Bagmen Not Statesmen
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
What has been going on in Washington, D.C., since the financial meltdown of 2008 has been a disaster for the country. Taxpayers bailed out crooked, incompetent bankers while tens of millions lost their homes and jobs. The bailouts have cost trillions of dollars, and they’re not finished. The Federal Reserve has set a key interest rate to near zero percent until 2015, and it is printing $85 billion a month to prop up the banks and our own government. The Fed calls this little operation “open-ended.” No one has gone to jail for causing this enormous hardship on ordinary Americans, and not a word is spoken in the halls of Congress about stopping the bailouts or bringing criminals to justice. This is immoral, disgusting, repugnant, nonexistent leadership.
This could have been handled in 2008 with the debt wiped clean. We should have only protected depositors. Bankers, bondholders and shareholders be damned—that’s capitalism. It would have cost about $6 trillion back then, and we’d be on our way to a real recovery by now. That is exactly what Iceland did. It told bankers, shareholders and bondholders to take a big hit instead of giving a bailout for incompetence and fraud. Oh, and it prosecuted the bankers and government officials that allowed the implosion to happen! (Click here for more on Iceland’s turnaround.) Instead, the Federal Reserve alone pumped out $16 trillion in the wake of the 2008 meltdown. That is only part of the banker bailout that is still going on to the tune of $40 billion a month. Not a single financial elite has been prosecuted and put behind bars for obvious crime and fraud—not one!
Meanwhile, the dog and pony show called the “fiscal-cliff” is playing out like a gigantic blame game. All we have to hear is the splat for the finger pointing to kick into high gear. Both Democrats and Republicans are to blame for not standing up and making the hard choices to put the country on firm financial footing. They may act stupid, but I believe they know full well what’s going on. Renowned gold expert, Jim Sinclair, has a saying for things like this, “It’s too stupid to be stupid.” Meaning, it’s intentional.
Our own elected leaders turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to fraud and crime year after year. The government also allows the banks to value assets at whatever they think they will be worth in the future. This government sanctioned accounting fraud has been allowed since April of 2009. Meaning, the Fed can’t print money fast enough to fix the gigantic mess. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve continues buying $40 billion a month in “toxic” mortgage debt created by the bankers. This stuff was supposed to be “Triple A” rated debt, equal to the “risk free return” of Treasury bonds. Imagine the government selling you Treasury bonds and later tell you they are “toxic.” Wouldn’t that be outright fraud? You bet it would, and yet not a word from our leaders about the Fed buying this junk at a rate of $40 billion a month to infinity. JP Morgan Chase just paid nearly $300 million in fines to settle fraud charges brought by the SEC. JP Morgan paid a $150 billion fine last year for the same thing. Other big banks are also guilty of fraud in the mortgage arena. Why isn’t Congress holding hearings? Why isn’t the Justice Department handing out indictments? Oh, we did get a deal on the “robo-signing” fiasco that let bankers off the hook for foreclosure fraud and perjury. Thanks, Congress, for letting your campaign donors, I mean bankers, slide again.
The LIBOR (London Inter-Bank Offered Rate) rate rigging scandal is another enormous fraud on a global scale. LIBOR sets rates for as much as $800 trillion in transactions worldwide. More than a dozen big banks are involved in rigging this rate, and what are they getting for punishment? Most recently, UBS was hit with a $1.5 billion fine. Why aren’t there indictments and Congressional hearings to get to the bottom of this rip-off?
How about money laundering for Mexican drug cartels and terror groups that HSBC recently admitted to doing over several years? Where’s the outrage? How about some criminal charges? Why isn’t Congress pressing the Obama Administration for answers just like the “Fast and Furious” gun running scandal? Isn’t laundering billions of dollars for drug cartels and terrorists worthy of a little attention by our government? HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver did admit to “stunning failures” and said, “We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again.” (Click here for the complete story from Reuters.) The CEO is “profoundly sorry”? How about profoundly guilty of crime against this country!!
Let’s go back to the so-called “Fiscal Cliff.” Everybody in Congress knows what the real story is. The U.S. takes in a little more than $2 trillion in taxes, and it spends a little more than $3 trillion. The real deficit for last year alone was $7 trillion (if you count everything) according to John Williams of Shadowstats.com. I am talking about the same accounting the government requires of business called GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles). Fixing this mess means we will have to spend a lot less and, yes, taxes will have to go up. This will be very painful for everybody, and I mean everybody. The rich, the poor, the young and old will have to suffer to fix this mess. It will take years, and we will not just “grow” our way out of this one. We’ve been told the “growth” lie for years, and the only thing that has grown is the debt and deficit of the U.S. If we don’t fix this mess, then that pain I’m telling you about is going to be much worse, and our very country will be at great risk.
There’s not a word about the real financial problems of the country with the “Fiscal Cliff” negotiations from either party. As Mr. Sinclair says, “This is too stupid to be stupid.” I say, in Washington, D.C., we have bagmen, not statesmen. For this, the country will pay dearly.
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About the Author
Greg Hunter
Greg is the producer and creator of USAWatchdog.com. The site’s slogan is “analyzing the news to give you a clear picture of what’s really going on.” The site will keep an eye on the government, your financial interests and cut through the media spin. USAWatchdog.com is neither Democrat nor Republican, Liberal or Conservative. Before creating and producing the site, Greg spent nearly 9 years as a network and investigative correspondent. He worked for ABC News and Good Morning America for nearly 6 years. Most recently, Greg worked for CNN for shows such as Paula Zahn Now, American Morning and various CNN business shows.
Greg,
Great compilation, composure, conclusion – a commentary of a true Wordsmith. People like Jim Sinclair and Karl Denninger are exceptional by both ability and position they have gained in life; and few can be directly compared to men of their ilk. But you are like a decoupage artist, that brings style and function together, from many like these – with refreshing originality, and spot-on precision. God bless you now and in the year to come. You are a real blessing to many of us.
respectfully,
Charles H.
Thank you Charles H. You made my day!!
Greg
MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR CHARLES & GREG:
Accolades aside, OUR Constitution offers US gold and silver coins for FREE from the US Mint without commissions etc. Mere words I’m sorry to say have NEVER proven to be substitutes for specie vs. fiat.
RUSS SMITH, CALIFORNIA (ONE OF OUR BROKE FIAT MONEY STATES)
[email protected]
Thank you Russ for the comment and Merry Christmas to you as well.
Greg
Wow, what a a great commentary! You articulated so well what many of us are feeling. Thank you.
C.A. and Todd,
Thank you for the comments.
Greg
Apparetly after the civil war the people still posessed way too much wealth and power for the murders in Dc to sleep at night. Next year senority in a business will no longer exist due to the same outside influances … It has not been very many generations ago and the war is not over against the strength of the people and the constitution. Starvation and sickness will be the trophy of sucess, but should it be being were pushed so close to the soil that no resources should pass? new world is no longer new..
A Confederacy of Dunces… Our present state of achievement is underscored in tragedy; our vision of a world not of our making, all the more tragic.
Sadly, we will receive precisely what we permit.
When I look at the economy, the FED and how it is run three words conservatives use to describe liberal economic policy…. “transfer of wealth”
Mitch,
It may also be “destruction of wealth.” Good point, thank you for making it here.
Greg
Greg: I fear you are exposing this to clearly. Many have died for the same thing.Not that i want you to stop. Your report here is just to clear to ignore. This unchallenged fraud is why I say we live under a oligarchy not a republic.To clear to dispute it.
I thank you so much,yet things will not change unless theres groups in movies and media that will spark interest,and expose this fraud as clear as you have.Even then i have my doubts.Keep up this good work my friend.
Thank you Jay for your comment and concern. I will not stop.
Greg
In the springtime of 2009 i happened to be in a book store in Seattle listening to an author read his new book. At the break time i got to talk to a man that was sitting beside me. He use to be at the senior level management in Washington mutual bank. At that time he was unemployed and nearly broke. Most of his investments was in the now bankrupt washington mutual bank. He was very sad and depressed man at that time. He told me the collapse of the bank was an organized take down of the bank by some insiders and others from the outside. It was no accident that what happened. He called the 2008 financial collapse as “the great harvest of the financial system” . He told me there is a “behind the scene group”, who wants to control the entire global financial and banking systems, but the 2008 melt down almost got away from them. I told him he probably could find a job at the FBI or some other 3 letter agency investigating this fraud. He told me with his inside knowledge of what happened that would not be a good idea. The people behind this transition in the global financial system will not tolerate an investigation into any of this. I guess we shall just have to wait and see how this great scheme of theirs works out.
Good story Roy. Thank you for sharing it. “Too stupid to be stupid.” Fits well in this narrative.
Greg
You would have to be blind to not see that this is all engineered by corporate America and the big banks and spearheaded by the fed, with loving grace given to all of it by our very own US Congress. The root of the problem is the destruction of the US wealth creating mechanism (stripping of manufacturing sector out of US economy) and the problem now with the “fiscal cliff” is that we are not creating enough wealth in our economy to support the level of governmental spending. We have see this many times at the state and the city level.
Our government has settled on a solution to our economic and social problems. Militarized cops, huge quantities of organ shredding ammunition, total surveillance destruction of the constitution, detention centers and a fascist dictatorship. Yup, that ought to take care of the problems.
What’s your take on Cities going bankrupt? It will be interesting when the city is begging for money from the County, and the county is begging for money from the State and State is begging for money from the Feds. The Feds turn out there pockets to find nothing but lent.
J.Bradbury,
It’s all part of the debt bubble that will pop and end very badly for the unprepared.
Greg
Greg,
How sad it is that so many men believe that they are God.
Gary
Thank you Gary and Andy for the comments.
Greg
Greg: great synopsis of how the 99% can no longer count on the Rule of Law as an economic or social stability factor or, for that matter, equal justice for all.
“Fixing this mess means we will have to spend a lot less and, yes, taxes will have to go up.”
Uh, No… Taxes will Not (necessarily) have to go up…
What is it with people who think that raising taxes is going to fix a damned thing, when this government has already proven – for the last 30+ years, that they can’t $budget? Do you not get it…? Is there some type of Stockholm Syndrome with people who think we owe the government more of our earned income – to WASTE, just so that we can all ‘be in this together’…?
There not only has to be MASSIVE spending cuts across the board, there also needs to be equally Massive tax DECREASES across the board – and that is just to get employment jump-started, let alone ‘grow’ the economy.
I sit in stunned amazement when I see people who should know better, talk matter-of-factly how taxes will have to go up… Meanwhile, you have witnessed in the past 10 years what amounts to $Robbery of the public treasury by the banking industry – aided and abetted by our own Government!!! That same government who is going to ‘raise’ and Collect those taxes you say ‘will have to go up’. Good man, have you lost your mind…?
We are Corrupt to the core – our politicians, our finance industry, our courts and the entire legal system. Look at what just happened with HSBC – and you’re going to tell me that we’re all going to have to feel the pain of higher taxes – willingly and voluntarily – nay, happily so that America can be great again…?
Good Gawd man…
Agent P,
Well, either way taxes are going up in the present scenario. We need to stop spending more than we take in and that means monster cuts. Either we can do them ourselves or the market will make the cuts for us. Either way cuts are coming. Thank you for weighting in here. Always a pleasure.
Greg
MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR PATRONS OF USAWATCHDOG.COM ET AL;
The problem is easy to identify here. With the Socialists ruining OUR country on purpose to outright suppress Capitalism, the old time capitalists are being put in their naormal place under Socialist policies. These Slocialists ruiing Capitalism here in the US are going to of coarse favor & suppor the Banks etc. who support their deficits they use as amo to destroy & gut OUR Capitalist Country. OUR jobs as constituency citizens is to learn to play OUR roles as aiders a abbetters until the death of Capitalism is only a minor memory. No sense trying to backtalk OUR leaders. If they allowed that to happen then there would be a chance we instead of they would be in charge of OUR Country and, for their Socialist agendas to succeed, OUR fearless leaders can not allow anything resembling that to happen can they? We must learn by hook & by crook to bow down to whatever demands they thrust upon US not excluding funding their military aims throughtout the world today at their behest which has cost this Nation the lives of how many of OUR young service men whose families must now live without them? Durng the inflation of France around 1789 the only thing that saved young men then from their inflation and unemployment was they were sent off o foreign battlefields to fight and be fed. For how long have we the people been told that OUR Country was going to have a jobless recovery? Just how long are we the people suppose to await that happening, before we “REALISE” it’s just OUR famulous Socialist leadership trying endlessly to buy more time. We’ve been in this morass now in and out of recessions for over 40 years and we’re stlll waitng for the answers to be drawn in the sand; all the while OUR service men continue their services to these same Socialists. BAAA HUMBUG is my true response to this slow prevailing death of OUR Country & yourts dear patrons?
RUSS SMITH, CALIFORNIA (ONE OF OUR BROKE FIAT MONEY STATES)
[email protected]
Russ,
It’s called Fascism, not Socialism.
Methinks Greece will be the first nation to let us see what happens to greed. They are actually suffering in Greece because of the same things that were coverd up here. The trading ticker NBG is already telling us there is no relief for Greece. We should be thankful at least that our corporate and Wall St criminals are savvy enuff to pass our future problems onto others….so we can see how they handle adversity and learn from it. 🙂 I still believe EDZ is one of the best trades out there right now but my sexy VIXens might “astound” as XIV breaks below 15.50. Let’s see how this plays out. I’ve got the “criminal world” covered pretty well as far as “how to make money”…I’ll let you fokes moan/groan/whine/discuss/ponder how it will all play out in the real world. The real world doesn’t matter…teh “real” market does. Even the crooks can’t hide from the real market.
Good point Joe.
“Even the crooks can’t hide from the real market.” Love it!!!
Greg
Thank you so much Greg for the continuing effort to educate the people of America. I have always included your articles in my Facebook page but have rarely ever got anyone to pay attention. I finally deleted my Facebook page and will look for more personal ways to convey the message, that the system isn’t broke, it’s built this way.
A faithfull reader
Mike Preslar
Thank you Mike for your comment and for your support!! Don’t feel bad my friend about the apathy. Even my close family member are in la la land. I don’t even bring it up around the holidays and they don’t read the site. Oh well.
Greg
Mike Preslar: For about 3 yrs now iv been posting on facebook.com,and emailing post to everyone i know. At first i thought it was a waste..however i now realize it just takes persistence to wake people out of this deep sleep.Now its taking off,people are more interested. Documentaries like freedom to faschism,loose change, and the end game from onedollardvdproject.com have worked best for me in wakeing folks up.
I come to Gregs site for the newest up to date information/TRUTH.
Thank you jay for supporting this site!!
Greg
I also noticed imports have dramatically dropped in the last 90 days, and the 15 major Asian countries (including Australia and New Zealand) had a meeting a few weeks ago to discuss a common trading currency. Sounds like the time line is getting shorter for the dollar collapse. Great article.
Good info and comment Harold Bell. Thank you.
Greg
Not that im a fan but even rush, glenn, mark levine are starting to lose their minds like we have been for the past 4 years. They have officially recognized that NONE of the american peoples wishes are represented let alone talked about on capital hill. it’s pretty funny to hear them go insane when we (usa watchdog followers) knew this all along and have already given up on the criminal legislators and begun to plan for the worst economy in our history. Much love greg, from houston
BLT,
Thank you for the comment. I lived in Texas in the 80’s and I loved it!!!!! Really, I’d move back if I could.
Greg
Thanks Greg, you wrote a mouthfull.
Why wouldn’t Congress prosecute these blatant offences. For a while now I have come to believe Intelligence really runs this country and most of the world. They are mostly owned by a few families and Politicians being who they are for the most part have committed offences Intelligence has proof of. I would rather not look or sound like a tin foil hat wearing Conspiracy Theorist but for the life of me knowing what you wrote to be true (along with many other things), think of any other answer to this “Conspiracy of Silence”.
Jim H,
“Conspiracy of Silence” Don’t be surprised if I use this title in a future article. Really good!! Thank you.
Greg
Greg, on top of this mess, is the unfunded liabilities that the government owes out into the future, not only at the federal, but state level as well. Social Security, Health Care, Pensions, the goverment owes tens of trillions of dollars that they have no way of ever paying… No one is “fixing” it, because it is not “fixable”. They just keep passing the buck, and hoping they are long gone before “TSHTF”. Problem is, “the Shit is hitting the Fan” as we speak.
Steve,
Thank you for adding content to this post! Spot-on man!!! The “free-tards” will have a rude awakening in the next few years.
Greg
Hi Greg, I hope you had a great Christmas and Santa brought you everything you asked for.
Speaking of getting what you ask for, this whole fiscal cliff and the continuous fleecing of America is, in my opinion, going as planned. The congressional robber barons of the house and senate are executing the bankruptcy of America right on Obama’s schedule. The next two years will be much worse than the last four.
The only way to stop it now would be a full blown revolution, starting with exiling everyone in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of our government. Follow this immediately by any executives associated with a bank.
One can only hope!
Chuck,
All I wanted was some peace and happiness and I got it. Thank you for your comment and support.
Greg
SEASONS GREETINGS PATRONS OF USAWATCHDOG.COM ET AL:
We find this setup of ideas from Jesus in ST. Matthew 13:13….”Threfore speak I unto them in parables: because they seeing see not and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.”
Furthermore in ST. Matthew 13:15 we read…..”For this peoples heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.”
Please hear this parable therefore and understand at once or fail to hear and understand, so that we can look frward to the unavoidable consquences to be otherwise suffered which we have been suffering now for over 40 years like Moses and the Children of Israel in The Wilderness:
The use of fiat money vs. specie gold an silver coins as the energy engine of OUR US economy is actally far, far, far worse than a trucking agency advertising that they can run their fleet of trucks far more efficiently in terms of expenses and time using water instead of regular gas, diesal or natural gas as thir fuel. How far do you think their economy of scale will hold up under that condition of using water which will not only not run their fleet of trucks but actually rust up their engines sidelining their operation for eternal repairs? For more than 40 years that’s what our economy by comparison has been attempting to accomplish and it just doesn’t work does it? We have been loosing millions of jobs which causes OUR GOA to fudge the unemployment numbers which doesn’t put a nickel into the pockets of the unemployed but keeps tem at bay with words? My grodery cler, my gas attendants, my post office, my insurance companies etc., etc., etc. don’t take mere mords in payment of my debts to them, because they want to get paid with a transfer of my buying power into the hands of thei buying power but we do this via inflation that hikes up prices continuously; while again the GOA fudges the inflation rate too but they can’t escape the CPI (Consumer Price Index) can they? Inflation is the water in OUR Nations’ gas tank and OUR economy is rusting away with pice hikes because of it isn’t it? No thinking, conscientious, professionally trained truckers would ever allow anyone, government or private sector, to replce their reliable fuels with sabotage fuels would they and neither should we the people allow the replacement of OUR specie, Consitutionally guaranteed sound money that fuels our economy to be replaced by the degradations of mere fiat, paper, I Owe You Nothing paper & ink money. We have OUR Constitution as our protector and guide, as long as we have the eyes to see that fact and hear what OUR Constutional advisor wants US to hear. Also, may the Lord be allowed to heal us with JOY in OUR nervous systems replacing the fears that accompany fiat money creatins. He has told US OUR nervous systems were created not for fears but for JOY. REMEMBER: JOY TO THE WORLD; THE LORD HAS COME!!
RUSS SMITH, CALIFORNIA (ONE OF OUR BROKE FIAT MONEY STATES)
[email protected]
And that is why the media are foaming at the mouth about gun control.
Its Tar & Feathering Time & they want to prevent that.
I’m sorry Greg, but I don’t believe this “mess” we’re in can or will be fixed. Our country has already gone over the fiscal cliff and I think we are in a helpless situation. There isn’t a politician alive that has the stones to stand up to the criminal element running our country. Where is Dirty Harry when you really need him? The only thing anyone can do is anticipate whats coming and prepare as best they can. Your comentary has nailed it…keep up the good work.
Thank you Sandy. You’ll have to be your own “Dirty Harry” because nobody’s coming to hel when it all hits the fan full force.
Greg
The NWO didn’t work out so good.
This article summarizes much of the frustration I feel. However, raising taxes does not seem the best solution. Why should tax payers pay for incompetence and broken promises? Why are we paying social security and medicare taxes when we know that it’s a joke and that the Federal Government will steal that money anyhow? I feel that the Federal Government needs to be starved of tax payer money and simply default like Iceland. Great article overall.
Greg,
Unless Congress passes a 2013 extension for EUC Unemployment Benefits, for the over two-million countrywide affected by the 12/29/12 cutoff, I foresee a downturn in consumer spending and a large group of desperate folk, myself included, that will not be contributing to the economy in regards to groceries, etc. We have a double edged sword with this predicament. I hope that I and my fellow seekers will find employment soon.
So sorry James. Hang in there. You are not alone.
Greg
Very nice summary Greg. Could anyone else have put it better?
Thank you for your website. It has been a pleasure reading your material during the year and we look forward to another interesting year of your commentary.
A very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to you and your family.
Best wishes.
Sean S
Thank you Sean S. That article had bee rolling around in my head for a week or so and I had to get it out. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours as well!
Greg
Good one, Greg. I like it much more when you write articles yourself, instead of just doing interviews.
A minor remark about Iceland that everybody is so enamored with for “having done the right thing”. You seem to forget that part of this so-called “right thing” was (a) state support for the private debtors (e.g., people having problems with paying for their house) – a kind of welfare program and (b) draconian currency controls which are still strictly in place. (I recently got about 40.000 euros investment income there and can’t take the money out of the damn country – where I no more live. I hired a lawyer to petition the Central Bank to make an exception in my case and allow me to take the money out – and success is far from guaranteed. Meanwhile, a rise of the euro and a fall of the Icelandic krona has reduced the money to about 30.000 euros…)
So, Iceland is hardly a bright example of pure capitalism and free markets. The only reason why they chose to stiff the creditors and not the taxpayers is because the latter was impossible – with bank liabilities exceeding 9 TIMES the GDP, you couldn’t guarantee them even by mortgaging the whole damn country!
Thank you Vess for adding to the content of this post!!!
Greg
Greg
We have our home and our cars paid for and we do not anything but this months credit card which we pay off every month. We are as set up for this as we can get and it still scares the hell out of me. We have been talking about this for years now and I am amazed that not one person has been held accountable for any of this. The worse part is that having gone so lone without paying the piper it makes going back to the beginning impossible. There will never be accountability within the ranks of bankers or politicians. We the people are truly on our own. I am out of work still with no unemployment left and no prospects. I worked in Printing and construction. One the internet killed and the economy killed the other. Do I just sit by and watch the government siphon off my savings now with new taxes. I drive like an old lady to avoid the additional road taxes (tickets) and hold my purchases down to a minimum, but I know the government will find a way. The saddest thing is Greg, the desperation you hear in this post is coming from some one who has been preparing since you and I started talking about this four years ago. You have had your finger on the pulse of this thing since it began and boy how it has turned out. I know you will keep on keeping on and I always look for your insight but when the time comes when I look and you are not there, I will know that the real SHTF. God bless you in the new year and all I can say to every where is hunker down and stay tuned. Sadly so, this is only the pre-game show and we have not even begun to see the real dog and pony show coming out of Washington. We will be without representation before this is over. We will merely be subjects who answer to the latest call from superiors. A country that can give you everything will also take it away.
Good stuff Phillip. You are in a much better position than most. Thank you for sharing.
Greg
Well, any announcements by our fearless leaders in Congress had better come soon if they need time to vote on things. I can’t believe for a minute they would raise taxes on NE1 making less than $250K at this juncture. The stock market definitely wanted to see some news so I’m not sure what kind of news they can cook up with such little time. Any decision on the fiscal cliff would be thot as hasty by most people. There could be a very ugly market reaction. The politicians were not where blame goes tho. Meredith Whitney’s recent upgrade of Bank of American and Citigroup are much more to blame for any market selloff than what the politicians did..or shud I say…wait’d till the last minute to NOT do? Nobody can do anything..the die was cast when “we the sheeple” let Congress give them the crooks even more money to gamble with. You all have my downside NUGT target…no? 🙂
Greg,
I agree with everything you said except the part about increasing taxes. I have worked overseas in places with no income taxes, actually even places with no individual taxes of any kind, and it is the fastest and easiest way to prosperity.
It seems we must currently look like the USSR prior to their collapse. I would be curious to know where we are in the timeline comparitively and also curious to know what measures were taken to get them through the mess to the functioning economy they have now. I think having this knowledge would help everyone better prepare for the bumpy road ahead.
Thanks for all the great work you have been doing!
Dan,
Like it or not taxes are going up. But, yes we need massive cuts and that includes the military. We fought two wars and charged them on the USA credit card. We have troops and support for the EU and Japan. That should be an phased out in a hurry We (Congress) gave away a prescription drug benefit and did not pay for it we now have a gigantic new health-care plan that the U.S. Supreme court says it’s OK to tax for it. Everything needs to undergo cuts (over time) with a reduction in government spending but even Erskine-Bowles plan that cut $4 trillion only slowed the growth of government. We can’t have it both ways. I guess that’s all I am saying. It is myth that we can simply “grow” our way out of this. Taxing and spending it on new stuff is a great big non-starter to me. We have a gigantic mess and If we don’t figure this out the market will and that will be very ugly for “We the People.” I’d start the cuts with the $40 billion a month banker bailout–GONE–poof!!! Thank you Dan for your comment and passion. We really are not far apart at all.
Greg
Agreed, we cannot grow our way out of this one, and increasing taxes will not help.
Have any of your guests ever brought up the USSR (former Soviet Union) as a parallel to the current US financial status? If so where would we comparably be on the timeline, and what measures did the highly successful people take (obviously they did not have nearly as many choices/options) to get through the 1990 crises?
Dan,
They have not, but the country is in very deep trouble and the powers know it even though they will not openly talk about it. Thanks for the comment. I know it, they have to know this.
Greg
We crossed the Rubicon in 2001 when we invaded Afghanistan. As I told a close friend when we invaded, “Afghanistan is where empires go to die.”
I think things have been interesting since 2008, and I think they are going to get very interesting in 2013!
Keep up the good work exposing the corruption and fraud, and helping us all plan for the turbulence ahead!
Thank you Dan.
Greg
How did the middle class of the USSR get through the 1990’s…the USSR didn’t have one. They did get a thriving organized crime network while the politians sold the country to them
Great article, the corruption is overwhelming. When there is nothing to buy, what will gold be worth?
Johann
Thank you for the comment.
Greg
I have a question that I have not seen addressed before. We all KNOW taxes are going up so the government whores can waste more of it. What makes anyone think that this tax increase will “pay down” accumulated debt. To my mind and seein what has gone before, this is just loading up their irresponsible credit card again and they will CERTAINLY be back for more next year for another manufactured crisis, only there will net be any more money to squeeze out of the impoverished citizenry. The only rational solution is to say no and a few will need to go to jail via the IRS and be martyrs. If we don’t stop them,they will not stop on their own and far too many good Americans are suffering at the rank incompetence and whoremongering of the political class of criminals doingo the bidding of their masters in big industry and finance .
Joseph,
I do not think it will. It will be spent to keep the illusion going a little longer. The real crisis (and its coming) is going to be when the U.S. bond market blows up. That will not be manufactures that will be a real market driven solution.
Greg
Greg: what are the first signs of a bond market explosion. what will it look like?
Jay,
That would be rising interest rates and the Fed buying all U.S. debt to try to stop the rise. Also look for sharply higher inflation in the form of higher fuel and food prices.
Greg
Greg, great story today, I’m wearing my USAWatchdog shirt
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year my friend!!!!
Greg
thank you, Greg, for all you do; for all your honest & diligent reporting. we need you!
Thank you Lynda for your support and kind words.
Greg
This is really good well spoken and clear.
I always admire some one who can articulate ideas clearly.
I am a barbarian so I appreciate folks who can write.
Kevin,
You sound pretty smart to me. Thank you for the kind words and comment.
Greg
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