Sound familiar, folks?
Promises made, none kept?
As I’ve written any number of times regarding Mr Obama, he is “monitoring” (as he said here!) and he is “concerned” and there may possibly be “consequences.”
Rentoon, rentoon, rentoon.
BZ
From ZeroHedge.com:
by Tyler Durden
At first we thought Reuters had been punk’d in its article titled “EU executive sees personal savings used to plug long-term financing gap” which disclosed the latest leaked proposal by the European Commission, but after several hours without a retraction, we realized that the story is sadly true. Sadly, because everything that we warned about in “There May Be Only Painful Ways Out Of The Crisis” back in September of 2011, and everything that the depositors and citizens of Cyprus had to live through, seems on the verge of going continental. In a nutshell, and in Reuters’ own words, “the savings of the European Union’s 500 million citizens could be used to fund long-term investments to boost the economy and help plug the gap left by banks since the financial crisis, an EU document says.” What is left unsaid is that the “usage” will be on a purely involuntary basis, at the discretion of the “union”, and can thus best be described as confiscation.
“Best be described as confiscation.”
As the US under Mr Obama seems to be so incredibly Hell-bent on mirroring absolutely the worst aspects of Europe — namely, Socialism — can one do what I call The Logical Extension?
The source of this stunner is a document seen be Reuters, which describes how the EU is looking for ways to “wean” the 28-country bloc from its heavy reliance on bank financing and find other means of funding small companies, infrastructure projects and other investment. So as Europe finally admits that the ECB has failed to unclog its broken monetary pipelines for the past five years – something we highlight every month (most recently in No Waking From Draghi’s Monetary Nightmare: Eurozone Credit Creation Tumbles To New All Time Low), the commissions report finally admits that “the economic and financial crisis has impaired the ability of the financial sector to channel funds to the real economy, in particular long-term investment.”
The solution? “The Commission will ask the bloc’s insurance watchdog in the second half of this year for advice on a possible draft law “to mobilize more personal pension savings for long-term financing“, the document said.”
Mobilize, once again, is a more palatable word than, say, confiscate.
And yet this is precisely what Europe is contemplating:
The document said the “appropriateness” of the EU capital and liquidity rules for long-term financing will be reviewed over the next two years, a process likely to be scrutinized in the United States and elsewhere to head off any risk of EU banks gaining an unfair advantage.”
It gets better for the Europeans:
Inspired by the recently introduced “no risk, guaranteed return” collectivized savings instrument in the US better known as MyRA, Europe will also complete a study by the end of this year on the feasibility of introducing an EU savings account, open to individuals whose funds could be pooled and invested in small companies.
Because when corporations refuse to invest money in Capex, who will invest? Why you, dear Europeans. Whether you like it or not.
One word to the wise; a bit of caution for those inhabiting DC: if you are even remotely considering any form of fiscal savings/checking confiscation of American funds from American Taxpayers, then you may well be boxing yourself into a corner the likes of which could potentially result in national insurrection. The kind of insurrection that won’t be pleasant or pretty to watch.
And since soldiers and law enforcement officers are American Taxpayers and have, say, for example, savings accounts as well — you could perhaps be throwing a party that very few will deign to attend. And I’m not familiar with many bankers who are entirely facile with firearms of any kind.
In other words, on the steps of DC or the steps of your state capitol, what might occur if an unhappy crowd were to appear on said steps and your local gendarmes and soldiers were to step aside and simply say: “walk on in”?
What if there were actual Oathkeepers? Many of them? Such as myself?
Perhaps this is a scenario to be considered if one does any sort of Logical Extension involving the above, DC.
Just a thought.
BZ
Jubilant French Socialists elected Hollande in May of 2012. Something changed.
From Josh Gerstein at Politico.com:
Germany, ‘Veggie Day,’ and Michelle Obama
BERLIN—The elections set to take place here in Germany Sunday are expected to turn largely on the country’s solid economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s handling of the European debt crisis and social issues like women’s role in the work force. But add to that plate one more thing: Germans don’t want the government telling them what to eat.
In what could be a cautionary tale for First Lady Michelle Obama’s efforts to tweak Americans’ diets, Germans look set to punish the Green Party for urging that public cafeterias go meat-free on a designated “Veggie Day” each week in order to help the environment and reduce cruelty to animals. Borrowing colorfully from English, German newspaper Bild described public reaction to the idea as a “shitstorm.”
Imagine that: “Germans don’t want the government telling them what to eat.”
Top that with this, from an older post of mine:
Germany’s Angela Merkel has the temerity and courage to state the obvious. Germany has “had it.” A pull quote: German Chancellor Angela Merkel: “lmmigrants should learn to speak German.” Read the article here.
The article I referred to in October of 2010 is entitled: “Merkel says German multicultural society has failed.” How heinous, how overbearing, how insensitive of her to insist on a national language being embraced by immigrants!
Germany clearly has had it.
The French say multiculturalism is a flop as well, from my February 12th, 2011 post entitled: “Even The French Admit: “Multi-Kulti” = FAILURE.”
So the Germans did the proper thing and re-elected a person who has made them stronger in the face of weakness, more determined in the face of waffling, and more fiscally solvent in the face of budgetary EU failure and bankruptcy.
You won’t see that happening here because this country possesses what I term “Historical Alzheimers.” We learn nothing from history. Leftists are obviously historically ignorant. Obama Socialist? Indeed.
Everyone seems to think they can “do” Socialism better than the prior guy. Including Obama. He just doesn’t have the courage to say what he really means or wants.
But tell me, as one fellow reader at work said to me a day ago: “Show me successful liberalism.”
Key word: successful.
Chicago? Detroit? Even DC?
BZ
Because, apparently, having a strong economy — stronger than the rest of Europe — and refusing to be the butt-boy of the EU plays well with Deutschland’s electorate.
From Bloomberg.com:
By Tony Czuczka & Brian Parkin – Sep 22, 2013 1:11 PM PT
Angela Merkel won an overwhelming endorsement from German voters, putting the country’s first female chancellor on course for the biggest election tally since Helmut Kohl’s post-reunification victory of 1990.
Merkel’s Christian Democratic bloc took 41.8 percent in today’s election to 25.5 percent for the Social Democrats of Peer Steinbrueck, projections on ZDF television as of 8:57 p.m. showed. Earlier forecasts had her group with a one-seat majority in the lower house for only the second time since World War II after Konrad Adenauer in 1957. The euro gained even as her lead later shrank below a majority.
Please note that, even as the rest of the EU bellowed at Merkel “no more ‘austerity’ you ignorant slut,” the German electorate didn’t buy the phrase.
Imagine that. Fiscal responsibility and a bit of austerity seems to do much better for an economy.
Take that, Obama, you ignorant slut.
BZ
“And the architects are not returning calls.”
From TheBlaze.com:
At 47 stories, the In Tempo skyscraper in Spain is set to be the tallest residential building in the European Union.
But anyone living on floors 21 through 47 has a problem: to get any higher than the 20th floor, you have to take the stairs.
Oopsie.
Builders are likely more than a little red-faced after discovering that the 650-foot luxury high-rise under construction in the resort city of Benidorm is missing a crucial element — an elevator that goes all the way to the top of the building. Imagine the difficulty you would have trying to move into your apartment on any floor between 21 and 47.
But wait; it gets better.
They won’t be able to retrofit.
BZ