"If you think the JPMorgan and Wells Fargo earnings reports were disappointing, just wait until the fourth quarter if the shutdown continues and a debt default occurs."

********

Default Would Be Catastrophic for Big Banks!
by Cyrus Sanati 

FORTUNE -- JPMorgan and Wells Fargo kicked off bank earnings season Friday morning reporting some less-than-stellar results. Weak loan volumes, shrinking net interest margins, legal mishaps, lackluster trading activity, and a lousy mortgage market wreaked havoc on the megabanks during the third quarter. It even pushed JPMorgan into the red for the first time in years. More -- http://goo.gl/m8ZYDI

The Huge Lie That Is Repeated By Those Doing Extremely Well In Our Country by Upworthy.com

There's a new film coming out that talks about what happened to the middle class in our country. Named "Inequality for All," it's by economist Robert Reich, and he hopes it will precipitate the kind of change that will make our country a very different beast than it is right now.  Video - http://bit.ly/1gECoXd

Securing money to keep New York's hospitals open continues to be a major problem for politicians! 

••••••••

Debating a Fix for Hospitals in Dire Straits by Anemona Hartocollis

"Of all the issues in the Democratic primary for mayor, one of the few that most candidates seem to agree on is that struggling New York City hospitals need to be saved." More -- http://nyti.ms/17jAwAX

And, how will attacking Syria affect the horrific economic situation in the U.S?

 

******  

 

Kerry Admits Possibility of 'Boots on the Ground' in Syria  

by Jon Queally

 

Boots on the ground?

Asked by Senate Robert Menendez (D-NJ) whether or not language should be inserted in a congressional authorization for an attack on Syria that would prohibit 'U.S. boots on the ground,' U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that would not be good idea. Kerry stammered, and then declared—"in the event Syria imploded, for instance"—that he wouldn't want to take that option "off the table" by inserting such a clause.

 

The High Probability of Being Poor by Matt Bruenig

 

"Late last month, the Associated Press ran a report about economic insecurity that managed to gain some traction in certain parts of the political internet, and since then, again and again in certain relevant debates. The statistical bomb dropped in the first sentence of the report really says it all:

Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream." More -- http://bit.ly/16sHOSG

 

This is a pretty sad story about the enormous salaries earned by the top CEO's in the United States - at taxpayers' expense!

******   

 

Why Supersized CEO Pay Is the Worst—in Three Charts
by Sarah Anderson

"At the Institute for Policy Studies, we’ve tallied the top 25 highest-paid CEOs for each of the past 20 years."

"That’s a total of 500 richly rewarded executives—each one of whom made more in a week than average workers could make in a year. We’re told CEOs deserve these massive rewards because they add exceptional “value” to their businesses. They’re getting “paid for performance.”

"Financial bailouts are just one example of how a significant number of CEO pay leaders owe much of their good fortune to taxpayers. Government contracts are another. CEOs of firms on the federal government’s top 100 contractors list occupied 62 of the 500 slots on the annual highest-paid CEO lists of the last 20 years. In the same years that their CEOs pocketed some of corporate America’s fattest paychecks, these firms received $255 billion in taxpayer-funded federal contracts." More -- http://bit.ly/186Zbrc

I believe we should all be concerned when banks start controlling power plants, airports and other "essential lifelines." An important article to be read by anyone concerned about the wealthy controlling our public assets and commodities!

 

******

 

The Leveraged Buyout of America by Ellen Brown

 

"Giant bank holding companies now own airports, toll roads, and ports; control power plants; and store and hoard vast quantities of commodities of all sorts. They are systematically buying up or gaining control of the essential lifelines of the economy. How have they pulled this off, and where have they gotten the money?" Article -- http://bit.ly/15ciaEO