Things are starting to get rough...

ICELAND'S GOVERNMENT COLLAPSES

The global financial crisis felled its first major political victim on Monday, as the coalition government of Iceland collapsed a week after admitting the extent to which the freeze in financial markets had ruined its economy. This will add further to the pressure on a devastated economy, expected to shrink by nearly 10.0% this year and next.

"I really regret that we could not continue with this coalition," said Prime Minister Geir Haarde as he announced he would be officially informing the president of the collapse, and his resignation as prime minister. His Independence Party's partner in the governing coalition, the Social Democratic Alliance, had demanded the post of prime minister - a condition that Haarde said he was unable to meet. Haarde last week announced that he would be retiring as he battled cancer, at parliamentary elections scheduled for May 9.

The government withstood furious protests last year after the nationalization of three banks - Kaupthing, Glitnir, and Landsbanki - and collapse of the currency plunged the country into economic turmoil. However, the final straw seems to have been the latest admission of how serious the crisis really was. The finance ministry last week drastically cut its expectations for the next two years, predicting that gross domestic product would shrink by 9.6% in 2009 and 2010, after predicting a 1.6% contraction just in October. Inflation will rise as high as 13.1% this year against the previous prediction of 5.7%. At the weekend thousands of protesters gathered in capital city Reykjavik demanding that the government step down.

A $2.1 billion loan package from the International Monetary Fund, rates hikes to curb inflation, and campaigns by local celebrities such as singer Bjork, have done little to revive the economy, which got caught up in the financial crisis after its banks paid the penalty for their dependence on foreign wholesale borrowing.

The collapse leaves future leadership unclear: Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir, the head of the Social Democrats, who had been considered a replacement, said she would not move to replace Haarde. Haarde's party could try to hash out a new coaltion, but that would be a struggle given its huge unpopularity.

"These latest developments mean that the country is currently without a government and no one can say with any certainty what happens next," said Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson at the University of Iceland.

The news had no impact on the currency markets, where trading in the krona was nonexistent. With the onshore market under control of the government, international trade has been extremely thin since October...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28854529/
http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

No tax refunds for Californians
The Golden State is in such desperate need of gold that residents will have to wait to receive their own money back this year. ABC News reports that "tax refunds are now on hold in California for the first time in state history, according to the state controller's office." California has had no money in the general fund for 17 months and has been borrowing from Wall Street and special interest funds. Even that borrowed money will be gone by the end of February. The state controller's office has called for a 30-day delay in tax refunds beginning 1 February because it needs the extra $1.99 billion to pay for "education, debt service, and other payments that legally have first claim to state funds." Now, color us confused, but if tax refunds are due to individuals, are they really part of "state funds"?
http://patriotpost.us/

Can I owe you?
California's Controller John Chiang already warned that by the end of February, the nation's most populous state may not be able to pay some of its debts, and instead be reduced to issuing those creditors IOUs:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28448852/

Top 5 Causes of the Great Depression
Here is a list of the top reasons that historians and economists have cited as causing the Great Depression.

1. Stock Market Crash of 1929
Many believe erroneously that the stock market crash that occurred on Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929 is one and the same with the Great Depression. In fact, it was one of the major causes that led to the Great Depression. Two months after the original crash in October, stockholders had lost more than $40 billion dollars. Even though the stock market began to regain some of its losses, by the end of 1930, it just was not enough and America truly entered what is called the Great Depression.

2. Bank Failures
Throughout the 1930s over 9,000 banks failed. Bank deposits were uninsured and thus as banks failed people simply lost their savings. Surviving banks, unsure of the economic situation and concerned for their own survival, stopped being as willing to create new loans. This exacerbated the situation leading to less and less expenditures.

3. Reduction in Purchasing Across the Board
With the stock market crash and the fears of further economic woes, individuals from all classes stopped purchasing items. This then led to a reduction in the number of items produced and thus a reduction in the workforce. As people lost their jobs, they were unable to keep up with paying for items they had bought through installment plans and their items were repossessed. More and more inventory began to accumulate. The unemployment rate rose above 25% which meant, of course, even less spending to help alleviate the economic situation.

4. American Economic Policy with Europe
As businesses began failing, the government created the Hawley-Smoot Tariff in 1930 to help protect American companies. This charged a high tax for imports thereby leading to less trade between America and foreign countries along with some economic retaliation.

5. Drought Conditions
While not a direct cause of the Great Depression, the drought that occurred in the Mississippi Valley in 1930 was of such proportions that many could not even pay their taxes or other debts and had to sell their farms for no profit to themselves. This was the topic of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/...depression.htm

Will the U.S. embrace global socialism?
Reports from the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, suggest that most of the world's leaders are convinced that the current crisis is the result of inherent flaws in capitalism, and are eager to impose new international rules to save the world. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is calling for creating a NEW ECONOMIC SYSTEM... The growing consensus among these leaders is that capitalism must be brought under control. More importantly, it must be brought under the control of an international authority... more here:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.p...w&pageId=88254

Well it's official,
the House just passed the $787 billion SPENDULOUS PLAN...
America just put it's mortgage payment on it's credit card.

House passes stimulus bill
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...ur22AD96ASLI01

Home mortgage relief
--for millions of illegals?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.p...w&pageId=89967

[stephanos]

Originally Posted by Bro. Parrish

Home mortgage relief
--for millions of illegals?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.p...w&pageId=89967

Man, I'm so glad I can sleep well at night knowing my taxes were well spent...

Peace and Love,
Stephen

[Brother Tim]

New bumper sticker:

Honk if I am paying your mortgage.

"I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."
-- Winston Churchill

"Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."
-- Ronald Reagan

"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul."
-- George Bernard Shaw

"A liberal Is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."
-- G. Gordon Liddy

"If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!"
-- P.J. O'Rourke

"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery."
-- Winston Churchill

""The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
-- Ronald Reagan