Here's what we're following this morning:

Government is no longer for the people but for special interests - TrimTabs Money Blog | And just HOW do you find out who are the biggest special interest groups?  Look at the government budgets and look for who is receiving the most money...especially now.

GAO finds that foreclosure "Request a Review" materials are too complicated for many borrowers - Naked Capitalism | If you remember, mortgage servicers were required to do "outreach" to borrowers who might have suffered to give them an opportunity to request a review.  The final participation was underwhelming: even after extending the deadline twice, you'll be amazed at the response rate.

IMF to trim global growth forecasts - Financial Times | I love it how she expresses her hope that the ECB's action on deposit rates could help to "stimulate interbank lending, which has not been as active as it should be."  The money is effectively free and no one wants to deploy any more of it.  Liquidity is already rampant in the system, and there is no growth...or, whatever growth there is will not sustain governments' spending sprees.  Krasting had a piece on this as to what will and will not work; these IMF forecasts only support his argument.

Bernanke's goal?  To wreck Social Security. - Bruce Krasting | I linked to this yesterday via Twitter (https://twitter.com/InvestingSense) but it's important enough to bang this drum a little more.  SSTF has stated that the date in which the trust fund falls to zero will be 2033; it will actually come as soon as 2023.  SSTF has also stated that it will top-out at $3.061 trillion in 2021; that number will actually be $2.823 trillion and it could come as soon as 2015.  If you are 55 or older, you'll see a 25% haircut in benefits in your lifetime.  If you're under 55, you're screwed.

The lessons Washington cannot draw from the failure of the military option - TomDispatch | The militarization of the United States and the strengthening of the National Security Complex continues to accelerate.  You'd be amazed by just how much is under the aegis of "national security" and how many different organizations run rampant in the name of "intelligence."  You'd also be surprised with the results of the regional scorecard of what American militarization has meant in the Greater Middle East since 2001.

Next bank woe = home-equity loans - Wall Street Journal | Luckily [sic], banks have shifted to higher-risk investments in order to boost their interest rate returns.  So...rates go up; homeowners can't pay the loan amounts; banks receive less money; AND the banks are doing whatever they can to juice returns?  Sounds fabulous.

The great liquidity trap - Counterpunch | It's rather unfortunate that the author suggests that the Fed could undertake open market operations (i.e. QE buying) on private assets.  In Japan, basically everything can be bought-back by the central bank, and things still aren't improving.  What is going to happen when investors realize there is no moral hazard within the markets?  (Oh...wait.)

Banks prove that they are not too big to fail by writing "we can fail" on a piece of paper and move on - Dealbreaker | Just remember that Dimon said that short of the "moon crashing into the Earth," JPM won't go under.

Some of the best brains don't even understand the bigger picture about LIBOR - Jesse's Cafe Americain | Stocks?  Manipulated.  Metals?  Manipulated.  Interest rates?  Manipulated.  Cash?  Printed at-will.  Makes a guy wonder what isn't jerked-around, these days.

Lifeguard fired for saving a life in the water - Jr Deputy Accountant | This is the way our world operates now, folks.