STATE OF THE UNION - I Have a Dream!

MARTIN LUTHER KING's "I Have A Dream" speech had:

3 "believes", 4 "hopes", and 11 "dreams"...

STATE OF THE UNION had

10 "believes", only 1 "hope", and a disappointing 9 "dreams"

and in headlines...

• *OBAMA URGES CONGRESS TO RAISE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE TO $10.10
• *OBAMA SEEKS TO LIMIT RETIREMENT TAX BREAKS FOR WEALTHIEST
• *OBAMA TO START 4 NEW MANUFACTURING INSTITUTES IN 2014
• *OBAMA TO MEET CEOS THIS WEEK ON HIRING LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED
• *OBAMA REITERATES CALL TO END FANNIE, FREDDIE `AS WE KNOW THEM'
• *OBAMA ANNOUNCES 12 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS IN STATE OF UNION SPEECH
• *OBAMA TO RAISE FEDERAL CONTRACTOR MINIMUM WAGE TO $10.10/HR
• *OBAMA PROPOSES NEW INCENTIVES FOR ALTERNATIVE-FUEL TRUCKS
• *OBAMA SEEKS TO REVIVE EXPIRED TAX CREDIT FOR BIOFUELS
• *OBAMA SAYS IN STATE OF UNION `GIVE AMERICA A RAISE'
• *OBAMA PLANS INFRASTRUCTURE TAX CREDIT FOR ALTERNATIVE FUELS
• *OBAMA SEEKS TO CREATE BUSINESS ZONES AROUND FRACKING
• *OBAMA SAYS 2014 CAN BE `BREAKTHROUGH YEAR' FOR U.S.
• *OBAMA REITERATES VETO THREAT ON POSSIBLE NEW IRAN SANCTIONS

The 12 Key Executive actions...

The President’s top priority remains ensuring middle class Americans feel secure in their jobs, homes and budgets. To build real, lasting economic security the President will work with Congress and act on his own to expand opportunity for all so that every American can get ahead and have a shot at creating a better life for their kids.

Middle Class Security & Opportunity at Work

Raising the Minimum Wage through Executive Order to $10.10 for Federal Contract Workers. The President will also continue to urge Congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 across the nation because no one who works full-time should have to raise their family in poverty.

Creating “myRA” – A New Starter Savings Account to Help Millions Save for Retirement. The President will take executive action to create a simple, safe and affordable “starter” retirement savings account available through employers to help millions of Americans save for retirement. This savings account would be offered through a familiar Roth IRA account and, like savings bonds, would be backed by the U.S. government.

Building a 21st Century Workplace for America’s Working Families. The President will host a summit on Working Families to highlight the policies that will ensure America’s global economic competitiveness by supporting working families; showcase companies doing exemplary work in this space; and highlight model laws and policies from cities and states across the country in areas such as discrimination, flexibility and paid leave.

Jobs & Economic Opportunity

Launching Four New Manufacturing Institutes in 2014. American manufacturers are adding jobs for the first time in over a decade. To build on this progress, the President will launch four new institutes through executive action this year. These institutes will build on the four the President has already announced.

Government-wide Review of Federal Training Programs to Help Americans Get Skills in Demand for Good Jobs. The President is directing the Vice President to conduct a full review of our federal job-training system to make sure programs are higher performing and driven by the needs of employers which are hiring so that they lead to well-paying jobs. In the coming months, we will help community colleges build partnerships with businesses so that as industries’ skills needs change community colleges can quickly adapt.

Partnering With Many of America’s Leading CEOs to Help the Long-Term Unemployed. Later this week, as part of an ongoing effort that the Administration began several months ago, the President will convene a group of CEOs and other leaders around supporting best practices for hiring the long-term unemployed.

Expanding Apprenticeships by Mobilizing Business, Community Colleges and Labor. This year the President will mobilize business leaders, community colleges, Mayors and Governors, and labor leaders to increase the number of innovative apprenticeships in America.

Increasing Fuel Efficiency for Trucks. The President will propose new incentives for medium- and heavy-duty trucks that run on alternative fuels like natural gas and the infrastructure needed to deploy them, and the Administration will set new fuel efficiency standards for heavy duty vehicles.

Partnering with States, Cities and Tribes to Move to Energy Efficiency and Cleaner Power. The President has directed his Administration to work to cut carbon pollution through clean energy and energy efficiency.

Schools & Education Opportunity

Connecting 20 Million Students in 15,000 Schools to the Best Technology to Enrich K-12 Education. The FCC is making a major down-payment on the President’s ConnectED goal of connecting 99% of students to next-generation broadband and wireless technology within five years. In the coming weeks the President will announce new philanthropic partnerships – including by companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint and Verizon.

Redesigning High Schools to Teach the Real-World Skills That Kids Need. This year, the Administration will announce the winners of a $100 million competition supporting redesigned high schools that give high school students access to real-world education and skills.

Increasing College Opportunity and Graduation. Building on the success of the President and First Lady’s College Opportunity Summit, in the coming months the President is asking colleges and universities, nonprofits and businesses to work with him on ways to improve students’ access to and completion of higher education.

And a key paragraph for all (even Tom Perkins?)...

Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled. The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by – let alone get ahead. And too many still aren’t working at all.

Our job is to reverse these tides. It won’t happen right away, and we won’t agree on everything. But what I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. Some require Congressional action, and I’m eager to work with all of you. But America does not stand still – and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.

Ron Paul sums it up...

Well, I certainly didn't learn anything new from this sp

Full speech below:

SOTU 2014 by zerohedge

SOTU 2014

FINANICAL REPRESSION - Obama Introduces MyRA: The "No Risk, Guaranteed Return" Retirement Savings Bond

Obama Introduces MyRA: The "No Risk, Guaranteed Return" Retirement Savings Bond 01-28-14 Zerp Hedge

Presenting: the MyRA, and since it offers "guaranteed return and no risk" we now know where all the Fed's bond trades will go to work once QE ends.

From the president:

Let’s do more to help Americans save for retirement. Today, most workers don’t have a pension. A Social Security check often isn’t enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn’t help folks who don’t have 401ks. That’s why, tomorrow, I will direct the Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA. It’s a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg. MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in. And if this Congress wants to help, work with me to fix an upside-down tax code that gives big tax breaks to help the wealthy save, but does little to nothing for middle-class Americans. Offer every American access to an automatic IRA on the job, so they can save at work just like everyone in this chamber can...

Or put another way - if you like your retirement account you can keep your retirement account.

And just like that, the "automatic" continuity to the Fed's Quantitative Easing is ensured.

IRA Confiscation: It's Happening 01-29-14 Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog via ZH

Here’s the deal he’s offering: you give Sam your hard-earned retirement savings. Sam will invest your funds, and pay you a rate of return.

Granted, the rate of return he’s promising doesn’t quite keep up with inflation. So you will be losing some money. But don’t dwell on that too much.

And, rather than invest your funds in productive assets, Sam is going to blow it all on new cars and flat screen TVs. So when it comes time to make interest payments, Sam won’t have any money left.

But don’t worry, he still has that good ole’ credibility. So even though his financial situation gets worse by the year, Sam will just go back out there and borrow more money from other people to pay you back.

Of course, he will be able to keep doing this forever without any consequences whatsoever.

I know what you’re thinking– “where do I sign??” I know, right? It’s the deal of the lifetime.

This is basically the offer that the President of the United States floated last night.

And like an unctuously overgeled used car salesman, he actually pitched Americans on loaning their retirement savings to the US government with a straight face, guaranteeing “a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in. . .”

This is his new “MyRA” program. And the aim is simple– dupe unwitting Americans to plow their retirement savings into the US government’s shrinking coffers.

We’ve been talking about this for years. I have personally written since 2009 that the US government would one day push US citizens into the ‘safety and security’ of US Treasuries.

Back in 2009, almost everyone else thought I was nuts for even suggesting something so sacrilegious about the US government and financial system.

But the day has arrived. And POTUS stated almost VERBATIM what I have been writing for years.

The government is flat broke. Even by their own assessment, the US government’s “net worth” is NEGATIVE 16 trillion. That’s as of the end of 2012 (the 2013 numbers aren’t out yet). But the trend is actually worsening.

In 2009, the government’s net worth was negative $11.45 trillion. By 2010, it had dropped to minus $13.47 trillion. By 2011, minus $14.78 trillion. And by 2012, minus $16.1 trillion.

Here’s the thing: according to the IRS, there is well over $5 trillion in US individual retirement accounts. For a government as bankrupt as Uncle Sam is, $5 trillion is irresistible.

They need that money. They need YOUR money. And this MyRA program is the critical first step to corralling your hard earned retirement funds.

At our event here in Chile last year, Jim Rogers nailed this right on the head when he and Ron Paul told our audience that the government would try to take your retirement funds:

I don’t know how much more clear I can be: this is happening. This is exactly what bankrupt governments do. And it’s time to give serious, serious consideration to shipping your retirement funds overseas before they take yours.

Obama, Treasury detail new MyRA savings plan 01-29-14 Pensions & Investments

President Barack Obama directed the Treasury Department on Wednesday to create the “MyRA” retirement savings bond program mentioned in his State of the Union address Tuesday night to reach low- and middle-income workers and others not saving for retirement.

“This is a starter IRA,” said a senior administration official on a background press call.

Treasury officials said on the call that they will launch a pilot program by the end of 2014 with employers opting to participate. Employers would not administer or contribute to the accounts, and there would be “little to no cost” to them, administration officials said. The federal government will pay an agent selected through a competitive process to administer the program.

The savings account would be offered as

• a Roth individual retirement account managed by a third party for the federal government.
• The federal government would guarantee the principal as it does with savings bonds.
• The interest rate would be based on the Thrift Savings Plan's G Fund, which uses rates based on a four- to 30-year average maturity.
• Households with income of up to $191,000 can open accounts with just $25 and make contributions of as little as $5 through payroll deductions.
• The MyRA accounts would also be portable among employers.
• Contributions may be withdrawn tax-free at any time, and Treasury officials said they would not police that.
• Once an account reaches $15,000 or 30 years, the money would have to be rolled over into a private-sector Roth IRA.
• Balances may also be rolled over to a Roth IRA before the limit is reached.

“We currently have a system that is not doing what it is supposed to,” said a different senior administration official, who noted that 50% of all full-time workers and 75% of part-time workers are not saving for retirement. “The proposal today is very much pitched at bringing new people in and is based on economic research that what you need is something simple, safe, secure and easy to set up through an employer,” the official said.

DON'T BE CONCERNED - YET!

TEXT BOOK LOG-PERIODIC CYCLE ENDS - Right on Schedule

OUR NOVEMBER 25TH POST CALLING FOR SANTA CLAUS RALLY

OUR DECEMBER 24TH POST CALLING FOR JANUARY 14TH TURN

WHAT IS NEXT

NOW WATCH FOR THE SMALL "M' TOP - As DR (Real Deflation) Begins

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BELOW:

FROM OUR DECEMBER CALL OF A 'AFTER JANUARY 14th TURN' - High was January 15th

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BE PATIENT - Wait for Death Cross

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MID-TERM ELECTION YEAR SUPPORTS THE ABOVE OUTSIDE SMALL "M" STRENGTH