Leviticus 19:11 \u2018You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. NKJV)<\/p>\n
Yesterday, I had lunch with a friend and business associate to discuss the current business climate. This has been a tradition of ours for nearly twenty years. In the 90\u2019s, we discussed how the Tech stock bubble could not last forever. Startup companies with no revenue were attracting millions of dollars of investment money and tech stock prices were astronomical. We were right, the bubble popped. Again in the 2000\u2019s we discussed housing prices with the same result. Each lunch starts out with the same questions such as \u201cWhat are you hearing in the market?\u201d or \u201cWhat do you see happening with the economy now?\u201d. This time our discussion focused on the disinformation that is being generated from all over the globe. How can a businessman plan for the future when he does not what facts to deal with?<\/p>\n
The debate rages about peak oil, financial derivatives, sovereign debt and other game changing global issues. What is missing is truth and disclosure. Everyone in the oil business knows that Saudi Arabia has been lying about their oil reserves for years. Their reserves never fluctuate even though they pull 9-10 million barrels out of the ground every day. Other countries do the same. Public oil companies like Exxon, BP, and Chevron only account for about 7% of total production but are demonized concerning the price of oil and gasoline. Government officials openly complain about the price of gasoline but privately know that the government is the biggest beneficiary of high gas prices because of the taxes they collect.<\/p>\n
Wall Street continues to manipulate the market for personal gain at the expense of the populace. Their greed and deception is so ingrained into the system that it would take action with extreme prejudice to cut out this cancer to the system. They have intimidated the Financial Accounting Standards Boards (FASB) who oversee reporting standards into becoming their lap dog. Losses are hidden from the public in order for them to continue their scheming. With lobbying efforts and money, they manage to put \u201cfriendly\u201d politicians in office who oversee their industry with preferential treatment. Howard Hughes once said he never lost a political race, he contributed to both sides. They are then given preferential treatment with low\/no interest loans ultimately funded by the American taxpayers and savers who earn virtually no interest on their hard-earned money.<\/p>\n
The medical community is as guilty as Wall Street. My assistant\u2019s son recently went to the emergency room for treatment. The bill was $3,700. However, after a $50 co-pay, the bill charged to the insurance company was $516 which satisfied the obligation to the hospital. Those who have no emergency room coverage are expected to pay the \u201cretail\u201d amount due and are threatened with legal action if they fail to pay. What happened to the law against unfair pricing practices?<\/p>\n
My 81 year old mother-in-law recently entered the hospital with blood clots in the lungs and leg, a potentially life threatening situation. After a few days of blood thinning medication, they were ready to release her even though she could barely walk. Why? She had reached her maximum on Medicare for hospital stay. She\u2019s fine (wink, wink).<\/p>\n
Two senators warned us this week that the Patriot Act which was renewed for another four years this week, provided the government far-reaching powers that went beyond monitoring would-be terrorists. They are privy to the details but could not disclose them because they are classified. Man\u2019s attempt to control simply keeps expanding without restriction. See: http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/news\/politics\/la-pn-patriot-act-alarm-20110602,0,2799695.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+latimes\/news\/politics+%28L.A.+Times+-+Politics%29<\/a><\/p>\n The 85 year old Alan Greenspan admits that he never saw the current economic crisis coming. However, many of his policies provided the foundation for the current proverbial \u201cbetween a rock and a hard place\u201d. The following is the interview where he admits that he is scared<\/strong><\/em> about the current economic situation:<\/p>\n