Projections of mortgage foreclosures in Florida are not good for the homeowner or business owner currently in trouble. Foreclosures are increasing, not decreasing. According to the administration, this was not supposed to happen. Fact is, this so-called help for main street seems to be yet another scam to help Goldman Sachs and the politicians tied to them.
Tag Archives: Economy
Know Your Florida Gubernatorial Candidates
Florida governor candidates compared in black and white
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Miami, FL April 21 – Noted economist and Democratic Independent gubernatorial candidate Farid Khavari today challenged voters to think about their own futures and the future of Florida. “People should vote in their own interests, not for candidates who represent special interests,” said Khavari. “It’s not complicated, but this year, with over a million Floridians unemployed, and over 800,000 foreclosures in Florida, our choice of governor is a more important decision than ever.”
Khavari offered a simple comparison:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW COMPARISON CHART
Farid A. Khavari, Ph.D. is a respected economist and author of nine books, including Environomics. His Economic Plan for Florida is at www.khavariforgovernor.com.
Khavari Brings Message To Gulf Breeze Democrats
On Saturday April 17th, Dr. Farid Khavari, Democratic candidate for Governor of the State of Florida, brought his message to the Fourth Annual Luau Gala in Gulf Breeze presented by the Santa Rosa County Democrats.
There were about 50-60 people there who took in some Hawaiian music and dance, some good BBQ from Billy Bob’s, and the reason they all came, to hear from the candidates.
The lack of any local news media was disappointing. What you don’t know can hurt you. The print and broadcast media did you no public service in this vital election cycle by not telling you about the candidates that came to speak. They ranged from local school board, U.S. House and Senate seats, and Florida Governor.
But there is a bigger problem with the Democratic Party of Florida that spells bad news for Floridians. Which is, they have already given millions of campaign cash to their anointed candidate, Alex Sink, before the primary process is over. The party leadership and the Sink campaign are not interested in the Democratic process. They made up their minds on who they want to see in Tallahassee months ago. Additionally, they run from any opportunity to sponsor a debate between the two top and credible Democratic candidates, Sink and Khavari. In fact, they won’t have them in the same room together. Don’t forfeit your right to an open and fair primary process. Tell party Chair Karen Thurman and Executive Director Scott Arceneaux that you want a public debate between Alex Sink and Farid Khavari. Floridians have a right to know just who has a plan for them, and who has smoke and mirrors. Their phone and FAX numbers are Phone:850.222.3411, Fax: 850.222.0916
Besides having a real economic plan for Florida to stimulate the economy and create jobs without deficit spending, something the others do not have, Khavari demonstrated how his message appeals to all Floridians; Democrat, Republican, and Others. His policies are more about helping Floridians instead of special interests. He does bring people together for the good of the State of Florida, breaking through the political party walls that we’ve become used to, if not tired of.
He recounted his appearance at an April 15th Tea Party in Punta Gorda, FL as an invited speaker. First of all, how many Democrat candidates have you ever seen speaking to an audience of Tea Partiers? What is different about Khavari, aside from his message, is that the courage it takes to speak at a Tea Party comes from the strength of his conviction that his platform is for all Floridians, not just Democrats or Republicans, and his concern for the people of the State of Florida. Khavari said “First, it was very hostile, but later I was very welcome after I spoke.”
This video needs a disclaimer. It is my first one and I see it begs for the use of a tripod. OK, next time.
Related links: Dr. Farid Khavari | Khavari for Governor
Khavari Coming To Gulf Breeze Saturday
The details of Khavari’s visit are in this post. You’ll have to ask the Pensacola News Journal why you haven’t heard of him anywhere else locally but here. Dr. Farid Khavari is a Democrat candidate for Governor of the State of Florida. And he continues to be the only candidate with an economic plan for Florida and Floridians that is proven and in writing. But for more background of who he is, his background, and his platform, please read on.
Khavari seeks Dem nod for governor of Florida
By Grace Nasri, Iran Times, 9 April 2010.
Iranian-American Farid A. Khavari is one of a handful of candidates seeking to become governor of Florida, but first he must pass through the Democratic primary, scheduled for August 24.
Khavari, who was born in Yazd, is an economist, author and small business owner.
The leading candidate on the Republican side is Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is running against State Senator Paula Dockery in the Republican Primary.
The Democratic candidates so far include Marc Shepard, a substitute teacher and former aide to State Representative Barry Silver, Alex Sink, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Joe “T.J” Allen, founder of the International Caribbean Association (ICA), Michael E. Arth, an urban designer and policy analyst and Khavari.
When the Iran Times spoke with Khavari several months ago, he laid out why he felt he was the best candidate for the job. “There are two main competitors: Alex Sink who is the Florida CFO. She has been endorsed by the Democratic Party. The Republican Party has endorsed the former congressman and the present Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. Both of them are not popular among the average people. Alex Sink is also the former CEO of the Bank of America. I get more support from the grassroots than they get. They are the agents of big businesses and big banks.”
As an economist, the main issues Khavari focuses on include economic security and sustainability and what he calls a green economy. His ideas for change are documented in his nine published books, which include: Oil and Islam – The Ticking Bomb (1990), Environomics – The Economics of Environmentally Safe Prosperity (1993), and Towards a Zero-Cost Economy – A Blueprint to Create General Economic Security in a Carefree Economy (2008).
The Iranian-born candidate gained national attention after he proposed creating a publicly owned bank. Khavari told the Iran Times, “The centerpiece of my economic plan is to create The Bank of the State of Florida. This will power the economy to create full-employment, prosperity and economic security for all Floridians. It will make Florida economically recession-proof.”
According to his plan, the bank would act as a depository for state funds but would also offer loans to Floridians at low interest rates. The plan also would allow the bank to open up frozen credit markets, save homeowners thousands of dollars in payments, produce major revenues for the state, and allow the state’s own debts to be refinanced at much lower rates. Khavari believes these benefits are possible because of the “fractional reserve” banking system used by all American banks when they make loans.
Khavari explained, “Using the fractional reserve regulations that govern all banks, we can earn billions per year for Florida’s treasury, while saving thousands of dollars per year for Florida homeowners. For $100 in deposits, a bank can create $900 in new money by making loans. So, the BSF [Bank of the State of Florida] can pay 6 percent for CDs, and make mortgage loans at 2 percent. For $6 per year in interest paid out, the BSF can earn $18 by lending $900 at 2 percent for mortgages. The BSF can be started at no cost to taxpayers, and we’ll be a permanent engine driving Florida’s economy. We can refinance state and local projects at 3 percent, saving taxpayers billions and balancing state and local budgets without higher taxes.
“The state would earn $15,000 per $100,000 of mortgage, at a cost of about $1,700, while the homeowner would save $88,000 in interest and pay for the home 15 years sooner,” Khavari said.
“Our bank will save people about seven years of their payments over the course of 30 years, just on interest costs. We should work to support ourselves and our families, not the banks. What we have now makes everyone work for a few greedy fat cats,” he said.
Khavari was born in Iran in 1943, but at the early age of two, his family moved to India where his father – a leader in the Baha’i community [second most widespread monotheist religion in the world founded in 1844] – had work. After two years in India, the family returned to Iran. Khavari later served two years in the Education Corps as a teacher in the village of Liavole Oliya in northern Iran, where he built the school.
Khavari later went on to study at the University of Hamburg and the University of Bremen in Germany, where he earned his doctorate in economics. Two years before the 1979 revolution, Khavari and his late wife, Louise, emigrated to the United States, settling in Miami in 1978. In December 1978, Louise died while under medical care. The following year, Khavari’s father was executed by the regime because his father refused to renounce his Baha’i faith, Khavari said.
He told the Iran Times he has not returned to his native Iran since June 1977. In 1985, Khavari married his current wife, Janilla, with whom he began a family. Armin was born in 1987 and Bianca in 1988. Khavari and his wife run a small business in Miami and have lived there for more than two decades.
Khavari’s website says: “I am the only candidate with a specific plan to fix Florida’s economy. I am not a politician, I’m an economist … Florida has huge economic potential, but what we have are huge economic problems. Wall Street, the banks, and the politicians have screwed it up royally this time. We can’t look to Wall Street, or the banks, or Washington, or our Florida politicians to solve these problems. Our Florida politicians helped create this mess, yet not one of them has a plan to fix it, only plans for how to get elected.”
He told the Iran Times, “I am getting everyday more and more attention locally, nationally and internationally. Our campaign is developing to a grassroots movement. In order for us to win the election and realize our economic plan, we must get our message to the average people in Florida. This requires plenty of small financial contributions as well as volunteers. Our campaign is built only on people power.”
The deadline for candidate filings is June 18, so Khavari won’t know for certain how many opponents he will have until then. Khavari’s campaign website is located at http:// www.khavariforgovernor.com.
2010 Energy Policy Recap
A quick recap of the Obama administration’s energy policy. On the subject of energy, this administration is the party of NO.
Oil, no. Natural gas, no. Low sulfur coal, no. Nuclear, no. Solar, no. Wind, no. And biofuel as an industry is not only unsustainable in a free market, but is worse for the environment than fossil fuels and is causing food fights and starvation in the poorest parts of the world.
To be perfectly clear, Obama’s energy policy is to not get or use our own resources. And, to increase the cost of everything including the cost of living for every American in their commitment to ‘social justice’ and the redistribution of wealth, they have cap & trade (aka cap & tax) legislation that will impose taxes on all industries including, or especially, the energy industry. The administration’s shining jewel of economic ignorance here is that the people they purport to be helping will be the ones paying these taxes in the form of higher prices, higher electric bills, and higher fuel bills.
The latest stick in the green energy spokes is the newest controversy about the Nantucket Sound shoals being Indian burial grounds. For ‘tribes’ that do not currently exist on federal records. No, can’t have a wind farm there. A creative, but just as effective, way to impede energy production as Bill Clinton’s making a 1.7 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, placing off-limits the world’s largest deposit of low-sulfur coal.
It seems that the opposition, having run out of technical, environmental and economic arguments, has co-opted the local Wampanoag tribes to assert that their ancestors are — or might be — buried under what is now Nantucket Sound — this despite the fact that the area became a water feature long before Native Americans settled nearby.
In the next few weeks, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will make a momentous decision — the official, final, formal record of decision on permitting the nation’s first offshore wind farm, Cape Wind. And after eight years of obfuscation, dilatory tactics and sharp practice by a well-funded opposition group wielding political power quite out of congruity with its level of popular support, his decision will come not a day too soon.
This press release from the Department of the Interior suggests the direction the administration is leaning.
“America’s vast offshore wind resources offer exciting potential for our clean energy economy and for our nation’s efforts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said Secretary Salazar. “But as we begin to develop these resources, we must ensure that we are doing so in the right way and in the right places.
“The Keeper’s finding that Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing in the National Register (of Historic Places) provides information that will help us to undertake final consultations and analysis of potential impacts of wind development on historic and cultural resources in Nantucket Sound.
Having successfully overcome all other permitting and environmental studies over the last decade, will the imaginary Indian burial ground be the issue that stops green energy and green jobs?
This interview with the San Francisco Chronicle shows Obama’s real commitment to the coal industry.
Rush sums it up in a humorous way in this ‘morning update’ below.
Khavari, Bank Of The State Of Florida
From the Naples Daily News . . .
Farid Khavari makes a campaign promise that should shoot him straight to the top of the field running for governor of Florida.
“We have to get rid of taxes,” says Khavari, a Democratic challenger to the party’s favored nominee, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.
Khavari, who claims a doctorate in economics from the University of Bremen in Germany, believes eliminating most state taxes is more than just an empty promise to get himself noticed.
He’s laid out an economic plan for Florida, something he says his opponents both Republican and Democrat have failed to do, that funnels billions of dollars to the state in mortgage interest payments.
If you look a little further, you’ll also see that Khavari is the only candidate that has a specific plan. And it’s in writing. The others, including Alex Sink, haven’t a clue. They have the campaign rhetoric, but no plan on boosting the economy and jobs.
Asked whether a state-owned bank is socialism, Khavari smiled. “Are public schools socialism? Public roads, police and fire protection, municipal water? Socialism is where everyone works for the state. In these cases, and with our Bank of the State of Florida, the state is working for everyone. I call that general capitalism.”
Links: Brent Batten: Khavari banks on interest in governor’s race » Naples Daily News.
Obama's Oily Rope-a-Dope
President Obama announced today that he is opening up some areas for oil and gas development. Some in the Gulf of Mexico, some in the Atlantic. Alaska, not so much. Alaska needs more study. ‘More study’ is political-speak for ‘it ain’t gonna happen.’
Nevertheless, the President seemed to echo what he said in his State of the Union Address in January.
But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. (Applause.) It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. (Applause.) It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies. (Applause.) And, yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America. (Applause.)
And today, President Obama said . . .
But the bottom line is this: given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth, produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we’re going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy.
Don’t think for a minute that the President is serious about drilling. Just like he isn’t serious about nuclear energy. Seen any new refineries being built? Seen any new oil drilling going on? Seen any new nuclear plants being built? NO! What we have seen is ANWR and Bristol Bay being held hostage, and the closing of the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository. With no place to put nuclear waste, how many new nuclear plants will be built?
Today’s show at Andrews Air Force Base was a political rope-a-dope. His goal is far from using and getting more of our own energy resources. His goal is cap and trade legislation that will do exactly the opposite of what he said he wanted to do today. It will kill economic growth and jobs, depress business, and raise costs. We will pay more for electric and all other products because of tax pressure put on the industries that produce them. And in the end, the redistribution of wealth in the name of social justice.
NPR is trying to make sense out of Obama’s statement. Here’s what they came up with . . .
Much of the speculation for the administration’s reasoning has been on the need to get Republican votes for Obama’s climate legislation. Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) are trying to hammer out a bipartisan climate bill, but Graham is getting no GOP backing on this, and Graham himself has said that he couldn’t support a bill that “doesn’t have off-shore drilling in a meaningful way.”
The New York Times’ John Broder writes that today’s proposal by Obama could “help win political support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation,” . . .
He is repeating his SOTU line in order to get support from Republicans for his cap and trade agenda. Combine this with Obamacare and the American Dream will be history. America will have its newest founding father.
Is Obamacare Constitutional?
That is the question that will hopefully soon be answered by the Supreme Court. But the conventional wisdom for those who think that Obamacare is just dandy with the Constitution, like Pennsylvania Governor Ed (Fast Eddie) Rendell, seems to be calling the health care system put in place in Massachusetts as precedent.
Biggest problem with this, and this is the fallacy of Rendell’s argument, is that the states can make whatever law they want, within their state, and the federal government has no similar autonomy. The federal government is restrained by the 10th Amendment of the Constitution thusly . . .
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Gov. Rendell and the Obama administration are making the giant leap that the federal government is the same as a state. Dictators view those as being the same, but this is not the case in the United States.
If the people of Massachusetts don’t like the health care system there (which they’ve found out is way more expensive then they figured), they can change it, or they are free to move to another state to get out from under it. Our freedom and liberty allow us to do that. If you like to smoke pot, you may want to move to California. If you like to not have your income taxed by the state, you may want to move to Florida. If you like to pay taxes on anything and everything, you may want to move to New York.
The massive centralization of control and power that Obamacare projects is simply antithetical to the original intent of the founding fathers and the documents they created.
Under Obamacare, there is no provision in the constitution that gives the federal government the power to require citizens to purchase anything else they be fined. Under Obamacare, there is no where to go to get out from under it.
One Year Anniversary for BM, Barack Motors
A year after President Obama came out of the closet, not everyone is unhappy with him. Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez feel he’s doing a fine job of taking control of the people and industry. Taking control of people and industry is not making things better, but worse.
What else could one expect to happen when freedom and liberty get stomped on by an over-reaching and expanding government? The auto industry cabal was more to buttress labor unions’ benefits than to make the company financially solvent. The actions of what he orchestrated for Chrysler Corporation and GM, and the health care legislation prove that out.
For GM, rather than capitulate to President Obama, what GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner should have said was, ‘with all due respect Mr. President I don’t work for you. And your advisers are not welcome to ‘help’ us change our company. We, with the help of a free market and a timely bankruptcy, will get out of this. You will have to bring the National Guard to occupy our company while we stand to protect our rights. Thank you very much.’
Next, expect the President to complete his payback with a plan to increase labor union membership through Card Check legislation. About which, I hope he fails. His ‘focusing like a laser beam on job creation’ is empty rhetoric for the dumb masses. Just pay attention to what he does rather than what he says.
The Obama we are seeing today is the real Barack Obama. If you want to see what this means, force yourself to read about what his campaign and his willing accomplices in the media did not want you to know. Because if you did, Hillary might have been the President instead of Barack. It is a ‘must read’ in order to make any sense to what we are seeing going on in Washington today.
The job of the President of the United States consists of only two tasks. To protect and defend its people, and to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. After you listen to this radio interview that Obama gave in 2001 to an NPR interviewer, you’ll have to ask yourself how this man could even put his and on the bible and take the oath. It is obvious that he feels the founding fathers erred in the creation of this country and its Constitution. And in this interview, he explores ways to fundamentally change it. Not protect it. And to become America’s new founding father.
Links: President Obama Comes Out Of The Closet | General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner out, replaced by COO Fritz Henderson.
Khavari Economic Plan For Florida
Khavari Economic Plan would improve medical care quality and availability, reduce costs in Florida
Miami, FL Mar. 22 — Noted economist and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Farid Khavari congratulated President Obama and Congressional Democrats for passing the Health Care Reform bill, but cautioned that states must take action on health costs now, or face bankruptcy by 2020. “No health care plan of any kind can succeed until we reduce costs dramatically. Florida must prepare for over a million new Medicaid enrollees. The federal government is supposed to pay for the extra cost, but only until 2016. Then Florida can look forward to billions per year in additional Medicaid costs even if Washington chips in the usual 54%.
Rising unemployment will increase Medicaid enrollment even higher,” Khavari said. “All states face similar problems.”
Khavari continued, “Bill McCollum’s response to Health Care Reform is to threaten suit on Constitutional grounds. Alex Sink has said nothing at all on the subject—but she just found out a week ago that there is huge unemployment and a lot of foreclosures happening in Florida. Neither of them has offered a plan to fix our health care before it bankrupts our state and our people.” McCollum is Florida’s Attorney-General, and a Republican candidate for governor. Sink is Chief Financial Officer and a Democratic candidate for governor.
“My detailed plan to improve efficiency in health care delivery is on my website for everyone to see. You can read my newest book there for free. We can make quality health care available 24 hours a day to everyone, for much less than we are paying now. Stop and think about the fact that Florida right now spends about $5,000 per year per Medicaid recipient. That’s what many so-called Cadillac health plans cost. Does anyone believe that Medicaid patients have the same quality and availability of care that executives get? We can do better for half the cost,” Khavari said. “Taxpayers are paying for waste and fraud that has grown under Republican administrations. For this kind of money, we could send every Medicaid patient to Switzerland for health care and save 30%. Now imagine what we could do if we got good value for our money.”
Khavari has also gained national acclaim for his plan to establish a state-owned bank, which would save state and local governments billions per year in interest expense, while offering 2% fixed-rate mortgages and other programs to save Floridians more billions per year. Since announcement of the Khavari Economic Plan, gubernatorial candidates in California, Oregon, Vermont, Michigan and Illinois have declared state-owned banks as part of their platforms. “Our Bank of the State of Florida will balance state and local budgets without higher taxes. We can finance the reforms we need to make the best quality health care in the world available to every Floridian, 24 hours per day, and reduce costs for everyone, including private insurers ,” Khavari said.
Farid A. Khavari, Ph.D. is an economist and author of nine books, including Environomics. His latest book, Toward a Zero-Cost Economy, is available in stores or for free download at his website, www.khavariforgovernor.com.