The Magnitude of the Mess We're In

Sometimes a few facts tell important stories. The American economy now is full of facts that tell stories that you really don't want, but need, to hear.

Did you know that annual spending by the federal government now exceeds the 2007 level by about $1 trillion? With a slow economy, revenues are little changed. The result is an unprecedented string of federal budget deficits, $1.4 trillion in 2009, $1.3 trillion in 2010, $1.3 trillion in 2011, and another $1.2 trillion on the way this year. The four-year increase in borrowing amounts to $55,000 per U.S. household.

The amount of debt is one thing. The burden of interest payments is another. The Treasury now has a preponderance of its debt issued in very short-term durations, to take advantage of low short-term interest rates. It must frequently refinance this debt which, when added to the current deficit, means Treasury must raise $4 trillion this year alone. So the debt burden will explode when interest rates go up.

The government has to get the money to finance its spending by taxing or borrowing. While it might be tempting to conclude that we can just tax upper-income people, did you know that the U.S. income tax system is already very progressive? The top 1% pay 37% of all income taxes and 50% pay none.

Did you know that, during the last fiscal year, around three-quarters of the deficit was financed by the Federal Reserve? Foreign governments accounted for most of the rest, as American citizens' and institutions' purchases and sales netted to about zero. The Fed now owns one in six dollars of the national debt, the largest percentage of GDP in history, larger than even at the end of World War II.

The 110 million of us who are supported by some sort of Government check (no SS or Medicare $ here) are oblivious in the realization of the magnitude of what they are causing.

They simply don’t care, nor want to - as long as the checks keep coming. They won’t care until the magnitude has reached such proportions as their checks become in jeopardy. And, when they realize this, they won’t tighten their belts - or get a job. They will riot.

They are incapable of getting a job or tightening their belts.
They have no job skills, are largely not only uneducated, but uneducable.
Their average IQ is 80 - virtually useless in a modern economy - combine that with no education, no job skills, no work ethic and no ability to learn, the only thing they can do is riot or wage war.

Should they choose to wage war, no mercy must be shown them and they should be removed as a threat without prejudice.

The first rule of rhetoric is REMEMBER YOUR AUDIENCE. This is a well thought out and well written article, but the majority of people who vote can’t understand it. The audience is American voters. They have to be able to understand this message. The Democrats have a very simple message VOTE FOR US AND WE WILL GIVE YOU MONEY. The Republicans have to have an equally strong and simple message. VOTE FOR US OR THERE WON’T BE ANY MONEY LEFT TO GIVE YOU.

You know, I hear talking heads on TV say, “It’s about the economy, Stupid!”... I cringe when I hear that because my guess in that 75% of Americans, college educated and otherwise, know almost nothing about what has happened to the US economically during the past 4 years.

To be fair, this has not been happening over just the last 4 years, it has been happening since the late 1970's.

It has accelerated and gotten much worse since Obozo has taken office, but factories have been closing since the 1970s and industries have been moving offshore for at least as long.
The decline in education has been going on since then as well, and has never recovered.
Recovery is virtually impossible under the current circumstances no matter who wins the election. Collapse must come first. Nobody can or will build a new factory in any American city... when is the last time you saw such a thing built? Why would any sane businessperson build a factory in America with its high level of taxation, regulation, affirmative action that requires you to hire imbeciles and the multitude of rules imposed upon business by the ruling class...

Then look at the tax and 'entitlements' disaster. Entitlements eat up the entire amount collected by the IRS each year now. So how will the debt get paid down?
It won't, it cannot be done.
This means either default or hyperinflation. Hyperinflation has been the standard solution over the last millennia and the likeliest outcome from this sad, downward spiral.

Total taxes collected by the IRS in 2011: $2,332,754 million and falling...

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