Pay very close attention to what this article is telling us – because our government’s disregard of our constitution is getting worse – much worse. I’m sure that at some point, we’ll be told that the Constitution is completely outdated and ill-suited to deal with whatever calamity is brought upon us (we see a lot of this already). Remember – it is this ‘old fashioned’ document that has held powerful interests in check for over two hundred years. There’s a reason the Constitution adds checks and balances to our government. Too much power is a very bad thing in this evil world. The founders of our nation were wise – they were not naïve people. They knew that over time, powerful interests could try to takeover the United States of America – from within.
If you study the Illuminati – you’ll see that there are two major obstacles to their plan for world government – the American Constitution and the American middle class. Our constitution creates a Republic where everyone has inalienable rights – not good if you want to control the world. You can’t have inalienable rights granted to the world’s people if you plan to rule the world with an iron fist. Our Constitution will not allow a small group of people to control the world. This is why it’s a stumbling block to the global elite.
The question becomes – if you’re trying to create a world government and the world’s most powerful Constitution stands in the way – how do you remove this Constitution? Do you make a direct assault and begin undermining the Constitution by direct legislation or Executive power? Not in this country. Nothing would cause us to rise up in defiance like a direct assault on our freedom. No – this would not be very effective and would certainly alert everyone to your hidden plans. The best way to begin to remove the rights granted by our Constitution is to do it very deceptively. Let’s make everyone believe that it’s necessary to remove the rights and freedoms provided to the American people – in the name of security. Let’s remove these freedoms under the guise of protection. Let’s create a perceived threat (a problem) and then propose a solution that seemingly solves the problem – while removing Constitutional rights. Now you know why the events of September 11, 2001 took place. In no time at all – the Patriot Act was passed by Congress. The Military Commissions Act then followed. George W. Bush has also signed many Executive Orders (bypassing Congress) that basically creates a dictatorship in the event of another ‘national disaster’. The rights granted by our Constitution are being systematically removed. Once again I must say that it’s an ingenious plan. Evil, but ingenious.
Why is the American middle class a threat? We (a very large group of people) wield too much political and economic power. How do you knock down such a large group of people? Would a direct assault work against us? No – not a chance. Again, deception must be used to overtake such a large group of educated people. How best to do this? If you control a nation’s economy – do you not control the people to a certain extent? You might let them focus on wealth and all of the wonderful things that wealth brings – for a time. When they have become soft and easily manipulated – you then pull the rug out from under them. Take away their wealth and their security – and watch them wither. We have placed our faith – not with our Creator – but with our money. If you take away someone’s money who is focused on wealth – you leave them with nothing. Will they not do whatever you ask in an attempt to get their wealth back – whatever the cost? You are now beginning to understand the Lord’s warnings about wealth. Wealth can come and it can go – do not put your faith in money – do not let it control you. Remember, we are ultimately fighting an evil, spiritual being. He knows what drives you. He knows where your weaknesses are.
What happens if you take away the wealth of a true believer? Does the world come crashing down? No – not at all. A child of God views a trial in this world as a test. A test that, once endured, will strengthen our faith. If we are given wealth, we will use it according to the Lord’s will to advance His kingdom. If we do not have wealth, we will still do whatever we can for the Lord. We are not tossed around by the world – it holds no power over us. Take away my wealth – fine. The Lord will provide. Try to force me to adhere to unbiblical doctrine? Try to make me worship something other than the One, true God? Now you’ve got a problem. I will not – cannot – proclaim something other than the Lord’s Word. I will not – cannot – worship something, anything – other than my Creator. Will not happen – ever. Threats will not work, persecution will not work, taking away my wealth will not work – because my focus is no longer on this world. I have been promised something greater – and that is where my treasure lies.
The following is an excerpt from the Article below. It speaks to two things – 1) our government is violating the constitution with the recent bailout and 2) Raiding the U.S. Treasury is a very bad idea. If you remember – one of the very first posts on this blog related to Alexander Tyler’s study of democracy and why all democracies have eventually failed. We’re watching the theory play out before us.
“The $700 billion bailout of large banks that Congress recently enacted runs afoul of virtually all these constitutional principles. It directly benefits a few, not everyone. We already know that the favored banks that received cash from taxpayers have used it to retire their own debt. It is private welfare. It violates the principle of equal protection: Why help Bank of America and not Lehman Brothers? It permits federal ownership of assets or debt that puts the government at odds with others in the free market. It permits the government to tilt the playing field to favor its patrons (like J.P. Morgan Chase, in which it has invested taxpayer dollars) and to disfavor those who compete with its patrons (like the perfectly lawful hedge funds which will not have the taxpayers relieve their debts).
Perhaps the only public agreement that Jefferson and Hamilton had about the Constitution was that the federal Treasury would be raided and the free market would expire if the Treasury became a public trough. If it does, the voters will send to Congress those whom they expect will fleece the Treasury for them. That's why the Founders wrote such strict legislating and spending limitations into the Constitution.”
jg – October 29, 2008
________________________
OCTOBER 29, 2008
Most Presidents Ignore the Constitution
The government we have today is something the Founders could never have imagined.
By ANDREW P. NAPOLITANO
Wall St. Journal
In a radio interview in 2001, then-Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama noted -- somewhat ruefully -- that the same Supreme Court that ordered political and educational equality in the 1960s and 1970s did not bring about economic equality as well. Although Mr. Obama said he could come up with arguments for the constitutionality of such action, the plain meaning of the Constitution quite obviously prohibits it.
Mr. Obama is hardly alone in his expansive view of legitimate government. During the past month, Sen. John McCain (who, like Sen. Obama, voted in favor of the $700 billion bank bailout) has been advocating that $300 billion be spent to pay the monthly mortgage payments of those in danger of foreclosure. The federal government is legally powerless to do that, as well.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt first proposed legislation that authorized the secretary of agriculture to engage in Soviet-style central planning -- a program so rigid that it regulated how much wheat a homeowner could grow for his own family's consumption -- he rejected arguments of unconstitutionality. He proclaimed that the Constitution was "quaint" and written in the "horse and buggy era," and predicted the public and the courts would agree with him.
Remember that FDR had taken -- and either Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain will soon take -- the oath to uphold that old-fashioned document, the one from which all presidential powers come.
Unfortunately, these presidential attitudes about the Constitution are par for the course. Beginning with John Adams, and proceeding to Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and George W. Bush, Congress has enacted and the president has signed laws that criminalized political speech, suspended habeas corpus, compelled support for war, forbade freedom of contract, allowed the government to spy on Americans without a search warrant, and used taxpayer dollars to shore up failing private banks.
All of this legislation -- merely tips of an unconstitutional Big Government iceberg -- is so obviously in conflict with the plain words of the Constitution that one wonders how Congress gets away with it.
In virtually every generation and during virtually every presidency (Jefferson, Jackson and Cleveland are exceptions that come to mind) the popular branches of government have expanded their power. The air you breathe, the water you drink, the size of your toilet tank, the water pressure in your shower, the words you can speak under oath and in private, how your physician treats your illness, what your children study in grade school, how fast you can drive your car, and what you can drink before you drive it are all regulated by federal law. Congress has enacted over 4,000 federal crimes and written or authorized over one million pages of laws and regulations. Worse, we are expected by law to understand all of it.
The truth is that the Constitution grants Congress 17 specific (or "delegated") powers. And it commands in the Ninth and 10th Amendments that the powers not articulated and thus not delegated by the Constitution to Congress be reserved to the states and the people.
What's more, Congress can only use its delegated powers to legislate for the general welfare, meaning it cannot spend tax dollars on individuals or selected entities, but only for all of us. That is, it must spend in such a manner -- a post office, a military installation, a courthouse, for example -- that directly enhances everyone's welfare within the 17 delegated areas of congressional authority.
And Congress cannot deny the equal protection of the laws. Thus, it must treat similarly situated persons or entities in a similar manner. It cannot write laws that favor its political friends and burden its political enemies.
There is no power in the Constitution for the federal government to enter the marketplace since, when it does, it will favor itself over its competition. The Contracts Clause (the states cannot interfere with private contracts, like mortgages), the Takings Clause (no government can take away property, like real estate or shares of stock, without paying a fair market value for it and putting it to a public use), and the Due Process Clause (no government can take away a right or obligation, like collecting or paying a debt, or enforcing a contract, without a fair trial) together mandate a free market, regulated only to keep it fair and competitive.
It is clear that the Framers wrote a Constitution as a result of which contracts would be enforced, risk would be real, choices would be free and have consequences, and private property would be sacrosanct.
The $700 billion bailout of large banks that Congress recently enacted runs afoul of virtually all these constitutional principles. It directly benefits a few, not everyone. We already know that the favored banks that received cash from taxpayers have used it to retire their own debt. It is private welfare. It violates the principle of equal protection: Why help Bank of America and not Lehman Brothers? It permits federal ownership of assets or debt that puts the government at odds with others in the free market. It permits the government to tilt the playing field to favor its patrons (like J.P. Morgan Chase, in which it has invested taxpayer dollars) and to disfavor those who compete with its patrons (like the perfectly lawful hedge funds which will not have the taxpayers relieve their debts).
Perhaps the only public agreement that Jefferson and Hamilton had about the Constitution was that the federal Treasury would be raided and the free market would expire if the Treasury became a public trough. If it does, the voters will send to Congress those whom they expect will fleece the Treasury for them. That's why the Founders wrote such strict legislating and spending limitations into the Constitution.
Everyone in government takes an oath to uphold the Constitution. But few do so. Do the people we send to the federal government recognize any limits today on Congress's power to legislate? The answer is: Yes, their own perception of whatever they can get away with.
Mr. Napolitano, who served on the bench of the Superior Court of New Jersey between 1987 and 1995, is the senior judicial analyst at the Fox News Channel. His latest book is "A Nation of Sheep" (Nelson, 2007).
Showing posts with label U.S. middle class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. middle class. Show all posts
Saturday, September 16, 2006
The Demise of the American Middle Class
If you are debating whether or not the American middle class is, in fact, under attack – this article by Tony Allison should answer some of your questions. Ever wonder why it’s getting harder and harder for us to make ends meet? It would be one thing if we were suffering as a result of the normal fluctuations of our economic system. It’s something else entirely if this happens to be a coordinated assault on the American middle class – which you’ve seen me say before – is exactly what is happening.
If you read about the objectives of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) – you’ll get some insight into the goals of the global elite. They cannot gain control of the world if the United States remains a superpower – which is why we read that one of the main goals of the global elite is to reduce the power and influence of the U.S. They have been accomplishing their goals via economic means. It’s been happening slowly over decades – and we’re now seeing the final all-out assault that will result in the financial destruction of our nation.
As I’ve said before – it’s easy to look at this from a worldly viewpoint and be fearful. I am well aware that most people in the world today are just like I was – spiritually immature with no Godly knowledge and wisdom. We see our wealth evaporating – and since we have placed our faith in money and not God – we are fearful. How can we survive without our wealth? The sky is falling and we don’t know what to do.
Now that I view things from God’s viewpoint – not the world’s – I can see clearly what is happening. The sky is not falling. We are seeing firsthand what happens when a nation rejects God’s warnings. Things get serious because they need to get serious. If we don’t turn this ship around and start focusing on what is important – God’s plan for us – our nation will follow its current path to destruction. God is getting our attention – to save us from ourselves.
There are many people sounding an alarm about the economy and what our government is doing to us. The question becomes – when the rubber meets the road – will we stand and fight or will we shrink from the challenge? It’s easy to write about these things – it’s much harder to actually do something about it. Actually doing something requires – faith. If we don’t draw near to our Creator – we will not have the faith to do what will be required. Some of us will be asked to stand in the face of the beasts and proclaim the truth. As a result, some of us will not die from natural causes. Each of must have the faith required to do what our Lord asks us to do – regardless of the consequences. We must stand and not be moved.
jg – Dec 8, 2008
_______________________________
The Demise of the Middle Class
Early 1970's an historic turning point
BY TONY ALLISON
December 8, 2008
As the credit crisis deepens and morphs into uncharted waters, a little perspective is necessary on what it is costing, in both dollars and human terms. You may have seen the mind-numbing comparisons with other massive government expenditures of the past. These statistics were inflation-adjusted, courtesy of Jim Bianco of Bianco Research. The credit crisis, with $4.6 trillion committed (and perhaps just getting started) already has cost roughly one trillion dollars more than World War II ($3.6 trillion). The Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after the war cost a mere $115 billion. The Louisiana Purchase was a ridiculous bargain at $217 billion ($15 billion originally). It appears that the piper has finally arrived to be paid for the unlimited debt creation since 1971 and the middle-class is already tapped out.
Keepers of the American Dream
The American middle-class, the hard-working keepers of the American Dream, has been in distress for 35 years, slowly losing ground and purchasing power. The current credit crisis may prove to be the greatest challenge to the middle-class way of life. Adding astronomical debt to existing debt will not solve our problems.
The first chart below, Median Household Income since 1945, is the one the public sees in the media. It shows household income marching ever upward, a symbol of unbridled American prosperity. The truth is that inflation has made prosperity, especially for middle-class Americans, far more elusive.
Desperation and necessity
The struggles of the American middle-class since 1970 become very clear when looking at the next two charts. Their buying power has plunged when you factor in the massive loss of buying power of the US dollar. Over this 35+ year period, both spouses were forced into the workplace to keep the family afloat. It also explains the massive growth in consumer debt and lack of personal savings. The middle-class was not necessarily acting irresponsibly. It was acting out of desperation and necessity.
Clearly many in the middle-class (and elsewhere) have added debt too recklessly. But prices have inexorably grown faster, year after year, than the growth of real middle-class income. In addition fixed costs for the American family (mortgage costs, insurance, child care, health care, etc.) are much higher as a percentage of income than they were 35 years ago.
Sources: Census Bureau.govThe Financial Help Center.com
Sources: CensusBureau.govMeasuringWorth.com
Sources: CensusBureau.comBarchart.com
Median Income devastated by inflation
Divided by the CPI (which has been understated for decades) the “adjusted” Median Household Income has barely grown at all since 1973. When measured in terms of ounces of gold instead of dollars, median income has plunged. This chart shows median income peaked in 1970, when it would buy 240 ounces of gold. The devastating inflation of the 1970’s sent real median income down to its low in 1980, where it could only buy 29 ounces of gold. One can see the current direction of “real” median income since 2001, and we haven’t even felt the eventual inflationary effects of the credit crisis. As we stand today, the Median Household Income can buy approximately 65 ounces of gold, one of the lower levels since 1945.
Home equity on the decline
One key source to fill the gap of falling wage growth was home equity. Quite simply, Americans have been slowly transferring ownership of their homes to the banking system over the last 50+ years. These figures would look much worse if the roughly 1/3 of homes owned “free and clear” (mostly by seniors) were removed from the data, but you can see the trend is toward less equity and more debt. This is not a sign of a prospering middle-class.
Historic turning point
The availability of easy credit the last two decades was a key mechanism to keep the middle-class above water. Now the easy and available credit is going away, and with it much of the quality of life of the middle-class. The early 1970’s was clearly an historic turning point for millions of Americans. With the 1971 severing of the gold-backed dollar by the Nixon Administration, the fate of the middle class was sealed. Unlimited fiat money creation led to unlimited debt and a rapidly depreciating dollar. Middle-class “real” wage growth would never again keep up with “real” inflation, especially in key areas such as health care and college tuition, which have greatly exceeded the stated rate of inflation.
Do you think the strapped middle-class family feels better when hearing that inflation is “only” 4%, instead of 11.6%, as measured prior to 1983? Not likely. Understated inflation does not help remove the sting of declining purchasing power. It just adds to the confusion and desperation. The pain is still real, even as trust in government continues to decline. With the current world-wide deleveraging, inflation rates are coming down, for the short to medium term. With trillions upon trillions of government debt soon to flood the financial system, inflation will not be gone for long.
Inflation or deflation- middle class loses
Be it a hyperinflationary or deflationary scenario in the coming years, the middle-class will suffer. Either from a massive loss of buying power (hyperinflation) or explosive debt burdens (deflation). Eventually, foreign creditors will likely bolt the dollar for something with more enduring value; i.e. gold. It would be a good idea, whether you are middle class or not, to prepare by accumulating some gold while it is still relatively cheap and somewhat available.
The US dollar has been the global monetary standard since the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944. Unfortunately, the dollar has not been a good store of value since Nixon severed the dollar’s link to gold in 1971. The Federal Reserve has always functioned as the lender of last resort, and is now becoming the “spender of last resort.” Unprecedented debasing of the US currency could be on our horizon.
Pawns in a chess game
While fulfilling its classic role as the backbone of the American economy, the middle-class also is the unwitting pawn in the complex chess game of global finance and government excess. The problem with being a pawn is that one has no control of the game, or its outcome. Historically, the middle-class is always the group to feel the greatest pain and reap the fewest rewards from the machinations of Wall Street and Washington. The period dead ahead will be no exception. The extraordinary debt levels will only make matters worse.
The middle-class has been under growing pressure for over 30 years, as its purchasing power has been steadily under attack. Things will very likely get worse before we see any light. The middle-class must retrench even further. But it must also search for a store of value as its dollars buy less and less. It is my belief that once the severe de-leveraging is finished, the commodity sector, particularly gold, will serve as that life raft. The struggling middle-class, and everyone else for that matter, will need something to stay afloat if the USS dollar slowly sinks in the murky seas of the global currency markets.
The way forward
Historically, one great quality of America is resilience. It is my sincere hope that out of this crisis will emerge a more rational way forward. I believe the best way forward for our country would be a system of honest money; a new currency backed by gold that would enforce discipline on government spending and allow families to plan and save for their futures. And it might just provide our children and generations unborn their own shot at the American Dream. We owe them that much.
Today’s Markets
The stock markets shot higher for a second straight session Monday as investors bet that President-elect Barack Obama's plans to increase infrastructure spending will help lift the economy back to health. The major market indexes jumped more than 3 percent, and the Dow Jones industrials' nearly 300 point advance gave the blue chips their highest close in a month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 298.76, or 3.46 percent, to 8,934.18, its highest close since it finished at 9,139.27 on Nov. 5th. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 33.63, or 3.84 percent, to 909.70; and the Nasdaq composite index jumped 62.43, or 4.14 percent, to 1,571.74. It was the ninth advance in 11 sessions for the Dow and the S&P 500.
Oil futures surged 7% Monday, buoyed by expectations that the OPEC oil cartel may deliver a substantial cut in production as well as by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's pledge of massive new infrastructure investment to revive the economy. Crude oil for January delivery surged $2.90, or 7.1%, to end at $43.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the contract hit an intraday high of $44.70 a barrel.
Gold and other metals futures rallied Monday, getting a boost from soaring oil prices, weakness in the U.S. dollar and President-elect Barack Obama's pledge of a massive new infrastructure investment to buoy the U.S. economy. Gold for February delivery rose $17.10 to end at $769.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Wishing you a good evening,
Tony Allison
Registered Representative
Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved.
CONTACT INFORMATIONAnthony Allison, Registered RepresentativePFS Group
If you read about the objectives of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) – you’ll get some insight into the goals of the global elite. They cannot gain control of the world if the United States remains a superpower – which is why we read that one of the main goals of the global elite is to reduce the power and influence of the U.S. They have been accomplishing their goals via economic means. It’s been happening slowly over decades – and we’re now seeing the final all-out assault that will result in the financial destruction of our nation.
As I’ve said before – it’s easy to look at this from a worldly viewpoint and be fearful. I am well aware that most people in the world today are just like I was – spiritually immature with no Godly knowledge and wisdom. We see our wealth evaporating – and since we have placed our faith in money and not God – we are fearful. How can we survive without our wealth? The sky is falling and we don’t know what to do.
Now that I view things from God’s viewpoint – not the world’s – I can see clearly what is happening. The sky is not falling. We are seeing firsthand what happens when a nation rejects God’s warnings. Things get serious because they need to get serious. If we don’t turn this ship around and start focusing on what is important – God’s plan for us – our nation will follow its current path to destruction. God is getting our attention – to save us from ourselves.
There are many people sounding an alarm about the economy and what our government is doing to us. The question becomes – when the rubber meets the road – will we stand and fight or will we shrink from the challenge? It’s easy to write about these things – it’s much harder to actually do something about it. Actually doing something requires – faith. If we don’t draw near to our Creator – we will not have the faith to do what will be required. Some of us will be asked to stand in the face of the beasts and proclaim the truth. As a result, some of us will not die from natural causes. Each of must have the faith required to do what our Lord asks us to do – regardless of the consequences. We must stand and not be moved.
jg – Dec 8, 2008
_______________________________
The Demise of the Middle Class
Early 1970's an historic turning point
BY TONY ALLISON
December 8, 2008
As the credit crisis deepens and morphs into uncharted waters, a little perspective is necessary on what it is costing, in both dollars and human terms. You may have seen the mind-numbing comparisons with other massive government expenditures of the past. These statistics were inflation-adjusted, courtesy of Jim Bianco of Bianco Research. The credit crisis, with $4.6 trillion committed (and perhaps just getting started) already has cost roughly one trillion dollars more than World War II ($3.6 trillion). The Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after the war cost a mere $115 billion. The Louisiana Purchase was a ridiculous bargain at $217 billion ($15 billion originally). It appears that the piper has finally arrived to be paid for the unlimited debt creation since 1971 and the middle-class is already tapped out.
Keepers of the American Dream
The American middle-class, the hard-working keepers of the American Dream, has been in distress for 35 years, slowly losing ground and purchasing power. The current credit crisis may prove to be the greatest challenge to the middle-class way of life. Adding astronomical debt to existing debt will not solve our problems.
The first chart below, Median Household Income since 1945, is the one the public sees in the media. It shows household income marching ever upward, a symbol of unbridled American prosperity. The truth is that inflation has made prosperity, especially for middle-class Americans, far more elusive.
Desperation and necessity
The struggles of the American middle-class since 1970 become very clear when looking at the next two charts. Their buying power has plunged when you factor in the massive loss of buying power of the US dollar. Over this 35+ year period, both spouses were forced into the workplace to keep the family afloat. It also explains the massive growth in consumer debt and lack of personal savings. The middle-class was not necessarily acting irresponsibly. It was acting out of desperation and necessity.
Clearly many in the middle-class (and elsewhere) have added debt too recklessly. But prices have inexorably grown faster, year after year, than the growth of real middle-class income. In addition fixed costs for the American family (mortgage costs, insurance, child care, health care, etc.) are much higher as a percentage of income than they were 35 years ago.
Sources: Census Bureau.govThe Financial Help Center.comSources: CensusBureau.govMeasuringWorth.com
Sources: CensusBureau.comBarchart.comMedian Income devastated by inflation
Divided by the CPI (which has been understated for decades) the “adjusted” Median Household Income has barely grown at all since 1973. When measured in terms of ounces of gold instead of dollars, median income has plunged. This chart shows median income peaked in 1970, when it would buy 240 ounces of gold. The devastating inflation of the 1970’s sent real median income down to its low in 1980, where it could only buy 29 ounces of gold. One can see the current direction of “real” median income since 2001, and we haven’t even felt the eventual inflationary effects of the credit crisis. As we stand today, the Median Household Income can buy approximately 65 ounces of gold, one of the lower levels since 1945.
Home equity on the decline
One key source to fill the gap of falling wage growth was home equity. Quite simply, Americans have been slowly transferring ownership of their homes to the banking system over the last 50+ years. These figures would look much worse if the roughly 1/3 of homes owned “free and clear” (mostly by seniors) were removed from the data, but you can see the trend is toward less equity and more debt. This is not a sign of a prospering middle-class.
Historic turning point
The availability of easy credit the last two decades was a key mechanism to keep the middle-class above water. Now the easy and available credit is going away, and with it much of the quality of life of the middle-class. The early 1970’s was clearly an historic turning point for millions of Americans. With the 1971 severing of the gold-backed dollar by the Nixon Administration, the fate of the middle class was sealed. Unlimited fiat money creation led to unlimited debt and a rapidly depreciating dollar. Middle-class “real” wage growth would never again keep up with “real” inflation, especially in key areas such as health care and college tuition, which have greatly exceeded the stated rate of inflation.
Do you think the strapped middle-class family feels better when hearing that inflation is “only” 4%, instead of 11.6%, as measured prior to 1983? Not likely. Understated inflation does not help remove the sting of declining purchasing power. It just adds to the confusion and desperation. The pain is still real, even as trust in government continues to decline. With the current world-wide deleveraging, inflation rates are coming down, for the short to medium term. With trillions upon trillions of government debt soon to flood the financial system, inflation will not be gone for long.
Inflation or deflation- middle class loses
Be it a hyperinflationary or deflationary scenario in the coming years, the middle-class will suffer. Either from a massive loss of buying power (hyperinflation) or explosive debt burdens (deflation). Eventually, foreign creditors will likely bolt the dollar for something with more enduring value; i.e. gold. It would be a good idea, whether you are middle class or not, to prepare by accumulating some gold while it is still relatively cheap and somewhat available.
The US dollar has been the global monetary standard since the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944. Unfortunately, the dollar has not been a good store of value since Nixon severed the dollar’s link to gold in 1971. The Federal Reserve has always functioned as the lender of last resort, and is now becoming the “spender of last resort.” Unprecedented debasing of the US currency could be on our horizon.
Pawns in a chess game
While fulfilling its classic role as the backbone of the American economy, the middle-class also is the unwitting pawn in the complex chess game of global finance and government excess. The problem with being a pawn is that one has no control of the game, or its outcome. Historically, the middle-class is always the group to feel the greatest pain and reap the fewest rewards from the machinations of Wall Street and Washington. The period dead ahead will be no exception. The extraordinary debt levels will only make matters worse.
The middle-class has been under growing pressure for over 30 years, as its purchasing power has been steadily under attack. Things will very likely get worse before we see any light. The middle-class must retrench even further. But it must also search for a store of value as its dollars buy less and less. It is my belief that once the severe de-leveraging is finished, the commodity sector, particularly gold, will serve as that life raft. The struggling middle-class, and everyone else for that matter, will need something to stay afloat if the USS dollar slowly sinks in the murky seas of the global currency markets.
The way forward
Historically, one great quality of America is resilience. It is my sincere hope that out of this crisis will emerge a more rational way forward. I believe the best way forward for our country would be a system of honest money; a new currency backed by gold that would enforce discipline on government spending and allow families to plan and save for their futures. And it might just provide our children and generations unborn their own shot at the American Dream. We owe them that much.
Today’s Markets
The stock markets shot higher for a second straight session Monday as investors bet that President-elect Barack Obama's plans to increase infrastructure spending will help lift the economy back to health. The major market indexes jumped more than 3 percent, and the Dow Jones industrials' nearly 300 point advance gave the blue chips their highest close in a month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 298.76, or 3.46 percent, to 8,934.18, its highest close since it finished at 9,139.27 on Nov. 5th. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 33.63, or 3.84 percent, to 909.70; and the Nasdaq composite index jumped 62.43, or 4.14 percent, to 1,571.74. It was the ninth advance in 11 sessions for the Dow and the S&P 500.
Oil futures surged 7% Monday, buoyed by expectations that the OPEC oil cartel may deliver a substantial cut in production as well as by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's pledge of massive new infrastructure investment to revive the economy. Crude oil for January delivery surged $2.90, or 7.1%, to end at $43.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the contract hit an intraday high of $44.70 a barrel.
Gold and other metals futures rallied Monday, getting a boost from soaring oil prices, weakness in the U.S. dollar and President-elect Barack Obama's pledge of a massive new infrastructure investment to buoy the U.S. economy. Gold for February delivery rose $17.10 to end at $769.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Wishing you a good evening,
Tony Allison
Registered Representative
Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved.
CONTACT INFORMATIONAnthony Allison, Registered RepresentativePFS Group
Small Business Faces Big Bite
The assault on free markets and the middle class continues. The economy is collapsing - but for some reason - healthcare is now a top priority for our leaders in Washington. This bill will do nothing but continue to drive small businesses owners - out of business. This type of government intervention is yet another example straight out of ‘Atlas Shrugged’ – tax the ‘wealthy’ and distribute the money into a bloated, bureaucratic government enterprise.
From the article below:
“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled the measure on Tuesday, praising it as a historic step toward insuring all Americans that has eluded lawmakers for decades. "This bill is a starting point and a path to success to lower costs to consumers and businesses," the California Democrat said.”
If we lived in a fantasy world where the impossible was somehow made possible, then I might believe Ms. Pelosi’s comments. Since I live in the real world that requires a way in which to pay for spending – I tend to believe that our Nation is on the road to bankruptcy – and instead of every American having health insurance – none of us will.
We are on a path that will take us from the wealthiest nation on earth – to one of the poorest. It is leadership like we’re witnessing here that is making it happen.
jg – July 15, 2009
___________________________
JULY 15, 2009
Small Business Faces Big Bite
House Health Bill Penalizes All but Tiniest Employers for Not Providing Insurance
Wall St. Journal
By JANET ADAMY and LAURA MECKLER
WASHINGTON -- House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled sweeping health-care legislation that would hit all but the smallest businesses with a penalty equal to 8% of payroll if they fail to provide health insurance to workers.
The House bill, which also would impose new taxes on the wealthy estimated to bring in more than $544 billion over a decade, came as lawmakers in the Senate raced against a self-imposed deadline of this week to introduce a bill in time for action this summer.
Senators face a tougher battle because they are striving for a bipartisan bill. Key senators are weighing a combination of several more-modest fund-raising provisions, including some new fees on health-care industries.
Under the House measure, employers with payrolls exceeding $400,000 a year would have to provide health insurance or pay the 8% penalty. Employers with payrolls between $250,000 and $400,000 a year would pay a smaller penalty, and those less than $250,000 would be exempt. Certain small firms would get tax credits to help buy coverage.
The relatively low thresholds for penalties triggered the sharpest criticism yet from employer groups, who said the burden on small business is too high and doesn't do enough to help them expand insurance coverage.
"This bill costs too much, it covers too few and it has way too much government involvement," said Michelle Dimarob, a lobbyist with the National Federation of Independent Business, the main trade group for small firms. "Small business doesn't want any of those things."
According to 2006 data from the federation, businesses with between five and nine workers, representing about one million employers, had an average payroll of around $375,000 a year. A report from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that only about half of firms with three to nine workers offered health benefits in 2008.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled the measure on Tuesday, praising it as a historic step toward insuring all Americans that has eluded lawmakers for decades. "This bill is a starting point and a path to success to lower costs to consumers and businesses," the California Democrat said.
The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday calculated the cost of the House's plan to expand insurance coverage at $1.04 trillion over 10 years, and predicted the measure would eventually lead 97% of legal American residents to have insurance. That's in line with President Barack Obama's desired budget for a health overhaul and lawmakers' pledges for expanding coverage.
The estimate doesn't factor in the plan to pay for the bill, including the new tax on wealthy Americans, or certain changes to Medicare and Medicaid, all of which could affect the final price tag.
The House bill would place new taxes on the wealthiest people to help expand insurance coverage to the nation's 46 million uninsured people. The legislation calls for a 5.4% surtax on those with annual gross incomes exceeding $1 million.
Households with annual income between $500,000 a year and $1 million would be hit with a 1.5% surtax, and those earning between $350,000 and $500,000 would face a 1% surtax. Those rates could eventually increase to 3% and 2%, respectively, if the government doesn't achieve certain health-cost savings.
The 1,018-page initiative contains several components pushed by liberal Democrats that were long expected to be part of House legislation, but which face considerable opposition in the Senate. Most notably, the House bill creates a new public health-insurance plan aimed at individuals and small businesses that otherwise can't get affordable coverage.
The House measure would bar insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals who are sick, while also requiring most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty equal to about 2.5% of their gross income. It would provide families earning up to $88,000 a year with subsidies to help them buy coverage. And it would expand health-insurance coverage through the Medicaid federal-state insurance program for the poor.
The Senate legislation is also expected to include mandates on insurers to provide coverage and individuals to carry it, although the details may differ. The bigger differences will come on the financing side, where many senators are cautious about introducing major new taxes on the wealthy to pay for health care.
The White House is pushing for action before the August recess in both houses of Congress to give lawmakers time to reconcile their two versions, pass that compromise through the House and the Senate and send Mr. Obama a final bill by autumn. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee could approve its health overhaul bill as soon as Wednesday.
That will get merged with a bill in the Senate Finance Committee, where lawmakers are trying to craft a bipartisan measure. Chairman Max Baucus on Tuesday was pitching his colleagues on a plan to finance the bill through a combination of more-modest tax increases. He is trying to fill a hole of about $320 billion over 10 years, after Democrats objected to a provision to tax upper-end employee health benefits.
The fresh package included a new fee on pharmaceuticals and other health-care industries, and stiffer corporate-reporting measures aimed at collecting a greater share of corporate taxes owed each year, two Senate aides said.
Under the first proposal, health industries including drug makers and insurers would be charged an assessment, with individual companies' fees based on their market share. It's not clear how large the total assessment would be.
The proposal also seeks to raise $75 billion to $100 billion over 10 years by giving states an incentive to issue bonds that would help offset the expanded federal share of Medicaid.
"The goal here is a bunch of smaller, less controversial items that can add up," one official said.
The package may still include a modified version of the plan to tax high-end employer-provided health insurance, though on a smaller scale, aides said.
Mr. Baucus spent much of the day meeting one-on-one with members of his committee, and he put on an optimistic face. "We're going to pass very significant health reform this year," the Montana Democrat said.
But the pre-recess deadline appeared in danger as Republicans expressed concern that the process is moving too quickly.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, a key Republican whom Mr. Baucus is trying to win over, said Tuesday that the legislation is far too complex to rush and that she saw little chance of moving a bill through the Senate before the August break.
"I frankly couldn't imagine at this point bringing it to the floor and completing our deliberations...before the August recess," the Maine senator said. She said "arbitrary, artificial time frames really are not realistic given the magnitude of the task we are assigned to do."
In addition to health care, the White House also hopes for action on energy and financial-sector regulation, both of which would consume time this fall.
At a White House meeting with top Democratic leaders on Monday, Mr. Obama pushed Mr. Baucus to produce legislation by Thursday.
Senators are now talking openly of keeping the chamber in session an extra week, though some say that is simply a tactic to discourage delay by senators who have plans for vacations, congressional trips and hometown activities.
A further complication is that if it looks as if the Senate can't or won't act this summer, many House Democrats are likely to hesitate about voting on a contentious issue -- including raising taxes -- for something that might never become law.
Write to Janet Adamy at janet.adamy@wsj.com and Laura Meckler at laura.meckler@wsj.com
From the article below:
“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled the measure on Tuesday, praising it as a historic step toward insuring all Americans that has eluded lawmakers for decades. "This bill is a starting point and a path to success to lower costs to consumers and businesses," the California Democrat said.”
If we lived in a fantasy world where the impossible was somehow made possible, then I might believe Ms. Pelosi’s comments. Since I live in the real world that requires a way in which to pay for spending – I tend to believe that our Nation is on the road to bankruptcy – and instead of every American having health insurance – none of us will.
We are on a path that will take us from the wealthiest nation on earth – to one of the poorest. It is leadership like we’re witnessing here that is making it happen.
jg – July 15, 2009
___________________________
JULY 15, 2009
Small Business Faces Big Bite
House Health Bill Penalizes All but Tiniest Employers for Not Providing Insurance
Wall St. Journal
By JANET ADAMY and LAURA MECKLER
WASHINGTON -- House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled sweeping health-care legislation that would hit all but the smallest businesses with a penalty equal to 8% of payroll if they fail to provide health insurance to workers.
The House bill, which also would impose new taxes on the wealthy estimated to bring in more than $544 billion over a decade, came as lawmakers in the Senate raced against a self-imposed deadline of this week to introduce a bill in time for action this summer.
Senators face a tougher battle because they are striving for a bipartisan bill. Key senators are weighing a combination of several more-modest fund-raising provisions, including some new fees on health-care industries.
Under the House measure, employers with payrolls exceeding $400,000 a year would have to provide health insurance or pay the 8% penalty. Employers with payrolls between $250,000 and $400,000 a year would pay a smaller penalty, and those less than $250,000 would be exempt. Certain small firms would get tax credits to help buy coverage.
The relatively low thresholds for penalties triggered the sharpest criticism yet from employer groups, who said the burden on small business is too high and doesn't do enough to help them expand insurance coverage.
"This bill costs too much, it covers too few and it has way too much government involvement," said Michelle Dimarob, a lobbyist with the National Federation of Independent Business, the main trade group for small firms. "Small business doesn't want any of those things."
According to 2006 data from the federation, businesses with between five and nine workers, representing about one million employers, had an average payroll of around $375,000 a year. A report from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that only about half of firms with three to nine workers offered health benefits in 2008.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled the measure on Tuesday, praising it as a historic step toward insuring all Americans that has eluded lawmakers for decades. "This bill is a starting point and a path to success to lower costs to consumers and businesses," the California Democrat said.
The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday calculated the cost of the House's plan to expand insurance coverage at $1.04 trillion over 10 years, and predicted the measure would eventually lead 97% of legal American residents to have insurance. That's in line with President Barack Obama's desired budget for a health overhaul and lawmakers' pledges for expanding coverage.
The estimate doesn't factor in the plan to pay for the bill, including the new tax on wealthy Americans, or certain changes to Medicare and Medicaid, all of which could affect the final price tag.
The House bill would place new taxes on the wealthiest people to help expand insurance coverage to the nation's 46 million uninsured people. The legislation calls for a 5.4% surtax on those with annual gross incomes exceeding $1 million.
Households with annual income between $500,000 a year and $1 million would be hit with a 1.5% surtax, and those earning between $350,000 and $500,000 would face a 1% surtax. Those rates could eventually increase to 3% and 2%, respectively, if the government doesn't achieve certain health-cost savings.
The 1,018-page initiative contains several components pushed by liberal Democrats that were long expected to be part of House legislation, but which face considerable opposition in the Senate. Most notably, the House bill creates a new public health-insurance plan aimed at individuals and small businesses that otherwise can't get affordable coverage.
The House measure would bar insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals who are sick, while also requiring most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty equal to about 2.5% of their gross income. It would provide families earning up to $88,000 a year with subsidies to help them buy coverage. And it would expand health-insurance coverage through the Medicaid federal-state insurance program for the poor.
The Senate legislation is also expected to include mandates on insurers to provide coverage and individuals to carry it, although the details may differ. The bigger differences will come on the financing side, where many senators are cautious about introducing major new taxes on the wealthy to pay for health care.
The White House is pushing for action before the August recess in both houses of Congress to give lawmakers time to reconcile their two versions, pass that compromise through the House and the Senate and send Mr. Obama a final bill by autumn. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee could approve its health overhaul bill as soon as Wednesday.
That will get merged with a bill in the Senate Finance Committee, where lawmakers are trying to craft a bipartisan measure. Chairman Max Baucus on Tuesday was pitching his colleagues on a plan to finance the bill through a combination of more-modest tax increases. He is trying to fill a hole of about $320 billion over 10 years, after Democrats objected to a provision to tax upper-end employee health benefits.
The fresh package included a new fee on pharmaceuticals and other health-care industries, and stiffer corporate-reporting measures aimed at collecting a greater share of corporate taxes owed each year, two Senate aides said.
Under the first proposal, health industries including drug makers and insurers would be charged an assessment, with individual companies' fees based on their market share. It's not clear how large the total assessment would be.
The proposal also seeks to raise $75 billion to $100 billion over 10 years by giving states an incentive to issue bonds that would help offset the expanded federal share of Medicaid.
"The goal here is a bunch of smaller, less controversial items that can add up," one official said.
The package may still include a modified version of the plan to tax high-end employer-provided health insurance, though on a smaller scale, aides said.
Mr. Baucus spent much of the day meeting one-on-one with members of his committee, and he put on an optimistic face. "We're going to pass very significant health reform this year," the Montana Democrat said.
But the pre-recess deadline appeared in danger as Republicans expressed concern that the process is moving too quickly.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, a key Republican whom Mr. Baucus is trying to win over, said Tuesday that the legislation is far too complex to rush and that she saw little chance of moving a bill through the Senate before the August break.
"I frankly couldn't imagine at this point bringing it to the floor and completing our deliberations...before the August recess," the Maine senator said. She said "arbitrary, artificial time frames really are not realistic given the magnitude of the task we are assigned to do."
In addition to health care, the White House also hopes for action on energy and financial-sector regulation, both of which would consume time this fall.
At a White House meeting with top Democratic leaders on Monday, Mr. Obama pushed Mr. Baucus to produce legislation by Thursday.
Senators are now talking openly of keeping the chamber in session an extra week, though some say that is simply a tactic to discourage delay by senators who have plans for vacations, congressional trips and hometown activities.
A further complication is that if it looks as if the Senate can't or won't act this summer, many House Democrats are likely to hesitate about voting on a contentious issue -- including raising taxes -- for something that might never become law.
Write to Janet Adamy at janet.adamy@wsj.com and Laura Meckler at laura.meckler@wsj.com
Friday, September 15, 2006
The American Middle Class is Radically Shrinking - July 24 2010
You’ve heard me say it many times – and I’ll say it again here - the demise of the American middle class is not the result of random events – nor have we just been unlucky. The people behind the New World Order have planned our demise very deceptively. We stand in the way of world government – and we are being assaulted as a result.
International bankers have slowly – over the past 100 years - reduced the purchasing power of our money through their debt based monetary system. Inflation is the hidden tax stealing from every American. If you think our taxes are bad (income taxes, sales taxes, estate taxes, excise taxes, fuel taxes, many more coming in 2011, etc.) – take the time to learn what has been stolen from us through inflation since 1913. We have been conditioned to believe that inflation is a necessary evil - is it really? Should we always have an annual inflation rate of 2% to 15% - or do we believe this is the only way simply because this is what we are told?
Many people seem to believe that inflation is simply a rise in prices. Prices go up (for some mysterious reason) – and we have inflation – year after year. We hear many people tell us that certain things influence inflation – contribute to inflation – ‘mute’ inflation – etc. What is the real cause of price inflation? The truth is that inflation always has been – and will always be – a monetary phenomenon.
Let’s use a very simple example to illustrate inflation. I have seen many people who understand inflation (and are not trying to deceive anyone) – typically use some form of this example. Let’s say that you live on an island where the only product is coconuts. There are 10 coconuts on this island – and let’s assume that the rate of coconut consumption equals the rate of coconut growth – meaning that a new coconut is grown every time one is consumed – so that there are always 10 coconuts on the island. Let’s also say that there is $10 in currency on the island. In this scenario – how much is a coconut worth? Not exactly rocket science – a coconut would be worth $1 ($10/10 coconuts = $1 per coconut). Now – let’s say that another $10 in currency is added to the island’s money supply. There are still only 10 coconuts on the island – but there is now $20 in currency. How much is a coconut worth? Again, pretty simple math – a coconut is now worth $2. What caused the price of coconuts to double? Is this mysterious? Do we need an army of economists to figure this out? No. Prices doubled because the money supply doubled without a corresponding rise in the amount of goods/services on the island.
What happens if we add another 10 coconuts to the island? With $20 in currency and 20 coconuts – what is the price of a coconut? We’re back to $1 per coconut. Our economy grew – but our money supply also grew in line with the growth of our economy – so there was no price inflation.
What happens if you grow your economy, but don’t grow your money supply? Let’s say you added 10 coconuts to the island without growing your money supply. You now have $10 in currency with 20 coconuts. What is the price of each coconut? The price per coconut would be $.50 ($10/20 coconuts = $.50 per coconut). If the amount of goods/services within your economy grows without a corresponding growth in money supply – you experience price deflation. With all of the smoke and mirrors stripped away – we’re beginning to see the truth.
Why have we experienced price inflation for one hundred years? Inflation is a constant for us because our current monetary system requires our money supply to continue to grow forever – regardless of the amount of goods/services within our economy. Because our money is created by debt, we must continually create more debt to create more money to pay back what we owe – a system that forever places us in debt – and a system that guarantees inflation.
Now you know why a Coke no longer costs a nickel. Our money supply has been growing at a higher rate than the amount of goods and services we’ve added to our economy – for one hundred years. If we had financial/political leaders who truly cared about us and our economy – we would have a monetary system where we could constantly adjust our money supply to equal the goods/services in our economy – and a coke would still cost somewhere close to a nickel – and you could still live on a 1950’s salary/wage. As it is – inflation has eroded the purchasing power of our money (95% since 1913) – while middle class incomes are now declining. This is why the American middle class is shrinking (see article below).
Bernanke, Greenspan and others talk about inflation as if it is some kind of mysterious monkey wrench that is periodically thrown into their monetary/economic machine. What is the truth? They know (this is not high level economic theory) that our monetary system is causing inflation – but they would prefer that you were kept in the dark. What happens when our economy continues to decline – but our money supply continues to be propped up by the Fed (via the never-ending printing press)? At some point we experience hyper-inflation and the destruction of the dollar. Add in our ridiculous budget deficits – and the demise of the dollar is guaranteed.
If this all sounds like ‘The Matrix’ to you – it’s because you have been born into a system that was designed to control you from birth. A system that teaches you lies about your money, your government and who is in control – a system that hides the truth from you. This is a system that was designed to place you in financial bondage – and do it in a way so that you won’t even know it. It’s time we unplugged from the world – and started searching for the truth.
If you’re interested in learning how our monetary system works:
http://endtimediscussions.wordpress.com/2006/09/16/our-monetary-system-part-i-how-central-banks-control-the-worlds-economy/
July 24, 2010
________________
The Middle Class in America Is Radically Shrinking. Here Are the Stats to Prove it
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/the-u.s.-middle-class-is-being-wiped-out-here%27s-the-stats-to-prove-it-520657.html
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/
Posted Jul 15, 2010 02:25pm EDT by Michael Snyder in Recession
From The Business Insider
Editor's note: Michael Snyder is editor of theeconomiccollapseblog.com
The 22 statistics detailed here prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America.
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate. Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now that is changing at a blinding pace.
So why are we witnessing such fundamental changes? Well, the globalism and "free trade" that our politicians and business leaders insisted would be so good for us have had some rather nasty side effects. It turns out that they didn't tell us that the "global economy" would mean that middle class American workers would eventually have to directly compete for jobs with people on the other side of the world where there is no minimum wage and very few regulations. The big global corporations have greatly benefited by exploiting third world labor pools over the last several decades, but middle class American workers have increasingly found things to be very tough.
Here are the statistics to prove it:
• 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
• 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
• 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
• 36 percent of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings.
• A staggering 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
• 24 percent of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
• Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.
• Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
• For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
• In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
• As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
• The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
• Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
• In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
• The top 1 percent of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
• In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
• More than 40 percent of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying.
• For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
• This is what American workers now must compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
• Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years.
• Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million in 2009.
• The top 10 percent of Americans now earn around 50 percent of our national income.
Giant Sucking Sound
The reality is that no matter how smart, how strong, how educated or how hard working American workers are, they just cannot compete with people who are desperate to put in 10 to 12 hour days at less than a dollar an hour on the other side of the world. After all, what corporation in their right mind is going to pay an American worker 10 times more (plus benefits) to do the same job? The world is fundamentally changing. Wealth and power are rapidly becoming concentrated at the top and the big global corporations are making massive amounts of money. Meanwhile, the American middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence as U.S. workers are slowly being merged into the new "global" labor pool.
What do most Americans have to offer in the marketplace other than their labor? Not much. The truth is that most Americans are absolutely dependent on someone else giving them a job. But today, U.S. workers are "less attractive" than ever. Compared to the rest of the world, American workers are extremely expensive, and the government keeps passing more rules and regulations seemingly on a monthly basis that makes it even more difficult to conduct business in the United States.
So corporations are moving operations out of the U.S. at breathtaking speed. Since the U.S. government does not penalize them for doing so, there really is no incentive for them to stay.
What has developed is a situation where the people at the top are doing quite well, while most Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to make it. There are now about six unemployed Americans for every new job opening in the United States, and the number of "chronically unemployed" is absolutely soaring. There simply are not nearly enough jobs for everyone.
Many of those who are able to get jobs are finding that they are making less money than they used to. In fact, an increasingly large percentage of Americans are working at low wage retail and service jobs.
But you can't raise a family on what you make flipping burgers at McDonald's or on what you bring in from greeting customers down at the local Wal-Mart.
The truth is that the middle class in America is dying -- and once it is gone it will be incredibly difficult to rebuild.
International bankers have slowly – over the past 100 years - reduced the purchasing power of our money through their debt based monetary system. Inflation is the hidden tax stealing from every American. If you think our taxes are bad (income taxes, sales taxes, estate taxes, excise taxes, fuel taxes, many more coming in 2011, etc.) – take the time to learn what has been stolen from us through inflation since 1913. We have been conditioned to believe that inflation is a necessary evil - is it really? Should we always have an annual inflation rate of 2% to 15% - or do we believe this is the only way simply because this is what we are told?
Many people seem to believe that inflation is simply a rise in prices. Prices go up (for some mysterious reason) – and we have inflation – year after year. We hear many people tell us that certain things influence inflation – contribute to inflation – ‘mute’ inflation – etc. What is the real cause of price inflation? The truth is that inflation always has been – and will always be – a monetary phenomenon.
Let’s use a very simple example to illustrate inflation. I have seen many people who understand inflation (and are not trying to deceive anyone) – typically use some form of this example. Let’s say that you live on an island where the only product is coconuts. There are 10 coconuts on this island – and let’s assume that the rate of coconut consumption equals the rate of coconut growth – meaning that a new coconut is grown every time one is consumed – so that there are always 10 coconuts on the island. Let’s also say that there is $10 in currency on the island. In this scenario – how much is a coconut worth? Not exactly rocket science – a coconut would be worth $1 ($10/10 coconuts = $1 per coconut). Now – let’s say that another $10 in currency is added to the island’s money supply. There are still only 10 coconuts on the island – but there is now $20 in currency. How much is a coconut worth? Again, pretty simple math – a coconut is now worth $2. What caused the price of coconuts to double? Is this mysterious? Do we need an army of economists to figure this out? No. Prices doubled because the money supply doubled without a corresponding rise in the amount of goods/services on the island.
What happens if we add another 10 coconuts to the island? With $20 in currency and 20 coconuts – what is the price of a coconut? We’re back to $1 per coconut. Our economy grew – but our money supply also grew in line with the growth of our economy – so there was no price inflation.
What happens if you grow your economy, but don’t grow your money supply? Let’s say you added 10 coconuts to the island without growing your money supply. You now have $10 in currency with 20 coconuts. What is the price of each coconut? The price per coconut would be $.50 ($10/20 coconuts = $.50 per coconut). If the amount of goods/services within your economy grows without a corresponding growth in money supply – you experience price deflation. With all of the smoke and mirrors stripped away – we’re beginning to see the truth.
Why have we experienced price inflation for one hundred years? Inflation is a constant for us because our current monetary system requires our money supply to continue to grow forever – regardless of the amount of goods/services within our economy. Because our money is created by debt, we must continually create more debt to create more money to pay back what we owe – a system that forever places us in debt – and a system that guarantees inflation.
Now you know why a Coke no longer costs a nickel. Our money supply has been growing at a higher rate than the amount of goods and services we’ve added to our economy – for one hundred years. If we had financial/political leaders who truly cared about us and our economy – we would have a monetary system where we could constantly adjust our money supply to equal the goods/services in our economy – and a coke would still cost somewhere close to a nickel – and you could still live on a 1950’s salary/wage. As it is – inflation has eroded the purchasing power of our money (95% since 1913) – while middle class incomes are now declining. This is why the American middle class is shrinking (see article below).
Bernanke, Greenspan and others talk about inflation as if it is some kind of mysterious monkey wrench that is periodically thrown into their monetary/economic machine. What is the truth? They know (this is not high level economic theory) that our monetary system is causing inflation – but they would prefer that you were kept in the dark. What happens when our economy continues to decline – but our money supply continues to be propped up by the Fed (via the never-ending printing press)? At some point we experience hyper-inflation and the destruction of the dollar. Add in our ridiculous budget deficits – and the demise of the dollar is guaranteed.
If this all sounds like ‘The Matrix’ to you – it’s because you have been born into a system that was designed to control you from birth. A system that teaches you lies about your money, your government and who is in control – a system that hides the truth from you. This is a system that was designed to place you in financial bondage – and do it in a way so that you won’t even know it. It’s time we unplugged from the world – and started searching for the truth.
If you’re interested in learning how our monetary system works:
http://endtimediscussions.wordpress.com/2006/09/16/our-monetary-system-part-i-how-central-banks-control-the-worlds-economy/
July 24, 2010
________________
The Middle Class in America Is Radically Shrinking. Here Are the Stats to Prove it
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/the-u.s.-middle-class-is-being-wiped-out-here%27s-the-stats-to-prove-it-520657.html
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/
Posted Jul 15, 2010 02:25pm EDT by Michael Snyder in Recession
From The Business Insider
Editor's note: Michael Snyder is editor of theeconomiccollapseblog.com
The 22 statistics detailed here prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America.
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate. Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now that is changing at a blinding pace.
So why are we witnessing such fundamental changes? Well, the globalism and "free trade" that our politicians and business leaders insisted would be so good for us have had some rather nasty side effects. It turns out that they didn't tell us that the "global economy" would mean that middle class American workers would eventually have to directly compete for jobs with people on the other side of the world where there is no minimum wage and very few regulations. The big global corporations have greatly benefited by exploiting third world labor pools over the last several decades, but middle class American workers have increasingly found things to be very tough.
Here are the statistics to prove it:
• 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people.
• 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
• 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
• 36 percent of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings.
• A staggering 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
• 24 percent of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
• Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.
• Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
• For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
• In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
• As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
• The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
• Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
• In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
• The top 1 percent of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
• In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
• More than 40 percent of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying.
• For the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
• This is what American workers now must compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
• Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years.
• Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million in 2009.
• The top 10 percent of Americans now earn around 50 percent of our national income.
Giant Sucking Sound
The reality is that no matter how smart, how strong, how educated or how hard working American workers are, they just cannot compete with people who are desperate to put in 10 to 12 hour days at less than a dollar an hour on the other side of the world. After all, what corporation in their right mind is going to pay an American worker 10 times more (plus benefits) to do the same job? The world is fundamentally changing. Wealth and power are rapidly becoming concentrated at the top and the big global corporations are making massive amounts of money. Meanwhile, the American middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence as U.S. workers are slowly being merged into the new "global" labor pool.
What do most Americans have to offer in the marketplace other than their labor? Not much. The truth is that most Americans are absolutely dependent on someone else giving them a job. But today, U.S. workers are "less attractive" than ever. Compared to the rest of the world, American workers are extremely expensive, and the government keeps passing more rules and regulations seemingly on a monthly basis that makes it even more difficult to conduct business in the United States.
So corporations are moving operations out of the U.S. at breathtaking speed. Since the U.S. government does not penalize them for doing so, there really is no incentive for them to stay.
What has developed is a situation where the people at the top are doing quite well, while most Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to make it. There are now about six unemployed Americans for every new job opening in the United States, and the number of "chronically unemployed" is absolutely soaring. There simply are not nearly enough jobs for everyone.
Many of those who are able to get jobs are finding that they are making less money than they used to. In fact, an increasingly large percentage of Americans are working at low wage retail and service jobs.
But you can't raise a family on what you make flipping burgers at McDonald's or on what you bring in from greeting customers down at the local Wal-Mart.
The truth is that the middle class in America is dying -- and once it is gone it will be incredibly difficult to rebuild.
The American Middle Class is Being Destroyed - August 31 2010
My hope and prayer is that America wakes up in time.
jg – August 31, 2010
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30 Statistics That Prove The Elite Are Getting Richer, The Poor Are Getting Poorer And The Middle Class Is Being Destroyed
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/30-statistics-that-prove-the-elite-are-getting-richer-the-poor-are-getting-poorer-and-the-middle-class-is-being-destroyed
Not everyone has been doing badly during the economic turmoil of the last few years. In fact, there are some Americans that are doing really, really well. While the vast majority of us struggle, there is one small segment of society that is seemingly doing better than ever. This was reflected in a recent article on CNBC in which it was noted that companies that cater to average Americans are doing rather poorly right now while companies that market luxury goods and services are generally performing exceptionally well. So why aren't all American consumers jumping on the spending bandwagon? Well, it seems that there are a large number of Americans who either can't spend a lot of money right now or who are very hesitant to. A stunningly high number of Americans are still unemployed, and for many other Americans, there is a very real fear that hard economic times will return soon. On the other hand, there is a significant percentage of Americans who are blowing money on luxury goods and services as if the economy has fully turned around and it is time to let the good times roll. So exactly what in the world is going on here?
Well, in 2010 life is very, very different depending on whether you are a "have" or a "have not". The recent article on CNBC referenced above described it this way....
Consumer spending in the U.S. has turned into a tale of two cities in 2010, with an entire segment of consumers splurging confidently on the finer things in life, while another segment, concerned about unemployment and with little or no discretionary income, spends only on bare necessities.
So why is this happening?
It is happening because the rich are getting richer and they have plenty of money to buy stuff and the poor are getting poorer and have less money to spend than ever.
In case you haven't been paying attention over the past couple of decades, what we have in America today is a system that is designed to funnel as much wealth into the hands of the elite as possible.
This isn't capitalism that we have in America in 2010. Instead, what we have created is a system where the laws are set up so that the power elite and their big, dominant corporations always win.
Why do you think so many of America's largest corporations pay so little in taxes?
Why do you think so many of them are showered with government subsidies, tax breaks and bailouts?
It's not about competition anymore.
It's about rigging the game in your favor.
The power elite and the giant corporations they control spend millions and millions on lobbying and campaign contributions and they expect a big return on that investment.
Let's take a look at one example. Many people think that Barack Obama and the Democrats are supposed to be anti-business, right?
Well then why are some of Barack Obama's biggest donors the very same corporations that are receiving giant bailouts, making record profits and paying their employees billions in bonuses?
Goldman Sachs was Barack Obama's second biggest donor. Microsoft was number four. Citigroup was number six. JPMorgan Chase was number seven. Time Warner was number eight.
Are you starting to get the picture?
Every single year, the U.S. Congress passes law after law after law that makes it easier for big corporations to dominate and makes it easier for the rich to get even richer.
America's economy is not about competition anymore.
It is about eliminating competition.
And unfortunately for middle class Americans, the giant predator corporations that now dominate our economy are realizing that they don't really need nearly as many American workers anymore.
Instead, they are slowly but surely shipping our jobs off to the other side of the world where workers are willing to work for about a tenth as much.
And yet we still run out to the "big box" stores and fill up our carts with a bunch of plastic crap made on the other side of the world by these giant corporations.
Meanwhile, those giant corporations are taking the profits they make out of our communities and they are taking our jobs and are shipping them overseas.
So in the final analysis, is it any wonder why the income inequality gap is growing?
Without small businesses having a legitimate chance to compete and without good jobs for American workers, the middle class in America is going to continue to get chewed up and spit out.
The following are 30 statistics that prove that the elite are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is being destroyed in 2010....
The Rich Are Getting Richer
1 - As of 2007, the top 1 percent of all Americans was taking home 24 percent of the national income. This was a level that had not been seen since the days of the Great Depression.
2 - Incomes have been growing in the United States, but those at the very top of the pyramid have been gobbling up almost all of the income growth. According to Harvard Magazine, 66% of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
3 - Even official government figures bear out the fact that the rich are getting richer. An analysis of income-tax data by the Congressional Budget Office a few years ago found that the top 1% of all American households own nearly twice as much of the corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
4- Most Americans have suffered during the last few years, but not the boys and girls down on Wall Street. New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says that Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008.
5 - Even as the number of Americans living in poverty skyrockets, the number of millionaires just keeps growing. In fact, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million during 2009.
6 - The amount of money some of these Wall Street hotshots are making is incredible. Back in 2005, the top 25 hedge fund managers earned a total of 9 billion dollars. That would be bad enough, but even in these hard economic times the rich just keep getting richer. One year after the recent financial collapse the top 25 hedge fund managers earned a total of approximately $25 billion. That breaks down to an average of $1 billion each. The truth is that the United States has been experiencing uneven prosperity for quite some time and things just seem to get worse with each passing year.
The Poor Are Getting Poorer
7 - Government anti-poverty programs are exploding in size in response to the recent economic difficulties. USA Today is reporting that a record one in six Americans are now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program.
8 - Over 50 million Americans are on now Medicaid. That figure is up more than 17 percent since the beginning of the recession.
9 - The number of Americans in the food stamp program rose to a new all-time record of 40.8 million in May. That number is up almost 50 percent since the beginning of the recession.
10 - The number of Americans who cannot afford even the basic necessities is absolutely staggering. A whopping 50 million Americans could not afford to buy enough food in order to stay healthy at some point over the last year.
11 - Compared to other industrialized nations, the United States is doing very poorly. The U.S. poverty rate is now the third worst among the developed nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
12 - The saddest part of this is what we are doing to our children. According to one recent study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010.
13 - But the American people cannot provide for their families if they don't have jobs. Today there are not nearly enough jobs for everyone. In 2010, it takes the average unemployed American worker over 8 months to find a job.
14 - Approximately 10 million Americans are currently receiving unemployment insurance, which is a number that is nearly four times higher than what it was at back in 2007.
15 - The truth is that we are creating a permanent underclass of Americans that cannot get jobs. The number of Americans receiving long-term unemployment benefits has increased over 60 percent in just the past year.
16 - Increasingly, the wealth of the United States is being held in fewer and fewer hands. One study found that as of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
17 - It is not a good time to be living in "the bottom half" in America. The size of "the pie" being divided up among those at the low end of the wage scale is becoming really, really small. In fact, the bottom 40 percent of all income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.
The Middle Class Is Being Destroyed
18 - Even those Americans that still do have decent jobs are seeing their wealth fade rapidly. For example, U.S. families have $6 trillion less in housing wealth than they did just three years ago.
19 - Home ownership used to be a sign that one had arrived in the middle class, but in 2010 an increasing number of Americans are finding out that they simply can't afford their homes anymore. One out of every seven mortgages were either delinquent or in foreclosure during the first quarter of 2010.
20 - The reality is that incomes have just not kept up with housing costs. This has put an incredible amount of pressure on the middle class. Just how much pressure? Well, only the top 5 percent of all U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
21 - The debt binge middle class Americans have been on over the past couple of decades has drained many of them completely dry, and now more Americans than ever have bad credit scores. Over 25 percent of Americansnow have a credit score below 599, which means that they are a very bad credit risk.
22 - A rapidly rising number of Americans are actually choosing bankruptcy as a way out of their financial problems. Nationwide, bankruptcy filings rose 20 percent in the 12 month period ending this past June 30th.
23 - The middle class manufacturing jobs that once defined so many American cities are rapidly disappearing. Despite the fact that the U.S. population has dramatically increased, less Americans are employed in manufacturing today than in 1950.
24 - These days it seems like almost everyone is looking for a good job, but very few people are finding them. According to one recent survey, 28% of all U.S. households have at least one member that is looking for a full-time job.
25 - Even many of those Americans that still have decent jobs have been hit hard by this economic downturn. A recent Pew Research survey found that 55 percent of the U.S. labor force has experienced either unemployment, a pay decrease, a reduction in hours or an involuntary move to part-time work since the recession began.
26 - The number of jobs that are evaporating is absolutely stunning. According to one analysis, the United States has lost a total of 10.5 million jobs since 2007.
27 - So where are the jobs going? It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. China's trade surplus (much of it with the United States) climbed 140 percent in June compared to a year earlier.
28 - The truth is that "globalism" and "free trade" have put middle class American workers in direct competition with the cheapest labor in the world. This is what middle class American workers must now compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
29 - Due to these difficult economic conditions, the middle class is being squeezed as never before. According to a poll taken in 2009, 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck. That was up significantly from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
30 - So what kind of future do our young people have in front of them? Unfortunately, things don't look pretty. Many fresh college graduates can't even get a job that will allow them to be independent. One recent survey of last year's college graduates discovered that 80 percent moved right back home with their parents after graduation. That was up significantly from 63 percent in 2006.
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