Frank Jao, one of the most powerful men in Bolsavikland and someone with spectacularly high-reaching contacts in the GOP, is heading a fundraiser for the first Vietnamese-American Congressman, Representative Ánh Joseph Cao (pictured right).
The fundraiser, set to take place at 7:45 in the morning tomorrow, precedes the Tet Parade on Bolsa Avenue where Cao will serve as Grand Marshall. Heading the invitation in addition to Jao and his wife Catherine Jao are Congressman Ed Royce and Assemblyman Van Tran.
Jao, the head of Bridgecreek Development, is also known by his Vietnamese name Triệu Phát. Bridgecreek owns and/or manages some of the best known properties around Little Saigon, including the flagship 
Asian Garden Mall, commonly known as Phước Lộc Thọ (pictured left).
Also on the Host Committee for the fundraiser is Chieu Le, the owner of Lee’s Sandwiches.
Le is a successful entrepreneur whose businesses include not just the Lee’s Sandwiches chain but also a lucrative maintenance and parking yard for catering trucks in San Jose. He’s also known for his frequent support of various causes. The Coastline Community College‘s Le-Jao Center in Westminster is named after Le and Jao for their $1 million donation that made the modern 33,000-square-foot classroom and lab building a reality.
Le is no stranger to Cao’s hometown. Following Hurricane Katrina, Lee’s Sandwiches raised more than $50,000 for hurricane victims.
Le attended the 2007 reception for Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in Dana Point, and his father is an ardent supporter of San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen against the recall forces. For these supposed sins, Le has been accused here and there of being a commie.
This fundraiser is a little bit on the affordable side, at $100 per person.
You can view the invitation to the fundraiser here. Full text follows after the jump.
In Celebration of Tet in Little Saigon,
Please Join
Congressman Ed Royce, Assemblyman Van Tran
Frank & CatherineJao
To Welcome
The Honorable Anh “Joseph” Cao
Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District
The First Vietnamese-American Elected to the U. S. Congress
HOST COMMITTEE:
Hon. Michelle Park Steel & Shawn Steel -Hon. Margie Rice – Hon. Andy Quach – Hon. Frank Fry – Hon. Tri Ta – Hon. Truong Diep Hon. Dina Nguyen – Hon. Lan Q. Nguyen -Ken Nguyen – Chieu Le – Dung T. Tran -John Q. Duong – Kathy Buchoz
7:45 AM – 9:00 AM
Saturday, January 31, 2009
(Please Arrive on Time Before Parade Route closure)
DRAGON PHOENIX PALACE
(Long Phung Lau)
9211 Bolsa Avenue, Suite 106
Westminster, CA 92683
Host: $1,000/couple Benefactor: $250 Individual: $100 Please make check payable to: Joseph Cao for Congress
Please RSVP for parking pass
(Please note: due to the Tet parade route closure on Saturday morning, please RSVP in advance to receive your VIP parking pass, to park at the Asian Garden Mall)
RSVP to Lyna at 714-842-8018 ext 20 or lyna@bridgecreek.com
PAID FOR BY: JOSEPH CAO FOR CONGRESS, FEC # C00455808,
P.O. BOX 56156, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70156
Who’s Who? ca ca doodle…….Funny, your man gave you that skimpy red undie already!
Mr. Cao’s speech was sincere and many were moved by his good character.
100+ supporters at fund raising event was awesome.
Paul Vo, you can keep your forked tongue inside of jealous lying mouth…… many were happy to contribute to his campaign war chest.
Great job and it was nice to watch viet unity under one roof. …..thank you everyone!
** Chinese economy shows signs of life **
February 4, 2009 – 12:59PM
China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for January rose to 45.3 from 41.2 in December and a record low of 38.8 plumbed in November, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said on Wednesday.
A reading over 50 indicates an expansion of activity in the manufacturing sector while one below 50 suggests contraction.
New orders, including those for exports, and production rose strongly. The only two sub-indexes to decrease were stockpiles of finished products and employment.
Zhang Liqun, a government economist, said the survey pointed to a recovery in the economy this quarter.
“The January PMI indicates that China’s economy is gradually bottoming out,” Zhang said in a commentary for the federation.
The government’s 4 trillion yuan ($915 billion) stimulus plan had started to have a positive impact on business, which was booking more orders for capital goods, he added.
Moreover, banks extended about 1.2 trillion yuan in new loans in January, a monthly record, in response to government calls to lend more to halt the economy’s decline, the China Securities Journal reported.
The PMI produced for brokerage CLSA, released on Monday, also provided tentative evidence of a recovery. It rose to 42.2 in January from 41.2 in December, inching further away from the record low of 40.9 plumbed in November.
Reuters
** Insurance companies might soon become insolvent with $1 trillion in corporate debt **
Corporate debt defaults may cost U.S. life insurers “substantially” more than losses on securities linked to subprime, Alt-A and commercial mortgages, said Eric Berg, an analyst at Barclays Plc.
Corporate defaults are poised for a “significant” increase this year as the recession deepens, Berg, based in New York, said in a research note yesterday. The American Council of Life Insurers estimated the industry, led by MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc., holds $1 trillion in corporate debt.
Mexico’s economy in Recession.
The Mexican economy is heading towards a significant recession this year, contracting by as much as 2 to 4 per cent as it struggles to cope with the US financial crisis and global downturn.
Mexico is likely to lose between 250,000 and 340,000 jobs this year – a particularly worrying prospect, given that the country’s relatively young population pushes 1m new people into the job market every year.
Manufacturing exports in December slumped by 11.5 per cent compared with the same month in 2007. About 80 per cent of Mexico’s exports go directly to the US, and their value is equivalent to about 25 per cent of gross domestic product.
In addition the peso will keep depreciating to the dollar, registering a record low.
** Auto sales in China higher than in US **
The foundation of manufacturing capability of a county.
China is likely to overtake the U.S. in vehicle sales for the first time last month, a trend that could make China into the world’s largest auto market this year.
Official data for China’s auto sales in January will not be out until next week. But they are expected to show sales at about 790,000 units for the month, Zhang Xin, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities in Beijing, said Wednesday.
In the U.S., meanwhile, auto sales in January tumbled 37 percent to 656,976 vehicles, the lowest monthly level in 26 years.
Yes, it made LA Times news this morning.
Thank you,
It is my habit to browse through all the news.
I do the same. Good habit.
Burmese ‘Boat People’ 2009 _ Reminiscent of Vietnamese Boat People 1979
A Rohingya refugee shows the wound on his back which he says he received during a beating in Thailand, at a small hospital in Idie Rayeuk, Aceh province, Indonesia, 03 Feb 2009
Indonesian health workers say a group of Burmese boat people rescued from seas off Indonesia this week have injuries that prove they were beaten.
The 198 Burmese Rohingya men were found drifting off western Indonesia Monday. They said they were beaten by authorities in Thailand who pushed them out to sea.
Health workers in Indonesia’s northern Aceh province told the French news agency Wednesday many of the Burmese men have scars that likely resulted from being hit with sticks and ropes.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban reiterated Wednesday that the Thai military treats Burmese boat people humanely.
The 198 men say they were among 1,000 Burmese Rohingya who were dragged out to sea by Thai authorities last month with little food or water. The men say they drifted on a boat for three weeks, during which 22 of them died and their bodies were thrown overboard.
The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in Burma who complain of persecution by the Burmese military in the majority Buddhist country. Many Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh and Thailand in search of a better life.
Thailand and Indonesia refuse to recognize the Rohingya as refugees and regard them as economic migrants who should be deported back to Burma.
Country First,
Do you know if the Chinese stimulus program is based on their paper currency only? Also, do you know if the Chinese still have their money in both Treasury Notes and Freddie Mac/Fanny Mae? Huge implication, wouldn’t you say?
Roland,
The Chinese stimulus package is roughly 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion), which includes infrastructure spendings, housing, healthcare, water projects, power projects, tax cuts, interest rate cuts.
Initially I was quite skeptical of the package due to its lack of transparency, top level corruption, and inefficient financial structures; However, early data shows some positive results.
China is still seating on piles of cash with no where to go. The Euro is dropping fast for its lack of co-ordinated stimulus programs, and still high interest rates in Europe. Dollar is still the only safe haven. Buying dollar is another way to maintain exchange rates for bilateral trades, since China does not want to appreciate its Yuan. British pound is also crashing down, with its closely linked to Middle-Eastern economies which are also dropping.
Chinese sovereign funds got burned early and directly with its investments in Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, and other hedge funds.
The collapse of Fannie May/Freddie Mac caused more damage to the structured derivative market, the Credit default swap market, and the collateralized mortgage obligations market. Some sovereign funds might have invested in these markets, but not too much.
Bank of America on the verge of collapse.
and FDIC does not have the fund to take it over. What else is left for the government to do ?
Do the socialist way : Nationalize it ! ! !
Welcome to Amerika, the new land of socialism where all capitalist profits are private and all capitalist losses are socialized.
This morning news :
** Nationwide first-time claims for unemployment insurance reached 626,000 in the week ended Jan. 31, up 35,000 from the prior week.
** New factory orders in December 2008 down 3.9% after another 6.5% fall in November.
** more layoff from manufacturing sectors is coming.
Mexican Peso :
The peso touched a record low of 14.7059 yesterday and is down 27 percent over the past five months, the worst among the major currencies, as a deepening U.S. recession slackens demand for Mexican exports, curbs the remittances that migrant workers send home, and cuts number of tourists to Mexico.
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE :
Transaction sale prices of commercial property sold by major institutional investors fell by more than 10 percent — a record — in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to an index developed and published at the MIT Center for Real Estate that also posted a record 15 percent drop for the year.
The index’s performance means that prices in institutional commercial property deals that closed during the fourth quarter for properties such as office buildings, warehouses and apartment complexes are now 22 percent below their peak values attained in the second quarter of 2007. The index has fallen in five of the past six quarters, but the recent drop is by far the steepest.
“With the index already having fallen 22 percent in the current downturn, it now seems likely that this down market will be at least as severe as that of the early 1990s for commercial property,” said Professor David Geltner, director of research at the Center for Real Estate.
“Nevertheless, a decline of 22 percent compares favorably to the stock market, which has lost more than 40 percent over the same period, including 20 percent in the last quarter,” Geltner noted.
The worst is yet to come with high number of retailers and franchisers going out of business. Shopping mall vacancy is getting higher 10% – 20%.
Commercial mortgage is virtually non-existent.
China’s Threat to Obama administration :
**China’s Central Bank is agitating China to seek guarantees on its $682 billion of U.S. Treasury Holdings, so that these do not get eroded by “reckless policies” by US government.
** the threat that the U.S. may lose it largest foreign debt purchaser should be enough to make people in the administration very worried. China is currently in a position of strength relative to the U.S., and only an altruistic desire to cooperate from a game theory p.o.v. will prevent a huge blow to the U.S. economy (which would of course impact China as well). In all likelihood, China is reminding the U.S. that it is no longer the big dog in the economic playground and that wisecracks like Geithner’s, or a neo-unilateralist economic policy will not longer be tolerated.
China’ growing unrest :
Bankruptcies, unemployment and social unrest are spreading more widely in China than officially reported, according to independent research that paints an ominous picture for the world economy.
The research was conducted for The Sunday Times over the last two months in three provinces vital to Chinese trade – Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. It found that the global economic crisis has scythed through exports and set off dozens of protests that are never mentioned by the state media.
While troubling for the Chinese government, this should strengthen the argument of Premier Wen Jiabao, who will say on a visit to London this week that his country faces enormous problems and cannot let its currency rise in response to American demands.
The new US Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, has alarmed Beijing and raised fears of a trade war by stating that China manipulates the yuan to promote exports.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5627687.ece
Great info, Country First. What is the game theory POV? Thanks.
POV = Point of View.
If I may voice my humble opinion, the Chinese government is rather funny. They want foreign investments and business to produce goods and services for others, thereby generating jobs for their people and collecting money through taxation and from their own state owned enterprises.
Rather than buy goods and services that they don’t produce from other nations in return, China would rather wait for their people to come up with the same things. While China is sitting this financial surplus, it wants its deposit guaranteed, while the US can do whatever it wants with its currency and markets, meaing the US can go to hell in a hand basket.
China is thinking is that it owns well over $1 trillion of US, and if the US is old news, it will move on to the European markets. If that market is tapped out, then Japan. So on and so on.
This is not equitable on all levels. It is a zero sum gain where one person gains at the expense of the other. The current government is using the capitalistic market to further its own selfish agenda. Where is the fairness?
** Trade War between China & India **
China said it was “seriously concerned” at Indian barriers to its exports, highlighting global trade tensions as the worst financial crisis since World War II sends demand plummeting. India’s use of sanctions may have “a serious impact on bilateral trade relations,” Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian said in a statement on the ministry’s Web site today. India imposed a six-month ban on imports of Chinese toys last month.
…India has initiated 17 trade actions, including 10 anti- dumping probes, against Chinese imports such as penicillin, hot- rolled steel, vehicle axles and linen since October, the Chinese ministry said today. It also cited additional Indian restrictions on imports of products including steel, chemicals and textiles.
…“I believe China won’t implement a ‘Buy China’ policy,” Vice Commerce Minister Jiang Zengwei said at a press conference in Beijing today. “We just need to boost consumption, whether it’s through domestically made goods or foreign-made goods. We will treat them equally without discrimination. Why in the current climate should we resort to protectionism?”
http://mpettis.com/2009/02/more-terrible-trade-numbers-from-china/
Country First:
FYI: http://www.uschina.org/statistics/tradetable.html
China now is the world’s biggest automobile market, bigger than US :
China sold 735,500 China-made vehicles in January, while sales in the US was 656,900 units
New China’s tax reduction on car will benefit buyers, reducing 15%VAT tax to about 5%.
* China reduces taxes to stimulate consumer demand, while California increase taxes in recessionary time. Now please tell me which is more communistic ?
Vietnam jobless rate soars as export plunges :
Thousands of workers are being laid off as Viet Nam feels the heat of the global financial crisis.
According to initial reports from the labour unions at 10 provinces and cities, more than 50,000 workers lost jobs in 2008 and the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour estimated the figure might increase to 200,000 nationwide this year.
Saigon is the hardest hit with more than 35,000 workers losing their jobs so far.
Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam Herb Cochran warned that unemployment would only get worse in Viet Nam in light of the global economic downturn.
Job cuts are already on the rise in businesses operating in industrial, processing and exporting zones with 541,000 workers losing jobs in 2007.
“Over 600,000 were made redundant last year,” he said.
# Somalia is collapsing
# Mexican government is fighting for its survival with the onslaught of drug wars.
# Nuclear-armed Pakistan teeters between extremism and outright war
# Over 25 million workers have already lost their jobs as a result of China’s economic slowdown.
# India’s software industry has contracted more than 35% due to its close links to US financial industry.
# Over 25 million textile and manufacturing workers have lost their job as export demand plunges in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan…
# In Greece and France, riots and car torching have become commonplace
# bloody civil wars in commodity-dependent countries like Zambia and Nigeria.
** Foreclosure Moratoriums **
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) have committed to temporary moratoriums on foreclosures.
* This is a farce, lenders want government to come up with a plan to pay their losses, then they will proceed with foreclosure.
* Loan modification is another scam, lenders will adjust your mortgage payment, but do not want to reduce your below-market-value loan amount. Do not believe what they say ! ! !
Taxpayers will pay for lender’s mortgage losses.
Global instability:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-security-threat13-2009feb13,0,2038608.story
Pakistan:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-uspakistan13-2009feb13,0,4776260.story
Country First:
Do you know who runs the US economy now? Treasury Department or Federal Reserve?
* I am afraid the task might be overwhelming for Tim Geithner, who lacks certain political skills to maneuver through congress.
* With the approval rescue plan, center of power is shifting to the White House, and Tim Geithner is the man in charge of $1.0 trillion budget.
* Federal Reserve has to expand its balance sheet to include about $2 trillion of toxic credits. Chairman Ben Bernanke has deliberately stayed behind all political spot lights; he will be canvassing wall street, picking dead bodies.
* Larry Summer is picking up more of the PR responsibility by engaging more TV interviews.
* President Obama really needs someone to lead the commerce department quickly, to be a point person on economic impacts of the rescue plan.
* The rescue plan still contains certain version of “Buy America”, this will create retaliatory responses from US trading partners.
Country First:
Rather interesting that the Federal Reserve could not help itself in this financial meltdown, let alone guide financial instutions through this mess? Now, it is the Treasury Dept that is running the show, even though it is not its primary role.
The Fed ran out of ammunition with effective interest rates bordering around zero.
Aggressive monetary policy would force the FED to be more than the lender of last resort but also asset holder of last resort.
Tim Geithner came from a regulatory agency ( New York FED governor ), so he wants to strengthen regulatory structure and accounting transparency;
where as Henry Paulson was Goldman Sachs COE, so his policy tended to benefit wall street investment firms.
A solution for US housing crisis : More immigration
New York Time columnist Tom Friedman
“All you need to do is grant visas to two million Indians, Chinese and Koreans,” said Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Indian Express newspaper. “We will buy up all the subprime homes. We will work 18 hours a day to pay for them. We will immediately improve your savings rate — no Indian bank today has more than 2 percent nonperforming loans because not paying your mortgage is considered shameful here. And we will start new companies to create our own jobs and jobs for more Americans.”
He also cited a recent study by William R. Kerr of Harvard Business School and William F. Lincoln of the University of Michigan that “found that in periods when H-1B visa numbers went down, so did patent applications filed by immigrants [in the U.S.]. And when H-1B visa numbers went up, patent applications followed suit.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/opinion/11friedman.html?_r=2
*raising the sales tax 1 percent with sales tax base of 7.25%
*raising the gas tax 12 cents per gallon; working class will pay billions for this
*leveling a one-time, 5 percent “surcharge” on people who owe income tax at the end of 2009; This is a Tax on Tax, just a pure government robbery.
*raising the fee for licensing vehicles in the state from 0.65 percent of the vehicle’s value to 1.15 percent.
California is rising taxes when Californians are losing their jobs, houses, and savings
*the highest gas tax in the country;
*the third-highest individual income tax rate
We have to stop this madness, please call your state representative.
Nouriel Roubini: “The worst is yet to come, global recession.”
Nouriel Roubini, or RGE Monitor and NYU Stern School of Business, appeared on CNBC, January 15, 2009, to discuss his outlook for 2009. Roubini’s best-case call is a U-shaped recovery from this now synchronized global recession we’re in, if the authorities can turn around the situation in the financial sector, which is by his account, “effectively insolvent.” If not, we could enter into a period of economic stagnation combined with deflation, similar to Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5102wsJY94
Another Repeat Bailout :
General Motors Corp. and Chrysler are coming back to ask for another 30 billion dollars of taxpayer money.
Mexican Drug War Spreads
Hundreds of Mexicans Block Bridges to U.S. to Protest Alleged Army Raids on drug war.
The protests in Ciudad Juarez blocked traffic for about two hours across three bridges connecting the city to El Paso, Texas. Similar protests broke out on bridges in the border cities of Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa.
It was the largest display of discontent against the army’s role in an anti-drug crackdown since President Felipe Calderon began deploying soldiers across the country two years ago to fight cartels. About 45,000 soldiers are now spread out across Mexico.
On Feb 15, 2009 Suspected drug hitmen killed 12 people, including six children, in the southern state of Tabasco, which until now had escaped the spiraling violence of Mexico’s drug war.
Thailand’s rice exports in January down 38%
Thailand’s rice exports in January fell 37.74 per cent year-on-year in terms of volume
General Motors workers protest in front of the Government House in Bangkok on Tuesday Feb. 17, 2009 after General Motors Thailand plan to lay off 900 workers amid economic recession and a slump in the U.S. automobile industry.
Thai angry corn farmers block highway in Lampang province to protest falling prices.
LAMPANG, Feb 9 (TNA) — Tempers flared as motorists traveling between Lampang-Tak province on Monday nearly clashed with protesting corn farmers who blocked a section of a northern highway and paralysed traffic, demanding the government to assist them as corn prices continue declining in the local market.
Over 100 maize farmers blocked the highway by parking more than 20 heavy trucks as well as pick-up vehicles on both sides of the highway. Strewing their corn on the road as a gesture of protest, the farmers demanded the government to assist them by shoring up corn prices.
Traffic was unable to move due to the protest, upsetting drivers who shouted at the protesters. Abusive words filled the air, but government representatives stepped in before tempers erupted into physical rather than verbal violence.
Frustrated travellers were helped by a more than 30 soldiers en route to duty in the South then forcefully moved a parked car belonging to protesting corn growers so that they could make a U-turn and used another direction.
A number of cars succeeded in making the U-turn, but the protesters were unhappy and block a portion of roadway to prevent vehicles from turning back.
The situation on Monday afternoon remained tense, as motorists were unable to move their cars due to gridlock
Thai dairy farmers block highway in milk price protest
SARABURI, Jan 20 (TNA) – Dairy farmers blocked a portion of the Mittraparb Highway in Saraburi’s Muak Lek district in their continuing protest against the Abhisit government’s plan to buy their milk at a lower price from that approved by the former government.
Thailand’s dairy farmers across the country gathered at the Dairy Farming Promotion Organisation of Thailand in Muak Lek district on Tuesday.
The protest leader said the previous government had approved to purchase raw milk at 18 baht per litre, but the new cabinet is considering reduction of the purchase price to 16.50 baht.
Irate farmers blocked both inbound and outbound lanes with five 10-wheel trucks. The protest disrupted traffic for some hours.
Greenspan says : communism is a way to solve current crisis.
The US government may have to NATIONALIZE some banks on a temporary basis to fix the financial system and restore the flow of credit, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, has told the Financial Times. In an interview, Mr Greenspan, who for decades was regarded as the high priest of laisser-faire capitalism, said nationalisation could be the least bad option left for policymakers. “It may be necessary to temporarily nationalise some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring,” he said. “I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do.”
Trump Entertainment Resorts bankruptcy filing
Donald Trump, the real estate mogul who has splashed his name on everything from skyscrapers to neckties to bottled water, has suffered a string of recent reversals that threaten to dilute his cachet, say branding experts. His name, which he often licenses to real estate projects in which he has no direct control, has earned him millions.
“His brand is associated with success and making money. And every time the word bankruptcy appears next to Trump, that’s not good,” said Allen Adamson, managing director of Landor, a brand consultancy. “He can take a few chinks in the armour, but I think he’s probably at the limit.”
Famous for shouting “You’re fired!” at the contestants who aspired to his tycoon status and lavish lifestyle on “The Apprentice,” his long-running reality TV series, Trump would never fire himself. But image watchers will be looking for signs he may have lost some of his lustre, as the latest season of his show premieres on March 1.
Kidnap for Territory–A New Terrorist Tactic in the Philippines.
The Philippines is presently home to at least two groups of apparent war criminals: the New People’s Army for their recent use of internationally banned land mines and the Abu Sayyaf Group of Albader Parad, for their kidnapping of three Red Cross workers in Mindanao and a whole slew of recent kidnappings.
In a new twist perhaps necessitated by an apparent inability to extort a monetary ransom, the ASG leader Albader Parad, (who has been responsible for many kidnap capers including Fr. Giancarlo Bossi which led to 10 Marines getting beheaded in Basilan) has told the media they would not negotiate the release of the Red Cross workers unless the Philippine Military first withdraws from “their territory” in Basilan and Sulu.
Corruption As ‘Official’ Policy. Philippine style.
Written on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 10:56 am | by Ding G. Gagelonia
Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane: Collusion is part of the way contractors do business but it does not mean that public works officials are involved in it. Officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways “cannot prevent contractors from talking among themselves” and comparing bid prices. “But it doesn’t mean that the DPWH is part of it,” as is being insinuated.” The construction companies band together for a bidding and agree which one of them would win the contract. The winner then pays off the other members of the group.
This typically occurs when there are only a few firms competing for one contract.
This is part of the companies’ way of doing business.“In any kind of business, there is always cheating. That will never go away,”
Welcome to the USSRA (United Socialist State Republic of Amerika)
Comrades Bush, Obama, and Bernanke have now turned the USA into the USSRA (the United Socialist State Republic of America).
Socialism is indeed alive and well in America; but this is socialism for the rich, the well connected and Wall Street.
A socialism where profits are privatized and losses are socialized with the US tax-payer
http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/253529/comrades_bush_paulson_and_bernanke_welcome_you_to_the_ussra_united_socialist_state_republic_of_america
Magical Printing Press :
Assume for a moment you invent a magical printing press. Your machine can print hundred dollar bills so good that the US Treasury cannot distinguish them them from the real thing. The bills are perfect in every way.
Now assume you print $5 trillion worth of those bills and bury them in your back yard. Is this inflation? Surely not.
Would it be inflation if $5 trillion in bills were spent and entered the economy? You bet.
The key then is not how much the Fed prints, the key is how much of that money makes its way into the economy.
The new Housing Rescue Plan :
Congratulation ! ! !
You, tax-payers, will be paying your’s neighbor’s mortgages for years to come.
You will pay for all greedy investors in your neighborhood.
You will pay for all risky owners in your neighborhood.