Sean Kennedy's Comments
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Nov 16, 2009 | comments: 2
Sean Kennedy Nov 17, 2009, 3:09am EST
An effort doomed to fail.
Oct 8, 2009 | comments: 6
Sean Kennedy Oct 8, 2009, 4:16pm EDT
The top rate has varied over the decades, from an initial low of 7% from 1913-1915, to as high as 94% during WWII.

Here's a look at the top rates of the US Tax Code by decade: 73% in the 1920s; 79% in the 1930s; 94% in the 1940s; 92% in the 1950s; 91% in the 1960s; 71% in the 1970s; 50% in the 1980s; 39.6% in the 1990s; and 39.1% in this decade.

The top rate is presently 35%, established in the cuts initiated by George W. Bush. However, it is worth noting that the top tax rate was 91% under Republican Dwight Eisenhower; 77% under Republican Richard Nixon; and 50% under Republican Ronald Reagan.

In fact the top rate in Reagan's term didn't drop to 38.5% until his second to last year in office, or year 7 of an 8-year term.

The relatively relaxed rates of the 1990s and this decade, ranging from lows of 31%-35%, have not been seen in over a half-century. In fact, the last time the top rate was lower than now was the period from 1925-1931, when it ranged from 24%-25%.

There are many points here: 1.) Tax rates have always been progressive. 2.) Contrary to popular belief, taxes haven't always been low or lower under Republican Administrations, and in fact have been remarkably high. 3.) Taxes have been raised and lowered according to economic conditions and times or war. 4.) Over the last 20 years, the top tier has been historically low, falling to 31% during the George H.W. Bush Administration.
Oct 8, 2009 | comments: 6
in reply to a comment by Col. George W.
Sean Kennedy Oct 8, 2009, 2:12am EDT
The only way the government can pay it back is to take it from us in taxes once again. Call it double dipping.
Sep 4, 2009 | comments: 4
in reply to a comment by Jack E.
Sean Kennedy Sep 6, 2009, 2:58am EDT
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released its report card on the nation's infrastructure. It's just awful. The cumulative grade? D.

Our dilapidated infrastructure is said to be sapping the economy and our way of life. ASCE estimates that government and the private sector need to invest $2.2 trillion over the next five years - roughly three times the size of Obama's entire stimulus package.
Aug 23, 2009 | comments: 10
in reply to a comment by Sean Kennedy
Sean Kennedy Aug 25, 2009, 4:34am EDT
The current system is filled with waste and fraud. You sound as if you're advocating the status quo.

You've used a lot words describing why you fear government financed healthcare. How about getting specific on EXACTLY what you'd do to change the current, and very broken, system.

It's easy to say what you're against, but harder to plant your flag and say, This is what I believe in - this is where I stand.
Aug 23, 2009 | comments: 10
Sean Kennedy Aug 24, 2009, 9:15pm EDT
"I was in a unique position to see not only how Wall Street analysts and investors influence decisions insurance company executives make but also how the industry has carried out behind-the-scenes PR and lobbying campaigns to kill or weaken any health care reform efforts that threatened insurers' profitability.

"I also have seen how the industry's practices -- especially those of the for-profit insurers that are under constant pressure from Wall Street to meet their profit expectations -- have contributed to the tragedy of nearly 50 million people being uninsured as well as to the growing number of Americans who, because insurers now require them to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets before their coverage kicks in -- are underinsured. An estimated 25 million of us now fall into that category.

"What I saw happening over the past few years was a steady movement away from the concept of insurance and toward "individual responsibility," a term used a lot by insurers and their ideological allies. This is playing out as a continuous shifting of the financial burden of health care costs away from insurers and employers and onto the backs of individuals. As a result, more and more sick people are not going to the doctor or picking up their prescriptions because of costs. If they are unfortunate enough to become seriously ill or injured, many people enrolled in these plans find themselves on the hook for such high medical bills that they are losing their homes to foreclosure or being forced into bankruptcy."

— Wendell Potter, former head of corporate communications for Cigna

http://www.prwatch.org/node/8422
Aug 23, 2009 | comments: 10
in reply to a comment by MrElf 1961
Sean Kennedy Aug 24, 2009, 6:55pm EDT
June 20, 2009

(CBS) A clear majority of Americans -- 72 percent -- support a government-sponsored health care plan to compete with private insurers, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds. Most also think the government would do a better job than private industry at keeping down costs and believe that the government should guarantee health care for all Americans.

So, nearly 3/4 of respondents said they are willing to support a federal plan that looks like Medicare for all. The poll also found a willingness to pay higher taxes so everyone was covered.
Aug 12, 2009 | comments: 9
in reply to a comment by Jeff S.
Sean Kennedy Aug 18, 2009, 2:11pm EDT
What's your point? Because the banks told us everything was rosy when the credit bubble was about to collapse, Deutsche Bank must be lying now that it says that things aren't rosy at all?

I get the sense that you're arguing with yourself.
Aug 12, 2009 | comments: 9
in reply to a comment by Sean Kennedy
Sean Kennedy Aug 17, 2009, 1:32am EDT
It's also worth remembering that during the Great Depression there were far fewer homes, and mortgages.

There was also far less credit outstanding compared with today. There were no credit cards, and far fewer auto loans; by 1928, just four million auto loans had ever been granted, and total loans didn't reach 40 million until 1958.

And there were no student loans at that time. The government passed the National Defense Education Act after WW II, which is still in effect and now known as the Federal Perkins Loan program. And of course there was the GI Bill after the war. Most other student loan programs began in the 1960s and later.

In addition, there were no sub-prime loans, no adjustable-rate loans, no zero-money-down loans, no 125% loans, no stated-income loans, and no interest-only loans.

The point is, there was far less debt during the Great Depression than there is at present. That means the potential for disaster is much higher now.
Aug 12, 2009 | comments: 9
Sean Kennedy Aug 16, 2009, 12:14am EDT
In early 1933, at the peak of the Great Depression's housing crisis, on average, 1,000 homes a day were going into foreclosure. A whopping 44% of US mortgages were delinquent. The foreclosure rate reached a high of 13.3 per 1,000 mortgages that year.

During the Great Depression, the massive Home Owners' Loan Corporation rewrote over 1 million mortgages after buying them from banks with the proceeds from tax-free bonds.

However, 20 percent of all the new, cheaper mortgages made by the agency failed again, a whopping foreclosure rate. Even worse, many of the new, cheaper mortgages went bad because homeowners walked away from them after living free off the government.

An analysis of current foreclosure patterns by Professor Stan Liebowitz, director of the Center for the Analysis of Property Rights and Innovation at the University of Texas, Dallas, found that high interest rates or high income-to-payment ratios are not driving foreclosures. Rather, homeowners who are "underwater," that is, whose homes are worth less than the balance on their mortgage, are most likely to default. Many of these homeowners are apparently walking away from their homes right now because they put little money down and have little to lose by absconding, especially in so-called no recourse states, where a lender can't pursue your other assets if you default on a mortgage.

As Steven Melenga, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, notes, "Prof. Liebowitz' data suggest that many of those losing their homes were not saddled with mortgages they didn't understand but were clear-eyed buyers who are now making a rational economic choice to default as a way of dumping a bad investment."

Homeowners with ARMs who have drained all the equity in their home -- or those who didn't put anything down to begin with -- are much more likely to simply walk away. The same is true of those with bad credit.

That can set off a vicious cycle in vulnerable markets. Lenders dont want to hang on to foreclosed homes, so they slash the price for quick sales. That depresses the value of surrounding homes, which can wipe out the equity of other, overextended borrowers, who now become more likely to hand over their keys to the bank, which leads to another round of fire sales and depressed values.

Thankfully, were haven't reached a Great Depression crisis level, and hopefully we won't. No matter, the current numbers, and trends, are bleak.
Aug 12, 2009 | comments: 9
in reply to a comment by Jeff S.
Sean Kennedy Aug 16, 2009, 12:12am EDT
You think I may be overstating these statistics? I didn't write the report -- Deutsche Bank did. You'd have to direct your inquiry to the bank's analysts.

Maybe Deutsche Bank and Reuters can verify any of the numbers you question, and perhaps be more specific.
Aug 12, 2009 | comments: 9
Sean Kennedy Aug 13, 2009, 2:08am EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home loans failed at a record pace in July despite ongoing federal and state programs to avoid foreclosures, which have severely strained housing and the economy.

Foreclosure activity jumped 7 percent in July from June and 32 percent from a year earlier as one in every 355 households with a loan got a foreclosure filing, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

"July marks the third time in the last five months where we've seen a new record set for foreclosure activity," James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive, said in a statement.

"Despite continued efforts by the federal government and state governments to patch together a safety net for distressed homeowners, we're seeing significant growth in both the initial notices of default and in the bank repossessions."

Notices of default, auction or repossession have reached nearly 2.3 million in the first seven months of the year -- with more than half a million bank repossessions.

In several states, moratoriums on foreclosure have often delayed rather than cured inevitable loan failures.
Aug 12, 2009 | comments: 9
Sean Kennedy Aug 12, 2009, 9:55pm EDT
The government lies to avoid a public panic. Consumer confidence and sentiment are vitally important, so they bullshit everyone in an attempt to control the national mood. It's doomed effort. The truth is always revealed in these circumstances; people know what they're seeing and feeling.

Banks are making money because they have cut costs. But they still have all those "Toxic Assets" on their books. How can something that's toxic be an asset anyway? The market is up because Wall St. is making money due to the the herd mentality. The sheep are massing and following the perceived scent of money.

But the fundamentals haven't changed, and they are terrible.
Jul 6, 2009 | comments: 330
Sean Kennedy Jul 6, 2009, 2:29pm EDT

The earth is also flat and gravity is a hoax too.
Jun 6, 2009 | comments: 11
Sean Kennedy Jun 16, 2009, 12:37am EDT

In essence, this means that one out of every six workers, is either unemployed or forced by economic circumstances to take a part-time job. One out of every six.
May 18, 2006 | comments: 2
Sean Kennedy Jun 13, 2009, 3:57pm EDT

Thanks for taking the time, Lee. The facts are very powerful and speak to the need to control and limit all immigration. Our resources and infrastructure are already overburdened, and it's getting worse.

The following video is quite elucidating:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4094926727128068265&q=roy+beck&hl=en
Jun 6, 2009 | comments: 11
Sean Kennedy Jun 13, 2009, 3:45pm EDT

People who've exhaust all 26 weeks of unemployment benefits are removed the rolls and are no longer counted. This also under-represents the true and total number of unemployed.

And aside from people who can't find full-time work, but have settled on part-time work to suffice, the people who are over-educated and over-qualified for their current full-time positions are not being counted. These people are desperate and are settling for work well below their skill levels. Imagine the engineers and other educated professionals who've settled for jobs at McDonald's or Wal-Mart.

When the best and brightest aren't fully utilizing their skill sets and potential, that is not good for the economy. Productivity and creativity both suffer.
Jun 7, 2009 | comments: 6
Sean Kennedy Jun 8, 2009, 1:31am EDT

Simmons says the rate of decline of the world's ageing oilfields is as much as 20 percent a year and only high levels of investment can reduce that to single digits. Yet, due to the drop in prices, oil companies have not sustained previous levels of investment in new production.

The International Energy Agency is concerned that the OPEC production cuts have left oil inventories dangerously low, leaving little room for manoeuvre when oil demand recovers.

According to Simmons, "Unless oil demand falls by 10 or 15 percent per annum, which it is not going to do, then we don't need to wait for oil demand to come back before we have a supply crunch."
Jun 6, 2009 | comments: 11
Sean Kennedy Jun 7, 2009, 1:14am EDT

The broadest measure of unemployment, which includes people who'd like a job but have given up looking -- reached 16.4 percent, up from 15.8 percent in May.
May 31, 2009 | comments: 13
Sean Kennedy Jun 1, 2009, 9:06pm EDT

The Fed is a banking cartel that allows the government to continually spend more than it collects in taxes, creating ever increasing debt that is then repaid to the banking cartel. We're are, very slowly, being bled dry. Most Americans can't conceive of the nightmare that lies ahead. 
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