Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=afvB0L4UoFxY

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week from a six- month low as distortions caused by shifts in the timing of auto- plant shutdowns subsided.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/usDollarRpt/idUSPEK6242920090722

China will again press the United States at high-level talks next week to protect Beijing's extensive U.S. investments by pursuing sound policies and keeping the dollar stable, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Link: http://kennysideshow.blogspot.com/2009/07/bankergovernment-theft-could-reach-23.html

Auditing and then abolishing the Federal Reserve is the start of a solution. Of course no one believes that the Congress and Treasury Department would do a better job on monetary policy unless they have an incentive to do so. That incentive would have to be staying out of prison. Until we jail the criminals who are stealing our future as an example of what will happen to those who are thieves, there will be no 'change'.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/business/20modify.html?_r=1&em

LOS ANGELES — From the ninth floor of a downtown office building on Wilshire Boulevard, Jack Soussana delivered staggering numbers of mortgages to homeowners during the real estate boom, amassing a fortune. By Mr. Soussana’s own account, his customers fared less happily. He specialized in the exotic mortgages that have proved most prone to sliding into foreclosure, leaving many now scrambling to save their homes. Yet the dangers assailing Mr. Soussana’s clients have yielded fresh business for him: Late last year, he and his team — ensconced in the same office where they used to broker mortgages — began working for a loan modification company. For fees reaching $3,495, with most of the money collected upfront, they promised to negotiate with lenders to lower payments on the now-delinquent mortgages they and their counterparts had sprinkled liberally across Southern California.

Link: http://undertheradarmedia.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/rolling-stone-writer-called-anti-semitic-for-simply-following-the-money/

Popular Rolling Stone contributor, writer and blogger Matt Taibbi claims that he was sent e-mails which attacked him and accused him of anti-Semitism for exposing the investment bank giant Goldman’s Sachs and their shady financial dealings over the years. Taibbi goes into great detail in his seven page essay Inside The Great American Bubble Machine on events relating to such market manipulations as the Great Depression, the commodities bubble, the housing bubble and even the upcoming green/environment bubble, and has fingered Goldman Sachs as playing a leading role in each catastrophe. More important than the various scams that have played out, much to the detriment of the average American, Taibbi exposes the reloving door tradition of the private sector employee of Wall Street into high level, unelected positions in the US government.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/opinion/17krugman.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

The American economy remains in dire straits, with one worker in six unemployed or underemployed. Yet Goldman Sachs just reported record quarterly profits — and it’s preparing to hand out huge bonuses, comparable to what it was paying before the crisis. What does this contrast tell us?

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/econ-j16.shtml

Contrary to Obama administration and media claims about the recession “easing,” millions of working people in America face losing jobs, earnings and health care benefits at an accelerating pace.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/detr-j16.shtml

Detroit teachers and schools employees are in danger of having their jobs, wages and benefits sacrificed in the interest of an anti-public schools agenda driven by Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb and the Obama administration.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/16/jb-morgan-profit-figures

The US bank JP Morgan has achieved a 36% surge in quarterly profits to $2.7bn (£1.6bn) in the latest sign of a return to prosperity on Wall Street.

Link: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090720/scheer2

Connect the dots: Goldman Sachs made $3.44 billion in profit this past quarter, while the US deficit topped $1 trillion for the first time in the nation's history and appeared to be headed toward doubling that figure before the budget year is out. Since most of the increase in the federal deficit is due to bailing out the banks and salvaging the greater economy they helped destroy, why is the top investment bank doing so well?

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/15/goldman_sachs_posts_record_profits

Goldman Sachs, the nation’s most powerful financial company, has reported the richest quarterly profit in its 140-year history—$3.44 billion between April and June. Goldman’s record profits come just one month after it repaid $10 billion of TARP money to the U.S. Treasury, freeing itself from restrictions on year-end bonuses. We speak to Matt Taibbi, whose new Rolling Stone article argues that “Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression.”

Link: http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/64487

"...the nation must take the radical step of designing a much more modest military that fulfills only the Constitutional mandate to “provide for the common defense,” instead of maintaining a global armed presence and constantly intervening in the affairs of other nations--that is, being offensive. Adopting the more restrained foreign policy of a republic, instead of the current expansive posture of an empire, and significantly shrinking the standing armed forces would return America to the fine tradition of the nation’s founders."

Link: http://www.rense.com/general86/pres.htm

Lincoln's Private War: The Trail of Blood
Lincoln's Birthday gives us an appropriate opportunity to examine some deep American traditions which may also give us some unusual insights into the "principalities and powers" of Ephesians Chapter 6. Abraham Lincoln worked valiantly to prevent the Rothschild's attempts to involve themselves in financing the Civil War.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/12/california-issues-iou

Money woes in the most populous US state have given birth to an impromptu trading market for the newest of American financial instruments – the California IOU.

Link: http://www.infowars.com/federal-reserve-threatens-congress-over-hr-1207/

On Thursday of last week, the Federal Reserve’s vice chairman, Donald Kohn, threatened to jack up interest rates if Congress continues to expose “some of the U.S. central bank’s most sensitive decisions to political scrutiny,” Reuters reported. “Any substantial erosion of the Federal Reserve’s monetary independence likely would lead to higher long-term interest rates as investors begin to fear future inflation,” Kohn told a House of Representatives Financial Services subcommittee.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/g8su-j11.shtml

This year’s G8 summit in Italy reflected the inability of the world’s leading capitalist nations to achieve any consensus to deal with the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.

Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/imf-advice

The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government. Global Research: Whose Country is it anyway? A political-economic oligarchy has taken over the United States of America : This oligarchy has institutionalized a body of law that protects businesses at the expense of not only the common people but the nation itself.

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jul2009/econ-j03.shtml

The US economy lost far more jobs in June than had been predicted by economists, and the unemployment rate hit 9.5 percent, its highest level since 1983, according to data released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The June jobless report undercut the efforts of the Obama administration and the media to downplay the depth of the economic crisis and generate illusions of a rapid recovery.

Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/28816321/the_great_american_bubble_machine

In Rolling Stone Issue 1082-83, Matt Taibbi takes on "the Wall Street Bubble Mafia" — investment bank Goldman Sachs. The piece has generated controversy, with Goldman Sachs firing back that Taibbi's piece is "an hysterical compilation of conspiracy theories" and a spokesman adding, "We reject the assertion that we are inflators of bubbles and profiteers in busts, and we are painfully conscious of the importance in being a force for good." Taibbi shot back: "Goldman has its alumni pushing its views from the pulpit of the U.S. Treasury, the NYSE, the World Bank, and numerous other important posts; it also has former players fronting major TV shows. They have the ear of the president if they want it." Here, now, are excerpts from Matt Taibbi's piece and video of Taibbi exploring the key issues. TrueSlant: Rolling Stone Reporter Blows The Lid Off Oil/Gas Speculation By Goldman Sachs And Why Gas Prices Are So High. The People's Voice: Goldman Sachs -the Root of All Evil?

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jun/30/congress-financial-reform-banks

Last month, when the US Congress failed to pass a bankruptcy reform measure that would have allowed home mortgages to be modified in bankruptcy, senator Dick Durbin succinctly commented: "The banks own the place." That seems pretty clear.

Link: http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-07-01/_US_continues_to_print_dollars_into_no_value_at_all_.html

Gerald C. Celente, an American economist and founder & director of The Trends Research Institute, spoke exclusively to RT about the current situation on global markets and the future of the US economy.

Link: http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/30/ex-con-bernie-wont-be-too-popular-behind-bars/

Chetry: What’s daily life going to be like for Bernard Madoff in a federal penitentiary? Levine: Well, he was in a detention center. … He’s had a little taste of custody, but now he’s going to be living in a cell, which is going to be his permanent home and this man who lived in a penthouse for years is going to be living basically out of a two-foot by four-foot wall locker. That’s where all of his personal items are going to be stored and he’s going to be subject to being counted several times a day, possibly strip-searched. He’s not going to have any privacy, and he’s probably going to be terrified for his life because people are going to want to get to him.

Link: http://socialistworker.org/2009/07/01/illinois-doomsday-budget-crisis

TODAY IS the day when a new fiscal year begins in Illinois--and the state government's "doomsday budget" could become a reality.

Link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iVRaRYcWFCQgMxBfNtbcfT98Zr4QD9951D002

A person familiar with the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity because the probe is ongoing, wouldn't detail what the potential charges would be or say whether the 10 people include Madoff's family or former employees. So far, only Madoff and an accountant accused of failing to make basic auditing checks have been criminally charged in the multibillion-dollar hoax.

Link: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/06/29/2009-06-29_an_inside_look_at_the_luxury_apartment_ponzi_schemer_bernie_madoff_will_never_se.html

Here's an exclusive look at the luxurious apartment Ruth Madoff is being forced to vacate. While husband Bernie Madoff traded in the Upper East Side digs for a lower Manhattan jail cell back in March, a judge effectively evicted Ruth Madoff from the $7 million apartment as part of a $170 billion forfeiture order handed down last week.

Link: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1877351,00.html

Blameworthy: The good intentions, bad managers and greed behind the meltdown. Full list HERE.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/29/bernard-madoff-fraud-court

The 71-year-old fraudster faces up to 150 years in prison over $65bn Ponzi fraud. Bernard Madoff will face some of his victims today before being sentenced to up to 150 years in prison for his $65bn (£39.5bn) fraud. The convicted fraudster will learn his fate at a hearing in New York scheduled to start at 10am local time (3pm BST). Assistant US attorney, Marc Litt, said the "scope, duration and nature" of Madoff's activities mean the disgraced 71-year-old should receive the maximum sentence of 150 years, or failing that an effective life sentence.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/cris-j27.shtml

By Tuesday, many US state governments must pass budgets for the coming fiscal year. The state capitals are now the scene of bitter feuding among governors and legislators over how the deficits will be met. But there is unanimity that the working class must foot the bill. Forty-six states confront significant deficits, and their collective shortfall for 2010 stands at more than $130 billion. This comes after a $104 billion deficit in 2009, for a two-year total of $234 billion in red ink—$91 billion more than President Barack Obama’s stimulus package allocated to all municipalities and the 50 states for the next two years.

Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/oil-rush-scramble-for-iraqs-wealth-1711570.html

Critics said the war was all about the nation's lucrative fuel industry. Are they now being proved right? For many Iraqis, the reason the US invaded their country in 2003 was to get control of their oil.

Link: http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article18905

After two weeks a US Treasury official says securities were fakes. Italy’s financial police is silent. The case is still baffling and full of discrepancies.

Link: http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article18907

A decision by China to reduce its US Treasury holdings suggests concern about the US attitude towards its economic woes, Chinese economists were quoted as saying in state media Wednesday.

Link: http://www.infowars.com/ron-paul-slams-federal-reserves-new-dictatorial-powers/

Responding to the Obama administration’s new regulatory reform plan, which will officially hand the Federal Reserve complete dictatorial control over the U.S. economy, Congressman Ron Paul told MSNBC that the Fed was now more powerful than Congress.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BRO20090618&articleId=14011

While contrarians are screaming “hyperinflation!”, the money supply is actually shrinking. This is because most money today comes into existence as bank loans, and lending has shrunk substantially. That means the Fed needs to “monetize” debt just to fill the breach. On June 3, 2009, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke assured Congress, “The Federal Reserve will not monetize the debt.”

Link: http://www.thecorporation.com/index.cfm?page_id=46

THE FILM, IN 23 CHAPTERS, ON YOUTUBE, CHAPTER 1 of 23: The Corporation is today's dominant institution, creating great wealth but also great harm. This 26 award-winning documentary examines the nature, evolution, impacts and future of the modern business corporation and the increasing role it plays in society and our everyday lives. You Tube: THE CORPORATION [1/23]

”“The operational principles of the corporation give it a highly anti-social ‘personality’: It is self-interested, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful; it breaches social and legal standards to get its way; it does not suffer from guilt, yet it can mimic the human qualities of empathy, caring and altruism... Concluding this point-by-point analysis, a disturbing diagnosis is delivered: the institutional embodiment of laissez-faire capitalism fully meets the diagnostic criteria of a ‘psychopath.’

Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/16/content_11552439.htm

Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Tuesday that China will provide a 10-billion-U.S. dollar credit loan to member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to shore up their economies amid the global financial crisis. China will also organize visits by trade and investment promotion delegations to other SCO member states to boost two-way trade and investment, Hu said in a speech at the organization's summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/econ-j13.shtml

Based on its analysis of employment data, USA Today reports that pay cuts, reduced hours, furloughs and involuntary part-time work have driven the working class back to conditions not seen since the 1930s.

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/12/report_health_insurers_hold_billions_in

A new report in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals US, Canadian and British health and life insurance firms hold at least $4.4 billion of investments in companies whose subsidiaries manufacture cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and related products. We speak with the co-author of the report, Dr. Wesley Boyd. [includes rush transcript]

Link: http://griperblade.blogspot.com/2009/06/inheriting-bushs-smoke-and-mirrors.html

Republicans on Capitol Hill think they've finally found Barack Obama's Achilles' heel: rising public concern about government spending and the federal deficit.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/exec-j11.shtml

The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it opposed any government-imposed limits on the salary and bonuses of the CEOs and other top officials of major banks that have received trillions of dollars in federal handouts and guarantees over the past eight months. Fox news is calling Obama a socialist, what a joke!

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/cali-j10.shtml

The California state government is responding to the budget crisis through a massive attack on education, health care, and whatever remains of the state’s social safety net.