I may have mentioned last week that we have gone over the proverbially cliff and have not yet hit the rocks below, and that the ground is coming up fast and that it is really gonna suck when we hit.
The ground is closer:
From the Washington Times:
Federal deficit on track for a record this fiscal year
Government debt to exceed U.S. economy
and this from Bloomberg:
Geithner Quietly Tells Obama Debt-to-GDP Cost Poised to Increase to Recor
Barack Obama may lose the advantage of low borrowing costs as the U.S. Treasury Department says what it pays to service the national debt is poised to triple amid record budget deficits.
Interest expense will rise to 3.1 percent of gross domestic product by 2016, from 1.3 percent in 2010 with the government forecast to run cumulative deficits of more than $4 trillion through the end of 2015, according to page 23 of a 24-page presentation made to a 13-member committee of bond dealers and investors that meet quarterly with Treasury officials.
(snip)
The amount of marketable U.S. government debt outstanding has risen to $8.96 trillion from $5.8 trillion at the end of 2008, according to the Treasury Department. Debt-service costs will climb to 82 percent of the $757 billion shortfall projected for 2016 from about 12 percent in last year’s deficit, according to the budget projections.
Budget Proposal
That compares with 69 percent for Portugal, whose bonds have plummeted on speculation it may need to be bailed out by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
Forecasts of higher interest expenses raises the pressure on Obama to plan for trimming the deficit. The President, who has called for a five-year freeze on discretionary spending other than national security, is scheduled to release his proposed fiscal 2012 budget today as his administration and Congress negotiate boosting the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
What is currently happening with the devaluation of the dollar and what you need to know to survive the crash starting with the United States government being the biggest debtor in the world, US dollars (Federal Reserve Notes) being the world’s reserve currency and what happens when other countries stop accepting those dollars (hint: oil skyrockets), how the entire world is moving away from the dollar as the world’s reserve currency – and what that means exactly for us poor slobs. Mr. Stansberry also lays out what you need to do to protect what little wealth you may have left. (Disclaimer: this video is actually an advertisement for a subscription newsletter – sign up at your own risk. I am posting it for educational purposes as information contained is pertinent. Do your own due diligence on Mr. Stansberry’s company.)
Many of my readers have watched this one hour and sixteen minute video, but the newly minted awakees have not. I urge everyone to find the time to watch this video in it’s entirety! You will learn economic history that you may not have known and useful (unreported tidbits) like many new currencies being traded inside the United States like the Berkshares being traded in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts.
Porter Stansberry – The End Of America:
A small excerpt:
Let me back up, and show you in the simplest terms possible, what is going on, why I am so concerned, and what I believe will happen in the next twelve months.
In short, I believe that we as Americans are about to see a major, major collapse in our national monetary system, and our normal way of life.
Basically, for many years now, our government has been borrowing so much money (very often using short-term loans), that very soon, we will no longer be able to afford even the interest on these loans.
I say these things as an expert in accounting and financial research.
You may not think things are THAT BAD in the US economy, but consider this simple fact from the National Inflation Association:
Even if all US citizens were taxed at 100% of their incomes, it would still not be enough to balance the federal budget. We’d still have to borrow money just to maintain the status quo.
Ron Paul’s ‘Straight Talk’, 2.14.2011
