Despite no real change in January spending, for the first time on record households spent more than all current incomes for the 3rd consecutive month.

Today’s BEA report on personal income and spending shows that price-adjusted household spending was unchanged in January. Nevertheless, total household spending in January was more than ALL after-tax incomes as households again dipped into savings or fell deeper into debt for a record third consecutive month.

Note that these are not “median” figures but total income and spending for ALL households including those few that received very large bonuses in January.

This is my second story about OPIC – OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION – a Department of the United States Treasury. This one is based on the OPIC 2006 Annual Report. It contrasts my earlier report on OPIC 1999. Robert Mosbacher, Jr., CEO of Mosbacher Petroleum, is the new CEO of OPIC. Mosbacher Petroleum was skimming money off ENRON back in the 80’s. OPIC was giving money directly to the oil companies. Now banks are skimming money off the U.S. Treasury and lending it to the oil companies.

Like many people, I loathe the idea of a housing "bailout" for the greedy, the reckless, and the spendthrift. Certainly those bankers and borrowers had no problem "privatising their gains" in the early part of this decade. I see no reason why they should look to the prudent and the thrifty now, especially when so many millions of those prudent and thrifty are those whose own dreams of owning a home of their own at a reasonable price were frozen out by the housing mania.
But out of crisis comes opportunity. In this case, the opportunity for the Democratic party to show average Americans what a Democratic majority would do for them and their financial well-being. The opportunity to earn their trust and their votes for years to come. To show that a party that believes in governance for the average citizen can separate the wolves from the sheep, penalizing the former and acting with basic humanity to the latter.

A CNN video tells the tale of

What is it with the super wealthy in this country? They make their billions in this country and instead of just retiring and disappearing, they keep pushing economic policies that continue to run the middle class into the ground? And they continue to do this even though the economy is going into the tank.

Bill was up in Canada claiming Microsoft forced to look for talent in developing countries. Once again Gates spreads the "technology worker shortage myth" claiming that poor Microsoft, the alleged victim of the "strict government H-1B policy" cannot hire enough technology workers in the U.S. This is his big lie that he continually repeats.

If hiring talent was a problem for Microsoft, I would probably be working there right now, instead of working temporary contract jobs with weak benefits and no hope of being able to save for retirement. If Microsoft has a problem hiring talent, it is due to the age discrimination that they practice, along with all the other big corporations based here in Washington State (and across the country). Also, they need to fix the way that they deal with contractors. They hire thousands of contractors, which make up most of their workforce now days. The contractors also have a limit of 1 year on the job, after which they are forced to leave Microsoft and seek employment elsewhere. If Microsoft was really having trouble hiring, they would put a stop to this practice as well.