I have a generic antibiotic for the bacterial sinus infection that laid me low after 9 weeks of viral infection. I'm feeling better already, but it would have been a greater relief to be able to just call up and get my standard cure without going through the gantlet of an office visit and all...

to be accessed by whomever wants it. The marvels of modern tech medicine.

Glad you feel better

My wife just returned from Moscow with an 80 weeks supply of REDACTED, an injectable medicine that's prescription only in the states. Of course, it is available in Kiev, for about 5 times the Moscow price ($72 vs. $15, for a 10 week supply), and a strong likelihood in Kiev that you'll get a counterfeit. She packed it in her carry-on for the return flight via REDACTED, with no problems either with the airline or customs at either end. It was just the medicine, no syringes!

Had her get as much as possible, as long as it would all be used before the expiration date. Also picked up other medicines at 33 - 50% off the Kiev price. Also because beginning soon, the Ukraine ban or Russian airlines take effect, which was of course countered by a Russian ban of Ukrainian airlines. But Moscow is only about 500 miles up the road and there are other, less convenient ways to get there.

It is important to use networks to get the lower prices, but!
The insurance companies now have Preferred networks for much much cheaper prices.


And those drugs that used to be cheap in Tier 1 for perhaps $3, may have moved to Tier 2, for perhaps $9!

But a Tier 2 drug, may have moved to Tier 3, costing a whopping $45, for a generic!



And many Obamacare premiums are being increased double+ digits.


and retail is wondering why people aren't buying stuff!!!!!!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/jpmorgan-breaking-giant-private-equity-183840472.html


JPMorgan is close to selling the giant private equity business housed in the bank's Highbridge Capital Management arm, according to Juliet Chung and Emily Glazer at The Wall Street Journal.

The US bank is working on a deal to sell the private equity operation, which manages $22 billion, to Highbridge chief Scott Kapnick and other senior managers, according to the report.

JPMorgan will keep control of Highbridge's hedge fund unit, the report said.

The US bank bought a majority stake in Highbridge in 2004, and completed its purchase of the remaining shares in 2009.

JPMorgan last week missed earnings estimates for the third quarter

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43107.htm

The world is beginning to realize that a seachange in world affairs occurred on September 28 when President Putin of Russia stated in his UN speech that Russia can no longer tolerate Washington’s vicious, stupid, and failed policies that have unleashed chaos, which is engulfing the Middle East and now Europe. Two days later, Russia took over the military situation in Syria and began the destruction of the Islamic State forces.

Perhaps among Obama’s advisors there are a few who are not drowning in hubris and can
understand this seachange. Sputnik news reports that some high-level security advisors to Obama have advised him to withdraw US military forces from Syria and give up his plan to overthrow Assad. They advised Obama to cooperate with Russia in order to stop the refugee flow that is overwhelming Washington’s vassals in Europe. The influx of unwanted peoples is making Europeans aware of the high cost of enabling US foreign policy. Advisors have told Obama that the idiocy of the neoconservatives’ policies threaten Washington’s empire in Europe.

Several commentators, such as Mike Whitney and Stephen Lendman, have concluded, correctly, that there is nothing that Washington can do about Russian actions against the Islamic State. The neoconservatives’ plan for a UN no-fly zone over Syria in order to push out the Russians is a pipe dream. No such resolution will come out of the UN. Indeed, the Russians have already established a de facto no-fly zone. Putin, without issuing any verbal threats or engaging in any name-calling, has decisively shifted the power balance, and the world knows it. Washington’s response consists of name-calling, bluster and more lies, some of which is echoed by some of Washington’s ever more doubtful vassals. The only effect is to demonstrate Washington’s impotence.

If Obama has any sense, he will dismiss from his government the neoconservative morons who have squandered Washington’s power, and he will focus instead on holding on to Europe by working with Russia to destroy, rather than to sponsor, the terrorism in the Middle East that is overwhelming Europe with refugees. If Obama cannot admit a mistake, the United States will continue to lose credibility and prestige around the world.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West and How America Was Lost.

http://www.dailydot.com/politics/tpp-release-date/

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a huge, controversial international trade deal that’s spent years shrouded in secrecy, finally has something like a coming out day.

The TPP’s text will be made public Nov. 7, or sometime around then, or perhaps a little sooner, according to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.

In a press call on Wednesday that was embargoed until Thursday morning, Froman said that the text would be made available to the public at large in approximately 30 days.

The 12 nations that negotiated the TPP—the U.S. and the rest of North America, plus other Pacific Rim countries scattered around Asia, Latin America, and Oceana—announced Oct. 5 that they’d finally reached a consensus on a text after dozens of summits around the world. But a few small details still needed to be hammered out, Froman said.

It’s standard practice for multinational trade deals to be kept under wraps while possible participants negotiate it. But the sheer scale of the TPP, corporate lobbyists’ access to negotiators, and the fact that activists and journalists were barred from being near negotiators in recent years have combined to give the pact a whiff of conspicuous secrecy.

Those who would keep the TPP from the public’s eye found a powerful enemy in WikiLeaks, which acquired and published several drafts of TPP chapters. Public groups covering several of the issues detailed in those chapters—the Sierra Club on the environment chapter, for example, and Internet freedom groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation on the chapter on intellectual property, strongly condemned it. WikiLeaks has been so intent on exposing the TPP in its entirety that it’s held a fundraiser to create a “bounty” to convince someone to leak it. A representative for WikiLeaks didn’t immediately answer the Daily Dot’s question of what would happen to the money if the text was released before the organization.

The U.S. can only adopt the TPP once it passes Congress. Though it’s a politically charged issue both on the Hill and among presidential candidates—Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both condemned it—Froman said the USTR is meeting with individual members of Congress about it. “We’re having ongoing conversations,” he said.

That means Congress’s vote is still a few months off, at least. Congress will “wait at least 90 days” after the text is released before a vote, Froman said.

http://www.globaljustice.org.uk/blog/2015/oct/5/nine-thoughts-tpp-agreement-being-reached-today

Stepping back from details, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the biggest trade deal in a generation and part of the same 'new generation' of trade deals as TTIP. There are 12 countries involved across the Pacific Rim, including the USA, Japan, Canada and Australia.

Like TTIP, it goes well beyond 'trade' in the narrow sense – its primary purpose is to rewrite global economic rules in favour of capital - and not just for the countries involved. Other countries already want to come on board. This is a less democratic version of the World Trade Organization and affects everyone. So it's a very big deal. Campaigns against it have been huge and countries themselves have had serious political difficulties in getting to this point. So it shows that there’s a big battle now to stop it from being ratified. It's also about power and geopolitics between countries. The US is trying to curtail China's power and make sure that it’s the US that sets rules. TPP 'contains' China.

Of particular worry is the corporate court system – the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) that will lead to a massive increase in governments being sued by corporations. Campaigns on TPP means that it looks like the tobacco sector has been excluded from ISDS, but that's just a symbol. Corporations would be able to threaten governments across 40% of global economy now. Big Pharma has played a big role in pushing for TPP. They’re desperate to extend monopoly power over drugs by extending patents to US standards, which would make them unaffordable for millions of people. It's been beaten back - but still looks likely to make things worse in most countries. Corporations are also trying to expand power over the Internet and use of your data by setting global rules to their advantage. The data rights movement have been up in arms about it. Farming standards – TPP would make it more difficult for small farmers to stand up to big agrobusiness as they have to compete directly. Despite talk of improving labour standards, like most trade agreements TPP would send work to where it can be done cheaper, resulting in a classic ‘race to the bottom’ and offshoring jobs

All this has made TPP very controversial, especially amongst the Democrats. And that means that there is fertile ground to also sow the seeds of doubt about TTIP. But it’s not over and we shouldn’t lose hope!

TPP needs to go to the US Congress in coming months. Once they read the actual text (which has been secret until now) more will turn against It. They can defeat it - but they can’t amend it.
Both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have voiced their opposition to the deal, which shows what a political tightrope the deal would be walking in order to be passed.
The Canadian elections are coming up, and the opposition party says it won't feel bound to sign it.

So it can still be stopped, and the agreement today will galvanise opposition against it. While ratification would strengthen the hand of those pushing for TTIP, failure would threaten it. There’s still everything to play for!

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." - Rob Siltanen

the start of a series

We have elections and wars to distract us. That makes for dangerous times--especially for capitalists. Shouldn't take one's eyes off the ball. Of course, the elections and wars are to distract the little people, but that doesn't mean the 1% are taking care of business, either. After all, why start now, when cheating has been so profitable?

I've been digging through the email newsletter archives, but not much there, either. More reading and rejecting than posting.

I'm going to bed. Perhaps there will be news in the morning....warm and rainy until Friday...

https://wikileaks.org/tisa-financial/press.html

WikiLeaks released the secret draft text for the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) Financial Services Annex, which covers 50 countries and 68.2%1 of world trade in services. The US and the EU are the main proponents of the agreement, and the authors of most joint changes, which also covers cross-border data flow. In a significant anti-transparency manoeuvre by the parties, the draft has been classified to keep it secret not just during the negotiations but for five years after the TISA enters into force.

Despite the failures in financial regulation evident during the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis and calls for improvement of relevant regulatory structures2, proponents of TISA aim to further deregulate global financial services markets. The draft Financial Services Annex sets rules which would assist the expansion of financial multi-nationals – mainly headquartered in New York, London, Paris and Frankfurt – into other nations by preventing regulatory barriers. The leaked draft also shows that the US is particularly keen on boosting cross-border data flow, which would allow uninhibited exchange of personal and financial data.

TISA negotiations are currently taking place outside of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) framework. However, the Agreement is being crafted to be compatible with GATS so that a critical mass of participants will be able to pressure remaining WTO members to sign on in the future. Conspicuously absent from the 50 countries covered by the negotiations are the BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The exclusive nature of TISA will weaken their position in future services negotiations...

MORE

http://www.the-american-interest.com/2014/06/22/pakistan-has-more-than-two-million-slaves/



There are an estimated 30 million slaves in the world today, more than at any other time in history. In case you missed it, earlier this month Real Clear World ran a profile of what slave labor looks like in Pakistan today. There are 1.8 million “debt laborers” in the country, and 2.2 million slaves over all (only India and China have more). The debt laborers are kept under the thumb of landlords who sell them back and forth and cook up ways of keeping them in bondage:



Americans are tempted to see this a third world problem, or as a problem “over there,” but that’s also wrong. On the one hand, a lot of products made by slave workers overseas find their way into our stores and markets. A former WRM researcher Ben Skinner has detailed instances of this at length, both in his book on modern slavery (“A Crime So Monstrous”) and subsequently. Here, for example, we discuss his research into the debt bondage and abuse behind the palm oil industry. The role slavery and death plays in the global shrimp trade made news recently. Moreover, we have slaves right here. The same report we quoted above found 60,000 slaves right here in the U.S.

FOR LINKS, SEE ARTICLE

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/21/apple-tells-us-judge-impossible-to-unlock-new-iphones.html



Apple told a U.S. judge that accessing data stored on a locked iPhone would be "impossible" with devices using its latest operating system, but the company has the "technical ability" to help law enforcement unlock older phones.

Apple's position was laid out in a brief filed late Monday, after a federal magistrate judge in Brooklyn, New York, sought its input as he weighed a U.S. Justice Department request to force the company to help authorities access a seized iPhone during an investigation. In court papers, Apple said that for the 90 percent of its devices running iOS 8 or higher, granting the Justice Department's request "would be impossible to perform" after it strengthened encryption methods. Those devices include a feature that prevents anyone without the device's passcode from accessing its data, including Apple itself. The feature was adopted in 2014 amid heightened privacy concerns following leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about NSA surveillance programs.

Apple told U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein it could access the 10 percent of its devices that continue to use older systems, including the one at issue in the case. But it urged the judge to not require it to comply with the Justice Department's request.

"Forcing Apple to extract data in this case, absent clear legal authority to do so, could threaten the trust between Apple and its customers and substantially tarnish the Apple brand," Apple's lawyers wrote...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/21/us-eu-taxavoidance-idUSKCN0SF0US20151021?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

Europe's competition chief ordered the Netherlands to recover 20-30 million euros in back taxes from Starbucks on Wednesday and told Luxembourg to claim the same amount from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, saying their favorable tax arrangements breached the bloc's rules.

The decision by European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager forms part of a crackdown by regulators worldwide against tax avoidance.

Special deals that slash multinationals' tax bills to little more than zero in some cases have come under closer scrutiny as governments struggle with declining revenues...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/20/us-tnt-express-m-a-fedex-eu-idUSKCN0SE1M520151020

EU antitrust regulators have no objections to FedEx's 4.4 billion euro ($5 billion) acquisition of Dutch peer TNT Express, the companies said on Tuesday, confirming what two people familiar with the matter previously told Reuters.

With a European market share of 17 percent, the combined company would be Europe's second-biggest delivery services business, behind Deutsche Post's DHL but ahead of UPS. The deal would also strengthen FedEx's position as the world's No.3 player.

TNT shares jumped 10 percent to 7.55 euros, the biggest gainers in the STOXX Europe 600 Industrial Goods and Services index, after Reuters cited sources saying unconditional EU approval was imminent...

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/10/21/former-american-motors-complex-in-detroit-sells-for-paltry-600/

A building once home to the American Motors Corporation headquarters in Detroit has sold for a mere $600 in Wayne County’s tax foreclosure auction.

The winning bidder — who purchased the 1.4 million-square-foot facility Tuesday afternoon — will also have to pay its summer tax bill of about $160,630.

The complex was among 25,500 properties up for sale in the second round of the Wayne County tax foreclosure auction that began Oct. 6 and runs until Thursday. Bidding on the former headquarters started at $500.

In addition to American Motors, the facility also has housed refrigerator manufacturer Kelvinator since its opening in 1927.

More than $1 million in taxes was owed when the property foreclosed.


REMEMBER THE GREMLIN? UGLIEST CAR EVER SOLD ANYWHERE...

I had one of those. A Gremlin Levi's Edition, with a 304 cu V8. Would blow the socks off a lot of other models, including everything I've owned since then.

and it didn't age well, either. Definite problems with rust.

than Uncle Sam shipped me off to South Korea for a year. Couldn't take it with me, and it didn't make sense to just let it sit around doing nothing for a year.

temperatures. Ours lasted a long, long time.

10/21/15 Jack Bogle is leading a populist revolution on Wall Street.

The long-time investment guru, who 40 years ago founded the investment company the Vanguard Group, wants everyday Americans to make a lot more money in the stock market — and give less of their returns away to financial firms.

And the surprising thing about his revolution? He's winning.

"It's changing the world of investing for all kinds of investors," Bogle says.

Bogle, 86, says the $3.2 trillion that Vanguard manages has come from people in all walks of life who share one thing: They've looked at the math and concluded they can make more money by following Bogle's lead — a lot more money.

Paying even small-sounding fees — like 2 percent — over a lifetime of investing can really cripple your returns. That's why low costs are at the heart of Bogle's approach. "Cost turns out to be everything," he says. "It's just what I've always called the 'relentless rules of humble arithmetic.' "

more...
http://www.npr.org/2015/10/21/443192311/the-george-washington-of-investing-wants-you-for-the-revolution




more from NPR series: Your Money And Your Life
http://www.npr.org/series/448706447/your-money-and-your-life


and see Monday's SMW for additional retirement savings topics
http://www.democraticunderground.com/111672771

and Tuesday
http://www.democraticunderground.com/111672790

http://www.freepress.net/blog/2014/06/18/how-tell-if-your-member-congress-crony-capitalist

Last JUNE, 2014, Rep. Eric Cantor learned the hard way that crony capitalism comes at a political cost. In a decisive 10-point upset, Cantor’s Republican primary opponent David Brat defeated the Virginia congressman after charging that he was “trying to buy this election with corporate cash.”

Few inside Washington thought charges like this would stick; for decades they’ve opened their campaign coffers to millions of dollars from Fortune 500 firms without fearing any consequences at the ballot box.

Since arriving on Capitol Hill in 2001, Cantor has received corporate contributions extending from Bank of America to Verizon and beyond. Only four other lawmakers took in more corporate cash during the most recent election cycle.

In exchange, Cantor became big businesses’ “ace in the hole.” According to TIME, big banks, energy and defense industries, insurance firms, and phone and cable companies knew they could rely on Cantor to put their interests before those of his constituents back in Virginia’s 7th District....

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/youve-got-fail-high-school-students-hack-cia-directors-aol-account?akid=13591.227380.DLoqUR&rd=1&src=newsletter1044410&t=19

YOU'VE GOT TO READ IT TO BELIEVE IT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/20/us-usa-debt-idUSKCN0SE2KU20151020

U.S. government regulators puzzling over what to do about frugalities in the increasingly electronic bond markets said on Tuesday reforms may be needed that emphasize stability over what one called the "never-ending competition for more speed."

Following an unexplained so-called flash rally in the U.S. Treasuries market on Oct. 15, 2014 that saw volatile swings in bond prices, regulators have ramped up scrutiny of the changing structure of the nearly $13-trillion Treasuries market.

At the same time, some investors and traders are concerned that such significant disruptions will become more frequent in the market for what is considered the world's safest securities.

A report on last year's market shock cited the increasing prominence of algorithmic strategies in high-frequency trading, which can move billions of dollars of transactions within fractions of a second...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-20/ireland-names-economics-professor-lane-to-head-central-bank

Ireland named Philip Lane, an economics professor at Trinity College Dublin, as its next central-bank governor, again picking an academic for the role.

The 46-year-old was formally approved by the Irish cabinet in Dublin on Tuesday. He received a PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1995 and was assistant professor of economics and international affairs at Columbia University from 1995 to 1997 before returning to the Irish capital. The government said in a statement that it will advise President Michael D. Higgins to make the formal appointment.

Lane is the second consecutive academic to be picked for the role, breaking a long-standing tradition of selecting from within the higher ranks of the civil service. He succeeds Patrick Honohan, who was plucked from TCD’s economics department in 2009 to restore the central bank’s credibility amid a real-estate and banking collapse. Honohan plans to step down around the end of November...

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/10/reformers-stymie-obama-a-second-time-on-wall-street-cronies-progressive-pick-lisa-fairfax-nominated-for-sec.html

The way to change institutions is to change the people in positions of influence within them. Even with an obviously pro-corporate Mary Jo White at the head of the SEC, Democratic commissioners Kara Stein and the outgoing Luis Aguilar have been able to curtail some of the agency’s particularly dubious established policies, like giving financial services industry recidivists waivers from sanctions that were mandated by law when they settled for violations of securities laws. The worst of this demand for relief wasn’t as if there was any justification for it beyond the banks’s perception of their God-given right to profit. The mandatory sanctions hit non-core but nevertheless attractive operations, such as fundraising for hedge funds and private equity funds, so it’s not as if the banks could argue that the business losses would put their overall survival at risk or represented a loss of essential services to the public (there are plenty of competitors to pick up the slack).

So it was an important precedent early this year when pro-bank reform Senators, led by Elizabeth Warren, made so much of a stink over Obama’s nomination of Lazard international mergers & acquisitions banker Antonio Weiss to a senior Treasury post for which he was not qualified that he withdrew. This victory was more important than it might appear. Warren, Sherrod Brown, and other pro-bank-reform Senators took on the Wall Street wing of the Democratic party and won, even when it pulled out all stops and got pro-Weiss articles placed repeatedly in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.

A less-high-profile fight has been underway for the replacement to Luis Aguilar at the SEC. Normally, an SEC commissioner is not a great position for influencing policy, but Kara Stein has made very effective use of her position to call out weak SEC policies, putting her in the unusual position of opposing a commissioner from her own party. And by virtue of Mary Jo White having to recuse herself often due to her extensive conflicts of interest, Stein and Aguilar were able to block questionable SEC actions by voting against them, which had the effect of calling attention to the problems with the pending measures, as well as force a compromise more to their liking.

Thus Obama planned to end Kara Stein’s effectiveness as a reformer by getting a pro-bank replacement for Aguilar in place (Aguilar’s term ended earlier this year, but he can continue to serve until the end of 2015 if his replacement has not been approved by the Senate). The trial balloon floated was for Kier Gumbs, a Covington & Burling corporate attorney. Yes, the very same Covington & Burling that gave us Lanny Breuer, who famously lay awake at night worrying if prosecuting banks might hurt them, and Gene Ludwig, the former Comptroller of the Currency who founded and leads Promontory Group, which among other things was behind the whitewashes of MF Global’s risk controls, Bank of America’s foreclosure reviews, and Standard Chartered’s claim that it had only $14 million (yes, with an “m”) bank wires that were out of compliance (as in used for money laundering) when it later admitted to $250 billion (yes, with a “b”).

And in case you think we are being unfair in tarring Gumbs with being at Covington, the particulars of his record put him firmly in the “defend the cronyistic status quo” camp...MORE

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-20/just-how-bad-was-the-2009-global-recession-really-really-bad

The global recession that followed the financial crisis was the most severe in half a century, an unusually synchronized shock that paralyzed trade and left 23 million more people out of work.

Yet the response by policy makers hasn’t been up to the task, with central banks bearing too much of the burden. And the world may be on the edge of another recession, even though it hasn’t recovered from the last one.

Those are the conclusions of a new book on business cycles released Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund.

“The 2009 episode was the most severe of the four global recessions of the past half century and the only one during which world output contracted outright -- truly deserving of the ‘Great Recession’ label,” write Ayhan Kose, director of the World Bank’s Development Prospects Group, and Marco Terrones, deputy division chief at the IMF’s research department.

“The possibility of another global recession lingers in light of the persistently weak recovery, even though damage from the previous one has yet to be fully repaired.”

The 272-page book, “Collapse and Revival: Understanding Global Recessions and Recoveries,” underscores the challenges policy makers face as they try to jumpstart a sputtering recovery more than six years after the global financial crisis...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-21/saudis-risk-draining-financial-assets-in-five-years-imf-says

Saudi Arabia may run out of financial assets needed to support spending within five years if the government maintains current policies, the International Monetary Fund said, underscoring the need of measures to shore up public finances amid the drop in oil prices.

The same is true of Bahrain and Oman in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, the IMF said in a report on Wednesday. Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have relatively more financial assets that could support them for more than 20 years, the Washington-based lender said.

Saudi authorities are already planning spending cuts as the world’s biggest oil exporter seeks to cut its budget deficit. Officials have repeatedly said that the kingdom’s economy, the Arab world’s biggest, is strong enough to weather the plunge in crude prices as it did in similar crises, when its finances were under more strain.

But the IMF said measures being considered by oil exporters “are likely to be inadequate to achieve the needed medium-term fiscal consolidation," the IMF said. “Under current policies, countries would run out of buffers in less than five years because of large fiscal deficits."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-14/obama-administration-hits-back-at-student-debtors-seeking-relief

On a day when Democratic presidential candidates sparred in a national debate over who would do more to help indebted students, the U.S. government launched a new attack on student debtors seeking loan relief. On Tuesday, the Department of Education intervened in the case of Robert Murphy, an unemployed 65-year-old who has waged a three-year legal battle to erase his student loans in bankruptcy.

Unlike almost every single form of consumer debt, student loans can be erased only in very rare circumstances. Murphy’s case, which is currently being heard in a federal court in Boston, could make things a little easier for certain borrowers. A win for Murphy would relieve him of $246,500 in debt and could loosen the standard used to determine how desperate someone needs to be to qualify for relief. The court asked the Education Department to weigh in on the matter. In a document submitted to the court on Tuesday, government lawyers urged the federal judges not to cede any ground to borrowers who say they are in dire financial straits. Doing so would imperil “the fiscal stability of the loan program” that has existed for half a century. The Department of Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Murphy doesn’t deserve a break just because he is 65 years old, department lawyers wrote. Repaying his debt loan may require “that he remain employed at or past normal retirement age,” they said, even though “his income may top out or decrease” and “further employment opportunities may be limited.”

“That is part of the bargain that parents strike when they take out loans later in their work life,” the lawyers added. Murphy took out several loans to send his three children to college, but he lost his job at a manufacturing company in 2002 and has not been able to find work since.

No student debtor should get a break on student loans unless they can show a “certainty of hopelessness,” said the government’s lawyers. “A debtor must specifically prove a total incapacity in the future to repay the debt for reasons not within his control,” they added. The lawyers said that the point of keeping such a stringent standard is to ensure “that bankruptcy does not become a convenient and expedient means of extinguishing student loan debt.”

The Education Department is seasoned at waging this particular battle. For over a decade, the department, through its lawyers, has pushed the courts to adopt the harshest standards possible when considering pleas from bankrupt students.

“The general purpose of the Bankruptcy Code to give honest debtors a fresh start does not automatically apply to student loan debtors,” the government’s lawyers wrote.

UTTER FOOLISHNESS FROM OUR IDIOT IN CHIEF AND HIS HAND-PICKED LACKEYS...OR WERE THEY RAHM-PICKED?

Lawmakers have never defined undue hardship, though, so courts have tried to work out exactly how poor Americans need to be—and for how long—in order to qualify for student loan forgiveness.

that I can find that might interest you. I'm taking my antibiotics and going off to work. The Kid is staying home with her second cold....and it's warm and sprinkly.

Hope Hump Day goes well for you!

AmEx Profit Misses Estimates as Expenses Rise, Revenue Declines

And surprising that AmEx is reduced to discount shopping clubs.

It may be a status symbol that outlived its usefulness....or priced itself out of the running.