Measure twice, cut once

Today I want to talk to you about a wise old adage “Measure twice, cut once”, a lesson my father taught me when I was a boy. Even though it is used a lot in carpentry it has applications in different aspects of our lives, including in our businesses. The literal message means that we should double-check one's measurements for accuracy before cutting a piece of wood; otherwise it may require of us to cut again, wasting time and material. Figuratively it means that lack of planning can lead to mistakes.

In today's environment we want everything fast and accurate. People do not want to take time to plan. We want to shoot first and then we see where the bullet hits. We want to open the "business" before we develop the idea. We want someone to invest in our "business" before we have finished the concept. However, to reach your goals your decisions should be based on sound data. 

The four words of the carpenter’s adage “Measure twice. Cut once” expresses a universal truth about the importance of planning before reaching the point of no return. I wonder how many in the construction industry actually follow this advice. For example, now is the time to plan for your  2012 tax year and determining what can be done to minimize your tax liability. The time to evaluate  the legal and tax consequences of a transaction is before you take the action and not after. Many  times people try to save a few hundred dollars in planning to spend a few thousands in fixing the  mistake. They spend hours later trying to justify what they did and develop schemes to cover their blunders.

In difficult economic times, many are tempted to skip due diligence and take those second measurements
to save a few minutes and a few dollars. Many take their chances, If “the cut” is correct, there are savings. However, if the cut is wrong, the amount of the loss does not compare to the effort  and expense of making it right. In other words what is being done is gambling. The risk far exceeds the reward.

Remember, it’s faster to double-check than to make a mistake.

Fixing The Fiscal Hole

Everyone by now has heard of the upcoming "Fiscal Cliff", the expected effect of a number of laws which, unless changed, could result in tax increases, spending cuts, and a corresponding reduction in the budget deficit beginning in 2013. Many economists expect that the end result of the fiscal cliff will be another recession. Will the President and Congress reach an agreement for the well being of this country or will they continue in their petty fights before they drag us into a bottomless pit with them? Will there be bipartisan agreement or will each side emerge
with a "victory" for their political supporters? Will they come to theirs senses and put the American people first or will this be just another round of partisan line battles surely geared towards mutual defeat?

The tax increases and spending cuts that are due to take place by January 1, 2013 are expected to automatically slash the federal budget deficit by $503 billion, according to the most recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections. In addition, over the next ten years, projected increases in the United States public debt (money borrowed by the federal government of the United States through the issue of securities by the Treasury and other federal government agencies) would be lowered by as much as $7.1 trillion or about 70%, resulting in a considerably lower ratio of debt relative to the size of the economy. On 21 November 2012, debt held by the public was approximately $11.45 trillion or about 72% of GDP. Also, As of September 2012, $5.5 trillion or approximately 48% of the debt held by the public was owned by foreign investors, the largest of which were China and Japan at just over $1.1 trillion each.

The stats above do not seem to be so bad. However, the immediate spending reduction with an increase in revenues in a weak economy may push the United States back into a recession and many fear into a depression. The main problem of our fiscal current situation is simple math, you do not need a Phd in economics to figure this out; the federal government spends more than the income it generates. They have been poor managers of the financial resources entrusted to them by the people of this country. This must change!

We must address the root of the problem. We must end unfair tax policies that encourage U.S. corporations to ship jobs overseas and receive tax breaks for doing so. From 2008 to 2010, at least 30 Fortune 500 companies —including PepsiCo, Verizon, Wells Fargo, and DuPont—paid more for lobbyists than they did in taxes. They collectively spent $476 million sucking up to Congress, buying protection for tax breaks and special subsidies, and corrupting the souls of politicians. The US Congress has turned into a harlot filled with prostitues available to the highest bidders. We must encourage entrepreneurship in the United States but not at the cost of the American people to pick up the tax bill.

What are the politicians going to do differently this time? Are they going to increase taxes? Are they going to reduce spending? The reality is Washington, DC cannot solve all their past mismanagement simply by over-taxing the people that voted them into office nor by eliminating programs that are necessary. The decision facing this congress when they return to Washington is not easy, but must be done by putting the
people of the United States and the future country first.

If you have not realized it yet, we have already fallen off the cliff. We must focus on climbing out of the hole which is going to be painful.

The End of the International Bankers Cartel

“If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals
or corporations.” - Andrew Jackson

“The Government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity.” - Abraham Lincoln

“All wars are economic in their origin” - BERNARD BARUCH, before Nye Committee, 9-13-1937

“Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who makes its Laws” - ANSELM MEYER ROTHSCHILD (owners of major banks including the Bank of England)

“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” - HENRY FORD

"The Central Bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the principles and form of our Constitution." - Thomas Jefferson

As we approach the end of 2012, there is a lot of people concerned with the Mayan predictions of the end of the world. If that prediction comes to pass then this article will have no validity. However, I am of the belief that the world wont end on December 21, 2012. Maybe the end that will happen is the end of the international bankers' schemes to rob us from our freedom.

It is not hard to see the impact of excessive and easy credit can cause to a nation and families, all you have to do is watch the international news. You can feel the growing pain around Europe and North America. An economy that is founded in credit and debt is bound to collapse like any other pyramid scam. Prior to all of the schemes the international bankers introduced, the foundation of an economic model was "supply and demand". However, this formula does not work for the international bankers since they do not have much control over the supply and demand, they needed to create economies that were dependent on something they had control; debt-collateralized banknotes.

In the case of the United States, after the removal of the gold as the collateral for our monetary system, the international bankers had finally achieved what they needed to control the economy of a nation. A monetary system that is not contolled by the amount of gold in reserves nor supply and demand. Now with unrestrained pumping into the economy of credit and debt, they have wrecked havoc in our economy. Please understand that uncontrolled credit leads to debt and debt leads to slavery. This was evident in our recent implosion of our economy and the housing market. This is not a republican nor a democrat problem, it is a systemic problem we have and must cast out from this nation like a bad demonic spirit.

The success of the bankers' "economic system" depends in you and I getting more and more into debt (what they call credit expansion). Under their system, inflation/deflation and growth/recession is measured by the level of debt we are consuming. The economic growth is not based on the growth of our nation measured by levels of unemployment, and gross domestic product, it based on how much debt we are consuming. To keep this monster at peace you need to enslave yourself, your children and your grand-chldren into a perpetual slavery to absorb more debt and work countless hours to pay what you can towards your mountain of debt. This economic fraud by the international banking cartel must end.

Just last week FHA announced that they have a deficit (a.k.a. Bail Out Time). Who do you think will have to bail out this governmental agency? The international bankers that caused the problem? The president and congress who has not stopped this madness? No. You and I will have to pay for it. Since the only source of income this nation has is the taxes they charge to you and I, they will put more weight on our shoulders to
carry; "after all you do not want the recession to prolong, do you?" May be we should let the FHA collapse and this time we vote no to the bail out. This action most certainly will initiate an economic collapse that will be felt across the globe. However, this wont be the end. After this event we rise into another economic model, a model not controlled by the amount of credit we consume, bubbles, and the "markets". The prinitng of more "paper money" will only lead to more debt, since the only backing for that paper is debt, which leads to the debasement of the currency and potentially hyperinflation. Staying in status-quo out of fear will lead to the stagflation of the 70's. Monetary reform is a must!

I am not an economist. However, you do not need to be an economist to see that there is a systemic problem with our economic model. You must research on your own and arrive to your own conclusions for the well being of your families. Speaking up in this country today, may lead you into trouble and be called names. However, staying quiet wont solve the root of the problem. I leave you today with this quote:


“Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create money, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great
fortunes like mine will disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create money.”  – Sir Josiah Stamp, Director of the Bank of England (appointed 1928). Reputed to be the 2nd wealthiest man in England at that time.
  

An FHA Bailout?

On November 15th the WSJ runs the story titled “FHA Nears Need for Taxpayer Funds”. Here we go again, another bank to bail out. The story
outlines serious financial problems facing the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and it could exhaust its reserve. One of the problems cited for the reduced reserves is the rising mortgage  deliquencies. Interestingly enough, after the housing and lending meltdown of 2008, the FHA became the lender for the subprime borrowers. So with a lending program of 3% down and subprime borrowers, what could be wrong with this formula?

FHA has been the key element to the “housing recovery” our government has been trying to sell to us. After the collapse of 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed and FHA was left to pick up the pieces. FHA doesn't actually make loans but instead insures lenders against losses and has played a critical role helping the housing market by backing mortgages of borrowers that most private lenders won't originate without a government guarantee.  The FHA accounted for one third of loans used to purchase homes last year among owner occupants.

Though the FHA guarantees fewer mortgages than either Fannie or Freddie, it now has more seriously delinquent loans than either of the mortgage-finance giants. Overall, the FHA insured nearly 739,000 loans that were 90 days or more past due or in foreclosure at the end of September, an increase of more than 100,000 loans from a year ago. That represents about 9.6% of $1.08 trillion in mortgages guaranteed.

So you see why I am saying that the FHA Bailout is almost certain to happen. As the only player left, the FHA has simply been the sole source of mortgage provision to the subprime market.

Could this be Tim Geithner's last act as Treasury Secretary?

Mr. Geithner came in bailing out financial institutions and will go out the same way. He may be remembered as the Bailout King. If everything goes to plan. FHA problems will be swept under the carpet with no problems at all and this may happen before the end of this year. Hummmm, this may be the catastrophic event that people are waiting to happen on December 21!