Is this a sign of what is coming for the rest of the nation? In Martin County, Kentucky times are very tough right now. Thanks to severe budget cutbacks, there are only two paid law enforcement officers covering a deeply impoverished 231-square-mile area that sits right in the heart of America’s raging opioid crisis. Needless to say, Martin County Sheriff John Kirk feels greatly outnumbered by the thieves, sexual predators and drug dealers that he has to contend with on a daily basis, and he recently issued a very ominous warning to the citizens of his county… (Read More...)
Budget
The Real Obama Budget Deficit For 2011: 5 Trillion Dollars
If the U.S. government used the same accounting methods that most U.S. businesses use, the real federal budget deficit for last year would have been 5 trillion dollars instead of 1.3 trillion dollars. So where does the huge difference come from? I think a simple illustration would be helpful here. When you go shopping, do you only count the transactions where you use cash, or do you also count the transactions where you signed on the dotted line and promised to pay later? Of course you count both of them. Well, the U.S. government does not count promises to pay later when calculating budget deficits. The “official” Obama budget deficit for 2011 was 1.3 trillion dollars, but according to USA Today when you add in the rise in liabilities for Social Security, Medicare and other retirement programs that adds another 3.7 trillion dollars to the total. Those are future financial promises that we have made that future taxes are not expected to cover. This analysis by USA Today squares very well with what analysts such as John Williams of shadowstats.com have been saying for years. The truth is that our federal budget deficits have actually been far worse than we have been told. (Read More...)
Barack Obama: Let’s Steal 150 Million Dollars An Hour From Our Children
Do you think that someone could steal 150 million dollars and get away with it? Well, the truth is that such a theft is taking place every single hour of every single day. The federal government is stealing 150 million dollars an hour from our children and our grandchildren and Barack Obama thinks that is a good thing. The new Obama budget projects a $1.33 trillion federal budget deficit for the 2012 fiscal year. That is significantly higher than the $1.15 trillion that the Congressional Budget Office was projecting because it includes a whole bunch of stimulus spending that the Obama administration plans to do. So let’s do a little math. When you divide $1.33 trillion by 365 days, you get 3.6438356 billion dollars. So on average, the United States will be adding more than 3.6 billion dollars to the national debt every single day during fiscal 2012. And when you divide $3.6438356 billion by 24 hours, you get 151.8 million dollars. So on average, the U.S. national debt will be going up by more than 151 million dollars every single hour during fiscal 2012 if Obama has his way. This is a theft from our children and our grandchildren that is so vast that it is almost unimaginable. (Read More...)
20 Signs That Europe Is Plunging Into A Full-Blown Economic Depression
An economic nightmare is descending on Europe. With each passing month, the economic numbers across Europe get even worse. At this point it is becoming extremely difficult for anyone to deny that Europe is plunging into a full-blown economic depression. In fact, some parts of Europe are already there. In Spain the overall unemployment rate is over 22 percent, and in Greece one out of every five retail establishments has already been closed down. All over Europe, economic activity is rapidly slowing down, unemployment is skyrocketing and bad debts are unraveling. It isn’t even going to take a default by a nation such as Greece or a collapse of the euro to push Europe into an economic depression. All Europe has to do is to stay on the exact path that it is on right now and it will get there. Normally, European governments would respond to an economic slowdown by increasing government spending. But this time most of them are already drowning in debt. Instead of increasing government spending, most governments in Europe are actually cutting back. All over Europe, national governments are being encouraged to implement even more tax increases and even more budget cuts. The hope is that all of this austerity will help solve the nightmarish sovereign debt crisis that Europe is facing. But unfortunately, all of these tax increases and budget cuts are also going to involve a tremendous amount of economic pain. (Read More...)
All Hail The United States Of Germany? The Rest Of Europe Is Facing Either German Domination Or Financial Collapse
It has now become very clear who dominates Europe. As European officials prepare to gather for one of the most important summits in EU history, it has become apparent that either the German plan for a new EU treaty is going to be adopted or there is not going to be a deal at all. Germany wants to impose strict new fiscal restraints on all of the eurozone nations. This would include a new 3 percent budget deficit rule with automatic sanctions on any violators. The European Court of Justice would be given power to decide whether or not an individual nation was complying with the 3 percent rule or not. A highly controversial new tax on all financial transactions is also being proposed, along with a number of other repressive new regulations that are designed to more tightly integrate Europe. Germany says that if all 27 EU nations are not willing to go along with a new treaty then it is prepared to strike an agreement with just the 17 nations that make up the eurozone. But not everyone is thrilled with what Germany is trying to do. Critics are saying that the German proposals (which are also being backed by the French) would mean a massive loss of sovereignty for most of the nations that make up the eurozone, and they would essentially turn the eurozone into “the United States of Germany”. (Read More...)
Austerity Riots – A Glimpse Of America’s Future?
Are the austerity protests and riots happening in Greece right now a glimpse of America’s future? The truth is that both nations are absolutely drowning in debt. It is just that the “day of reckoning” has already arrived for Greece but it has not arrived for the United States yet. Yes, there are some important differences between the situation in Greece and the situation in the U.S., but there are also some important similarities. Budget cuts and other austerity measures are being promoted by the political leaders of both countries. Greek citizens have reacted very negatively to the economic austerity programs that have been implemented in that nation. As budget cuts on the federal, state and local levels in the United States start to really become painful, will we eventually see the same kind of austerity riots in this country that we are currently seeing in Greece? (Read More...)
Fire John Boehner – America Watched Boehner Fold Like A 20 Dollar Suit So Boehner Must Go In 2012
Have you ever noticed that whenever it comes time to stand on principle top Republican lawmakers always fold like a 20 dollar suit? This time it was John Boehner. It went down like this – the Democrats knew that if they played hardball and set up a government shutdown for the weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival that Boehner would cave. Boehner took negotiations up to the last minute to make it “look good” for the Tea Party, but the truth is that Boehner wanted nothing to do with a government shutdown and the Democrats knew that. The Democrats drew their lines in the sand on issue after issue and Boehner caved and caved and caved. So now it is time to fire John Boehner along with Barack Obama in 2012. Boehner must go. If the Tea Party is serious about cutting government spending then they must hold John Boehner accountable and go after his seat during the next primary season. The truth is that the “budget deal” is a complete and total joke. A one percent cut to the U.S. government budget is laughable. Is that why dozens of Tea Party activists were sent to Washington D.C.? If this is the “best” that can be done, the truth is that there is no hope of ever getting U.S. government debt under control. (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...)