Congress
should raise gas tax: Sen. Corker - (www.cnbc.com) It's time for Congress to hike the federal
gas tax and actually solve a fiscal problem instead of "kicking the can
down the road," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told CNBC on Monday. The tax, or
user fee, funds infrastructure repairs and improvements and hasn't been raised
since 1993. Instead, Congress has been dipping into the general treasury to
keep the dwindling Highway Trust Fund solvent. "What Congress has done
five times since 2008 is literally generational theft, just stealing from
future generations out of the general funds to pay for infrastructure because
Congress is going to fund infrastructure but not in the appropriate way,"
Corker said in an interview with "Closing Bell." Corker, along with Sen. Chris Murphy,
D-Conn., have proposed a gas tax increase of 6
cents a gallon each year for two years, ultimately raising it by 12 cents. It
is currently 18.4 cents per gallon, and the diesel tax is 24.4 cents per
gallon. The existing highway legislation expires in May, and Corker said there
is a $100 billion shortfall in the fund over the next 10 years. He said his
proposal would solve the problem for the "long, long term."
Margin
debt: A ticking time bomb for stocks? – (www.nbcnews.com) The last six years for the U.S. stock market
have been an indomitable buying orgy fueled by the Federal Reserve's zero
interest rate policy, causing the S&P 500 to triple in value. One metric says it
may have gone too far. Borrowing to buy stocks, as measured by the NYSE monthly
margin debt figures, ended 2014 at its highest level relative to the size of
the U.S. economy since 1929. In absolute terms, it's the highest ever. "If
this doesn't count, then we might as well throw away everything we've ever
learned about risk because there is none," said Alan Newman, who sent this
data to customers of his Crosscurrents newsletter last week. "The manias
of 2000 and 2007 now both look like small potatoes by comparison. This is total
insanity." As noted on Newman's in chart, buying stocks on margin peaked
in 2007 before the popping of the housing market bubble, as well as in March
2000, exactly when the Nasdaq Composite's frenzied tech boost ended, causing
share prices to be cut in half. While
too often ignored by the masses, this indicator has a storied history among
long-time market data crunchers. It was, after all, buying stocks on margin
that was the single cause of the infamous crash of 1929. But like any single
indicator, its track record isn't perfect. Elevated buying on margin can go on
for long period of times before it has consequences, history shows. And stock
borrowing itself is not a bad thing. In fact, signs of a pickup can mark the
start of a healthy bull market. And some of this elevated borrowing can be due
to risk arbitrage related to M&A.
Euro
drops to lowest level in almost 9 years on ECB-easing talk - (www.marketwatch.com) The euro stabilized Monday during North
American morning trade after falling to its lowest level in nine years despite
a weak reading on German inflation for December, as investors bought euros to
lock in profits. The final German consumer price index reading for 2014 showed
that prices remained flat month over month, missing a consensus estimate of
0.1% growth from economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. John Doyle, a
foreign-exchange trader and director of markets at Tempus, Inc., attributed the
pause in the euro’s downward trajectory to profit-taking, and said he expects
it to be temporary. “Overall the dollar is still very strong, but once we got
below $1.19, that was an important technical level, and there’s going to be
some profit-taking when there’s a big move like that,” Doyle said. “We’re going
to see these moments of pullback as orders get triggered at big levels like
[euro at] $1.20 and $1.19.” The selling in the euro was triggered by analyst
expectations that ECB President Mario Draghi will soon begin large-scale
purchases of government bonds, a policy known as quantitative easing, which
could add around €1 trillion to the central bank’s approximately €2
trillion-balance sheet. This will increase the amount of euros in circulation,
lowering their value. The ECB’s next monetary policy meeting is Jan. 22.
Ex-CBS
reporter sues feds over hacking - (money.cnn.com) Former CBS News investigative correspondent
Sharyl Attkisson is suing the U.S. Department of Justice and the Postal Service
for the alleged "unauthorized and illegal surveillance" of her
laptops and telephones between 2011 and 2013. The lawsuit, filed last
week in a Washington, D.C., court, names Attorney General Eric Holder and
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe as defendants. Many of the incidents
described in the suit were covered in Attkisson's 2014 book,
"Stonewalled," which chronicles the electronic intrusions and the
repeated push-back she says she drew from the Obama administration. But the
filing marks her most explicit accusation yet that government agencies were
involved in the intrusions. Attkisson has previously
hinted at that possibility. In her book, she wrote, "Can
you really turn to the Justice Department's FBI when the Justice Department
might be part of the plot?" Attkisson left CBS News in early 2014, claiming
that her bosses had stifled her reporting on stories that were unkind to the
Obama administration.
Government
‘Takes Custody’ Of Teen Girl, Forces Her To Go Through Chemotherapy - (www.infowars.com) A 17 year old girl in Hartford, Connecticut
was forced to have chemotherapy against her will and was taken away from her
parents by government agents after they supported her decision to pursue
natural remedies to treat her cancer diagnosis. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma sufferer
Cassandra Fortin refused to undergo chemotherapy treatment for the disease, and
her family respected her decision. This prompted doctors at the Connecticut
Children’s Medical Center to report the case to the Connecticut Department of
Children and Families, alleging that the parents were neglecting their
daughter’s medical needs. According to Cassandra’s mother, the pressure from
the government agents caused her daughter to flee home for fear that she would
be made to undergo the treatment, which involves flooding the body with
chemical substances, including big pharma developed anti-cancer drugs, in order
to kill rapidly dividing cells. “CCMC reported to DCF that I was not giving
medical attention to my daughter,” Cassandra’s mother, Jackie Forton told local
reporters, adding that “She has always—even years ago—said that if she was
diagnosed with cancer, she would not put poison into her body,” The government
agents reportedly tracked and apprehended Cassandra, then handing her over to
doctors. The family claims that their daughter attempted to fight off the
doctors, who literally strapped her down to a table and forced the treatment on
her.
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