Surviving Jobless Recovery, Food Prices, Amendment 28

Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats. - Howard Aiken


Dear Poor Man Subscriber

Consider the following price increases, which have occurred since the beginning of the financial crisis in October 2007.

In the 24 month period since then, a time when deflation was supposedly striking everywhere ... Food and beverage prices increased an average of 5.6% Cereal and bakery prices jumped 11.5% Sugar and sweets prices, up 11.8% Cooking oils, up 11.6%Meanwhile ... The cost of medical care increased an average of 6.7% Hospital services, up 14.0% The cost of education (tuition) at private schools jumped 10.7% Educational books and supplies, up 14.9%

The long-term demise of the dollar will fuel inflation more than any other cause…not high oil prices (though they are rising too)…the government will continue to print monopoly money and we’ll all pay the price.

Experts predict food prices will increase another 5% in 2010, with meat and dairy being the hardest hit. Note: when fuel prices rise, so does food, so fill your freezer with sale items now.


Become a Frugal Cook-Free 4-week Course
http://frugalliving.about.com/c/ec/9.htm?nl=1

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>>> Did you get a gift card for Christmas? Spend it in January. Retailers often feature drastic markdowns then in order to make room for new inventory. A $100 card can easily yield $150 in merchandise!

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New report highlights ways issuers have gotten around new law

While the Credit CARD Act of 2009 puts an end to abusive tactics card issuers have long used to boost their profits, consumers need only to look at their card statements to know there's no reason to celebrate.

More from Creditcards.com:• More Credit Card Issuers Ditch Mandatory Binding Arbitration• Issuer of 79.9% Interest Rate Credit Card Defends its Product• How to Replace a Lost or Stolen Gift Card

In the past year, card issuers have rolled out or expanded their use of other ways to collect millions more in fees each year, many of which are hidden to consumers, according to the Durham, N.C.-based Center for Responsible Lending's Dec. 10 report, "Dodging Reform: As Some Credit Card Abuses Are Outlawed, New Ones Proliferate."

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/108488/credit-new-fees-escape-card-act-rules-surprise-consumers?mod=bb-creditcards

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You know what H.L. Mencken said about elections in democracies? He said they are an advanced auction of stolen goods,”

“As I sit and ponder the many "against the grain" articles I've read through your newsletter, I hear on the TV behind me the drone of the sickly sweet praise for the commander-in-chief and the way he is saving our country from financial disaster. Housing is up, more people will get "free" medical, and of course the economy is better because the stock market is up. My business is up 20% and yet what I have in my glass is not Kool Aid. Millions of Small business owners like me will NOT be hiring. In fact if we lose anyone, I'm not replacing them and I'd bet they won't be either.
--anonymous subscriber sentiment

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Why We Need Term Limits!

U.S. House & Senate have voted themselves $4,700 and $5,300 raises.

1. They voted to not give you a S.S. Cost of living raise in 2010 and 2011.
2. Your Medicaid premiums will go up $285.60 for the 2-years and
You will not get the 3% COLA: $660/yr. Your total 2-yr loss and cost is
-$1,600 or -$3,200 for husband and wife.
3. Over 2-yrs they each get $10,000
4. Do you feel SCREWED?
5. Will they have your cost of drugs - doctor fees - local taxes - food, etc., increase?
NO WAY . They have a raise and better benefits. Why care about you? You never did anything about it in the past. You obviously are too stupid or don't care.
6. Do you really think that Nancy, Harry, Chris, Charlie, Barnie, et al, care about you?

Maybe it's time for:
Amendment 28

"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United
States that does not apply equally to the Senators or Representatives,
and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators or
Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the US.”

Thanks Garry for this post!
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Homeland Insecurity
President Obama’s GOP critics have been emboldened during the past 48 hours by the stumbling initial response of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who spent Monday retracting her Sunday claim that “the system worked” in the aftermath of Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab’s near takedown of a jet ferrying nearly 300 people from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Prior to Napolitano’s appointment, she was the governor of AZ. I approached her several times with a comprehensive plan to make AZ the alternative/solar energy capital of the country – she ignored my proposal and as a result, I’ve had little respect for her ever since…I see she’s doing the same old job!

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Rick Newman
7 Ways to Survive the Jobless Recovery
Maybe the pessimists are wrong. Maybe the so-called economic recovery will gather steam and turn out to be robust. Maybe prosperity is about to leap from its hiding place and shout, "Hey! I'm back!"

But planning your future around maybes leaves little margin for error, and it looks as if the Great Recession is morphing into the Great Hangover. Even though economists believe the recession is technically over, the unemployment rate is likely to hover near 10 percent or higher well into 2010. Businesses have slashed costs, but with sales still weak, they're in no mood to start hiring. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the unemployment rate will stay above average until 2014 at least. Allen Sinai, an economist at Decision Economics, foresees a "difficult, probably crisis situation in the U.S. labor market that goes beyond the recession and any fledgling recovery."

For more of this story, go to:
http://www.usnews.com/money/blogs/flowchart/2009/10/15/7-ways-to-survive-the-jobless-recovery

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The Death Throes of Debt-Driven Consumerism Have
Thrown the Government Into A Dangerous State
of Operational Insolvency

As seen in a video clip that's drawing attention on YouTube, Mr. Obama conceded, "we are out of money now."
There is absolutely no precedent in 230 years of U.S. history to match the government's current cash crisis

It's taken decades, but the political incompetents in Washington appear to have finally killed the goose that lays the golden eggs of the American Dream — our once fabulous, job-creating private economy.

Looted by lawyers, crippled by stupid regulation, castrated by job-killing taxation, and micromanaged to near-death by incompetent, power-seeking flatworms.

The government's cash crunch is going to get far worse before it gets better. Here's why:

· America's largest banks (such as Bank of America, J.P. Morgan and Citi) still hold vast quantities of iffy commercial and real estate loans. In many cases, banks are hanging onto housing assets waiting for prices to start climbing again.
· As troubling, the same cogent analysts who foresaw the real estate crash now warn that bloated housing inventories and rising jobless rates suggest another 14% across-the-board drop in home values. Commercial real estate and local businesses, on which local governments depend for funding, are also on a downward spiral.
· Robert Kurtner of Moody's Investors Service recently said "This is the first time in 20-25 years we have seen a recession affect the entire nation simultaneously."
· California's financial collapse has dominated the news, but the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities notes that state governments across the country are facing the worst revenue contraction in post-war history, amid a projected deficit of $166 billion in 2010 and $350 billion+ in 2011. Collapsing state-level pension programs, which have NOT made the news but soon will, are already in a near state of default.
Put another way, tax receipts across-the-board have only just begun to collapse. And the government is going to become increasingly desperate to find new ways to get money from you

Not long ago, for example, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank president Richard Fisher made a frank but virtually unnoticed speech. It should be required reading for anyone who has to pay taxes.

In addition to criticizing the political class for getting the U.S. into a "deep hole," Fisher observed that federal unfunded liabilities (meaning obligations Uncle Sam can't currently pay for) are close to $99 TRILLION!

As an editorial in Investor's Business Daily recently confirmed: "More than 85% of the personal income tax is paid by a small, overtaxed band of Americans who in number are less than 25% of eligible voters."

The destruction of the middle class -- as fuel, food, housing, medical care and education costs soar, everyone who is NOT on the government dole is forced to make do with less as the value of their money slowly decreases

Resource to protect yourself from the coming tax nightmare can be had from Lee Bellinger, a man I respect. Check out his kit at:
http://americanlanternpress.com/independent-living/irspsk_99.php?ref=LS908ZB

Happy New Year!
I realize at times the news and commentary I bring you seem rather pessimistic. Yet, I am optimistic because I believe in the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans. Traditionally, we’ve been a “can-do” people, despite government & corporate efforts to cripple the middle class.

You’ll note that I do not ask for contributions either. For the most part, I prefer folks to share their ideas and resources. Of course, sales of our Poor Man CD ROMs aid in these efforts and in that regard, I simply ask that you send and recommend our site and Bulletin to others.

Yours for better living,
Bruce “The Poor Man”
http://poormansurvival.com