Percent of Total Wealth Owned in the United States: Bottom 40% control -0.9% Meaning Close to Half the Country has a Negative Net Worth.

MyBuget360
February 20, 2016

Wealth is an important measure of financial stability and success.  Being able to have enough set aside for a rainy day can make the difference between weathering a minor storm to being in full upheaval because of an unexpected expense.  Most Americans however live paycheck to paycheck.  There is no emergency fund.  It is troubling to see new data looking at the distribution of wealth in the United States because many Americans actually have a negative net worth.  New data looking at wealth distribution highlights a growing gulf between Americans.  Wealth inequality like that seen during the Gilded Age and the Roaring 20s led to massive disequilibrium that ended up in deep financial corrections.  We are very much in a situation that rivals that period only this time the public is able to go into negative net worth territory through items like college loans, auto debt, and credit cards.  The percent of total wealth owned in the United States might surprise you.

Wealth in the United States

Wealth inequality is at record levels in the United States.  Most people don’t have a clue as to the percentage breakdown of wealth owned in the country.  New data released highlights a troubling scenario where the bottom 40 percent of Americans are actually in a negative net worth situation.

Take a look at the wealth breakdown here:

Source:  Harvard Gazette

“(Harvard Gazette) The details show that real wages for most U.S. workers have been relatively stagnant since the 1970s, while those for the top 1 percent have increased 156 percent, and those for the top 0.1 percent have increased 362 percent, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute.

Those trends resulted in the poorest 20 percent of Americans receiving just 3.6 percent of the national income in 2014, down from 5.7 percent in 1974. The upper 20 percent, meanwhile, received nearly half of U.S. income in 2014, up from about 40 percent in 1974, according to Census Bureau statistics.”

This is what happens when wage growth disappears and inflation continues to expand.  To keep up the pretense that the middle class was thriving debt products allowed people to spend money they don’t have.  This is how the bottom 40 percent of Americans actually own negative wealth.  They simply have more debt than assets.

The story of the last financial crisis was one of too much debt.  As it happens, we have now surpassed that point once again:

The economy has been revived by more debt in the form of college loans, auto debt (subprime as well), housing debt, and credit card debt.  All of these debt sectors are up.  What the new data on wealth distribution highlights is that most of the wealth is controlled by the top 20 percent (88.9 percent of all U.S. wealth).  The distribution is getting more heavily tilted.

Many people realize that debt is not wealth but many don’t make the distinction.  If you buy a $30,000 car and finance the entire purchase, after one year it is likely that you will owe more on the car than it is worth.  Forget about the financing charges going to the lender.  Or taking on too much student loan debt.  These are all ways many people fall into a negative net worth trap.  In the end, the wealth distribution highlights one glaring fact: those at the top are controlling more and more wealth and we have also seen the middle class now become a minority.

Is Trump Antisemitic? Many on Face Book think so......

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!! News
Mark Matheny
February 20, 2016

Many people are posting this clip on Face Book  saying Trump is antisemitic and is against Israel. He said nothing of the sort. He stated that the Palestinians train their children from childhood to hate Israel. He also merely stated that of all deals to be made, this will be the hardest, and maybe even impossible. He went on to say a couple times during the interview that he would be willing to "give it one hell of a shot". He wants to stay neutral as to who is wrong or right so that if he becomes President, he can go into the negotiations with out any stigma from either side. This is not antisemitic. You don't telegraph your moves ahead of any deal. Stop jumping on every statement as a pretext to attack Trump. I am very pro Israel and I agree with his statement.

Trump has in previous statements supported Israel, and has condemned the way Obama and the current administration has neglected Israel.

SWISS POLITICIANS SLAM ATTEMPTS TO ELIMINATE CASH, COMPARE PAPER MONEY TO A GUN DEFENDING FREEDOM

Zero Hedge
February 19, 2016

As we predicted over a year ago, in a world in which QE has failed, and in which the ice-cold grip of NIRP has to be global in order to achieve its intended purpose of forcing savers around the world to spend the taxed product of their labor, one thing has to be abolished: cash.

This explains the recent flurry of articles in outlets such as BBG and the FT, and op-eds by such “established” economists as Larry Summers, all advocating the death of cash, a process which would begin by abolishing high denomination bills and continue until all physical cash in circulation is eliminated, something we warned about when the first made it first NIRP hint last September.

We were s rather surprised by the candor of a WSJ piece overnight which actually told it how it is:

The real reason the war on cash is gearing up now is political: Politicians and central bankers fear that holders of currency could undermine their brave new monetary world of negative interest rates. Japan and Europe are already deep into negative territory, and U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said last week the U.S. should be prepared for the possibility. Translation: That’s where the Fed is going in the next recession.

* * *

By all means people should be able to go cashless if they like. But it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the politicians want to bar cash as one more infringement on economic liberty. They may go after the big bills now, but does anyone think they’d stop there? Why wouldn’t they eventually ban all cash transactions much as they banned gold and silver as mediums of exchange?

Beware politicians trying to limit the ways you can conduct private economic business. It never turns out well.

We were even more surprised when we read that in Switzerland, the place which offers the highest denomination banknote in Europe, the 1,000 Swiss Franc note (and the second highest in the world after the Singapore $10,000 note) two politicians, Philip Brunner and Manuel Brandberg, members of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, have proposed a motion that they hope Zug will support for a cantonal initiative seeking changes to the federal currency law.

They argue that the creation of 5,000-franc notes will ensure that the Swiss franc maintains its status as a safe haven currency.

As we reported previously, this proposal is the diametrical opposite of what the ECB hopes to do, and of where the European Union wants to go, where finance ministers have talked about withdrawing 500-euro bills from circulation to deter their use for “financing terrorism, money laundering and other illegal activities”, all made up terms designed to give the impression that politicians are slowly eliminating physical currency in circulation for your own good.

They are not.

This is what the Swiss politicians admit too: Brunner and Brandberg maintain that the tendency in the EU and in OECD member countries is to “weaken individual liberties” and to exercise greater control over citizens.

But it is what they say next that may define the libertarian political platforms around the globe for the next several years – also known as the global NIRP period – because it is 100% spot on:

In this context “cash is comparable to the service firearm kept by Swiss citizen soldiers,” the pair argued in their motion, saying they both “guarantee freedom”.

“In France and Italy already cash payments of only up to 1,000 euros are allowed and the question of the abolition of cash is being seriously discussed and considered in Europe, “ Brunner said on his Facebook page.

The move toward electronic payments allows governments “total surveillance” over individuals, the pair claim.

Of course, the proposal was promptly shot down by the Swiss National Bank: “Walter Meier, a spokesman for the Swiss National Bank, which is responsible for Switzerland’s money, told 20 Minuten newspaper the introduction of banknotes of a higher denomination is “not an issue.”

Keep in mind this is the same central bank which in late 2014 pushed hard against a popular referendum to replenish Swiss sovereign gold by buying gold in the open market, only to generate billions in paper losses months later when it admitted defeat in the currency war with the ECB; a central bank which then lost even more billions when it decided to buy shares of AAPL at their all time high price and is now sitting on substantial paper losses.

As for the Swiss proposal to print higher denomination currencies, we are confident it won’t pass now: if it did, there would be an unprecedented rush from around the globe to park savings in Swiss cash, just like in the good old days.

But the time of big currency denominations is coming one way or another: after all, NIRP is the falling Keynesian system’s penultimate hope. When it fails, there is just one last option, the one we have said is coming ever since 2009, the one which even the “smartest money in the world” agreed today is inevitable: helicopter money.

And as Ben Bernanke made it all so clear in 2002, once the helicopter money comes, hyperinflation is very close behind. And one thing hyperinflation always brings with it, is very highly denominated bank notes. Just ask Zimbabwe.

LEAKED GERMAN GOVERNMENT REPORT SHOWS REFUGEES COMMITTED 200,000 CRIMES BETWEEN 2014 AND 2015

Daily Caller
February 19, 2016

A leaked report from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Agency reveals refugees committed over 200,000 crimes between 2014 and 2015.

The report is only supposed to be seen by police and other government employees, but it ended up in the hands of Bild, a German newspaper, Deutsche Welle reports.

What the document shows primarily is that refugees are responsible for 208,344 crimes.

A total of 32 percent of those crimes were related to asset or fraud offenses, and another 33 percent were due to theft. Of the total number of crimes, only 1 percent, or 1,688, had anything to do with sexual offenses. There were 458 cases of serious sexual assault, which includes either rape or coercion.

Not all ethnic groups were equal in the amount of crimes committed. Viewed proportionally, there were more offenders from Eritrea, Nigeria and countries from the Balkans like Serbia and Albania. In absolute numbers, Syrians committed 24 percent of refugee crimes, but Serbs only comprised 2 percent of the refugee population and managed to account for an incredible 13 percent of crimes.

Bild noted, however, the report did not include the reported cases of sexual assault in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, skewing the data slightly.

The 446 alleged sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve threw Germany into an uproar, mostly because of accusations that the German government collaborated with the media to downplay the incident. Of particular note, following the assaults, Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker put the onus on females who were assault and suggested women should abide by a code of conduct to avoid future assaults.

Due to crime rates and generally undesirable behavior, tensions over importing over a million refugees were high, and the assaults in Cologne, committed mostly by Arabs and North Africans, pushed ordinary Germans over the edge. A recent poll indicated that 40 percent of Germans want Chancellor Angela Merkel to resign due to her poor handling of the refugee crisis. She has admitted Europe has totally lost control of the situation.

WORLD WAR III APPROACHES: SAUDI ARABIA AND TURKEY DROP HINTS THAT AN INVASION OF SYRIA IS IMMINENT

Economic Collapse
February 16, 2016

As you read this article, Turkish forces are massing along the border with Syria, and the largest “military exercises” in the history of the Middle East are being held in northern Saudi Arabia. 

The Saudis are publicly warning that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “will be removed by force” if a political solution cannot be found, and Turkey is claiming that it may have to establish a “safe zone” in northern Syria “for humanitarian purposes”.  Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their Sunni allies have poured massive amounts of money and arms into the conflict in Syria, and now that their Sunni insurgents are on the verge of total defeat, they are trying to come up with a way to justify going in there and doing the job themselves.

For the Saudis, their focus is on trying to convince everyone that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is an extremely dangerous dictator that must be removed at all costs.  The following comes from the London Independent…

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be removed by force if the peace process fails, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister has said.

“Bashar al-Assad will leave – have no doubt about it,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeirtold CNN. “He will either leave by a political process or he will be removed by force.”

Saudi Arabia has sent troops and fighter jets to a Turkish military base ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria.

So precisely who will be doing the “removing” if force is necessary?

Are the Saudis ready to send in ground troops?

Apparently they are.  Just consider what Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN…

Saudi Foreign Minister Jubeir made clear that his country’s troops would not go it alone.

“I can tell you that there is some serious discussion going on with regards to looking at a ground component in Syria, because there has to be a possibility of taking and holding ground, that one cannot do from the air.”

“We are saying we will participate within the U.S.-led coalition, should this coalition decide to send ground troops into Syria, that we are prepared to send special forces with those troops.”

But if the Saudis try to take Damascus and remove Assad by force, the Syrians and their allies will certainly fight back.  That means that the Saudis will be fighting Hezbollah, the Iranians and the Russians.

Needless to say, Saudi Arabia is going to need a lot of help to do that.

So that may explain why Saudi Arabia has organized the largest “military exercise” in the history of the Middle East.  CNN finally reported on this gigantic gathering of military forces in northern Saudi Arabia earlier today…

Saudi Arabia launched a massive military exercise that will include troops from 20 nations, state media reported Monday.

The drill, dubbed North Thunder, involves Arab and Muslim countries, according to the Saudi Press Agency. It’s taking place in King Khalid Military City in northeastern Saudi Arabia.

The news agency did not provide much information on what the exercise entails but called it “the largest in the region’s history.” The agency said it will involve air, sea and land forces.

This is the list of nations that are reportedly participating in these “exercises” so far…

-Saudi Arabia

-Jordan

-Bahrain

-Senegal

-Oman

-Qatar

-United Arab Emirates

-Sudan

-Kuwait

-the Maldives

-Morocco

-Pakistan

-Chad

-Tunisia

-Comoro Islands

-Djibouti

-Malaysia

-Egypt

-Mauritania

-Mauritius

As I discussed yesterday, 350,000 soldiers, 20,000 tanks, 2,450 warplanes and 460 military helicopters are reportedly gathering for these “military exercises”.

To me, that seems to be a great deal of overkill if the goal is just “training”.

Here is more about these “exercises” from RT…

The Saudi state agency made the announcement on Sunday, adding that participating troops will begin arriving in “the next few hours.”

The oil-rich nation described the exercises as “the largest and most important” military drills in the region’s history.

The so-called “Northern Thunder” exercise will take place in the north of the country and will include air, sea and land forces. SPA said that it will show that Riyadh and its allies “stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region.”

So are these forces massing for a ground invasion of Syria?

We shall see.

In the end, we probably won’t have to wait too long before we find out the answer.

Meanwhile, Turkish officials continue to assert that they may have to establish a “safe zone” for refugees in northern Syria.  Since thousands of refugees are continually pouring their direction, they claim that they have no other choice but to go in and take control of the situation.

In fact, Turkey has already established several very large refugee camps on the Syrian side of the border…

Some 100,000 Syrian refugees are being looked after in camps inside Syria close to the Turkish border, including 35,000 who this month fled a Russian-backed regime offensive in northern Aleppo province, a top Turkish official said Friday.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan, whose country has come under increasing pressure to open its border to people fleeing the violence, said the refugees were being accommodated in nine camps just across the border with Syria.

But make no mistake – this is not just about helping refugees.

The truth is that ISIS has been using Turkey as a home base for years, and hundreds of millions of dollars of ISIS oil has been shipped into Turkey where it has then been sold to the rest of the world.  Barack Obama knows about all of this, and yet he has refused to do anything to stop it.

At this point the cooperation between ISIS and Turkey has become so obvious thateven CNN is admitting that ISIS militants are being resupplied from Turkey…

To the east of Aleppo, Kurdish forces are, with American support, eyeing the remaining ISIS strongholds along the Turkish border — Jarablus and Manbij. The U.S. wants ISIS out,to remove its access to resupply of materiel and fighters from Turkey.

Meanwhile, Turkey, America’s NATO ally that is engaged in a brutal but often unseen war with the Kurds’ allies in Turkey’s southeast, doesn’t want the Kurds to advance, and may stop at nothing to prevent that.

Fortunately, the Russian bombing campaign has pretty much put an end to the endless parade of ISIS oil trucks that were entering Turkey, and now the primary supply line to Sunni militants in the strategically important city of Aleppo is about to be cut off.

The corridor that runs through the city of Azaz is vitally important, and the Prime Minister of Turkey recently insisted that the Turkish government “will not allow Azaz to fall”…

Turkey shelled YPG positions for a third straight day on Monday to try to stop its fighters seizing Azaz, just 8 km from the border. Ankara fears the Kurdish militia, backed by Russia, is trying to secure the last stretch of around 100 km along the Syrian border not already under its control.

“We will not allow Azaz to fall,” Davutoglu told reporters on his plane on the way to Ukraine. “If they approach again they will see the harshest reaction,” he said.

Unfortunately for the Turkish government, it appears that Azaz is already slipping away from the militants.  The following was reported by an Iranian news source…

Ankara is likely to take action to counter the Syrian military and allied groups on choking up a supply link on which militants relied to get weapons and logistics.

Syrian troops and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters have retaken the town of Azaz, located to the northwest of Aleppo, prompting Saudi Arabia and Turkey to hint at deployment of ground forces to the region.

Asked if Ankara might act to reverse the gains, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (seen below) said on Friday, “Wait for the next few days and you will have the answer,” Turkish paper Hurriyet reported.

Wait for the next few days and you will have the answer?

That sounds rather ominous.

Like I said yesterday, I don’t think that I have ever seen a scenario which was more likely to lead to World War III than the one that we are watching play out right now.

Do Saudi Arabia and Turkey actually expect to waltz into Syria and start taking territory without a response from the Syrians, Hezbollah, the Iranians and the Russians?

And if fighting does break out, how is the United States possibly going to stay out of it?

The truth is that Saudi Arabia and Turkey would never invade Syria in the first place without the express approval of the Obama administration.

The next couple of weeks are key.  If we can get into early March without an invasion, by that time Saudi Arabia and Turkey may have missed their window.  The troops gathered for the massive military exercise in northern Saudi Arabia will start to go home, and by then the Sunni militants remaining in Aleppo will probably be pretty much completely defeated.

But will Saudi Arabia and Turkey really be willing to walk away after pouring so much time, effort and money into the conflict in Syria?  They had dreamed of turning Syria into a full-blown Sunni nation, and if they give up now Syria will end up being dominated by Iran and Hezbollah.  It will be a result that is far worse than if they never tried to overthrow Assad in the first place.

So my gut feeling is telling me that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their Sunni allies are not done in Syria.  But their obsession with that country threatens to plunge us into World War III, and if that happens the consequences will be felt by every man, woman and child on the entire planet.

MORE FIGHTING As Saudis and Turks Attack Syria

Super Station 95
February 15, 2016

 UPDATE 2:45 AM Eastern US Time -- Turkish drones suspected of penetrating Syrian airspace over northern #Aleppo to find additional targets for artillery strikes.

UPDATE 3:19 AM Eastern US Time -- After the Syrian Army cut off supplies line between Aleppo and the Turkish border, Syrian militants received new supplies of ground-to-ground missiles from "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's foreign enemies," two militant commanders told Reuters.

According to a source, the missiles have a range of 20 kilometers.

Recently, government forces won one of their biggest victories in the five-year-long war, having cut off supply lines from the Turkish border to militants in Aleppo.

The news came after the Munich security conference agreed on a ceasefire in Syria on February 12, which would be secured by Russia and the US.

"It is excellent additional fire power for us," one of the commanders said. The other commander said the missiles would be used to hit army positions beyond the front line.

This is yet more proof that the Intentions of Turkey and Saudi Arabia (and their allies) is NOT to "fight ISIS" but rather to assist rebels to overthrow the lawfully elected President (Assad) of Syria.  Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey have been working WITH "ISIS" and rebels to destroy Syria and overthrow its government. 

 UPDATE 3:25 AM Eastern US Time -- U.S.A urges turkey - in the strongest terms - to stop shelling northern Syria.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia say they will step up operations and send in ground troops if no resolution found.

 Update 3:27 AM  Eastern US Time -- Turkey once again commences shelling Northern Syrian territory held by Kurdish backed militia for second day 

 UPDATE 3:29 AM Eastern US Time -- 2 killed & 9 wounded due to the Turkish artillery shells in Minneg airport, northern Syria.

UPDATE 3:47 AM Eastern US Time -- Saudi Arabia confirms its jets have arrived at Incirlik airbase, Turkey.  Also says they will be meeting soon to "finalize details" of ground operations.

 UPDATE 3:56 AM Eastern US Time -- Retired US Air Force General Clyde Simmons has told SuperStation95 "I couldn't imagine how Turkish and Saudi pilots would feel about flying into a nation whose entire airspace is defended with Russian S-400 missiles. Do they know the range of these things can hit Saudi and Turkish aircraft from INSIDE Turkey and Saudi Arabia right now if the order was given?

Either this threat of a ground invasion is completely empty or the US is going in too, with stealth aircraft on orders to take out every single Russian S-400 prior to Turkish and Saudi troops moving in.

Any other plan to invade Syria is a complete suicide mission."

 UPDATE 4:30 AM Eastern US Time -- Phone call between Putin and Obama to discuss the situation in Syria

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a VERY bad thing.  When the President of one country calls the President of the United States at 4:30 in the morning over military activities (anywhere) it is very urgent and very serious.  NO ONE does that sort of thing over nonsense; it is always a major, serious event if it warrants rousting one President out of bed in the middle of the night.  In political circles, it simply is not done ---- unless war is at stake.  THis phone call seems to be a harbinger of very dangerous things to come.

 UPDATE 4:45 AM Eastern US Time -- YPG ally "Jaish al Thuwar": Turkey's shelling won't force us to retreat; we are advancing towards Til Rifaat; our aim to reach ISIS territories and fight them

 UPDATE 4:49 AM Eastern US Time -- President Obama and President Putin agree to intensify diplomatic cooperation in phone call, Kremlin says

 UPDATE 4:57 AM Eastern US Time -- AROUND 40 AIRCRAFT FROM SAUDI NOW ON STATION ON JORDANIAN-SYRIAN BORDER

UPDATE 5: 00 AM eastern US Time --  #Turkey has reportedly carried out its first airstrike targeting #YPG terrorists in North Aleppo. says Erdogan

 UPDATE 5:01 AM Eastern US Time -- Turkish artillery is now striking the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in Marnaz and Menagh airbase and village.

 UPDATE 5:02 AM Eastern US Time -- Turkey military is digging trenches in southeastern city Nusaybin on #Syria border across #Qamishli

 UPDATE 5:13 AM Eastern US Time -- Race to Raqqa: Saudis Move Troops to Turkey as Syria, Russia Advance on ISIS Stronghold 
If Assad takes Raqqa, Turkey and Saudi Arabia would have to think up a new excuse to invade Syria. It's now a race against time.

 UPDATE 5:24 AM  Eastern US Time -- CONFIRMATION NOW THAT CLOSED MILITARY ZONE SET UP ON TURK -SYRIA BORDER - TURKISH FORCES AND CONTRACTORS DIGGING TRENCHES AND BUILDING FORTIFICATIONS

 UPDATE 5:38 AM Eastern US Time -- "Moscow supports not Bashar Assad in person, but friendly ties with the Syrian state. At the same time there is no other legitimate head of state in Syria today, except Assad.  Attempts to oust Assad would lead to greater mess in the region. Russian prime minister also considers ground operation a bad idea since it might lead to a full-scale war."

 UPDATE 5:38 AM Eastern US Time -- PYD (political wing Kurdish YPG) rejects demand for evacuation of Mennegh airbase, says Syrians will confront any intervention by Turkey.

Read the entire article

Many Question Scalia's Death as Suspicious

Angry Patriot
February 15, 2016

As you know by now, Justice Scalia passed away over the weekend. As more details are revealed, things are starting to take an odd turn as to the actual cause of his death. These theories are getting a lot of steam, so I would be remiss by not discussing them with you.

Just prior to his death, a climate change initiative was put in front of the Supreme Court.This climate change initiative was blocked by a vote of 5-4, with Scalia’s vote being the swing vote to block it.

When the legislation was blocked, The Hill did an in-depth article as to why this was so devastating to the Obama administration. The Clean Power Plan was to be part of Obama’s legacy, and the administration was not happy at all it was blocked.

In effect, if the administration fails to have this legislation passed, a major platform position of Obama will be a complete failure, significantly damaging his legacy.

So, how does this tie into the Justice’s death?

There are currently some very strong conspiracy theories going around, one of which I will address later today. These theories surround the suspicious manner in which the judge was found as well as there being no autopsy performed to give a cut and dry cause of death.

I hate to say it, but it wreaks of some type of cover up. The one thing that has me completely puzzled is why his family is not allowing an autopsy to be performed. It just baffles me!

Do we need to look further into this? I think we have to because of the circumstances surrounding his death and the events leading up to it.

Did Obama resort to something horrific to get his agenda pushed through before he leaves office? The American in me wants to refuse to believe something like this could happen today. But I honestly just don’t know.

What do you think about Justice Scalia’s death? Do you think Obama was up to no good? Please share the story on Facebook and let us know because we want to hear YOUR voice!