Banks Hinting Repayment of Bailouts

Some of the world’s biggest banks hinted they wanted to repay government money: JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were reported to have applied to refund up to $45bn of US government funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. I am crossing my fingers for them. Pay back as soon as possible so I can breathe normal as capitalist again. 

Added to that, reports that the US government’s eagerly awaited ’stress tests’ for banks suggested bank capital shortfalls might be less than previously expected also buoyed the sector. JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon said at a shareholder meeting last month that the bank aimed to repay US government funds imminently after receiving guidelines from the government. Read more…

 

Robert Kennedy Son to Run for Obama Senate Seat

Roland Burris’ net -45% approval/disapproval rating may or may not stop him from running for a full term in 2010, but if does, he will discover that he has quite a bit of company in the Democratic primary. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is already in and Bobby Kennedy’s son, Chris Kennedy, is now poised to enter as well. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) is mulling a run and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan might jump in, too, although it is more likely she will run for governor. Kennedy has never run for public office before, but the Kennedy name is still revered by many Democrats. Caroline Kennedy wasn’t appointed to Hillary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat in New York, but that has everything to do with the somewhat mercurial nature of Gov. David Paterson (D-NY) and a behind-the-scenes campaign by the state’s formiddable senior senator, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who strongly championed now-senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). A Kennedy-Giannoulias battle would be a fight of epic proportions, but Burris would be left in the dust were he foolish enough to try. The $845 he raised in the first quarter of 2009 won’t go very far in expensive Illinois.

If elected, Chris Kennedy would follow in the footsteps of his father, Robert, who represented New York in the Senate before being assassinated in 1968.

If he were to win the seat, Chris would not be the only Kennedy on Capitol Hill. His cousin is Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-Rhode Island; his uncle is Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts.

22 Reasons Why Obama will Raise US Taxes

For Americans looking for change, they are about to feel it, after they of course wake up from denial. Debt may actually be the reason for the American Dream demise:America’s debt now exceeds the $50 trillion GDP of all economies in the entire world!

Paul B. Ferrell of Marketwatch laid down an updated list from what he did last year. We all know that whoever gets elected there is a massive debt that will be inherited from Bush. Obama adds another $1.84 Trillion with the current mortgages which is “four times Bush’s record deficit last year, with deficits over $500 billion annually for the next decade.”:

1. Federal budget deficits/debt

Federal debt is now $11.5 trillion. Add $1.4 trillion this year. That’s almost 100% of GDP.

2. Social Security unfunded debt

No longer a political “third rail,” we have no choice: We must raise taxes, or cut benefits.

3. Medicare unfunded obligations

Unfunded after 2016, $65 trillion by 2041, consuming 100% of tax revenues by 2075.

4. Health care insurance liabilities

Costs rising at double the inflation rate, 47 million uninsured. Obama plans universal coverage of this mega-$2.5 trillion business. Can we trust insurers sudden offer to help?

5. Military/defense budget costs

Budget $662 billion. Add veterans affairs, Afghan, Iraq: $1.45 trillion 55% of budget.

6. Homeland insecurity risks

Ports, chemical plants, borders at risk. Black Swans are lurking; with unpredictable mega-buck consequences.

7. Real estate/mortgage losses

Global real estate from $40 trillion to $70 trillion in 5 years. Total global wealth lost since 2007, $50 trillion. U.S. mortgages shot from $7 trillion to $14 trillion in 8 years, now down $6 trillion, with 20% of homes worth less than the mortgage.

8. Peak oil and energy alternatives

Oil’s soon declining. Extraction costs will exceed sale price. Nuclear energy cost: $75 trillion. Coal’s dirty. Wind, biofuels: costly.

9. Cap and trade

Taxing fossil-fuel emissions will increase energy costs. But it won’t change much. China won’t stop. So population grows, with demand and global warming.

Read more…