We’re seeing signs of recovery, says Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Pay no attention to the tens of millions who are unemployed, the 43 million people on food stamps, rising food and energy prices, or the necessity for more debt issuance to prevent a catastrophic collapse.

The Treasury Secretary of The United States of America just said that if we don’t get another $1 trillion or so dollars by March of this year then this country will begin to default on its debt obligations. These remarks are extremely serious and should be understood for what they are.

A recent survey conducted in early December 2010 suggests that, while the smell of recovery is in the air (or is that the bullsh*t coming from government, the Fed, and mainstream media?), most of those in the trenches aren’t feeling too optimistic.

It may be in the best interests of the country for those representing us in the Federal government to not only read the Constitution every time a new Congress convenes, but to take a preliminary pass or fail assessment prior to their their names being added to the ballot.

While you may be paying $8 for a gallon of milk and $5 for a gallon of gas, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will be talking about the threat of deflation and how further monetary expansion and quantitative easing is necessary to keep the system afloat.

Many will call it fear mongering, others will simply not believe it: We’re smack dab in the middle of the next Great Depression.

A more likely outcome is that stock prices will be higher by the time QE2 ends, but economic growth will not be sustainable without massive government support. No amount of QE will be able to keep the current stock market bubble from bursting eventually.

At this rate, there will be about 550,000,000 people on the watch list by 2019, which exceeds the population of the United States and then some. By 2023, the watch list will actually exceed the population of the entire earth – at which point one can speculate that the government of the U.S. will restrict all air travel.

The truth is we’re freakin’ finished. The government has bankrupted this city, this state, and this freakin’ country. Meanwhile, they keep freakin’ taxing us. New York City is charging for services they can no longer provide. It’s like charging you for a movie they’re not going to make, or charging you a toll to go over a bridge that doesn’t freakin’ exist.

The Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller index’s most recent report shows that home prices across the country are sliding. For economists, this is yet another unexpected decline. For readers of non-mainstream news, analysis and opinion, this was to be expected.