Federal Reserve leaders laughed and joked while housing marker crashed

This is why the federal reserve needs to be reigned in or better yet, ended:

The leaders of the Federal Reserve went around the room saluting Alan Greenspan during his last day as chairman of the central bank. Then Timothy F. Geithner, the future Treasury secretary, made a prediction.
“I’d like the record to show that I think you’re pretty terrific, too,” Geithner, who was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, told Greenspan amid laughter on Jan. 31, 2006. “And thinking in terms of probabilities, I think the risk that we decide in the future that you’re even better than we think is higher than the alternative.”
On Thursday, the Fed released transcripts of its meetings in 2006, offering a new window into what was on the minds of some of the nation’s top economic and financial thinkers just ahead of the financial crisis and subsequent great recession. The transcripts, which are customarily released after five years, show that Fed leaders, armed with the best economic data available, had little idea of what was looming less than two years off.
Trusted to look toward the future and make decisions to keep the economy strong, they spent some of their time patting their leader on the back and even found time to joke about what turned out to be early-warning signs in the markets. While Fed officials — including several who are in key positions today — were aware that the nation’s rapid increase in housing prices was coming to an end, they significantly underestimated how much damage the popping of the real estate bubble would cause in the rest of the economy.
In his first meeting as Fed chairman, in March 2006, Ben S. Bernanke noted the slowdown in the housing market. But he said he shared the view that “strong fundamentals support a relatively soft landing in housing,” adding: “I think we are unlikely to see growth being derailed by the housing market.”
The year began with adulation all around for Greenspan. In that January meeting, Roger Ferguson, then Fed vice chairman and now head of the TIAA-CREF financial services group, called Greenspan a “monetary policy Yoda. — Greenspan image tarnished by newly released documents – The Washington Post

So far there is only one person even talking about the Federal Reserve and his foreign policy is horrible. So, nothing will change. In other words, business as usual. So much for that Tea Party eh?

(via HotAir Headlines)

They’re watching us: DHS is now monitoring Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and More.

Governments that watch their people, fear them:

(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document.
A “privacy compliance review” issued by DHS last November says that since at least June 2010, its national operations center has been operating a “Social Networking/Media Capability” which involves regular monitoring of “publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites and message boards.”
The purpose of the monitoring, says the government document, is to “collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture.”
The document adds, using more plain language, that such monitoring is designed to help DHS and its numerous agencies, which include the U.S. Secret Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency, to manage government responses to such events as the 2010 earthquake and aftermath in Haiti and security and border control related to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.
A DHS official familiar with the monitoring program said that it was intended purely to enable command center officials to keep in touch with various Internet-era media so that they were aware of major, developing events to which the Department or its agencies might have to respond. — Homeland Security watches Twitter, social media | Reuters

I made reference to this in my previous posting. I had a video up there that could have been misinterpreated by some idiot Government zealot, so I canned it. I just do not want to take any chances. Either way, if they’re looking at the big sites, like HotAir.com; you can bet they will be looking at the smaller blogs too. I guess they figure if they cannot pass SOPA/PIPA, they will just snoop on us anyhow.

Needless to say, I will not be shooting and posting anymore videos on this blog or anywhere else. I just don’t need the hassle. 😡

(cross posted at Right Michigan)

Hannity to Perry: You sound like the #OWS crowd!

I have to hand it to Hannity, when he is right, he is right. I wrote the same thing. Which means I actually agree with Sean Hannity! Horrors! 😯

Video: (Via Mediaite) (H/T to HotAir Headlines)

Money quote:

Perry began the segment attacking President Obama, but Hannity quickly shifted gears to the “very harsh words” Perry has had for Romney. “It almost sounds like Occupy Wall Street,” he noted, “it doesn’t sound like someone who is governing Texas as a conservative.”
“There is a real difference between venture capitalism and vulture capitalism,” Perry replied, adding that “venture capitalism we like; vulture capitalism, no.” He justified his attacks saying that “the fact of the matter is he’s going to have to face up to this at some time or another.” Hannity wasn’t satisfied with this answer, asking Perry whether he was saying “that Mitt Romney is a vulture capitalist, that he is unethical.” Perry specified that he thought what happened with two specific companies bought by Bain was “irresponsible,” and that “the folks in South Carolina agree with that.” Hannity replied that it was still “as severe as they can get” as far as attacks go, though Perry insisted there were places where Bain had “destroyed people’s lives.

Rick Perry, making the Democrats arguments for them. Nice Ricky….real nice… 🙄

Obama’s World? — Fines for Bio fuel that does not exist is stupid, says… The New York Times?!?!

When the Obama lead Government loses the New York Times, something is horribly wrong:

WASHINGTON — When the companies that supply motor fuel close the books on 2011, they will pay about $6.8 million in penalties to the Treasury because they failed to mix a special type of biofuel into their gasoline and diesel as required by law.
But there was none to be had. Outside a handful of laboratories and workshops, the ingredient, cellulosic biofuel, does not exist.
In 2012, the oil companies expect to pay even higher penalties for failing to blend in the fuel, which is made from wood chips or the inedible parts of plants like corncobs. Refiners were required to blend 6.6 million gallons into gasoline and diesel in 2011 and face a quota of 8.65 million gallons this year.
“It belies logic,” Charles T. Drevna, the president of the National Petrochemicals and Refiners Association, said of the 2011 quota. And raising the quota for 2012 when there is no production makes even less sense, he said.
Penalizing the fuel suppliers demonstrates what happens when the federal government really, really wants something that technology is not ready to provide. In fact, while it may seem harsh that the Environmental Protection Agency is penalizing them for failing to do the impossible, the agency is being lenient by the standards of the law, the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.
The law, aimed at reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, its reliance on oil imported from hostile places and the export of dollars to pay for it, includes provisions to increase the efficiency of vehicles as well as incorporate renewable energy sources into gasoline and diesel.
It requires the use of three alternative fuels: car and truck fuel made from cellulose, diesel fuel made from biomass and fuel made from biological materials but with a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gases. Only the cellulosic fuel is commercially unavailable. As for meeting the quotas in the other categories, the refiners will not close their books until February and are not sure what will happen.
The goal set by the law for vehicle fuel from cellulose was 250 million gallons for 2011 and 500 million gallons for 2012. (These are small numbers relative to the American fuel market; the E.P.A. estimates that gasoline sales in 2012 will amount to about 135 billion gallons, and highway diesel, about 51 billion gallons.)
Even advocates of renewable fuel acknowledge that the refiners are at least partly correct in complaining about the penalties — Via NYT: Companies Face Fines for Not Using Unavailable Biofuel – NYTimes.com

It is very obvious that the attempt to inject politics into our economy has failed. This means vote different in 2012.

Others: National Review, The Enterprise Blog, Weasel Zippers, The Volokh Conspiracy, Doug Ross and The Jawa Report

Here is a good reason why I will be voting Republican in 2012

This is very scary…:

In his remarks, Genachowski said the program has been successful, but has also been plagued with problems of accountability and efficiency. Multiple service providers are often supplying Lifeline subsidies to the same households, he said, because there is no centralized system. To address the issue, Genachowski said, the draft proposal creates a national database of Lifeline users to prevent duplicative billing. It also sets a budget for Lifeline aimed at connecting eligible consumers while staying within budget, and requires that participating companies be subject to independent audits every two years. — via FCC’s Genachowski proposes broadband reform – Post Tech – The Washington Post

National Database of internet users? Yeesh. 🙁 The Democratic Party has gone mad. Go read, that whole thing. I will say this; that low income thing is a crock; if they do it for them, they will do it for everyone. This is why we have to win in 2012 and further more, Why we also have to pick a real Conservative and not some idiotic Rockerfeller big-goverment Republican. Which is why I do not quite understand why people like Michelle Malkin get upset over the back and forth that is going on.

The Republican grassroots and the Conservative grassroots; which does include me — needs to know what they are getting this time. The last time around, everyone just followed behind what the Republican establishment gave them. Not this time; we are better informed, and thanks to twitter, facebook and blogs, we communicate better. Which is why elitists like President Barack Obama hate the internet so much. To be fair, I would be willing to bet some Republicans dislike it too.

(H/T Drudge)

Video: Why I do not entirely trust Fox News

Anyone that reads the blog knows that, yes, I am a Christian. However, I find a good deal of the social Conservative movement to be troubling. Mainly, because of a big-Government statists that exist within those circles. A perfect example of this is Fox News and Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly.

Bill O’Reilly is also a social traditionalist or if you prefer a social conservative. While I believe that his intentions might be pure; he does have the mentality that the Government must protect its citizens from social perversion. I am afraid, as much as I enjoy watching Bill’s show and that Network; that this is a Statist mentality and files directly in the face of what true Conservatism is about. This video also shows that Fox News channel is, just like its socialist counterparts at MSNBC and CNN; pursuing an agenda that includes outright false information.

Enjoy the video:

Again, I do not feel Fox News or Bill O’Reilly to be overly evil or anything. (little strange at times, maybe! 😉 ) I just disagree with his statism very highly.