Collapse of the U.S. Economy

2010 Is Just Deck-Chair Politics on the USS Titanic

October 23, 2010

LewRockwell.com - The political consensus is: Following the 2010 election, the Tea Partiers and the GOP establishment will breathe a sigh of relief and celebrate their victory, and our two-party monopoly system of government will continue as before. A GOP House majority will checkmate Obama and the Democrats in the Senate, and political stalemate will result. Many conservatives and a few Washington pseudo-libertarians will claim stalemate is better than a Democrat landslide, but they will be wrong.

Like the Titanic, the Washington/Wall Street ship of state hit a Federal Reserve created iceberg under the command of George W. Bush with the recession/depression. Again, like recent evidence suggests, the original Titanic hit the iceberg and sank so fast because of a steering mistake, turning the ship in the wrong direction, which could have been avoided.

In a similar fashion, both Obama and Bush, following the self-serving orders of Bernanke and Wall Street, steered the nation directly into the current depression and coming national debt and dollar collapse by following Keynesian economic principles instead of letting the market quickly resolve the crisis.

Everything you read or see on the establishment propaganda news outlets is just a rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic, as the ship of state is certainly sinking. The goal of productive American citizens should be to get as far away from the ship of state as possible to avoid the downward pull a sinking vessel exerts on everything in the water as it goes under.

The Establishment Political Consensus Is Dead Wrong

America today is a one-party state much like the Soviet Union, China or Nazi Germany; and both nominal political parties are just façades presented to the public to create the illusion of competition and choice. The establishment leadership in both the GOP and the Democrats represent the goals of the same special interests.

Our ability to “throw the bums out” every two or four years is just a release valve built into the political system which guarantees the continued elite control of our political process. Although there are some patriots in national politics in both parties, they never are allowed to take control of either party or the closed political system.

Before the summer of 2011 is over, the Tea Party supporters will already be angry and disappointed, as the GOP elites will maintain the status quo; and there will be only empty rhetoric rather than political action to control spending, curtail the deficits, and limit government. When the coming debt and dollar crisis takes hold, I guarantee the GOP will have an action plan supported by the Democrats which will pass with bilateral support to solve the economic crisis. The solution will be the theft of your private wealth and promised benefits all done in the public interest to save America.

Why Only Nixon Could Go to China

And only the Republicans will be able to steal most of your wealth and get away with it, with the acquiescence of the Democrats. Only older readers will remember the above political metaphor, as it suggests additional legitimacy for politicians making “tough decisions” can result when strong supporters of a political viewpoint suddenly change their views and direction always in the public interest for a crisis, etc. In other words, only Nixon, perceived as a rightwing conservative, could have opened the door to China in 1972, as a liberal Democrat would have been criticized, attacked and thwarted by the opposition GOP.

What Asset Will Be lost Or Auctioned?

As America goes under, here are nine assets and guarantees likely to be stolen by the politicians and then auctioned off to buy more time for the Washington elites of both political parties. Do not believe anything anyone from the establishment tells you, as it is always false information.

1. Social Security Theft – As we see today in France, Social Security retirement ages will be further extended into the future. Wealthy Americans will be “means tested” and entirely forfeit their benefits; and Washington will eventually end cost-of-living adjustments for all but the poorest Social Security recipients.

   Solution: If you are eligible for SS benefits, start taking them as soon as possible, even at the lower rate and age (currently age 62).
   

2. Rising Income & Estate Taxes – This is already a done deal by the Democrats; and there will be some minor temporary pushback by the GOP, but nothing of substance.

   Solution: You might get one more year of the Bush tax cuts, so throw all income possible into 2011.
   

3. National Health Care Expands – Again, some minor changes by the GOP and Blue Dog Democrats, but it will never be overturned; and, in a few years, this travesty will be just as supported by the Republicans as they now support Social Security, the Department of Education, and the Patriot Act today.

   Solution: There is no solution.
   

4. The Risk of Private Gold Confiscation Will Go Up – When the dollar and Treasury market crashes, Washington will enact legislation against gold investors to curtail your profits, add a confiscatory non-productive asset tax, or confiscate your gold with some type of fiat currency exchange. In any case, they plan to end up with your gold, as this will be the basis of a restored dollar.

   Solution: Move most of your gold offshore in a legal and reportable manner, but outside the threat of closed or paralyzed banks, US investment firms and desperate politicians.
   

5. Home Values Will Continue to Fall – The long-term effects of the Fed and Wall Street bank-created boom and subsequent real estate bust, along with the foreclosure crisis now beginning, will likely continue to weigh heavily on home prices.

   Solution: Wait to buy any property you need at a lower price and walk away from properties (outside your primary residence) that are now sinking further underwater.
   

6. Confiscation of Large Retirement Fund Accounts – The long-term confiscation and control idea is to eventually force all retirement benefits under the new automatic/mandatory IRA program where everything will be combined with and managed like your Social Security benefits. Wealthy and productive Americans will find their retirement benefits used to support the trillions in underfunded union, state and local government employee plans.

   Solution: When possible, move your substantial retirement assets legally offshore to escape a future liquidity crisis when the theft will occur, and drawdown your balances by taking withdrawals as soon as you can without an early retirement penalty.
   

7. A National Sales or VAT Tax – This will be a quick revenue generator for the Feds but will probably start out somewhere between 2%–5% and rising quickly after that to confiscatory levels. Americans in low tax brackets may initially be exempted from this tax.

   Solution: Make any major purchases sooner rather than later.
   

8. An End to the Home Interest Deduction – Again, this will be a quick revenue generator for the Feds but will put additional downward pressure on home prices.

   Solution: There is no solution, but never buy anything tangible or even an investment for tax benefits, as tax preferences always change and never in your favor.
   

9. An Organized Collapse of the Dollar – The Feds fully hope to get some control over the outstanding national debt externally, and internally over transfer payments, by depreciating the dollar. How they hope to accomplish this without creating a run and collapse of the dollar and Treasury debt is beyond me, but this is their intention.

   Solution: Diversify your wealth internationally outside the US in banks and annuities, equities, bonds and real estate not denominated in dollars. Buy gold bullion, quality gold mining and national resource stocks outside the US.

The Bottom Line

It really doesn’t matter where you sit on the deck of the Titanic, you have to get off the boat quickly in a lifeboat of your own design. The call for “women and children first” and “there are plenty of lifeboats for everyone” will just be misinformation to enable the leaders of Wall Street, Washington and the Fed to hide their identities, assets and involvement in creating the crisis.

I can’t wait to see Bernanke, Bush and Obama in a lifeboat disguised and dressed in women’s clothing along with most of Congress and the Wall Street insiders. May the sharks not be too hungry and the water not too cold so they will suffer longer. Or as Jimmy Buffet put it so well: You got fins to the left, fins to the right and you’re the only bait in town.

Ron Holland [ron.holland@bfi-consulting.com] is a contributing editor to the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter and Freedom Matters published by Appenzeller Business Press.

Fabian Society’s London School of Economics Predicts “Savage Austerity” in America

October 23, 2020

Infowars.com - Howard Davies, chairman of the London School of Economics, and Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup Inc., talk about the potential impact of additional quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve on the U.S. economy. Davies and Buiter also discuss the U.K.’s economy, budget and financial industry. They talk with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television’s “Surveillance Midday.” (Source: Bloomberg)

The London School of Economics was founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb and George Bernard Shaw.