It is long but easy enough to understand.
Here is one snippet just to give you an idea of just how fucked we are;
Thanks to the endless barrage of feel-good propaganda that daily assaults the American mind, best epitomized a few months ago by the “green shoots,” everything’s-coming-up-roses propaganda touted by Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, the citizens have no idea how disastrous the country’s fiscal, monetary and economic problems truly are. Nor do they perceive the rapidly increasing risk of a totalitarian nightmare descending upon the American Republic.
One stark and sobering way to frame the crisis is this: if the United States government were to nationalize (in other words, steal) every penny of private wealth accumulated by America’s citizens since the nation’s founding 235 years ago, the government would remain totally bankrupt.
According to the Federal Reserve’s most recent report on wealth, America’s private net worth was $53.4 trillion as of September, 2009. But at the same time, America’s debt and unfunded liabilities totaled at least $120,000,000,000,000.00 ($120 trillion), or 225% of the citizens’ net worth. Even if the government expropriated every dollar of private wealth in the nation, it would still have a deficit of $66,600,000,000,000.00 ($66.6 trillion), equal to $214,286.00 for every man, woman and child in America and roughly 500% of GDP. If the government does not directly seize the nation’s private wealth, then it will require $389,610 from each and every citizen to balance the country’s books. State, county and municipal debts and deficits are additional, already elephantine in many states (e.g., California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York) and growing at an alarming rate nationwide. In addition to the federal government, dozens of states are already bankrupt and sinking deeper into the morass every day.
My emphasis.
Now go read the whole thing.
The numbers are beyond comprehension. The only way for us to sustain these levels would be to rape every other nation on earth. To quote the corporate buzz word spin doctors, it's time for a "paradigm shift". Big time. You may not know it Busted, but you and your "weasel den" are pioneers. Lots more folks gonna be in "weasel dens" before too long. Some by choice, some not....
ReplyDeleteGrain of salt time, Nucks. Kitco is a gold peddler, they sell high and buy low. Gold sellers are hucksters for the most part. APMEX is an exception, I have bought and sold gold with them.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry...have I been missing something? How exactly is our government any different from any other in history? From the very first tribal bullies who called themselves in charge right up until the duly "elected" ones we endure today...well do the math. Very little has changed since the beginning of time as near as I can tell.
ReplyDeleteAs Jude Law said in 'Enemy At The Gates' (playing Soviet sniper Vassili Zaitsev)..."Only this time I'm the prey".
To be expected. The system will flaill and fall on its on weight....
ReplyDeletePickdog
III
Uhm, you know, I bought a house that was $165,000. And I was making $70,000 per year at the time.
ReplyDeleteSo question: Since you coulda taken every asset I owned (other than that house) and not paid off that $165,000, does that mean that I was bankrupt?
Of course not. I was paying the house off over 30 years, not in 1 year. Same deal with most of the debt of this nation -- it's long-term debt that has to be paid off over decades, not short-term debt. In fact, the NUMBER ONE debt that is being counted in that $120 trillion dollar number that you oh so brilliantly quote is SOCIAL SECURITY, which gets paid off over a period of FORTY-SEVEN YEARS (on average). Now, you take the national income of the USA -- currently around $18 TRILLION per year -- you're saying we can't pay off a $120 trillion debt over the course of the forty-seven year working life of the average American? Bull fucking shit.
In short: You're quoting that debt number as if it's something that has to be paid off overnight. But it's not. Social Security gets paid off for forty-seven years before you start drawing on it (assuming you're a typical person who started working at age 18 and retires at age 65), and you divide $120 trillion by 47 years, and it's practically trivial ($2.5 trillion per year, or roughly 7% of the national income). Or roughly what's getting yanked out of our paychecks *already* to pay on that debt, yo?
- Badtux the Math Penguin
All right, I just tracked down through that list of links that you're mentioning, and they're as much bullshit as I thought. Once again, they're talking about "unfunded future obligations" -- Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, so forth -- and pretending that it's current debt that has to be paid now, rather than over the next 47 years. I don't know why some people do that kinda bullshit -- I guess they're trying to manipulate you to follow their agenda, or else they're just stupid fucks -- but it's either dishonest or stupidity.
ReplyDeleteFact of the matter is that the USA is nowhere near bankrupt. Japan has FOUR TIMES the per-capita debt of the United States and its economy is as healthy as the US economy. The USA has a lot of problems, but future Social Security and Medicare obligations ain't one of them unless you assume the current recession is going to continue forever -- which is a dishonest assumption and anybody trying to sell you that crock of bull is either a dishonest liar or an idiot.
- Badtux the Bullshit-sniffin' Penguin
Ahh, Mr. BadTux, the Awesome Penguin,
ReplyDeleteTake into account the Baby Boomers, which be us, and the amount of current and future investors to SS and the fact that the dirty fuckers in our government have been swiping monies already paid into that fund without repaying them for forty fucking years and re-do your math.
That is why they keep screaming SS will be insolvent by the time I am incontinent.
I do thank you for stopping by in either case.
The Industrial Military Complex has absolutely bankrupted this country and these assholes in the banking sector are new comers but damn good at stealing huge amounts of Benjamin's with the express blessing of our elected officials and a blind eye from out regulatory divisions.
The Feds were repeatedly warned about Bernie Maddoff over a period of ten fucking years.
Those who have the gold make the rules.
Me and you are less than cannon fodder, we are too old.
Whether or not you agree with what I cut and pasted, this country is Bankrupt.
I already did do the math, up above. That's what the 7% thingy was. The USA is the least-taxed OECD economy, at 26% of GDP. You add 7% of GDP to pay off the Social Security/Medicare obligations, and we're still one of the least-taxed OECD countries at 33% (all of Europe plus Canada will *still* have higher taxes than the USA).
ReplyDeleteIn short, the notion that the USA is bankrupt don't add up, most of our international competitors have more debt than us -- up to four times more debt -- and they ain't bankrupt by any means. The USA has a lotta problems, but national bankruptcy ain't one of them. You follow the tracks of the people who keep whining we're bankrupt, and you run right across those banker motherfuckers that you mention -- they want less regulation, they figure getting people like you to demand the budget be cutting will mean they get less regulation. You're being played, dude. Played big time. Don't be a sucker, the math just don't say what these evil motherfuckers are claiming. And if you don't believe me, go read Krugman -- he has an article from a few months back that sez about the same thing. Or look up the numbers yourself, that's what I did. I figured somebody had to be lying -- either Krugman or the dudes who said the USA was bankrupt. Guess what the numbers said? Hint - it wasn't Krugman.
- Badtux the Math Penguin
That's what I like about you Bad Tux, yer smarter than I am and I ain't going to argue with ya.
ReplyDeleteEither way,from every financial site I look at, they all say the same thing.
It ain't rose water and lavender in our future.
Nucks, the financial sites you're talking about were saying back in 2006 that the best investment you could make was to buy a house with a liar loan. Same time I was posting that there was no freakin' way the average house here in San Jose was worth $850K and no way that was sustainable with average income here being $85K/year, the cash flow just wasn't big enough, same time I was saying the houses *had* to come down in price 'cause the ponzi scheme just couldn't continue forever, these crooked motherfuckers were telling everybody "You just GOT to buy a house, 'cause housing prices are just going up and up, housing prices never fall!" Uh, yeah right. How'd that work out, again?
ReplyDeleteSo anyhow, I don't read "financial sites" anymore, 'cause I figured out they're all crooks and liars out to pad their own wallets no matter how much bullshit they gotta spew to do it. I read folks who either ain't got no skin in the game or who've been RIGHT. Or both -- like Paul Krugman. But anybody who sez his profession is "financial advisor" or some shit like that? Dude's more crooked than RIchard Nixon, I guarantee you almost 100%. It's a scam. Don't fall for it.
- Badtux the Numbers Penguin
I figure all the bastards are out to get the little guy. So take care of yourself...nobody else will.
ReplyDeleteSee Ya
I think busted touched the elephant in the room starting to address the military industrial complex. The reason there was money to borrow in the early eighties was because of the baby boomers. Thank reagan and the following for starting and continuing to fuck us in the ass. The fact that we as a nation spend more on defense than all combined continues to amaze me. The notion that defense is untouchable and that we should all be afraid of cut backs in defense is laughable.
ReplyDeleteI was stationed on an aircraft carrier and know exactly how much power the sonofabitch had which by itself is more than most countries.
Cut defense spending by just a quarter and most of our woes will be gone. Of course that won't happen because the collective are all afraid of the big bad wolf.
Bustedsbro