I doubt that many of Mr. Shedlock's readers have any money in Cypriot banks. For that matter, U.S. banks either, (as deposits, that is). But there are lots of us who invest in the stock of U.S. banks. The latter, as a group, have recovered nicely from the meltdown in 2008, and, for the most part, are deemed safe as investments.

While I agree for the most part with Ms. Schlafly's observations, she appears to have adopted an extremely hard-line position. And I am afraid that, despite the virtues of her arguments, the political climate will overwhelm them. I personally doubt that any "comprehensive" immigration reform bill can make it through the Congress and be signed by the President, given the deep feelings on both sides of the issue. By the way, does anyone know what the allowabl number of legal immigrants is for each of the next 10 years or so? I would guess that it is something like 1 million per year, and the infusion of 11 to 20 million currently illegals into the system would swamp the legal immigration quotas.

GM needed to be liquidated! I recently read Bob Lutz's book (he was a very high ranking exec at GM), and he still maintains that the VOLT and the HUMMER were and are great ideas. This is an example of the talent GM had at the top--he was actually a super star!

Yeah, but without Obama stepping in, GM would have never been able to bring the vaunted VOLT to market. And, without the Volt, we would never have needed those battery companies who employ hundreds, nay, thousands of employees. And just think of all the outfits installing battery chargers in garages all over the nation. Cheap at any price--what does it matter if we "invested" a few billion or so to keep the UAW intact?

While I applaud Rep. Ryan for his efforts to bring sanity to the federal budget system, it will come to nothing. Even assuming that he can usher it thru the House, the Senate will come up with a competing bill (if anything) which can not be reconciled with that of the House, and, even if the Senate accepts the House resolution, Obama would veto it. Finally, Ryan assumes repeal of Obamacare--what are the chances that Obama would agree to that?

Am I the only one who does not understand the unemployment statistics? We get WEEKLY reports of "first time unemployment claims," which typically are in the 350K. Then, we get MONTHLY "new jobs added," which typically come in 200K, more or less (admittedly, the latest was 236K). Since there are 4 weeks + in a month, it would appear that new unemployment claims are about 1.4 Million, while new jobs added are about 200 Thousand. How does that show progess?

Can someone please explain the "loopholes" often cited by Obama that are depriving the government of significant income? Specifically, what tax breaks do oil and gas companies enjoy that other corporations do not? And, exactly what is "carried interest" which apparently allows hedge funds to pay taxes on "income" at only 15%?

Elimination of "loopholes" and preferences, offset by lower rates, while probably fair and a desireable outcome, does nothing to solve the deficit and growin debt problem. We can hope, but have no way of knowing, that such a change would goose the private sector economy sufficiently to close the yearly deficit. I am sceptical.

The problem is quite evident--projected expenditures exceed projected revenues by $1 Trillion per year, as far as the eye can see. Thus, the solution is equally evident--expenditures must be reduced, revenues must be increased, or some combination of the two. Cutting expenditures or increasing (gpvernment) revenues both retard growth in the private sector, and growth seems to be the only long-term salvation, other than inflation, which will likely win out in the long term. Be prepared to pay $5 for a loaf of bread and $10 for a gallon of milk.

Other than pushing his "Scaricity and Real Wealth," I can't see much value in Mr. Slaughter's article. Other than the facts that silver has enormous and growing industrial uses, is valued for use as jewelry, and now as an investment as a guard against inevitable inflation, he does not say much.

post continued-- NO income taxes. Further, many actually RECEIVE money from the IRS (effectively a negative income tax). And, in computing taxable income, there are many items which are not considered income, such as food stamps, subsidized housing, welfare, free cell phones, etc. Of course, no politician who has to face the electorate would dare discuss this.