russia has a simple flat tax system. Funny that so many Russians are getting behind in taxes, but I digress.
First we saw the banks in Greece implode and now the banks in Cyprus are in trouble because they’re closely tied to Greece. The Russian mob has billions of their Rubles at risk, too bad, eh? But, it is bad…or it could be bad for us. Because we have a group of European finance ministers proposing a bailout for the banks of Cyprus ($13 billion emergency assistance), but they want to employ a very controversial plan. Instead of implementing new taxes or asking the USA for it, the government intends to raise $7.5 billion through a onetime tax on Cypriot bank depositors. No wait….to be correct it’s not a tax! This is a one-off upfront stability levy. Socialists get so creative with their words don’t they?
Bank customers are going to see a drop in their account of 6.75% and in return they are going to get a paper certificate that says they now own some shares in the bank.
I really don’t think our bank accounts are going to be seized and forfeited for the government. I am no fan of the government, and certainly not a fan of Obama, clearly the most evil President we have ever had. But I think this story and the media response is over the top, typical hyping for headlines. Today, the DOW fell about 60 points, and financial commentators were quick to attribute that to the situation in Cyprus and fears that it can happen here. In reality, a 60-point drop is meaningless and requires no interpretation at all. If US investors seriously feared that their bank deposits were about to be seized by the U.S. Treasury, the DOW would not drop 60 points. It would fall 6,000 points.
I agree, it would be a long shot, but I always get nervous when socialists come up with new ways to tax. What could happen in the near term is some sort of tax on your accumulated life wealth. Obamacare is much like a tax on your wealth.
The plot thickens….
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/report-russian-company-offers-bailout-cyprus-exchange-gas-exploration-rights_707768.html
and..
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/06/22/East-Med-tensions-simmer-over-gas-riches/UPI-23121340391652/
Hey guys they’ve been talking about tapping into our 401K money since Clinton…if they thought they could get away with it, it would happen in a New York minute!
Our government has little incentive to reform or get rid of excessive spending programs, expensive departments, or wasteful pork as long as the American people put up with it.
As candidate Obama famously said…it’s irresponsible and unpatriotic! When will our friends on the left put their message where their leaders mouth is and demand less out of control spending and adult management of our tax money?
The point about Cyprus is that they failed to take adult, responsible action before it became a crisis!!!
Would you PLEASE try to keep this straight. It all started with the bankers, not the govermment. The bankers decided to make their institutions a haven for mob money, and then the bankers decided to do stupid things with the mob money … bankrupting their banks.
Now the government, the EBC actually, has got to find a way to mitigate the damage, and it’s decided to go after what’s left of the mob monies, and Joe Blow Cypriot gets nailed, incidentally.
If you’re going to blame the government for something, the sensible thing to get exercised over is it’s lack of oversight of the bankers, which caused the problem. Anything else would be a failure to recognize that that horse has done bolted.
So what’s your answer? To let all those banks go down, taking Greece, then Portugal, then Spain, and then Italy … and then the rest of us … with it?
You are a reckless fellow.
Libby the nations debt, the terrible economy, and the endless series of crisis plaguing the governments in Europe and the US DID start with government and has been exacerbated by inappropriate and unworkable government “solutions” to economic and banking problems.
Government regulators were asleep at the helm (purposely?) in the so-called banking meltdown that was only one of many government failings that began this downhill slog. Several prominent banks resisted government help they could recover without it. They were basically ordered to take it (upon threat of regulatory arm-twisting)…talk about the MOB!
Of course government is greatly responsible…and by the way, keeping interest rates low to hold back inflation from all the government spending to fix the economy has been a total flop and no big favor to banks, their depositors, or those seeking a loan.
Austerity is not constraint of government, as one using some basic common sense might assume.
Austerity measures can include spending restraint along with higher taxes but, as practiced by progressives, has simply been used as an excuse to impose higher tax rates, retarding economic growth and resulting in extended unemployment and near zero growth.
FREEDOM…supported by the rule of law. We already have the formula for success. We need only return to our founding principles and America could lead the way to economic vibrancy and stability.
But Tina, the bankers HAD freedom! You’re just not ever going to see it, are you?
Freedom doesn’t work when citizens have no respect for the law and are willing to push the boundaries of honesty and transparency. Progressives have pushed the boundaries for many years, creating complex regulations and just too darn many laws. Keep it simple and the ability to be dishonest is minimized. When bankers break the laws they need to go to jail and pay big fines. Progressives have also waged a war against morality and values. Look at the acceptance of Bill Clinton’s tawdry activities with a young woman, close to Chelsae’s age, while he was holding the highest position of power and responsibility in the land. What a shining example of integrity, honesty, loyalty, and dedication to the office of the presidency, huh? What a great example to our nations children and to young fathers with daughters.
It was under his leadership that the housing laws were written, used for personal and political gain, and defended even in the face of dire warnings over several years of a pending bubble and collapse.
Politicians wrote the laws that made this possible…some actually colluded with one lender for personal gain.
Complex regulations, the type that politicians love to write, are fantastic tools for hiding dishonest practices. Franklin Raines (and others) at Fannie Mae “used” the law as a means to pad his own salary and compensation. Franklin Raines went so far as to cook his books and when prosecutors finally caught up with him he insisted he was not culpable. Politicians and the aura of wheeling and dealing in DC made all of this possible. The job of prosecutors and the courts would be much easier if there were not so many loop holes in the law and if the laws were simple and easy to follow.
We do have the formula for success. Freedom and personal responsibility supported by the rule of law worked pretty well for about 150 years. Simplified government, especially at the federal level, tight, clean regulation, and citizens that take responsibility and expect it of others is a winning formula.
YOU just are never going to see it. All that big government you love so much is like a game board on which men turn to corruption, fraud, collusion, and making money without actually having to earn it!
Case in point, the scandal at Calpers…but you’ve already read that story I’ll bet!