Monthly Archives: August 2014

The government calls for more subprime lending—then prosecutes it

Posted on by

“President Obama himself has urged banks to ease lending standards so more people can buy cars and homes. Yet subprime loans carry a stigma because of abuses that occurred during the housing bubble of the early 2000s.  The government is sending mixed messages to banks and consumers. Tight credit has been one of the things holding back spending, prompting Obama and other policymakers to plead for looser lending standards. Yet the government is now threatening to punish banks that lend to less creditworthy consumers. If subprime loans were called second-chance loans or opportunity loans instead, maybe prosecutors would show less interest.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-government-calls-for-more-subprime-lending%E2%80%94then-prosecutes-it-154829221.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Fewer Uninsured Face Fines, as Obamacare Penalty Exemptions Swell

Posted on by

“Almost 90% of the nation’s 30 million uninsured won’t pay a penalty under the Affordable Care Act in 2016 because of a growing batch of exemptions to the health-coverage requirement.  The architects of the health law wanted most Americans to carry insurance or pay a penalty. But an analysis by the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation said most of the uninsured will qualify for one or more exemptions, including suffering domestic violence, experiencing substantial property damage from a fire or flood, and having a canceled insurance plan, on top of exemptions carved out for groups including illegal immigrants, members of Native American tribes and certain religious sects.”

http://online.wsj.com/articles/fewer-uninsured-face-fines-as-health-laws-exemptions-swell-1407378602

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

White House To Ignore Court Ruling, Keep Issuing Obamacare Subsidies

Posted on by

“The Obama administration will continue handing out Obamacare subsidies to federal exchange customers despite a federal court’s ruling Tuesday that the subsidies are illegal.  A D.C. Court of Appeals panel ruled Tuesday morning that customers in the 36 states that didn’t establish their own exchange and use HealthCare.gov instead cannot be given premium tax credits, according to the text of the Affordable Care Act itself.  But White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that while the case continues to be battled out in the courts, the administration will continue to dole out billions in tax credits to federally-run exchange customers.”

http://dailycaller.com/2014/07/22/obama-administration-to-ignore-court-ruling-on-obamacare-subsidies/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Iraq: The ‘Humanitarian Catastrophe’ That Petered Out

Posted on by

antiwar_logo4

“Even as the professional sob sisters of the War Party were demanding US military action to ‘save’ the Yazidis – an obscure Iraqi religious sect whose historic home on Mount Sinjar, in Kurdistan, was ringed with ISIS jihadis – the Pentagon was saying: ‘Never mind …‘:  ‘Several thousand Yazidis remain on the mountain, a senior United States official said, but not the tens of thousands who originally were believed to be there. Some of the people who remain on Mount Sinjar indicated to American forces that they considered the mountain to be a place of refuge and a home, and did not want to leave, a second United States official said.'”

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2014/08/14/iraq-the-humanitarian-catastrophe-that-petered-out/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

How the U.S. got mixed up in a fight over Kurdish oil

Posted on by

“The drama in Texas is just part of a global play being made by the Kurdistan Regional Government, which is desperately seeking money in the midst of turmoil in Iraq. The Kurds, many of whom have long sought an independent state, say the central government in Baghdad has stopped providing the northern region with its share of the national budget.  But if the Kurds could sell their own oil, they would also potentially secure the financial base they need to finally declare their independence.  At stake is the U.S. goal of a unified Iraq, and the Obama administration is stuck in the middle of the dispute, having invested tremendous effort in securing Iraqi federalism and its constitution.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/how-the-us-got-mixed-up-in-a-fight-over-kurdish-oil–with-a-unified-iraq-at-stake/2014/08/04/4a00a6e2-1900-11e4-9e3b-7f2f110c6265_story.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

US ramps up Iraq air strikes in support of Kurdish attack on key dam

Posted on by

“A statement from US Central Command said 14 strikes had been carried out on Sunday, ‘to support humanitarian efforts in Iraq, and support Iraqi security forces and Kurdish defence forces’. Isis fighters around the Mosul dam and the Kurdish capital of Irbil were hit nine times on Saturday.  ‘US military forces continued to attack [Isis] terrorists in Iraq Sunday,’ the statement said, ‘using a mix of fighter, bomber, attack and remotely piloted aircraft to successfully conduct air strikes near the Mosul dam.’  The statement said the 14 strikes damaged or destroyed ’10 armed vehicles, seven Humvees, two armoured personnel carriers, and one checkpoint’.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/17/us-ramps-up-iraq-air-strikes-kurdish-attack-dam

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

EU backs plans by member states to arm Kurds in Iraq

Posted on by

“The EU’s foreign affairs council has said after a meeting in Brussels that some of the bloc’s members will respond to the Iraqi Kurds’ call for military aid, given they have Baghdad’s consent. The EU also reiterated its commitment to Iraqi unity.  Prior to the EU statement France said it will send weapons to the Kurds.  Even Germany, which is usually cautious about sending arms into battle zones, has pledged to work ‘full speed’ to supply ‘non-lethal’ equipment such as armored vehicles, flak jackets and helmets; Germany is one of the world’s major arms manufacturers and exporters.  The UK’s foreign secretary Phillip Hammond has also said that Britain will arm the Kurds.”

http://rt.com/news/180708-eu-arms-kurds-iraq/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

US ‘told Syria rebels’ to seek intervention

Posted on by

“US officials have asked the Syrian opposition to call on the international community to hit positions belonging to the Islamic State group and help rebels eliminate the self-declared jihadists, Al Jazeera has learned from sources inside the opposition.  The Syrian National Coalition, the main political opposition bloc, and the leadership of the Free Syrian Army, a loose conglomeration of armed rebel, are expected to make the appeal from Turkey on Saturday, the sources said.  The US is carrying out air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and a day after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that aims to weaken the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s Syria branch.”

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/us-syria-intervention-201481645334741469.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

The Fourth Branch: The Rise to Power of the National Security State

Posted on by

“The rise of the Fourth Branch began at a moment of mobilization for a global conflict, World War II.  It gained heft and staying power in the Cold War of the second half of the twentieth century, when that other superpower, the Soviet Union, provided the excuse for expansion of every sort.  Its officials bided their time in the years after the fall of the Soviet Union, when ‘terrorism’ had yet to claim the landscape and enemies were in short supply.  In the post-9/11 era, in a phony ‘wartime’ atmosphere, fed by trillions of taxpayer dollars, and under the banner of American ‘safety,’ it has grown to unparalleled size and power.  And in 2014, the expansion is ongoing.”

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175876/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_who_rules_washington/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Where in Constitution Is CIA Absolved of Its Multitude of Crimes?

Posted on by

hentoff1

“‘We tortured some folks,’ the president said in an Aug. 1 White House press conference.  But, according to The Guardian, ‘he believed intelligence officials responsible for torturing detainees were working during a period of extraordinary stress and fear’.  Have pity on the CIA?  Aren’t We The People also entitled to know the true names of high-level CIA personnel who tortured at will, as well as the presidents and members of the Judiciary Committee who gave them the authority to?  How about bringing an impeachment inquiry of commander in chief Barack Obama? He was — and is — deeply involved in hiding these crimes against our rule of law and our disintegrating Constitution.”

http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/where-constitution-cia-absolved-its-multitude-crimes

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet