Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department sold off its remaining shares in General Motors (NYSE: GM), closing a chapter of the auto industry bailout with a cringe-worthy $10.5 billion loss of taxpayer dollars.
We’ve talked a lot about the so-called Volcker Rule. I’ve called it a “cop-out” and “joke” and tracked its bloated path from 300 pages to nearly 1,000.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) come with tidings of great joy this week: They have crafted a U.S. budget deal that solves the government’s fiscal problems.
It just so happens I have both a “trick” and a “treat” for you today.
First, the “trick.”
Wednesday the House passed a bill titled The Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act.
The trick is, it’s not about improving the who-really-knows-how-many trillions of dollars swaps (derivatives) market.
Apparently an annual salary of $174,500 and a vast array of taxpayer-funded perks is not enough for most members of Congress.
Otherwise, why would they need “Leadership PACs” – personal political action committees that supposedly raise money for political activities but in practice provide a pipeline of cash to subsidize their already-elite lifestyle.
Senate leaders finally hammered out a debt ceiling deal today (Wednesday) that avoided a looming potential debt default. It also reopened the government that has been shut down for more than two weeks.
Yesterday (Monday), Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald appeared on FOX Business’ “Varney & Co.”to respond to China’s newly released blast on U.S. foreign policy.
Yesterday (Monday), Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald appeared on FOX Business’ “Varney & Co.”to make projections about what a stalemate on the debt ceiling will do to the market.
Michelle Obama is the spokeswoman of a national health campaign called “Let’s Move.”
The program is designed to encourage children to engage in healthy activities, to eat better foods, to drink plenty of water, and to encourage everyone to get outside and exercise.
It’s a noble message (run by federal dollars) in a world of video games and excessive saturated fat.
But, like all government programs, intentions end up trumping fiscal sanity.
It’s Day 4 of the government shutdown – which means Day 4 of your life being more dangerous than it was in September…
You see, besides the effects of 800,000 workers being furloughed, the government shutdown affects the general public in ways most of us don’t realize.
