In a nation where ministers and head of state receive more than 10 times the salary of US president, the middle and lower income groups in singapore feeling the pinch in rising costs.

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong
Salary as Prime Minister $2million yearly
Salary as Finance Minister $1.2million yearly
Variable Bonus: 6months salary minimum yearly
Full Medical Benefits – Private Specialist Consultant on regular standby – Yearly cost to tax payers $200,000
Security cost: Approximately $1.5million yearly
First class travel and stays at top hotels when he travels on business trips

United States of America
President, George Bush: Increased to US$400,000 on Jan. 20, 2001, with US$50,000 expenses
Vice President, Richard Cheney: US$202,900
Cabinet Secretaries: US$157,000 – 186,600
Shaha Ali Riza, Paul Wolfowitz’s girlfriend – $193,590 (she now reports to Liz Cheney, daughter of Richard Cheney in the US State Department
Condoleezza Rice – $186,600

United Kingdom
Prime Minister: US$170,556
Ministers: US$146,299

Australia
Prime Minister: US$137,060
Deputy Prime Minister: US$111,439
Treasurer: US$102,682

Duration : 0:2:41

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Technorati Tags: chee, democrats, food, govenment, housing, juan, kuna, lee, news, PAP, politics, poverty, school, SDP, soon, yew

http://www.interest.co.nz

Panel 1 with this chart
UN chief Ban Ki Moon
Calls for end to food tariffs
To improve food shortage
Wants output doubled
Criticised biofuels

Panel 2
Greens want Fonterra subsidies
Subsidies are wrong
Make poor hungrier
Genocide by remote control

United Nations chief Ban Ki Moon
Called on rich nations to drop farming subsidies and trade barriers
Crisis summit on world food
World Bank reckons higher food prices will push 100 million people into hunger
Mr Ban reckons dealing with the food crisis could cost US$20 bln
He thinks food supply needs to double by 2030 to solve world hunger
Surprisingly he targeted subsidies and tariffs
EU spends $62 billion a year on CAP
US spends many billions more
Mr Ban also criticized others such as China and Japan who have restricted exports
Japan agreed to re-export 300,000 of exported rice
Mr Ban criticized the shift in land use and food use into biofuels
US plans to use quarter of maize crop for biofuels by 2022
Europe wants to get 10% of auto fuel from crops by 2020
Even in New Zealand, bastion of free trade, the Green Party has asked Fonterra to charge lower prices for milk in NZ than overseas, essentially a subsidy
Lesson is subsidies and tariffs stop rich countries buying food from poor countries
It also raises the price of food globally
Subsidies incentivize the wrong type of production
Subsidies and trade barriers cause starvation and poverty
They need to be dropped
Rich are protecting their farmers
Allowing poor people to starve and keeping prices high for all

European bureaucrats CAP and US food lobbyists and lawmakers are committing by remote control a slow, insidious form of genocide

Duration : 0:2:58

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Technorati Tags: Analysis, Commentary, Commercial, Documentary, Gotcha!, Grassroots, news, Outreach, Political

http://www.interest.co.nz

Food price inflation 6% in year to April
Food prices up 0.3% in April from March
Not as bad as monthly growth rates in February and March
Pork, poultry, fruit and vege prices all fell in April, (Pork fried veges)
But gainers included food additives and condiments, confectionary, mutton and lamb prices (+7.3%)
(No pudding or lamb roasts) Fruit after dinner
What does it mean for Reserve Bank
As generally expected by the market
Maybe slightly lower
6% annual growth can’t be ignored
Reserve Bank still has an inflation problem
Weighing up slowing economy vs inflationary outlook
Most people say September cut, maybe as early as June 5
My bet is still on a December cut
RBNZ can’t afford a NZ dollar collapse

Duration : 0:2:18

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Technorati Tags: Analysis, Commentary, Commercial, Documentary, Gotcha!, Grassroots, news, Outreach, Political

Still clipping coupons? Kimberly Palmer, the Alpha Consumer blogger, shows you five more ways to save.

Duration : 0:1:58

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Technorati Tags: alpha, consumer, drink, food, groceries, money, news, save, U.S., wtop

Bush DoubleSpeak: “Core” Inflation Low,U.S. Pays More for Gas,Food

“…And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine…”

Rev.6:6
KJV
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http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/04/news/economy/bush_economy.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes

(CNN 1/04/2008)

President Bush spoke to reporters Friday after getting an update from his top economic advisers, who are helping him decide whether to offer a package to stimulate the U.S. economy as it weathers the housing slump, rising oil prices and an uptick in unemployment.

“This economy of ours is on a solid foundation, but we can’t take economic growth for granted,” Bush said. “And there are signs that will cause us to be ever more diligent and make sure that good policies come out of Washington.”

Vice President Dick Cheney and other White House officials joined Bush in his meeting with his working group on financial markets, an interagency panel led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that meets regularly to discuss market conditions and regulatory policy. Others around the table included: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke; Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Walt Lukken, acting director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; Ed Lazear, chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers; and Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel.

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Video: CNN

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Duration : 0:2:31

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Technorati Tags: 2008, bush, cheney, CNN, consumers, crash, economic, finance, inflation, infowars, market, news, ofumedia, oil, recession, stock, wine