Municipal Bond Failures. This Would be a Real Crisis.

[whitey]

I was following this situation for about the last two years since I was trading in and out of the stock of Syncora (SCA) until a month or two ago.  This has nothing to do with the current credit issue, none, zero, zip, nada, zilch, which judging by the title of this thread is what Stephen was aiming at here.

This issue was caused by uninformed public officials who did not understand what they were getting into from the beginning.

Thanks for the post whitey.

No I am not trying to connect the municipal bonds issue with the current crisis.

Its a seperate and more serious thing.

It would be very cool to hear your input into the subject since you worked in the field.

I haven't "worked in field" I simply traded in and out of the stock of one of the insurers involved.  While I was trading the stock I read several articles about this ongoing issue, like anyone else would who had their money tied up in the company.

So what was your point of posting this article, what were you trying to bring to light?

[RiversideGator]

John and I sold the majority of our property in Springfield in June/July 06.

We still have some property but I feel like we made a few great decisions actually.

I don't doubt that I will probably pick up a bit over the next two years.   Where is problematic.

Why do you ask?

The properties must have been in the name of a corporation or someone else then.

BTW, who is "John"?

the answer, River, is um....nunya.

Just wondering.  I mean you brought the properties and John up.  I just cant seem to find any record of property ownership ever.   

good.  stop prying.  at this point your mania with me is getting weird.

Good one.   

[whitey]

The Jefferson County issue is not a regular municipal bond default.

This is an example of extreme stupidity and is not a good barometer of the municipal bond market as a whole.  You can find a decent amount of info on the history of the events at AL.com

[alta]

Wow!  wasn't that great insight on all these goverments that they would never have any negative cycles like the rest of the economy.  This is only happens in government.  Any time they face a shortfall suprise suprise they raise taxes.  When they economy improves there is no talk of tax reductions.  I'm sure you will spin this by saying that I never stated that there wouldn't be a decrease in cities revenues.  JEA  Another goverment agency ripping us off with rate increases every few months.   

[RiversideGator]

The Jefferson County issue is not a regular municipal bond default.

This is an example of extreme stupidity and is not a good barometer of the municipal bond market as a whole.  You can find a decent amount of info on the history of the events at AL.com

As someone who has lived in Jefferson County, AL, I can honestly state that they are one of the most ineptly run county governments in the United States.  They are not representative of county governments nationwide.  This is not to say that no municipal governments will default but this is not the canary in the coal mine that Stephen imagines.

[jaxnative]

Avoid Harmful Tax Hikes

Based on statements made during the campaign and since, President Obama will propose to increase taxes on those making over $250,000 by raising the top two income tax rates from 33 percent and 35 percent to 36 percent and 39.6 percent. He is also expected to propose raising tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

In addition, he is also expected to propose a punitive new death tax structure. Under current law, the death tax is abolished in 2010 but then restored to include a minimal exemption amount and a 55 percent tax rate in 2011.

Every year the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) threatens taxpayers with a massive tax hike and, so far, every year Congress has prevented that tax hike. President Obama is expected to propose either that a significant portion of that tax hike take effect or that taxes be raised on other high income taxpayers in lieu of the AMT hike.

Higher tax rates discourage work, investment, saving, entrepreneurial activity, and the taking of economic risks. Obama's likely proposals promise a slower economy, lower wages, and diminished economic competitiveness. Though he may propose that these tax hikes not take effect until 2011 (the same time the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire), the fact is the threat of these higher taxes is already depressing economic activity in the middle of the recession. For example, businesses buy new equipment for the earnings they will generate in the future, and investors and savers make decisions today to earn returns in the future. Facing higher future taxes, businesses, investors, and savers are reducing their activities today.

President Obama supports some forms of tax relief, as he showed when he proposed and signed into law the Making Work Pay credit as part of the stimulus package.[12] However, the $7.70 per week per worker tax savings is nearly empty of incentive effects and so will have almost no consequence for economic growth. Worse, even the benefit of lower taxes will be more than wiped out as workers suffer a relative loss of income due to the weakened economy if President Obama pursues tax-raising policies.

President Obama and the nation would be better served by disavowing tax hikes.[13] Instead, he can help achieve his own goal of creating 3.5 million new jobs by cutting tax rates.[14] A plan formulated by Senator Jim DeMint (Râ€"SC) and The Heritage Foundation would create nearly 500,000 jobs this year, 1.3 million next year, and 7.5 million by 2013 by eschewing tax increases while cutting tax rates on individuals and businesses further.[15]

Do Not Raise Taxes on Investment

An increase in taxes on capital gains and dividends means that new investments will be discouraged because the final return on an investment will be reduced by higher taxes. Lower taxes on capital are vital to economic growth, because they reduce the cost of investment. With lower investment costs, new investment activity that would not be undertaken otherwise is now profitable and will be started. These additional investments boost the capital stock of the United States, which will generate economic growth in the short-term and the future.

Permanently extending the tax cuts on capital gains and dividend income permanently reduces the cost of capital to business. Real, non-residential fixed investment responds positively, climbing an average of nearly $9 billion annually between 2011 and 2016. The economy's stock of productive capital is bolstered as a result that increases GDP.

Costs of Higher Taxes

Beyond tax increases on investment, President Obama will likely propose increasing tax rates on income generally. For example, if the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire, an average of 709,000 fewer jobs will be created from 2011 to 2016. Real personal income will be reduced by an average of $200 billion each year due to slower economic growth and higher taxes.[16]

If all of the tax cuts enacted during the Bush Administration expire, families would see a tax increase of $2,000 per year on average and an additional loss of $1,800 per year due to slower economic growth.[17] The average job growth for each congressional district would be reduced by over 2,000 jobs. With weaker job growth, the labor market will not be as tight, which means that wages will not increase as fast.

If President Obama increased only taxes on capital gains and dividends, there would be 270,000 fewer job opportunities in 2011, and personal income would fall by $113 billion the same year.

Making Bad Policies Worse

President Obama has an opportunity to bring responsible budgeting back to Washington. To this end, the Administration should ensure the out-of-control spending in the stimulus package is not made permanent, address the looming tsunami of entitlement spending, and abandon its harmful plans to raise taxes. In addition, Obama should not shortchange the efforts to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan in the name of economic "stimulus." Overall, the President must ensure that his budget proposal protects America's security abroad and economic security at home.

Full artice:  http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm2309.cfm

[Midway ®]

It's no accident that Coors is the right beer in America

Coors beer is owned by the Coors family; a powerful, wealthy family that funnels the money it gets into hundreds of ultraright wing movements from neo-Nazi groups to anti-environmental think tanks. Founded by Adolph Coors, the Coors empire is a very influential force in the U.S. government. All of the information here has been well documented by civil rights and environmental groups and also in a heavily footnoted book, The Coors Connection.

The Coors family has always had strong ties to neo-Nazis. Adolph Coors allowed KKK meetings and cross-burnings on brewery property in Colorado. In 1984, Bill Coors fought against passage of the Civil Rights Act, telling an audience of black businessmen that blacks don't succeed because they "lack intellectual capacity." After encouraging them to go back to Africa, he said that one of the best things slave-drivers did to American blacks "was to drag your ancestors over here in chains" because blacks in America have greater opportunity than those in Africa. Joe Coors is a major contributor to the Moral Majority, which has called for the imprisonment of gay persons with AIDS. The Coors family funds a right-wing sector of Christian fundamentalism, which seeks to replace democratic pluralism with so-called "traditional family values" that is, an authoritarian, gender-based social order. They support groups that say homosexuals are an abomination and AIDS is God's judgment on sinners. They have supported Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Christian Reconstructionists, both of whom have called for the abolition of U.S. democracy and the establishment of a theocratic state ( . . . one nation under God, or else).

Coors family members have sat on boards of groups with people like a former Indiana KKK leader, apartheid supporters and ultraright Christian Reconstructionists calling for the execution of homosexuals, adulterers and blasphemers.

Coors is fiercely anti-labor, having broken 19 unions in 20 years and having blocked OSHA inspectors from investigating workplace hazards which led to the death of Coors employees. Coors supported the National Right to Work Committee, an anti-worker group out to destroy unions.

Coors has supported terrorist activity in many foreign countries, including the Contras in Nicaragua, who have ambushed and killed civilians, murdered teachers and medical workers and destroyed rural schools and medical centers in order to help the CIA take over their government.

Coors is one of the largest dumpers of hazardous waste in Colorado. They’ve been cited many times for water pollution and have been caught covering up known pollution including contamination of multiple underground springs where toxic chemical solvents contributed to irregular heartbeat, unconsciousness, pulmonary edema and death.

Joe Coors was one of a small group of people with ready access to Presidents Reagan and Bush. Joe and his brother Bill both belonged to a since-exposed secret all-male club called Bohemian Grove that Reagan, Bush and other ruling class figures such as the Secretary of Defense and mass media executives (but no reporters) would attend. Coors also funded the Parental Music Resource Center, a pro-censorship group with strong ties to the religious right. The PMRC was led by Al Gore’s wife.

Joe Coors started the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank seeking to abolish civil rights laws, minimum wage laws, environmental laws, affirmative action, rights for the handicapped and arms control. He chose a neo-Nazi author of an Aryan supremacy book as co-editor of their publication, "Policy Review." They have sponsored forums for pro-Nazi groups and have funded the work of a convicted Nazi collaborator.

In the summer of 1996, the Heritage Foundation did a huge mailing to voters telling them to support Republican Senator Bob Dole for President. In the letter, Dole promised to abolish the federal departments of education, housing, transportation and energy. Right in line with libertarian rhetoric, they would have government off of corporate America’s back and no social safety net for the people.

When Coors commercials used to brag that they are the "right beer now," they weren’t kidding. Coors also owns Zima, Killian's Irish Red and Masters Beer.

Sources:

# The Coors Connection -- How Coors Family Philanthropy Undermines Democratic Pluralism by Russ Bellant (1991; 154 pgs; well-documented with 287 footnotes; published by South End Press

-A lot of the info above was drawn from 3 different boycott factsheets from AFL-CIO, Pledge of Resistance and Student Environmental Action Coalition, which were largely sourced from the above book.

-The reference to Bohemian Grove is from a book from Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), a media watch-dog group that explains about the formerly secret, all-male club that the executives of Time-Warner attend, amongst others. A reporter from People magazine (owned by Time-Warner) snuck in once before getting kicked out. He tried to uncover the story, but before it went to print, it was suppressed. The reporter's story is available from FAIR. The book is called Adventures In Medialand.

-The reference to the Parent's Music Resource Center (PMRC) and Tipper Gore's involvement can be confirmed in the speeches of former Dead Kennedy's leader and political activist, Jello Biafra on his spoken word album, No More Cocoons. His group was bankrupted by the PMRC and he is the founder of the No More Censorship Fund.

-The reference to Dole's campaign is from a mailing that was done on Heritage Foundation letterhead supporting Dole for president.

-Explanations of what some of the various foundations that Coors funds can be found, besides in the Coors Connection book, in the Greenpeace Guide to Anti-Environmental Groups.

http://www.corporations.org/coors/article.html

[BridgeTroll]

No doubt... you did it without even a shred of evidence.  How convincing!  The actual topic of this thread is the crisis surrounding bond failure.

[jaxtrader]

Yes, disgusting that anyone would want to slow the erosion of economic liberty by a bloated, self-serving federal bureaucracy.

[civil42806]

It's no accident that Coors is the right beer in America

Coors beer is owned by the Coors family; a powerful, wealthy family that funnels the money it gets into hundreds of ultraright wing movements from neo-Nazi groups to anti-environmental think tanks. Founded by Adolph Coors, the Coors empire is a very influential force in the U.S. government. All of the information here has been well documented by civil rights and environmental groups and also in a heavily footnoted book, The Coors Connection.

The Coors family has always had strong ties to neo-Nazis. Adolph Coors allowed KKK meetings and cross-burnings on brewery property in Colorado. In 1984, Bill Coors fought against passage of the Civil Rights Act, telling an audience of black businessmen that blacks don't succeed because they "lack intellectual capacity." After encouraging them to go back to Africa, he said that one of the best things slave-drivers did to American blacks "was to drag your ancestors over here in chains" because blacks in America have greater opportunity than those in Africa. Joe Coors is a major contributor to the Moral Majority, which has called for the imprisonment of gay persons with AIDS. The Coors family funds a right-wing sector of Christian fundamentalism, which seeks to replace democratic pluralism with so-called "traditional family values" that is, an authoritarian, gender-based social order. They support groups that say homosexuals are an abomination and AIDS is God's judgment on sinners. They have supported Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Christian Reconstructionists, both of whom have called for the abolition of U.S. democracy and the establishment of a theocratic state ( . . . one nation under God, or else).

Coors family members have sat on boards of groups with people like a former Indiana KKK leader, apartheid supporters and ultraright Christian Reconstructionists calling for the execution of homosexuals, adulterers and blasphemers.

Coors is fiercely anti-labor, having broken 19 unions in 20 years and having blocked OSHA inspectors from investigating workplace hazards which led to the death of Coors employees. Coors supported the National Right to Work Committee, an anti-worker group out to destroy unions.

Coors has supported terrorist activity in many foreign countries, including the Contras in Nicaragua, who have ambushed and killed civilians, murdered teachers and medical workers and destroyed rural schools and medical centers in order to help the CIA take over their government.

Coors is one of the largest dumpers of hazardous waste in Colorado. They’ve been cited many times for water pollution and have been caught covering up known pollution including contamination of multiple underground springs where toxic chemical solvents contributed to irregular heartbeat, unconsciousness, pulmonary edema and death.

Joe Coors was one of a small group of people with ready access to Presidents Reagan and Bush. Joe and his brother Bill both belonged to a since-exposed secret all-male club called Bohemian Grove that Reagan, Bush and other ruling class figures such as the Secretary of Defense and mass media executives (but no reporters) would attend. Coors also funded the Parental Music Resource Center, a pro-censorship group with strong ties to the religious right. The PMRC was led by Al Gore’s wife.

Joe Coors started the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank seeking to abolish civil rights laws, minimum wage laws, environmental laws, affirmative action, rights for the handicapped and arms control. He chose a neo-Nazi author of an Aryan supremacy book as co-editor of their publication, "Policy Review." They have sponsored forums for pro-Nazi groups and have funded the work of a convicted Nazi collaborator.

In the summer of 1996, the Heritage Foundation did a huge mailing to voters telling them to support Republican Senator Bob Dole for President. In the letter, Dole promised to abolish the federal departments of education, housing, transportation and energy. Right in line with libertarian rhetoric, they would have government off of corporate America’s back and no social safety net for the people.

When Coors commercials used to brag that they are the "right beer now," they weren’t kidding. Coors also owns Zima, Killian's Irish Red and Masters Beer.

Sources:

# The Coors Connection -- How Coors Family Philanthropy Undermines Democratic Pluralism by Russ Bellant (1991; 154 pgs; well-documented with 287 footnotes; published by South End Press

-A lot of the info above was drawn from 3 different boycott factsheets from AFL-CIO, Pledge of Resistance and Student Environmental Action Coalition, which were largely sourced from the above book.

-The reference to Bohemian Grove is from a book from Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), a media watch-dog group that explains about the formerly secret, all-male club that the executives of Time-Warner attend, amongst others. A reporter from People magazine (owned by Time-Warner) snuck in once before getting kicked out. He tried to uncover the story, but before it went to print, it was suppressed. The reporter's story is available from FAIR. The book is called Adventures In Medialand.

-The reference to the Parent's Music Resource Center (PMRC) and Tipper Gore's involvement can be confirmed in the speeches of former Dead Kennedy's leader and political activist, Jello Biafra on his spoken word album, No More Cocoons. His group was bankrupted by the PMRC and he is the founder of the No More Censorship Fund.

-The reference to Dole's campaign is from a mailing that was done on Heritage Foundation letterhead supporting Dole for president.

-Explanations of what some of the various foundations that Coors funds can be found, besides in the Coors Connection book, in the Greenpeace Guide to Anti-Environmental Groups.

http://www.corporations.org/coors/article.html

http://www.snopes.com/business/alliance/coors.asp

[BridgeTroll]

  Like I thought civil...   Midway usually does not get duped so easily.  The only factual part of the article is...

Heritage is primarily funded through donations from private individuals and charitable foundations. Businessman Joseph Coors contributed the first $250,000 to start The Heritage Foundation in 1973

The Heritage Foundation is an American conservative-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C.

The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies drew significantly from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership.[1] Heritage has since continued to have a significant influence in U.S. public policy making, and is widely considered to be one of the most influential research organizations in the United States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_Foundation

[jaxtrader]

This is classic example of the left's use of ad hominem attacks to discredit anyone in ideological opposition. Why bother refuting the arguments advance by Heritage Foundation, when one can simply claim "thay are financed by neo-nazis"? Just as "all global warming skeptics are in the pay of Exxon Mobil". One would have to be a poor student of history to not recognize the enormous divide between  National Socialism and the neo-liberalism espoused by Heritage.

[BridgeTroll]

Like the article says... the right wing and neo nazi are not the same thing.

[Midway ®]

And it would be "as the article says" not "like the article says", and "as I thought", not "like I thought".


You are riversidegator junior with bad grammar.

[civil42806]

And it would be "as the article says" not "like the article says", and "as I thought", not "like I thought".


You are riversidegator junior with bad grammar.

Ooooh the grammar police!!