US Double-Dip Economic Recession Great Depression of 2010
77The greatest depression will strike usa 2010
Update: August 27, 2010, I will soon update this information to reflect the current situation in America. The current financial situation is far worse than the information already posted on this Hub. For those who found their way here from a search about the double-dip recession, get a clue this is not a double dip recession! This is the original recession that is simply worsening, the current White House Administration led by Barack Obama and his Socialist Party has simply lied for months about a phantom recovery.
Original Posting:
If you have been following my financial hubs you already know that I predicted 2010 as the year the USA would finally face the music, pay the piper and enter the greatest depression known to America. I take no pleasure in stating that I was absolutely correct, but the facts I am now going to share with you will no doubt be a call to action.
All this recovery nonsense is nothing but a phantom recovery. The golden tongued teleprompter pro strikes again.
- Loans in foreclosure now represent 4.6 per cent of all mortgages, and the number of mortgages more than 90 days overdue has now climbed to 5.1 per cent.
- half of approximately $1.4 trillion in commercial loans is coming due over the next four years are under water
- hundreds of small-and mid-sized banks face insolvency
- property values down 40 per cent since 2007 and 18 per cent of office space sitting vacant.
- national debt of $12.4 trillion Obama, apparently unfazed, signed a law this month that raised the limit on public debt to $14.3 trillion
- Government debt now amounts to more than $40,000 for each American, $113,000 for each taxpayer
- China has indicated its lack of confidence in the crumbling U.S. economy by unloading $34.2 billion in U.S. bonds in December, relinquishing its status as the largest holder of U.S. foreign debt to Japan
- And for the last little goodie, I will just let you go read it for yourself, If you can not handle really bad and shocking news, don't go! Something very strange going on with treasury.
R.I.P. Great Depression, Great Deception
The 2009 Recession Continues To Worsen
Foreclosure filings jumped 24 % first quarter, The US Economy has Contracted at a 5.7% Rate in the first quarter. So much for the all mighty stimulus plans and bailouts helping the average American! Well, let me see! The economy is already dead around the world, so this 5.7% contraction really means that the already dead horse, continues to decay.
Everyone appears to be excited because the U.S. economy only shrank 5.7% instead of the forecast of 6.3%. Sure, this is better than the 6.3, but it certainly isn't anything to rejoice about. Tell me that the economy grew just 0.01% and just maybe we can even dare to think that this dead horse is beginning to revive, but until then the economists and the Government may as well just shut their mouths.
It is now June 09, reports are now saying that although Banks somehow reported profits in the first quarter (Lies) they are now failing. Banks Failing
Read about the foreclosures here; Foreclosures.
Will the United States economic recession become the great 2009 depression? Obama has furthered the United States fall into a depression in 2009, 2010. Slick speaking will not prevent a hard landing this year or the beginning of 2010. If Obama continues the T.A.R.P. bailouts, and stimulus gluts, the value of the dollar will finally crash around the World. The effects of the dollar crashing will be world wide global depression. And the scandals like that of AIG Bonuses will only worsen our condition.
Add to the Bailouts, all the Stimulus garbage and the economy has no choice but to dive further into probably the worst depression the World has ever seen. We are so much worse off today than the people of the great depression were. When you consider the difference in population and the credit monster looming over most of the World today, it isn't looking too good.
When you see the Government pushing so much worthless paper money into the economy, it makes one wonder where their head is! Did you all know that every single expert out there is saying that housing prices will continue to fall for another year and one half? They also tell us that the value of homes will fall another 29 %.
What this means is that everyone who gets one of these loans that are being pushed as part of the stimulus, will buy the home only to have it drop almost 30 % in value in a short 1 1/2 years. Doesn't that sound like a foolish thing to do? Yet, knowing full well that this is fact, the Government is making funds available through the stimulus plan so that Americans will buy homes.
We already have millions of Americans looking for foreclosure help, I suppose the Government could really care less if they are the cause of a few million more being added to the foreclosure list.
This is an added not: It is now July 3, 2009, Obama's mortgage bailout plan has failed. So he is now creating a brand new deal, which will also fail. This new mortgage bailout plan is called, " The president's Making Home Affordable plan."
If you read my comments above which are from a year ago, you will see that I had told you the plan would fail. I also pointed out the fact of how ignorant it is to help people buy homes when the value was guaranteed to drop drastically. Well, we read this morning that housing prices tumbled another 18% from a year ago. If you bought your home last year, you were foolish my friend. You need to stop listening to the very same economists and Government leaders who continue to sink our nation. Wake Up!
Here is a voice from the past that we should listen to today;
I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson
Here is what Thomas Jefferson said way back in in 1802: "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
We are not yet at the point people were at in the Great depression, but we are at the door, getting ready to walk through it. Many are already comparing our condition with that of those in the Great Depression, at the moment they are wrong. I believe that by the end of April, they will be right.
Update: Are we in a Depression? Can we call it a Depression yet?
For a very short time the band aide (T.A.R.P.) will give the impression that things may be picking up, but shortly after the band aide has been applied the festering sore beneath it will have grown and force the band aide to fall off.
You all just go ahead and keep listening to the very ones who brought this condition on us, Corrupt Corporations and Political Leaders. Who do you think pushed so hard to get credit cards in all the hands of Americans? Who do you think caused all the mortgage failures? Greedy Corporations did it.
Honestly, I am fed up with this Presidents lip service. This man is either self deceived, a liar, or a fool, take your pick. I am totally sick of how this man keeps talking about the debt he received from the prior administration, when all along he refuses to even acknowledge the mountains of debt he has personaly created. When we set his mountain of debt next to the little hill he inherited from Bush, it is clear that this President must be blind to his own evil. He needs to shut his mouth because every time he opens it he shoves his foot into it deeper.
Let me tell you what my friend did when he was approached by his boss with the very first loan application that brought all this mess on. Dan told them to put that application where the Sun don't shine. My friend told the broker that this was a recipe for failed loans and he would not have a part in screwing millions of Americans. If my friend Dan knew what these type of loans would do, so did all the Mortgage companies and Lenders....Greed did this.
Let me tell you something about the good old Stock Exchange; have you ever noticed that it is set up just like a Casino? In fact, I call it the Corporate Casino. You haul your paycheck down to them, shove it into their Corporate pot in hopes of making a killing. But in the end, just like a Casino, the Corporation comes out on top and the little guy they suckered gets crushed.
Look at who the Governments are giving all your tax dollars to, it certainly isn't being given to the little guy who earned it, is it? No, the Corporate Casino comes out on top and all the investors (gamblers) go home broke once again.
You just go right ahead and follow your old ways of waiting until after-the-fact, waiting until the problem is too big to fix, waiting until after the flood has already hit. Not me.
I have learned a valuable lesson on this Hub. I have found that when the truth hurts, facts are called "Conspiracy Theory."
Update 3/18/2009; We just heard today that the United States deficit is far worse than the Obama Administration had predicted. The Government has to borrow at least another one trillion dollars from itself in order to cover their budget.
All the top economists are claiming that the Obama Administration is wrong about the projected deficit, these economists say that the added one trillion dollars is short by another trillion dollars.
What does this mean for the economy of The United States? It means that the value of the dollar will rapidly fall, gold will jump, and foreign currency trading (Forex Trading) will rise as investors look for a safe investment. This will further the onset of hyperinflation.
James Madison
T.A.R.P. AKA the 700 Billion Dollar Bailout Will Smother America
Everything is so overpriced in America; the average consumer is forced to use credit to purchase the common staples just to survive. This crediting of America has caused an economic hole that the majority of Americans are struggling to get out of.
The political answer to this ever deepening economic hole was the creation of the "troubled asset relief program," or, T.A.R.P. The first 350 billion dollars was given to Banks who had lent money to consumers to purchase homes, these Banks and Lenders knew full well that these consumers would be unable to pay them back. Corporate greed for more and more drove these institutions to get another buck any way they could.
Well, they got it didn't they? Little did we Americans know that they would get it in the form of the tax payer’s money in a massive T.A.R.P. bailout. In essence, what has taken place is the consumer, you and me, have now taken on more credit through the form of a Government bailout of Corporate America. Most Americans never consider the fact that when our Government borrows money they do so in our name, we are the responsible party that has to pay it all back, through our taxes.
Obama’s new plan to use the other half of the T.A.R.P. funds is just as deadly for the average American. On the face of Obama’s plan it looks good, but when you look at the details you find that he will do nothing more than, more of the same.
I’m not going to get into it all on this Hub, but what it does is deepens the consumers credit debt. Obama is going to see that you and me get a piece of this pie, but in the form of credit being made available to us. I am so fed up with politicians who do nothing but further the credit problem in America. Go ahead President Obama, help us dig a deeper economic hole, and while you’re at it, start shoveling in the dirt.
One thing that I do not think people are considering is the fact that millions of people have been awakened now to the error of their spending ways. I do not believe that even with the Governments trying to tempt and entice consumers to spend is going to work. People may not be as stupid as Washington is hoping.
What Economists Refuse To Tell Americans And What Obama Hid From Americans
Here is a little talked about fact concerning the Great Depression. Did you know that in the years just prior to the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression that the Government increased the money supply into the economy by 61.8 %? Strange, isn't it, all these economists have failed to mention this little piece of information?
Again, I say; Those who do not study history, are doomed to repeat it!
What Obama refuses to tell us is that the new budget, was written by two French Socialists. Well imagine that, Obama rushes this budget to Congress, and now we learn that this budget was written by French Socialists. Obama you sure are a slick Fox!
Puppet Obama
My Latest Rant
- Stop already with the News about the Big Boys spending Billions on bonuses! Let's remember what really happened; our foolish Government leaders threw these billions in their laps with no conditions. Conditions were talked about before these Billions were given to these fat cats, but some how those conditions disappered on the path from the White House to the Fat Cats house.
- A sign of Governmental Tyranny is the attempt to suppress liberty.
- Supressed liberty is the sign of slavery.
- Most know what a slave is, but most do not know they are a slave.
- Once a people have been enslaved, the Dictator will Dictate.
- We believe that all have a right to their opinion, but the Dictator will silence all.
- For evry one crooked politician caught, there are another dozen yet to be exposed.
Truth About Troubled Banks "Citibank"
- Credit unions pay for risky behavior by a few
The nation's 7,500 credit unions are paying to clean up a multibillion-dollar mess created by a handful of failed institutions that invested in risky mortgage-backed securities. - 17 months ago
- Banks slowly returning to health
The nation’s banks continued their slow return to health in the third quarter, according to reports filed with a federal regulator. Check your bank or credit union in the BankTracker. - 17 months ago
- Bank profits rise, but so do bad loans
The number of banks with risky levels of bad loans rose slightly in the latest quarter, even as bank profits rose sharply. Check your bank or credit union in the BankTracker. - 23 months ago
- List of banks under stress keeps growing
The number of banks with risky levels of bad loans rose slightly in the latest quarter. Check yours in the BankTracker from msnbc.com and the Investigative Reporting Workshop. - 2 years ago
- Look up any bank at the Investigative Reporting Workshop
- 2 years ago
Alexander Hamilton
We Had Better Stand Now or Forever Hold Our Peace!
I move that we as Americans stand together and march on every Government facility in America. O.K., I'll give Washington just a little more time to squander our money and prove to the Obama backers that this bailout garbage is a joke and will not help us in the end.
We Americans had better regain the spirit of our Forefathers before we allow our out of control Politicians to finish us off. The Government just loves the way we all bicker and fight among ourselves, this is the process they use to keep society from rebelling against them.
Don't you Americans even care about your liberties being taken away? Don't you even care about the fact that the rich are getting richer even as the middle class is being destroyed and joining the ranks of the poor?
What? Do you call having credit and oweing everything you have plus more, a blessing? Are you blind, or just stupid? Are you going to just set there and allow yourself to be buried by our loving Government policies that put us further and further in debt to foreign countries and fat cat banks.
Come on folks, wake up from the sleep our leaders have put you in. You mark my words, after this latest bailout, it will not be long afterwards that you will finally see that it has all been a joke played on the American people, you won't be laughing though!
The problem that the rich and our Government are not telling you about is a little thing known as "Fiat Money." This is a term used for a money system that has no real backing, meaning gold. This Fiat System has been used several times in history, and each time, the country using this system ended up losing everything. This is where we are headed, and all the rich fat cats and Government leaders know it.
If we don't rise up and demand our leaders to stop, we are finished my friends. The Government wants you and me to think that our real enemy is each other, that's a big lie my friends. Did you know that even though you and I disagree that that doesn't bother me at all? I suggest you read the Hub "American" and we return to sanity.
In Bed With The Devil
The greatest possession, in the coming depression, will be a friend. A shoulder to cry on, an ear no longer deafened by the mad rush to nowhere.
There are already many stories of sorrow, sorrow kept silent by the media. This whole thing that is going on is such an evil plot. If you study the crash of the stock market and the great depression, you will clearly see that our government is following the exact same road map that led to the great depression.
I am continually hearing people say that our condition today is nothing like the Great Depression. Here are some links that will help you to determine the facts of our true condition.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,424881,00.html
I would also point out that there is a huge difference today from the great depression. At the peak of the great depression there were only 12 to 15 million workers unemployed. What pray tell, will happen when we hit only 10% unemployment soon? That will mean that we have already reached the same level of individuals unemployed during the great depression.
And another thing, we have a much different type of person living amongst us in our day than they had during the great depression. I don't care what anyone says, a huge number of people among us today have no back-bone and will do all manner of evil to survive.
I remember the day when you got into a fight, you beat each other until you were tuckered out or someone got whipped. Today, these cowards have to use a gun, knife or anything that they can find to use as a weapon.
We have become a Nation filled with criminals, drug addicts, and even parents murdering their own children. It has become so bad, that you would be a fool to go out after dark in your own neighborhood.
For the life of me I can not understand what is wrong with us! I have warned and warned people over the last five years that this situation we are facing was imminent, and they needed to start planting gardens. Do you know that not one single person has listened. I believe it has to do with having to literally face the fact of how dire of a situation we are in.
I’ll leave you with this echoing voice of my Father’s words. When I was a child our Father constantly said, “This Nation will fall because the people no longer stand together against the evils of their Government, nor the evils next door.”
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War College warns military must prepare for unrest; IMF warns of economic riots
Deflation Has Begun in United States
- Analysis: BOJ gets cold feet after Valentine surprise - Chicago Tribune
Bloomberg Analysis: BOJ gets cold feet after Valentine surprise Chicago Tribune TOKYO (Reuters) - Hyped up market expectations of more forceful steps by Japan's central bank to beat deflation since its two-punch monetary easing has raised concerns it needs to temper the message, or risk leading investors up a blind alley. BOJ eased to ensure recovery, won't act "automatically"Reuters all 27 news articles » - 7 hours ago
- Deflation Isn't the Enemy - Huffington Post (blog)
BBC News Deflation Isn't the Enemy Huffington Post (blog) We now live in a world where deflation has become public enemy number one. In this current economic environment, governments seek a condition of perpetual inflation in order to maintain the illusion of prosperity in the developed world. Prices climb but no deflation end in sight: analystsThe Japan Times Japan: Slow exit from deflationFXstreet.com Japan Core CPI Up For Third Straight MonthNASDAQ BBC News -MarketWatch -TODAYonline all 12 news articles » - 3 days ago
- Analysis: BOJ gets cold feet after Valentine surprise - CNBC.com
Analysis: BOJ gets cold feet after Valentine surprise CNBC.com TOKYO (Reuters) - Hyped up market expectations of more forceful steps by Japan's central bank to beat deflation since its two-punch monetary easing has raised concerns it needs to temper the message, or risk leading investors up a blind alley. and more » - 7 hours ago
- Deflation Isn't The Enemy - Forbes
Deflation Isn't The Enemy Forbes We now live in a world where deflation has become public enemy number one. In this current economic environment, governments seek a condition of perpetual inflation in order to maintain the illusion of prosperity in the developed world. and more » - 4 days ago
- Forget deflation, high inflation is the real enemy - Financial Times
Forget deflation, high inflation is the real enemy Financial Times This affliction has resulted in much anxious reading of the financial runes – the most revealing of which has been a paper entitled Volatility at World's End – Deflation, Hyperinflation and the Alchemy of Risk by US firm Artemis Capital (not to be ... - 2 days ago
Matt 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Those who think that the coming depression is just media hype are clearly living in a bubble of self deception. These few people are the same crowd who refused to admit that we were in a recession. We all knew a year before the White House announced we were in a recession that we were in it.
If you follow those who are blind to what is ahead, you will fall into the same ditch they do.
To prove that things really are that bad, I heard "The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index tonight. It is only 37.7 % of Americans who are confident about this economy. That flies right in the face of those who say this is all media hype. This is the lowest level of consumer confidence since they started keeping this record 40 years ago.
"The Present Situation Index" which shows how the consumer feels about the present situation of the economy dove to 29.9%. So when I hear people saying that this is all media hype, I say to them, wake up friend and walk outside and look. It's all around you!
The Great People of America
As I have watched this Hub grow, and the comments expand, my thoughts are centered on what made America the great Nation she was. As humans we will always have disagreements because that's our nature, but when we allow those disagreements to separate us as a people, the stability of the Nation is threatened.
We have watched as over the years Special Interest groups with piles of money and political clout have pushed their agendas on America and her people.
Through the political process these minority groups have forced their will to be implemented and replace the will of the majority. These special interest groups have been witling away at our Constitution and cleverly changing the publics interpretation of its' meaning.
If we are going to survive as a Nation, we must return to the Constitution, and we must no longer become our neighbor’s enemy just because they have a different opinion.
I have special interests, you have special interests, but this does not give any of us special rights.
State of The Economy
Do you think the jobless rate the media gives us is just a bunch of media hype?
See results without votingStimulus Petition, Economists Respond To Obama, View From Economists
I found a petition online that you can sign if you object to the Governments Big Spending Bailout. It has climbed from 40,000 a week ago to 400,000 now http://www.nostimulus.com/
You may also be unaware that 200 main stream economists have signed a statement saying that they do not believe these Bailouts will help the economy. Barack Obama stated; There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy.
The response to the Presidents comment by 200 economists was; With all due respect Mr.President,that is not true. View it here; http://www.cato.org/special/stimulus09/cato_stimulus.pdf
Here is a link to an article that will help you understand in clear english the opinions of economists from both sides. It is one of the best discussions that I have found that will help the average person understand what is going on today with the economy and especially the Bailouts and Stimulus Plan. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9931
Thomas Jefferson
Barack Obama Attacks Freedoms In America
It appears that Barack Obama's god syndrome is beginning to show. The President now thinks he can threaten Republicans for listening to Rush Limbaugh.
President Obama told Republicans to break free of the confrontational mindset of Rush Limbaugh, the radio talk show host.
Mr. Obama builds his platform on reaching out to those on all sides of issues; however his actions speak louder than his words. My message to the current President is; Mr. President you are not God, you do not have any authority to attempt to manipulate the thoughts of men, by pressuring them to not listen to opposing views.
My feeling about this is; If you can't handle the heat Mr. President, Get out of the kitchen!
Mr. President, you have not even begun to be attacked like President George W. Bush was, yet with all the attacks Mr. Bush endured, not once did this man attempt to order others to stop listening to them. I believe your actions show the traits of arrogance and conceit Mr. President.
An opposing view is nothing more than an opportunity to express why you have the opinion you have. Those who refuse to listen to opposing views are a threat to true Americans. They are a threat to the Constitution, they are a threat to freedom, and those who attempt to distinguish opposing views are two times more the child of the Devil than the ones they attempt to silence.
I was going to write a Hub on something I had learned about gold, but I just don't have the time. I will just share a short bit of what I see coming for gold.
From all the information that I have collected here is what is going to happen.
I
already knew that this Stimulus would pass, it's obvious that both
Democrats and Republicans love to spend money. By the middle of 2009 the Banks and
Corporations will grab all the available gold using the Bailout and
Stimulus funds. Soon after the Banks and Corporations grab the gold,
the economy will fall and we will enter the greatest depression the
World has ever seen. The shortage of available gold and start of the
depression will eventually drive gold to over $3,000.00 an ounce. The
Banks and Corporations will think that they have achieved their goal,
but I have bad News for them! Following this, in the name of security,
Homeland Security will come knocking with the biggest wheel barrow
they've ever seen. Believe it or not, this present administration is out to destroy corporate America. They are doing this for the purpose of taking control of business in America.
I arrived at all this from information I received from Jewelers and Precious Metals & Jems sellers about homeland security and their involvement with them. Do a search on FDR + Executive Order 6102 and when you put the two together you will see what is getting ready to take place.
It Is Too Late My Friends
It is too late to kill the beast now, we fed this corrupt system to the point that the cancer has now spread to the point of no cure. We sat back and allowed these evil men to take us over because we loved what they gave us. They created a system in which we were all dependent on them to survive. We had to have their credit and support just to manage the necessities of life. We sat back and got fat on food, clothing, houses, cars, trips, doctors, air conditioning, refrigerators, electricity, electronics, sex, drugs and money. Well, what did we expect? These evil groups were our friends as long as they fed us, but now that their evil plot is being exposed and they are withholding the goods, we make them our enemies! That is not how the game is played, we played, now we pay.
Bailout or Burial
Do you think that the Governments Bailout Plan will bring lasting salvation to the economy?
See results without votingPost Recession Spending Habits
If the recession does turn around, will you change your spending habits?
See results without votingLeave your comments or feedback. There are more comments, see the link at the bottom of the comments. No Personal or Hub Links PleaseLoading...
I enjoyed reading your hub. I appreciate you taking on some controversial topics in your hubs. I look forward to reading more of them. Thanks for posting this.
TO TAKE FULL CONTROL OF A COUNTRY YOU FIRST BRING IT TO ITS KNEES BY BANKRUPTCY OF MOST OF THE CORPORATIONS AND THE PEOPLE.--THE MEDIA IS BOUGHT AND OWNED, THE BANKS ARE CONTROLLED, YOU CONTROL THE FARMS AND THE WATER SUPPLIES THE ARMY IS PAID BY YOU SO THEY DO AS YOU WISH,---THEN MY FRIENDS ---YOU====ARE====SLAVES====TO THE NEW WORLD RULERS.....
born to be free - I'm curious, now that we are one quater of the way through 2010 do you still stand by your theory that we will be facing the depression before the end of the year?
nice post born.
and as to your comment " I believe situations are created for the purpose of giving the conservatives something to focus on while all along something is going on of much greater importance. It works just like a con man does. The con will get the targets focus on something else, while at the same time they are robbing them blind. "
its dead on. I noticed a long while back, that when congress wants to pass something with out much attention, several topics are floated. Gays in the military, gay marriage are the top two currently. followed by the abortion issue. as soon as both sides are squared off and screaming at each. bills fly thru congress. pork funds, pay raises, you name it.
keep up the good work.
US actually failed some time ago. When the banks failed and we had to bail them out. That was when the US failed. Because from then on it was just artificial growth and trying to prolong the inevitable. We should have hit a depression back then.
Great hub - I totally agree - Obama supporters I talk to are either in denial or have voters remorse - I feel the 21s century great depression is already here
Obama obama is the greated hes doing the best he can give him a break
This is a great Hub. An exhaustive analysis that I find nothing therein with which to disagree. Thank you for your courageous candor.
I never thought I would ever consider bankruptcy as my only option...until now.
Everyone out there, this CAN happen to you too!!!
I am a Paraprofessional(I work with disabled children), and the school district that I have worked at for seven years told me in June I would no longer have a job due to budget cuts. Who is going to take care of those kids who need so much help?
Even though I have a mountain of debt($60,000. I racked up during a serious illness), I thought I could still make it work. I had always paid about 50% more than my minimum payments and was no longer using credit cards or acquiring more debt.
I figured I could just pay the minimum until I found another job, it would all be okay. I have never in my life paid a bill late, and have always had nearly perfect credit. To me bankruptcy was a dirty word.
However, everything changed for me a couple weeks ago, when two little obscure looking pamphlets from Chase came in the mail. They were a "Change in Terms" notice. Lots of legal speak, but the bottom line was this:
The very low interest( which was guaranteed until the balance was paid in full), very high balance credit cards was going to raise the minimum payment from the standard 2% to 5%.
In essence, my minimum payments of $1,350. a month would jump to a whopping $3,000. a month! Of course I cannot pay that, even if I hadn't lost my job.
How can they change the rules in mid-stream?
It's legal.
In a moment your life can change forever. I spent 25 years building up this great credit history, it gave me a lot of pride, because I worked hard at it.
I went to an attorney yesterday and filed for bankruptcy. My dream of selling my house and moving closer to my parents next year is gone. For the next ten years this will follow me. How will I get a loan(with decent interest rates) for a house near my parents?
I feel lost and helpless, and I no longer have control over my destiny.
Are we headed for a Depression? I'm already there!
Why is no one stopping them?
born to be free - I'm very sorry to hear about your Dad. I know people who have been in his situation, even though you don't state what that was outright, you don't have to. When I go over to the forums on Hubs and I see what passes for intelligent opinion, all I can think of is pre-WWII Germany. It is very comforting to know that there are some people who refuse to go into denial about this. Keep writing - we all need you :)
born to be free - great hub! We have to say this stuff, out loud, and never, never, never, back down. No matter how much the "useful idiots" screech. You point out a lot of very useful facts and make good observations. My hat's off to you.
I'm sorry to say "you were right." Things are looking gloomier everyday % months later.The stimulus has FAILED yet incredibly, there is talk of another stimulus. The House just passed the largest tax increase in history, "Cap and Trade." Up next, National health care. The President has already stated that we have no more money yet he continues to spend like a drunken sailor. The same people who complained about the deficit prior seem to have no problem with Obama quadrupling our debt in 5 months time. Do they love this country more than their party? I'm not so sure.
Your site is again a right wing, religion in your face,insult to the liberals.
Fox news on Steroids. Your foolish defense of Bush shows you are a phoney
Thank the good heavenly GOD someone else is out there puking their guts up like me. My entire damned family fought for these scumbags, generation after generation, myself included, only to see us fall faster than Rome in an Orgy. So be it.
People, we are EFFED bad. The Citizenry won't fight back, they are stupid, weak-of-mind, simpletons at best. They eat the trash that the Kings throw down, so be that as well. When the time comes (as it always inevitably does in every empire in existence), we won't go down burning, baby, we will go down FRYING like bacon in a hot skillet.
The ONLY fix for America, is the complete eradication of CURRENT Politicians in all forms of government, from State to Federal. Good thing the Union won the war in 1864, they really did one helluva job to screw it up, and a helluva job to job the US of A and everyone who has to work for a living.
We are coming apart at the seams, corrupt, immoral, money is God, Black is White, Good is Evil. So be that as well, go ask Rome and Egypt, empires that make ours look like a joke, and see how that turned out. In fact, ask the British Empire how it works.
Part of that true fix is to collapse, totally. We are not America anymore anyway, and have not been for damned near two centuries. Let them run us into the ground, and let the people "eat teh cakes" as one Frenchman said many years ago. THEN the "citizens" of this so-called US of A might do something, but until then, remember that to fix a system, you don't break the system, or dispose of it, you clean out everyone in the system, and then find someone who is scared of you quite badly and put them in as well.
Keep up the good work, man. I enjoyed the read.
Long Live Amerika!
America is dead.
I believe that the ponzi housing scheme was indeed a conspiracy. See my dont pay credit cards website at my profile.
However, it was done by Republicans and Democrats. I am against both although the Republicans are more war oriented because of the neocons. Even Pat Buchanan warns against the neocons.
But we have both parties protecting the banks, who are at war with the American people with their plans, scams, and credit card loan sharking. We have to take action to protect ourselves from a very broken system.
Very interesting and worth me more to know about depression.Thank you!
President Bush and people there could not believe that a man like him could be a president.May be can change!
great hub!! I'm impressed...
Excellent Hub and you are right the American people need to stand together and perhaps another Bston tea party, so to speak, is in order to wake up those on Capitol Hill. It's time the American people spoke out and let their voice be heard outside of the so called voters box because we all know the last election was a joke. Too many people worried about making history and not about the good of this Great Nation and now those same people are wondering what happened. You have inspired me to do a little shouting myself. Thank you! Great Hub I will pass it on!
Excellent Hub and you are right the American people need to stand together and perhaps another Bston tea party, so to speak, is in order to wake up those on Capitol Hill. It's time the American people spoke out and let their voice be heard outside of the so called voters box because we all know the last election was a joke. Too many people worried about making history and not about the good of this Great Nation and now those same people are wondering what happened. You have inspired me to do a little shouting myself. Thank you! Great Hub I will pass it on!
Once the velocity of money normalizes and M3 starts expanding in a few years, we're definitely going to be experiencing double digit inflation rates. Buy real assets!
haha, i misread your heading about the 700 billion dollar bailout as - the 700 billion dollar bailout will snooker America
born to be free
I am impressed with the response to your polls and the number of comments this hub has received.
Perhaps you might add a summary to the hub to distill all these comments and post a conclusion. I doubt that newcomers to the web have followed the thread.
I personally think that we are in a new dimension even though we got there with old fashioned greed. Too many things happened to fast within the last decade or so thanks to cable TV news and the internet. The world today is a fraction of a second away.
my opinion.........
I basically agree and I think we are headed for a serious depression. But at the same time I'm not in a panic about it. I enjoy my life and I don't need too many goodies to be happy. I think I need 3: food, music, and sex. If I get those I'm happy. And those are easy to get.
I'm buying gold and silver every month because I know the dollar is in big trouble and when people realize it there will be a big jump of value from dollars to metals. And if I'm totally wrong and the dollars stays strong, then my internet income stays strong (I love abroad but get paid in USD). I'm covered both ways. So no need to be doomsday. Just to be prepared.
Great hub! Very informative article.
An excellent insight. If only we had the wisdom of our founders...
You know the media,
I am supprised in that none of the conservative radio talk shows are saying anything about it. At least they should be, but sometimes thay have their own agenda, also.
Thanks.
Yeah, I found your other hub. This is freaky.
Thanks.
Keep on hubbing, and get feeling better!
I can't wait to see your next hub.
I hobe you start feeling better. I am very interested in see this. Is there anyway you could e-mail me a hint of what it is you are seeing.
Of course the government is turning on us. They want a socialistic society and the power that it gives the people who run the government. The stimulis bill provides the mechanism for a lot of this to happen,
Isn't it just co-insistental that with in one month of inauguration, the congress was able to pass a bill full of pork that promotes what the democrates have been dreaming of doing for the last 40 years.
They have a dictatorship like government because there is no opposition. Reed, Puloshi, and Obama are ruling as a dictator style goverment, between the three of them, with the support of the democrat party. There is nothing to stop them except 2 senators, and the stupid republican senators folded! Here, I thought the republican were starting to wise up, but it appear that there are 3 stupid one that didn't read that did not get message. Not that I am for republicans and against democrats. I am for freedom, liberty, and less government control.
In the past we had some mechanisms for balance. This has completely been lost.
Well hope you're feeling better,
and keep on hubbing.
I'm right there with you, excellent post. Have you seen the film "The Money Masters"?
I beleive all the signs are there. Especially for the people that slip through the cracks. The poor. I see this everywhere I go. People begging for work to feed their families.
I am fortunate to live in a place where I can grow what we eat. and have stock we can use for survival. My concern is those folks who DONT live where they can grow their own food.
How will they survive. I used to listen to my Great Grandmother talk about the Great Depression. She always said.. she wouldnt live to see the next one.. but my brother and I would. I think she's right. When she was younger she had a farm. She helped feed the whole community where she was. She would say folks would bring their babies to her because they couldnt feed them. And she would give food blankets ect ect to those who needed it.
I think we as a PEOPLE no matter what nationality NEED to come together because I feel this article is right.. if we DONT come together... we will fall apart. A house divided cannot stand!
I feel that we need to get back to learning to live as our grandparents. It will come a time when food will be valued more than gold! and water to. Just remember to help those that need it.
I also feel that Mr. President along with the other officals in Washington have NO CLUE how it really is to live as some of us do. They have NO clue I would like to see THEM survive as the poor do. THEN they could REALLY say how the economy is. If they had to live 1 week as a poor person. They would understand.
I too believe that the time for action is now, too many people are willing to wait until America crumbles to do anything at all; I do not feel that a peaceful march on our capital could possible do any harm whatsoever, except to maybe an ego or two; we the people need to stand together and start acting like true patriots, who believe in our country and our laws and most importantly our constitution. Please begin to prepare for a march, let enough time go by so that we can get the word out to the 65% of the people who think this is all wrong. We need to send a strong message of support to each other. Thank you for your site, good job.
You are assuming that we are headed toward hyper inflation. I would say that is a possibility but it is not the likely scenario yet. The likely scenario is depression. In that case we need to spend the kitchen sink to turn the dollars over. As of now we have bank insolvency, capital flight, and deflation. That could change, but we are in a near depression and that makes your hub a possible, but not yet probable outcome.
I just hope that the stimulus is big enough. I really don't think it is.
But I am adding your hub to my group of hubs, Inflation Recession Depression.
Thanks for publishing this hub, it surely is thought-provoking. I'm writing directly from Brussels, a spit in the middle of Europe but also the head quarter of European Institutions. Here, on the other side of the world, our perception of US is surely distorted but we can maybe look at it in a more objective, even if more ignorant way. The American Dream is maybe turning into the American Nightmare. As we all depend a lot on your country a feeling of being dangerous sleepwalkers is spreading out. The world is afraid, and nobody understand what the hell is going on, the word "crisis" echoes even in kinder gardens. In this cocktail of problems and unanswered questions how are we going to improve? Time is not on our side. Half of the world is not on Your side. Everyone is yelling and longing for a change but few of us are fighting. Now, I see Obama as a potential capsizing of image. US will not have the same appearance, let's see if the substance is also going to change. I have the feeling that everything is so confused and unclear as if until now, the future is difficult to predict, the US government kept secrets from its own citizens and from the rest of the world. Why? The world cannot be a telenovela. Facts are needed, people need to know, people want to understand. I don't think that we have to learn from our ancestors as I believe that history goes in circles and that mistakes of the past are being recreated in the present. The world must have a new stable base. Less dichotomy between Reality and the soit-disant "Truth".
Best regards born-to-be-free!
I watched Pres. Obama Town Hall Meeting in Ft. Myers, FL, and all I saw is a bunch of morons crying for more handouts.
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-
Where was the American rugged individualist at this meeting? The entrepreneur? Where on the news is this elusive man or woman once considered the archetypal American?
GLOBAL PROZAC - THE RECESSION??
It's fascinating and even a little depressing to read the variety of comments about the current global economical situation the majority of hardworking people around the world find themselves in as a result of the short-term mentality adopted by the people in position of authority to push and pull or global financial well being. We cannot blame them alone, because we all bought into it as well. Have you every sat back and reflected on an argument you may have had with a loved one, or even someone you dislike....? Don't you just hate it when they drag everything up from the past to help justify the arguement, to justify their pain, dislike, mistrust and even self denial?
Who amongs us could go back in time and change even one second, one hour, one day or one year? non of us. No matter what we do you cannot change the last five minutes because if becomes history. Bearing that in mind, when I read a majority of the fascinating suggestions based on using someone elses history, which happened in their moment in time, to justify why the world will fail, why nations will fail, why faimilies and individuals will fail to change or rescue each other, based purely on the selfish need to be heard, similar to when we find ourself in a volitile argument, the fact remains that there are more good people in the world than bad.
Because of the way the media operates, it's primary aim is to sell us the bad new based on the few in order to galvanise our psyche into believing that most of the world is bad and that no one deserves to be rescued. That we are not our brother or sisters keeper. I did not intend to write such a long posting, but what I have noticed about our society today, is that the more dishonest people are the higher they are acclaimed, the more honest and genuine they are people seem to be seeped in mistrust of them and spend a lot of time crucifying them with the view to finding out if their honesty has a catch.
It's like the bully at school, they receive all the help from all areas of our social system to justify why they are a bully, and the victim is either moved to another school, told to keep out of the way of the bully or in some instances given the impression that they must in some way deserved to be tormented. We only have one world and we all have to live and survive with the main ingredients being clean water, clean air, healthy food, proper shelter, Good health, family, friends, love, mutal respect and security.
All of these help to make us happy and I am sure we could add to the list. I think the worlds is in a psychological and emotional depression which has been made worse by the fact that our economical foundations are now shaken to the roots. Perhaps the prozac is our recession! We could easily take any moment in history to justify what might happen again if we do this or we do that, but the greatest challenge we have is to be individually responsible by each and everyone picking up a shovel to help dig us out of this whole. The world did not start of as a capitalistic structure, people worked together as families and communities, and as these families and communities grew, the infrastructure had to change with the time.
The whole world in now in a new and challenging place and we have to open our eyes and see what the next economical generation will look like and move towards it. The banks are broke, most financial institutions and global companies are broke, so isn't is obvious where the source of support has to come from.
So 'Born to be free, your historical history lesson is based on trying to psychologically enslave people into non-action based on men from the past who could not match most childrens knowledge base and ability to debate about everyday matters today. Most of those people you have dragged up believed the world was flat and if you are going to make a comparison then it has to meet all the social, psychological, physical, ecological and political parameters.
Words are good, but action is much better.
In regards to the bailout, most things involving the government look good on the surface and then you find out the real dangers when (or if) you look at the details, usually it's too late by then. Most governmental policies rely on a bait and switch to get people to support things that are completely against their own best interests, which describes most government policy, especially those that involve funding.
I use this a lot because it is true.
Throwing money at the economic problem is like throwing explosives at a skyscraper. To demolish a skyscraper with explosives, it has to be done with a knowledge and placement of the building's load points and the detonation has to be properly sequenced. Otherwise, you won't accomplish the task.
The reason that the bailout didn't work will be the same reason that the economic stimulus plan won't work. They both don't have an understanding of the economic problem and therefore are just throwing money at it. That is also the reason why these plans have such a difficult time getting passed, no one believes that it will work.
the government doesn't seem to learn from history so they are bound to repeat it.
The dot com boom to bust was the beginning of the current mechanisms that broke the economy. These mechanisms include greed, deviation from prodent business dealings, credit to those that cannot pay it back, investor speculation that creates its own end result and using ponzi and pyramid techniques.
The dot com had most if not all of these factors.
I won't go through all of the boom to bust scenarios but just as an example I will go to the dot com.
The dot com deviated from all prudent investmet procedures. Only with a penny stock would such risks have even been thought about. Two traditional apporaches to stock market investiong is the fundamentals and the technicals. Without too much detail they both analyze the company, one by evaluating the company and its management and the other by analyzing its track record and the industry it is in to companre both.
The dot com pushed the stocks of unknown companies to blue chip platinum prices in a matter of months. Many of these companies were brand new and had no track record. The management of some of these companies had some track records but not with this company or its product. Most companies didn't have an income, most had no working product just an idea, those that had a product had no real revenue from it. Without going through the rest it is suffice to say that there were major question marks on all of the traditional criteria that investors buy stock in a particular company. Most of these dot com companies folded causing the bust. The reason that they folded was a lack of possessiong the fundamentals that make blue chip companies successful.
The real benefits of these schemes go to its creators and everyone else just provides them with the winning ingredient, greed.and their hard earned dollars.
Analzye the economy and see if this doesn't still hold true today.
We had a weatherman ( TresSec Geithner ) trying to do just that this morning....lots of numbers, lots of predictions, few facts....we don't even know what the effects have been for the first round of the TARP bailout on the economy. This rush to pass this new stimulus bill, without even knowing the details, is senseless and reckless.
Shouldn't we at least know what has happened to the first TARP installment before we shell out even more cash ..? Where is the transparency, the accountability so valued by the Obama administration..? Who is running the country, Obama or Pelosi/Reid..?
I am against the bailout too, but Bush wasn't doing any better at stopping the recession than Obama is and Obama has only been President a few weeks. In fact Bush denied that we were in one for a very long time. At Obama realizes that we have a problem.
Even Obama hinted at his press conference that you cannot rekindle the massive and irresponsible credit bubble again and that we have to make things to prosper. He knows we are in a tought spot. But doing nothing will probably make things worse. We can only lump through until some country prospers enough to buy our stuff. That may be China or India which are selling cars like hotcakes.
I had a customer come in a few months back and ask me why car prices were still plumetting while gas prices were down. That was a hard one to explain. This is a guy who LIVES here is a CITIZEN but DOESN'T watch the news....
People as me lots if lending has changed. I sell used cars. Interest rates are up 1-2% in some cases. There are no changes in the number of approvals, the sub prime lending, the prime lending, or down payment stipulations. I have plenty of loans to get people.
Another interesting thing - last month we EXCEEDED budget. Budget was based on last year's numbers so we did BETTER selling CARS than last year!
On the other hand, my boyfriend just was laid off and another friend's husband has been put on 1 week of unpaid leave.
I do see the trauma that is going on but I think it is mainly due to mass panic. Some jobs are gone and some markets are a mess but we have people who are stable and employed. These people are too afraid to spend money due to the news...
first of all the value of the dollar has been worthless for years! what does a dollar buy these days? junk food that corporations can afford to sell it for that much. a dollar does not go very far. government has been printing more money than we have so that's why the dollar is worthless. economic slump? hell with that, there's nothing wrong with the economy, it's the people being idiots and not realizing just how much they have. so what? are you afraid you're gonna lose your flat screens and other useless 5h!7? there are worse things happening in the world than the USA. this country sucks! i'm leaving, there's a world to be saved and it only starts with one person. good day!
Very interesting article.
Re: Maven101
"I look to Texas or some other powerful state to say enough is enough and get out. I really believe we are seeing the beginning of the breakup of our wonderful nation...God help us all."
Interesting you say this. A well-known Russian forecaster predicted the USA will break up into regions as it is the beginning of the end of the USA. It is pretty bad in many parts and it does not get news coverage. No wonder some foreigners return home when they can live a better and less stressful life in their home country vs. USA. So, who will be ultimately blamed for bringing our country down, Republicans? Some things are just too complex to unwrangle when the spinsters of each party continue with their idiotic shenanigans.
Robert, If you lived somewhere warm we could talk!! Just Kidding. This is a great post-I just discovered hubpages. I like that there are many viewpoints-much to sort out as I seek to be one who holds the leadership accountable. That starts with me, thus there is a great need to be informed.
I am not an economist. I am an accidental business-woman who after 19 years am fast going down due to the economy. From where I am sitting it looks like a depression. I talked to a realtor about selling my home, workshop, office and acreage because it may be the only honourable way to become debt-free without defaulting. It breaks my heart, but freedom from the bondage of debt looks better every day. The debt wasn't frivolous, but three years of a major downturn where I live has left me extended beyond recovery. I am luckier than many. This is not a sob story but an attempt to give relevance to my comments.
The fact that I chose to acquire debt to "Save" my business didn't work. At first I did it to make payroll, to support the families that had supported me. After 6 months I realized I couldn't do that any longer so laid off my 3 employees who made every day a joy to come to work. But there were still the vehicle payments, insurance, fuel, supplies.... and not enough work despite being a one person outfit with a second job. To keep it going I accrued more debt. And now it is too big and I am about to lose all of the material things I have worked for.
The point is this. If adding debt as an attempt to solve a business downturn failed despite extreme cost cutting measures, second job, etc., why do we believe that if the government does that on a scale a bazillion times bigger will work any better?
It is not that I am (arguably)so bad at business, but when there is a 90% drop in demand over a year's time, and a drop in a total of three years such that 500 jobs became 20 jobs-there is no way to survive. Multiply that by everyone in my small industry. And all the jobs related in the larger industry that provided my work.
Yet the government is talking of a stimulus package to big government-just give me $100,000 of that and I will take care of my own for several years! Do they have a secret stash or a pot of gold to get that money? Anyone believe that? I doubt it.
In my state, we have tried to get funding for a bypass for 25 years. This is the area of the state that drives the entire economic well-being of the state, but there is no money to build a bypass. Yet the government believes they can suddenly produce money to create a stimulus package and fund hundreds of roads and other infrastructure when myriad of projects have been unfunded for decades.
And we want so badly to believe in the financial fairy tale that I have yet to hear anyone in congress ask where the money is. Why does massive debt implode small business, the housing market, healthcare.... yet not the government. Answer-the stimulus package won't work. The money spent to date has done not one thing-unless you count $1400.00 trash cans.
Solution? I have none. I am not a money whiz. But I believe with all my heart that it starts with personal integrity, caring for your family, neighbors and larger community, letting go of greed and embracing simpler lifestyles. I said I am about to lose my material wealth, but life is so much more, friends, family community and I retain all of that! Maybe our votes won't make a difference to anyone, but I intend for my life to do so.
Right on target Born to be free. I call it the new world order.
Better hunker down for a few years of reality. Our kids are either survivers or victims, depends on what they learned from us
I am fourty two
I have said for ten years this was coming
I just want to marry a good woman ONE WOMAN FOR LIFEand live in ontario work the garden
grow our own meat
and wait for the ten year depression to be over
I am fourty two and finding woman that want a marriage is next to impossible
Still waiting for econmajor to offer up HIS solution..or even a tiny suggestion..All I got out of his rant was...well, a rant..
I came around here hoping to see discussion of the economic situation and possible solutions. What a shame that instead I found useless and utterly uninformed diatribe.
Let's see, we have a bunch of pre-industrialism Thomas Jefferson quotes taken without any larger context and applied to a post-industrial economy, wild-eyed squawking about greedy corporations and banks, demonizing of all polititians and especially Obama, and...wait for it...not a single hint of any understanding of economics.
There's so much whacked-out stuff up there that I'm not going to even scratch the surface, but I'll mention a couple of things.
First off, you say that Obama is "attacking freedom" and has a "God complex" because he's urging conservatives not to listen to Rush Limbaugh. Now, let me get this straight...he's not, say, *passing a law* prohibiting Rush from saying things, or people from listening to him, right? You say he has no right to "manipulate the thoughts of men" ...but isn't that the whole idea of the "bully pulpit?" The entire point of rhetoric is to influence people's thoughts. You are hoping to do the same thing by writing this hub, and yet I don't think you have a "God complex" because you're telling me not to listen to Obama. It is completely and unequivocally Obama's right to ask people not to listen to someone; whether they follow his advice is their business.
Secondly, if you're going to talk history, how about using an appropriate parallel instead of a bunch of pre-industrial ideas from before there was even a business cycle. Periods of recession and expansion as we know them weren't even around during Thomas Jefferson's life. I'd go into detail about this, but you'd need to have at least one or two econ courses under your belt, which you obviously don't. Perhaps you could look here and wade through: http://www.scribd.com/doc/9719227/null
Anyway, the point is that the only reasonable historical parallel to our current situation is the Great Depression. And at the beginning of that crisis, when it was still just a bad recession, we had a Treasury Secretary who thought much as you do. His name was Andrew Mellon, and he suggested the government do nothing and let the economy implode and be rebuilt from scratch. He said it would make people more virtuous and harder working. He said government bailing people out would make the situation worse and so on and so forth. He sounded just like your hub. So, following your advice, the economy sank into total and abject ruin, and by the time FDR came in to fix things the unemployment was 25%.
FDR came in with the New Deal, and within his first term unemployment was down to 9%. Still no picknick, but back into recession territory.
So sure, tell the government not to do anything because it'll only enrich the corporations at our expense. Good sound bite, but let me tell you it wasn't the rich industrialists who were clustered in the hoovervilles unemployed and starving the last time that theory was tested out. It was us.
Thanks, I'll look out for that.
LondonGirl, protectionist sentiment is rising in the U.S. One reason for this is that although the majority may well be receiving the benefits of free trade the downside of trade is being visited on the workers who are losing their jobs as a result of cheap inmports, principally manufacturing workers in the Midwest for whom little is done to compensate them for the loss of their jobs, reduction in income, decline in the value of their homes, loss of health care and so forth. They find it hard to see the fairness of being expected to compete against workers in Asia who work long hours for low pay in unsafe, unhygenic, polluting plants. If more is not done to assist workers who are being crucified on the altar of free trade protectionist sentiment will continue to rise. The rampant greed of Wall Street bankers and unbridled CEO greed and corruption also are undermining the faith of many Americans in their democratic free enterprise system. The failure of the regulatory authorities in recent years to do their jobs out of doctrinaire libertarian, free market philosophies has also caused many to lose faith in a largely unregulated market system.
Greetings - you said you were researching the gold standard and were just about to launch a new hub on the subject. Is that still in the pipeline?
I understand there are some protectionist measures in the stimulus bill, for example.
I think one of the potential real problems is protectionism - creeping in already.
Whew! I think I need to do more research before reading these posts!
It will be interesting to see if the Democrats and Republicans can finally put aside their differences in the face of American disaster. I feel we have a very well spoken, calm, and optimistic President. But do we have a President that can "move" both sides of the house to agree on what is best for the country.
As is Ron Paul, you are spouting vacuous generalities and no solutions for getting us out of the current deep hole. As was true in the Great Depression balancing the budget is the exact wrong thing for the government to do. Freedom to be unemployed or for your IRA to disappear isn't what we need. Freedom for unregulated crooks on Wall Street and mortgage brokers and corporate CEOs is what has us looking down a bottomless abyss.
Here is what Herbert Hoover said about the role of the government:
"The sole function of government is to bring about a condition of affaires favorable to the beneficial development of private enterprise." (1931). Roosevelt and his advisers introduced a new philosophy that held that Americans had responsibilities to one another, and that government had a duty to invervene when capitalism failed. (Russell Baker in The New York Review of Books, Feb. 12, 2009)
Ron Paul, echoing Hoover, doesn't have a clue--crisis due to "under-regulation."
Wow, great hub.
But, even as most here agree things are much worse than we are told, we infight, point fingers and blame the opposite side to our own "truth".
United we stand, divided we fall. We have fallen.
The left wants to blame Reagan and Bush, the right Carter, Clinton & Pelosi.
They are all right.
Both sides have done this to us and even those that are seeing the truth don't really see reality. After 3 years of intense research and reasoning, this is what I now know.
1. The government works for the taxpayers.
2. Less than 5% of American citizens are truly taxpayers, the vast majority of us take more than we actually contribute. And yes, I know that most do not believe this but it is very true.
3. Corporations are required by IRS definition and law to be profitable.
4. The most profitable companies and individuals pay the largest share, and largest portion of their earnings, in taxes. (progressive income tax rates, property tax based on home value, not use of city services, etc.)
5. All laws are written to benefit #4, while placating, gifting or giving a false sense of "security" to #2.
Meanwhile, we keep arguing about gay rights, drug laws and birth control--just as the multi-nationals and politiicians want us to.
Sadly, I have come to the final conclusion that this is the end of our way of life, our country and our greatness. In short, we are Rome. When Rome fell the world was plunged backwards in time. Centuries of progress were wiped out and the survivors still stood around passing out blame as they starved to death in homes without heat or running water--both of which Rome had centuries before.
Pretty much sums up the current mess.
Good luck to us all.
Barrack Obama have a good but then all the policies is already written and bond with US government to back Obama don't see this coming, but i'll bet that Obama will work hard to make things write espcialy for the economic slowdown which is killing us right now
Very wise article on our current state of the union. I have been following the decending trend for the past several years, and i must say that most people are truly unaware of the dire straits this country, and world economy is in. This plan is doomed to fail from the beginning. We have lost so much in so little time thru greed, corrupt polititians, the SEC etc, that recovery is highly unlikely in the near future. There are so many elements that tie into this downfall like morals, ethics,illegal immigration,the loss of free enterprise, and the insidious loss of free speech as witnessed by our messiah president naming Rush Limbaugh as one we shouldn't listen to, the socializing of our country, and the incredible debt to countries that years ago were our enemies. These are truly scary times...I believe the worst is yet to come...let the opposition speak! We must take a stand, and not let the forces that got us where we are succeed in our demise..
Another "Thank you" to the troops from here, too!!! Kudos for excellent work 24/7 for us :) You guys and gals ROCK!!
Thanks to our "great" economy - and ignoring the "conspiracy theories", I have now joined those in the tent cities (RV cities mostly). I don't know what is going on with the whole unemployment thing for everyone else, but I'm literally burning my "red tape" to stay warm. I get multiple letters requesting more information and it all serves to delay the State (Washington in this case) from paying any benefits. So much for Social (in)Security! I doubt that I have even become an unemployed statistic yet - nor have they officially foreclosed on my house (although we have moved out and into an RV). If you ask me, the statistics on the homeless and jobless are much lower than reality.
Agreed. I like your definition of Fascism. It fits our government to a tee. It was never quite so bad as with the government turning away from sound underwriting to screw the American people. Greenspan said in Feb 2004 that adjustables were a better deal for the American people. He is the same guy who told Bush to secure the oil ministry in Iraq first thing. The fed is part of the fascist neocon plot!
I hope you are wrong about the currency but I believe that things are moving that direction. However, nationalistic fascism will then be replaced by worldwide fascism. That could be a problem that is even worse.
With regard to credit, I believe there are two kinds. There is a necessary credit in the basic use of man, business, etc, that is paid back by profit. Then there is a speculative credit that the rich use to impoverish the poor. We have seen that no more greatly manifested than through the Bush admin. He is the most blatant fascist in the history of America. I hope your readers would take the time to look at my hub, "Is America a Fascist Nation" because I think the aware left and the libertarian right can see the failings of corporate fascism which really was never based upon free markets, or we would have subsidized oil companies no more than alt energy throughout these years.
I agree with you that there is asset deflation. And because of all the debt, America has a problem jumpstarting the economy. The only thing we have going for us that government debt as a percentage of GDP is lower in the USA than other countries!
When FDR went back to fiscal responsibility in 1937, the economy tanked again. The unemployment rate had been brought down from about 25 percent to 11 percent in the years before 1937 but shot up again.
You need to understand if you don't already that although Fannie and Freddie started the subprime mess, we would be ok if it were just subprime. Come and see my hub "Class Warfare". The alt a and toxic loans to prime borrowers is gig to be worse than subprime, and that was caused by Alan Greenspan in his desire to pump the economy to finance the Iraq oil war.
Fannie and Freddie at the time could only lend up to 417K. But the median price in California was 500k. Alt a and prime lending there was the heart of the bubble in the eight largest economy in the world. Cali may still take down the banks which probably need to be nationalized, cleaned up and returned to private ownership.
We are in a major deflation. Mainstreet needs help, but unfortunately the house values are still too high and they need to come down alot in California.
Listen guys, there are tent cities now popping up all over America. We all need to understand exactly the way in which 'fiat currencies' work; all of us, from the upper-middle class, to the lowest of the lowest class have been seriously duped by this system. It is, more or less, a gigantic pyramid scheme, and unfortunately, we all operate accordingly at this point in time. The Federal Reserve System is, in all actuality, a lot less complicated than our prestigious educational institutions and the major media would make it seem. If one were to truly study up, he would find that the initial, and most likely intentional collapse of the stock market in 1913--the year in which the fiat currency of the Federal Reserve System was nationally implimented--parallels the current global situation quite uncannily. I encourage all of you to read a book called 'The Creature from Jeckyll Island' by G. Edward Griffin.
Please.
To Ralph Deeds: I understand your skepticism and your natural inclination to doubt worldviews which you regard to be born of peoples' blind and unwavering beliefs in 'conspiracy theories.' There is absolutely nothing wrong with adopting such a position, and on the whole, such a skeptical vantage point is healthy. However, I strongly encourage you to do some serious research into the subject of the Federal Reserve System, and unsound, fiat currencies before you draw and promote any permanent conclusions on the issue. We are in dire need of highly intelligent thinkers who are holistically informed on the subject.
Born to be free- This last year I have become alert to the fact that there is something wrong with America...What you have talked about is just one area. This past year I have learned, above all else, is that I have a whole lot to learn and educate myself about. My children's future is important to me. Bringing awareness; sounding your voice is a perfect way all of us can help. No matter what our opinion is, we all can stand to learn more and listen more. WE THE PEOPLE- are the rudder of America, if we fail to protect our rights and remain uninformed, well...I don't want to think of what the future holds for us all.
This article is good in so many ways.
Thank you
Excellent hub on the coming depression. It is happening just as one guy said it would 10 years ago..There is really nothing to invest in. I forgot about how TARO will affect the dollar..that is going to bad, bad. for everyone around the world. However, won't this devaluation be offset by China and Europe initiating their bailouts which they have approved.
Pylos, what is your point? You seem quite a bit silly yourself always attacking people and asking for excuse afterwards...
Bush is human, but not a very good one.
Born to be Free said:
" I would rather know a man who is an open fool than a man who is a deceptive genius."
Brilliant response to Pylos.
Though, I don't consider George Bush a fool, by any stretch. Not many folks have the smarts, and guts, to fly an F-16. These are very complicated and highly dangerous machines. They don't give away MBA's at Harvard, I don't care who you are.
It has always been a mystery to me why people buy into the media-hyped question of his intelligence. Sure, he has disappointed his conservative base, the pandering to the left, his complicity with Kennedy on Immigration reform, his cave on the 700 billion bank bailout, and his tin ear towards foreign policy.
That doesn't make him stupid or a fool; that makes him human, and humans make mistakes. If anything, I would say he was ill served by his chosen advisers on many issues.
I think we can all agree that he did protect America from terror after 9-11. In that sense it was " Mission Accomplished " for George Bush. Iraq is on the path to its first democracy. Let history sort out the petty crap. In what really mattered, Bush succeeded.
Fair enough. I suggest you read up on what most middle-of-the road economists are recommending be done to keep the country and world from falling into a depression. The majority are recommending a quick and big stimulus package and steps to get the credit markets and banking system back on track.
WOW! A real America, unbelievable
btby, you strike me as a conspiracy believer--as in the CIA and FBI and LBJ assassinated JFK or the Jews were warned about 9-11 and evacuated the World Trade Center, or the CIA planned the 9-11 attacks, or Obama is a secret Muslim and not a natural born American citizen and therefore not eligible to be President, etc, etc. [Please excuse me for erroneously attributing opinions to you if they are erroneous.]
As for the 82% supporting your view I say "birds of a feather."
NAFTA was negotiated by George H.W. Bush It was ratified under Clinton who supported the treaty. It has much greater support in the GOP than from Democrats.
born to be free, I think there are a couple of things at work here. You compared the situation, for instance, to that of spreading the message beyond the four walls of the church. I think it's an apt analogy. The question is this: do we have a 'church,' so to speak, which is capabale of organizing people around a common message on these issues?
I think, unfortunately, that education of the public is still the largest barrier. I mean, take the example of the way in which these bailouts are being framed: the true governing body of the world recognizes that people are more than willing to organize around a broad issue of common consequence to them all and therefore have a highly vested interest in finding a common solution. Thus, all they have to do is to make sure that their representative leaders--their 'puppet leaders'--pretend to represent that interest.
This sort of 'we're all in it together' mentality on the part of even the elite is a farce and you and I both know it. You and I both understand, for instance, that the same international banking families have controlled the significant power sectors of both parties in this country, alone, since at least 1913, and have had similiar influence on virtually every other major world power for at least as long. You and I both understand, for example, that either of the two presidential candidates being offered as choices for the public to decide between, at any given four year interval since that time, has represented these monetary overlords' interests and not ours. You and I both see very plainly that this is exactly the reason behind the historically unprecedented and previously unfathomable concentration of world wealth that has occurred across the last century. 4% of the population control 96% of the world's wealth, and they are not about to give it up. They want the power--the money is just a means to an end. I think that you and I both understand this very well.
Unfortunately, I don't think that the majority of the people do. I think they see clearly that the economy is failing, but I think they still see their government as a force trying to fix it, rather than a force which is quite purposefully causing the problem with a specific end in mind--i.e. a one-world reserve bank, currency, and governing body. Now, if you and I can see that what is being done in Washington amounts to nothing less than the Executive and Congress handing whatever little is left of our tax money straight over to this international corporate banking cartel--many of the members of which, incidentally, claim dual-citizenships (like Rohm Emmanuel) but swear no allegiance to any particular country in all reality--then we can assume with all certainty that very few of those involved in making policy decisions are ignorant of it either. (Which is what makes Congressman Paul such a rarity.)
The point I'm driving at is that I think we're facing a formidable double-whammy of sorts in being able to deal with the problem, while I agree with you that a very large, very open, and very active public display is crucially needed very soon, I'm not so sure that we have a large enough mass of people awakened to the reality of the situation, at this point, to accomplish the task.
I could be wrong, though. Maybe there are enough people. I mean, what do you think? You might know a lot more about the prospect of organizing social movements than I do. In any event, you're probably right. Words need to become actions and it needs to happen very quickly. Maybe we could draw up a basic mission statement or something to that effect, start recruiting members, and organize a march. I am more than willing. Let me know what you think.
George Bush and Wall Street put the country and the world in a deep hole. Obama has assembled the best experts he could find. It won't happen overnight, but they will get the ship turned around. We should all be supporting what they are doing.
This is an orchestrated event being perpetrated by the international banking cartels who own and operate the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is like Federal Express, which is to say that it is not 'Federal' at all, but rather, privately owned.
The money being 'borrowed from the taxpayers' is not going to help us, because the money is being stolen.
I repeat.
The money is being stolen. Flat out stolen.
Wake up people.
This hub is correct. A WORLDWIDE depression most definitely is coming, and not only is it coming; it's being orchestrated. A one-world reserve bank with a one-world currency will follow successively.
I totally agree with everything you stand for. The sad part is that im guessing only about 10% of Americans will actually be ready. We have become way too greedy for our own good. People think they have to have 2 50,000 dollar vehicles and a million dollar home to be happy, when its NOT REAL! Its all imaginary, and its not theirs. We have become sad and pathetic. My Father has been seeing this coming WAY before anyone i know, and has been urging everyone to PLANT A GARDEN!! He even got a permit to make grain alcohol for personal use so that he could continue to run his small tractor. My Grandfather on the other hand has always went toe to toe with my Father, and has the mindset of "Make your Money work for you." Thats our problem. These rich corporate bastards want something for nothing. We dont make any product anymore. You have to earn your own substinance. On the bright side, when it happens, things will go back up, and Ive never had anything, so i dont have much to lose, unlike all these middle class people who are in debt up to their eyeballs. The only thing I didnt see or hear about was Jimmy Carter. No one ever says his name, and he deserves much credit. He warned my parents and grandparents that we needed to be looking for alternate fuel sources, and if we did not change the way we were living, their children and grandchildren would suffer. I saw where he went on television and spoke nationwide saying that for just one night, if everyone would put on a sweater and turn their thermostat down three degress we would save millions in energy. People thought he was crazy. Then along comes Reagan and removes the solar panels, and laughs his ass off at Carter, like he was some kind of loon. What have we become?
I have a riddle for you born to be free. If you can solve it then perhaps there are some answers in the solving. Perhaps just more questions.
Oh, The Sword of the Spirit. A deep and buried League. Do not Byrne all books, for some have social credit. Victoria was born in 73 B.C.
Why speak in riddles? truth is an enemy of all that we fear.
Hello to all. This thread seems to have very interesting and intelligent
remarks by everyone. So here's a question I'd like to have answered. First off, I didn't read any refrence to the two wars that the US is fighting right now and most definately draining its ailing economy. Now for my question, does any one think that had this credit crunch not surfaced at this time, the US would have attacked Iran, the way it did Iraq?
Here's another question for those who believe in Karma, or 'what goes around, come around'. Since the US invasion of iraq and Afghanistan, there has been upward of half a million people killed in both countries, and over 6 million people displaced in Iraq. Some to Syria, some to Jordan. Could this recession and the possible depression be god telling the US to back off?
I find it completely disturbing that there is more news on Yahoo about the American Idol than there is about the effects that the US invasion has had in Iraq. George Bush got away with what he did. Will he ever be questioned by the American people?
With greetings from Iran
Born, great hub. My opinion is that there's nothing to do now but buy gold and wait for the inevitable.
Nets
Hi Born to be free - thanks for your support. I must clarify something though (sorry for being ambiguous), we can vote for OUR political leaders (though this is a waste of time as they are all tarred with the same brush), what I meant was - we can't vote for YOUR President, even though the US leadership affects our lives here as it does yours there.
Australia, even in my lifetime (and I'm not that old), was a fairly autonomous country - we were not unduly affected by foreign decisions. This is no longer the case - virtually every major movement in the US economy, banking system, stock market etc is reflected here in Australia. You have recession - we have recession.... This is a complex issue but the intricate web of dependence Australia now has with the US means that in every day life - we may as well live in the US. But we don't have any of the advantages of living in the US - just the disadvantages of being a 'secret state'.
I agree with your comments about the true nature of the American people - like here, the governments DO NOT represent the will of the people. When I say that 'we' see America as arrogant, self serving etc. Of course this is not a personal reference to individual citizens - It more applies to the 'Machine' of America - the government representation of the US. And I guess, President Bush - people here could not believe that a man like him could be a president, let alone a president of the most powerful country in the developed world.I also think that Aussies are blaming the US for our predicament, when in fact it was our own lack of fighting spirit, forethought, and belief that allowed Australia to lose it's uniquely isolated economy. The people saw it coming and went to the pub.(short for public house or bar). Aussies are just too laid back, our favourite saying: 'She'll be right mate'.
But it's never been right again. We lost our manufacturing, we lost our farms (the number of farms just in the last 20 years has halved), we export our oil and import some one else's and pay more for it, we can no longer own a gun in most circumstances (no risk of civil war here), our highest court is now over ruled by the high court in Brussels under the international law B.S., We import inferior food for our people while exporting our good stuff. But the worst thing - our kids cannot sing Christmas carols in school in case it offends a Muslim child. I could go on & on....
The pioneering spirit which was in both Americans and Australians, needs a re-awakening. We need to make the will of the people the governing force in our future. Our Governments have consistently and deliberately made us slaves of survival. They may use slightly different methods but the end result is the same. People don't have time to think, plan or shape the future. They are too busy trying to eat. (I could write a whole series of hubs in this thread.)
Here in OZ there is a lot of optimism about President Obama. People here think that perhaps he is a breath of fresh air. For all sakes I hope they are right. But somewhere deep down, I am worried.
Mandybeau - Well yes, there are non-racist Aussies - just like there must be non-racist Americans. Unfortunately the ancient civilisation of the Aboriginal Australian is long gone (there are some genuine full blood tribes in remote desert communities who shun white intervention, money etc).
The new culture is either to be integrated with mainstream euro-culture or to live on the pathetic 'reservations' that have been given to them by the government that are social disasters. Alcohol is a major problem, health care etc. These problems cannot and will not be solved over night - but there is huge work going on here to make changes. (I think the problems in the US are very similar with Native Americans)
WE DO NOT HATE OUR INDIGENOUS BROTHERS! Some Australians are ignorant, misinformed and plain stupid (just like some Americans), but the majority of people I know feel compassion, sorrow and a sense of loss - the magnificent Aboriginal culture was destroyed by our fore-fathers, just the same as your Native Americans had their culture destroyed.
Our governments are doing similar things - handing back land, more money etc. Nothing will compensate the Aboriginal people for their loss, and many are simply riding a gravy train, not having any real connection to their Aboriginal heritage other than a good suntan. It's mainly these 'white' Aboriginal activists that benefit from the 'help' from the government.
The genuine people, the tribal Aboriginal trying to preserve their heritage/language/spirituality - these are the people who should be listed as 'endangered national treasure' and given all and every means to succeed. Not money, not alcohol, not a free ride - they should be given autonomy, productive lands and support to live as they always have. Support to teach the 'dreaming' to the next generation - in their own language.
To suggest I am the first non-racist Australian is a bit...OUCH. And only slightly exaggerated. I think our country in general is far less racist than the US. Our local governments do not list citizens by their colour or ethnicity - yours do. I live in a multi-cultural country town, Aboriginals, Italians, Greeks, Lebanese, Sudanese.... and we have no compiled info on the % of each race. That is information that is unnecessary in our culture. Neo-Nazism, Klu Klux Klan etc has never got a hold here - Hate is a strong word that most Australians would never apply to any race. Hate is something that has never been a part of the traditional Australian way of life. It takes a lot of energy to hate, we are too laid back for that.
As for 'Independence' from England - we got that at Federation in 1901. We have had several referendums to seek to follow the Republican model, and all have been rejected by the majority. We are happy little Commonwealthites.
Neither the US or Australia will ever be able to give everything back to our indigenous peoples - until they invent time travel.
I am happy to see that you listed planting gardens as a way to combat the volatile economy. I have been preaching this myself over the last year. Thankfully, I've gotten a few takers, and I've got my fledgling gardener friends under my wing for the upcoming season! With healthy foods prices skyrocketing quickly, it's imperative to have a means to feed yourself.
I also agree with your statements regarding the sad state of the way things have become. When I was a kid, I could ride my bike freely around the neighborhood without fear of weirdos snagging me. I knew all the neighbors on my street and I knew I could go to them if I had a problem and they would help. Now days, I am very slow to make contact with people around me, as I am not sure what caliber of persons I am dealing with.
Truly it is going to take the common sense, down to earth, hardworking people that are willing to band together and take a stand to get out of this financial and moral crisis we're in. Surely we're in for some sacrificing, but in my opinion, my generation has been living beyond their means for quite some time, and now find themselves in an inescapable pit of anxiety and debt- there is no quick and easy fix.
Thank you for your post, it was very well written!
I am from Australia. We are suffering in a similar, though perhaps lesser way as the US. Australia, in my opinion became a 'secret state' of the US back in the 80's. The sad part for us is we don't get to vote for the president or for that matter, we have no say at all in the decisions that affect our lives over here.
What amazed me about the Obama hype is the way the African American people of the US seem to be rejoicing in his election based on the colour of his skin. Obama's parents, I understand, are a Kenyan father and white American mother? He has no relationship to the ancestry of slavery in the US? Did he rise from the Ghetto to carry the flag of freedom from oppression for his African American brothers?What about the Native Americans? Did they rejoice for him also? But anyone has to be better than the comedian Bush.
On this side of the world we see the US as an arrogant, self serving monster with the power to crush all at a whim. Not this time with nuclear bombs, but with the excessive greed and corruption that seemed to permeate your culture from way back to.... not sure when. A culture that Australia was more than happy to embrace.
I agree with your comments and sentiments on politicians, credit etc. It's good to see that there are still spirited American people who believe in the essence of freedom. Unfortunately for us in OZ, there are really no spirited people left here, and certainly no political leaders or even local hero's. Our governments conduct a symphony of lies & corruption, written by unknown composers under the guidance of the Maestro of the 'New World Order'. We are the voices in the wilderness and God is not listening. (That might be because most people don't talk to Him anymore.)
The picture you paint is very real and I believe you are right. It makes me sad as I cannot do anything to change the course - can you?
Thank you for a great hub.
Friends: This is the second phase of the FDR New Deal. People always think that electing the opposite candidate will solve the problem we get in under one administration. The 1930"s Depression was not solved by FDR's policies. It was "we the people" that overcame it. Today is going to be worst because is a continuation of the failed policies of FDR. We are going to go deeper into it. You mess around with the free market and the free market will mess you up for violeting its principles. There is no synthetic solution for economic problems. Since FDR or a little before we have been messing around with the free market and is going to bite us now Big Time.
Great Blog man . I already decided to share it with my friends through email and links ! Good going man ! Good insights
Yes, I agree, there is plenty to be gloomy about. I live on the other side of the world and the US woes are hitting us too. Fortunately we have had quite strict financial controls in South Africa so we are not as exposed as the 'developed world'. But, where there is crisis there is opportunity and there's plenty of opportunity around if your eyes are open and you have some of the backbone you spoke about. Opportunity to make a real and lasting positive difference, to add value to people's lives. The rules are changing, it's as simple as that. And the world will never be the same again. And this is coming from someone who's property development business has been on the verge of collapse ... I am already getting new business underway. Not easy but it seems to be the only way. Courage!
Great Artcile!
Thank you Born to Be Free. Good Hub.
I believe there are many factors that have triggered this meltdown. Greed is certainly one of the main ones that we can pinpoint.
Last night my father-in-law directed me to an economist, Harry Dent, who explains the Whys of this coming depression. I'm sure not everything he says is right on target, but I think it is a good road map for the near future. He has correctly predicted several economic downturns in other cultures.
Here is an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sMdpuYbjBY
awesome post born to be free, and awesome comments!
We do need to prepare for what is ahead, thats very true! Everyday it seems like its getting closer and closer..
Learned alot, thanx
i think that obama will do an amazing job at pulling our country out of the slump that we have fallen into. I mean if he didn't think he could do good for our country then why run. Why would he run knowing that he is putting his life and his families life in danger. I mean i know that we like to think that at this day in age we are over racism but we aren't we are far from it there are still people in this country who wouldn't vote for Barack Obama just because of the fact that he is black. Those's same people are people who probably no nothing about the candidates policies or anything like that. But all that aside i think that Obama will help not hurt our country.
My personal opinion, is that no matter who the President is at this point in time, they are not going to be able to change the world overnight. Whoever is in office is going to go through the trial and error phases just like many things in life. I am not afraid of "the great depression" or this recession. I am a believer in hope, faith and God. My focus is to fulfill my purpose and not worry about juding who is wrong and who is right. I am concerned with the fact that many believe Obama is our only hope to change things. He should not be idolized.
I think people like yourself, are just waiting to crucify our President. For me, he instilled a hope inside that I have not felt in years. He made me want to take responsibility for myself and in doing so, start doing what all people are meant to do...be of service to the community in which they live. Although I am a nurse and taking care of people is my business, so to speak, I often fail to help others when I leave my job because I am just too tired. Obama made me see that each day, I can be of service, even if it is as simple as picking up trash that someone has dumped on the side of the road, or allowing the car next to me on the road to move in front of me when I am in a hurry too. Also, Obama did not do this to our country, Bush and the Republican party did. Obama WILL fix things, just give him a chance, people!
I just want to add to your comments to Amy and Tom, that I am one of those thousands of retired seniors that has seen my retirement portfolio reduced by 30 %, my home equity disappear, and my home value reduced to where we are almost upside down. I wasn't greedy, didn't budget foolishly, I followed the rules, and now we are staring at the probability of losing our dream retirement home, which we have worked all our lives to have.
To say i am disgusted with our governments fiscal policies, from Nixon on ( remember the gold standard he abolished ) through GW Bush, they all contributed to this collapse, would be an understatement.
My real anger is for the price my grandchildren are going to have to pay for this incompetent, corrupt, and callous decision to bail out everybody that has failed.
Wonderful Hub! While I'm worried, I don't see a depression. Remember there are real problems here but a good portion of this is media induced fear. Big media has been telling people for months this was a terrible economy etc. Now they will be cheering every small piece of good news and there will be some good news.
I also believe they will be soft selling much of the bad news at least for the first 12-18 months of this presidency. I believe this should improve the economic outlook of many and things will get better. In some ways, the election of Obama will help shorten this recession.
If you want the glass half full outlook, with the economy in shambles, the federal government and the new president can not be as aggressive as they might have otherwise tried. Imagine if we had a good economy and surpluses. Imagine all the pork and expansion of government that could happen under those circumstances. While I did not vote for Mr. Obama, I believe he is somewhat of a pragmatist and like Bill Clinton will do what is in his best interest to be re-elected, no matter what some in his party may think of his decisions.
My big worry is 8-10 years out with the new debt, all the new social programs, talk of increasing the size of government from 1-6 workers to 1-5. This will crush economic growth. That's the big fear...
I know that we are facing tough times as a nation, but it seems to me that we are also facing tough times as individuals. The individual debt in our nation is huge. Why do the political leaders think it's fine to live on credit? They were probably raised that way. We need to fix the families and get out of debt on a personal level as well. That requires good old fashioned hard work and budgeting, living within our means, and using technology to our advantage so we can start earning interest instead of paying it.
By the way, I agree with you on planting a garden. It is also important to have some food stored away, like wheat, beans, oil, and honey.
Good stuff. My generation and below (i'm 31) seems to expect a handout, and entitlement to a good life. No one can understand the value of what they've got unless they've earned it honestly, and industriously. Much like ancient Rome, the shoulders of our forefathers can't bear the pressure of so much dead weight.
Great hub! ... The only good thing about a recession: one day it will go up again.
I agree with most of Ron Paul's positions...when it comes to drugs we part company...to give in to the drug culture, to allow drugs to be decriminalized is absurd to me...some where, some time, some one has to take a stand against evil...and drugs are evil...you want to stop drug usage..? ..look to the root causes of drug abuse...work and fix them first...I worked for a non-profit group that dealt with adolescent substance abuse...I asked these kids why they did dope..the most often reason given was because they were bored...we need to fix that..
I think you have overlooked the much larger threat to our way of life. That is the creeping shadow of Socialism. The nationalization of AIG, IndyMac, Freddie, Fannie, and the Bank of America are just the start. That loan to the banks? Guess what...they didn't ease credit distribution, as the Fed expected...they sunk it into treasuries...who owns most of the treasuries..? China. They are holding a sword of Damocles over our collective heads. We are talking about a worldwide debt of over 50 TRILLION bucks..! No wonder Bernanke and Paulson want to destroy the American dollar to inflate us out of this incredible debt. Its amazing how few of our Washington politicians admit what they are doing...There is nothing more menacing than deflation when you have debt...
Will people demand a return to sound money and rugged individualism..? I doubt it. The last couple of generations don't have the fire in their bellies like those past. Spoiled brats look for handouts and paternalism, and politicians facilitate that process. Washington will keep promising more and more, and we will move closer and closer to a complete socialist state.
I look to Texas or some other powerful state to say enough is enough and get out. I really believe we are seeing the beginning of the breakup of our wonderful nation...God help us all.
Thanks for a great Hub....
Now that you have pointed out the problem, what solution would you propose?
I agree with a lot of what you said, as I've had much of the same thoughts. Oh well, people don't listen, do they?
Fiat Empire How Federal Reserve Is Killing Nation. The DVD IS 120 Minutes Longer, http://www.fiatempire.com/
Tent Cities Across America
Ron Paul In March 2009 Predicts 15 Year Depression
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born to be free Hub Author 21 months ago
This is to Ty Watts, if you want your comments posted on this site you need to post comments without dozens of spam links, especially when those links are to worthless websites that are nothing but google ads.