At this weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit President Obama harshly criticized Chinese currency policy calling for China’s leaders to act like grown ups when it comes to economic affairs.
On that note, we present the current grown-up debt management policies of the U.S. Congress as explained by Harry and Lloyd.
One of these days our foreign investors and creditors are going to demand that we open the briefcase. They’re not going to like what they find.
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If an American politician could produce a budget that would be within the means paid to them by the people (and accepted) we’d have riots in the streets.
no way, if that actually happened i’d be too shocked to move..
But then, you could get an accurate count of the fiscally ignorant…..
Absolutely right, because most of the rioters would be mega-pissed that their pet program got cut (mostly because pretty much *all* of them would have to see some hard cuts).
Hell, we can’t even get the bastards to chop back massive spending increases without some lobbyist group wallpapering the news with “OAMG those bastards are cutting aid to old-people|children|poor-people|women|sick-people|abused-kittens|some-ethnic-group|pregnant-teens|etc! CALL your congressman and DEMAND that they stop cutting {program name here} !!!111!”
Everyone from the AARP to the Zero Population Group is guilty as hell of doing this.
Until you can line up lobbyists along the wall and start throwing lead at ’em, we’re quite frankly doomed.
Sadly, i think that if we used this movie to explain what has happened with the debt, more people could relate and understand instead of us trying to explain the way we usually do.
It is time to go back to real money – gold and silver backed. There is no way that we be in such a mess as governments and banks could invent precious metals like they do with fiat money. I doubt you would see govs giving silver welfare payments or sending of gold to foreign dictators. I’m not saying it would not happen or it would be perfect but the incidence of such activities would be minimal.
Ron Paul 2012…
http://www.dailypaul.com/187315/fox-ron-paul-has-such-strong-support-from-vets-raise-1m-on-vets-day
If the government stuck to it’s constitutionally mandated duties then budgets would be a fraction of what they are at present. Limiting the right of franchise to the Founder’s intent ala Starship Troopers is a necessary first step to reining in the present monster that is our government. When the people discover they can vote themselves bread and circuses then the voting must be restricted to those who actually pay for that bread and those circuses.
Good luck with that.
Once upon a time, you had to be a landowner to vote.
I’d much prefer Heinlein’s idea, where you have to be a veteran to vote or run for office, and for the same idea: If you’re willing to put your life on the line for the country, then you’re worthy enough to help determine its future direction. It would also shed a whole mountain of idiots from the voting rolls…
@odd questioner are you sure of that… It would also shed a whole mountain of idiots from the voting rolls…
Most vets have GED’s , with Hard-On for War… such a scenario would only lead to another nazi fourth-reiche like state!
It would be better if it was just being run by a bunch of hippies!
You’ve never read the book, have you?
Here was the deal:
* Everyone has basic, inviolable rights, guaranteed by constitution and law. Those could not be removed or abrogated under any circumstances, period.
* The one and only difference was that in order to vote or hold office, you had to be a veteran.
* anyone could be a veteran – no matter what. Paraphrasing here, but “even if you were blind, crippled, and deaf, we would take you in, and as your job make you count caterpillar hairs by touch for two years on Neptune’s Moons.” The idea was that you endured a little hardship or risked your life for your country, before you were allowed to help run it.
You really need to do some fact checking my friend. In 2010 26% of vets over the age of 25 had a four year degree compared to 28% of the overall population.
What do you think we got with “Hope and Change?” Virtually all the key players in the federal government today were educated and indoctrinated by the hippie survivors of the 60’s and 70’s street “disturbances.”
If you recall in the book Starship Troopers (not the terrible movie by the same name) the governments of the western world collapsed after a disastrous war with China and its allies and there was a period of time when rule of law had broken down. But before that had happened, western society had spun out of control with extremely high taxes, overregulation, and a general rise of criminality. When I read that book, the parallels with this society are shocking. In the end it was the veterans of the losing war with China who eventually took over law and order, and the government and set things straight.
Yep, and their reasoning why was funnier than hell: “we’re the only ones we can trust” 🙂
PS: I’ve read most of Heinlein’s works, including the one you took for a ‘nym. Same with Asimov and Dick.
Or how about – you have to be a taxpayer to vote.
It always seemed fair to me that the people who actually pay for the government should be the ones that have the say in who runs it.
Technically, everyone over 18 *is* a taxpayer.
Or did you mean that you have to have paid at least some taxes in order to vote? Even then, do you mean before or after tax credits, loopholes, deductions, etc.?
Odd Questioner:
“Technically, everyone over 18 *is* a taxpayer.”
I honestly don’t understand that statement.
Technically?
I consider anyone who actually pays money they earned to the IRS to be a taxpayer. We both (I think) know that there is a huge number of people out there that not only don’t pay taxes, but are supported by the system through the people who do.
To restate my position/preference: You pay for the government, you get to vote for who administers it. You don’t pay for the government, you don’t get to have any say in who administers it.
Not complicated.
“Even then, do you mean before or after tax credits, loopholes, deductions, etc.?”
How about after all the above.
You bought your house, car and food (I’m assuming)? Would you like to be the one who says who lives in, drives or eats those items?
Or would you be satisfied if the general public at large just voted on the best use of them?
In the Honor Harrington universe, her kingdom allows any citizen to vote who pays at least $1 more in taxes than they receive from the gov’t. You get money from the gov’t, you don’t get to vote.
Several questions:
Who is the dumb and who is the dumber? Us or the Gov?
Where is the briefcase?
When did we sign the IOU’s?
I think the briefcase is in the lock box.
umph.
giggle…snicker….Ah just cain’t hold it back….
BBWWAAAHHHAAAA!!!!!!!!
God, I’m still laughing!
It’s so true.
If you can’t laugh at it sometimes, it will eat you up on the inside.
$275,000.00 that’s a car, you better hang on to that one. Haaaa!
Wait wait, how does this sound?
See this one? It was a grant to study shrimp on under water treadmills. You better hang on to that one.
And see this one here? It’s to teach Chinese hookers how to put condoms on properly.
Shall we look at some more?
YEAH HERE IS THAT BRIDGE TO NOWHERE IN ALASKA FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
WOW!! We borrow a boat load of money from China and we are telling them to grow up.
This leaves me scratching my head.
Bite the hand that helped us.
There is a perception that we borrow more from China than we do. I’d also like to know what debts of ours the Chinese have bought in the last 6, 12 or 18 months? My understanding is most of the new debt is bought by the Federal Reserve that just prints it. The last I saw published we owed the Chinese about $2 trillion? Less than 1/6th of our debt load. Still a chunk mind you.
My guess is they want to inflate their way out of it. Probably some politicians just holding them back from that…..and they don’t want to hyper inflate while their chosen one is in office….that has to be put off past Jan 2013.
Interestingly enough, China buys a metric assload of T-Bills precisely to keep their own currency (the Yuan) artificially depressed.
As to Harry and Lloyd so is the 2 party system. Does Harry have the D after his name and Lloyd the R? Or is it vise-verse?
Shoot, just flip a coin to find out cause it reaallllyy does matter!
what a perfect analogy..lmfao
problem is , some of us get it..its the “some” part of it, thats holding up the turnaround.
the masses are slow to awaken
Plan and simple, BTW THEY did it to the federal workers retirement fund also. We paid into it and THEY stole it without our permission. I can say that I did not vote for any of them.
Hey Mac: This article is just what I was thinking this morning after I read your first post of the day ! Being a Damn Yankee….I have a fair amount of experience driving in winter weather. There is nothing quite like the feeling of applying your brakes at 40 mph…..and them doing absolutely nothing because you are on a sheet of ice. It actually feels like you are accelerating……when your brain realizes that the 4,000
projectile you are riding in….is no longer under your control. Sometimes it is like slow motion…..where you see that big old tree in front of you…..that you are going to hit…….and can do nothing about ! You are just along for the ride. That is the way I feel that the US Economy is going……I can see the tree…..I know we are going to crash……I keep stomping on the brake pedal……but it feels like things are increasing in speed ! What I can’t figure out….is how long we have…one day,….a week,…..a year ?? And even more puzzling to me is the amount of people that don’t have a clue. You try to tell them…..and they nod their heads….but you know that they are going home to watch Dancing with the Stars……& will never think about preparing. We just all need to make the most of every day to get our houses in order….before the crash.
Montgomery County Texas
Yes, you pegged it-even the tight puckered butt, just waiting to hit!
You’ve explained it well. We’re sooo screwed; but in the real analogy, there’s no insurance company to call.
Thanks for that.
Richard:
When you refer to stealing from the federal workers’ retirement fund, are you referring specifically to the surplus dollars not needed to pay current benefits that go into the trust funds?
I understand there is a liability of about $5 trillion owed to federal retirees on the government’s balance sheet.
Don Levit
It is a slow day in a little Greek Village. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend th…e night. The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel. The guy at the Farmers’ Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the taverna. The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him “services” on credit. The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note. The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything. At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town. No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism. And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works
Why are members of “crimegross” immune from the illegality of insider trading, while WE THE PEOPLE would be imprisoned for the same activity?
Why does anyone believe we owe anything on an “imaginary debt” created out of thin air with interest applied?
The nonFederal Reserve can counterfet “money” 24/7 and somehow the “sheeple” believe THEY owe any of it back. LAMO!
And LMAO, Rick Perry moment.
Couldn’t possibly have said it better and couldn’t possibly agree more.
http://youtu.be/kmdFxIvOB7Q
our USD is dying soon
the gold n silver are precious
WHY the Fed Government is stupid enough to devalue the price of gold n silver???
offering extra discount to Eastern countries???
The ship hasn’t slipped under the water yet. Life boats are launched. Where are you? I think steerage class is getting ready to riot as soon as they figure it out.
Keep things short and sweet. I am feeling generous, so I hope anyone with any degree of intellectual curiosity will read.
It’s very simple: we must heed natural law, as described in the Declaration of Independence.
The current government is a ruthless Tyranny, and it must be abolished. It is an utter Travesty.
It is infested with politician criminals who make blood money through insider trading (amongst other things), which is considered legal for them alone.
At the same time, they are in that bastion of corruption D.C. everyday contemplating how to further self-aggrandize themselves and their control over the reins of power.
The idiots of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements are too benign and silly, truly, to make any difference. They still believe that the WTC event was NOT orchestrated by insiders of the military industrial complex for their own hegemonic impulses.
They will never succeed at allowing individual countries (in the form of the States) to reestablish their autonomy from the federal monster.
Thus, all one can say is, “Sic Semper Tyrannis.” This alone stands the test of time. If you don’t know the meaning, look it up.
Good luck. It’s up to you.
Once this correction has been completed, Intermediate Wave III of Major THREE will be underway. This should be the largest and strongest wave in the entire gold bull market. The target for this wave should be around $4,500 with only two 13% corrections on the way.”
Date to dream 🙂
That would be nice.
Gold is going to go bonkers in the long-run, but I am still a little hesitant about saying “go all in” right now with Europe at the breaking point. That capital shift back to US Treasuries may drive everything down… But gold probably has a solid floor at or around $1000+. Wave III will probably result from our own Europe-style crisis — it’s around this time that I can see the ‘great gold decoupling’ many have been discussing over the last few years.
Not sure about the EW, I don’t use it but looks good so far.
Real Currency in SHTF scenario
Food
Water
Medicine including antiseptics
Gold/Silver (questionable as it doesn’t hold value all the time)
Alcohol
Tobacco
Fuel
Firearms and ammunition
A roof over your head
None listed in order of importance
Terry W. Reed
http://www.lnlprotekt.com
we make snares and multi-purpose distillation units, all handmade in America, by Americans
There is absolutley nothing we can do to save the republic. we dug a hole too deep and We as a nation are too fat lazy and stupid to do what needs to be done. Crash is inevitable.