By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

America went off the gold standard in 1971 when Richard Nixon closed the “gold window.” That meant the U.S. didn’t have to pay foreigners with gold, only dollars.  President Nixon created the first world reserve currency that was officially backed by nothing.  The U.S. has gotten to print money at will until this very day, but nothing lasts forever.   Recently, Steve Forbes (President and Chief Executive Officer of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine) predicted that a return to a gold standard is likely “in the next five years.” (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

New inflation figures were released by the government last week, and the news was not good.  The headline inflation number was 3.2% in the 12 months that ended in April.  That is more than a percent above the Federal Reserve’s “target” rate of 2% and the first time it has been more than 3% in over 2 ½ years.  Of course, the accounting gimmicks used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) understate true inflation, so things look better than reality. (more…)

Many people think that there is a big difference between Democrats and Republicans, but I think there’s not much difference at all.  I have long said, the left and the right are really one body with two heads–they just take turns ripping us off.  Both parties are not all bad.  There are a few good eggs on both sides of the isle but only a few. Gerald Celente, founder of Trends Research, thinks much the same way as I do.  Celente is famous for making many spot on predictions about the future based on trends of today.  He is predicting that Congressman Ron Paul could win the Presidency in 2012.  (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

It seems every week in the mainstream media there are multiple references to the so-called economic recovery 2011.  There has been some good news about profits at Ford, Chrysler and General Motors in recent weeks, and GM plans on spending $2 billion to update plants and hire more than 4,000 workers.  I am happy the Big 3 car companies are doing well even though two of them went through bankruptcy. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

This week, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner proposed raising the debt ceiling by $2 trillion.  I thought, this should be big news!  After all, a trillion is a thousand billion.  This adds up to 2 thousand billion over the next 2 years!!  The mainstream media greeted this story with a great big yawn. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

Osama Bin Laden Dead! Now what? The death of Osama Bin Laden is probably the biggest story of the year, and maybe the biggest since 9/11.  There are so many angles being covered such as the burial at sea, play-by-play details of the assassination operation from the White House Situation Room and the surprise announcement by Barack Obama last Sunday night of Osama Bin Laden’s death. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

The Federal Reserve held its first press conference in its 97 year history last week.  In my mind, it did this because it recognizes the deep financial trouble the U.S. is in.  It wants to put a positive spin on the mess it largely created and/or allowed to happen.  After all, it was Tim Geithner who was the head of the New York Fed during the go-go years of the mid 2000’s.   He was supposed to regulate the big Wall Street banks. You see how well that worked out—the entire system melted down and Geithner got a promotion to Treasury Secretary.   (more…)

Gas prices 2011! Oil prices are on the rise.  The price per barrel rose again yesterday, and so did gas prices.  According to AAA, the national average price of unleaded gasoline added a penny, climbing to $3.879 per gallon.  It is already more than $4.00 a gallon on the east and west coast, and don’t expect the price to go down before it goes way up. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

It appears economist Paul Krugman thinks the budget and the economy are not in that bad of shape because he thinks the dire warnings are overdone.  In his latest Op-Ed piece this week, he said, “When I listen to current discussions of the federal budget, the message I hear sounds like this: We’re in crisis! We must take drastic action immediately! And we must keep taxes low, if not actually cut them further!  (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

I am taking Monday off as part of my Easter Holiday.  I am putting up some pointed but humorous Easter cartoons for your review. I want to thank all of my loyal readers for your patronage.  The site would be nothing without your support and comments! I’ll be posting a new article in a few days.   Enjoy the cartoons. — Greg Hunter– (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

More and more, I am finding stories produced by the mainstream media where the headline doesn’t jibe with the actual story that follows.  A USA Today (newspaper) story from the “Money” section yesterday is a great example of what I am talking about.  The headline read “Rising home sales point to a recovery.” (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

Gold hit an all-time high this week—again.  The yellow metal briefly topped $1,500 an ounce before falling back down a few dollars.  The world has become increasingly nervous about the size of the growing U.S. debt.  Just this week, America’s debt topped $14.3 trillion (also an all-time high) which is close to the limit Congress can legally borrow. (more…)

Just last week, the U.S., Britain and France renewed their pledge to keep military pressure on Moammar Gadhafi with the war in Libya.  What started out as a humanitarian mission has clearly turned into “regime change.”  An Associated Press story reported last week, “In a joint declaration, President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy say they will not stop the campaign and will ‘remain united.’ (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

This week, President Obama gave a speech outlining his plan for long term deficit reduction.  He invited the Republican leadership for what many thought would be some sort of bi-partisan federal budget 2011 solution.  In reality, it was kind of a St. Valentine’s Day massacre because right off the bat, Mr. Obama pulled out the Presidential tommy-gun and started shooting. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

The headline in yesterday’s USA Today read “The World to the Rescue.” It was followed by the sub-headline, “Japan crisis showcases social media’s muscle.” When I saw this, I immediately thought that the nuclear crisis was under control and folks were using the Internet to help the island country recover.

The story said, (more…)