Friday, March 5, 2010

The 11th Plank Has Arrived


Both congressional Democrats and Republicans (while feigning outrage) want to pass Government Health Care. That's why massive capital gains tax hikes (15% to 22.5%) and income tax bracket hikes (to 42.5%) are buried in the new version of the bill.

For those not following U.S. (over-)achievement of the 10 planks of Marxism:

1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rent to public purpose.

Done.

As we've seen all too well lately, banking corporations are our government. But to the extent some are private, by the time a 30 mortgage is paid, property taxes exceed original mortgage payments.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

Done.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

Done.

The death tax forces all family businesses, of any value, to turn over the keys to the corporate-government for pennies on the dollar when the owner dies. If you own nothing, you are exempt.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

Mostly applied to US citizens through Eminent Domain.

Marx was just an angry racist; the original White Supremacist.

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

Done.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transportation in the hands of the State.

Done.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

TVA, Government Motors, more broadly... corporations and our government are indistinguishable. "The United States government will bear any burden and pay any price to ensure that Citigroup does not fail" --Chairwoman of congressional oversight panel

Certainly, more to come.

8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of Industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

Done.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.

Done.

Government zoning has displaced individual land ownership. But I think Marx was probably high when he phrased this one.

10. Free education for all children in government schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.

Done.

And now, beyond Marx's wildest dreams:

11.
Centralized control over citizens' physical being. Common enforcement of the ideal size and make-up of the population. Care granted in proportion to production.

17 comments:

  1. I dont remember the last time the market had a wall of worry this large to climb. I suspect we will see a huge rally on massive volume in the next two years. Prices always climb on low volume as the gains are made by the fewest people who have the fortitude to buy while all the evidence says sell. This is why the market is so hard beat. When I see huge volume take out the 14k area in the DOW I will start getting short again. Good luck FDR, I like your blog, but it is the perfect example of main stream thinking. Buffet makes so much money because he is really the only buyer again, he will sell first as well and let the common folk take the last crumbs before the next collapse.

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  2. Anonymous

    You have a very interesting perspective. I open sites like MWatch, Bloomberg, Cnbc, FoxNews etc. I see one thing plastered everywhere "The market surely will go up". I hear about Buffett and how much $ he is making. Phrases are coin after his speeches, "Sometimes it is good to be greedy". If i listened to the news I would certainly buy. After all, things are getting better. Unemployment is going down. Greece, Ireland and Iceland have been bailed out. There is no reason to worry, because everything is taking care of. I really don't know where your contrarian view comes from. You are just following what the leaders are saying.

    On the other hand, many of us are really starting to believe that perhaps this time FDR along with many of us are wrong. Why? The evidence points that the govt will not let this mkt go down.

    I guess we will know in a few months.
    chocolateMan

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  3. Do you have a link to a source re: the capital gains increase? I can't find a reference to this anywhere.

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  4. Dick Morris (Bill Clinton advisor) is making the rounds saying that he has seen it in the bill.

    To my knowledge, both Dems and Republicans have not released the text of the bill (vote is tentatively scheduled for next week). DM says he is 100% certain the rate increases are in the current bill.

    Unfortunately, citizens have to take the words of Washington insiders to know, or estimate, what is being shoved through by both parties.

    Let me reiterate, behind the scenes Republicans are pushing for this bill every bit as hard as Democrats.

    Feigned public disagreement is a pin cushion for citizen opposition, and to ensure the same socialists-Marxists retain power in November. They'll just slap an Elephant on it to calm the people down.

    The pesky US Constitution will be discarded once and for all. The right to life (I mean living seniors, not talking abortion), guaranteed in the founding documents, will be gone. Seniors will be slaughtered en mass to get the money-making machine machine back on track. They will die fast and silent.

    There is only one party.

    This bill will pass unless there is an outcry that transcends the mainstream media's radio silence.

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  5. What are your thoughts on this bill being passed to increase the tax revenue immediately to prevent impending "austerity measures" a la Greece?

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  6. FDR, awhile back I believe you may have alluded to a turning point or a crossroads of either a monetary phenomenon of hyper inflation after a bout of deflation and/or the USA itself going too far on the side of the Fed and the republic failing outright. I am not sure what that actually entails. but it sounds ominous. Which side of the fence do you sit on currently and can you elaborate on what the future of the US currency as compared to the Euro, gold price, and stock market (SPX) price holds in the next 6 months? Thanks!

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  7. It appears that any move north on the indexes come Monday and EWI is looking to redraw all of their counts. With the pickup in volume and the adv. dec. at almost 6:1 Friday, it smells like wave 2 has much more to go. I know you thought 9600 on the DOW was the top for sure, what are your thoughts now on how high this might go now? It has shot 1000 points over your target, do you think another 1000 points is possible?

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  8. I'd like to take a 2x4 sized "12th plank" to the heads of those "shrewd" investors who suddenly saw enough value in Friday's financial news disinformation to induce that ridiculous buying (short covering) panic.

    For the love of Jeezus. Stop shorting. Stop covering. Or preferably stop both and go fishing if your backbone does not exceed the tactile strength of overcooked pasta.

    Now on that note of bear despair, Look upon the Works of Hulbert Financial Digest, ye Mighty bulls and, (in turn), Despair! For financial newsletter bullish sentiment has reached "dangerously high" levels. Nothing of bear sentiment remains and Round the decay Of this colossal market Wreck, boundless and bare, economic recovery stretches far away.

    The article:
    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/advisory-bullishness-reaching-too-high-levels-2010-03-05?amp%3Bsiteid=

    And hat tip to Percy Bysshe Shelley

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  9. My thoughts from the beginning of this healthcare "debate," is that they would end up doing nothing. But wow! would they be able to shakedown the insurers, medical providers, etc for campaign contributions (aka: protection money). That is the least cynical interpretation of this I can come up with.
    So if they fail, they get protection/campaign money for the next go-round. If they succeed, they get more tax money, and ultimately almost total control of our lives...
    Wild Bill

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  10. A lot of EW sites are now changing their counts this weekend, saying we have gone too far to call this anything but a correction in the rally. Are you still believing the market looks weak here? Looking more and more like the start of a new bull market technically.

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  11. FDR - In the last month or so, the majority of people I know are back employed at comparable wages to those they were laid off from. The economy is definitely picking up steam and businesses are packed again. What do you think will slow this recovery? I thought the government policies would never work, but the stimulus is producing real gains and I suspect free market interest rates will head up soon and follow equities much higher.

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  12. All this talk of EW theory. Is there any link to a chart that shows the current count on a long term basis so that I can get a handle of what this all looks like? When i look at a monthly DOW chart from 1973 through today, I see 5 waves up and an expanding triangle forming since 2000. We have completed waves A B and C of the triangle and wave D should take the DOW through 14000 and on to new highs before the E wave takes us down. I am probably looking at this wrong, how do you read the chart. I am a new member of EWI and can't find a chart full labeled long term to reference P3 and the current count.

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  13. I see comments indicative of a major market top. Tomorrow, meaning Monday, March 8, is likely the shorting opportunity of a lifetime, Oct. 2007 included.

    The short attention span of people and "the herd" never ceases to amazes me.

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  14. Wow. It seems most of the bears have convinced themselves, based on a theory that has little or no short term predictive value, that they've been all turned around on this secular bear market thing. Time to cover and go long! I mean after a 65% run-up and these superlative fundamentals, staying short or getting short would be stupid right? The psychology of this behaviour can perhaps only be understood alongside that of the bulls who, a year ago, sold out at 700SPX. The freaking trees are everywhere yet the forest is invisible to all but 1%.

    A practicing contrarian has to be totally drooling over the comments here (and on many other bear oriented sites) this weekend.

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  15. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article17728.html

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  16. "It has shot 1000 points over your target, do you think another 1000 points is possible?"

    A 100% retrace of W1 is possible. The time to seriously ponder that is when stocks are falling, not rising.

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  17. "Anonymous said... http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article17728.html"

    and from that article (as far as I could stand to read):

    "What does the FED control? By buying and selling securities, the FED controls the monetary base"

    So the author is (seriously?) telling me that the Fed controls everyone who chooses, or does not choose, to borrow from a bank?

    ReplyDelete

The USA's political-economc system is best described as:

On Nov 2, 2010, I plan to vote (FOR or AGAINST) my incumbent congressman

 
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