The Command T.O.C.

SNL Hammers Goldman Sachs

2009-11-08T10:06:46-05:00

As well it should be, next on the hit parade for SNL is Goldman Sachs. I did not think this was hilarious but I am hoping they continue driving on this horrible firm from Wall Street.

House passes historic health bill - Patrick O'Connor - POLITICO.com

2009-11-07T23:27:11-05:00

House passes historic health bill - Patrick O'Connor - POLITICO.com.

Congratulations to the House! What a historic and courageous vote!!

The Official Iraq War Reading List

2009-11-07T13:25:06-05:00

I have compiled some of the best books to read about what has gone on in this Country since George W. Bush declared war on the world. I highly recommend you read many of these books.

Liberal Veteran Takes on Conservative Chickenhawk

2009-11-07T13:01:45-05:00

Finally, someone publicly takes on these fake, money making conservatives who advocate sending everyone to war. Of course, when it was their turn to go to war they somehow found a medical or educational "deferment" so they did not have to go. Congratulations.

What is really interesting is when this Chickenhawk, former Congressman Tancredo, is confronted with being a Chickenhawk what does he do? Exactly what he did in Vietnam. He ran like the little scared person he is.

Big believer in sending your son or daughter to war. Not so much a believer in going himself.

Roubini Speaks - The Fundamentals do Not Explain This Market

2009-11-05T22:36:29-05:00

I agree with Nouriel Roubini as always. This market is out of control and another bubble has been created. There is no way the fundamentals (capacity utilization, demand, growth) justify what is going on in the market today. Watch out .. don't get burned.

Gifts Directly To You - The Green Bay Packers

2009-11-01T11:00:00-05:00

CPT Kevin

GOP Stalinists Make Their Stand in Upstate New York

2009-11-01T08:00:00-05:00

The GOP Stalinists have made their stand and it is in the 23d Congressional District of Upstate New York. Frank Rich writes in today's New York Times in an article titled "The GOP Stalinists Invade Upstate New York" that they have all converged including the nuttiest of the nuts Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. Crazy things are going on. They are saying they want to stand up to Government intervention yet the largest employer in the District is, well, THE GOVERNMENT (Ft. Drum, NY). Facts have never bothered Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck and it is amazing how they can just ignore these interesting little tid-bits.

Here is a little bit of what Frank Rich is writing. You have to go to the Op-Ed to really understand it all. He says:

"But preposterous as it sounds, the real action migrated to New York’s 23rd, a rural Congressional district abutting Canada. That this pastoral setting could become a G.O.P. killing field, attracting an all-star cast of combatants led by Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, William Kristol and Newt Gingrich, is a premise out of a Depression-era screwball comedy. But such farces have become the norm for the conservative movement — whether the participants are dressing up in full “tea party” drag or not.

The battle for upstate New York confirms just how swiftly the right has devolved into a wacky, paranoid cult that is as eager to eat its own as it is to destroy Obama. The movement’s undisputed leaders, Palin and Beck, neither of whom have what Palin once called the “actual responsibilities” of public office, would gladly see the Republican Party die on the cross of right-wing ideological purity. Over the short term, at least, their wish could come true."

The candidate they are supporting does not live in the district and was perfectly happy to accept an ear mark for a hospital where he was on the finance committee. This ear mark was to the tune of $479K. But, again, why bother with facts.

I have an idea. Let Sarah Palin get her way but let's live up to the rhetoric. CLOSE FT. DRUM so there will be no "Government interference and largess", give back the ear mark to the Government and let the "rugged up staters" fend for themselves.

As Frank Rich says, without the Government intervention in that district which Palin, Malkin and Beck despise so much, the 23d district would be a "Siberia of Joblessness".

A Must Read: Too Big to Fail: What Really Happened by Andrew Ross Sorkin

2009-10-31T20:22:19-04:00

I have read a lot about this book, have not read the book yet, and it seems like it is MUST READ. It appears he had unprecedented access to people and notes and once others knew he had that, they felt compelled to talk too. Below is a quick interview with Mr. Sorkin.

I am also currently reading: In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic which is an incredible account in its own right concerning how the biggest free marketeers of them all (The Bush administration and Henry Paulson) become the biggest socialists of them all. Essentially, socializing all the losses while keeping the profits private.

There will be no lack of history coming out of the last 2 - 3 years and the books will keep coming. It should be an exciting few years and even more exciting as notes, recordings and other documents become declassified. Avoid the pornography written by Beck, Palin and their ilk and keep to the history and the facts.

The Resignation of Matthew Hoh and The Death of The Afghan War

2009-10-31T12:55:41-04:00

The resignation of Matthew Hoh is probably not getting the attention it deserves. An Iraqi Marine Veteran and State Department official, he has a unique "close up" perspective on the Afghanistan war. He clearly has said "enough is enough" and has resigned over this. Congratulations to a Government official standing up for what he believes. In an interview with NPR, he states in response to whether we should have more troops in Afghanistan and if so how many:

"I prefer to keep talking about: Is it worth winning? Is it worth losing more lives? And is it worth spending billions of dollars that, frankly, this country does not have?"

He goes on to cite the fallacy that Al Qaeda needs Afghanistan. As he pointed out, most of the 9/11 conspirators were actually from the West or from Saudi Arabia. A fact the Bush administration just continued to ignore and, to this day, Dick Cheney (a.k.a "The Big Dick" ) just glosses over as if his hearing aid is not working. Hoh goes on to say:

"We have an approach where we haven't evolved ourselves. We're still set up to do our foreign policy and our defense operations like we were in 1991, and we need to change, Al-Qaida changed, they evolved. They got smart about how they're going to do their operations. We need to do the same."

Hopefully, Hoh will not just go into the woodwork of society but will continue to speak out and let people know what is truly going on.

On a side note, It is being reported President Obama will most likely commit less troops than the military wanted (40,000) and will look to "wind down" the troop levels in Afghanistan.

We need to build schools in America not in Kabul.

Jamie Dimon Makes An Idiotic Statement

2009-10-27T20:31:10-04:00

Jamie Dimon is the head of JPMorgan. You may remember JPMorgan is not subject to the executive pay caps because they have paid back all their TARP money. This is a good thing.

However, as a CEO, he has made what I consider the dumbest statement of any CEO I know of. When asked if he would recruit those great talents who are under pay caps, Jamie says:

“I morally have an issue with people going against those companies that are hamstrung,” ... “It’s wrong to say, ‘Let’s go hire the best people.’ We’re not going to do that.”

First, as a stockholder, I could careless what he "morally" thinks is right or wrong. He is OBLIGATED to look out for the best interests of the firm and that means getting the best talent he can get at a price. He should TAKE ADVANTAGE of the situation and go in for the kill on these other companies. To say they will not "go hire the best people" is fiduciary incompetence at the highest level.

Second, if what he says is how he is going to act then he is supporting, in a big way, the pay caps. The fear of the "top talent" leaving has just been diminished as one of the major potential employers has just agreed not to hire the talent.

Jamie Dimon has done good things for JP Morgan but this is an act of management malpractice.

Obama declares H1N1 emergency - CNN.com

2009-10-25T12:08:26-04:00

It is becoming a true epidemic. We waited in line for hours for our shots. Obama declares H1N1 emergency - CNN.com.

Slide Show of Notre Dame Football v. Boston College

2009-10-25T10:29:50-04:00

Yesterday, my son and I had the privilege of going to see Notre Dame v. BC at Notre Dame Stadium. A fantastic football venue. And, with "Touchdown Jesus" overlooking the stadium, Notre Dame won the game.

Mortgage Company Can't Prove They Have the Mortgage - Debt Set Aside

2009-10-25T10:16:20-04:00

This story is fantastic. A homeowner is being foreclosed on. The homeowner's lawyer decides to ask the bank to PROVE they actually hold the mortgage to the home. Well, apparently, during the "heyday" of mortgage lending, selling and securitizing, the lenders forgot to keep good paperwork. The lender, in this case PHH mortgage could not prove they actually are the mortgage holder. Therefore the judge set aside the mortgage!

This is fantastic and is actually a tactic I used in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) call up. The agencies / banks / Government make statements as if they are fact. Ask them to prove their statements and usually they are so screwed up they cannot prove anything. This, by the way, is why they generally ask you to sign things forcing you to arbitration because they know they are screwed up.

I say "take them on". Force them into so much paperwork it drowns them. Screw these assholes and play their game. You will be surprised at just how incompetent they truly are.

Boston College versus Notre Dame

2009-10-24T08:27:53-04:00

Will be at the game today, cheering for the Catholics!

Boston College versus Notre Dame

2009-10-24T08:24:28-04:00

Will be at the game today, cheering for the Catholics!

Tally for Dead Banks is Now at 106

2009-10-23T22:34:41-04:00

As I continue to report, banks are failing at an incredible rate. Hardly a "recovery" to me and the banking problem in this country is going to continue for a very long time.

The latest victims as reported by CNN:

The 101st failure was American United Bank, of Lawrenceville, Ga., which had $111 million in assets.
The 102nd failure was another Naples, Fla., institution: Hillcrest Bank Florida, which had $83 million in assets.
The 103rd closure was Bradenton, Fla.-based Flagship National Bank, with $190 million in assets.
The 104th was Bank of Elmwood, based in Racine, Wis., which had $327.4 million in assets.
The 105th failure was Riverview Community Bank of Otsego, Minn., with $108 million in assets.
The 106th failure was First Dupage Bank in Westmont, Ill., which had $279 million in assets.

The Federal Insurance Fund is at $7.5 billion in assets which is down from $45 billion according to CNN as well. This is very scary as this rate of failure will bankrupt the FDIC.

Next I-Bond Inflation Rate to Be 3.07%

2009-10-19T12:01:00-04:00

The next I Bond inflation rate number will be 3.07%. This means depending on the fixed rate above inflation of the bond you own you could be earning 6.52% (Sept / Oct 1998) to 3.17% (May09 - October 09). Of course, if you had them the last 6 months they paid 0% so you have to average this out but given this is a Government insured, state tax free and federal tax free (if used for education under some conditions) this is an incredible deal.

I also agree with the article over at Savings Bond Adviser which is betting the Feds will increase the fixed rate on new bonds (currently at a paltry .1%) because starting next year they will be offered as an option for your tax refund versus cash. If they do increase that fixed rate, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE people to buy more of these bonds. They are a "God Send".

As I have stated before, you will NEVER hear a "financial adviser" recommend them because no financial adviser makes any money off of them. Don't let that fool you. These are well worth the investment.

President Obama Weekly Address - Takes on Insurance Companies

2009-10-19T08:00:00-04:00

In this week's weekly address President Obama rightfully takes on the insurance companies. They enjoy special treatment under the law in terms of anti-trust but they do not want to be regulated by the Government. That is baloney. They get one or the other. Either total capitalism which means they lose their anti-trust exemption or they participate in national health care. It is not a true capitalism what they have now. Don't let them fool you and CONGRATULATIONS Mr. President for being willing to take on the powerful insurance interests.

POLITICO: PwC statement -- Not so helpful for AHIP - Live Pulse - PwC statement -- Not so helpful for AHIP

2009-10-18T09:47:57-04:00

Pricewaterhousecoopers, who I called out on this website for being a pitiful excuse of a consulting company, has now retracted the conclusions of their "AHIP" study. Tell me, is this the type of consulting firm you want working for your company? If I was in a decision making position to determine if I was to use Pricewaterhousecoopers' (PWC) services it is clear what I would do.

Throw the bums out of the back door of my building! What morons.

POLITICO: PwC statement -- Not so helpful for AHIP - Live Pulse - PwC statement -- Not so helpful for AHIP

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Mortgage Recovery Fraud - Buyer Beware

2009-10-18T09:00:00-04:00

It is despicable but predictable that during a major downturn in the economy, with many people suffering, others will prey on their suffering. In the article, "Rescue Scams Trap Ever More Desperate Homeowners" the scam of helping people re-do their mortgages is explained. When these people are caught, they need to be strung up in the town square. It is the only way to prevent this.

The emotion of shame used to restrict the amount of disgusting people who could overcome shame to operate at such a low level of humanity. Unfortunately, we have taken shame out and this is what happens.

Buyer beware.

99th Bank Closure This Year

2009-10-17T20:28:55-04:00

The FDIC announced the 99th bank closure this year. As I have stated before, the economy is in a "questionable" recovery. I would expect the economy to falter in a big way soon especially if the Fed even remotely starts taking away stimulus.

A personal finance suggestion: Research your bank very closely to ensure it is in good shape. I prefer to use the Bauer Bank Ratings site. I have been told this is the source bankers use vs some more "commercially" oriented sites like bankrate.com. The FDIC will always tell you that you cannot lose money up to $250K as long as the bank is FDIC insured. That is a good point. But, the hassle of dealing with your bank being shuttered is something you just do not need.

You can see a complete list of bank failures and compare this year to the last few (it is amazing to see how many this year vs. years past) at the FDIC Failed Bank List site.

Additions to The Command T.O.C.

2009-10-17T19:41:31-04:00

The Command T.O.C. started as one person's protest to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the Bush administration. In particular it became THE source of information for Individual Ready Reservists who were in the middle of a huge involuntary draft by the United States Military.

Over time, our mission has expanded especially since one of the major strategic objectives, getting rid of the Republicans and neo-conservatives in power, was accomplished. Hopefully, we played a small part in doing this. Certainly, over time, the mood of America came closer to our opinion which we established back in 2004.

We then worked hard to get Barack Obama elected and, again, hopefully we played a small part in making that happen. Since then we have expanded our mission to helping people with all facets of their life. We have not lost focus on the wars (as they are still going on) and we continue to pressure President Obama to end the Afghanistan War. However, we have taken on new missions which we believe are core to our values here at The Command T.O.C. They are:

Pass universal health care. Reform our health-care system in the United States
Fix our economy. Get rid of debt, fix the banking system and put the Wall Street Criminals (of which there are many) in jail
Help with personal finance. (You will see a new category called "Personal Finance" and from the right margin you can click on this category to filter those posts) As we continue to have this horrible economy (which we predicted as early as 2006 and believe it is a direct outcome of the wars and the horrible Bush economic policies) we at Command T.O.C. want to post the most meaningful content we can find to help you identify what you can do to survive this dismal situation.
As always, we will post and comment on public interest stories across the board.

We have further added some functionality thanks to our friends at Typepad. You can use the "share this" button to post onto social media sites and comment at other sites you see fit. You can "Digg" posts and you can now "favorite" posts and post to "twitter" right from the post. You will also see "Link within" links which are generated under each post to highlight other links and posts you may be interested in.

Finally, we did purchase the domain "ThecommandTOC.com" so if you just go to www.thecommandtoc.com you will get here. No longer do you have to remember a longer, less intuitive site name.

By adding this functionality we hope this is making your reading experience far more interactive and applicable to what you need to hear and want to talk about. As always, please feel free to post comments with suggestions on how you would like The Command T.O.C. to look.

Thanks

Cptkevin

Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Early?

2009-10-17T19:09:15-04:00

This is an age old argument and a nice piece exists on moneywatch.com which covers the idea and how to think about it. Below the video are my comments:

Here are my comments from the Moneywatch Web Site:

"I am shocked you did not cover the "guarantee" factor of paying off your mortgage. You cite there may be "better uses for your money" and I think you are right when you discuss tax deferred accounts. However, another thing people should think of is if they pay off a 6% home mortgage (example) and they are in the 28% tax bracket, they are getting a GUARANTEED 4.3% return on their money. So, the question they have to ask themselves is what is the risk premium they are going to get over 4.3%. Yes, they might get 6% but that is not GUARANTEED.

Further, I think people need to look at the equity they have versus what they will need to purchase a retirement home. A lot of people will downsize. So, for example, if you plan on buying a $250k home in Florida at retirement and you currently own a home with $250K in equity, the fact that you also have a $250K mortgage does not matter much. As you retire, you will sell that home, pocket $250K, buy your new one IN CASH, and you will be debt free at retirement.

Now, you have to be HONEST with yourself about how much equity you truly have (accept the fact that your home has dropped a lot in value) but if the numbers are as I stated above, even though you have a $250K mortgage, you have essentially "paid it off".

The key goal, IMHO, is to retire debt free. To do that, you do not need to pay off a huge mortgage assuming you will downsize."

4 Solidiers Die in Afghanistan; Insurgency Called "Too Far Gone"

2009-10-17T09:55:05-04:00

Another 4 soldiers died in Afghanistan today and Juan Cole, from Informed Comment, reports LTC Daniel L. Davis states the insurgency may be too far gone in the Pashtun provinces for us to have any hope of squashing it.

Like Iraq, George Bush's group of keystone cops got us into a mess we cannot get out of short of just packing up and leaving. Once again, I highly encourage the Obama administration to turn from nation building and "Taliban busting" to counter terrorism. Leave the poppy growing Afghanistan to whoever wants it. We do not nor can we afford it.

Economic Update for October 15, 2009

2009-10-15T21:51:59-04:00

An economic update today can be summed up in: 1) Dow over 10,000, 2) Citigroup is in the toilet, 3)Number of unemployment claims shrank 4) Foreclosures are at an all time high. Not what I would call a "robust recover".

Michael Jackson - "This is It"

2009-10-15T21:30:15-04:00

An unreleased song that is just fantastic. I look forward to the entire album.

Saudis Want Reimbursement if Oil Revenue Decreases

2009-10-15T08:00:00-04:00

This goes in the "Are you F***ing kidding me" category. Apparently the Saudis want to be reimbursed for lost oil revenues if (re: when) they lose oil revenue due to climate change rules. I tell them to "pound sand". After all, they have a lot of sand!

Hire Americans First « Patrick J. Buchanan

2009-10-14T23:09:16-04:00

This is a great article by a TRUE conservative. PJB advocates putting Americans back to work by removing the approximately 8.5 million illegal aliens working in the US. Put America first!

Hire Americans First « Patrick J. Buchanan.

Hire Americans First « Patrick J. Buchanan

How I View Dow 10,000

2009-10-14T22:53:34-04:00

The Dow did something today, I must admit, I thought could not be done and that is cross the 10,000 mark. Now the question is whether this is "real" or whether this is fabricated by cheap money and a psychological trend. One has to ask what has fundamentally changed in the economy to cause this massive up tick in the Dow? I submit not much has changed and that is why this is, in my mind, a "micro bubble" within an overall very bearish market.

The Pragmatic Capitalist writes an article entitled: The Two Ways to View the Current Rally. Essentially, the author submits you can look at the rally as a purist in which case you would say the market is forward looking, it is outlooking growth and prosperity and the run up in value is an expected and normal part of the market dynamics. It is a natural response to what he calls a market semi - crash from 2007 to 2008.

The other way to look at this is to say that nothing really fundamental has changed in the economy. The author quotes retailers who believe this is going to be a disastrous Christmas season as we have become a nation of savers. The author believes the bear market is the overall trend and it has just been "usurped" in a way by the cheap money flooding from the Fed. The Fed is essentially creating another asset bubble in the stock market.

Except this time, the tools they used (printing money, free money, and very high deficits) have bankrupted the economy. Sooner or later they will have to pull back (an "exit strategy" - a term borrowed from war). When they do, the market will collapse. The question is do you believe the collapse will be rapid and therefore a lot of people will get caught, once again, holding the bag or will it be gradual? That is the only question. Whether it crashes from its current levels or not is not a question. That is a fact. It will.

At CNNMoney, they caution us: Don't Trust Dow 10,000. Why? Mainly because of what I have been saying for a while now which is no recovery can truly occur and be sustained without job recovery. Although we are no longer in the abyss of losing 1,000,000 jobs here and there, we are still losing jobs. It is a fact that unemployed people do not spend money. When the consumer makes up 70% or so of the spending in this Country, if the consumer shuts the pocket book then the economy starts wobbling.

The article also cautions us to not over react to "good" early earnings reports for the third quarter. Most of the "growth" in earnings is coming from cost cutting and not revenue growth. While this helps companies get through bad times, it is not sustainable. You cannot "cut yourself" into prosperity. The author quotes:

"The companies are cutting fat, and in many cases cutting bone and muscle. There's no organic economic growth there," said Yamarone.

In conclusion I just cannot see any evidence of sustained economic growth that would justify this movement of the stock market. I think market psychology is now ahead of actual market fundamentals and it will be painful when this corrects itself; it will correct itself. The CNN article wraps it up nicely:

Barry Ritholtz, CEO and director of equity research at Fusion IQ, said that despite their reputation as a leading indicator, the stock markets do a terrible job forecasting the economy.

"Beware of economists pointing to the stock market," he said. "The rallies tend to be false starts because it's a reaction to what came before. The sell-offs tend to be overdone because, as they gain momentum, they lead to panics."

Afghanistan - The War of Lies

2009-10-14T08:00:00-04:00

This is the title of a piece in Patrick Buchanan's well written blog and it is written by Eric Margolis. I liked this piece because it is true that in war the first casualty is the truth. We saw this in Iraq when the Government of George W. Bush could not figure out why the heck we were there after his explanation concerning WMDs exploded around him. He started making things up like "Al Qaeda is there", "we are liberating the Iraqi people" and "they want us there". He also used the excuse, "If we do not fight them over there, we will fight them on Main Street U.S.A. " Clearly, this was just a scare tactic.

It appears the supporters of the Afghan war are trying to take a page right out of this playbook. They want us to believe if we are not fighting the Taliban, we will have to fight them over here. That is patently false. Words from the article:

"Many North Americans still buy this lie because they believe the 9/11 attacks came directly from the Afghanistan-based al-Qaida and Taliban movements.

Not true. The 9/11 attacks were planned in Germany and Spain, and conducted mainly by US-based Saudis to punish America for supporting Israel’s repression of the Palestinians.

Taliban, a militant religious, anti-Communist movement of Pashtun tribesmen, was totally surprised by 9/11. Osama bin Laden, on whom 9/11 is blamed, was in Afghanistan as a guest because he was a national hero for fighting the Soviets in the 1980’s and was aiding Taliban’s struggle against the Afghan Communist-dominated Northern Alliance afterwards."

The author makes a suggestion for President Obama:

"President Obama should admit Taliban is not and never was a threat to the west; that the wildly exaggerated al-Qaida has been mostly eradicated; and that the US-led war in Afghanistan is causing more damage to US interests in the Muslim world – now 25% of all humanity – than Bin Laden and his few ragtag allies. The bombing in Madrid and London, and conspiracy in Toronto, were all horribly wrongheaded protests by young Muslims against the Afghan War.

We are not going to change the way Afghans treat their women by waging war on them, or bring democracy through rigged elections. We are not going to win hearts and minds by imposing a Communist-dominated Kabul regime on pious Muslims, bombing their villages and sending Marines to kick down their doors and violate their homes."

President Obama: Do the right thing and ignore the nuts who want to sucker you into this quagmire and get us home. Our Country cannot afford this mess George W. Bush got us into and the reason to be there is not clear. There is none. Bring us home.