Part 1: Russia talks up dollar, Obama on Heatlh care, too big to fail

[brothermikefan]

"If he gives you health insurance, there's no tax."

Wha?

[cowmo]

since when has govt interference in health care raised costs? what about govt interference in the education system, police force, public transportation, or shipping? do you think that raised costs, because i don't see any evidence pointing to that conclusion.

[StrafingMoose]

Pretty darn obvious government intervention raises cost. Just look at the books filled with red numbers (debts). YOU maybe are not paying them right now, but someone will eventually.

[cowmo]

i'm sure the problem is social services too, and not let's seee... what's something unnecessarily large that costs us a lot of money?... oh yeah, the military? question mark?

[StrafingMoose]

Sure, the military as well.

[cowmo]

health care could easily be paid for if we made serious cuts from unnecessary military programs, brought the troops back, and stopped paying PMCs to do our dirty work. not just health care, but improved education, mass transit lines etc. all the things that america fails on when compared to any other civilized nation.

[StrafingMoose]

Not really, since governmental structures encourages waste (they usually have a monopoly on the service they try to provide) so the waste and deficits are inevitable. For example, Canada doesn't have much military to pay for, and health care is aweful and always begging for more money to run the same services years and after years. Same in Quebec, no military at all to pay for, very deficient education and healthcare services.

[cowmo]

hmm. well most of this "waste" would be going toward higher paying jobs, since they don't have to worry about making a profit, they can afford to pay more than minimum wage. as for the canada topic, canada actually has a large budget surplus, and i've never heard of them "begging for money". and if their healthcare an education services are deficient, why would americans cross the border to abuse their system? and why are they ranked higher than the u.s. for both?

[hockeypuck999]

You have apparently skipped econ 101 (or was it 201?). Macroeconomics, study the supply and demand curves. But think about this, the electric wheel chair ads, people can get them at "no cost". Do you think they would be cheaper if the govt didn't pay for them? If people were spending their own money on them, of course they'd be cheaper! Why have health care costs spiraled upward only since the government meddled in the health care market, starting with medicare and medicaid in the 1960s?

[cowmo]

oh yes i agree with you there. when people see that the government is flipping the bill they know they can charge more. but that's beside the point. the u.s. government could easily pay for everyone's healthcare if we cut some of the 651.2 billion dollars from the military. but that price raise works for private insurance companies too, because, again, when doctors see that someone else is flipping the bill the price goes up. but in that case, not everyone has it, and some get fucked.

[wethepeopleUSA2012]

2 Videos on Youtube to watch: 1) The Health Care Bill: What they DON'T want you to know!

2) wethepeopleUSA2012 (see the video posted there)

[theastrusmega]

Im glad I saw this video.

Schiff is a bonafied "doom and gloomer".

Ill check back in September to see if hes still doom and glooming. Then Ill know if I should put him in the "Alex Jones" box.

[WPAJoker]

This is the same "Doom and Gloomer" that told us to dump all of the financial stocks throughout 2006 & 2007 and also said there was a bubble in the housing market. He also told us to buy gold when it was still less than $400 a troy oz. Why aren't we listening to someone that got this right, because Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman didn't even predict this mess. How do you explain that?

[nonantianarchist]

Actually, Paul Krugman predicted that the federal reserve cutting interest rates would cause a housing bubble-and then still recommended that the federal reserve do so. So it's really much more damning than simply not predicting it.

[WPAJoker]

Really? Can you produce any proof of this. Ron Paul warned that the damage from this would be catastrophic in front of the House Banking Committe in 2003. Can you produce any predictions from Krugman that were before that? Why have I not heard anything about a currency(inflation) crisis from Krugman? We alll know it's comming.

[nonantianarchist]

I don't actually have the links on hand. They're in the sidebar to the confederalsocialist video "Paul Krugman". Basically Krugman said that the fed would create a housing bubble if it slashed interest rates enough, but that this was somehow OK-as if a distorted,illusory but quick recovery was somehow better than riding out the recession. Because Paul Krugman is a douche.

[nonantianarchist]

Probably. I think lots of us will be doom and glooming.

[chort1234]

Wtf, So WHO exactly was the Russian minister proping up the dollar for? AMericans? No you stupid ass it was for the RUssians so that only helps the US economy, if it wasnt for the dollar in russia china japan it would be broken. Unbelievable how self centered this idiot is, if the russian finincial minister came to washington and gave a speech on how strong the dollar was then I would ask questions.

[battim]

aren't you the idiot who claimed the dollar would collapse by the end of 2008? yes that was you. you were wring as you have been for the most part all of the time

[commonsense2008]

Well I dont agree with all of this. Government interference can work very well, as long the government is NOT corrupt. I am from Holland and let me tell you, it is a way better country to live then the USA. We have universal health care, controlled by our government. That means that you dont have to argue with your insurance company when you need a heart transplant. (It makes me laugh) Unlike the USA, things are actually done for the people not for we the people translated we the bankers.

[drewmandan]

And what if a citizen of Holland wishes to opt out of the public healthcare system and seek healthcare through private means, meaning they also don't pay for the public healthcare they don't want? Oh, they get put in prison? Hmm, interesting system.

[commonsense2008]

This is such a typical American reply. Most Americans don't know how it can be, and they don't want to know either! To clarify my self, and its sad I have to, Holland (unlike the USA) is a socialist country, we don't electrocute people, or put people in jail for smoking a joint. There is no such thing like private health care, and why would we? Do we have a private firefighters in the USA ? We dont, do we? Or would you like to promote this as well?

[drewmandan]

First, I'm not American, and even if I was, ad hominem much?

Second, the American system is fascistic and is no example of private healthcare, in the least.

Third, I am against punitive jail sentences and drug laws.

Fourth, I do believe that the free market (ie. NOT FASCISM like in the US) should provide fire fighters.

[frionelhero]

In the city I live in, we have the government controlled Fire Department, and a just as effective private owned volunteer only fire department. Guess which fire department is more effective, and guess which one is trying to take over the other one?

[commonsense2008]

Ironically, China and Russia decided today to eliminate the dollar for their trades and mainly trade in their own currency. Regarding windows/linux: Unix is not made for humans. I have several Windows 2003 Servers running for my customers for years without any problem, and so easy to use. (I have no idea why people talking about Unix versus Windows on this though)

[DillonX]

commonsense -- you're statement that "China and Russia decided today to eliminate the dollar from their trades and mainly trade in their own currency" represents an out-and-out lie & is the kind of umitigated ignorant propaganda that is sickening!

[commonsense2008]

its on the news dude. do your research!

[Looter92]

They should say that they will do everything they can to save the dollar and they won't allow it to become a worthless piece of paper, that should help confidence.

[DillonX]

At 1 time the world had thousands of currencies. Now it's down to about 80.

We'll eventually have only 1 & yes, it'll be paper money (everything else is too inconvenient).

The only question now is whether it'll be the USD or something else.

The 1st step might be to bring in the Amero, which would cover USA, Canada, & Mexico.Some in the USA object as it'd mainly help Canada & Mexico & not help the USA, but I think it'd help in the long-run. Then Britian,Austrailia,& NZ would accept also.

[clarisd]

They are wanting out of the $ so talk it up in order to sell it on. Look the whole of the world is under attack as far as the paper that all use as currency. Paper is only a proof of true currency, or was, now it's only paper.

[dudebud007]

wtf is wrong with those communist asshole russians, 1st they say they want out of dollars, then they say they want in, and now they say they want out again ? ? ?

these chumps are playing some serious head games ! ! !

[Exxodus28]

Peter Schiff, the man with a million analogies.

[beauzackosta]

damn that George Bush!!!!!!!!

[adambelnap]

Excellent comments around insurance. I was trying to explain this to my coworkers and they thought I was nuts. You don't insure what you can pay for, uou insure what you can't pay for.

[campaign4liberty]

going to post it on Daily Paul political blog

[LoveAndLiberty1776]

The ruling elite will bring about the depression, but turmoil and unrest will get so far out of control that things will not be brought back into a neatly wrapped package for them. The world economy will not recover from the ruling elites manipulation of the economic systems the way they have planned.

thomaspainereturns. net

[edhastie]

So buy a microphone already....

[OpenMind00]

PETER

As an American what is your solution? let us disappear?

U are saying this 2 ways.

Other countries are propping us up and yet they know that the dollar is flawed.

Isnt that kind of insane?

Kind of like sinking another 100k into a business that is doomed to fail and know it

Yet they keep propping us up?

Why

You cant say they need us to buy their stuff so they let us borrow money from them to buy it.

Something doesn't compute, a piece of the puzzle is missing

[Capnwabbit]

OM000, the reason they talk it up is because they don't want a stampede out of the dollar, which would make their existing investments worthless. In short, they wish to slowly and carefully dump the dollar, while telling everyone else how great it is!

[gtele5hev]

Financial officials of Russia and Japan talking the dollar up means that "US is too big to fail" and they'll keep buying treasuries in an effort to bail the whole country out.

[WeBeGood06]

When they talk something up, often it's because someone is trying to get out of it. Get all the little ignorant people to buy it up, so a large position can be sold.

[bigmick142]

The world would be better off if Microsoft was split in to several companies - at least separate the OS from the utilities. Microsoft is an very inefficiently run monopoly that abuse their power.

mickanomics-blogspot-com

[davincij15]

That's not true Microsoft can be taken down so long as the government does not protect Microsoft as they fall.

We all know that the government will not stand by while Microsoft fails because...

1. The government has a printing press.

2. Top executives have friends in government

3. They are so big

So if you look at the number one reason you will see it gives the government power to bail people out, with out that power reasons 2 and 3 are nullified.

Got Gold?

[Capnwabbit]

WTF has that got to do with this vid, plus how can there be a 'monopoly' when there' Linux, Ubuntu, Macintosh etc?

[bigmick142]

Move the slider to 9mins 4 seconds. He says "where would we have stopped the growth of microsoft?".

Microsoft is a monopoly - say you want to buy a PC and some business software - you want to know that if you have some technical issue you can find people locally that can come and help you. Preferably you want to be able to ask a friend or neighbor to help you out for free. If you buy a Linux machine, got help you if you get stuck.

[Capnwabbit]

Mono in monopoly means "one", not simply the best, most popular and successful one.

There is no such thing as a monopoly in a free market - such things happen only via government 'licensing', 'regulations' and other crap to damage or prevent competition. There is no such help for Microsoft, quite the opposite in fact, as European Union keeps kicking them for being too successful. How about we kick Google for dominating the Internet, or Youtube for dominating online video?

[bigmick142]

Sure, its not a 100% monopoly - its a 90% monopoly.

Not all monopolies are equally bad and some are very impractical to break up. But IMHO Microsoft is a bad one and it would be easy to break up.

[drewmandan]

Microsoft has no government enforcement. Nothing is stopping people from switching to Linux. By continuing to use Windows, people are simply voluntarily choosing to pay a premium for a single standard. That's natural and healthy. You cannot compare something like that to government-enforced monopolies, that's just silly.

[bigmick142]

P.S. I'm not comparing MS to a government-enforced monopoly. But in answer to Schiff's question about the merits of breaking up companies that get too big, the answer is sometimes "yes, its a good idea".

Big companies can often sustain themselves with dodgy tactics rather than remaining efficient and producing good products.

[CraigMerton]

Professional users are dependent on Windows because most software coming from Adobe, Autodesk, Steinberg, Digidesign, ... are not available for Linux. Moreover, although Linux has extensive hardware support, there are exclusive contracts signed with vendors and hardware manufacturers to prioritize the Windows platform. So people don't really have a choice in many cases.

[drewmandan]

I agree. There are some markets where it's beneficial to everyone to adhere to a single standard. I just don't see how Microsoft has anything to do with the unnatural government sponsorship of GM.

[CraigMerton]

No, you're wrong. One main reason why people don't have any choice but to use Windows is that a lot of crucial software are only available for that platform. For home users this means that the hot new computer games coming from EA, BioWare, Bethesda, ... are only available in Windows and not Linux.

[drewmandan]

a), that's not true. All the things you mentioned have been hacked to work in Linux, and you can run a Windows emulator in Linux anyway, and b) you're not being forced at gunpoint to play EA games. On the other hand, you ARE being forced, at gunpoint, to fund GM.

[CraigMerton]

I do not intend to be as drastic as to say that someone is pointing a gun over me when I or any other individual is making a decision on what software to use. But the truth is that many if not most companies take measures to control their markets and Microsoft is no exception.

The facts I have stated remains, and are known as technological and contractual lock-ins which are a design by M$.

I know about those emulators and they don't work 100% and can be a bit of a hazzle to use.

[CraigMerton]

There might be one day where one can seamlessly use software designed for Windows on Linux environments and if that day ever will occur M$ will most likely respond with heavy patent lawsuits.

And seriously, as a professional running software under some unstable and resource hungry emulator is not a viable option since such actions would affect reliability of the software and it would be out of reach for support.

[drewmandan]

Well, about the lawsuits, if your beef with M$ is about intellectual property, guess what, IP didn't exist before states created it. I also think IP is heinous and I do not consider breaches of IP to be a crime, as long as you don't claim credit for someone else's work.

[langbei]

@drewmandan Microsoft desperately fights to get Windows into schools. Why? Because they know, like the cigarette manufacturers, that if they can get their target market hooked early, inertia will take care of the rest. There's a lot less choice involved than you seem to imply.

[langbei]

@drewmandan Microsoft desperately fights to get Windows into schools. Why? Because they know, like the cigarette manufacturers, that if they can get their target market hooked early, inertia will take care of the rest. There's a lot less choice involved than you seem to imply.

[TWSceptic]

@Capnwabbit I have to disagree with that, they weren't kicking MS for being too successful, but because MS is making it impossible to have a fair competition. I'm not for government intervention either, but in the case of MS I'd say it was the right thing to do. Unless you're a MS fanboy, you have to acknowledge this.

[Fighting89Back]

Microsoft is such a horrible software. As an IT guy, I hated it. I hated the way they copy others too. I hated when they copied novell when making windows 2000. The reason they're a monopoly is because you can't buy a PC from a store without microsoft. Imagine if all the car deals only sold one type of car!

[mmsayre]

Maybe they are all getting ready to liquidate and want a good price. :P

[DillonX]

Is gold gonna be over 2000 by Dec 31st as Schiff predicted?

[DNATS]

Not likely, not unless the dollar crashes first. Which it could happens, but not likely this year.

[dudebud007]

the dollar can very well crash before the end of this month based on this bullshit talk that's going on right now

[MaverickCentricity]

yes, low sound but the quality is fixed. i couldn't listen to the last posts cause the quality was so low.

[LevelOrange]

hey home dog , crank it up

[Nickelodeon2002]

Not only are the other countries loaning us money to buy their "stuff"...but they are giving us a discount in the form of a negative interest rate via inflation! Scam of the century if you ask me.

[dudebud007]

this makes the russians look incredibly fucken STUPID ... Just few days ago they were talking about diversifying their treasuries and now they do a complete 180??? wtf???

fuck you, you stupid commies

[microdeath123]

Has anyone ever considered that these countries paying for US dollars and propping up the brittle US dollar are paying precisely so that the US will experience a huge crash? Talk about covert warfare! That would be creepy, eh?

[conquerorofbabylon]

I've been thinking about the same thing.

[Vote4Libertarians]

"The fact that you even have people talking up the dollar should be a clue about how weak it is."

EXACTLY!!

[sexdrugsRnR]

volume too low!!

[Panpiper]

His last several videos were highly distorted due to Peter's attempt to raise the volume of his videos. I would much rather have then undistorted and simply raise the volume of my system when listening to one of his videos. Let's leave well enough alone.

[flaunttnualf]

This one was way better than the last few. The problem is the poor acoustics of the room.

[enklby]

Oh come on now. If you give a mouse a cookie...

As long as he's not overriding his levels and causing his distortion, it's all fine by me.

[sexdrugsRnR]

my laptop speakers suck, combined with this I can only hear whispers

[cloudstrife543]

same prob here, i can still here it fine with comp at full volume though. A trick is using headphones though if it really is too low for you.

[rpsxnu]

yes, audio is clear, but low. but, picture looks noticeably better the usual. like really good.

[christo930]

Isn't it a major mistake to invest in these overseas markets when they are investing so much of their profit in American (consumer and gov) debt? Assuming we inflate the debt away, they never get paid and so they go bankrupt. The US stock market is toast with all these boomers who need to sell their stock during their retirement, who they going to sell it to? There are far too many of them and they are heavily invested in non dividend stocks that must be sold to generate income. Bad all over!

[myrelative]

that's why it isn't that easy to invest in foreign stocks in this situation. you can't just buy a broad index, because of all the companies in it that are dependent on the US consumer and capital.

even peter's firm which specializes in that got into trouble and suffered some bankruptcies.

as an individual I'm much more comfortable with commodities, currencies and sector indexes like gold stocks, even if picking the right stocks might produce better returns if you really know what you're doing.

[flaunttnualf]

I agree about the U.S. markets and the boomers. Gov't does nothing but encourage spending and discourage investing and doesn't understand or care that they are screwing future retirees. If we could get back to a sane gov't none of these things would be an issue. We could grow into the social security obligation and then eliminate that infernal program once and for all.

As far as investing overseas, success is far from certain but they stand a much better chance of recovery than we do.

[myrelative]

isn't health care spending in general deductible in the US?

[christo930]

These banks are all big because of mergers and acquisitions, not because they did a good job at earning money and keeping customers. MSFT didn't merge with Lotus and Word Perfect corp, they designed (supposedly) better versions of the software those companies made and grew their business that way. One could argue unfair bus, but still not from mergers.

These banks are not too big to fail, they are too big to succeed. They were great during a boom, but they drop instantly during a slowdown.

[Panpiper]

Speculators, and that includes giant financial institutions, are able to leverage their bets by as much as a factor of ten due to the insanely cheap credit the Fed makes available. This makes it very easy for them to buy up other companies, the winners growing to HUGE conglomerates, 'too big to fail'. (In a proper gold backed, no fractional reserve system, interest rates would be much higher, and so therefor would be savings.)

[TheChinaExpat]

interest rates in nominal terms would be lower, but since there would be price deflation, real interest rates would be higher (and savings would be higher of course).

And debt would mean something. Before the Fed American companies funded like 2/3 of their expansion by profits (1/3 by debt), today the ratios are the opposite.

[lenny380]

We need you in the Senate Peter!! Great report as usual.

[Libertarianman88]

Well if they are too stupid to to see that this scheme is using them then its their own fault. A fool and his money are soon parted.

We get basically free stuff out of the deal, useless paper from their stuff.

[germana00]

I think China is preoccupied with building a military and this so called "scheme" has helped. I might be wrong but, perhaps, China would be a more self-reliant economy if that hadn't been the focus. It sounds like I'm blaming the victim, but at this time I'm not sure(or I prefer not to say it) who is/will be the victim...

[1974wolfman]

I am a Conn. resident voting Schiff for Senate.

[Hendo1974]

We are all fucked, too many people sleep walking to the FEMA Camps, when people wake up it will be too late! God help us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Individualism101]

Health car, too big to fail

More like: Health fail, too big to care

[pwoznic]

I wish more people had the same opinion on health care. This excessive government involvement is just getting ridiculous. Unfortunately, too many Americans are just too STUPID. How many morons voted for Obama again?

[myrelative]

isn't health care spending in general deductible in the US? only insurance?

[Panpiper]

From what I understand (I'm Canadian), private payments to health insurance providers in the US are 'not' tax deductible, only employer contributions to such insurers are tax deductible. Just one more example of insanely bad government.

[myrelative]

and paying your doctor out of your own pocket isn't deductible either?

that really is insanity.

I'm German and even here with a state run insurance system you can deduct any payment to your doctor.

[chunstiger]

More excellent insight!

[audioX1]

Peter Schiff for Senate!

[peilthetraveler]

Woot first comment!

Peilthetraveler rules!