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Chicago Sheister Tony Rezko Sentenced to 10.5 Years in Prison

Tony Rezko, former fundraiser and friend of President Barack Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevish, was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison Tuesday for corruption.

Rezko, 56, has already served about 44 months of the 126 month sentence on his 2008 conviction for corruption — including fraud, money laundering and attempting to get $7 million in kickbacks from companies seeking to win deals during Blagojevich’s time as governor — the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Read more: http://trade.cc/jkv

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Italy’s new PM insists he can fix country

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Italy’s new prime minister Mario Monti said on Tuesday he is committed to turning around the country, but he offered no new details on how he will deliver broad reforms to invigorate the euro zone’s third-largest economy.

Speaking following his first meetings in Brussels since taking office, Monti said he was determined to win back investor confidence, after Italy’s short-term borrowing costs have surged to levels seen as unsustainable, striking the 17-nation euro zone at its core.

“We can get to the bottom… to the heart of structural reforms in Italy,” Monti said, flanked by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

“As far as the issue of public finances goes, I’ve already said a couple of minutes ago that, in general terms, we’ll respect the commitments undertaken by my government,” Monti told a news conference.

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Germany Has Run Out of Bullets as They Refuse to Budge On Debt Resolution

Germany is standing pat in Europe’s debt crisis, rejecting calls from allies and investors to do more to counter market turmoil, said Michael Meister, a senior lawmaker in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition.

“We don’t have any new bazooka to pull out of the bag,” Meister, the Christian Democratic bloc’s finance spokesman and deputy leader in parliament, said in Berlin today. “We see no alternative to the policy we are following,” which calls for budget cuts and keeping the European Central Bank from becoming a lender of last resort, he said in a telephone interview.”

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Obama to Veto Any Bill Which Eliminates Mandatory Scheduled Spending Cuts

“President Obama threatened to veto any attempt to eliminate the $1.2 trillion in mandatory spending cuts scheduled to take effect in 2013 now that the super committee has failed.

In a terse statement from the White House briefing room, Obama said, “I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts. There will be no easy off ramps on this one.”

He added that he will also push Congress to extend the payroll tax cut into 2012, warning that if lawmakers fail to act “taxes for every American will go up next year.”

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Leftist governments forced out in Europe

MADRID (AP) — Throw a dart at a map of Europe now and it takes expert aim to hit a country run by a left-of-center government, especially after Spain’s Socialists were emphatically drubbed out of power over the weekend.

Although the shift to the right began years ago in such heavyweights as France and Germany, it is now all but complete three years into the continent’s grinding debt and economic crisis. Why? When times get tough — when “the cows get thin” as the Spanish say — political experts say edgy voters seek comfort with conservatives.

“The center-right is the natural preference in times of crisis,” said Piotr Kaczynski of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. “If you look at societies and how they make their preferences, they all tend to vote more conservative in times of crisis and more center-left in times of economic progress.”

Granted, on the European Union map there are scattered spots of leftist liberalism. A new Social Democratic government runs Denmark, there is a center left government in Norway and there is a broad Social Democratic-led coalition in Austria. And the Socialists might beat conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy in France’s presidential election next year.

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Intrinsic Capitalist Structure to Occupy Wall Street Members #OWS #Occupy

Hell no, we won’t go — unless we get goose down pillows.

A key Occupy Wall Street leader and another protester who leads a double life as a businessman ditched fetid tents and church basements for rooms at a luxurious hotel that promises guests can “unleash [their] inner Gordon Gekko,” The Post has learned.

The $700-per-night W Hotel Downtown last week hosted both Peter Dutro, one of a select few OWS members on the powerful finance committee, and Brad Spitzer, a California-based analyst who not only secretly took part in protests during a week-long business trip but offered shelter to protesters in his swanky platinum-card room.

NO PARK-ING: Instead of Zuccotti Park squalor a swanky room at the W Hotel Downtown was more comfy for Brad Spitzer (pictured) and other well-heeled protesters.

J.C. RICE
NO PARK-ING: Instead of Zuccotti Park squalor a swanky room at the W Hotel Downtown was more comfy for Brad Spitzer (pictured) and other well-heeled protesters.
A room at the W Hotel Downtown

J.C. RICE
A room at the W Hotel Downtown
Peter Dutro

Peter Dutro

“Tents are not for me,” he confessed, when confronted in the sleek black lobby of the Washington Street hotel where sources described him as a “repeat” guest.

Spitzer, 24, an associate at financial-services giant Deloitte, which netted $29 billion in revenue last year, admitted he joined the protest at Zuccotti Park several times.

“I’m staying here for work,” said Spitzer, dressed down in a company T-shirt and holding a backpack and his suitcase. “I do finance, but I support it still.”

During his stay, hotel sources said, he and other ragtag revolutionaries he brought into the hotel lived like 1 percenters. He would order up a roll-out bed to accommodate guests, they said.

“He’s here all the time,” a hotel source said. “We all see him at the protest.”

Spitzer denied sheltering Occupiers. He claimed he only invited in a blogger buddy living at the park to wash off his camp grime.

Meanwhile, Dutro, 35, one of only a handful of OWS leaders in charge of the movement’s $500,000 in donations, checked in on Wednesday, the night after police emptied Zuccotti Park.

While hundreds of his rebel brethren scrambled to find shelter in church basements, Dutro chose the five-star, 58-story hotel, with its lush rooms and 350-count Egyptian cotton sheets. He lives only a short taxi ride away in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.

“I knew everything was going to be a clusterf–k in the morning,” he told The Post, alluding to Occupy’s own disruption plans. “How would I get over the bridge when they were shutting it down?”

The tattoo artist-turned-Occupy money man took the elevator up to the fifth-floor welcome desk, where a disc jockey spins tunes and guests enjoy a vista of the growing freedom tower.

He said he spent $500 of his own money to get the room because he wanted a good night’s rest ahead of the cause’s two-month ceremony the next day and raucous post-raid protests.

“I knew . . . there was a high probability of getting arrested,” he said. “I wanted a nice room. That’s OK. Not everybody there is dirt poor.”

He paid for the palace with his American Express card.

“It is an expensive hotel. Whatever,” he said.

The rooms have 37-inch flat-screen TVs, window seats overlooking the city and iPod-dock alarm clocks. Visitors can order 12-year-old Glenlivet scotch for $375 a bottle, or an $18 pastrami sandwich, from room service. There’s even a menu for four-legged guests, including a $16 dog dish of Niman Ranch ground beef.

He claims he chose the W for its convenience, not its luxury.

“I’m not in the business of throwing money away,” he said. “It’s the only room I could find.”

And he claims he took care of comrades in less-comfortable digs.

“I took food to all those churches,” he said. “I got them cigarettes.”

Occupiers told The Post that they witnessed other General Assembly and group leaders stay in both the W Downtown and the Marriott Hotel — and said that key players were not present when cops stormed Zuccotti.
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A Message to #OWS

Now that most cities have caught on to removing your encampments do not accept defeat and go back to your cave.

Now is the time for you to organize on a intellectual level where you utilize the power of money to your advantage.

Your protests should be held in front of McDonald’s and anywhere Coca Cola is sold.

Your sit ins should be in front of Apple Stores, The Gap and Old Navy, and any other corporation that does not respect humanity.

USE YOUR POWER IN NUMBERS AND YOUR BUYING POWER AS CONSUMERS TO BOYCOTT PRODUCTS.

LET YOUR SIT INS BE PUBLICIZED ON SPECIFIC ISSUES OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND MOTHER EARTH.

Here are some links to discover the truth;

http://trade.cc/ioi

http://trade.cc/ioj

http://trade.cc/iok

You certainly have started a campaign of awareness, but now you must hit the ball out of the park and make the world change through the power of consumer buying power.

As Aristotle  once said “Anger is a gift”….now use it !

[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KkUeRPjc-Y 450 300]

It’s empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you’ve left behind

The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat

But I will hold on hope
And I won’t let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again

Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I’ll take mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind

So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears

But I will hold on hope
And I won’t let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again

So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker’s hand

So make your siren’s call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it’s meant to be

And I will hold on hope
And I won’t let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again

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John Kerry is a Monster Stock Trader with Perfect Timing

BigGovernment.com has obtained records of Massachusetts Democrat Senator John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz’s stock portfolios that show almost perfectly timed pharmaceutical stock trades during the Obamacare debate, which fattened their already enormous personal fortune.

The documents further support allegations of suspicious trading leveled during Sunday’s 60 Minutes report about the explosive new book by investigative reporter and Breitbart News editor Peter Schweizer, Throw Them All Out.

Sen. John Kerry’s position on the powerful Senate Finance Committee’s Health Subcommittee gives him direct access to critical information regarding health care policy. In July 2009, pharmaceutical industry representatives met with key members of Congress to flesh out the Obamacare bill. Then, in November 2009, with the bill’s passage was looking more likely, the Kerrys’ portfolios reflect a drug stock buying spree.

First, $750,000 worth of stock in drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals was added to their portfolios at around $50 a share. Once Obamacare passed, the value of the stock rose to $62 per share. Subsequently, in 2010, a portion of Teva holdings was dumped from the Kerry portfolio, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in capital gains (exact profits are unclear because politicians are only required to report ranges, not exact dollar amounts).

Next, at least $200,000 of stock in medical device manufacturer ResMed was purchased in the $20 to $25 per share range. After Obamacare passed, ResMed jumped to $34, an increase of as much as 71%. “ResMed was a winner in the health care reform legislation—as Reuters declared—thanks in part to John Kerry’s efforts,” says Schweizer. The reason: earlier versions of the Obamacare bill would have slapped companies like ResMed with an “industry fee” tax. Kerry opposed the higher taxes on medical device companies and helped delay the taxes until 2013.

Next, between $250,000 and $500,000 worth Thermo Fisher Scientific were added to the Kerry family portfolios at around $35 per share. After Obamacare’s passage, the stock skyrocketed to more than $50 a share.

Even as their portfolios reflected aggressive purchasing of drug company stocks, Sen. Kerry was dumping investments in health insurance companies. At the end of June 2009, all United Health shares were unloaded from their portfolios. Their Wellpoint stocks were also sold. Six weeks later, he then introduced an amendment to tax generous health care plans, a move sure to hurt companies like United Health and Wellpoint.

To read the rest and see Kerry’s actual trades, go here.

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Make 29% On Your Money, Guaranteed!

Via WattsUpWithThat

Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach

Sounds like a scam, huh? But it’s real. Let me explain how people (no, not you or me, don’t be foolish) can make a guaranteed 29% return on their investment. However, to make it clear, I’ll need to take a short digression. I ran across a National Geographic article on where the world gets its electricity. Here are their figures:

Figure 1. World electricity production by fuel type. Renewables (defined by AGW activists as solar-, geothermal-, wind-, and biomass-generated electricity, but not hydroelectricity) are 2.7% of the total electricity use. Data from National Geographic 

You can see why the AGW supporters’ heads are exploding as the Durban climate party approaches. It is obvious from the chart that years and years of subsidies and tax breaks and IPCC reports and various urgings by well-meaning but clueless pundits and billions in wasted taxpayer dollars have not succeeded in getting renewables up to even 3% of the total electricity generated. Less than 3%. It must drive them round the twist to contemplate their stunning lack of success at making water flow uphill.

Despite that history, you know how they say on those TV commercials, “But wait! There’s even more!”? In this case, it’s “But wait! There’s even less!”

And I don’t mean just a bit of money to get them over the hump. Huge subsidies. Because of the total failure of renewables to penetrate the market, the AGW supporters are desperately throwing money at renewable technologies. The New York Times showed a graphic for one such power plant in California. Their graphic is reproduced below as Figure 3.

Figure 3. Federal and State Subsidies for the California Valley Solar Ranch.

Unfortunately, the Times didn’t really discuss the business implications of this chart, so let me remedy that omission.

First, how much money did the investors have to put in? Since the project will start earning money once the key is turned and the market is guaranteed, the investors only had to put up the total capital outlay of $1.6 billion. Less, of course, the generous government grant of nearly half a billion dollars. Total invested, therefore, is $1,170 million dollars.

On that money, the investors stand to make a net present value of $334 million dollars … which means that due to the screwing of the taxpayers and ratepayers, a few very wealthy investors are GUARANTEED A RETURN OF 29% ON THEIR INVESTMENT!!!

How is this fair in any sane universe? AGW supporters talk about the 1% having too much money, and here the same folks are shoveling the money into the one percenters’ pockets. The 1% weren’t rich enough already, so I have to foot the bill for them to get a GUARANTEED 29% RETURN on their investment?

Note also that a huge part of the money, some $462 billion dollars, is coming from the California electricity ratepayers, including yours truly, through increased charges for electricity. This means that these solar scam artists are being allowed to sell their power at 50% ABOVE MARKET PRICES!!! Not just a little bit above market. Fifty percent above the market price! Where is the California Public Utilities Commission whose job is to protect the consumer? Oh, I see … the are the ones who agreed to the 50% above market rate hike … for shame.

Read the rest here.

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Balanced budget amendment fails in House

Really, now the Republicans can’t even pass their own shit? When did they become so incapable?

Weak.

Sauce.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has rejected a proposal to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget, seen by many as the only way to force lawmakers to hold the fiscal line and reverse the flow of federal red ink.

The 261-165 vote was 23 short of the two-thirds majority needed to advance a constitutional amendment. Democrats, swayed by the arguments of their leaders that a balanced budget requirement would force Congress to make devastating cuts to social programs, overwhelmingly voted against it.

Four Republicans joined the Democrats in opposing the measure.

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