This could add Billions even a trillion dollars to the deficit and what does it say about the full faith and credit of the United States? It just about confirms it is bankrupt. The sad part is there is no court to seek protection from our creditors (the Saudi Royal Family and the Chinese). They will be handed what’s left of our nation or we will see gas at $24.00 a gallon and a loaf of bread at $9 . It’s called devaluation and hyperinflation
4 more years of these kinds of policies, or lack their of, will leave us using our Military to secure our borders to prevent the world sheriff from coming to serve an eviction notice because we can’t pay the bill.
We are truly at a cross roads here in America not only are we squeezed by the energy shortfalls and overseas dependence but our lack of ability to have the capitol with in our country to continue to build opportunity and the infrastructure allowing us to work our way out of this economic Grand Canyon. For those that think Prince MAC will be the savior please think again, what we will be faced with is the belief that runs the Republican Party that the haves will survive and to bad for the have-nots. Let me also burst your bubble, unless you’re in a position of being one of the already 1-5% of the top wage earners in our country then you’re just one of the have-nots as far as they are concerned.
The test will be are you better off today then you were 8 years ago? Do you earn more today then you did? Does that increase surpass the Cost of Living increases? Has your net wealth grown every year by 3-8% over the last 8 years? If you answer is YES with out reservation then you’re in the top 1-5% you should love Prince MAC/ The Tool Palin. If you’re in doubt, then guess what, you likely will not be able to out run the red tidal wave looming and if you were honest and answered no to one or both well you’re one of us and you better be able to swim for a really long time.
Liquidity or in our case the lack of it, here in the United States will bring our economy to its knees faster then any natural disaster. Our country and our system of capitalism as almost everyone should now know needs the resources to continue to grow and change in order to remain healthy and able to pay it’s bills. With out that capital to reinvest none of this is possible. The credit crunch and lack of cash in the banks to loan, threaten to bring our economic engine to a screeching halt. No this is not Al Qaeda, it’s not Communism, its not a plague, nor is it the apocalypse althought for some it may seem like it, what it is the lack of setting policies over the last 8 years that would have protected the basic foundation of our Country. Thank you George Bush.
We are long past the time for rhetoric from the same old sources, it is time for a new direction, don’t be fooled by John MaCain, he is not the agent of change, he is the angel of death who ultimately will continue the same lack of vision and lack of implementation of policies that have a hope of righting this ship. His votes time and time again in the Senate have been to support this pathway. His comments todate have been that the “foundation is sound”. His choice of Sara Palin is clear proof that he is beholding to the same forces that have supported George Bush and were responsible for choseing his running mate Queen Cheney, They are also the same forces that have dictated to the administration to avoid implementing an energy policy and have left us at the mercy of the world oil producers and commodity speculators. Where do you think this change then will come from?
Barack Obama can bring about a new direction which is not just about hope but will place new priorities on rebuilding opportunity in our economy by investing in the infrastructure for new industry and new products, more importantly new markets, to sell our goods and services and replenish our liquidity to continue to grow and improve our country. He will do this with the resources left in the top 1-5% of our country and force those resources into stabilizing our foundation. The big picture is the decisions and policies of the last 8 years have brought us to this point 4 more years under the same machine will only carry us further down this path. The Hope is turning off the path and taking a new direction and that is Barrack Obama.
Freddia Mac and Fannie Mae are far more then just a surface problem they are a major part of our foundation and they are cracking and the entire structure is weakening November can’t come fast enough.
I agree with most of what you’re saying here, but I do not think it is a bad thing that gas prices have gone up. This will discourage people from driving and help fight climate change.
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p>Now, the crime here of the Bush administration is the eight years they have squandered while we could have been building alternatives. For a few billion dollars or year, or “one month in Iraq” as Mike Dukakis puts it, we could have build 120-mph rail between major cities and freed millions from having to drive cars.
As you go on to correctly state, If we had an energy policy $4 a gallon may not be as bad as it is currently for our economy. It should certainly promote conservation. It does promote changes and it raises the cry for alternatives. At the same time since we were not prepared it is having a crippling effect on our economy and middle class families and those on fixed incomes.
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p>In an energy policy one of the first statements would be Fossil fuels have a finite life span and we are near to the end then the beginning which is why we need to begin to prepare a transition to alternative sources with in our Economy
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p>Lets face the facts as oil wells begin to run dry in this century all the Drill Drill Drill will not change those facts and with other commodities as they run out the price goes up up and up 25 years from now and half the worlds reserves gone what will the price be then $30 a gallon who know’s
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p>The US bonds are paying less than 4.5%. You wouldn’t lend money at such a low rate, to a debtor who’s bankrupt, yet, there it is.
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p>Which is it, a) the US is an extremely good risk right now, or b) everyone lending to the US is foolish, except you.
Investers today buying in the bond market you represent in this comment are not reinvesting in the US they are buying shares in the US directly. This is significaintly differant. What you need to look at are the vehicles such as the Mortgage brokerages of the last decade which are now collapsed and Freddie and Fannie unable to raise capital to reinvest as the signs of an economy that is in trouble.
Oh by the way Freddie and Fannie are collapsing under the weight of two factors no new capital to make loans and raise more capital through new interest payments and their trying to buy up all of the bad paper American Banks and the last of the mortgage brokers are trying to unload. Please remember that the US through bonds does not make direct loans to consumers or corporations(exception of Chrysler Corp) so the impact on that borrowing does not serve the same purpose for our economy. The faith is waining on the ability of small business, american families and our consumer driven economy from surviving, not the value of owning a piece of the US government and it’s full faith and credit.
C) everybody with a passable understanding of the world economy knows that an American default would invalidate the workings of the world economy, and precipitate a situation that makes the Great Depression look like a run-of-the-mill Republican recession. Hence we’ll keep throwing money at the problem to forestall that.
People worldwide, investors, sovereign funds, etc….just aren’t going to continue advancing money to ‘bail out’ the US for fear of its economy collapsing.
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p>The fact is that the US debt isn’t alarming right now.
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p>The trend is alarming in the face of the growing Medicare and SS payments on the horizon, but we’re not, as Woburn Dem says, a bankrupt nation. That’s tin foil hat talk.
what I did say was that if we continued the current economic course the risks were something like being bankrupt where we owe more then we can pay and the signs are beginning to mount up that we are certainly heading for that cliff. The time to make change to the course is upon us. If you think the failure of what now looks like the entire mortgage industry Freddie and Fannie being the last line of defense as not an alarming economic situation then so be it. I think it is extremely alarming and not just another step down a very dark road but a major escalation of the finacial problems we are facing.
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p>Best to All
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p>Then your comment is possessed:
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My assessment is one that “COULD” (meaning it may or may not) reach a point that would certainly if all of the worse predictions come true, destabilize our currency to a point that it will take on the characteristics of an entity in bankruptcy.
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p>The seriousness of this situation is growing even clearer as we are seeing in today’s announcement of the take over of Freddie and Fannie and the facts that they are in worse shape then reported.
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p>Here is some more evidence regarding these issues;
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p>by: Gretchen Morgenson and Charles Duhigg, The New York Times
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p>What will likely happen in order to gain liquidity in the markets the Government will sell US Bonds which you know are backed up by our government in order to keep investor money flowing into our national currency markets. No longer will these bonds be a reflection of the assets used to secure the loans in the first place. This may be a point of disagreement but I would suggest to you that the articles I am reading and have sited thus far indicate that the investors no longer have faith in the current market system and or the value of the assets used to secure the funds. As I stated this will now be for the investor like owning a direct piece of our country/government rather then just a home or business on Main Street USA. So Uncle Sam will actually be mortgaging our future to solve the problems created by a lack of an Economic Policy. I say this with the hope that you will agree that the government does not have a few Hundred Billion Dollars stashed some where and will have to directly auction bonds in order to put hard currency back into this system.
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p>Best to All
It is hard to understand how anyone could not be deeply worried about the longterm health of the US economy, and our ability to still honor all government obligations. Financial advisors are now openly worrying about “breaking the buck” in some investments that were sold as cash equivalents, and just yesterday another bank bent belly up, with the fine print notice to investors: “If you have more than 100 thousand in deposits in this bank, please make an appointment.” There is a finite amount of money even in the United States and with our irresponsible borrowing from overseas, the bailout of Bears Stearns, the bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the list goes on, there is a very real danger that we are one more big crisis away from a situation that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago — for example, not being able to honor even what is explictedly covered by the FDIC. The full effect of uncollectable credit card and auto loan debt is yet to be felt, and the news this morning seems to indicate we can look forward to increasing foreclosures, not improvement.