If it seems like about half the country is on drugs, that is because it is actually true. According to a new survey from the National Center for Health Statistics, almost half of all Americans have taken a pharmaceutical drug within the past 30 days, and that officially makes us “the most medicated country in the world”. And needless to say, those dealing these drugs are becoming exceedingly wealthy at our expense. The average American spends $1,200 a year on prescription drugs, but of course many Americans spend far more than that and others spend nothing at all. In recent years there has been a tremendous backlash against the big pharmaceutical corporations, because many of them have become exceedingly greedy. As you will see below, prices have been raised on 650 different drugs this year alone. Once they get their claws into you, the pharmaceutical giants want to get every last penny out of you that they possibly can. (Read More...)
Bankrupt
Shocking New Study Finds That 137 Million Americans Suffered “Medical Financial Hardship In The Past Year”
The healthcare system in the United States is deeply broken, and it is causing massive financial pain for millions of American families. Previously, I have published articles where I talked about how medical bills are the primary factor in two-thirds of all personal bankruptcies in the United States, and that Americans had to borrow a whopping 88 billion dollars last year to cover medical costs. This is happening even though more than 90 percent of all Americans have some form of health coverage. Thanks to soaring deductibles and health insurance policies that are absolutely riddled with loopholes, more Americans than ever are being wiped out by medical bills. And now a brand new study that was conducted by researchers from the American Cancer Society has discovered that 137.1 million Americans suffered “medical financial hardship in the past year”. The following comes directly from the study… (Read More...)
EU Makes Greece ‘An Offer They Can’t Refuse’: Agree To A Deal By Sunday Or Go Bankrupt
It looks like we aren’t going to have to wait much longer to see if Greece remains part of the eurozone or not. Instead of softening their demands in the wake of the Greek referendum, European leaders have given the Greek government an ultimatum. On Tuesday night, EU officials gave Greece a deadline of Thursday to submit a new proposal and a deadline of Sunday for agreeing to a deal. If a deal is not reached on Sunday, all aid to Greece will be cut off and the nation will be faced with financial oblivion and a forced exit from the common currency. But Angela Merkel has already made it abundantly clear that any new deal will not include a debt haircut – one of the key things that the Greek government wanted. If a deal is actually made, it is almost certainly going to look very much like what Greece’s creditors have been offering all along. Needless to say, this is precisely what the Greek people just voted against, but the pressure on Greek leadership is immense at this point. In essence, they are being given “an offer they can’t refuse”. So will the Greek government buckle under this mobster-like intimidation? (Read More...)
Is Germany Secretly Maneuvering To Kick Greece Out Of The Euro?
What in the world is going on in Europe? Each day things just seem to get stranger and stranger. We are being told that a “deal” for a second Greek bailout has been reached and that Greece will not default in March. But behind the scenes it seems clear that many politicians in Germany (and in the other northern European countries as well) would like to kick Greece out of the euro. So what exactly is happening here? Well, it is complicated. The United States, along with other members of the international community, put a tremendous amount of pressure on Germany to bail out Greece one more time. Germany does not want to look like the bad guy, so they are going along with this bailout but they are also imposing conditions on Greece this time that will be almost impossible to meet. And when Greece fails to meet its “obligations”, that will give the northern Europeans the excuse that they need to kick Greece out of the euro. At this point, many politicians in northern Europe are convinced that Greece is a “lost cause” and that it is not fair to ask northern European nations to pay the price for the financial mistakes of Greece. Greece is basically completely and totally bankrupt, and the nations of northern Europe don’t want to have a “financial dependent” on their books forever. They are looking for a “way out”, and this new agreement lays the foundation for that. (Read More...)
Illinois Bankrupt?
Is the state of Illinois bankrupt? Well, if Illinois is not totally broke already it is certainly well on its way. The state government has now quit paying even the most essential bills. It spends three dollars for every two dollars that it takes in. The state of Illinois now ranks eighth in the world in possible bond-holder default. That is actually one spot ahead of the state of California. As much of a mess as California is (as we have previously detailed at length), Illinois is in even worse shape. Every major rating agency has downgraded Illinois debt, and Illinois now pays millions of dollars more to insure its debt than any other state in the nation. So yes, the state of Illinois is a complete and total basket case. For a long time, many analysts had expected California to be the first state to go “belly up” financially, but now Illinois seems to be the favorite. Not that Illinois is alone. Thousands of state, city and local governments across the United States are facing massive debt problems. All of the borrowing that was done to push communities towards achieving the American Dream is now coming back to haunt localities with a vengeance. Debt is a very seductive and yet very cruel master, and the government of Illinois is rapidly finding out just how painful it can be to drown in a sea of debt. (Read More...)
California Bankrupt?
Is the state of California bankrupt? Well, an increasing number of politicians and economic analysts are answering that question in the affirmative. The truth is that California is a complete and total economic disaster area. The state government of California is projected to have a budget deficit of at least 19 billion dollars this year, and next year the budget gap is projected to grow to 37 billion dollars. To put that in perspective, the entire budget for the government of California is only about $125 billion per year. Already, California’s credit rating is the lowest of all 50 states, and there are persistent rumors that it is about to go lower. If California’s credit rating is slashed, it will be very expensive for them to borrow the money that they desperately need. Once upon a time, the state of California was the poster child for the American Dream, but now it is on the leading edge of America’s rapidly unfolding economic nightmare. (Read More...)