-- Posted Wednesday, 7 February 2007 | Digg This Article
President Bush sent a $2.9 trillion spending plan to a Democratic-controlled Congress on Monday, proposing a huge and continuing increase in military spending. While the budget includes billions more to fight the war in Iraq, the rest of government would be squeezed to meet Bush's goal of eliminating the deficit in five years.
"The president's budget is filled with debt and deception, disconnected from reality and continues to move America in the wrong direction," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota.
As Bill Bonner writes in the Daily Reckoning: "For one year, the budget includes $624.6 billion dollars for defense. To help put that in perspective, here’s an interesting tidbit: the defense budget is more than the entire budgets for the Department of Education, Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, HUD, Interior, EPA, Homeland Security, Justice, State, Transportation, Labor, NASA, Engineers, Judiciary, and VETS. COMBINED."
During the first term of his presidency, in a period of less than 24 months, the Bush administration accrued more national debt than any other administration during the first 200 years of American independence…combined. Since his inauguration, President Bush has presided over the accumulation of over $3 trillion in debt, an increase of well over 60% in just 5 years. The US national debt is now (as of 05/02/2007) nearly $8.7 trillion.
A trillion is such a large number that most people do not realise or comprehend its humongous size. A trillion has 12 zeros after it or 13 digits in total. It is not 1 billion multipiled by 10, rather 1 billion multipiled by 1 thousand or $8,700,000,000,000 or $8,696,353,575,213.24 to be precise.
The BBC estimated that the 'War on Terror' is the world's most expensive military effort since WWII.
This is a military-industrial budget if ever there was one and it is important to put it into it's historical context.
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together."
These prescient words are those of President Eisenhower in his farewell speech in January 1961. Unfortunately, his wise council has been forgotten as is evident in President Bush's just announced 'budget' which is as The Guardian puts it in their editorial 'It's the War, Stupid' http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2006548,00.html is an "exercise in political and fiscal fanstasy".
The Guardian's editorial focuses on the huge inequalities of giving corporate welfare to large military contractors in the form of massive contracts in a time of huge budget deficits. Ultimately, it will be the poor and the middle classes who will have to pay for this profligacy by higher taxes and possibly a painful recession or depression. "US politicians will have to move beyond the war and decide if they can tolerate a budgetary dynamic which effectively steals money from the poor to give to the rich." This is one of the reasons that Eisenhower warned of the rise of a war corporatism and welfare and a permanent war economy.
Not only is the incredible $2.9 trillion budget an exercise in political and fiscal fantasy which has massive ramifications for the economic wellbeing of US citizens today and into future generations, it also has ramifications for the fate of the world's global reserve currency, the US dollar, and the fate of the global economy.
Bill Bonner, in the Daily Reckoning, also looks at Bushes latest insane $2.9 Trillion 'budget' in his excellent article, 'Why is Everyone so Stupid'. http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/bush-budget/2007/02/07/ . The headline is an aggressive tabloid style one but it is a good, informative, funny and essential read.
Bill Bonner is the author of two best selling books Financial Reckoning Day: Surviving The Soft Depression of The 21st Century and Empire of Debt and the founder and president of Agora Publishing, and the principal author of a daily financial column known as The Daily Reckoning.
In his books and in The Daily Reckoning, Bonner opines that the financial future of the United States is in peril because of various economic and demographic trends, not the least of which is America's huge and unprecedented trade, budget and current account deficits. He believes that America's foreign policy exploits are militaristic and imperial and the price of maintaining such an empire could accelerate America's eventual decline.
The article focuses on how President Bush and his government is the "biggest spending regime of all time. No government ever spent so much. No government ever increased spending so much. No government ever redistributed so much wealth – from the taxpayers to the defense contractors… from renters to home owners… from the middle classes to the financial classes… and (most importantly) from future generations to the folks living right here and right now."
The two articles on 'Bush's Military-Industrial Budget' can be found
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2006548,00.html
http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/bush-budget/2007/02/07/
To see this article in PDF format please click on this link or copy and paste the following into your browser
http://www.gold.ie/Articles_of_Interest/Bush's_War_Budget.pdf
Financial Regulation: Gold & Silver Investments Limited trading as Gold Investments is regulated by the Financial Regulator as a multi-agency intermediary.
Our Financial Regulator Reference Number is 39656.
Gold Investments is registered in the Companies Registration Office under Company number 377252.
Registered for VAT under number 6397252A .
Codes of Conduct are imposed by the Financial Regulator and can be accessed at www.financialregulator.ie or from the Financial Regulator at PO Box 9138, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland. | 
|
Disclaimer: The information in this document has been obtained from sources, which we believe to be reliable. We cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness. It does not constitute a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any investment. Any person acting on the information contained in this document does so at their own risk. Recommendations in this document may not be suitable for all investors. Individual circumstances should be considered before a decision to invest is taken. Investors should note the following: The value of investments may fall or rise against investors’ interests. Income levels from investments may fluctuate. Changes in exchange rates may have an adverse effect on the value of, or income from, investments denominated in foreign currencies. Past experience is not necessarily a guide to future performance.
All the opinions expressed herein are solely those of Gold & Silver Investments Limited and not those of the Perth Mint. They do not reflect the views of the Perth Mint and the Perth Mint accepts no legal liability or responsibility for any claims made or opinions expressed herein.
Fair Use Notice: This newsletter contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues of financial and economic significance. At all times we credit and attribute the copywrite owner and publication.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Copyright Law. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for economic research purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|
Gold Investments
63 Fitzwilliam Square
Dublin 2
Ireland
|
Mission Statement
Gold and Silver Investments Limited hope to inform our clientele of important financial and economic developments and thus help our clientele and prospective clientele understand our rapidly changing global economy and the implications for their livelihoods and wealth.
We focus on the medium and long term global macroeconomic trends and how they pertain to the precious metal markets and our clienteles savings, investments and livelihoods. We emphasise prudence, safety and security as they are of paramount importance in the preservation of wealth.
|
-- Posted Wednesday, 7 February 2007 | Digg This Article
