Today there is a great debate in the economic community about whether we are going to have crippling deflation or unprecedented inflation in the years ahead. For decades, a never ending spiral of debt has fueled the almost unbelievable prosperity that Americans have enjoyed. We have lived way beyond our means, and in the process we have piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world. Now, the fourth branch of the U.S. government (the Federal Reserve) has a decision to make. Will the Federal Reserve allow the U.S. economy to deleverage, thus setting off a deflationary nightmare worse than the Great Depression, or will the Federal Reserve attempt to crank up the debt spiral one more time by flooding the U.S. economy with another giant wave of paper money? (Read More...)
Debts
One Out Of Every Six U.S. Taxpayers Will Be Hit By A Tax Increase Averaging $3,900 This Year And Most Of Them Don’t Even Realize It
Did you know that there are two different sets of federal income tax rules in the United States? It’s true. Each year, most U.S. taxpayers either pay income tax under the system that most of us are familiar with or they pay the “Alternative Minimum Tax” – whichever amount ends up being greater. For years, the U.S. Congress has passed one year “fixes” that have exempted millions of middle class American families from the Alternative Minimum Tax. This has essentially been a huge tax cut each year for those millions of American families. But this year, the Democrat-controlled Congress has not passed a “patch” for the Alternative Minimum Tax. So now one out of every six U.S. taxpayers is going to be hit by the Alternative Minimum Tax. The taxpayers most likely to be affected are married couples, very large families, home owners and taxpayers in states that have high state and local taxes. The average tax increase that these taxpayers will be facing is going to be approximately $3,900 and most of them have no idea that it is coming. At a time when an increasing number of families is barely getting by, a tax increase of this magnitude is simply going to crush the American Dream for literally millions of families. Talk about a cruel surprise for tens of millions of Americans this upcoming tax season! (Read More...)
Bank Of America, JPMorgan Chase And GMAC Suspend Foreclosures Due To Serious Concerns About Foreclosure Procedures
In an absolutely stunning development, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage have all suspended foreclosures in many U.S. states due to serious concerns about foreclosure procedures. There has been an absolutely massive tsunami of foreclosures in recent years and it turns out that mortgage company officials dealing with foreclosure paperwork have not always taken the time to process each foreclosure properly. Things have gotten so bad that a number of U.S. states have actually opened up official investigations that are looking into some of these foreclosure practices. But what did everyone expect? There has been such a dramatic surge in foreclosures over the past several years that it was almost inevitable that shortcuts would start to be taken. Back in 2005, there were only about 100,000 home repossessions in the United States. Last year there were about 1 million home repossessions in the U.S. and RealtyTrac is projecting that there will be a record 1.2 million home repossessions this year. Needless to say, this has created a paperwork headache for mortgage companies of unprecedented magnitude. (Read More...)
Median Household Income Is Falling In Almost Every Single Major American City
Median household income is falling in the vast majority of U.S. states and in virtually every single major U.S. city. According to the Census Bureau’s annual survey of income and poverty in the United States, of the 52 largest metro areas in the nation, only the city of San Antonio did not see a decline in median household income in 2009. Needless to say, that is not good news. If incomes are falling from coast to coast, then how in the world can anyone claim that we are experiencing a “recovery”? The truth is that we are not in the middle of an economic recovery. What we are in the middle of is a long-term economic decline. Incomes are going down and middle class American families find themselves squeezed like never before. Meanwhile, unemployment has skyrocketed in recent years and it has become much harder to get a good job. Less Americans than ever are able to achieve anything even close to resembling the American Dream. Things are getting really tough out there, and as more jobs and factories leave the United States, as the U.S. government goes into even more debt and as the economy continues to implode things are going to get even worse. (Read More...)
Banks Are Failing At A Record Pace, The FDIC Bank Problem List Continues To Grow And Most Americans Don’t Even Realize The U.S. Banking System Is Dying
In the mainstream media, all the talk is about how the “recession” is over. But the truth is that our economic problems are far from over. In fact, the U.S. banking system is dying. U.S. banks continue to fail at a record pace. The FDIC list of problem banks continues to grow at an alarming pace. Loans and mortgages continue to go bad at an accelerating rate at banks across the United States. The truth is that we are in deep, deep trouble, and the vast majority of the American people do not even realize it. But the American people better wake up soon, because if the U.S. banking system dies, the American Dream is going to die along with it for tens of millions of Americans. (Read More...)
Turn Out The Lights – The Party Is Over: 20 Signs That American Consumers Are Completely And Totally Tapped Out
Many economists have been mystified that even though the recession is “over”, American consumers have not opened their wallets and started spending again like they normally do at the end of a recession. News report after news report has encouraged Americans to grab their credit cards and to head out to the stores and start spending again, but it just is not happening. So why are things different this time? Well, for one thing there is a lot of fear in the air. Poll after poll after poll shows that faith in the economy has collapsed and that large numbers of Americans fear that things are going to get even worse for the economy soon. But for millions of other Americans there is another problem – they couldn’t spend more money if they wanted to. The truth is that living on credit for decades has caught up with us as a nation. Americans are absolutely drowning in mortgage debt, car loans, credit card debt and student loan debt. As wages have stagnated, credit has enabled many of us to pursue the American Dream and to live far beyond our means, but that doesn’t last forever. Now tens of millions of Americans are completely and totally tapped out. But without the return of the voracious American “consumer” there is not going to be a full economic “recovery”. (Read More...)
10 Reasons Why Barack Obama’s “It’s Not A Stimulus” Package Is A Cruel Joke On The American People
As election season 2010 draws near, the Obama administration has finally realized that the Democrats could actually lose both the House and the Senate in November. Suddenly all Obama wants to talk about is his wonderful new plan for the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, what he is suggesting is far too little and far too late. Anything Obama is proposing now will not be passed by Congress before the upcoming elections, and that is bad news for the Democrats. The American people tend to vote based on their wallets, and right now the American people are not happy. They desperately want someone to “fix” what is wrong with the economy. Obama is running around the country trying to convince people that he is the man to restore the American Dream, but at this point the American people have less faith in his economic policies than ever. The White House is insisting that Obama’s new economic plan is not a new “stimulus package”, and that is actually true. Obama’s new plan will not stimulate much of anything. The truth is that Obama’s new economic plan is really just a cruel joke on those who are willing to have faith in Obama’s ability to somehow turn the dying U.S. economy around. Unfortunately, throwing several hundred billion more dollars at the problem is not going to do anything to fix the foundational problems that are destroying our economic system. (Read More...)
15 Reasons Why Young Americans Should Do Whatever They Can To Avoid Getting Sucked Into The Student Loan Debt Trap
America has created a student loan debt bubble that is inflating at a staggering pace and that is destroying hundreds of thousands of lives. For the first time in U.S. history, Americans owe more on their student loans than they do on their credit cards. Millions more young people are getting sucked in to the student loan debt trap each year. They are told that “an education” is the key to achieving the American Dream and that they won’t be able to get a good job without going to college. They are told that they should get into the best school that they can and that they will surely get a good enough job to easily pay off their student loans. In fact, most American high school students don’t have anyone warning them about the dangers of the student loans that they are about to commit to paying off. But they should, because the system of higher education in the United States has become a money making scam. Those who get sucked into the student loan debt trap often end up regretting it for the rest of their lives. (Read More...)