Economy News, Continent Economy: 2009-11-22

Saturday, November 28, 2009

JOONANG DAILY: Buffett mulls bigger stake in Korea

May 05, 2009


	Warren Buffett

OMAHA, Nebraska - Warren Buffett, the so-called �sage of Omaha,� said on Sunday he is considering additional investment in Korean companies.

The world�s most influential investor said he is optimistic about the future of the Korean economy. The comments were made during a press conference held the day after the annual shareholders� meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the company he has long chaired.

Buffett said Korea has many good companies such as Posco and will continue to do well in the future. Posco, the world�s fourth-largest steelmaker, is among a few local companies Buffett has invested in. In February, Berkshire Hathaway said it raised its stake in Posco from 4.5 percent in 2007 to 5.2 percent last year. On Sunday, Buffett said he bought stock in one more local company last year and is currently looking at some other local firms with interest. He declined to name those companies. According to some sources, he is invested in around 20 Korean firms.

Asked about the Korean economy, he said Korea is doing well in dealing with the global economic crisis.

Korea�s current situation is tough, but Buffett said he believes the country will soon overcome it. Countries with smaller economies typically struggle more in downturns like this one, but Buffett did not count Korea among them. He said buying local stock at the proper price will make money.

Berkshire Vice President Charlie Munger also named Posco among the world�s best companies in terms of technology, quality of products, efficiency and management. He said his family invests in only three countries and Korea is one of them.

At the press conference, Buffett criticized the U.S. government�s bank policies, saying the stress tests of 19 large U.S. banks failed to account for strengths in lenders� business models. He said he would add shares in three big banks to the portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway.

�The question is whether the people conducting tests have a bunch of markers� to write down assets, Reuters quoted Buffett as saying. �That is not a very sophisticated way of looking at it. To call those 19 banks too big to fail is wrong.�

By Nam Jung-ho [joe@joongang.co.kr]

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Warren Buffett Partnership Letter of 1970

BUFFETT PARTNERSHIP, LTD.
February 25th, 1970
To My Partners:

This letter will attempt to provide a very elementary education regarding tax-exempt bonds with emphasis on the types and maturities of bonds which we expect to help partners in purchasing next month. If you expect to use our help in the purchase of bonds, it is important that you carefully read (and, if necessary, re-read) this letter as it will serve as background for the specific purchases I suggest. If you disagree with me as to conclusions regarding types of bonds or maturities (and you would have been right and I would have been wrong if you had disagreed with me on the latter point either one or two years ago), you may well be correct, but we cannot be of assistance to you in the purchase of bonds outside our area. We will simply have our hands full concentrating in our recommended area, so will be unavailable to assist or advise in the purchase of convertible bonds, corporate bonds or short term issues.

I have tried to boil this letter down as much as possible. Some of it will be a little weighty - some a little over-simplified. I apologize for the shortcomings in advance. I have a feeling I am trying to put all the meat of a 100 page book in 10 pages - and have it read like the funny papers.
I am sure you understand that our aid in the purchase of bonds will involve no future assistance regarding either these specific bonds or general investment decisions. I want to be available at this time to be of help because of the unusual amount of cash you have received in one distribution from us. I have no desire to be in the investment counseling business, directly or indirectly, and will not be available for discussion of financial matters after March 31st.

The Mechanics of Tax-Free Bonds

For those who. wish our help, we will arrange the purchase of bonds directly from municipal bond dealers throughout the country and have them confirm sale of the bonds directly to you. The confirmation should be saved as a basic document for tax purposes. You should not send a check to the bond dealer since he will deliver the bonds to your bank, along with a draft which the bank will pay by charging your account with them. In the case of bonds purchased in the secondary market (issues already outstanding), this settlement date will usually be about a week after confirmation date whereas, on new issues, the settlement date may be as much as a month later. The settlement date is shown plainly on the confirmation ticket (in the case of new issues this will be the second and final ticket rather than the preliminary �when issued� ticket), and you should have the funds at your bank ready to pay for the bonds on the settlement date. If you presently own Treasury Bills, they can be sold on a couple of days notice by your bank upon your instructions, so you should experience no problems in having the money available on time. Interest begins to accrue to you on the settlement date, even if the bond dealer is late in getting them delivered to your bank.

Bonds will be delivered in negotiable form (so-called �bearer� form which makes them like currency) with coupons attached. Usually the bonds are in $5, 000 denominations and frequently they can be exchanged for registered bonds (sometimes at considerable expense and sometimes free - it depends upon the terms). Bonds in registered form are nonnegotiable without assignment by you, since you are the registered owner on the Transfer Agent�s books. Bonds trade almost exclusively on a bearer basis and it is virtually impossible to sell registered bonds without converting them back into bearer form. Thus, unless you are going to own great physical quantities of bonds, I recommend keeping bonds in bearer form. This means keeping them in a very safe place and clipping the coupons every six months. Such coupons, when clipped, can be deposited in your bank account just like checks. If you have $250, 000 in bonds, this probably means about fifty separate pieces of paper ($5, 000 denominations) and perhaps six or eight trips a year to the safe deposit section to cut and deposit coupons.

DVANCE\d6It is also possible to open a custody account with a bank where, for a fairly nominal cost, they will keep the bonds, collect the interest and preserve your records for you. For example, a bank will probably perform the custodial service for you for about $200 a year on a $250, 000 portfolio. If you are interested in a custodial account, you should talk to a Trust Officer at your commercial bank as to the nature of their services and cost. Otherwise, you should have a safe deposit box.

Taxation

The interest received upon the deposit of coupons from tax-free bonds is, of course, free from Federal Income Taxes. This means if you are at a 30% top Federal Income Tax bracket, a 6% return from tax free bonds is equivalent to about 8-1/2% from taxable bonds. Thus, for most of our partners, excluding minors or some retired people, tax-free bonds will be more attractive than taxable bonds. For people with little or no income from wages or dividends, but with substantial capital, it is possible that a combination of taxable bonds (to bring taxable income up to about the 25% or 30% bracket) plus tax-free bonds will bring the highest total after-tax income. Where appropriate, we will work with you to achieve such a balance.

The situation in respect to State Income Taxes is more complicated. In Nebraska, where the State Income Tax is computed as a percentage of the Federal Income Tax, the effect is that there is no state tax on interest from tax-free bonds. My understanding of both the New York and California law is that tax-free bonds of entities within the home state are not subject to State Income Tax, but tax-free bonds from other states are subject to the local State Income Tax. I also believe that the New York City Income Tax exempts tax-free bonds of entities based within the State of New York, but taxes those from other states. I am no expert on state income taxes and make no attempt to post myself on. changes taking place within the various states or cities. Therefore, I defer to your local tax advisor, but simply mention these few general impressions so that you will be alert to the existence of a potential problem. In Nebraska there is no need to have any local considerations enter into the after-tax calculation.

Where out-of-state issues are subject to local taxation, the effective cost of your State or Municipal Income Tax is reduced by the benefit received from deducting it on your Federal Income Tax return. This, of course, varies with the individual. Additionally, in some states there are various taxes on intangible property which may apply to all tax-free bonds or just those of out-of-state entities. There are none of these in Nebraska, but I cannot advise on the other states.

When bonds are bought at a discount from par and later are sold or mature (come due and get paid), the difference between the proceeds and cost is subject to capital gain or loss treatment. (There are minor exceptions to this statement as, unfortunately, there are to most general statements on investments and taxes but they will be pointed out to you should they affect any securities we recommend). This reduces the net after-tax yield by a factor involving the general rate of future capital gains taxes and the specific future tax position of the individual. Later on, we will discuss the impact of such capital gains taxes in calculating the relative attractiveness of discount bonds versus �full coupon� bonds.

Finally, one most important point. Although the law is not completely clear, you should probably not contemplate owning tax-free bonds if you have, or expect to have, general purpose bank or other indebtedness. The law excludes the deductibility of interest on loans incurred or continued to purchase or carry tax-free bonds, and the interpretation of this statute will probably tend to be broadened as the years pass. For example, my impression is that you have no problem if you have a mortgage against real property (unless the debt was incurred in order to acquire municipal bonds) in deducting the mortgage interest on your Federal Tax return, even though you own tax-free bonds at the same time. However, � I believe that if you have a general bank loan, even though the proceeds were directly used to purchase stocks, a handball court, etc. and the tax-free bonds are not used for security for the loan, you are asking for trouble if you deduct the interest and, at the same time, are the owner of tax-free bonds.

Therefore, I would pay off bank loans before owning tax-free bonds, but I leave detailed examination of this question to you and your tax advisor. I merely mention it to make you aware of the potential problem.

Marketability

Tax-free bonds are materially different from common stocks or corporate bonds in that there are literally hundreds of thousands of issues, with the great majority having very few holders. This substantially inhibits the development of close, active markets. Whenever the City of New York or Philadelphia wants to raise money it sells perhaps twenty, thirty or forty non-identical securities, since it will offer an issue with that many different maturities. A 6% bond of New York coming due in 1980 is a different animal from a 6% bond of New York coming due in 1981. One cannot be exchanged for the other, and a seller has to find a buyer for the specific item he holds.

When you consider that New York may offer bonds several times a year, it is easy to see why just this one city may have somewhere in the neighborhood of 1, 000 issues outstanding. Grand Island, Nebraska may have 75 issues outstanding. The average amount of each issue might be $100,000 and the average number of holders may be six or eight per issue. Thus, it is absolutely impossible to have quoted markets at all times for all issues and spreads between bids and offers may be very wide. You can�t set forth in the morning to buy a specific Grand Island issue of your choosing. It may not be offered at any price, anywhere, and if you do find one seller, there is no reason why he has to be realistic compared to other offerings of similar quality.

On the other hand, there are single issues such as those of the Ohio Turnpike, Illinois Turnpike, etc. that amount to $200 million or more and have thousands of bondholders owning a single entirely homogeneous and interchangeable issue. Obviously, here you get a high degree of marketability.

My impression is that marketability is generally a function of the following three items, in descending order of importance:

(1) the size of the particular issue; (2) the size of the issuer (a $100,000 issue of the State of Ohio will be more marketable than a $.100, 000 issue of Podunk, Ohio); and (3) the quality of the issuer.

By far the most sales effort goes into the selling of new issues of bonds. An average of over $200 million per week of new issues comes up for sale, and the machinery of bond distribution is geared to get them sold, large or small. In my opinion, there is frequently insufficient differential in yield at time of issue for the marketability differences that will exist once the initial sales push is terminated. We have frequently run into markets in bonds where the spread between bid and asked prices may get to 15%.

There is no need to buy bonds wiih the potential for such grotesque markets (although the profit spread to the dealer who originally offers them is frequently wider than on more marketable bonds) and we will not be buying them for you. The bonds we expect to buy will usually tend to have spreads (reflecting the difference between what you would pay net for such bonds on purchase and receive net on sale at the same point in time) of from 2% to 5%. Such a spread would be devastating if you attempted to trade in such bonds, but I don�t believe it should be a deterrent for a long-term investor. The real necessity is to stay away from bonds of very limited marketability. - which frequently are the type local bond dealers have the greatest monetary incentive to push.

Specific Areas of Purchase

We will probably concentrate our purchases in the following general areas:

(1) Large revenue-producing public entities such as toll roads, electric power districts, water districts, etc. Many of these issues possess high marketability, are subject to quantitative analysis, and sometimes have favorable sinking fund or other factors which tend not to receive full valuation in the market place.

(2) Industrial Development Authority bonds which arise when a public entity holds title to property leased to a private corporation. For example, Lorain, Ohio holds title to an $80 million project for U. S. Steel Corp. The Development Authority Board issued bonds to pay for the project and has executed a net and absolute lease with U. S. Steel to cover the bond payments. The credit of the city or state is not behind the bonds and they are only as good as the company that is on the lease. Many top-grade corporations stand behind an aggregate of several billion dollars of these obligations, although new ones are being issued only in small amounts ($5 million per project or less) because of changes in the tax laws. For a period of time there was a very substantial prejudice against such issues, causing them to sell at yields considerably higher than those commensurate with their inherent credit standing. This prejudice has tended to diminish, reducing the. premium yields available, but I still consider it a most attractive field. Our insurance company owns a majority of its bonds in this category.

(3) Public Housing Authority Issues for those of you who wish the very highest grade of tax-free bonds. In effect, these bonds bear the guarantee of the U. S. Government, so they are all rated AAA. In states where local taxes put a premium on buying in-state issues, and I can�t fill your needs from (1) and (2), my tendency would be to put you into Housing Authority issues rather than try to select from among credits that I don�t understand. If you direct me to buy obligations of your home state, you should expect substantial quantities of Housing Authority issues. There is no need to diversify among such issues, as they all represent the top credit available.
ANCE\d6(4) State obligations of a direct or indirect nature.

You will notice I am not buying issues of large cities. I don�t have the faintest idea how to analyze a New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc. (a friend mentioned the other day when Newark was trying to sell bonds at a very fancy rate that the Mafia was getting very upset because Newark was giving them a bad name). Your analysis of a New York City - and I admit it is hard to imagine them not paying their bills for any extended period of time - would be as good as mine. My approach to bonds is pretty much like my approach to stocks. If I can�t understand something, I tend to forget it. Passing an opportunity which I don�t understand - even if someone else is perceptive enough to analyze it and get paid well for doing it - doesn�t bother me. All I want to be sure of is that I get paid well for the things I do feel capable of handling - and that I am right when I make affirmative decisions.

We will probably tend to purchase somewhere between five and ten issues for most of you. However, if you wish to limit me to your home state, it may be fewer issues - and perhaps those will only be Housing Author ities. We will try not to buy in smaller than $25, 000 pieces and will prefer larger amounts where appropriate. Smaller lots of bonds are usually penalized upon resale, sometimes substantially. The bond salesman doesn�t usually explain this to you when you buy the $10, 000 of bonds from him, but it gets explained when you later try to sell the $10, 000 to him. We may make exceptions where we are buying secondary market issues in smaller pieces - but� only if we are getting an especially good price on the buy side because of the small size of the offering.

Callable Bonds

We will not buy bonds where the issuer of the bonds has a right to call (retire) the bonds on a basis which substantially loads the contract in his favor. It is amazing to me to see people buy bonds which are due in forty years, but where the issuer has the right to call the bonds at a tiny premium in five or ten years. Such a contract essentially means that you have made a forty year deal if it is advantageous to the issuer (and disadvantageous to you) and a five year deal if the initial contract turns out to be advantageous to you (and disadvantageous to the issuer). Such contracts are really outrageous and exist because bond investors can�t think through the implications of such a contract form and bond dealers don�t insist on better terms for their customers. One extremely interesting fact is that bonds with very unattractive call features sell at virtually the same yield as otherwise identical bonds which are non-callable.

It should be pointed out that most Nebraska bonds carry highly unfair call provisions. Despite this severe contractual disadvantage, they do not offer higher yields than bonds with more
equitable terms.

One way to avoid this problem is to buy bonds which are totally noncallable. Another way is to buy discount bonds where the right of the issuer to call the bond is at a price so far above your cost as to render the possible call inconsequential. If you buy a bond at 60 which is callable at 103, the effective cost to you of granting the issuer the right to prematurely terminate the contract (which is a right you never have) is insignificant. But to buy a bond of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power at 100 to come due at 100 in 1999 or to come due at 104 in 1974, depending on which is to the advantage of the issuer and to your disadvantage, is the height of foolishness when comparable yields are available on similar credits without such an unfair contract. Nevertheless, just such a bond was issued in October, 1969 and similar bonds continue to be issued every day. I only write at such length about an obvious point, since it is apparent from the continual sale of such bonds that many investors haven�t the faintest notion how this loads the dice against them and many bond salesmen aren�t about to tell them.

Maturity and the Mathematics of Bonds

Many people, in buying bonds, select maturities based on how long they think they are going to want to hold bonds, how long they sire going to live, etc. While this is not a silly approach, it is not necessarily the most logical. The primary determinants in selection of maturity should probably be (1) the shape of the yield curve; (2) your expectations regarding future levels of interest rates and (3) the degree of quotational fluctuation you are willing to endure or hope to possibly profit from. Of course, (2) is the most important but by far the most difficult upon which to comment intelligently.

Let�s tackle the yield curve first. When other aspects of quality are identical, there will be a difference in interest rates paid based upon the length of the bond being offered. For example, a top grade bond being offered now might have a yield of 4. 75% if it came due in six or nine months, 5. 00% in two years, 5. 25% in five years, 5. 50% in ten years and 6.25% in twenty years. When long rates are substantially higher than short rates, the curve is said to be strongly positive. In the U. S. Government bond market, rates recently have tended to produce a negative yield curve; that is, a long term Government bond over the last year or so has consistently yielded less than a short term one. Sometimes the yield curve has been very flat, and sometimes it is positive out to a given point, such as ten years, and then flattens out. What you should understand is that it varies, often very substantially, and that on an historical basis the present slope tends to be in the high positive range. This doesn�t mean that long bonds are going to be worth more but it does mean that you are being paid more to extend maturity than in many periods. If yields remained constant for several years, you would do better with longer bonds than shorter bonds, regardless of how long you intended to hold them.

The second factor in determining maturity selection is expectations regarding future rate levels. Anyone who has done much predicting in this field has tended to look very foolish very fast. I did not regard rates as unattractive one year ago, and I was proved very wrong almost immediately. I believe present rates are not unattractive and I may look foolish again. Nevertheless, a decision has to be made and you can make just as great a mistake if you buy short term securities now and rates available on reinvestment in a few years are much lower.

The final factor involves your tolerance for quotational fluctuation. This involves the mathematics of bond investment and may be a little difficult for you to understand. Nevertheless, it is important that you get a general grasp of the principles. Let�s assume
for the moment a perfectly flat yield curve and a non-callable bond. Further assume present rates are 5% and that you buy two bonds, one due in two years and one due in twenty years. Now assume one year later that yields on new issues have gone to 3% and that you wish to sell your bonds. Forgetting about market spreads, commissions, etc. , you will receive $1,019.60 for the original two year $1, 000 bond (now with one year to run) and$1,288. 10 for the nineteen year bond (originally twenty years). At these prices, a purchaser will get exactly 3% on his money after amortizing the premium he has paid and cashing the stream of 5% coupons attached to each bond.

It is a matter of indifference to him whether to buy your nineteen year 5% bond at $1,288. 10 or a new 3% bond (which we have assumed is the rate current - one year later) at $1, 000. 00. On the other hand, let�s assume rates went to 7%. Again we will ignore commissions, capital gains taxes on the discount, etc. Now the buyer will only pay $981. 00 for the bond with one year remaining until maturity and� $791. 00 for the bond with nineteen years left. Since he can get 7% on new issues, he is only willing to buy your bond at a discount sufficient so that accrual of this discount will give him the same economic benefits from your 5% coupon that a 7% coupon at $1, 000. 00 would give him.

The principle is simple. The wider the swings in interest rates and the longer the bond, the more the value of a bond can go up or down on an interim basis before maturity. It should be pointed out in the first example where rates went to 3%, our long term bond would only have appreciated to about $1, 070. 00 if it had been callable in five years at par, although it would have gone down just as much if 7% rates had occurred. This just illustrates the inherent unfairness of call provisions.

For over two decades, interest rates on tax-free bonds have almost continuously gone higher and buyers of long term bonds have continuously suffered. This does not mean it is bad now to buy long term bonds - it simply means that the illustration in the above paragraph has worked in only one direction for a long period of time and people are much more conscious of the downside risks from higher rates than the upside potential from lower ones.

If it is a 50-50 chance as to the future general level of interest rates and the yield curve is substantially positive, then the odds are better in buying long term non-callable bonds than shorter term ones. This reflects my current conclusion and, therefore, I intend to buy bonds within the ten to twenty-five year range. If you have any preferences within that range, we will try to select bonds reflecting such preferences, but if you are interested in shorter term bonds, we will not be able to help you as we are not searching out bonds in this area.

Before you decide to buy a twenty year bond, go back and read the paragraph showing how prices change based upon changes in interest rates. Of course, if you hold the bond straight through, you are going to get the contracted rate of interest, but if you sell earlier, you are going to be subject to the mathematical forces described in that paragraph, for better or for worse. Bond prices also change because of changes in quality over the years but, in the tax-free area, this has tended to be - and probably will continue to be - a relatively minor factor compared to the impact of changes in the general structure of interest rates.

Discount Versus Full Coupon Bonds

You will have noticed in the above discussion that if you now wanted to buy a 7% return on a nineteen year bond, you had a choice between buying a new nineteen year bond with a 7% coupon rate or buying a bond with a 5% coupon at $791. 60, which would pay you $1, 000.
00 in nineteen years. Either purchase would have yielded exactly 7% compounded semiannually to you. Mathematically, they are the same. In the case of tax-free bonds the equation is complicated, however, by the fact that the $70. 00 coupon is entirely tax-free to you, whereas the bond purchased at a discount gives you tax-free income of $50. 00 per year but a capital gain at the end of the nineteenth year of $208. 40. Under the present tax law, you would owe anything from a nominal tax, if the gain from realization of the discount was your only taxable income in the nineteenth year, up to a tax of over $70. 00 if it came on top of very large amounts of capital gain at that time (the new tax law provides for capital gain rates of 35%, and even slightly higher on an indirect basis in 1972 and thereafter for those realizing very large gains.) In addition to this, you might have some state taxes to pay on the capital gain.

Obviously, under these circumstances you are not going to pay the $791.60 for the 5% coupon and feel you are equally as well off as with the 7% coupon at $1, 000. 00. Neither is anyone else. Therefore, identical quality securities with identical maturities sell at considerably higher gross yields when they have low coupons and are priced at discounts than if they bear current high coupons.

Interestingly enough, for most taxpayers, such higher gross yields over-compensate for the probable tax to be paid. This is due to several factors. First, no one knows what the tax law will be when the bonds mature and it is both natural and probably correct to assume the tax rate will be stiffer at that time than now. Second, even though a 5% coupon on a $1, 000. 00 bond purchased at $791.60 due in nineteen years is the equivalent of a 7% coupon on a $1, 000. 00 bond purchased at par with the same maturity, people prefer to get the higher current return in their pocket. The owner of the 5% coupon bond is only getting around 6.3% current yield on his $791. 60 with the balance necessary to get him up to ?% coming from the extra $208. 40 he picks up at the end. Finally, the most important factor affecting prices currently on discount bonds (and which will keep affecting them) is that banks have been taken out of the market as buyers.of discount tax-free bonds by changes brought about in bank tax treatment through the 1969 Tax Reform Act. Banks have historically been the largest purchasers and owners of tax-free bonds and anything that precludes them from one segment of the market has dramatic effects on the supply - demand situation in that segment. This may tend to give some edge to individuals in the discount tax-free market, particularly those who are not likely to be in a high tax bracket when the bonds mature or are sold.

If I can get a significantly higher effective after-tax yield (allowing for sensible estimates of your particular future tax rate possibilities),I intend to purchase discount bonds for you. I know some partners prefer full coupon bonds, even though their effective yield is less, since they prefer to maximize the current cash yield and if they will so advise me, we will stick to full coupon issues (or very close thereto) in their cases.

Procedure

I intend to be in the office solidly through March (including every Saturday except March 7th) and will be glad to see any partner or talk with him by phone. To aid in scheduling, please make an appointment with Gladys (or me). The only request I make is that you absorb as much as possible of this letter before we talk. As you can see, it would be an enormous problem if I had to explain each item to all of you.

If you decide you want us to help you in buying bonds, you should let us know:

(1) Whether you want to restrict purchases to your home state for local tax reasons;

(2) Whether you want to restrict us to full coupon issues or let us use our judgment as to where you get the best value;

(3) Your preference as to maturity in the ten to twenty-five year range or if you prefer to let us use our judgment in that area;

(4) How much you want to invest - we may end up several per cent short of the figure you name, but we will never go over;

(5) On what bank the bonds should be drafted.

We will advise you by phone or letter as we buy bonds. Bill and John will be doing much of the mechanical work. Needless to say, none of us will have any financial interest in any transaction. Should you have any questions regarding the mechanics, please direct them to John or Bill as I will probably be swamped and they will be more familiar with specific transactions. After March 31st, I don�t expect to be around the office for several months. Therefore, if you want to talk things over, come in by then. The completion of all purchases may go into April, but Bill will be taking care of this and the mechanics will all be set up.

You should realize that because of the enormous diversity of issues mentioned earlier, it is impossible to say just what will be bought. Sometimes the tax-free bond market has more similarities to real estate than to stocks. There are hundreds of thousands of items of varying comparability, some with no sellers, some with reluctant sellers and some with eager sellers. Which may be the best buy depends on the quality of what is being offered, how well it fits your needs and the eagerness of the seller. The standard of comparison is always new issues where an average of several hundred million dollars worth have to be sold each week - however, specific secondary market opportunities (issues already outstanding) may be more attractive than new issues and we can only find out how attractive they are when we are ready to make bids.
Although markets can change, it looks as if we will have no difficulty in getting in the area of 6-1/2% after tax (except from Housing Authority issues) on bonds in the twenty-year maturity range.

Cordially,

Warren E. Buffett

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BLS BS Exposed: Commercial Bankruptcies Soar

The McClatchy Washington Bureau is reporting Commercial bankruptcies soar, reflecting widening economic woes.

Commercial filings for the first half of 2008 are up 45 percent from last year, as the national climate for commerce continues to deteriorate amid rising energy and food costs, mounting job losses, tighter credit and a reticence among consumers to part with discretionary income.

From April through June, 15,471 U.S. businesses called it quits, according to data from Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, an Oklahoma City bankruptcy management and data company.

It was the 10th straight quarter that business bankruptcy filings have increased. Nearly 29,000 companies filed in the first half of 2008. Another 60,000 to 90,000 others probably have closed, because roughly two to three businesses fold for every one that files for bankruptcy, said Jack Williams, resident scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute.

More than 20 percent of the newly shuttered businesses were in California, which logged 3,141 bankruptcies in the second quarter.

Texas fielded the next highest number of bankruptcies with 1,168, followed by Michigan with 702 and Florida with 635. New York was next, with 618 petitions, and Colorado had 547.

Commercial bankruptcy filings reported by Automated Access to Court Electronic Records are typically higher than official government figures due to a more thorough reading of the petitions.

BLS BS

With the above in mind, let"s take another look at my July 3rd post: Jobs Decline 6th Consecutive Months.

Birth/Death Model From Alternate Universe

This was a very weak jobs report. And once again the Birth/Death Model assumptions are from outer space.

click on chart for sharper image

Every month I say the same nearly the same thing. The only difference is the numbers change slightly. Here it is again: The BLS should be embarrassed to report this data. Its model suggests that there was 29,000 jobs coming from new construction businesses, 22,000 jobs coming from professional services, and a whopping 177,000 jobs in total coming from net new business creation. The economy has slowed to a standstill and the BLS model still has the economy expanding quite rapidly.

Repeating what I have been saying for months now, virtually no one can possibly believe this data. The data is so bad, I doubt those at the BLS even believe it.

....
This report was the 6th consecutive contraction. Service jobs were only positive because 29,000 government jobs were created. Yesterday in Downward Spiral In Jobs I commented on interesting stats from the ADP Small Business Report giving a breakdown of jobs by size of firm. Inquiring minds will want to take a look.

American Bankruptcy Institute

It was the 10th straight quarter that business bankruptcy filings have increased. Nearly 29,000 companies filed in the first half of 2008. Another 60,000 to 90,000 others probably have closed, because roughly two to three businesses fold for every one that files for bankruptcy, said Jack Williams, resident scholar at the American Bankruptcy Institute.

BLS

The BLS reported net expansion of new businesses in all but 3 of the past 15 months. January and July are months in which they partially correct for the ridiculous assumptions made in the other months.

I expect a huge downward revision in the July data which will be published on August 1.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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SEEKING ALPHA: Buying Berkshire: The Ultimate No-Brainer

Warren Buffett"s holding company Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) has been the single greatest investment of our lifetimes.

His compounded annual gain from 1966 to 2007 was 21.1% for an overall gain of 400,863%, compared to 10.3% and 6,840% for the S&P 500. However, Buffett experienced a rare earnings letdown during the second quarter of this year.

Although revenue increased 10% to $29.3 billion, insurance related write-downs hurt the company"s bottom line. Still, the shortfall was far from cataclysmic. For the quarter, earnings fell 7.6% to $2.88 billion. Despite the shortfall, the company still maintains a top-notch credit rating and has over $28 billion in cash, a war chest for the world"s greatest investor.

How has Warren Buffett"s investment strategy been so successful? He takes a disciplined value approach to investing. And he sticks with it.

Warren Buffett"s Investing Questions

Before Warren Buffett invests a dime, he asks:

Is the company in an industry with good economics? That is, is it not in an industry competing on price?
Does the company have a consumer monopoly or brand name that commands loyalty?
Can anyone with an abundance of resources compete successfully with the company?
Are the earnings on an upward trend with good and consistent profit margins?
Is the debt-to-equity ratio low, or is the earnings-to-debt ratio high? Can the company repay debt even in years when earnings are lower than average?
Does the company have high and consistent returns on invested capital?
Does the company retain earnings for growth?
Does the business have high maintenance cost of operations, high capital expenditure or investment cash outflow? (If so, that"s not good.)
Does the company reinvest earnings in good business opportunities? Does management have a good track record of profiting from these investments?
Is the company free to adjust prices for inflation?

In short, he makes companies jump through a lot of hoops before he considers putting them in his portfolio.

Buffett"s Investment Strategy - Concentrated Purchases

Buffett also makes concentrated purchases within his investment strategy. For its size, Buffett"s portfolio has few stocks. But once a downturn comes, he buys millions of shares of solid businesses at reasonable prices.

Berkshire is a major player in the markets for insurance, soft drinks, chocolates, shoes, jewelry, publishing, furniture, steel, energy, homebuilding and private jets.

Berkshire owns significant portions in well-known, cheap, dividend paying stocks like:

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO)
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), one of the few U.S. banks in good standing.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG)
Anheuser Busch (NYSE:BUD), which has seen a major boost in its share price thanks to the takeover bid from InBev.
Conoco Phillips (NYSE:COP)
Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT) and others.

What is Warren Buffett Buying Now?

Besides buying large chunks of Swiss Re (SWCEY.PK), a major reinsurer, Buffett has been buying unloved - but sound - financial stocks.

He"s increased his position in the Midwestern banking powerhouse U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB). (Documents show Berkshire is now the company"s largest shareholder.)

Many household financial stocks have imploded in 2008. Bear Stearns and IndyMac, for example, are gone. Lehman Brothers is down 80% this year. Yet USB has held steady.

Buffett is also buying more Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI), acquiring shares during the recent market weakness.

Warren Buffett"s Investment Strategy & The Economic Downturn

Why is Buffett buying companies if, by his own admission, the economic downturn is likely to be deeper and longer lasting than generally expected?

First off, because he knows that nobody can accurately or consistently predict something as big, diverse and dynamic as the global economy.
Second, he knows that even if you somehow knew what was going to happen in the economy, you still wouldn"t necessarily know what is about to happen in the stock market. Perversely, stocks sometimes fall during good times. They often rally during bad times.
Third, Buffett knows that the stock market is a discounting mechanism. It takes the news and reflects it into stock prices immediately. Who in their right mind would sell their stocks today because he realizes the economy is slowing down? We"ve known that for months now.

Buffett knows that nothing beats the long-term returns available in equities. Where else can you put your money to work today? With real estate caught in a death spiral? In bonds that pay less than 5%? In money markets yielding 2%?

When we first recommended Berkshire Class B shares in February 2001, they were trading at $2,295. At the peak, shares traded as high as $5,059 in December 2007, a 123% return in a little more than seven years.

Yet the B shares are currently trading at $3,860, off 24% from the 52-week high and 20% year-to-date.

History shows that when Berkshire is down 24%, it"s not just a good buy�

It"s an outstanding one.

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Speak Out - Audit the Fed, Then End It!

Now that the love affair with Obama is starting to wear off, it is time to Speak Out!

Voters in California have just spoken out against Propositions 1A-1E (see California Voters Immediately Rewarded For Voting Down Propositions 1A Thru 1E) and now it"s your turn.

It"s time to take action on many issues, and the way to do that is to let Congress know how you feel.

The first order of business is Ron Paul"s Campaign Audit the Fed, Then End It!

Audit the Fed, Then End It!

I have been very pleased with the progress of my legislation, HR 1207, which calls for a complete audit of the Federal Reserve and removes many significant barriers towards transparency of our monetary system. This bill now has nearly 170 cosponsors, with support from both Republicans and Democrats. Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced a companion bill in the Senate S 604, which will hopefully begin to gain momentum as well. I am very encouraged to see so many of my colleagues in Congress stand with me for greater transparency in government.

Some have begun to push back against this bill, and I am very happy to address their concerns.

The main argument seems to be that Congressional oversight over the Fed is government interference in the free market. This argument shows a misunderstanding of what a free market really is. Fundamentally, you cannot defend the Federal Reserve and the free market at the same time. The Fed negates the very foundation of a free market by artificially manipulating the price and supply of money � the lifeblood of the economy. In a free market, interest rates, like the price of any other consumer good, are decentralized and set by the market. The only legitimate, Constitutional role of government in monetary policy is to protect the integrity of the monetary unit and defend against counterfeiters.
....

Please fax your representatives and express support for HR 1207 and Senate S 604. Make sure your representatives know this is not just an audit issue, but a free market issue and the entire Fed must go.

Unfortunately some members of Congress are seeking to expand the Fed"s powers! We must do everything we can to prevent that. The Fed does not need more power, they micro-mismanaged the economy to the sorry state that it is in.

Please point that out when Faxing Congress. I am not going to draft a letter, it is best if you express these issues in your own words.

Lynn Seely at Metrofax created the following up to date Metrofax compatible Fax lists for all Congress. The last number in each row is the Fax number. You can also get Phone, Fax, and Email numbers from the Online Directory for the 111th Congress.

Fax your representatives today!

Senate-AK-MS

Lisa,Murkowski,US Senate - AK,,2022245301
Mark,Begich,US Senate - AK,,2022242354
Jeff,Sessions,US Senate - AL,,2022243149
Richard,Shelby,US Senate - AL,,2022243416
Blanche,Lincoln,US Senate - AR,,2022281371
Mark,Pryor,US Senate - AR,,2022280908
John,McCain,US Senate - AZ,,2022282862
Jon,Kyl,US Senate - AZ,,2022242207
Barbara,Boxer,US Senate - CA,,2022240454
Dianne,Feinstein,US Senate - CA,,2022283954
Mark,Udall,US Senate - CO,,2022246471
Michael,Bennet,US Senate - CO,,2022285036
Christopher,Dodd,US Senate - CT,,2022241083
Joseph,Lieberman,US Senate - CT,,2022249750
Ted,Kaufman,US Senate - DE,,2022240139
Thomas,Carper,US Senate - DE,,2022282190
Bill,Nelson,US Senate - FL,,2022282183
Mel,Martinez,US Senate - FL,,2022285171
Johnny,Isakson,US Senate - GA,,2022280724
Saxby,Chambliss,US Senate - GA ,,2022240103
Daniel,Akaka,US Senate - HI,,2022242126
Daniel,Inouye,US Senate - HI,,2022246747
Chuck,Grassley,US Senate - IA,,2022246020
Tom,Harkin,US Senate - IA,,2022249369
Jim,Risch,US Senate - ID,,2022281067
Mike,Crapo,US Senate - ID,,2022241375
Richard,Durbin,US Senate - IL,,2022280400
Ronald ,Burris,US Senate - IL,,2022284260
B. Evan,Bayh,US Senate - IN,,2022281377
Richard G.,Lugar,US Senate - IN,,2022280360
Pat,Roberts,US Senate - KS,,2022243514
Sam,Brownback,US Senate - KS,,2022281265
Jim,Bunning,US Senate - KY,,2022281373
Mitch,McConnell,US Senate - KY,,2022242499
David,Vitter,US Senate - LA,,2022285061
Mary,Landrieu,US Senate - LA,,2022249735
Edward M.,Kennedy,US Senate - MA,,2022242417
John,Kerry,US Senate - MA,,2022248525
Barbara A.,Mikulski,US Senate - MD,,2022248858
Benjamin,Cardin,US Senate - MD,,2022241651
Olympia,Snowe,US Senate - ME,,2022241946
Susan,Collins,US Senate - ME,,2022242693
Carl,Levin,US Senate - MI,,2022241388
Debbie,Stabenow,US Senate - MI,,2022280325
Amy,Klobuchar,US Senate - MN,,2022282186
Norm,Coleman,US Senate - MN,,2022241152
Christopher,Bond,US Senate - MO,,2022248149
Claire,McCaskill,US Senate - MO,,2022286326
Roger,Wicker,US Senate - MS,,2022280378
Thad,Cochran,US Senate - MS,,2022249450

Senate-MT-WY

John,Tester,US Senate - MT,,2022248594
Max,Baucus,US Senate - MT,,2022240515
Kay,Hagin,US Senate - NC,,2022241100
Richard,Burr,US Senate - NC,,2022282981
Byron,Dorgan,US Senate - ND,,2022241193
Kent,Conrad,US Senate - ND,,2022247776
Benjamin,Nelson,US Senate - NE,,2022280012
Mike,Johanns,US Senate - NE,,2022245213
Jeanne,Shaheen,US Senate - NH,,2022284131
Judd,Gregg,US Senate - NH,,2022244952
Frank,Lautenberg,US Senate - NJ,,2022284054
Robert,Menendez,US Senate - NJ,,2022282197
Jeff,Bingaman,US Senate - NM,,2022242852
Tom,Udall,US Senate - NM,,2022283261
Harry,Reid,US Senate - NV,,2022247327
John,Ensign,US Senate - NV,,2022282193
Charles,Schumer,US Senate - NY,,2022283027
Kristen,Gillibrand,US Senate - NY,,2022280282
George,Voinovich,US Senate - OH,,2022281382
Sherrod,Brown,US Senate - OH,,2022286321
James,Inhofe,US Senate - OK,,2022280380
Tom,Coburn,US Senate - OK,,2022246008
Jeff,Merkley,US Senate - OR,,2022283997
Ron,Wyden,US Senate - OR,,2022282717
Arlen,Specter,US Senate - PA,,2022281229
Robert,Casey,US Senate - PA,,2022280604
Jack,Reed,US Senate - RI,,2022244680
Sheldon,Whitehouse,US Senate - RI,,2022286362
James,DeMint,US Senate - SC,,2022285143
Lindsey,Graham,US Senate - SC,,2022243808
John,Thune,US Senate - SD,,2022285429
Tim,Johnson,US Senate - SD,,2022285765
Bob,Corker,US Senate - TN,,2022280566
Lamar,Alexander,US Senate - TN,,2022283398
John,Cornyn,US Senate - TX,,2022282856
Kay,Hutchison,US Senate - TX,,2022240776
Orrin,Hatch,US Senate - UT,,2022246331
Robert,Bennett,US Senate - UT,,2022281168
Jim,Webb,US Senate - VA,,2022286363
Mark,Warner,US Senate - VA,,2022246295
Bernard,Sanders,US Senate - VT,,2022280776
Patrick,Leahy,US Senate - VT,,2022243479
Maria,Cantwell,US Senate - WA,,2022280514
Patty,Murray,US Senate - WA,,2022240238
Herbert,Kohl,US Senate - WI,,2022249787
Russell,Feingold,US Senate - WI,,2022242725
John,Rockefeller,US Senate - WV,,2022247665
Robert,Byrd,US Senate - WV,,2022280002
John,Barrasso,US Senate - WY,,2022241724
Mike,Enzi,US Senate - WY,,2022280359

House-Alabama-Arkansas

Bobby,Bright,US Representative - Alabama 2nd,,2022258913
Jo,Bonner,US Representative - Alabama 1st,,2022250562
Mike,Rogers,US Representative - Alabama 3rd,,2022268485
Robert,Aderholt,US Representative - Alabama 4th,,2022255587
Parker,Griffith,US Representative - Alabama 5th ,,2022254392
Spencer,Bachus,US Representative - Alabama 6th,,2022252082
Artur,Davis,US Representative - Alabama 7th,,2022269567
Don ,Young ,US Representative - Alaska,,2022250425
Eni,Faleomavaega,US Representative - American Somoa,,2022258757
Ann,Kirkpatrick,US Representative - Arizona 1st ,,2022269739
Trent,Franks,US Representative - Arizona 2nd ,,2022256328
John,Shadegg,US Representative - Arizona 3rd ,,2022253462
Ed,Pastor,US Representative - Arizona 4th ,,2022251655
Harry,Mitchell,US Representative - Arizona 5th,,2022253263
Jeff,Flake,US Representative - Arizona 6th,,2022264386
Raul,Grijalva,US Representative - Arizona 7th,,2022251541
Gabrielle,Giffords,US Representative - Arizona 8th,,2022250378
Marion,Berry,US Representative - Arkansas 1st ,,2022255602
Vic,Snyder,US Representative - Arkansas 2nd,,2022255903
John,Boozman,US Representative - Arkansas 3rd ,,2022255713
Mike,Ross,US Representative - Arkansas 4th,,2022251314

House-California-1-30

Mike,Thompson,US Representative - California 01st,,2022254335
Wally,Herger,US Representative - California 02nd ,,2022260852
Daniel,Lungren,US Representative - California 03rd ,,2022261298
Tom,McClintock,US Representative - California 04th,,2022255444
Doris,Matsui,US Representative - California 05th,,2022250566
Lynn,Woolsey,US Representative - California 06th,,2022255163
George,Miller,US Representative - California 07th,,2022255609
Nancy,Pelosi,US Representative - California 08th,,2022254188
Barbara,Lee,US Representative - California 09th,,2022259817
Ellen,Tauscher,US Representative - California 10th,,2022255914
Jerry,McNerney,US Representative - California 11th,,2022254060
Jackie ,Speier,US Representative - California 12th ,,2022264183
Fortney,Stark,US Representative - California 13th,,2022253805
Anna,Eshoo,US Representative - California 14th ,,2022258890
Mike,Honda,US Representative - California 15th,,2022252699
Zoe,Lofgren,US Representative - California 16th,,2022253336
Sam,Farr,US Representative - California 17th,,2022256791
Dennis,Cardoza,US Representative - California 18th,,2022250819
George,Radanovich,US Representative - California 19th,,2022253402
Jim,Costa,US Representative - California 20th,,2022259308
Devin,Nunes,US Representative - California 21st,,2022253404
Kevin,McCarthy,US Representative - California 22nd,,2022252908
Lois,Capps,US Representative - California 23nd ,,2022255632
Elton,Gallegly,US Representative - California 24th ,,2022251100
Howard,McKeon,US Representative - California 25th,,2022260683
David,Dreier,US Representative - California 26th,,2022257018
Brad,Sherman,US Representative - California 27th ,,2022255879
Howard,Berman,US Representative - California 28th ,,2022253196
Adam,Schiff,US Representative - California 29th,,2022255828
Henry,Waxman,US Representative - California 30th ,,2022254099

House-California-31-53

Xavier,Becerra,US Representative - California 31st ,,2022252202
Hilda,Solis,US Representative - California 32nd ,,2022255467
Diane,Watson,US Representative - California 33rd ,,2022252422
Lucille,Roybal-Allard,US Representative - California 34th ,,2022250350
Maxine,Waters,US Representative - California 35th ,,2022257854
Jane,Harman,US Representative - California 36th ,,2022267290
Laura,Richardson,US Representative - California 37th ,,2022257926
Grace,Napolitano,US Representative - California 38th ,,2022250027
Linda,Sanchez,US Representative - California 39th ,,2022261012
Edward,Royce,US Representative - California 40th ,,2022260335
Jerry,Lewis,US Representative - California 41st,,2022256498
Gary,Miller,US Representative - California 42nd ,,2022256962
Joe,Baca,US Representative - California 43rd ,,2022258671
Kenneth ,Calvert,US Representative - California 44th,,2022252004
Mary,Bono Mack,US Representative - California 45th ,,2022252961
Dana,Rohrabacher,US Representative - California 46th ,,2022250145
Loretta,Sanchez,US Representative - California 47th ,,2022255859
John,Campbell,US Representative - California 48th ,,2022259177
Darrell,Issa,US Representative - California 49th,,2022253303
Brian,Bilbray,US Representative - California 50th ,,2022252558
Bob,Filner,US Representative - California 51st,,2022259073
Duncan,Hunter,US Representative - California 52nd ,,2022250235
Susan,Davis,US Representative - California 53rd ,,2022252948

House-Colorado-Florida

Diana,DeGette,US Representative - Colorado 1st,,2022255657
Jared,Polis,US Representative - Colorado 2nd ,,2022257840
John,Salazar,US Representative - Colorado 3rd ,,2022269669
Betsy,Markey,US Representative - Colorado 4th ,,2022255870
Doug,Lamborn,US Representative - Colorado 5th,,2022262638
Mike,Coffman,US Representative - Colorado 6th ,,2022264623
Ed,Perlmutter,US Representative - Colorado 7th ,,2022255278
John,Larson,US Representative - Connecticut 1st ,,2022251031
Joe,Courtney,US Representative - Connecticut 2nd ,,2022254977
Rosa,DeLauro,US Representative - Connecticut 3rd,,2022254890
Jim,Himes,US Representative - Connecticut 4th ,,2022259629
Christopher,Murphy,US Representative - Connecticut 5th,,2022255933
Michael,Castle,US Representative - Delaware,,2022252291
Eleanor Holmes ,Norton,US Representative - DC,,2022253002
"C.W. ""Bill""",Young,US Representative - Florida 10th,,2022259764
Kathy,Castor,US Representative - Florida 11th,,2022255652
Adam,Putnam,US Representative - Florida 12th,,2022260585
Vern,Buchanan,US Representative - Florida 13th,,2022260828
Connie,Mack,US Representative - Florida 14th,,2022260439
Bill,Posey,US Representative - Florida 15th,,2022253516
Tom,Rooney,US Representative - Florida 16th,,2022253132
Kendrick,Meek,US Representative - Florida 17th ,,2022260777
IIlana,Ros-Lehtinen,US Representative - Florida 18th,,2022255620
Robert,Wexler,US Representative - Florida 19th,,2022255974
Jeff,Miller,US Representative - Florida 1st,,2022253414
Debbie,Wasserman-Schultz,US Representative - Florida 20th,,2022262052
Lincoln,Diaz-Balart,US Representative - Florida 21st,,2022258576
Ron,Klein,US Representative - Florida 22nd,,2022258398
Alcee,Hastings,US Representative - Florida 23rd ,,2022251171
Suzanne,Kosmas,US Representative - Florida 24th ,,2022266299
Mario,Diaz-Balart,US Representative - Florida 25th,,2022260346
F. Allen,Boyd,US Representative - Florida 2nd,,2022255615
Corrine,Brown,US Representative - Florida 3rd,,2022252256
Ander,Crenshaw,US Representative - Florida 4th,,2022252504
Virginia,Brown-Waite,US Representative - Florida 5th,,2022266559
Clifford,Stearns,US Representative - Florida 6th,,2022253973
John,Mica,US Representative - Florida 7th ,,2022250821
Alan,Grayson,US Representative - Florida 8th,,2022250999
Gus Michael,Bilirakis,US Representative - Florida 9th,,2022254085

House-Georgia-Indiana

Paul,Broun,US Representative - Georgia 10th,,2022260776
J. Phil,Gingrey,US Representative - Georgia 11th,,2022252944
John,Barrow,US Representative - Georgia 12th,,2022253377
David,Scott,US Representative - Georgia 13th,,2022254628
Jack,Kingston,US Representative - Georgia 1st,,2022252269
Sanford,Bishop,US Representative - Georgia 2nd,,2022252203
Lynn,Westmoreland,US Representative - Georgia 3rd,,2022252515
"Henry Hank""",Johnson,US Representative - Georgia 4th,,2022260691
John,Lewis,US Representative - Georgia 5th,,2022250351
Thomas,Price,US Representative - Georgia 6th,,2022254656
John,Linder,US Representative - Georgia 7th ,,2022254696
Jim,Marshall,US Representative - Georgia 8th,,2022253013
Nathan,Deal,US Representative - Georgia 9th ,,2022258272
Madeleine,Bordallo,US Representative - Guam ,,2022260341
Neil,Abercrombie,US Representative - Hawaii 1st ,,2022254580
Mazie,Hirono,US Representative - Hawaii 2nd,,2022254987
Walt,Minnick,US Representative - Idaho 1st,,2022253029
Mike,Simpson,US Representative - Idaho 2nd ,,2022258216
Mark,Kirk,US Representative - Illinois 10th ,,2022250837
Debbie,Halvorson,US Representative - Illinois 11th ,,2022253521
Jerry,Costello,US Representative - Illinois 12th,,2022250285
Judy,Biggert,US Representative - Illinois 13th,,2022259420
Bill,Foster,US Representative - Illinois 14th,,2022250697
Tim,Johnson,US Representative - Illinois 15th,,2022260791
Don,Manzullo,US Representative - Illinois 16th,,2022255284
Phil,Hare,US Representative - Illinois 17th,,2022255396
Aaron,Schock,US Representative - Illinois 18th ,,2022259249
John,Shimkus,US Representative - Illinois 19th ,,2022255880
Bobby,Rush,US Representative - Illinois 1st,,2022260333
Jesse,Jackson,US Representative - Illinois 2nd,,2022250899
Daniel,Lipinski,US Representative - Illinois 3rd,,2022251012
Luis,Gutierrez,US Representative - Illinois 4th,,2022257810
,Vacant - ,US Representative - Illinois 5th,,2022255603
Peter,Roskam,US Representative - Illinois 6th,,2022251166
Danny,Davis,US Representative - Illinois 7th,,2022255641
Melissa,Bean,US Representative - Illinois 8th,,2022257830
Janice,Schakowsky,US Representative - Illinois 9th,,2022266890
Peter,Visclosky,US Representative - Indiana 1st,,2022252493
Joe,Donnelly,US Representative - Indiana 2nd,,2022256798
Mark ,Souder ,US Representative - Indiana 3rd ,,2022253479
Steve,Buyer,US Representative - Indiana 4th,,2022252267
Dan,Burton,US Representative - Indiana 5th,,2022250016
Mike,Pence,US Representative - Indiana 6th ,,2022253382
Andre",Carson,US Representative - Indiana 7th,,2022255633
Brad,Ellsworth,US Representative - Indiana 8th,,2022253284
Baron,Hill,US Representative - Indiana 9th,,2022256866

House-Iowa-Mass

Bruce,Braley,US Representative - Iowa 1st ,,2022256666
David,Loebsack,US Representative - Iowa 2nd ,,2022260757
Leonard,Boswell,US Representative - Iowa 3rd,,2022255608
Tom,Latham,US Representative - Iowa 4th ,,2022253301
Steve,King,US Representative - Iowa 5th,,2022253193
Jerry,Moran,US Representative - Kansas 1st ,,2022255124
Lynn,Jenkins,US Representative - Kansas 2nd,,2022257986
Dennis,Moore,US Representative - Kansas 3rd ,,2022252807
Todd,Tiahrt,US Representative - Kansas 4th,,2022253489
Edward,Whitfield,US Representative - Kentucky 1st,,2022253547
Brett,Guthrie,US Representative - Kentucky 2nd ,,2022262019
John,Yarmuth,US Representative - Kentucky 3rd,,2022255776
Geoff,Davis,US Representative - Kentucky 4th,,2022250003
Harold,Rogers,US Representative - Kentucky 5th,,2022250940
Ben,Chandler,US Representative - Kentucky 6th,,2022252122
Steve ,Scalise,US Representative - Louisiana 1st,,2022260386
"Anh ""Joseph"" ",Cao,US Representative - Louisiana 2nd,,2022251988
Charles,Melancon,US Representative - Louisiana 3rd,,2022263944
John,Fleming,US Representative - Louisiana 4th,,2022258039
Rodney,Alexander,US Representative - Louisiana 5th,,2022255639
Bill,Cassidy,US Representative - Louisiana 6th,,2022257313
Charles,Boustany,US Representative - Louisiana 7th,,2022255724
Chellie,Pingree,US Representative - Maine 1st,,2022255590
Mike,Michaud,US Representative - Maine 2nd,,2022252943
John,Sarbanes,US Representative - Maryland 3rd,,2022259219
Frank,Kratovil,US Representative - Maryland 1st,,2022250254
C A,Ruppersberger,US Representative - Maryland 2nd,,2022253094
Donna ,Edwards,US Representative - Maryland 4th ,,2022258714
Steny,Hoyer,US Representative - Maryland 5th ,,2022254300
Roscoe ,Bartlett,US Representative - Maryland 6th,,2022252193
Elijah,Cummings,US Representative - Maryland 7th ,,2022253178
Christopher,Van Hollen,US Representative - Maryland 8th ,,2022250375
William,Delahunt,US Representative - Mass. 10th,,2022255658
John,Olver,US Representative - Mass. 1st,,2022251224
Richard,Neal,US Representative - Mass. 2nd,,2022258112
James,McGovern,US Representative - Mass. 3rd,,2022255759
Barney,Frank,US Representative - Mass. 4th,,2022250182
Niki,Tsongas,US Representative - Mass. 5th ,,2022250771
John,Tierney,US Representative - Mass. 6th ,,2022255915
Edward,Markey,US Representative - Mass. 7th,,2022260092
Michael,Capuano,US Representative - Mass. 8th,,2022259322
Stephen,Lynch,US Representative - Mass. 9th,,2022253984

House-Michigan-Monntana

Candice,Miller,US Representative - Michigan 10th,,2022261169
Thaddeus,McCotter,US Representative - Michigan 11th,,2022252667
Sander,Levin,US Representative - Michigan 12th,,2022261033
Carolyn,Kilpatrick,US Representative - Michigan 13th ,,2022255730
John,Conyers,US Representative - Michigan 14th ,,2022250072
John,Dingell,US Representative - Michigan 15th ,,2022260371
Bart,Stupak,US Representative - Michigan 1st ,,2022254744
Peter,Hoekstra,US Representative - Michigan 2nd ,,2022250779
Vernon,Ehlers,US Representative - Michigan 3rd ,,2022255144
Dave,Camp,US Representative - Michigan 4th,,2022259679
Dale,Kildee,US Representative - Michigan 5th,,2022256393
Fred,Upton,US Representative - Michigan 6th,,2022254986
Mark,Schauer,US Representative - Michigan 7th ,,2022256281
Michael,Rogers,US Representative - Michigan 8th ,,2022255820
Gary,Peters,US Representative - Michigan 9th,,2022262356
Timothy,Walz,US Representative - Minnesota 1st ,,2022253433
John,Kline,US Representative - Minnesota 2nd,,2022252595
Erik,Paulsen,US Representative - Minnesota 3rd ,,2022256351
Betty,McCollum,US Representative - Minnesota 4th ,,2022251968
Keith,Ellison,US Representative - Minnesota 5th,,2022254886
Michele,Bachmann,US Representative - Minnesota 6th,,2022256475
Collin,Peterson,US Representative - Minnesota 7th ,,2022251593
James,Oberstar,US Representative - Minnesota 8th,,2022250699
Travis ,Childers,US Representative - Mississippi 1st ,,2022253549
Bennie,Thompson,US Representative - Mississippi 2nd ,,2022255898
Gregg,Harper,US Representative - Mississippi 3rd,,2022255797
Gene,Taylor,US Representative - Mississippi 4th,,2022257074
William,Clay,US Representative - Missouri 1st ,,2022263717
Todd,Akin,US Representative - Missouri 2nd ,,2022252563
Russ,Carnahan,US Representative - Missouri 3rd,,2022257452
Ike,Skelton,US Representative - Missouri 4th ,,2022252695
Emanuel,Cleaver,US Representative - Missouri 5th,,2022254403
Sam,Graves,US Representative - Missouri 6th,,2022258221
Roy,Blunt,US Representative - Missouri 7th ,,2022255604
Jo Ann,Emerson,US Representative - Missouri 8th ,,2022260326
Blaine,Luetkemeyer,US Representative - Missouri 9th ,,2022255712
Dennis,Rehberg,US Representative - Montana,,2022255687

House-NewYork-Ohio

Edolphus,Towns,US Representative - New York 10th,,2022251018
Yvette,Clarke,US Representative - New York 11th,,2022260112
Nydia,Velazquez,US Representative - New York 12th ,,2022250327
Michael,McMahon,US Representative - New York 13th,,2022261272
Carolyn,Maloney,US Representative - New York 14th ,,2022254709
Charles,Rangel,US Representative - New York 15th,,2022250816
Jose",Serrano,US Representative - New York 16th ,,2022256001
Eliot,Engel,US Representative - New York 17th,,2022255513
Nita,Lowey,US Representative - New York 18th,,2022250546
John,Hall,US Representative - New York 19th,,2022253289
Timothy,Bishop,US Representative - New York 1st,,2022253143
,Vacant - Gillibrand,US Representative - New York 20th,,2022251168
Paul,Tonko,US Representative - New York 21st ,,2022255077
Maurice,Hinchey,US Representative - New York 22nd,,2022260774
John,McHugh,US Representative - New York 23th,,2022250621
Michael,Arcuri,US Representative - New York 24th,,2022251891
Dan,Maffei,US Representative - New York 25th ,,2022254042
Chris,Lee,US Representative - New York 26th ,,2022255910
Brian,Higgins,US Representative - New York 27th,,2022260347
Louise McIntosh,Slaughter,US Representative - New York 28th,,2022257822
Eric,Massa,US Representative - New York 29th,,2022266599
Steve,Israel,US Representative - New York 2nd ,,2022254669
Peter,King,US Representative - New York 3rd ,,2022262279
Carolyn,McCarthy,US Representative - New York 4th ,,2022255758
Gary,Ackerman,US Representative - New York 5th,,2022251589
Gregory,Meeks,US Representative - New York 6th ,,2022264169
Joseph,Crowley,US Representative - New York 7th ,,2022251909
Jerrold,Nadler,US Representative - New York 8th ,,2022256923
Anthony,Weiner,US Representative - New York 9th ,,2022267253
Earl,Pomeroy,US Representative - North Dakota,,2022260893
Dennis,Kucinich,US Representative - Ohio 10th ,,2022255745
Marcia,Fudge,US Representative - Ohio 11th,,2022251339
Patrick,Tiberi,US Representative - Ohio 12th ,,2022264523
Betty,Sutton,US Representative - Ohio 13th ,,2022252266
Steven,LaTourette,US Representative - Ohio 14th ,,2022253307
Mary Jo,Kilroy,US Representative - Ohio 15th ,,2022253529
John,Boccieri,US Representative - Ohio 16th,,2022253059
Timothy,Ryan,US Representative - Ohio 17th,,2022253719
Zachary,Space,US Representative - Ohio 18th,,2022253394
Steve,Driehaus,US Representative - Ohio 1st ,,2022253012
Jean,Schmidt,US Representative - Ohio 2nd,,2022251992
Michael,Turner,US Representative - Ohio 3rd,,2022256754
Jim,Jordan,US Representative - Ohio 4th,,2022260577
Robert ,Latta,US Representative - Ohio 5th,,2022251985
Charles,Wilson,US Representative - Ohio 6th ,,2022255907
Steve,Austria,US Representative - Ohio 7th,,2022251984
John,Boehner,US Representative - Ohio 8th,,2022250704
Marcy,Kaptur,US Representative - Ohio 9th,,2022257711

House-NorthCarolina-NewMexico

Bob,Etheridge,US Representative - N. Carolina 2nd,,2022255662
Patrick,McHenry,US Representative - N. Carolina 10th,,2022250316
Heath,Shuler,US Representative - N. Carolina 11th,,2022266422
Melvin,Watt,US Representative - N. Carolina 12th,,2022251512
Brad,Miller,US Representative - N. Carolina 13th,,2022250181
G K,Butterfield,US Representative - N. Carolina 1st,,2022253354
Walter,Jones,US Representative - N. Carolina 3rd,,2022253286
David,Price,US Representative - N. Carolina 4th ,,2022252014
Virginia,Foxx,US Representative - N. Carolina 5th,,2022252995
Howard,Coble,US Representative - N. Carolina 6th,,2022258611
Mike,McIntyre,US Representative - N. Carolina 7th ,,2022255773
Larry,Kissell,US Representative - N. Carolina 8th,,2022254036
Sue Wilkins,Myrick,US Representative - N. Carolina 9th,,2022253389
Jeff,Fortenberry,US Representative - Nebraksa 1st,,2022255686
Lee,Terry,US Representative - Nebraska 2nd ,,2022265452
Adrian,Smith,US Representative - Nebraska 3rd ,,2022250207
Shelley,Berkley,US Representative - Nevada 1st,,2022253119
Dean,Heller,US Representative - Nevada 2nd ,,2022255679
Alice,Titus,US Representative - Nevada 3rd,,2022252185
Carol,Shea-Porter,US Representative - New Hamp. 1st,,2022255822
Paul,Hodes,US Representative - New Hamp. 2nd,,2022252946
Donald,Payne,US Representative - New Jersey 10th,,2022254160
Rodney,Frelinghuysen,US Representative - New Jersey 11th ,,2022253186
Rush,Holt,US Representative - New Jersey 12th,,2022256025
Albio,Sires,US Representative - New Jersey 13th,,2022260792
Robert,Andrews,US Representative - New Jersey 1st,,2022256583
Frank,LoBiondo,US Representative - New Jersey 2nd,,2022253318
John,Adler,US Representative - New Jersey 3rd,,2022250778
Christopher,Smith,US Representative - New Jersey 4th ,,2022257768
Scott,Garrett,US Representative - New Jersey 5th,,2022259048
Frank,Pallone,US Representative - New Jersey 6th ,,2022259665
Leonard,Lance,US Representative - New Jersey 7th,,2022259460
Bill,Pascrell,US Representative - New Jersey 8th ,,2022255782
Steven,Rothman,US Representative - New Jersey 9th,,2022255851
Martin,Heinrich,US Representative - New Mexico 1st,,2022254975
Harry,Teague,US Representative - New Mexico 2nd,,2022259599
Ben,Lujan,US Representative - New Mexico 3rd,,2022261331

House-Oklahoma-Tennessee

John,Sullivan,US Representative - Oklahoma 1st,,2022259187
Dan,Boren,US Representative - Oklahoma 2nd,,2022253038
Frank,Lucas,US Representative - Oklahoma 3rd,,2022258698
Tom,Cole,US Representative - Oklahoma 4th,,2022253512
Mary,Fallin,US Representative - Oklahoma 5th,,2022261463
David,Wu,US Representative - Oregon 1st ,,2022259497
Greg,Walden,US Representative - Oregon 2nd ,,2022255774
Earl,Blumenauer,US Representative - Oregon 3rd ,,2022258941
Peter,DeFazio,US Representative - Oregon 4th,,2022250032
Kurt,Schrader,US Representative - Oregon 5th,,2022255699
Chaka,Fattah,US Representative - Penn. 2nd,,2022255392
Christopher,Carney,US Representative - Penn. 10th,,2022259594
Paul,Kanjorski,US Representative - Penn. 11th,,2022250764
John,Murtha,US Representative - Penn. 12th ,,2022255709
Allyson,Schwartz,US Representative - Penn. 13th,,2022250611
Mike,Doyle,US Representative - Penn. 14th,,2022253084
Charles,Dent,US Representative - Penn. 15th,,2022260778
Joseph,Pitts,US Representative - Penn. 16th,,2022252013
Tim,Holden,US Representative - Penn. 17th ,,2022250996
Timothy,Murphy,US Representative - Penn. 18th,,2022251844
Todd Russell,Platts,US Representative - Penn. 19th,,2022261000
Kathy,Dahlkemper,US Representative - Penn. 3rd,,2022253103
Jason,Altmire,US Representative - Penn. 4th,,2022262274
Glenn,Thompson,US Representative - Penn. 5th ,,2022255796
Jim,Gerlach,US Representative - Penn. 6th,,2022258440
Joe,Sestack,US Representative - Penn. 7th ,,2022260280
Patrick,Murphy,US Representative - Penn. 8th,,2022259511
Bill,Shuster,US Representative - Penn. 9th,,2022252486
Robert,Brady,US Representative - Penn.1st ,,2022250088
Pedro,Pierluisi,US Representative - Puerto Rico,,2022252154
Patrick,Kennedy,US Representative - Rhode Isle 1st ,,2022253290
Jim,Langevin,US Representative - Rhode Isle 2nd ,,2022255976
Henry,Brown,US Representative - S. Carolina 1st ,,2022253407
Joe,Wilson,US Representative - S. Carolina 2nd,,2022252455
J. Gresham,Barrett,US Representative - S. Carolina 3rd,,2022253126
Robert,Inglis,US Representative - S. Carolina 4th,,2022261177
John,Spratt,US Representative - S. Carolina 5th ,,2022250464
James,Clyburn,US Representative - S. Carolina 6th,,2022252313
Stephanie,Herseth Sandlin,US Representative - South Dakota,,2022255823
David Phil,Roe,US Representative - Tenn. 1st ,,2022255714
John,Duncan,US Representative - Tenn. 2nd,,2022256440
Zach,Wamp,US Representative - Tenn. 3rd ,,2022253494
Lincoln,Davis,US Representative - Tenn. 4th,,2022265172
Jim,Cooper,US Representative - Tenn. 5th,,2022261035
Bart,Gordon,US Representative - Tenn. 6th ,,2022256887
Marsha,Blackburn,US Representative - Tenn. 7th,,2022253004
John,Tanner,US Representative - Tenn. 8th ,,2022251765
Steve,Cohen,US Representative - Tenn. 9th,,2022255663

House-Texas

Mike,McCaul,US Representative - Texas 10th,,2022255955
K. Michael,Conaway,US Representative - Texas 11th,,2022251783
Kay,Granger,US Representative - Texas 12th ,,2022255683
"William ""Mac""",Thornberry,US Representative - Texas 13th ,,2022253486
Ron,Paul,US Representative - Texas 14th ,,2022266288
Ruben,Hinojosa,US Representative - Texas 15th,,2022255688
Silvester,Reyes,US Representative - Texas 16th,,2022252016
Chet,Edwards,US Representative - Texas 17th,,2022250350
Sheila,Jackson-Lee,US Representative - Texas 18th,,2022253317
Robert,Neugebauer,US Representative - Texas 19th,,2022259615
Louis,Gohmert,US Representative - Texas 1st,,2022261230
Charlie,Gonzalez,US Representative - Texas 20th,,2022251915
Lamar,Smith,US Representative - Texas 21st ,,2022258628
Pete,Olson,US Representative - Texas 22nd,,2022255241
Ciro,Rodriguez,US Representative - Texas 23rd ,,2022252237
Kenny,Marchant,US Representative - Texas 24th,,2022250074
Lloyd,Doggett,US Representative - Texas 25th ,,2022253073
Michael,Burgess,US Representative - Texas 26th,,2022252919
Soloman,Ortiz,US Representative - Texas 27th,,2022261134
Henry,Cuellar,US Representative - Texas 28th,,2022251641
Gene,Green,US Representative - Texas 29th ,,2022259903
Ted,Poe,US Representative - Texas 2nd,,2022255547
Eddie Bernice,Johnson,US Representative - Texas 30th,,2022261477
John,Carter,US Representative - Texas 31st,,2022255886
Pete,Sessions,US Representative - Texas 32nd ,,2022255878
Sam,Johnson,US Representative - Texas 3rd,,2022251485
Ralph,Hall,US Representative - Texas 4th ,,2022253332
Jeb,Hensarling,US Representative - Texas 5th,,2022264888
Joe,Barton,US Representative - Texas 6th,,2022253052
John,Culberson,US Representative - Texas 7th,,2022254381
Kevin,Brady,US Representative - Texas 8th,,2022255524
Al,Green,US Representative - Texas 9th,,2022252947

House-Utah-Wyoming

Rob,Bishop,US Representative - Utah 1st,,2022255857
Jim,Matheson,US Representative - Utah 2nd ,,2022255638
Jason,Chaffetz,US Representative - Utah 3rd,,2022255629
Peter,Welch,US Representative - Vermont,,2022256790
Donna,Christian-Christensen,US Representative - Virgin Islands,,2022255517
Frank,Wolf,US Representative - Virginia 10th,,2022250437
Gerry,Connolly,US Representative - Virginia 11th,,2022253071
Robert,Wittman,US Representative - Virginia 1st,,2022254382
Glenn,Nye,US Representative - Virginia 2nd,,2022254218
"Robert ""Bobby""",Scott,US Representative - Virginia 3rd,,2022258354
J. Randy,Forbes,US Representative - Virginia 4th,,2022261170
Tom,Perriello,US Representative - Virginia 5th ,,2022255681
Bob,Goodlatte,US Representative - Virginia 6th,,2022259681
Eric,Cantor,US Representative - Virginia 7th,,2022250011
James,Moran,US Representative - Virginia 8th ,,2022250017
Rick,Boucher,US Representative - Virginia 9th,,2022250442
Alan,Mollohan,US Representative - W. Virginia 1st ,,2022257564
Shelley Moore,Capito,US Representative - W. Virginia 2nd ,,2022257856
Nick,Rahall,US Representative - W. Virginia 3rd,,2022259061
Jay,Inslee,US Representative - Washington 1st ,,2022251606
Rick,Larsen,US Representative - Washington 2nd ,,2022254420
Brian,Baird,US Representative - Washington 3rd,,2022253478
Doc,Hastings,US Representative - Washington 4th,,2022253251
Cathy,McMorris Rodgers,US Representative - Washington 5th,,2022253392
Norman,Dicks,US Representative - Washington 6th ,,2022251176
Jim,McDermott,US Representative - Washington 7th ,,2022256197
David,Reichert,US Representative - Washington 8th,,2022254282
Adam,Smith,US Representative - Washington 9th,,2022255893
Paul,Ryan,US Representative - Wisconsin 1st,,2022253393
Tammy,Baldwin,US Representative - Wisconsin 2nd,,2022256942
Ron,Kind,US Representative - Wisconsin 3rd ,,2022255739
Gwendolynne,Moore,US Representative - Wisconsin 4th,,2022258135
F. James,Sensenbrenner,US Representative - Wisconsin 5th,,2022253190
Tom,Petri,US Representative - Wisconsin 6th,,2022252356
David,Obey,US Representative - Wisconsin 7th,,7158424488
Steve,Kagen,US Representative - Wisconsin 8th,,2022255729
Cynthia,Lummis,US Representative - Wyoming,,2022253057

Notes For Metrofax Users:

I was hoping for simple procedures to get the above lists in Metrofax for everyone to use. Unfortunately, Metrofax would not make those lists public. MyFax would not do so either.

It is possible to create and upload a small group by putting the lines you want in a file on your computer and saving it as a .CSV (comma separated value) file. You can do this in Microsoft Word or Notepad or any other text editor.

I wanted to upload all of those lists (the upload itself is fast) but the grouping process after the upload is extremely cumbersome. If you wish to create a small group for just your state, perhaps adding some extra senators or whatever you may wish to give it a go. There is an upload feature on the Manage Groups page. Unfortunately the handling of large groups is so convoluted in Metrofax, that I gave up. They have my list of complaints.

Do not put any more than 50 in a group, and bear in mind the process gets very unwieldy for multiple large groups. Also note that the upload function sometimes "goes away" and when it does, it does not come back when you refresh the page. You have to leave the page and come back to it.

However, the scheme is probably workable and may just take 10 minutes of so if all you want to do is create one small group. It would have taken hours to build the groups displayed above. I gave up. I am hoping for some updated procedures but it will likely be a while.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

"Debts Are Being Fought With Debts, Meaning That Not Only Banks But Entire Countries Could End Up Bankrupt."

Spiegel wrote in April:

Unlike 1929, the world"s major countries are flooding the economy with money to prevent deflation and, with it, a downward spiral of declining prices and income.

But no one knows whether this will suffice, or whether all the money being thrown at the aggressive virus fueling this crisis will only make it worse. Debts are being fought with debts, meaning that not only banks but entire countries could end up bankrupt. Perhaps the efforts to combat the current crisis are merely laying the foundations for the next crisis, which will be bigger still.

Indeed, one of the world"s leading economic historians - Harvard professor Niall Ferguson - recently warned of huge government debts threatening the solvency of entire nations:

"The idea that countries don"t go bust is a joke... The debt trap may be about to spring ... for countries that have created large stimulus packages in order to stimulate their economies."

And even BIS (the "Central Banks" Central Bank") says that the massive bailouts are putting nations at risk, as confirmed by higher credit default swap spreads.

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Palin"s Project List Totals $453 Million

Source: WSJ
McCain Campaign Says Record Shows Drop in Requests
By LAURA MECKLER and JOHN R. WILKE
September 15, 2008

Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hadn"t sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative. But state records show Gov. Palin has asked U.S. taxpayers to fund $453 million in specific Alaska projects over the past two years. These projects include more than $130 million in federal funds that would benefit Alaska"s fishing industry and an additional $9 million to help Alaska oil companies. She also has sought $4.5 million to upgrade an airport on a Bering Sea island that has a year-round population of less than 100.

In fact, in the current fiscal year, she is seeking $197 million for 31 projects, the records show. In the prior year, her first year in office, she sought $256 million for dozens more projects ranging from research on rockfish and harbor-seal genetics to rural sanitation and obesity prevention. By comparison, her predecessor, Gov. Frank Murkowski, sought more than $350 million in his last year in office. The McCain campaign said Sunday that Gov. Palin"s overall record is one of fiscal discipline. "Her record is cutting the number of earmark requests from the previous administration sizably," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds, and she has vetoed wasteful state spending as well.

The state"s earmark requests stand out in part because its state government is among the wealthiest in the U.S. Flush with oil and gas royalties, it doesn"t impose income or sales taxes. In fact, money flows the other way: Every man, woman and child this year got a check for $3,200. The McCain campaign has also come under fire for saying on the stump and in TV ads that Gov. Palin killed the controversial "Bridge to Nowhere," a $223 million earmark linking the mainland to a sparsely populated island. In fact, she supported the project initially and killed it after it was widely criticized and Congress allowed the state to use the funds for other projects. On the campaign trail, Gov. Palin has repeatedly attacked Sen. Obama on earmarks. "Our opponent has requested nearly one billion dollars in earmarks in three years. That"s about a million for every working day," she said at a rally in Albuquerque, N.M., earlier this month.

Sen. Barack Obama requested a total of $860 million in earmarks in his Senate years, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. That doesn"t include $78 million for projects that were national in scope and had been requested by many lawmakers. Sen. Obama halted all earmark requests in fiscal 2009. It is difficult to compare Sen. Obama"s earmark record with Gov. Palin"s. But using the same calculation that the McCain campaign uses, the total amount of earmarked dollars divided by the number of working days while each held office (assuming a five-day work week, every week, for both), Gov. Palin sought $980,000 per workday, compared to roughly $893,000 for Sen. Obama.

LinkHere

Congressman: Fed "Bamboozling" Americans

The Fed is refusing to disclose the recipients of $2 trillion dollars in loans, even after Bloomberg sued under the Freedom of Information Act to get the information.

As Bloomberg writes:

�If they told us what they held, we would know the potential losses that the government may take and that�s what they don�t want us to know,� said Carlos Mendez, who oversees about $14 billion at New York-based ICP Capital LLC.***
Congress is demanding more transparency from the Fed and Treasury on the bailout efforts, most recently during Dec. 10 hearings by the House Financial Services committee when Representative David Scott, a Georgia Democrat, said Americans had �been bamboozled.�***

�Americans don�t want to get blindsided anymore,� Mendez said in an interview. �They don�t want it sugarcoated or whitewashed. They want the complete truth. The truth is we can�t take all the pain right now.�

The Bloomberg lawsuit said that the collateral lists �are central to understanding and assessing the government�s response to the most cataclysmic financial crisis in America since the Great Depression.�

In response, the Fed argued that the trade-secret [law] could be expanded to include potential harm to any of the central bank�s customers . . . .

Trade secret law?

Trade secret law protects things like valuable business methods. What"s the banks" secret business method here - making stupid decisions, going bankrupt and then becoming the recipient of socialist government handouts?

What"s next? Will the government argue that it can"t disclose the details of its torture program because it needs to protect the trade secrets of the companies that make the electro-shock machines and the waterboarding platforms?

Jewish Voters Report Calls Disparaging Obama

MIAMI � Jewish voters in Florida and at least one other state are being targeted by a telephone survey tying Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Palestinian causes, an advocacy group alleged Monday.
The Jewish Council for Education in Research says at least two women in separate states were push polled, or asked questions intended to influence voters while pretending to take a poll, on Sunday afternoon from a caller who said he was from Research Strategies.
Joelna Marcus says she became uncomfortable when the caller asked if she was Jewish, whether she was Orthodox and how often she attends synagogue.
The caller then asked if Marcus would be influenced if she learned that Obama had donated money to the Palestine Liberation Organization. The caller also asked how she would vote if she learned that someone on the Illinois senator"s staff had close ties to Palestine.
Marcus, a 71-year-old former college professor, said she was furious.
"I said you"re not polling me. This is un-American. This is unacceptable," said Marcus, a snowbird who lives in New Jersey and has a house in Key West. "And then this is the scary part. He said if you had not said that you were Jewish, you would have been disqualified."
LinkHere

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