Globalisation debt & banking

[Captain Gidday]

Will a larger amount of Australian government bonds be offered as a result? What would happen to yields etc?

The Australian Government would only borrow [i.e. issue new bonds] if it needed to to cover a shortfall between revenue coming in [i.e. the tax base] and expenditure.

For wholly political reasons, the Government has committed to balancing the budget. If they could [they wont!] this would imply no new borrowings. To the extent they try to make par by increasing taxes and revenue and decreasing expenditure, they will reduce the amount of bonds they will need to issue. To the extent that they fail, they will have to issue new bonds to borrow the money they need to balance the books.

As for the interest rates the Government pays, that is largely out of its hands and unpredictable as there are too many external forces at work. The Government does not set the interest rate on its bonds. It just goes out into the market, like all Governments, with an offer and then takes the interest rate set by market demand. The Reserve Bank does not set the interest rate on Government bonds either, by the way. It just sets the indicative rate that it pays or charges on money deposited with it by the country's banks as they settle transactions between themselves overnight.

That said, there is a lot of demand for sovereign AAA rated paper at present so it would be a fair bet that the Government could get some pretty good [i.e. low] interest rates if it went out borrowing. Which in fact it SHOULD be doing at present, rather than increasing taxes and decreasing expenditure in a slowing economy. But then it would be pilloried for 'fiscal irresponsibility' and would certainly lose the next election.

[coaldemon]

Liquidity is actually a big factor and the Oz Government has issued bonds without requiring them for balancing the budget. Bonds are the major way for the Reserve bank to moderate the amount of cash in an economy.

[Captain Gidday]

the Oz Government has issued bonds without requiring them for balancing the budget.

Yes, correct. Towards the end of the last Liberal Government, so much Government debt had been paid off that the supply of Government bonds was becoming quite small. The banks and other debt issuers began complaining that they might soon have trouble fairly pricing other loans that were expressed as, say, "ten year bond rate + 2%", if there were no new 10 year bonds being issued to set a rate. There was a lot of technical argument about whether issuing bonds just for the purposes of establishing a rate was necessary or whether the banks and other issuers of debt could just work some other way. That's the only reason for the argument that 'liquidity is actually a big factor'. Personally, I thought it was a BS argument from the banks.

No worries, though. The party in power changed to Labor and was soon issuing enough bonds for any banker's wet dreams. I.e. they went back to 'deficit financing' during the GFC.

The RBA does not operate the way the privately owned US Federal Reserve operates. I don't see any way an independent RBA could, would or should 'moderate the amount of cash in the economy' through bonds. They don't issue them or set their interest rate. They do trade in them. Perhaps you can explain?

[TheWholeEnchilada]

Capt Gidday, not quite sure about your statement "The RBA does not operate the way the privately owned US Federal Reserve operates" is correct. The RBA does undertake "Open Market Operations" (OMO) (see Reserve Bank Australia Open Market Operations).

The only conventional tools that a Central Bank has is Open Market operations to target an overnight rate and the shape of the yield curve (ie "operation twist" in the US with sterilized buying of the long end of the curve and selling the short end ie twisting the yield curve - this was also done in the early 60's).

Once the cash rate is 0% then conventional tools (OMO) no longer work as only a few countries can actually implement negative nominal interest rates (Swiss have actually done it -0.5% as a soft currency control).

Japan reached this point in the mid 90's and was the first to go with QE - just a euphemism for money printing, using money created out of thin air to buy financial assets ie bonds, but also stocks.

Australia can still attract capital to fund government deficits, hence there is no need for the RBA to "monetize the debt" - that is the RBA to effectively fund government deficits through bond purchases.
Once capital inflow is insufficient to support deficits, interest rates are driven down by the CB (reduce the governments interest bill) through OMO - and the CB begins to monetize the debt, not directly, but through the large banks (primary dealers). This the case of most of Europe, Japan & the US

Australia, like Canada is seen as having a resource backed currency - ie a hard currency. At the end of the day the governments of each country could tax or nationalize their mineral industries, virtually guaranteeing repayment of debt (the Super Resources Rent Tax was a step along this road). Because of this capital inflow, we still have interest rates that allow the RBA control to target inflation through the overnight cash rate via OMO's. This could be different in the future.

The RBA has quite a lot of information on its web site: Monetary Policy.

[Captain Gidday]

TWE, I think you are confusing the role and activities of Treasury and that of the Reserve bank. Short dated government securities traded back and forth in the Reserve's open market operations are not the same as Government Bonds, with longer maturities.
Can you quote a case when the Reserve Bank has ever twisted the yield curve, or attempted to?

[TheWholeEnchilada]

Capt Gidday, to answer the easy one first, no I'm not aware of the RBA twisting the yield curve - this RBA paper Monetary Transmission and the Yield Curve in a Small Open Economy covers the greatest influences on the shape of the yield curve (spoiler alert: the US yield curve).

The more difficult question - this is how I understand the Australian Financial system, and all modern debt based systems, if I there is an error in my thinking please enlighten me.

There are two aspects - the first is the monetary system plumbing and mechanics of the financial system. The second aspect is monetary policy, that is the attempted control of the economy by using the monetary system plumbing and mechanics instead of taxation & spending (Fiscal policy). Worldwide all modern debt based monetary systems work in virtually the same way the US system works - Australia included. Ownership of the Central Bank doesn't determine the plumbing & mechanics of how the system works, it may alter the motivation for certain actions. (you are correct, the FED is privately owned, the RBA is owned by the Commonwealth of Australia).

1. Money creation & financial system plumbing
The Federal government Treasury issues Commonwealth government securities, not the RBA. The RBA issues Australian bank notes and creates electronic credit money. The Treasury and the RBA however, are inextricably intertwined.

From the Australian Office of Financial Management verbatim:

Originally Posted by AOFM

Debt Issuance
The Australian Government currently issues debt securities to the public in the form of Treasury Bonds, Treasury Indexed Bonds and Treasury Notes.

• Treasury Bonds are medium to long-term debt securities that carry an annual rate of interest fixed over the life of the security, payable six monthly.
• Treasury Indexed Bonds are medium to long-term securities for which the capital value of the security is adjusted for movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Interest is paid quarterly, at a fixed rate, on the adjusted capital value. At maturity, investors receive the adjusted capital value of the security – the value adjusted for movement in the CPI over the life of the bond.
• Treasury Notes are a short-term debt security issued to assist with the Australian Government's within-year financing task.

The Australian Government has issued a range of other types of debt securities in the past such as Australian Saving Bonds and Treasury Adjustable Rate Bonds.
Debt securities issued by the Australian Government both now and in the past are collectively known as Commonwealth Government Securities.
Details of the debt issuance program for the current financial year are outlined in the AOFM issuance program.

I read that as to mean Commonwealth debt is interchangeable between bonds and notes, in the sense that the only thing that is different is the maturity and coupon payment details.

Here are the step by step mainstream analysis on electronic credit money creation for the government:

• Federal Treasury issues a Commonwealth Government Security (debt issue).
• The Government security is purchased by a primary dealer (large commercial bank) via tender. The Bank gets the security, Treasury gets the credit money - can now spend by the government.
• RBA purchases the security from the primary dealer from a cheque drawn on itself (this is the money creation process right here - this is where the "magic" happens).

In this newly created money has flowed:
RBA ---> Primary Dealer ---> Treasury

The Government security has flowed the opposite direction:
Treasury ---> Primary Dealer ---> RBA.

The RBA buys Commonwealth government securities with a range of maturities, and this can be seen in the maturity analysis on page 108 of the RBA 2012 financial statement. The choice of the maturity profile are beyond my investigations thus far.

Therefore money (physical & electronic credit) is "backed" by the Commonwealth governments securities, cash, FX, gold & assorted other small assets (plant & equipment property etc). You can actually see this on the RBA's 2012 Financial statement - balance sheet page 72- bank notes appear right there as liabilities ($53.595 Billion).

So to summarise this point - cash money (notes) and commercial bank electronic credit money deposits at the RBA are fully backed by these assets - of which 93.6% are government securities (domestic, varying maturities, 40%) and FX 53%.
Please also note there are other theories of modern money creation - this is only the conventional view.


2. Monetary Policy
This is where conventional tools of are used to attempt to control the the economy via interest rates, exchange rate and capital controls (the impossible trinity).
Given Australia doesn't have capital controls (we used to), therefore the only tools are interest rates or exchange rate. Since we have a floating exchange rate (1983), the only tool the RBA uses is interest rates. As discussed in the the earlier post, the RBA targets and inflation range (2-3%) via the overnight cash rate, for which it uses OMO to buy or sell government securities - as you note, usually short term.

Originally Posted by RBA

The Reserve Bank’s open market operations
are undertaken in repurchase agreements and
outright transactions in short-dated
Commonwealth Government securities
RBA Open Market Operations

The yield curve is determined by the market speculators and arbitragers from the local and global markets.


However, once the overnight rate goes to zero, there are non-conventional tools (QE - money printing to inject money into the banking system in the hope that it will be used to lend) and purchasing longer term government securities to modify the yield curve. Will we see this in Australia? Given that we don't have reserve currency status and capital controls we are not in the "deficits don't matter" category (unlike the US) we may never get to zero. If long term rates increase significantly perhaps we could see the RBA attempt to twist the curve.

Therefore, government debt, money (notes and electronic credit) and are one and the same - its all debt. That is why it is called a debt based monetary system. There are two systems of levers to control of the economy fiscal (tax and spending) and monetary policy. One is undertaken by the elected government, the other by the Central Bank.

What haven't been discussed is credit money creation by other entities. Until the 80's this was primarily the commercial banks. However, with the end of the Glass-Steagall act in the US in the late 90's, other unregulated credit creating entities spontaneously evolved - the Shadow Banking System - Investment banks, Money market funds, hedge funds, mortgage and other asset securitizers etc. This changed the whole equation making most of the conventional story irrelevant and allowing enormous leverage to be developed within the system. If you want to understand what is going on, that is the place to look - as the AFR article allude to.

A good primer on the Shadow Banking System intersecting with traditional banking: The Fed Has Another $3.9 Trillion In QE To Go (At Least).

[TheWholeEnchilada]

G.Edward Griffin author of

The Creature From Jekyll Island

The Creature From Jekyll Island

, explains the fraud that is the modern monetary system and the "inflation tax" in just over 12 minutes.

The "mandrake mechanism" is his term for the credit creation process I have described above. The Fed explain it themselves in their own publication - Modern Money Mechanics.

[weloveseaplanes]

Did you know, the Federal Reserve is not federal and there are no reserves?

The story began as a conspiracy theory though ended as a diabolical fact. It had to be first schemed and then, a deception created, because the public would never have accepted it at face. Mr. Griffin begins: "The purpose of this meeting on Jekyll Island [represented by seven men who held a ¼ of the world's known wealth] was not to hunt ducks [the reason given to the news media]. Simply stated, it was to come to an agreement on the structure and operation of a banking cartel [as the author appropriately names it]. The goal of the cartel, as is true with all of them, was to maximize profits by minimizing completion between members, to make it difficult for new competitors to enter the field, and to utilize the police power of government to enforce the cartel agreement.

The above is from a review of The Creature From Jekyll Island mentioned above by TheWholeEnchilada which sounds fascinating.

Has anyone hear read the book and how did they find it?

[TheWholeEnchilada]

weloveseaplanes, you can purchase "The Creature" from the publisher (preferred), amazon, Barnes & Noble or ebay, its relatively inexpensive at about US$25.

It is a great read, tipping in at ~585 pages with extensive footnotes (the bibliography is six pages). It took me about 6 weeks to make it through. Griffin didn't do the original work to cover this subject (Eustace Mullins in The Secrets of the Federal Reserve and Cleon Skousen The Naked Capitalist), however he packaged everything up in a single digestible narrative, he even trained as a CPA so he could understand the account"sleight of hand" that is the credit creation process.

Griffin covers the "alternative" history of the modern world, with the view that last 500 years of European history (and much of world history) was driven primarily by two small groups of elites - the bankers who discovered the magic of creating money out of thin air (monetary scientists) and the political scientists who represented the monarchies. These two groups formed a symbiotic relationship to harvest the vast wealth of the populous for themselves.

He demonstrates, for instance the bankers funded both sides of during the Napoleonic Wars by purchasing bonds (paid by the populous through the "inflation tax" once the war was over and the country returned to the gold standard), allowing the conflicts to be sustained beyond what they would have been had the populous been taxed directly.
From the Wikipedia entry on Nathan Rothschild:

He operated first as a textile merchant in Manchester, then from 1804 he began to deal on the London stock exchange in financial instruments such as foreign bills and government securities.
From 1809 Rothschild began to deal in gold bullion, and developed this as a cornerstone of his business. From 1811 on, in negotiation with Commissary-General John Charles Herries, he undertook to transfer money to pay Wellington's troops, on campaign in Portugal and Spain against Napoleon, and later to make subsidy payments to British allies when these organized new troops after Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign.
His four brothers helped co-ordinate activities across the continent, and the family developed a network of agents, shippers and couriers to transport gold – and information – across Europe. This private intelligence service enabled Nathan to receive in London the news of Wellington's victory at the Battle of Waterloo a full day ahead of the government's official messengers.[2]

This "intelligence" allowed Nathan Rothschild to create a panic on the British Bond market, causing bonds to plunge, at which point he began buying. By the time the government runner had returned to London, Rothschild had bought up most of the bonds at a steep discount, and came to control the Bank Of England.

If this sound familiar, that's because it is. This same "panic" trick has been played out time and time again, allowing the bankers to seize the majority of wealth created in the world.

This is just a sample. I can honestly say this was the most important book I have ever read.

I've uploaded copies of "The Secrets Of the Federal Reserve", the "Naked Capitalist" (read first) and Carroll Quigley's "Tragedy and Hope" (for reference whilst reading the Naked Capitalist) to allow you to begin investigating the "non-approved" version of history.

Check back in with thoughts and comments.

[gobbledock]

Banksia collapse shocks investors

by:Andrew Main, James Frost
From:The Australian
October 29,
201212:00AM

THOUSANDS of retail investors who had $662 million invested in debentures issued by the rural Victorian finance company Banksia Securities have an anxious wait ahead of them, according to sources close to the receivers, who say they may end up returning as little as 50c on the dollar.

"It won't be 100c in the dollar but nor will it be 20 cents," said the
insider, who spoke of the potential for a delay in the distribution because
there were "a number of bad loans that are going to take a while to sort
out".
Residents of the central Victorian town of Kyabram, where the company
employed more than 60 people, are still numb with shock, with staff at local hotels and hospitals briefed over the weekend on how to deal with the despair from the collapse.
Banksia was placed in receivership on Thursday at the request of Banksia's
board to trustee The Trust Company which immediately froze around 15,000 active accounts. Banksia was popular with retirees, for the attractive headline rates of interest offered on its investment products, and who are believed to make up the bulk of its 3000 retail customers.

Mike Sweeney, manager of the Kyabram Club, said that staff had been
instructed on how to deal with the emotional fallout from the collapse of the trusted local financial institution.
"There are a lot of people doing their fair share of counselling. Solicitors
are getting a lot of calls. We had a staff meeting this morning along the same lines. I know the CEO of the hospital has been talking to his staff as well," Mr Sweeney said.
"A lot of Banskia customers are from the older generation who have never
bought anything on a credit card and never soured on a debt in their life. It's a circumstance they've never had to deal with before" he said.
Mr Sweeney said various community groups such as sporting and charity
organisations were also caught up in the collapse and were dealing with the challenge of delivering important services without access to funds.
Banksia Securities is owned by Banksia Financial Group, which also owns
Banksia Mortgage Fund, a registered mortgage investment fund which is not in receivership.
The defunct company raised money via debentures, a common way to raise finance from retail investors because they tend to offer higher rates of interest than banks.
But because Banksia is not classified as a deposit taking institution, it is
not overseen by prudential regulator APRA.
Although there appears to be no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of its
directors, Banksia Securities appears to have had totally inadequate
provisioning for bad loans.

But of course all is well in Australia isn't it? No underlying problems here.
So far Swanny's budget surplus will eventuate, but at the expense of ???
The Mining tax has delivered no tax royalties yet, mining is slowing due to China's declining resource appetite, our inflation is climbing, small businesses are crumbling and the cost of utilities is climbing so rapidly that people are losing their homes through debt.
As evidenced above there are underlying financial issues in Australia, major banks do have a lot of money tied up in CDO's and nobody wants to lend.
The perfect financial storm continues to gain pace.

Weloveseaplanes, You will enjoy the book, it is brilliant. The Fed is most probably the greatest con ever put together. Some ask how something so 'big' could remain so 'unknown', however when you have money and power to the level these families have you see how far the tentacles spread and why they are able to keep things hidden. It is a complex system, but one that will blow you away.
If you also want to understand why paper money, fiat money, and the system is doomed buy the following book - The Dying Of Money by Gens. O. Parson. It is a hard one to track down, not many around and not cheap but well worth purchasing. Once you read it, and The Creature from Jekyll Island you will be fully versed in how the puppet masters pull our strings.

[gobbledock]

Here is your starting point to pay down global debts:

Debt crisis puts pressure on wealthy Orthodox church - GREECE - FRANCE 24

Same could be done for Italy if you took all the goodies out of the Vatican basement.

[mightyauster]

700 billion euro in property! F**k me!!! I'd hate to think what the rat catchers have stashed then....
Thieves, one and all...

[Stan van de Wiel]

Web of Debt

http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/repr...pril_Brown.pdf (free download)

links to an Interview with the author Ellen Brown. I purchased a copy of the book in KL in 2008 - this book was published just prior to the GFC. Not available in Australia???? at the time????

an excellent expose before the event. Not like those after the event.

SW

[TheWholeEnchilada]

Stan, here's a couple of links offering counter arguments against Ellen Brown in Web of Debt by Gary North

Ellen Brown has thrown in the towel. She is no longer willing to argue with me. I finished my critique of her on November 17, 2010. On November 20, she publicly switched sides. She came out in favor of Bernanke, the Federal Reserve System, and quantitative easing.

Hard to believe? Read it here: Ellen Brown Switches Sides, Praises Bernanke and the Federal Reserve, and Calls QE2 the FEDs Self-Redemption.
I spent almost 200 hours over a two-month period refuting this left-wing lawyer, line by line. I said repeatedly that she is intellectually unreliable. She has just proved my case. She has joined the Federal Reserve's cheeleaders.
On November 24, 2010, she followed up with a long article in praise of quantitative easing. She said quantitative easing is the Populist solution. It took me 52 articles and 30 responses, but I finally flushed her out.
Therefore, the following is ancient history. Here is what this department originally said.

Ellen Brown's Web of Debt Is an Anti-Gold Currency, Pro-Fiat Money, Greenback, Keynesian Tract. Here, I Take It Apart, Error by Error

and

Nov. 22, 2010

Ellen Brown is a lawyer. Lawyers are trained to settle a case when they are losing. Brown just settled with me.
She has just switched sides. Instead of becoming an Austrian School critic of the Federal Reserve, she has become its cheerleader.
This is Bernanke's loss and the Tea Party's gain.
In my criticism, I kept saying that she is a leftist. She wants a welfare State funded by zero-interest loans from the government. She wants a big Federal government. She does not care how we get it. Now that the FED will inflate enough to pay for it, she has switched sides. Her primary commitment was always to the welfare State, not the battle against the FED.
In my detailed critique of her economics, I made it clear that she was never a conservative. Now she proves it. She praises Bernanke and the FED. She says that QE2 is not fiat helicopter money, and that Bernanke is not "Helicopter Ben," which he obviously is.
Hard to believe? Let me quote her.

Ellen Brown Switches Sides, Praises Bernanke and the Federal Reserve, and Calls QE2 the FED's Self-Redemption.

To my knowledge the book isn't available locally (AU), but is from abebooks, amazon & ebay.

[Foie gras]

We can talk about the why's and wherefore's till the cows come home.
There is no doubt that this is going to end in tears.
But hopefully not blood!

An interesting article on the front page of the Australian today suggests China may flex its new found economic strength - militarily.

Chinese top brass bags US influence in region
BY: BRENDAN NICHOLSON, DEFENCE EDITOR From: The Australian October 31, 2012 12:00AM
Increase Text Size
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A CHINESE general has used a high-level Australian military conference to deliver a pointed warning over the US pivot towards Asia, saying that "interference" is complicating progress to a new security order in the region.

Lieutenant General Ren Haiquan also took a swipe at a key US and Australian ally Japan when he questioned the current actions of a one-time "fascist" nation that once bombed Darwin. He suggested territorial disputes could lead to open war.

"Therefore we should resolutely oppose all behaviours that violate international treaties and intend to sabotage security co-operation," General Ren told the meeting of senior military officers from 16 nations in Melbourne. "Pull of one hair may lead to the move of the whole body," he said.

General Ren's comments came hours after the release of the Gillard government's Asia white paper, which warned that competition between the US and an increasingly powerful China, as they pursued their interests in the region, heightened the danger of conflict through "miscalculation and accident".


As US and Japanese officers bristled, General Ren told the conference dinner on Monday night that Asia was in a transition towards a new type of security*order and external countries' involvement complicated that process.

A Japanese officer at the conference, which was organised by Australian army chief David Morrison, was angered by the "fascism" reference and the talk of the bombing of Darwin. He said his Chinese counterpart seemed to have forgotten the past 70 years of peace between the one-time enemies.

During the last presidential campaign debate, Barack Obama cited the realignment of US forces towards the Asia-Pacific. A 250-strong contingent of US marines left Australia weeks ago after several months' training in the Top End. Next year the marine force is expected to grow to more than 1000.

Without naming the nations he was referring to, but in clear reference to the US, General Ren declared: "Some countries pursue strategies such as 'rebalance to the Asia-Pacific' and 'looking East' and are increasing their strategic investment. Several countries do not let go the Cold War mentality.

"They are consolidating military alliance system in Asia-Pacific and strengthening their military presence and military deterrence capability."

General Ren, deputy president of the People's Liberation Army's Academy of Military Science, said dormant territorial disputes between regional countries could turn "active and acute and external powers come to intervene".

The South China Sea, enclosed by the west coast of mainland Southeast Asia, Borneo and The Philippines' archipelago is rich in oil and gas and fish stocks and is traversed by more than a third of global shipping. Its waters and seabed are subject to claims by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and The Philippines.

General Ren told the conference: "As there are so many serious challenges, Asian countries should join hands, work together and play constructive roles in promoting regional security and prosperity."

General Ren stressed that China was developing its defence capabilities only to protect its national interests because it had suffered so much in the past from foreign invasions.

[gobbledock]

Political gravy train and never ending trough

It looks like those who spent years thoroughly hoovering the public taxpayer troughs clean feel they are entitled to another guzzling from the trough!
This is one of the reasons the world is fu#ked. Political parasites not content with bleeding the system dry now feeling they are entitled to more milking. You turds should be ashamed of yourselves, most Politicians haven't even earned the right to breathe the same air as us let alone dine on more of my tax money. Your day will come vermin.....

Former MPs want their perks back

by: EXCLUSIVE by Steve Lewis
From:The Daily Telegraph
November 02, 201212:00AM

Former Attorney-General in the Fraser government, Bob Ellicott, has offered to spearhead a High Court challenge by former MPs who want their travel perks reinstated. Source: News Limited

RETIRED federal MPs are threatening a High Court challenge to claw back millions of dollars in generous perks, including lifetime Gold Pass and superannuation payments.

The umbrella group representing former MPs has asked the Commonwealth to fund the legal challenge, which could result in windfall gains for up to 400 parliamentarians.

But one federal Senator has savaged the move to claw back perks, saying it makes politicians look like “a pack of greedy bastards”.

A successful court ruling would also flow through to some current MPs who stand to lose about 60 per cent of annual Gold Pass perks when they retire.

Respected legal figure and former attorney-general Bob Ellicott has offered to spearhead the constitutional test case, which comes after a series of landmark reforms passed parliament earlier this year - including slashing the Gold Pass entitlement from 25 domestic flights a year to 10.

Bottom of Form
The changes also "delinked" superannuation payments for retired MPs from hefty wage increases which flowed through to the 226 MPs and senators in the current parliament to prevent so-called "double
dipping".

The Association of Former MPs of the Parliament of Australia (AFMPA) believes the changes breach the "just terms" clause of the Constitution - made famous in 1997 film The Castle.

The association wrote to the Commonwealth about a month ago seeking funding for a "test case" in the High Court.

The prospects of a messy legal challenge has incensed some former and current parliamentary figures, who believe it will add to a "snouts in the trough" perception.

Victorian DLP Senator John Madigan launched a blistering attack on the move, saying MPs were well paid and well looked after in retirement.

Former Howard government minister Geoff Prosser. "What a
mockery it makes of the battlers out there, and people taking risks with their
capital and creating jobs out there,” he said.
"The average bloke on the street would be thinking ‘what a pack of greedy
bastards’.”

Senator Madigan said he was "speechless” about the move to seek a High Court challenge.
He also hit out at the recent pay rise for politicians, worth about $44,000 for most MPs, which he spoke out against at the time.
“The bloody pay rise adds up to more than what a lot of people in my street get paid in a year,” he said.
“They think I’m part of it. They think we are part of it.“People come up to me and say, ‘you are one of those greedy bastards’.”

Community outrage over the generous perks paid to retired MPs led to the
reforms.

More than 25,000 free flights were taken by retired MPs and their families over the past decade, with former Speaker Ian Sinclair taking more than 750 flights costing over $250,000. Between July and December last year, Mr Sinclair and his family took 55 free flights costing $19,000, while former Liberal minister Geoff Prosser cost taxpayers $24,000 including $10,378 for three trips to Broome, where he has a holiday home.

A raft of former MPs are supporting the legal challenge, including former Howard government minister John Moore and long-serving Liberal senator Grant Chapman.

Last night, Mr Chapman confirmed the association's intent to pursue action in the High Court."This is a constitutional issue that needs to be resolved," he
said.

- with Matthew Johnston

[neville_nobody]

Of the constitutional issues out there I don't think free travel would be at the top of the list of things affecting the nation

[Capn Bloggs]

The problem is, NN, that it is the attitude that counts...

[gobbledock]

Spare some change and a bible please.....

Oh dear, yet again the troops grow restless. Surely it must be time to get the Greek Orthodox Church to open up it's vaults and pay out the debt completely?

6 November 2012 Last updated at 01:33 GMT

Greece braced for 48-hour strike amid crucial
debate

Greece is braced for a 48-hour general strike across public and private sectors in protest at a proposed new wave of spending cuts.

Protest marches - which regularly end in running battles with police - are
planned for the centre of Athens.

The action coincides with a debate in parliament on the austerity measures, with a vote by MPs due on Wednesday.

Greece must back the measures, and the 2013 budget, to receive the next part of a bailout and avoid bankruptcy.

The latest strike starting on Tuesday includes public transport workers,
lawyers, air traffic controllers, taxi drivers, journalists and hospital
staff.

Some transport and media workers downed tools on Monday as well.

The BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens says that with proposals for a fifth
consecutive cut to pensions, an increase in the retirement age and reductions to salaries, benefits and healthcare, the fury among Greece's population is growing.

Greek ministers say the package should save a total of 13.5bn euros (£11bn; $17bn) by 2016.

Approving the tough reforms and passing the 2013 budget are key to receiving a 31.5bn-euro instalment from the International Monetary Fund and European Union that has been on hold for months.

However, the Democratic Left Party which is the junior member of the
three-party governing coalition, is refusing to back the package.

The second biggest coalition party, the socialist Pasok, is also facing a
rebellion by some MPs.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has tried to reassure the public, who have
endured repeated rounds of austerity and a five-year recession.

"These will be the last cuts in wages and pensions," he said on Sunday.

"We promised to avert the country's exit from the euro and this is what we
are doing. We have given absolute priority to this because if we do not achieve this everything else will be meaningless."

Neville,

Of the constitutional issues out there I don't think free travel would be at the top of the list of things affecting the nation

Nev, what Bloggs said!

[gobbledock]

Idiots

More foolish waste by those living on cloud cuckoo land!

Posted on Tuesday, 06 November 2012
14:56
World's
most expensive election campaign on trial as US voters hit the polls

US presidential campaign in battleground states has come to a close after presidential candidates, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, on Monday wound up their campaign rallies.
The 2012 election campaign will go down in history as the first to record billions of dollars in campaign funding by the respective candidates. By October 17, 2012, the two candidates had declared over $2 billion in campaign funding, with over $700 million more spent by Political Action Committees (PACs).


PACs raise and spend campaign funds outside the mainstream political campaign groups as a result of their having been prohibited from direct ties with political parties. PACs were created after a decision in 2010 by the Supreme Court favoured the right to donate unlimited funds for political campaigns by individuals and groups.

Whilst the presidential candidates are expected to declare the origin of
their funds, the powerful PACs are not obliged to disclose their donors, a case for which they have been widely criticised.

Super PACs wield immense power over campaign policies, as threats from them (especially in the area of advertising) could undermine a party's potential.
Most PACs have spent resources on attacking political adversaries, and as a result this campaign -according to analysts- has been one of the most
vitriolic.

Advertising campaign costs by pro-Republican external campaign groups and super PACs went beyond $300,000 in favour of Mitt Romney ahead of the elections.
The total amount spent on campaigns will be known after the election.

To ensure a trouble and fraud-free election, the Chicago Election Board will have more than 300 investigators assigned to election day duty as Electoral officials prepare for the presidential election on Tuesday across the nation, Chicago, home city of President Obama, will be expecting a
total number of 1.3 million people registered to vote in this election.

The Chicago City Board of Election Commission said on Monday that voters will start casting their vote early on Tuesday morning and will run until 7PM. The ballots will be counted after the close with the results expected 45 minutes later.

While the majority of Chicago voters are expected to vote for Obama,
Republican candidate Romney has toiled to leave no stone unturned in Florida, a key state in deciding the ultimate winner.

On Monday Obama traveled to Wisconsin, Madison as part of his last leg of campaigns as Romney continued his tour of Florida. Barack Obama also has his eyes set on Florida.

The battlegrounds for the two presidential candidates are the swing states of Ohio and Virginia, which have proved a very tough struggle. Election analysts argue that if either of the candidates fails to clinch a win in these states they are unlikely to become the president of the US.

Meanwhile, like in other states, the Chicago City Board of Election
Commission has called on voters who witness any irregularities or encounter a problem on election day to call the boards.

"The election boards have nearly a full complement of Republican and
democratic judges of election for each precinct, plus a contingency of more than 300 standby judges who will be able to help fill in any unexpected vacancies," said the board.

"To ensure a trouble and fraud-free election, the Chicago Election Board will have more than 300 investigators assigned to election day duty,"

Their investigators, the board said, will be making unannounced inspections of polling places and responding to calls from voters and election judges for assistance,"

The US presidential election is decided by the Electoral College and each
state is given a number of electoral votes in proportion to its population. And to win, a presidential candidate is expected to get 270 electoral votes.

On Tuesday, Americans will also elect a handful of governors, House of
Representatives and one-third of the Senate, where Republicans are expected to keep control of the House of Representatives, while Democrats will control the Senate.

University professor, Kenneth Mayer, said around 120 million Americans are expected to cast their vote in the 2012 presidential election.