Liars and Leaders; One of the Same:
Good Morning
These are all bad indicators as to what we can expect for the remainder of the year, but not really important in the overall scheme of things. Residential housing is not, and cannot, be the basis for sustainable long term commerce; I pointed that out some 12 months prior to the beginning of the housing bust.
The real news yesterday was that Social Security and Medicare are in trouble. I know, I know, you already knew that. But current estimates as to just how much trouble have skyrocketed. Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher gave a scalding speech yesterday regarding the magnitude of the financial trouble that the twin programs represent.
Mr. Fisher told news reporters that he didn’t, “really believe that you got it, and so I will give you some numbers.” Those numbers given for the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare alone, now stand at $99.2 Trillion; if we paid them today!
I remind you that a trillion seconds represents 32,000,000 years.
Medicare will begin taking in less money than it pays out…this year of 2008. The prescription drug liability alone, that was passed on
Mr. Fisher went on to speak to a point very near and dear to my heart; inflation.
Mr. Fisher asked those in attendance to use caution when electing any politician by determining what their stance and plans were to address these liabilities. He stated that he was not a politician and that his concern was, “the mortgaging of our children and grandchildren’s future.”
In an earlier speech, he said, “One has to bear in mind that the seeds of inflation, once planted, can lie fallow for some time, then suddenly burst through the economic topsoil like kudzu, requiring a near toxic dose of countermeasures to overcome.”
He further described inflation as a, “dangerous elixir that ultimately proves debilitating” and “inculcates bad financial behavioral patterns in the young by encouraging spending rather than investment and saving.”
The Dallas Fed president also warned against taking the cheap and easy way of inflating our way out of this situation. He stated in an earlier speech that, “Inflation is bad for
The most interesting part of Mr. Fisher’s speech is that I would wager that few of you have seen, read, or even heard mention of the content.
David Walker, the GAO Chief (who recently resigned), has made these same arguments for years. Ron Paul, has spent 20 years trying to get the attention of Congress. He continues to warn us and campaign daily on these issues.
So what do all of these men have in common? They are all telling the truth and after all,
Wake up
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I am not misspeaking when I state that Dr. Paul was and is the only presidential candidate who is not a liar. He is also the only candidate who truly, thoroughly understands what is required to work out from under this hellish mess that sooo many misspeaking politicians have led us into for way too many years (we voted them into office however).
Party affiliation and personalities should not enter into politics. They do however play a huge roll as can be witnessed by the outcome to date of our presidential election (a pitiful state we’ve gotten ourselves into). This and the fact that we are not willing to take the time to study the candidates in depth, has ultimately led us into disaster. We will have to become accountable, now or later. Later will be much more painful, but it is my belief that later is the only card not yet played. Sound bites and media spin will not save you from this mess. This you can truly take to the bank. -bb
BB,
Yep, after Ron Paul was mathematically eliminated, I suggested that we begin to concentrate on saving ourselves and our families from the worst of what is coming down the road.
Spending any time on the three remaining candidates is time that could be spent on preparation for a very different lifestyle in the U.S.of A.
I believe that your comment of becoming accountable now or later was well put. I also agree that it is later.
When is the last time that we heard Obama, Clinton or McCain address the unfunded liabilities of the U.S.? There has to be first time before there can be a last time.
BB,
Yep, after Ron Paul was mathematically eliminated, I suggested that we begin to concentrate on saving ourselves and our families from the worst of what is coming down the road.
Spending any time on the three remaining candidates is time that could be spent on preparation for a very different lifestyle in the U.S.of A.
I believe that your comment of becoming accountable now or later was well put. I also agree that it is later.
When is the last time that we heard Obama, Clinton or McCain address the unfunded liabilities of the U.S.? There has to be a first time before there can be a last time.
Hey Mike, We have been bombarded by lies for so long that the average American does not seem to be able to tell the difference. Congress and Bush deal in the untruth and corruption like it was something to be proud of. Our “free press” does not report real news, just Britiney, Paris, and “reality show” stuff. The American public seems to be totally numb to anything important that is going on or down with our country. How does one awaken a sleeping giant that is out on drugs and booze? As frustration sets in even those of us that are wise to the problems we face are losing our will to continue the fight or even protest any longer. Arrgh! Have yourself a good one Mike!
Michael,
This was one of those days for me. I’m just disgusted. While the truth tellers are cast aside as nut jobs, the public is entertained by Hillary and Barrack as they spar over issues such as he said that and she said this about racism. What a joke.
The economy is spinning out of control and our leaders are playing trivial pursuit.
We are down hill without brakes and there is nothing left to do at this point but save yourself and your family. More tomorrow.
Hi Mike,
Has there ever been a time in US history when the country has had true leaders who could tell the citizens the truth about what they are experiencing? This is a real question - I’m not much of a student of the history of presidential leadership, I’m sad to admit.
There seems to be so much emphasis on the development of “message,” and packaging a “positive” candidate that any mention of the truth is avoided like the plague.
And, I fully agree with hayesml47 that we can thank the “infotainment” oriented media for part of the shielding from the truth. But, is it possible that the candidates (except for Dr. Paul) really don’t know enough about what is happening to address it intelligently?
I’m a recovering political party officer, so I’ve gotten pretty close to the “message” development operation. It’s not about the truth. It’s all about the best packaging you can put around a candidate, and how you can denigrate your oppponent. Also, there were multiple opportunities to interact with our US Senators and Representatives, and all of those interactions were one way -NO listening to the voters, but only expressing prepared talking points. Senator Feingold is the only US Senator I’ve ever heard of who even considers listening to voters.
Anyhow, it is encouraging that content like that expressed by Mr. Fisher is making its way (slowly) into the media. It’s a shame that the powers that be feel that the public has to be trickle fed the information that the public already knows. I get most of my news and information from online sources, and I play a little game with myself in betting how long (if ever) it’ll take a piece of information to make its way to the mainstream media. It’s a source of some amusement in a very harsh time.
Hi again, Mike,
Postscript: I didn’t predict that this would EVER happen - Nouriel Roubini is on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal right now! He’s spelling it out as clearly as it can be.
I’ve observed that an appearance on Washington Journal usually precedes appearances on mainstream media.
Kathy,
Years ago I was working with a large telecom corp. and had the opportunity to deal with the top people in the company on a daily basis. The President, Vice, corp. attorney, etc. etc. It was one of the most awakening periods of my life. Terrifying.
These people were clueless outside their expertise. I was teaching one of them to fly outside of work and he proved so arrogant that it was nearly impossible to tell him anything.
So the answer to your question is; “absolutely” these people may be clueless except for the preparation that you described.
“There is nothing so stupid as an educated man, if you get off the thing that he was educated in.” — Will Rogers
As far as the question “was there ever a time that the truth could be told.” I believe there was. There was time that the truth was that living standards were improving and that pay was rising and that jobs were plentiful…and that the politician was responsible for all of this good fortune.
Now they would have to say that living standards are regressing, jobs are disappearing and pay may be nonexistent…and its their fault…uh oh, can’t say that, so Leaders are Liars in order to remain leaders.