Is it actually going to happen? Are we actually going to see “Government Shutdown 2011”? Will the streets of Washington D.C. soon be eerily quiet as hundreds of thousands of federal workers are temporarily sent home? Right now Barack Obama, Harry Reid and John Boehner all say that they want to reach a deal and avoid a government shutdown, but the deadline is coming up fast. The current spending bill that the government is operating under expires at the end of Friday. If the Republicans and the Democrats do not come to an agreement before then, the U.S. government will “shut down” at 12:01 AM Saturday morning. The Republicans have proposed a plan to extend government funding for one more week so that negotiations may continue, but the Democrats have rejected it. Obama has summoned Reid and Boehner to the White House tonight in an attempt to hash out a deal, but most observers are not particularly optimistic. Sadly, government debt is going to expand at a mind blowing pace this year no matter who wins this battle. (Read More...)
Debt Management: Is There Any Hope For America’s Debt Problem?
Wouldn’t it be nice if our politicians in Washington D.C. simply decided that we are not going to spend more money then we bring in? That would just seem to be common sense. After all, what do most of those big time debt management seminars teach? Most of the time they tell families with debt problems that the very first thing that they need to do is to stop spending so much darn money. Well, with the U.S. government things are just not that simple. In fact, even the most “crazy” budget proposals floating around Congress right now would not balance the federal budget until 20 years from now. The truth is that there does not seem to be much hope for America’s debt problem. In fact, it appears to be inevitable that it will continue to get worse long into the future. (Read More...)
This Is What Happens When Establishment Control Of The Media Cracks For A Moment
Every once in a while, establishment control of the mainstream media cracks for a moment. In an effort to achieve higher ratings, mainstream news programs will invite guests on that promise to be “interesting”, but then they will say something that is not part of the script and the entire system will go into a state of chaos for a moment. One example of this happened recently when two CNN “infobabes” interviewed former CIA officer Michael Scheuer about the situation on the ground in Libya. They asked Scheuer some questions regarding the role of the CIA in Libya, but the interview rapidly moved in some directions that the “infobabes” were not anticipating. Instead of sticking to the “Republican” or the “Democrat” script, Scheuer ripped both parties and he detailed many of the reasons why we should have never gone into Libya at all. (Read More...)
Radiation In Milk?
First they found radiation in milk in Spokane, Washington. Then they found radiation in milk in San Luis Obispo County, California. Now they have found radiation in milk in Arizona as well. Should we just start assuming that all of our milk is going to have nuclear radiation from Japan in it until further notice? Of course federal authorities insist that the levels of radiation being detected are completely safe and that nobody should start worrying about the milk that they are drinking. In fact that there are even some crackpots out there that are attempting to claim that nuclear radiation from Japan is actually good for us. Yes, let’s all run out and guzzle as much of that “nutritious” radioactive milk as we can. Of course it isn’t just milk that the radiation is getting into. It is showing up in water supplies from coast to coast and it is inevitable that it is going to get into most of our food products. Not that there is much that we can do about it. (Read More...)
Cell Phone Surveillance: Some Cell Phones Record Your Location Hundreds Of Times A Day
Do you own a cell phone? Do you think that it is private and secure? You might want to think again. The truth is that there is virtually no privacy when it comes to cell phones. In fact, the amount of cell phone surveillance that goes on is absolutely staggering. For example, one German politician named Malte Spitz recently went to court to force Deutsche Telekom to reveal how often his cell phone was being tracked. What he found out was absolutely amazing. It turns out that in just one 6 month period, Deutsche Telekom recorded the longitude and latitude coordinates of his cell phone 35,000 times. Not only that, in the United States cell phone companies are actually required by law to be able to pinpoint the locations of their customers to within 100 meters. Most cell phone carriers are able to track their customers far more accurately than that. The truth is that your location will never again be truly “private” as long as you are carrying a cell phone. (Read More...)
A List Of 28 Things That Will Make You Think That There Is Something Seriously Wrong With This Country
What in the world is happening to America? Perhaps you have asked yourself that question from time to time. Today it seems like everything is falling apart. Our economy is crumbling, our politicians are incompetent, we have just gotten involved in another war, corruption is everywhere and the Americans people are so addicted to entertainment that hardly anything can wake them from their stupor. It is enough to make you think that there is just not much hope for America. But the truth is that we should never give up. It is when the times are darkest that the greatest heroes arise. We truly do live in challenging times, but that just means that there are great victories to be won and great stories to be written. There may be a whole lot of things that are very wrong with America right now, but that doesn’t mean that the game is over quite yet. (Read More...)
Broke And Getting Broker: 22 Jaw Dropping Statistics About The Financial Condition Of American Families
Most American families are really struggling in this economy and they see most of the families around them really struggling, but they don’t have any hard numbers to back up the feelings of economic despair that they are experiencing. Well, below you will find 22 statistics that prove that American families are broke and getting broker. Today, the financial condition of most middle class families is rapidly deteriorating. The number of good jobs is declining, incomes are down, debt loads are up and bankruptcies and foreclosures just continue to increase. If you step back and really examine the statistics, it becomes really hard to deny that American families are getting poorer. Well, the wealthiest 5 percent are still thriving, but everyone else is really having a tough time. The truth is that a large percentage of the U.S. middle class is slowly but surely going broke. Unfortunately, this is being caused by long-term economic trends that simply are not going to be fixed overnight. (Read More...)
10 Facts About Corporate Taxes That Will Make Your Blood Boil
As the rest of us fill out our federal tax returns this year, we can all take great comfort in the fact that many of the largest corporations in the United States are not paying any federal taxes at all. Over the past couple of decades, multinational corporations have become incredibly skilled at avoiding taxes. It has become routine for big companies to shift profitable operations to divisions in other countries where tax rates are lower. It has also become routine for big companies to set up “sham headquarters” in tax havens around the world. Many U.S. corporations have even renounced their status as American companies in order to avoid paying taxes. All of this has had a dramatic impact on the income of the federal government. Corporate taxes now account for less than 7 percent of all federal revenue. Back in the 1950s they accounted for about 30 percent of all federal revenue. Meanwhile, the 35 percent corporate tax rate in the United States is chasing companies (and the accompanying good jobs) out of the United States at a blinding pace. In a world where big corporations will go to any lengths to “game the system”, this is absolutely devastating our economy. (Read More...)