We can’t help but notice from raw irony in how Detroit, due back in bankruptcy court this week, could become a poster child for Obamacare.
The reason, as the New York Times explains in more detail over here, is that by pushing (early) retiree healthcare off onto the Obamacare system, that would reduce the city’s future financial obligations and, depending on how you push the numbers around, could become a keystone to working out a plan to avoid bankruptcy proceedings from moving ahead.
Not that other cities are not having a tough go of it, as well. Chicago is quickly burning through its cash reserves and we have to wonder if mayor Rahm Emmanuel shouldn’t have spent more time playing SimCity when younger.
“Hand me that 5/8ths Woonsocket, would’ja?”
That Rhode Island city, not to be confused with the similar-looking left-handed skyhook, is increasing property taxes 23 percent. By doing so, they take another bold step toward being the first city in America to taxing people more than they make…a sadly crowded field, indeed.
As we spiral in on Ben Bernanke’s departure and the arrival of (please God, not him!) Larry Summers at the fed, Governing.com has a useful resource that shows government unit are marching out back for that final cigarette before the blindfold and wall.
The real solution, which Peoplenomics.com readers will receive in Wednesday’s report, is going to uniform government worker retirement programs and multi-color currency. I know that’ll keep you guessing, but I’ve been rereading lots of (first) Depression economic books of late, including some rare ones, and it’s amazing how much of what we’re facing now has been around before.
The Week Ahead
Since this is the end of the month this week, we should be braced for some predictable things that will happen. Oh, sure, there is a pending home sales report due out later on this morning, but that’s not nearly as important as tomorrow’s Case Shiller/S&P Housing Index report which continues to be the gold standard of non-government truth detectors. Housing prices stuck at 2003 by a month on month happy chart would be my dart toss.
Speaking of truth hurts, then on Wednesday morning, our “First Things” section in Peoplenomics will be assessing the new GDP figures. This is always a statistical nightmare being the worst mash-up on self-referential percentages imaginable. Once we get down to the actual constant dollars up or down of it, we can then infer whether the collapsing velocity of money will continue down, or whether it will try to level off a bit.
And one other economic highlight to keep an eye on is the price of gold which usually has some kind of a month-end beat down so the commercials can sop up something to deliver.
As any summer Monday should be, this promises to be a somewhat predictable week, after all.
More After This…
The Point of Iraq?
Oh, sure, we went into Iraq to develop ways to control people’s harvesting of heritage seeds, develop purple finger inks, and defend the West’s interest in heavy duty oil reserves.
But now that will pulling back to the US mega consulate, we see a wave of sectarian violence returning with more than 60 Shi’ites killed in the latest bloodshed.
Down the trench a ways, we have Syria’s government scoring a major victory over rebels (backed by the west) in Homs.
Continuing our matutinal stroll southward, we hear Israel whining about the price of peace talks.
Then, before heading to the throne room (as a result of all this exercise), we finish up at the south end of Western influence with Egypt disorder causing much hand-wringing in places like the Wall Street Journal.
It is, sorry to say, same hike and the same crap, as most mornings. Maybe for tomorrow’s stroll, we’ll do the other side of the sandbox. Whatever.
Hot Reader News Tips
We get plenty of news tips from readers about stories that may not be getting front page (above the fold) play in the mainstream media, but which have captured reader attention. Here’s a sampling of where reader revelations are pointing today:
Reader Jeff finds the “Breaking the Banks” site useful – you might want to see if your bank is on their list/database
Intrepid contributor Charles thinks you oughta read about how the official weight of a kilogram is drifting in this video and as long as you’ve got the player going, have you seen this one about the good-guy cop who got fired for speaking out on ticket quotas used by police departments. How many times have I told you about the dangers of “fee justice” and how quotas encourage law enforcement to break laws rather than be content at simply enforcing them? Definitely worth 7-minutes of run time…
“Somebody” has got a couple of hot tips this morning: “Where the **** is summer for the Midwest? How much has the RECORD LOWS gotten attention, vs. say, record highs? I know, I know, it’s all part of Climate Change, so we need to increase taxes to stop this, right?”
“Somebody” gets his second thought from some serious dot-connecting: “So, let me get this right: H1B visa’s for jobs in the USA are good. But Medical tourism to India is bad. Makes. Perfect. Sense. I guess that is why a heart operation in India is about 90% less than in the USA!” Green star for that find.
Readers Pam & Pat enjoyed the photoshopping of this Fukushima video over here.
Keep sending in those news tips. While I don’t have time to acknowledge every one of them, they do serve as an important backstop to make sure we’re on top of things, instead of things being on top of us, as it were.
US Department of Mind Control?
If you don’t know what Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is, you might want to look at how DARPA is trying to control how people thing. Err, experimentally, of course!
Yet Another Worry
Like you don’t have enough, right? Well check out how it turns out that earthquakes increase the release of trapped methane gas… No fair inventing terms like globalfart, please; this is a family website.
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Statistically, we’re due for a 7.0 within a week to 10 days…so keep an eye open for that.
Urban’s Headlines of Obviousness
“Spanish train crash driver ‘admits being careless.’ Yah think?
“Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people?”
A Monday Marketing Notes
We can’t help but notice the contrived headlines designed to keep Hillary Clinton in the public’s mind. One example is “outrage” about companies the Weiners to the Clintons. Which must be truth, since it’s in the NY Post, after all.
The National Review Online gets an honorable mention for “Get Ready for All-Hail-Hillary Movies: In the run-up to 2016, Hollywood plans to turn out “evenhanded” biopics. Sure.” The John Fund article is a must-read.
And if you think this is all crazy, it all pales in comparison to Hillary’s high glam lunch plans at the White House with Fearless Leader. I trust you know who picks up the tab, right? *(see mirror for answer)
Wait! Doesn’t Hil still owe us some straight answers about Benghazi?
Not that it matters in the marketing of soap or its slipperier relative politicians. As H.L. Menken instructs us “The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe.”
Lies repeated to quickly become facts. Proof by Assertion 101. That Stalin killed more than Hitler but escapes harsh historical reviews is a fine example of political marketing.
More after this…
