The United States of America is in deep Sh*t. Got your attention??? There are 4 main areas I will address in the next week: 1. The Budget 2. Trade 3. Savings 4. Leadership These areas are the 4 main areas that will make or break this country. I hope to have some well thought out discussion in an effort to entertain all who partake. So here goes: Trade 1. China 2. oil exporters 3. Canada 4. Mexico 5. Japan We are buying more then we are selling; the definition of a trade deficit. In 2007 China had the largest trade surplus in the world(315 billion). Take a wild guess who was dead last on the list...............yep you guessed it........The United States(-816 billion). We were 224th on the list!! Almost unbelievable in my opinion. What does this tell us. We are currently in the process of the largest transfer of wealth in the History of the world and that is our wealth to the rest of the world. I recently saw a video of Warren Buffet who summed up this problem very easily. We have two Islands, one the USA and the other the countries we import from. The import island is loaded with "stuff". The USA island is loaded with $$$$$ and assets(houses, cars, etc). When we start buying "stuff we start transferring all the $$$$$ from our island to theirs. We can do this for a while because we are a very rich country. After a while we begin to run out of money so we start selling off the assets to buy more "stuff". Eventually we run out of that to.........thus the import island becomes one big "stuff Island" Got it.......not a good scenario http://www.dailyreckoning.com/welcome-to-squanderville/ This has to change and now....not after we debate it for years and years. It may already be to late................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What nobody......................not one person has anything to add......................maybe this is the real problem with the USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah Two Socks, one thing you have to realize is that Americans are generally Economic Theory illiiterate, all typical Americans care about is "How am I doing"? We very are the country that refuses to suffer any depravations whatsoever, so if we chopped the Jefferson Memorial up and shipped it to China few Americans would care as long as they were doing okay themselves. Now the Crash that will happen is inevitable, but let's party with Chinese money because we ain't paying for it, our chilren and our futures are paying for it.
2 socks...this is your you right wing extremist speaking...I have harped on the spending for months in this forum and POFO particularly...I cannot add anything...we are deep poop that people cannot comprehend because the results are unimaginable and we do not have the mind set that is open to the negative possibilities of our own demise......in other words...home run. We as citizens in general do not get economics and cannot grasp the debt because we can print our own money...like that is an effective way to reduce debt.....................we are economically impotent thinkers as a whole.
As I sit here and watch my two beautiful boys, 3 and 5 play and have fun I can't help but have a tear in my eye
I have read many of your posts and I don't consider you an extremist. Just bull headed in your opinion I think you add a lot of character and thought to the posts you do respond to. (send the $20 to....my address is....) lol We can't fail as a country so we have to respond by educating the people about the problems we face. Or is that exactly what politicians don't want?? An educated public I believe would result in the end of the government as we know it. If people really knew what was going on I believe we wouldn't stand for this crap. Every politician's job would be in jeopardy, and it would start with the POTUS!!! I for one would applaud any effort to start just that. I saw the Tea Party headed to Atlanta last night escorted by Police......you would have been amazed...............cars as far as you could see....we stopped counting at 120. So what do we do. How do we get it started...........I don't give a sh*t about being on Obama's list either...
I am not sure anything can be done 2 socks......the Obama supporters are enamored with the personality more than the policies IMHO. There are a lot of discussions here but IMHO everything takes a back seat to our spending. I cannot see people actually waking up and looking at policy when they are so enamored with an image and feel that if you disagree with policy you are somehow against the man....and many of the spending liberals "arguments" reinvent math among other things. Many just cannot differentiate admiring the man from disagreeing with policies from the office of POTUS....the man's story is very admirable, his spending is Bull feces...as was our previous POTUS's spending spree.
You are already doing what any one person can do. You, my 2 cents, the mole, Marty (I know you are on our side you sly dog), and others give me hope that this will be over come. The Tea Parties, the State of Texas and those 20 odd other states who are stepping up to the plate show me that there are people out there who really do "get it" IMHO. IMHO we have to take it one step at a time while never losing sight of the prize. We must react to every slight (its what the PC group does, loud and clear) and yet show patient in that in the long run things will turn our way. The internet is not the enemy, in fact it can be the instriment used to turn this thing around. Where else can one persons views be put in front of so many others for their thoughts and education? The whole country is not closed minded and with the Baby boomers now getting really close to kicking in I feel we will see a real increase in the people demanding that the government start showing real responsibility in managing our money. While younger people hit on the NEW DEAL as THE answer to our problem they have no true understanding of what it was like. I can see it in their answers. They have no real idea of what its like to go hungry or suffer thru 10 years of 20% unemployment unless one has been thru it. If they think that they do I invite any one of them to spend 2 weeks with me living in the wetlands not two miles from my house living off the land and only eating what they catch and clean themselves, it will be an eye opener. Those who do, yet have not, do so because they are the ones asking hard questions and looking back into our history to see just what the true facts are about how we got into this mess to began with. I can tell you this, I see all different kinds of people in the forums I'm involved with (a mod in one) questioning things in numbers that I've not seen before. Yes there are differences of opinions as to social needs versus cutting taxes but everyone has ideas, some good some bad, but talking the problem out is a great thing not a bad thing. One can't expect everyone to agree with their stand but if you don't say what you stand for and back it up you can't expect to influence anyone ever. Father, the Sleeper has awakened!!!
Well 2socks, here's the thing, when Banks can report profits in this environment, and "investors" buy into it, we are reprimed for another stock market crash. It's similar to Countrywide reporting a profit in May of last year, it's smoke and mirrors, the only change has been the requirement to report their failed assets has been removed, so they can ignore the Billions in losses via an accounting gimmick. And people buy into it becuase they need to believe it's true, whether it is or not, that's America today.
GREAT post. Problem is that for some reason, those in charge don't get it. Or more likely the do "get it" but they just don't care. Corps continue to focus on short term bottom lines rather than long term bottom lines and long term health of business. The corps. continue to lobby for such practices and gov't gets their perks or money to allow them to continue to undermine the U.S.'s economy with such practices as outsourcing, buying/importing from countries that have manufacturing plants using basically slave labor, etc. Our definition of "Free Trade" is letting ourselves get raped and as you said, allowing our wealth, jobs, assets get "transfered" to other parties. It's due time for some degree of protectionism to come in and even out the very real and very large discrepencies.
This is the very thing that makes me shake my head. Transparency?? Where??? Responsibility??? Where???? How do you solve any problem by just throwing money at it??? What happens when this money is gone???? We are not fixing the under lying causes of these problems. So how is any of this going to work. Create (or Save) 3 million jobs!!! Where??? Oh yea I forgot were going to build roads and bridges. And when the monies used up then what..........3 million unemployed that's what. I just can't believe we are excepted to believe this crap!!!!!
Our Deficit The most serious threat to the United States of America is not someone hiding in a cave in Afghanistan but our own Fiscal irresponsibility!! We have been to self indulgent for to long and now the bill has come due. Unless we act forcefully now, the economy will get much worse. In 2007 David Walker, Controller General of the United States of America, conclude, after totaling up the nations liabilities, income and future obligations, that our current standard of living was unsustainable, unless drastic action was taken. David was the nations accountant, and head of the GOA, or Government Accountability Office for those who didn't know. David has served our country 3 times as controller; First under Reagan, 2nd under Clinton and 3rd under George W. Mr. Walker concluded that we are suffering from a cancer that if left unchecked will have a catastrophic effect on the United States. Our National debt was 8.7 trillion dollars in 2007. For those of you that like zero's that would be 8,700,000,000,000. How much money is that?? It helps to compare it to our economy, a.k.a our GDP. In 2007 our GDP was 13.5 trillion. So doing the math our Debt in 2007 was 64% of our GDP. This number in itself is not a problem. It's where were headed that's the problem.The facts are not democratic or republican. The facts are not liberal or Conservative. The facts are the Facts and we must act now. There are 3 deficits: 1.Savings 2.Budget 3.Trade 4 Leadership (to be argued) Our National debt is the sum of all budget surpluses and deficits going all the way back to 1776. Our war for independence created much of our early debt. In 1779, the first day of our government our national debt was 75 million dollars, which was 40% of our GDP. This scared the sh*t out of our leaders and they acted quickly to pay it down. For the first and only time in US history the national debt was zero, it was 1835. That still holds true today. Of course next was the civil war which brought our country to the edge of Bankruptcy. Again we acted quickly and paid back the national debt going from 30% of our GDP to 7%, it was 1913. This is the year the USA would change forever. Woodrow Wilson was the president at the time. 1913 saw the creation of the Federal Reserve to manage the nations Money supply and oversee the nations banks. And for the first time in history the start of Federal Income Tax collection. Next brought WW I which was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Again our debt skyrocketed to 35% of GDP and again we quickly paid it back down. Several years followed of huge spending then came the depression in 1929 with 25% unemployment, and a debt of 46% of GDP. Shortly after the depression, came WW II and unprecedented government spending. So much so that the national debt swelled to 122% of GDP. What saved the country from Bankruptcy is American's bought millions of savings bonds to finance the war. Years went by with remarkable progress and we managed to reduce the national debt to 33% GDP by 1980. By the end of the 1980's the national debt had exploded to 2.8 trillion dollars and for the first time in history people were uttering the "T" word. Not a good time financially for the United States. Again the debt was up to 68% of GDP. A shift occurred during this time and we became addicted to debt. Never in our history had so much debt been created during peace time. By 1992 the debt was 4 trillion. Reagan and Bush Sr sent us down a path we may never return on. There are only two ways to fix this problem and that is to cut spending or raise taxes and people don't want either. However we look at it, if we don't do 1 or the other, or both our standard of living is going to change for the worse and we will be forced to pay back the money. That's right forced, as in depression. Either way we slice it up hard choices are ahead and unfortunately they are not going to be achieved during this administrations watch. Inevitably, our current life styles are unsustainable!!!!
alot of the banks "profits" are due to the change in accounting rule of "mark to market", the write downs,write offs, still have to occur keep in mind the foreclosures still are spiking, but baks are showing profits now vs losses since 07? something is wrong with that pic
It's to artificially keep our money's value from eroding and causing mass inflation. That's next by the way. Obama wants to nationalize the banking system to control the info that is put out to the rest of the world. If you control the bank's you control the info and can manipulate the market by the information provided.....right or wrong
Obama is using that term so that it will be assured that there is NO transparency in the Banking system thus making the Fed even stronger. This is why Ron Paul's call for opening up the Fed to regulation will never see the light of day. This brings us back to your 4th point, leadership, we have none. Our only hope is that there is someone out there (Palin?) who can really buck this system and it will have to be done by Ex. order cause those clowns in congress are to scared to do anything against the banking system. See bailout versus the American public. Or see McCain run back to Washington to vote for rather than say I'm against it and win. Dumb!!!! By the way that President will have to be one BA brave SOB! JMHO, of course.
Two links that tell all. The second one is why I fear the Fed and you should too: Our money system in the early 20th century http://www.oldandsold.com/articles08/money-1.shtml The real truth about thr Federal reserve System http://www.truthusa.org/articles/fed/fedtruth2004.htm
Vote me on the ballet??????? OH wait a minute they'll call me a nut case because I speak the truth........they'll compare me to Ross Perot
The lesson of the whole truth is 2 of our presidents were assassinated during the times they were actively pursuing moving us away from the Federal Reserve and the strangle hold it has on our nation May John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln rest in Peace
The Federal Reserve creates our money out of nothing, air, the stroke of a keyboard entry; at the request of the US government then demands assets to back the loans. We then create federal taxes to pay the interest on the money. What would happen if the United States people just said this system is bullsh*t and we are not going to partake anymore??????? With what we collect in taxes we could pay all the money back in 5 years and have zero debt and no federal income tax, or very little. The government would have so much money to spend it would have enough programs to spend it on........although I'm sure our politicians would find a way
The paying of personal income tax is a whole story in itself and when you know the truth be prepared to go ballastic. If you run I will vote for you so thats two. Would you like an ole fart like me as your running mate, if so count me in for the long hall. Now we'll have to talk Ron Paul into being our Sec. Treasury and they've got three to kill. Now the first two things we do is kill the Fed and resend personal income tax because both are illegal.
I would be honored to have a running mate such as yourself!!!!! Now if we could get cnc66 to head up the secret service we would be safe.....lol I pledge to kill the Fed in the first six minutes I take office. The first five would be spent shaking hands and thanking people for their support. On the 6th minute we would get down to business..............bam with the stroke of my pen the Fed would be history!!!!
the inflation is coming mainly because of the mass spending by the feds, (neither party is innocent of it), some of the spending is a must, other is wreckless just to get our reps to do what they should of been doing..... i think you are wrong about obama nationalization might happen because the FDIC and Treasury cannot payout the losses that might happen, kinda like fannie/freddie (they simply dont have the reserves incase this train wreck of an economy get worse) an interesting side note, check out cnns break-downs of spending on bank bail outs and see how much money has been spent/allocated towards foreign investments i do understant that without the chinese buying bonds, we would have to live with a balanced budget
the economy is going to get much worse. Everything Obama is doing is exactly the opposite of what he should do. Obama's policies will lengthen and deepen this recession.....no doubt Hey look at the bright side....at least he's got Republicans to blame it on
Its the shell game, smoke and mirrors, dealing from the bottom, or whatever you wish to call it. The truth is that the paper we call a dollar has a true value of zilch, nada, nothing! Because the government/The Fed has nothing to back it up with. The very moment governments quit using it as the standard our worth as a nation goes down as well. China, Japan, and the mid eastern countrys will then dump theirs and we will become nothing! Think of it this way; You'll have to make a million a year to be able to afford to live in a one bedroom apartment with your wife and 4 children. Gas will be $25.00 a gallon, bread $5.00 a loaf, and so on. That small car of today which cost you 15-20 thousand now will then cost $100,000.00 and only cost me $1,500.00 when I was young. If you think I'm kidding or lying I invite you to compare the price of a house today with prices back before Carter. There was a major shift after '72. In the early 20's my grandfather bought the old home place and raised 8 children in it on 5 ac. of land for $2,500.00. My Uncle sold it in '69 for a little over $100,000.00 and I would now guess its worth several million. I'm sure by now some of you are saying damn I sure wish I had it so I could sell it. Wrong answer!!! Cause what it really means is that your several million is truly only worth $2,500.00. WE are very close to the point of no return and the whole world implodes.
