2007 U.S. Financial Report and Government Accountability Office memo warn of tough times coming for American tax payers.

Found this at Steve Skojec’s excellent blog, here (post called: “economic stimulus package: made in China.”):

According to the 2007 U.S. Financial Report, here’s Government Accountability Office’s included memo that tries to give the lowdown on the unaccounted for future liabilities:

“Fiscal year 2007 marked the second year in which the Statement of Social Insurance has been presented as a basic financial statement. As noted above, this year, we were able to render an unqualified opinion on the 2007 Statement of Social Insurance. This is a significant accomplishment for the federal government. This statement shows that projected scheduled benefits exceed earmarked revenues by approximately $41 trillion in present value terms for the next 75-year period.

Considering this projected gap in social insurance, in addition to reported liabilities (e.g., debt held by the public and federal employee and veterans benefits payable) and other implicit commitments and contingencies that the federal government has pledged to support, the federal government’s fiscal exposures totaled approximately $53 trillion as of September 30, 2007, up more than $2 trillion from September 30, 2006, and an increase of more than $32 trillion from about $20 trillion as of September 30, 2000.

This translates into a current burden of about $175,000 per American or approximately $455,000 per American household. (page 33)”

And then this:

“Unsustainable Debt…”

“As noted earlier, the Government must borrow from the public to finance any gaps between expenditures and revenues. Increased borrowing leads to higher debt service (net interest) which in turn can make it more difficult to balance expenditures and revenues in the future. Chart J shows that by 2030, public debt is projected to rise to 68 percent of GDP, surpassing the non-wartime peak of 49 percent in 1993. By 2040, public debt is projected to be 128 percent of GDP, well above the World War II peak of 109 percent, and by 2080, debt is projected to approach 600 percent of GDP.

At some point before the debt reaches such unprecedented levels, the world’s financial markets would likely cease lending to the United States. Although the precise point at which this would occur is unknown, these projected debt levels cannot be sustained indefinitely. Many economists believe that persistent debt/GDP levels over 100% are unhealthy. The U.S. is projected to surpass that mark within the next 30 years, with the debt/GDP ratio at that point on a continually and dramatically rising trajectory (more than 10 percentage points per decade through 2080). Avoiding the catastrophic consequences of this fiscal path will require action to bring program expenditures in line with available resources. How soon those actions are taken will greatly influence their ultimate impact on the Nation. (page 19)”

The blogger who originally posted these snippets from the 2007 U.S. Financial Report, Steve skojec, adds:

“Did you notice anything off about these two paragraphs? Maybe the idea that we’re fast approaching a debt that’s 600 TIMES THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT OF THE WEALTHIEST NATION ON EARTH? How about the fact that the financial report itself characterizes the consequences of this trend as “CATASTROPHIC”?”

==interesting and scary….If this information scares you or is something you have not heard before, you should really check out Ron Paul and some of his speeches on yourtube and else where as he is one of the few politicians who has been trying to warn against the dangerous fiscal policies of our central bank, the federal reserve, as well as the spending habits of the US Federal Government.

U.S. and post World War I German republic share monetary policies, lets pray it does not lead to the same results…

Read a great new post about the US economy and monetary policy here, this is an excerpt:

“…We are reaching a point, however, where the economic issues facing our nation are becoming a grave moral concern. What happens when we run out of money? When foreign countries dump our currency? When the dollar completely tanks? When unemployment soars?

Ever heard of the Weimar Republic? That period of post World War I Germany where inflation had spiralled so far out of control that the German Mark, which had an exchange rate of 4.2 to the American Dollar in 1914 had reached an unfathomable low of 2 TRILLION marks to the dollar by 1923? People were bringing cash to the store by the wheelbarrow full to buy things like a loaf of bread. Nearly 1,800 government printing presses were running around the clock just to produce enough cash. (For more on this aspect of Weimar Germany, go here.)

What had precipitated this massive decline? A huge war debt, financed only partially by taxes. The bulk was paid for by loans, the sale of treasury bills, and an increased monetary supply.

Sound familiar?

We need to get this country’s spending under control. We are making ourselves vulnerable in so many ways. Economic crisis leads to real suffering – extreme poverty, starvation, loss of life…”

Tax Rebate checks to American taxpayers will be mailed starting May 2.

Tax rebate checks will be distributed to most tax-paying Americans. The rebates serve as a one-time tax cut initially based on their 2007 incomes.

Overall, the Treasury will distribute more than $110 billion to 130 million taxpayers by July.

Who will be getting checks?

One-time payments will be sent to at least 117 million low- and middle-income households, 20 million senior citizens living off of Social Security and 250,000 disabled veterans.

To be eligible for a full rebate, single tax filers must have 2007 adjusted gross income (AGI) below $75,000 and joint filers must have AGI below $150,000.

Single filers with AGI below $75,000 will get rebates of as much as $600. Couples with AGI below $150,000 will receive rebates of up to $1,200.

In addition, parents will also receive $300 per child under 17; there is no cap on the number of qualifying children eligible.

Tax filers who do not owe income taxes, but have at least $3,000 in income – which can include Social Security and disability payments – will get $300 rebates per person or $600 per couple.

The stimulus allows for a 5% phaseout rate for households above the income caps of $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for joint filers. The rebates of those taxpayers will be reduced by the amount of income above the cap multiplied by 5%.

Will I have to pay it pack?

No. And here’s why.

Your stimulus payment is a one-time tax cut – an advance on a credit you’ll receive on your 2008 return. You will not owe tax on your payment when you file your 2008 tax return, and it will not increase the amount you owe or reduce your 2008 refund.

The stimulus payment is based on your 2007 income initially. If it turns out that your 2008 income and number of children would have qualified you for a larger rebate than the one you received, you’ll be sent the difference. If it turns out your 2008 income was lower than in 2007 and you should have gotten a lower rebate, you get to keep the difference.

“If you were supposed to receive a larger payment than you did, you will get the extra money,” said Treasury spokesman Andrew DeSouza. “If you received more than what you should have gotten, you will not be penalized.”

Direct deposit payment
If last 2 digits of your SS# are:	Your rebate should be sent by:
00-20	May 2
21-75	May 9
76-99	May 16
Paper check
If last 2 digits of your SS# are:	Your rebate should be sent by:
00-09	May 16
10-18	May 23
19-25	May 30
26-38	June 6
39-51	June 13
52-63	June 20
64-75	June 27
76-87	July 4
88-99	July 11

Not happy with the three choices for President this year? Makes you wish you voted for Ron Paul, huh?

Just Click play, you might like it:

Who has recorded the BEST cannon rock video? YouTube phenomenon challenges guitar geeks everywhere.

Click below to see The original video recording played from a dorm room in Australia by South Korean College student, Lim Jeong-hyun, is played to ‘Jerry C’s rock and roll arrangement of Pachelbel’s ubiquitous Cannon and was posted by “FunTwo,” on YouTube in 2005, and it started the craze and has become YouTube’s seventh most watched video of all time (read more here):

Matt Rach’s version:

Cesar Huesca’s Version:

Meet Matt Rach…17 year old guitar God from Paris

Below is a sweet Jimi Hendrix Medley he recorded, click here to see all his videos.

Surging commodity prices have pushed up global food prices 83% in the past three years, according to the World Bank—putting huge stress on some of the world’s poorest nations.

Following excerpt From the Wallstreet Journal’s “LiveMint.com,

by Bob Davis and Douglas Belkin (WSJ) clck here for original article:

Washington: Finance ministers gathered last weekend to grapple with the global financial crisis also struggled with a problem that has plagued the world periodically before the time of the pharaohs: food shortages.

Surging commodity prices have pushed up global food prices 83% in the past three years, according to the World Bank—putting huge stress on some of the world’s poorest nations. Even as the ministers met, Haiti’s Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis was resigning after a week in which that tiny country’s capital was racked by rioting over higher prices for staples such as rice and beans.

Rioting in response to soaring food prices recently has broken out in Egypt, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Ethiopia. In Pakistan and Thailand, army troops have been deployed to deter food theft from fields and warehouses. World Bank president Robert Zoellick warned in a recent speech that 33 countries are at risk of social upheaval because of rising food prices. Those could include Indonesia, Yemen, Ghana, Uzbekistan and the Philippines. In countries where buying food requires half to three-quarters of a poor person’s income, “there is no margin for survival,” he said.

Doctors not punished as severely as non-physicians in UCLA file-snooping HIPAA violations case

The following is an excerpt from an article originally published in the Los Angeles Times:

LOS ANGELES – Doctors who snooped into the medical records of pop star Britney Spears got off easier than non-physicians at UCLA hospitals, according to a published report.

The 13 non-physician staffers who improperly viewed Spears’ record were “suspended, dismissed, resigned or retired,” the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Friday night.

But of the eight physicians who perused the singer’s records, three were suspended and five were reprimanded.

None of the doctors were fired.

“I can’t speculate as to why,” said Kathleen Billingsley, deputy director for the health department’s Center for Healthcare Quality.

The state health department’s findings were released in two reports Friday, and have been forwarded to city, county, state and federal authorities for possible prosecution and monetary penalties.

UCLA officials say physicians are overseen by their peers, while other employees are subject to the decisions of human resources. The public university also pledged to create a high-level committee to review policy and ensure fair disciplinary procedures, and improve computer systems in an effort to increase the security of patient records.

11-string bass instrumental version of Mario Brothers theme song, incredible bass guitar playing.

Awesome Super Mario Brothers theme played on an 11-string bass:

Amazing Guitarist, Cesar Huesca plays ‘Technical Difficulties,’ by Paul Gilbert…

This is the most impressive playing I have ever seen: