ObamaNation -- Lame Duck Presidency

Doomsday (this section was in the "original post" below but for easier access, I brought it up here):

• Doomsday: The Endangered Species Act
• Doomsday: The Big Box Store 
• Doomsday: Mainstream Media 
• Doomsday: The US Worker 
• Doomsday: Public Sector Pensions
• Doomsday: US Cities 
• Doomsday: US Unions 
• Doomsday: US States 
• Doomsday: US Health Care 
• Doomsday: Iraq
• Unions and Demise of the US Auto Industry

Updates

August 3, 2014: Reuters is reporting:

President Barack Obama dismissed Russia as a nation that "doesn't make anything" and said in an interview with the Economist magazine that the West needs to be "pretty firm" with China as Beijing pushes to expand its role in the world economy.

Obama has tried to focus U.S. foreign policy on Asia, a response to China's economic and military might. But for months, that "pivot" has been overshadowed by a flurry of international crises, including Russia's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. 

Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer and second-largest natural gas producer. Europe relies heavily on Russian energy exports, complicating the West's response to the Ukraine crisis.

Don and I had the same reaction to this story: this guy is a nut. Remember: he also said that no American CEO or businessman "built" their own company. This guy is getting more and more delusional as a) his polling numbers fall; and, the world gets more and more out of control. With his approval ratings well below 50%, maybe below 40% depending on the day, Obama, more and more, must "cater" to his base -- the Trayvon Martins and Maxine Waters of the world.   


March 30, 2014: in the original post I noted that on/about October 23, 2013, more than ever, it appeared the White House was spiraling out of control. That was before President Obama lost the Ukraine. In "Saturday Morning Musings, March 29, 2014" I posted an update on a most interesting week. In all my years of blogging, I had the impression that the week of March 23, 2014 -- just five months later than the original post, was another incredible week for investors in the oil and gas sector.

On another note, there have been very few stories on fiscal challenges facing cities and states. Note the "doomsday" updates for cities and states below, and note there have been no updates in a long time. This certainly suggests the economy is improving, albeit slowly.
 

Original Post

I am removing a number of links from the sidebar at the right. The Obama Presidency has become irrelevant for me. I will continue to post updates for archival purposes to help keep the Bakken in perspective, but this is pretty much the end of the Obama presidency for all practical purposes.

My internet viewing habits have not changed in the past six years. My primary source of news are the mainstream links (CBS, ABC, NBC, FoxNews, London Telegraph, London Mail OnLine, Bloomberg, Breitberg, the Huffington Post) at the Drudge Report. Drudge, himself, never posts or writes any stories. He simply links a gazillion other outlets.

Perhaps it is just my imagination but on/about October 23, 2013, more than ever, it appeared the White House was spiraling out of control:

• restricting news outlets from reporting government data
• restricting government bureaucrats from disseminating government data
• revelations that the president has eavesdropped on German chancellor's mobile phone
• news that the president may, in fact, delay the individual mandate for ObamaCare

The List 

ObamaNation

• ObamaNation, page 2. Posting begin October 24, 2013. 
• ObamaNation, page 1. No additional posting after October 24, 2013. 
• Obama Scandals 
• ObamaNation: 2013 
• ObamaNation: 2013

ObamaCare

• May 1, 2015: half of the 17 state exchanges are in deep doo-doo. Can't afford it. 
• January 7, 2015: PreferredOne, Minnesota, drops out of ObamaCare. Can't afford it.
• November 29, 2014: "the Schumer speech"; admits that ObamaCare was a debacle; we are now in the third quarter of the four-quarter football game called ObamaCare. The mid-terms were a disaster; Senator Schumer says ObamaCare was a mistake; the former OMB budget analyst whose forte is "numbers," is caught padding the numbers for ObamaCare; says she is outraged;  

The Day ObamaCare Died

• November 7, 2014: Obama's team got a shellacking in the mid-term elections; may be one of the worst, if not the worse, ever mid-term election for an incumbent Senate majority; all about ObamaCare; the GOP picked up 8 or 9 Senate seats; and will pick up another if, as expected, Landrieu loses in Louisiana
• November 3, 2014: the mid-term elections tomorrow; referendum on ObamaCare; sure it's about the economy, but it's "always" about the economy; after tomorrow's election, we start the third quarter of ObamaCare (continuing to use the football analogy). For all intents and purposes, the game is over, but we still have a full half (two quarters) to live through. "Open Season" for the second year of ObamaCare begins in two weeks; premiums are said to be rising 6%; my hunch: that figure will be revised, significantly upward. Numbers re-enrolling expected to decline significantly.
• October 7, 2014: Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot will no longer provide health insurance coverage for part-time employees (those working less than 30 hours); so now folks will need two jobs to reach 40 hour+/week and neither employer will provide health care coverage
• September, 2014: IRS will be sending letters to "hundreds of thousands" of folks to ask them to reconcile their stated income when applying for ObamaCare and their income as reported to the IRS last year. Might not be a pretty picture. 
• August 8, 2014: essentially "everyone" will be exempt from ObamaCare for 2015. If not exempt, they will have a case for a waiver if they so desire. More e-mails missing from HHS over ObamaCare.
• June 7, 2014: The Congressional Budget Office has quietly dropped projections that ObamaCare will decrease the US deficit. As Hillary would say, "does it even matter?" The question is no longer "whether" but "how much will ObamaCare add to the deficit?"
• May 20, 2014: ObamaCare is now mainstream (link to follow). Any hope of repealing it long gone. Republicans don't even talk about repealing it any more. Everyone talks about "fixing it." Obama will have his "FDR" legacy. 
• May 15, 2014: half-time is almost over. The half-time show is coming to an end. We are now hearing, as predicted, premiums are going to go up significantly in 2015. There are two story lines here: first, premiums are going up significantly in 2015. Second, some folks have only paid their first premium for 2014 (sticker shock) and now they are going to be told that their premiums will be even higher in 2015; they have not had a chance to get used to the unexpectedly high premiums. 
• April 1, 2014: half-time. The enrollment period for 2014 is "officially" over, though it's probably been extended in several states (it was extended in California). We haven't even gotten to the second half and insurers are already worried about the backlash when they announce the premiums for 2015
• March 26, 2014: coming up to half-time, the ObamaCare "drop-dead" deadline (March 31, 2014) has been delayed two more weeks, on the "honor" system. Musings on ObamaCare to date. The administration crows that 6 million signed up, topping their target. The original target was a paltry 7 million but lowered to 6 million. During the Obama/Hillary presidential nomination content in 2008, it was said that 30 million to 46 million Americans were uninsured. ObamaCare had nothing to do with uninsured minions; it had to do with cost shifting health care costs from the CEO to the employee.
• February 4, 2014: barely into the second quarter, and we're getting an update from the booth (CNBC, The Washington Times) -- Congress is reporting that the estimate has now tripled, the number of folks that will be locked out of the job market due to ObamaCare. The second quarter is not going to look pretty for the home team. 
• January 5, 2014: We are underway: the second quarter. Both sides are now trotting out human interest stories, how good ObamaCare is, how bad ObamaCare is. "They" say ObamaCare is now fully executed; not quite true: the employer mandate was delayed a full year, and the individual mandate for all intents and purposes is all delayed a full year. Everyone has estimates of the number of folks who enrolled (mostly Medicaid, it appears), but the government can not even tell us how many have paid their first premium. There are occasional stories about the real metrics that are not being followed in the media (who enrolled; how many have paid). And now Forbes provides another ankle-biting article on ObamaCare: the "taxes" Americans will now pay for ObamaCare.
• Updates, analysis of the first quarter of the ObamaCare debacle: the website rolled out in October; the chief information officer resigned in November; the chief operating officer (#2 in the chain) retired in December; federal enrollments shockingly low; overall enrollment may be less than 2 million; goal was at least 3 million at this point; insurers "need 7 million"; the ObamaCare act was necessary for the 30 million uninsured, it was said; at least 8 million have lost their coverage since October (two months); corporate mandate delayed a year; individual mandate effectively delayed indefinitely; deadlines extended; chaos and confusion; White House won't consider putting a single person (a "CEO") in charge of his biggest program despite requests of insurers, his own political party [even the quasi-governmental US Postal Service has a "CEO" that takes all the heat for problems]
• The break between the first and second quarter. What to watch for in the second quarter: off-side penalties. 
• The end? Obama repeals ObamaCare for 2014. The end of the first quarter: the rollout was a debacle, and now we learn that Obamacare shuns the best hospitals in the world (MD Anderson, Cedars Sinai Los Angeles, Mayo)
• The Passing Game, the first quarter: fraudulent subsidies will be passed on to taxpayers
• The Ground Game, the first quarter: not going well; Obama says shop around; his czar says if you want to keep your doctor, you will have to pay more; get over it;
• Rollback: Obama says "Yes"; states say "No on rollback to canceled policies"
• The Rollout:  ObamaCare -- the death spiral begins
• The Prelude:  ObamaCare; no additional posting to this site as of October 24, 2013 
• ObamaCare Cost Shifting 
• The website and security issues
• ObamaScare Headlines

Renewable Energy

• March 30, 2014: the price of ethanol has steadily climbed and is now more expensive than gasoline.
• March 23, 2014: The (London) Telegraph reports that the UN will issue a report suggesting that biofuels do more harm than good, driving up prices, and poses risks to ecosystems (manure and fertilizer runoff into streams) and biodiversity.
• November 12, 2013:  The AP reveals the devastation created by the ethanol program; despite the overwhelming evidence, the president stands by his Interior Secretary, the EPA, and the ethanol program
• And now the other side of the story: 

Robert Malsam nearly went broke in the 1980s when corn was cheap. So now that prices are high and he can finally make a profit, he's not about to apologize for ripping up prairieland to plant corn. 

Across the Dakotas and Nebraska, more than 1 million acres of the Great Plains are giving way to corn fields as farmers transform the wild expanse that once served as the backdrop for American pioneers. 

This expansion of the Corn Belt is fueled in part by America's green energy policy, which requires oil companies to blend billions of gallons of corn ethanol into their gasoline. Ethanol has become the No. 1 use for corn in America, helping keep prices high. 

"It's not hard to do the math there as to what's profitable to have," Malsam said. "I think an ethanol plant is a farmer's friend." 

What the green-energy program has made profitable, however, is far from green. A policy intended to reduce global warming is encouraging a farming practice that actually could worsen it. 

That's because plowing into untouched grassland releases carbon dioxide that has been naturally locked in the soil. It also increases erosion and requires farmers to use fertilizers and other industrial chemicals. In turn, that destroys native plants and wipes out wildlife habitats.

Doomsday 

• Doomsday: The Endangered Species Act
• Doomsday: The Big Box Store 
• Doomsday: Mainstream Media 
• Doomsday: The US Worker 
• Doomsday: Public Sector Pensions
• Doomsday: US Cities 
• Doomsday: US Unions 
• Doomsday: US States 
• Doomsday: US Health Care 
• Doomsday: Iraq
• Unions and Demise of the US Auto Industry
   

Economy

• Debt Ceiling Debate, 2001, Part I

External links removed from the sidebar

• Obama's Hawaiian Vacations 
• Twitter The Second Term 
• Help! Repay The National Debt Here
• Say Anything Blog 
• Actions Have Consequences
• Tapping the SPR
• Is It Just Me? 
• I Can't Make This Stuff Up 
• The Shirtless Man FBI Story 
• Cap And Trade And North Dakota 
• Green Notes From All Over
• Fossil Fuel Companies Going Green. Sort Of.
• Quote of the Day 
• Anything To Destroy the Oil Industry

Well, That Didn't Take Long -- Chicago -- Doomsday Chronicles -- Nothing About The Bakken -- June 11, 2020

Yesterday I wrote:

The Doomsday Chronicles: during the Obama administration, some sectors of the US economy looked so bad, "the Doomsday chronicles" were needed to keep track of everything. We haven't seen many stories along this line, but I think it's just a matter of time. If so, along with the link above, this is where these stories will be tracked:

• Doomsday: The Big Box Store 
• Doomsday: Public Sector Pensions
• Doomsday: US Cities 
• Doomsday: US States

How New York balanced its budget, April 2, 2020, Politico. Mostly with projections.

As noted, I wrote that yesterday. I never imagined there would be a "Chicago" story one day later but here it is (google for story):

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she couldn't keep raising property taxes "off the table" as the city faces a budget shortfall and Chicago businesses struggle to recover from both looting and the coronavirus shutdown.

"I can't take it off the table, but it is truly the last thing I want to do," Lightfoot said at a press conference this week.

Laying off city employees could be on the table too as the city faces an estimated budget shortfall of $700 million.

"Every city in the country is dealing with a loss of revenue," Chicago Deputy Mayor of Economic Development Samir Mayekar told FOX Business. "Cities, unlike the federal government, we have to balance our books. [Mayor Lightfoot] has two principles in mind … making sure that the most vulnerable populations of the city aren’t impacted. … She's focused on making sure we’re not driving business out of the city."

The first thing city mayors might want to consider if they don't want to drive businesses out of their towns is to ensure that police are given clear support to shut down rioting and looting -- perhaps before it starts -- for whatever reason.

Rockin' Back Inside My Heart, Julee Cruise

US Crude Oil Stockpile Hits Record High; Production Hits 20-Month Lows -- ZeroHedge -- June 10, 2020

Record inventory: after EIA posted its weekly petroleum a reader noted:

I've looked around, and Zero Hedge seems to be the only one who noticed crude inventories were at a record high.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/wti-holds-losses-after-crude-distillates-builds

I had figured that would be the headline virtually everywhere..

Adios. Mexico suspends service contracts. Link here. Again, seems to be a big headline, small story.

Over the past several weeks, Petroleos Mexicanos has suspended contracts with at least eight local and international oil-service providers and suppliers to cut spending, said the people, who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The bulk of cancellations is for offshore maintenance work in shallow-water hubs such as Ciudad del Carmen in the state of Campeche, two of the people said.

Two-year window. Hunch: the service industry, the health care industry, retailers, etc., are going to be bending over backwards for the next two years to do what it takes to bring back their old customers and attract new customers as they begin to recover from this pandemic. 

The "Fed": "not even thinking about" raising interest rates for two more years, at least through the end of 2020 and probably through the end of 2021.

Major oil company to watch: OXY.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, career, travel, job, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

The Doomsday Chronicles: during the Obama administration, some sectors of the US economy looked so bad, "the Doomsday chronicles" were needed to keep track of everything. We haven't seen many stories along this line, but I think it's just a matter of time. If so, along with the link above, this is where these stories will be tracked:

• Doomsday: The Big Box Store 
• Doomsday: Public Sector Pensions
• Doomsday: US Cities 
• Doomsday: US States

How New York balanced its budget, April 2, 2020, Politico. Mostly with projections.

Futures Showing Green -- 5:49 P.M. CT -- December 22, 2019

How 'bout them Cowboys? LOL. A "playoff" game of sorts; a win would have given them a division win, but not to be. Another Cowboys loss. And we move on.

Global warming: I assume as of January 1, 2020, we will have only eleven years left. Speaking of which, the Doomsday Clock says it is two minutes to midnight but as far as I know, we've never had a "global warming" clock. Oh, but I'm wrong, the "Doomsday Clock" now incorporates two existential threats: nuclear weapons and global warming. It never ends. By the way, at the linked site, most links there are back to CNN.

The Doomsday Clock says it’s almost the end of the world as we know it. (And that’s not fine.)

If you have anything left on your bucket list, do it now [I assume this is why the US House rushed the articles of impeachment], because the world is close to annihilation. That’s according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which gave its annual presentation of the Doomsday Clock on Thursday.

A group of scientists and scholars, including 15 Nobel laureates, set the clock at 11:58 p.m. — two minutes before the symbolic apocalyptic midnight.

Best decade in human history. Link here. 

Japan: Doomsday Debt

Link here. $10 trillion.

You can add: Doomsday -- US states.

You can add: Doomsday -- US cities.

And, of course, the US in general, for which I have no link because the debt overhang is reported almost daily somewhere.

Doomsday Clocks -- A Suggestion -- March 25, 2022

I can't think of many things worse than Kamala Harris moving into the Oval Office. That can be said for almost any vice president in recent memory, starting with Dan Quale.

Biden is -- how old is he now? Biden is -- well, I guess it doesn't matter how old he is -- it's how well an old body and an old mind will stand up to mental pressures of an impending world war, and the physical pressures of flying halfway around the world to attend "conferences."

The physical demands have to be overwhelming ...

Remember those doomsday clocks in which the minute hand was moved one or two minutes forward or backwards ever time there was a major geopolitical event? 

I think the US needs a new doomsday clock -- one in which it shows the minutes (or likelihood) that Kamala Harris will move into the Oval Office.

Speaking of clocks, it looks like some teenager choked on something from this manufacturer and won a huge legal monetary settlement:

Doomsday: US States, Page 2

This is the second page for doomsday, US states. 

Doomsday: states, page 1.

New Jersey: to borrow $10 billion just to pay current bills; well, technically, only $9.9 billion, Meltdown 2020, July 12, 2020;


California: from a $21 billion surplus to a $54 billion deficit. First state to borrow money from the federal government to pay for unemployment claims. Meltdown 2020. May 8, 2020.

New York: governor says the state is $13 billion in debt.

Illinois: revisited. February 18, 2020.

New York: dramatic drop in state tax revenue. February 4, 2019.


Connecticut: back in the news. October 7, 2018

Doomsday Chronicles -- Illinois Re-Visited -- February 18, 2020

It's laughable to see former President Obama arguing with President Trump about (the) origins of the incredibly good economy we now have. Three observations:

• Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton never ran on the great Obama economy;
• the Obama recovery was the worst in the nation's history (if it was a recovery at all);
• the $800 billion stimulus did not contribute to the recovery (it was a recovery at all) -- had it been a recovery, Hillary would have ran on that;

Things were so bad during the Obama administration, I had a whole section of the blog dedicated to "the doomsday chronicles," where state/city finances and city bankruptcies were discussed and linked."Doomsday chronicles" for the states were linked here.

Then, all of a sudden, those stories disappeared in 2017. Completely gone.

Well, not completely.

Over at ZeroHedge, we are reminded of Illinois.

At that link, look at two charts. 

The authors say Illinois' unfunded pension liability is $241 billion, FY 2018.

Two charts: 

This is very interesting.

In 2015 (http://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2015/02/illinois-americas-greece-eonomist.html) the unfunded pension liability was said to be $111 billion.

If those numbers are accurate and measuring the same thing, Illinois more than doubled their unfunded pension liability in less than three years, from $111 billion in 2015 (perhaps 2014) and $241 billion in FY 2018.

One-fourth of the Illinois budget is required to fund annual pension costs. The graph that is missing, is this percentage over time. Are things getting worse, or are things getting better? 

Another way to look at this: 75% of Illinois revenue funds the state (outside of the pensions). What is the per capita tax collection by state? Link here.

• DC: $11,000 
• New York: $9,000 (second highest in the nation)
• ND: $6,600
• MN: $6,000
• CA: $6,000
• TX: $4,000
• FL: $3,500

So, what is it for Illinois? $5,654. Within the ballpark for other other "high-tax" states, but a long way from NYC and DC.

75% of Illinois' $5,654 = $4,240 -- in the same ballpark as that of a lot of other states. And still significantly more than Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, South Carolina or Alabama.

One could argue that Illinois has two problems:

• underfunded pensions; and,
• mismanagement of the taxes they do collect.

By the way, look at the two states at the far right in the two graphs.

Small Illinois Cities Going "Bankrupt" -- ZeroHedge -- September 21, 2019

I track the "doomsday" stories here.

"Doomsday: US Cities" here.

Add East St Louis, and other Illinois cities to the list. At zerohedge:

On Tuesday, the East St. Louis’ firefighter pension fund demanded that Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza intercept more than $2.2 million of East St. Louis city revenues so they could be diverted to the pension fund.

The fund trustees said the city shorted firefighter pensions by $880,000 in 2017 and another $1.3 million in 2018. Under a 2011 pension law, the state comptroller gained the powers to intercept city revenues on behalf of police and fire pension funds shorted by their municipalities.

Harvey was the first municipality to run afoul of the intercept law. North Chicago, a Chicago suburb of 30,000, was the second. Now it’s East St. Louis’ turn.

Back when Harvey was first intercepted last year, Wirepoints reported that comptroller confiscations could wreak havoc on hundreds of Illinois communities, potentially creating a domino effect. Hundreds of Illinois’ 650 pension funds have not received their statutorily required contributions from their respective cities in recent years, meaning the intercept law could go into wide usage under a broader crisis scenario. In the most recent analysis of Illinois Department of Revenue data, nearly half of the 650 funds were not properly funded in 2017 (see details below).

That domino effect could be exacerbated given that municipalities have virtually no control over their own pension funds. State law sets all the rules and pensions are protected by the Illinois Constitution, meaning that in a market downturn, the pension funds may have little choice but to demand more intercepts.

The East St. Louis firefighter fund has certified to the comptroller that the municipality didn’t fully pay its required contributions to the pension fund in 2017 and 2018. Now the Comptroller has 60 days to decide whether that’s correct. After that, it can begin confiscating East St. Louis revenues. The request by the lawyers of the firefighter fund can be found here.

The intercept law was first utilized in 2018, when Harvey, Illinois, revenues were garnished to pay the city’s police and firefighter pension funds.

That intercept of nearly $3.3 million led to the layoff of 40 public safety workers so the city could avoid insolvency. The city found it couldn’t simultaneously pay for both current workers and pensioners. The city and the pension plans eventually reached a deal that relieved some of the pressure on the city.

Such zerohedge stories as these precede mainstream by six to twelve months.  And, then, often, only in regional newspapers.

By the way, North Las Vegas was in the same (bankruptcy) boat several years ago. It was on my "doomsday" list. But a new CFO turned it around.

 

************************************

Note to the Granddaughters

Busy, busy weekend. Just some of the activities.

High school "prom" for the oldest granddaughter who will also be setting up the venue.

The middle granddaughter's soccer team beat a highly ranked Oklahoma team today, 3 - 0. Olivia scored one goal (she is a mid-fielder, not a forward), and assisted on a second goal. Overheard from another parent: "Olivia was on fire today."

Finally, Sophia making pancakes:

Basic Income -- Stockton, CA -- The Experiment Begins -- February 15, 2019

Stockton, CA, 2018 - 2019, budget. Link here.

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 Annual Budget is balanced and reflects the City Council’s targets and goals. The FY 2018-19 Annual Budget is $709 million from all funding sources and supports 1,705 full- time positions. This includes $221 million for General Fund operations, $136 million for water, sewer, and stormwater utility operations and capital projects, and $352 million for all other activities.

From SacBee:

After months of planning, Stockton is sending debit cards loaded with $500 to a select group of 130 residents starting Friday as part of a closely watched experiment in universal basic income, the first led by a U.S. city. Stockton, once dubbed “America’s foreclosure capital,” was the largest city to seek bankruptcy protection before Detroit’s 2013 filing. During the recession, unemployment soared toward 20 percent, and violent crime rose. Today, one in four residents lives below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

The debit cards will go out monthly for 18 months.

$500 / month *18 months * 130 residents = $1.2 million.

"$352 million for all other activities."

Doomsday Chronicles: not many updates needed since President Obama left office.

Doomsday: US cities: tracked here. Ditto.

Notes From All Over -- Early Sunday Morning -- All Business -- July 12, 2020

Corona virus: consider the source, but some are suggesting New York is well on its way to "herd immunity with a 21% infection rate and an existing, circulating natural immunity of 40%, giving New Yorkers a 61% move toward herd immunity. 

Hubris, chutzpah, presumption + arrogance; entitled: Minnesota governor asks for $500 million in FEMA aid following sanctioned rioting. Denied! Link here. Assessment suggested about $15 million in damage assessed (so far) which suggests the $500 million requested was going to be used for a bit more than a few fires in downtown Minneapolis where some people did some things. Fortunately, the protests were mostly peaceful:

 
Reminder: National French Fry Day -- free French fries -- McDonald's. 

PGA: holy mackerel! A Norwegian, Viktor Hovland, leads the PGA tournament today. He qualified for the tournament only this week -- last Monday. This is huge for this Norwegian. Will change his life. Later, 2:14 p.m. CDT: apparently the tournament is over, but CBS has just started coverage, tape delay, and about eight holes behind "real time." Victor Hovland placed third. The top two went into a playoff, tied at the end of regulation play. It looks like they have a three-hole playoff -- Justin Thomas vs Collin Morikawa. It looks like Collin Morikawa won, but it's hard to tell. They don't show strokes for Justin Thomas on the third playoff hole but Morikawa made par at four suggesting that Thomas was putting for at least a one-over bogey. Talk about miserable coverage. Even a "live" tournament is being broadcast as a "tape delay." By the way, this was done due to network programming. The tournament started early to "beat the rain," and the networks weren't able to change their schedule -- of course, due to advertising contracts.

Racing: holy mackerel! Two huge wrecks before we even complete the first curve of the first lap of the Indy race today -- and neither involved rookies -- Hunter-Reay and Rossi involved, but it appears Hunter-Reay and Rossi are still in. USAF car heavily damaged. Wow. 11:46 a.m. CDT, NBCSports.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

How Covid-19 changes things:

• think Warren Buffett and NetJets; private aviation surging;
• great move, March 30, 2019; 
• less than a year later, private aviation sees demand surge during pandemic;
• US credit card debt plunges; top three expenses on American credit cards: gasoline, restaurants, and travel; all three crashing; revolving credit debt lowest since the great recession; huge story; another red flag for banks; Warren Buffett's equity portfolio: over-weighted in banks;
• automobile sales plummeting; folks without jobs aren't buying cars; Tesla drops price on Model Y by $3,000; still too expensive for folks without jobs;
• drive-in concerts: I was going to ignore this story until I saw the "headliner": a Garth Brooks performance on June 27 that drew over 350,000 across more than 300 drive-in theaters across North America -- this is a huge story -- mostly because those of us who can't afford Las Vegas can now see some great acts "live." Yes, this is huge, and I think it continues for quite some time; acts were looking for a way to compete with pirated streaming; think heavyweight boxing on steroids;
• BOATING! Google it! Booming during the pandemic! Wow. 

What the Norwegians want: AAPL, ATT, and Gilead

The doomsday chronicles:

• New Jersey will borrow $10 billion just to pay current bills; well, technically, only $9.9 billion
• Doomsday: US states;

Blog:

• behind the scenes at IMDb, blog.aboutAmazon.com;

From twitter / ZeroHedge today:

Doomsday: Mainstream Media

Page 2

Page 1

Just some housekeeping. The original page is simply getting too long. Time for page 2.

This page is part of the "Big Stories" page linked at the sidebar at the right. "The Doomsday Chronicles" track a number of sectors, including mainstream media.

November 13, 2019: Sports Illustrated, a weekly as recently as 2015, will become a monthly in 2020.

July 23, 2018: the "struggling" Daily News is about to go under?

The cuts at the teetering tabloid, which some insiders feared would range as high as 70 percent of staff, are expected to be among the largest in the paper’s 99-year history — and could include editor-in-chief Jim Rich.

March 17, 2018: Breitbart summarizes how bad things have gotten for the media (the link won't work; the blogger app won't link Breitbart) --

• start with the Denver Post, which announced Thursday that, between April 9 and July 1, 30 jobs will be cut from its newsroom. That is a massive 30 percent cut of its current staff of 100 journalists.  Just 10 years ago according to the far-left Washington Post, the Denver Post employed 600 journalists. That is close to a 90 percent reduction in only a decade.
• Chicago Tribune; hours later, another wave of surprise layoffs hit the Chicago Tribune; fourteen newsroom staffers were let go int eh publication's second round of layoffs in less than six months; back in October (2017) more than a dozen were let go; more cuts expected
• San Jose Mercury News: last month, another round of layoffs; as many as 27 laid off or bought out
• East Bay Times: late January (2018), a quarter of its editorial staff wiped out -- layoffs and buy outs; a total of 28 staffers
• five publications owned by Southern California News Group will face "significant layoffs," including OC Rgister and Los Angeles Daily News
• CNN: in a credibility death spiral; 
• this summarizes things quite nicely:

Consider the fact that the media that protected Bill Clinton — a man who as president committed perjury to cover up his sexual affair with a young intern, an affair conducted just a few rooms away from his wife and daughter in the  Oval Office — is now obsessed over a porn star’s story that she might have had a consensual affair with Trump more than a decade ago.

When women credibly accused Clinton of rape, groping, and harassment, our media joined the White House in destroying them as liars. But this same media hoping to turn a 12-year-old consensual relationship into a national scandal.

March 14, 2018: The Denver Post will cut a third of its newsroom staff. 

December 9, 2017: The owner of the Boston Herald newspaper has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and is putting itself up for sale, with a $5 million starting offer from GateHouse Media.
The feisty, conservative tabloid, which dates back to 1846, cited the growth of alternative media sources and erosion of advertising revenue in print media for the need to seek bankruptcy protection.

October 18, 2017: Time, Inc., to cut 200 jobs; half in the editorial division.

September 29, 2017: WSJ to end print editions of the European and the Asian WSJ.

September 23, 2017: the demise of the glossy magazine -- The New York Times.  The link sent to me by a reader; I saw the headline but forgot to post the story. Highlighted: Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair. Not mentioned: such magazines as O (Oprah).

XTO Reports A "High-IP" Well; Oasis Reports Two Gushers; Other Great Wells; Six (6) New Permits -- July 23, 2014; GM Profits Falls 85%, Huge Earnings Miss

Active Rigs, Thursday, July 24, 2014

	7/24/2014	07/24/2012	07/24/2011	07/24/2010	07/24/2008
Active Rigs	192	208	181	138	77

 RNB Energy

Estimating the storage facilities at Houston along the Gulf coast.

Our estimate based on the April 2014 run rate of 95 percent indicates that Houston area refineries will have roughly 21 crude storage days of capacity available to them in 2016. If those same refineries operate at 89 percent capacity – the monthly average level from January 2010 to April 2014, then refinery throughput in Houston would be 2.4 MMb/d and storage days would increase to 22.5 (assuming 54 MMBbl of storage). From our earlier analysis recall that days storage for the Gulf Coast region as a whole were 32 i.e. about 10 days higher on average than for the Houston area.

Flying Back Into Tel Aviv

Well, that didn't last long. FAA says it is now okay for American commercial aircraft to fly into Tel Aviv. I guess SecState John Kerry was being used to test the system when he flew in under the ban. And survived.

Doomsday Chronicles

The economic recovery has saved a lot of cities. It's been a long time since I've added a new city or updated an existing city over at Doomsday: US Cities. Atlantic City, NJ, makes the list.

The Market

 

I was absolutely amazed how the market reacted to one of the best quarters ever reported by AAPL -- meh! Frankly, I was astounded. I wrote:

Apple had one of its best quarters yet, and it hardly made news, with earnings soundly beating expectations.  

After being out and about this afternoon, I came home and checked the news. What a pleasant surprise:

Stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 closing at a record on Apple's bullish results.

AAPL closed at a new record high, closing in on $100/share. It may take some time, but eventually the market gets these things right.

So, what's on tap for tomorrow? Earnings for:

• Ford, at 40 cents, huge beat; expectations only 36 cents;
• UNP, right in line at $1.43; revenues increase on grain, coal shipments;
• GM, forecast 58 cents, actual -- 11 cents! incredible; profit falls 85%;
• SBUX, beats by a penny; profits surge 22%; revenues surge 11%; shares slump;

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.
 

The Daily Activity Report From North Dakota Oil Patch

Wells coming off confidential list Thursday:

• 25688, 1,750, Oasis, Mangum 5493 44-7 T3, Robinson Lake, t1/14; cum 79K 5/14;
• 26129, 2,525, Oasis, Lefty 5200 14-30 3B, Camp, t4/14; cum 27K 5/14;
• 26275, 673, Fidelity, Carissa 27034H, Stanley, t2/14; cum 24K 5/14;
• 26276, 799, Fidelity, CJ 27-34H, Stanley, t1/14; cum 39K 5/14;
• 26277, 474, Oasis, Edwin 5601 44-24T, Tyrone, t3/14; cum 14K 5/14;
• 26503, 635, Oasis, Hendricks 5602 43-36 3B, Tyrone, t5/14; cum --
• 27203, 2,067, XTO, McCoy 44X-36D, Siverston, t6/14; cum --
• 27298, 238, CLR, Brodal 1-36H, Noonan, t4/14; cum 8K 5/14;
• 27493, 336, Slawson, Tempest 3-14H, Big Bend, t3/14; cum 12K 5/14;

************************************************

25688, see above, Oasis, Mangum 5493 44-7 T3, Robinson Lake:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
5-2014	17817	0
4-2014	14351	0
3-2014	20896	0
2-2014	18096	0
1-2014	6633	0

26129, see above, Oasis, Lefty 5200 14-30 3B, Camp:

Date	Oil Runs	MCF Sold
5-2014	11341	10391
4-2014	15413	11552

Active rigs:

	7/23/2014	07/23/2012	07/23/2011	07/23/2010	07/23/2008
Active Rigs	194	209	182	138	74

Six (6) new permits --

• Operators: Newfield (2), Petro-Hunt (2), Whiting, Legacy
  Fields: Siverston (Dunn), Little Knife (Dunn), Sanish (Mountrail), North Souris (Bottineau)
• Comments:

Wells coming off confidential list today were posted earlier; see sidebar at the right.

Bad news: Bakken production to be stifled if new railcar rules go into effect -- RBN Energy (in an earlier post). Today, the Obama administration announced the bad news. Bloomberg reports. 

Good news: in two years there will be a gazillion miles of new Bakken pipeline.

The Wall Street Journal 

Finally, international pressure on Hamas to stop firing rockets.

IRS: hey, maybe we found some Lois Lerner back-up tapes that weren't destroyed after all.

ObamaCare plaintiffs: one plaintiff has argued he was hurt by the Affordable Care Act even though he could have paid as little as $20 a year for coverage. I guess he had his own definition of "affordable."

Malaysian Airlines flew directly over some of the hottest fighting in eastern Ukraine. What were they thinking? 

US extends ban on carriers flying into Tel Aviv for another 24 hours.

President Obama has sent additional military advisers to Iraq.

GM plans six more recalls. I honestly can't recall if these are the recalls I just posted in an earlier posting; I am losing track of all the recalls by this one "company."

Los Angeles Times

Top story all about Gaza, Israel.  

Algerian airliner falls off radar scope; 116 on-board.

FAA lifts restrictions on flying into Tel Aviv.

Connecticut: Back In The News -- October 7, 2018 -- And, Back By Popular Demand -- Donna, The Deer Lady

The next big thing.

The doomsday chronicles.

Doomsday states.

Before reading further: flashback. Connecticut reported a $1.1 billion budget surplus earlier this year. And then this, Connecticut's budget revenues are on pace to increase the rainy day fund -- just a few weeks ago -- September 20, 2018.

Link here. From The Wall Street Journal, opinion.

Mr. Stefanowski’s lament seems to reflect the mood of voters. In Quinnipiac University’s latest state poll in August, only 25% of respondents approved of Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy’s job performance. Seventy-one percent rated the state’s economy as “not so good” or “poor.” And with good reason: Connecticut’s economy has shrunk at an annual compounded rate of 0.5% since 2009. Next door, Massachusetts’ economy grew at 2.1% a year over that same period.

Connecticut’s bean counters are forecasting a $2 billion budget deficit next year. Worker pensions, retiree health care and debt service make up about a third of the budget. Pension costs are projected to grow by half over the next four years.

The state fisc is underwater, and Mr. Stefanowski, a former executive at General Electric and UBS , has a plan to keep it from drowning. But can he persuade voters to jump on a life raft of tax and spending cuts?

Mr. Malloy’s answer to gaping budget holes was to raise taxes. But many businesses and high earners responded by decamping for sunnier tax climes. GE, which had been headquartered in suburban Fairfield for more than four decades, moved to Boston in 2016. New Haven’s Alexion Pharmaceuticals followed this year.

“We lose over 80 people per day,” Mr. Stefanowski says. “Just in the last six years we lost $6 billion of taxable income just to the state of Florida.” The numbers are abstract, but for voters the malaise is real. Hence the governor’s race here is competitive even in a year in which Republicans face strong headwinds nationwide.

GOP governors in blue states generally fit two molds. They’re either moderates who play down their conservatism, like Charlie Baker in Massachusetts, or pugilists throwing punches against public-sector union machines, like Bruce Rauner in Illinois.

Mr. Stefanowski is of neither sort. He’s running as a supply-side Republican and change agent—part Ronald Reagan, part Jack Welch. He’s called for eliminating Connecticut’s estate tax immediately and phasing out the corporate tax over two years and the income tax over eight. He also wants to impose 10-year term limits for state legislators and allow citizens to initiate referendum campaigns.

Good luck.

**************************************

Meanwhile, Back in North Dakota

Deer hunting season will soon begin. (Bow hunting has begun.)

Beware! Drive safely.

Deer Crossing

*****************************

Female Logic 

I know I'm going to get into trouble with that headline. I'm used to it.

I recently had some health concerns that worried my wife greatly ... perhaps another story for another time ... suffice it to say, my wife had legitimate concerns and legitimate worries about my health.

With that as background ...

The other day, both my wife and I left the apartment at the usual time, about 7:00 a.m. She went off to drive the granddaughters to school. I went off to Starbucks to blog.

When my wife came home a couple of hours later, after running some errands, about 9:30 a.m., she noted that the bathroom door was closed and that the light was still on. She assumed I was in the bathroom. She called my name. I did not respond. She called my name again. Later, she said she did not try the bathroom door. She said she was afraid that she would find me dead on the floor and didn't want to see a dead body. Or something to that effect.

So, what does she do? She takes out her smart phone and begins to text me. Despite assuming that I had died.

When I did not answer the first text, that confirmed the worse. I was dead. In the bathroom.

So, she texted again. Don't ask.

Again, no answer. Which, of course, confirmed to her, a second time, that I was dead.

I wasn't. 

I honestly do not know what she planned next, but I will never know. I had finished my blogging and had been driving home while she was texting. I walked in the front door to see that she was still staring at her smart phone, I guess hoping for a message from "the other side."

I never got the texts as far as I know. I wonder who got them and wondering why May was asking "Are you dead?"

Michelle's Worst Nightmare: 22 More Dunkin' Donuts In Her Backyard; Apache Increases Dividend -- Again; Bookends In The Best Decade Ever -- Apache (1960), Steppenwolf (1969); Do Readers Still Want The Content "The Times" Provides?

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any decisions based on anything you might read here or what you think you might have read here. 


Born To Be Wild, Steppenwolf
Nine companies announce increased dividends or distributions.

Dunkin Brands: Dunkin' Donuts plans 22 new restaurants throughout the Greater Baltimore / Washington, D.C. area: Dunkin' Donuts announced the signing of a multi-unit store development agreement with five existing franchise groups to develop 22 new restaurants throughout the Greater Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area over the next several years. Remember: in 1,080 days, the President moves to Hawaii, Michelle plans to stay in DC. Dunkin' is on a roll: Dunkin Brands increases quarterly dividend by 21% to $0.23 per share from $0.19 per share. The rich get richer.

Apache increases common dividend 25% to $0.25/share: The latest increase follows an 18-percent increase in the quarterly dividend approved in 2013 and a 13-percent increase approved in 2012. 

Union Pacific announces 15% dividend increase and a $3.9 bln capital plan for 2014: Co announced that its Board of Directors voted today to increase the quarterly dividend on the company's common shares by 15 percent, or 12 cents, to 91 cents per share. The increased dividend is payable April 1, 2014, to shareholders of record on February 28, 2014.



Apache, The Shadows
Listen to Apache, seriously listen to Apache, maybe play it really, really loud, and then look at the smiles on their faces, and tell me there isn't a personal God. Cigarettes in the video? I have the same opinion of cigarettes in this video as Roger Ebert did with regard to Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.

Noble Energy misses by $0.10, beats on revs; reaffirms FY14 guidance: Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.50 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.60; revenues rose 13.8% year/year to $1.33 bln vs the $1.31 bln consensus.

The Doomsday Chronicles: The Mainstream Media

Breitbart is reporting:

The New York Times announced Thursday that operating profits had fallen 12% in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the same period a year before. Earnings per share dropped by roughly two-thirds, from $0.76 to $0.24. Total revenues were down 5.2% and advertising revenues were down 6.3%, with print advertising revenues falling by 7.0% and digital by 4.3% over 2013.

The company added digital subscribers, up 19% in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to same period in 2012, but its circulation revenues were down, too.

The Times' results will surprise analysts who had predicted healthy results for the last three months of 2013.

Analysts have tended to focus on the increase in digital subscriptions to the New York Times, which has been a focus for new CEO Mark Thompson, formerly of the BBC. However, the rise in digital readers has not come with a corresponding rise in digital advertising revenues. Ultimately, the question is whether readers still want the content the Times is providing. That remains to be seen, since online competition for center-left news is tight.

It is not the first time that the Times has experienced such a decline in advertising revenues—print revenues fell 13.3% and digital revenues fell 4% in the first quarter of 2013, for example—but the Times had been expected to do far better, given a rise in online subscriptions. The company has also parted with non-core assets in an effort to build its core business.

A report in the New York Observer this week suggested deep differences at the paper between the news and editorial divisions as the company defends its institutional status in the media.

The Doomsday Chronicles: The Mainstream Media is tracked here. 

Global Warming Predictions -- September 21, 2019

Link: https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2019/09/20/nolte-climate-experts-are-0-41-with-their-doomsday-predictions/.

LIST OF DOOMSDAY PREDICTIONS THE CLIMATE ALARMISTS GOT WRONG

Here is the source for numbers 1-27. As you will see, the individual sources are not crackpots, but scientific studies and media reports on “expert” predictions. The sources for numbers 28-41 are linked individually.

1. 1967: Dire Famine Forecast By 1975
2. 1969: Everyone Will Disappear In a Cloud Of Blue Steam By 1989 (1969)
3. 1970: Ice Age By 2000
4. 1970: America Subject to Water Rationing By 1974 and Food Rationing By 1980
5. 1971: New Ice Age Coming By 2020 or 2030
6. 1972: New Ice Age By 2070
7. 1974: Space Satellites Show New Ice Age Coming Fast
8. 1974: Another Ice Age?
9. 1974: Ozone Depletion a ‘Great Peril to Life
10. 1976: Scientific Consensus Planet Cooling, Famines imminent
11. 1980: Acid Rain Kills Life In Lakes
12. 1978: No End in Sight to 30-Year Cooling Trend
13. 1988: Regional Droughts (that never happened) in 1990s
14. 1988: Temperatures in DC Will Hit Record Highs
15. 1988: Maldive Islands will Be Underwater by 2018 (they’re not)
16. 1989: Rising Sea Levels will Obliterate Nations if Nothing Done by 2000
17. 1989: New York City’s West Side Highway Underwater by 2019 (it’s not)
18. 2000: Children Won’t Know what Snow Is
19. 2002: Famine In 10 Years If We Don’t Give Up Eating Fish, Meat, and Dairy
20. 2004: Britain will Be Siberia by 2024
21. 2008: Arctic will Be Ice Free by 2018
22. 2008: Climate Genius Al Gore Predicts Ice-Free Arctic by 2013
23. 2009: Climate Genius Prince Charles Says we Have 96 Months to Save World
24. 2009: UK Prime Minister Says 50 Days to ‘Save The Planet From Catastrophe’
25. 2009: Climate Genius Al Gore Moves 2013 Prediction of Ice-Free Arctic to 2014
26. 2013: Arctic Ice-Free by 2015
27. 2014: Only 500 Days Before ‘Climate Chaos’
28. 1968: Overpopulation Will Spread Worldwide
29. 1970: World Will Use Up All its Natural Resources
30. 1966: Oil Gone in Ten Years
31. 1972: Oil Depleted in 20 Years
32. 1977: Department of Energy Says Oil will Peak in 90s
33. 1980: Peak Oil In 2000
34. 1996: Peak Oil in 2020
35. 2002: Peak Oil in 2010
36. 2006: Super Hurricanes!
37. 2005 : Manhattan Underwater by 2015
38. 1970: Urban Citizens Will Require Gas Masks by 1985
39. 1970: Nitrogen Buildup Will Make All Land Unusable
40. 1970: Decaying Pollution Will Kill all the Fish
41. 1970s: Killer Bees!

Stockton, California, In The News Again -- February 4, 2018

During the previous (federal) administration I began a number of "Doomsday" chronicles -- there just seemed to be so many such stories coming out of the "Great Recession."

A number of cities during that period were having major financial problems (some of them still do). I tracked them under "Doomsday: US Cities." The first entry was dated February 4, 2010, and the first three cities: Chicago; Detroit, and Stockton (CA).

A judge accepted the California city of Stockton's bankruptcy application on Monday, making it the most populous city in the nation to enter bankruptcy. 

California's 13th largest city; more than a billion dollars in debt. Every city employee-retiree was given health (sic) for life and for one dependent. Will be the country's largest city to "successfully" enter bankruptcy.

Stockton, CA, is back in the news. Actually it isn't news. It was first reported a few weeks ago. I thought I had blogged about it but apparently not. But now, another link to the story tonight over at Drudge: California city to experiment with "universal basic income."

The mayor of Stockton, California, is leading an experiment with “universal basic income,” which is set to start by giving low-income residents $500 a month, no questions asked.

Mayor Michael Tubbs calls his city “ground zero” for issues like wage stagnation, rising housing prices and loss of middle-class jobs that affect the nation.
The Central Valley city went bankrupt in 2012, and for decades it has been trying to diversify its agriculture-based economy

I assume if you need "basic income" from the state you do not pay taxes of any kind but you still have full citizenship rights and privileges. I don't know if these families are required to give up food stamps; unemployment insurance; Medicaid, subsidized housing; WIC; SNAP; to name just a few perks.

It will be interesting if Mark Perry writes about this.

Doomsday: Chicago

At some point, the chickens will come home to roost. Smile.

A reader sent me the link to this story. The reader said the article is "way off topic" but it is good reporting and fits in with my "series" on "doomsday for US cities."

So, without further ado, a nice exclusive investigative story from The Chicago Tribune on how the city of Chicago manages its expenses.

Between 2000 and 2012, Chicago spent $9.8 billion in general obligation bond proceeds with few restrictions and virtually no oversight. In a first-ever accounting, the Tribune found that nearly half of the money went to paper over Chicago’s growing budget problems. The city spent millions in bond funds on short-lived equipment such as Palm Pilot software, spare vehicle parts and items you might find on a weekend shopping list: trash bins, flowers, even bags for dog waste. That’s equivalent to taking out a 30-year mortgage to buy a car and making your children — or grandchildren — pay it off, with interest.

Doomsday: US Cities

Page 3
Page 2

Page 1

San Bernardino, CA: filed for bankruptcy earlier this year (2015); now has a $1 million must-pay bill it can't afford. Asking for help.

Officials in San Bernardino, which has been struggling to recover from bankruptcy over the last three years, are hopeful that added costs from its response to the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11 will not further erode the city's delicate finances.
The city has incurred up to $1 million in unforeseen expenses — from the added cost of deploying police officers on extended shifts to responding to ultimately unfounded reports of new threats.

Houston, TX: first time Houston is on the list? Pensions.

Baltimore, MD: the city records its 300th homicide victim, just months after calling in the Feds to help. 

Ferguson, MO: facing insolvency (predicted, see below, scroll down);  September 21, 2015

Ferguson could become insolvent by the 2017 fiscal year, the credit-rating company said. The rating cut reflects “severe and rapid deterioration of the city’s financial position, possible depletion of fund balances in the near term, and limited options for restoring fiscal stability,” Moody’s said.

Chicago: Emanuel set to call for highest property tax raise in history to pay for police/fire pensions; will start charging $10 - $12 for garbage pick-up; will add $1 or so for taxi rides. September 3, 2015. Update: specifics spelled out. September 21, 2015.

Chicago: public school system in trouble; 1,400 jobs cut; June 30, 2015. 

San Bernardino, CA: special report, Los Angeles Times, sad, sad story. It begins:  San Bernardino, once a sturdy, middle class "All-America City," is now bankrupt, the poorest city of its size in California, and a symbol of the nation's worst urban woes.

Of the 100 biggest cities in the U.S., San Bernardino, 60 miles east of Los Angeles, was ranked the second-poorest in the nation in the 2010 census, behind Detroit. Two years later it filed for bankruptcy. Last month the City Council approved a 77-page plan that it hopes will move the city toward solvency, in part by making residents pay higher taxes and fees while further cutting their services.

San Bernardino, CA: CalPERs wins; city loses; still hasn't filed final bankruptcy plan, May 12, 2015. 

Atlantic City, NJ: six notches deeper into junk territory, January 13, 2015.

Chicago, IL: Moody's drops Chicago's credit rating to "junk" status, May 12, 2015


Milwaukee, WI: violence spiraling out of control, May 7, 2015.

Stockton, CA: coming out of bankruptcy, March 17, 2015.

San Bernardino, CA: update on bankruptcy, March 17, 2015.

Ferguson, MO: unable to prove the white cop on black killing was racially motivated, Attorney General will bankrupt the city, threatening to dismantle the police department.

Chicago, IL: downgraded. Bonds just two steps above junk status. February 27, 2015.

Detroit, MI: entire power grid goes down. December 2, 2014. No explanation. 

Stockton, CA: a federal judge rules that public sector pensions are not protected when a city declares bankruptcy. October 1, 2014.

Atlantic City, NJ: Moody's cuts credit rating two steps to junk for Atlantic City -- July 24, 2014. First mentioned (in passing) back in December, 2013.

Long Beach, CA: Boeing to shut down C-17 plant three months early. About 2,000 workers support the C-17 program in California. First time Long Beach makes the Doomsday: Cities list.

NYC, NY: Municipal health care system budget deficit will more than triple to $1.4 billion in four years. February 25, 2014.

Chicago, IL: Chicago workers protest as pension crisis brews. After years of avoiding the issue, the city of Chicago is facing a massive spike in its annual bill for the pensions it promised current and retired workers. Next year, the city's required contribution will more than double to $1.07 billion. February 19, 2014.

Top ten cities with highest tax rates. USA Today is reporting: #1 (worst), Wilmington, DE; Detroit, MI; Louisville, KY; Portland, ME; Providence, RI; Columbus, OH; Baltimore, MD; Milwaukee, WI; Philadelphia, PA; #10, Bridgeport, CT. I find it interesting the cities in most financial trouble have highest tax rates. February 15, 2014.

Chicago, IL: one day closer to junk. Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration is making preparations to issue up to $900 million in bonds this year to lower some of its borrowing costs, push other debt off into the future at an overall higher cost, cover legal settlements and pay for construction, building maintenance and equipment. February 3, 2014. 

New York City, NY: new mayor. Listen to the folks he picked to introduce him at the inauguration. This is why he limited attendance by reporters. January 1, 2014. 

Chicago, IL: day of reckoning. Long story in Financial Times. 

Morgan was one of about 50 elementary schools forced to close this year, collateral damage from the ballooning pension crises in Chicago and the state of Illinois. The budget gap in Chicago’s school district alone is $1bn, mainly because of pension liabilities, while the combined unfunded pension liabilities of the city and the school district runs to over $27bn.

Rahm Emanuel, Chicago’s Democratic mayor, has said the school closures – along with 3,000 job cuts in the school system – were necessary to close the yawning hole in the district budget. The episode has further soured the mayor’s relations with the teachers union, which held a seven-day strike last year. Karen Lewis, head of the union, called the school closures “racist” and “classist.”

Atlantic City, Las Vegas: could these two cities be the next Detroit? Casinos are closing in Atlantic City; real estate remains depressed in Las Vegas; and casinos are opening up across the United States (December 21, 2013).  

As of 2013, racinos are legal in ten states: Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia (racinos are "slot machines at old horse-racing and dog-racing tracks).

Tracks like Delaware Park and West Virginia's Mountaineer Park, once considered places where local degenerates bet on broken-down nags in claiming races, are now among the wealthiest tracks around, with the best races.

Detroit, MI: Detroit is eligible for bankruptcy -- judge. 

Detroit, MI: The Drudge Report links a story saying that "the Feds have started bailing out Detroit." In fact, it was a grant that the city applied for, competing with others; the money will go to the Detroit firefighters.  I think reading the entire story, and not just the DrudgeReport link will provide a better understanding of the issue. I have no problem with this. We probably spend this amount of money in Iraq and Afghanistan on a daily basis. Headlines like these tend to tarnish the "Drudge" image.

Desert Hot Springs, CA: the city votes to declare "a fiscal emergency" in one last big to avert bankruptcy, November 20, 2013. 

Desert Hot Springs, CA: A resort town in California warned on Tuesday that it will run out of money by March due to burdensome salary and pension costs and could join other U.S. cities that have recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

A bankruptcy filing by Desert Hot Springs, a city of 26,000 about 110 miles east of Los Angeles, would make it the third California city along with San Bernardino and Stockton to seek court protection from creditors.

San Bernardino and Detroit - the biggest U.S. city to seek Chapter 9 protection - are likely to set precedent on whether retirees or Wall Street bondholders suffer the most when a city goes broke.

The problems in Desert Hot Springs came to light last week when a new finance director reviewed the city's records and discovered a $3 million shortfall in its budget of $13.5 million. Amy Aguer, the interim director of finance, did not have details on how the shortfall occurred but said it was the result of higher-than-expected pension and salary costs, especially in the police department, and overly optimistic estimates of revenue. November 14, 2013.