Now first things first, I know whenever someone complains about the country, the knee-jerk response is, "Yeah, well why don't you move to CANADA, you big fat creep?" Well, it's simple - 1) We can criticize stupid decisions without having to put our house on the market 2) I don't want to move to Canada, Nickelback sucks, and 3) America is still the best country in the world. So shut up and let me rock the mic.
All of the controversy surrounding the Obama administration's sequestration (you read that right - the idea originated in the Oval office, no matter what the lamestream media says) centers around a budget cut of around 2%. And by budget cut I mean 'cut in the GROWTH of expenditures by 2%'. Not take a flat baseline and reduce it. I mean take a baseline, inflate it for 2013 onward and then cut it by 2%. So we are merely reducing the size of GROWTH of our out of control spending problem by 2%. And look at all the commotion caused by it. Every day, each side talks about the amount of jobs lost. 800,000 defense jobs, thousands of teachers, firemen, police men, kids with cancer. Hell, Rep Maxine Waters (D) claimed that....get ready.....'170 million jobs will be lost due to the sequester.' Really? 170 million jobs will be lost due to a 1-2% reduction in the rate of spending? That's $6.8 trillion in savings using a $40k a year assumption, which is a 'pauper's salary' for a government employee. And yet this buffoon will probably still get re-elected. But I digress - you hear it everywhere - jobs will be lost, airports will fall apart, illegal Mexicans will be on the loose, we will be prone to a terrorist attack, our defense is weaker, etc. You know what I say? Who gives a shit. We need this. We need pain. How else are we going to fix our deficit problems? If we get this bent out of shape over a $65-$85 billion cut on $3.6 trillion of budget, what the hell are we going to do when entitlements get cut by a more significant amount? Which leads me to the point of the post - we are in over our heads. We are in way too deep. This problem can't be fixed by traditional means. Nobody wants to do anything. Democrats wants you sucking the phallus of government. Republicans are eunuchs who have been de-balled by Obama. They continue to fight within their ranks. You can't trust Washington to get it right.
So this rant is aimed at how we got here. It's fun to blame Bush for the 2008 crisis (misplaced rage as you will find out). It's fun to blame Obama for what's going on now (not necessarily his fault either as you will find out). We are headed to third world status, except you don't know it. Well let me blow the lit off for you. Our first culprit is the Federal Reserve. They've done more damage than Obama and Bush combined.
Culprit #1 - The Federal Reserve
Started in 1913, the Federal Reserve has been behind every single recession and boom that we've experienced over the past 100 years. They dictate monetary policy - which means the amount of money in circulation, the interest rates, the deflationary/infationary environment, and how our dollar is perceived as it relates to imports/exports, as well as a dotted line impact to our unemployment rate. Simple economics tell us that if you print more money, it's worth less. If you take money out of circulation, it's worth more. If you cut interest rates, domestic investment and capital purchases will increase and the housing markets will flourish. Vice versa if you do the opposite. Well guess what - from 1981 through 2008, we cut interest rates down to near zero. Remember hearing relatives bitch about 18% mortgage interest rates during the mid-1980's? Ok I don't either because I was in kindergarten but you get the point. Now it's about 4.25%. It inspired you to take out a loan. It encourages businesses to make capital investments. This ramped up during the '80's, but really took shape during the 1990's. As former Fed Chairman Allan Greenspan once said, 'it was the era of irrational exuberance.' Easy, cheap money meant more loans and more money for housing purchases, stock market purchases, commercial purchases, and any other entrepeneurial endeavor. Of course the stock market got an erection. Silicon Valley gave us the internet and the tech revolution (ie - 'bubble'). People made money hand over fist. Who cares if Clinton gooses up the capital gains tax? I'm making money I wasn't supposed to make, so who am I to complain? Easy money from the Fed meant the inevitable stock market bubble. It was great - until it popped.
2000 marked the crash of the tech bubble. We had a mild recession going into the 2000 election. 9/11 happened, which had an estimated impact of about $1 trillion to the US economy. We went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Things cooled off and we had a tepid recovery in 2003/2004, but a consistently low unemployment rate of between 4.5%-5.5% through 2007. Fast forward to 2008. Economic crisis. Market crash. The bank bailout. Threats of martial law if we don't pass legislation. Firing up the printing presses from 2008 through today. The Fed has injected $2 trillion onto its balance sheet in the last four years. Our dollar continues to crater in value, and our foreign investors want nothing to do with us. As I've mentioned before, our treasury auctions are more silent than a Carrot Top stand-up gig. The Fed buys up 80% of the newly issued treasuries. Ummmm that's not good. I've seen more interest in the neighborhood lemonade stand. What does this mean for the future?
In the next two years, we will most likely experience hyperinflation. The inflation statistics that you often hear are quoted at between 2-3%. Pure bullshit. They exclude food and energy prices. Why do I care if batteries only go up by 2% each year if my discretionary income goes to food, drink, and gas? What will happen when food prices go up 20% in a six month span? Google 'Weimar Republic' in Germany for a primer. What will the government leeches do when food costs go up and the government needs to start making painful cuts in it's food stamp program? What do we do when China divests from US treasuries completely? Japan is our third biggest investor and they are on QE22 and just devalued their currency again. Every major country is a zombie right now waiting to get a bullet in its head. All of this is due to cheap monetary policy.
We ride the roller coaster through good times but don't care what happens when shit hits the fan. Oh by the way - the second interest rates go UP and Ben Bernanke stops quantitative easing, our borrowing costs go up considerably. So whatever anemic growth we have when the musical chairs game ends, we can expect our GDP to decrease. Thanks a lot. Oh by the way Part II - the gold we were keeping at the New York Fed, Fort Knox, and other 'gold fortresses'? It's either gone or watered down and filled with tungsten. We're not really a reliable business partner anymore. We like to squander things. Germany has asked for its gold back, as are other European countries. Russia, Venezuela, and China continue to hoard up gold. They are preparing for the inevitable collapse of civilization, and want to be an early adopter of the new global gold-backed currency/special drawing rights when our toilet paper fiat currency shits the bed. Why do you think we went to war with Iraq and Libya? Saddam Hussein and Moammar Khaddafi had EPIC amounts of gold in their possession, in the billions of dollars. Replenishing emptied gold supply in the US and UK was of paramount importance. Thus the recent invasion of Mali a few weeks back. Don't buy the bullshit about 'war for oil', or else we wouldn't be spending as much on gas and oil in the states. Follow the money trail. Gold is as important today as it was in Biblical times. Just remember that.
How do we fix this problem with existing Federal Reserve policy? We can't. Ron Paul suggested ending the Fed. That garnered about as much interest as 'Dice K bobblehead night at Fenway.' He also suggested AUDITING the Fed, which finally got approved by Congress last year. Our Federal Reserve loans money to European countries to squander, and countless zombie banks that have no business existing. Early prelim audits show $16 trillion in loans overseas. Why would the globalists want the Fed audited? After all, it's owned by the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, the Morgans, the Lehmans, the Warburgs, the Queen of England, and a few other Luciferian, Satan-worshipping, New World Order, Illuminati scumbag global elites. Do we want that information getting out? I think not.
So there's my rant on Public Enemy #1 - The Federal Reserve. I don't think Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is an evil or bad person, but the Federal Reserve will be most responsible for our dollar's demise. We will lose about 40-50% of our purchasing power in the next 2-3 years, and we have the Fed to thank.
Up next in the blame game - our worthless, gutless, dickless government. Stay tuned!!!!