-- Published: Monday, 26 June 2017 | Print | Disqus
By Larry LaBorde
Everyone knows that our “official” US debt is around $20T on our “cash basis” of accounting. When taking all our promised future payments into account and running them back to their present worth then the real US debt is around $80 to $120 T. Considering the total US GDP for an entire year is only $18.5T these numbers are pretty unpayable – EVER. Of course this means only one thing which is default. Sir Alan Greenspan said that we could never default in that we could just print up more dollars, however, printing more dollars and making them worth less is indeed another indirect form of default. The big question is exactly how much longer can this go on?
The bonds of the US government are backed by the “full faith and credit of the government”. It is the “faith in government” that I want to talk about in this article
There are many reasons that drive the price of gold up in terms of dollars, however, the number one reason that will drive it much higher is loss of confidence or “faith” in the government.
Well how is “faith” in government playing out in 2017? Let’s look at just a few highlights:
CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL RATINGS
The US congress has 100 senators and 435 representatives. Each senator has a staff budget of between $2.5M to $4M depending on state population. Each representative has a staff budget of around $1M and has about 18 employees (plus interns and part timers). Of course committee staffers are on a separate budget. So in addition to our 535 elected representatives in congress there are 12,000+ staff members to assist them in their duties. Before the 1860’s, members of congress didn’t even have offices or staff and worked at their desks in the capitol. Small wonder their approval rating is around 3% now.
SOCIAL SECURITY TRAIN WRECK
Don’t even get me started. Too much ink has been spilled here already. Let’s just say that Charles Ponzi would be embarrassed to try to sell this one. Then they doubled down with medicare just for good measure. Of course we should take care of our elderly but promising the moon without a way to pay for it is hardly taking care of the situation. The sheer numbers will overwhelm it. You just cannot argue with the math on this one – it doesn’t add up. Look for default but along the way look for means testing which will confiscate retirement plans in an indirect manner in an effort to stretch it out a little further before it collapses.
HEALTH CARE
The same people who brought you the post office and the department of motor vehicles now want to control your health care. With advances in longevity just around the corner in a decade or so we can look forward to longer healthier lives. The good news is we will live longer. The bad news for SS & Health Care is we will live longer. The math looks even worse now!
SJW (social justice warriers)
Let’s just say it appears that the adults are no longer in charge.
SUCCESSION MOVEMENTS
Europe has dozens of succession movements in addition to Brexit. The EU is toast and will not last another 5 years in its present form. Several nation states will split up into smaller more manageable smaller states. The US has several successionist movements as well in California, Alaska, Texas, New Hampshire and other areas. If you don’t think it will ever happen just look at the old USSR and see what happened there.
CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENT
President Trump pulled out of the Paris agreement on climate control this past week and everyone is in a panic. The entire science of climate change is flawed. The solar 300 year cycle probably has more to do with our climate than any other factor but the PC crowd doesn’t even mention that fact. Look up the $100T dollar banker swindle on YouTube and see what they say about who will benefit from carbon exchanges, carbon credits and carbon rationing.
FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR DISASTER
I know it is in Japan, but it still affects us here on our side of the pacific. It has been five years and this should be one of the biggest ongoing news stories but most people figure the government has it all under control. Their latest little robot melted down before it could even get inside and take a good look around. Radiation continues to leak into the sea and cause trouble.
MONUMENT REMOVAL
Even our history is being rewritten. We only have ourselves to blame for this one as we did not cry foul years ago when the schools started teaching that old white slave owners started the country and they are not worthy of our respect in any form whatsoever. Too bad our kids don’t study history any more.
DUMP TRUMP MOVEMENT
I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime. The losing side is trying to force out a legally elected president just because they do not like him. My goodness, every election has a winner and a loser. Never has anything like this happened since Lincoln was elected and the South succeeded from the Union. The country is polarized but I am not sure that anyone knows exactly what the issue of contention is exactly other than “Trumpness in general”? The issue that divides us is hard to define.
I don’t mean to just present a short and incomplete laundry list of why our country doesn’t seem to be working any more and leave it at that. If people “feel” that government is not working any more than that becomes their reality. No longer will good men decide to run for public office and serve. Our local county just voted down 5 out of 5 property tax renewals because they felt the local county government was not spending money wisely. Make no mistake in your thinking in that this government will collapse at some time in the future. The first step in a collapse is a general feeling that government is no longer working and is out of control.
The good news is that life will go on after the present government collapses and defaults. Communities will go about their business and things will continue. The big question is what will we put in the old government’s place? What will we replace it with? The time to think about that is now. What would you put on the other side of the collapse if you were in control? Large government got us into this problem so how would you prevent the next one from growing too big?
Larry LaBorde
Larry LaBorde sells precious metals through Silver Trading Company LLC. Since 2001, Silver Trading Company has offered high volume sales of gold, silver, platinum and palladium to serious investors around the world. It also offers guidance about storage options for metals. Please visit Silver Trading Company’s website at www.SilverTrading.net.
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-- Published: Monday, 26 June 2017 | E-Mail | Print | Source: GoldSeek.com
