Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Train Wreck




















THIS is the news you will not hear on ABC, NBC, and CBS, and especially not on FOX. So far, these bastions of bootlickers and Himmler want-a-be’s have steadfastly reported the White House Party Line:


“Everything is wonderful. The stock market is going great. Everything is rosy. The American Economy second to none. Lets give the Rich more tax cuts so that they can feel good about themselves.” Ad Naseum.

The truth is somewhat more grim.

China Set To Reduce Exposure To Dollar
Move Would Probably Push Currency Down
By Peter S. Goodman
Washington Post Foreign ServiceTuesday, January 10, 2006

“SHANGHAI, Jan. 9 -- China has resolved to shift some of its foreign exchange reserves -- now in excess of $800 billion -- away from the U.S. dollar and into other world currencies in a move likely to push down the value of the greenback, a high-level state economist who advises the nation's economic policymakers said in an interview Monday.
As China's manufacturing industries flood the world with cheap goods, the Chinese central bank has invested roughly three-fourths of its growing foreign currency reserves in U.S. Treasury bills and other dollar-denominated assets. The new policy reflects China's fears that too much of its savings is tied up in the dollar, a currency widely expected to drop in value...

“(The Chinese purchase of American Securities has created)…a flow of capital that has kept interests rates relatively low in the United States and allowed Americans to keep spending even as debts mount. Some economists have long warned that if foreigners lose their appetite for American debt, the dollar would fall, interest rates would rise and the housing boom could burst, sending real estate prices lower…” (Emphasis mine)

You must remember, that the United States, every single day, must raise billions of new investments just to stay solvent. What this article is saying, and what previous articles I have published are saying, is that the Nation States that have been investing in the United States are beginning to turn away. The first step is to start divesting themselves of the Dollar. This will inevitably lead to a weakening of the Dollar itself. Meaning, it will buy less goods. However, that is both good news and bad. If the dollar is weak, then Americans will buy less Chinese goods, thereby hurting that nation’s economy.

So, the Chinese will move slowly, but inevitably against the dollar to protect their own financial situation.

William Rivers Pitt, in writing about the folly of the U.S. attacking Iran over its nuclear program, also mentions the economic power of China over the U.S. Literally, the Bush Administration has given China the ability to cripple the American Economy.

Doesen’t that count as “Treason”?

William Pitt: Attack on Iran - A Looming Folly
Tuesday, 10 January 2006, 11:43 am

“…Paul Craig Roberts, writing for The American Conservative, said in July of 2005 that "As a result of many years of persistent trade surpluses with the United States, the Japanese government holds dollar reserves of approximately $1 trillion. China's accumulation of dollars is approximately $600 billion. South Korea holds about $200 billion. These sums give these countries enormous leverage over the United States. By dumping some portion of their reserves, these countries could put the dollar under intense pressure and send U.S. interest rates skyrocketing. Washington would really have to anger Japan and Korea to provoke such action, but in a showdown with China - over Taiwan, for example - China holds the cards. China and Japan, and the world at large, have more dollar reserves than they require. They would have no problem teaching a hegemonic superpower a lesson if the need arose."

"The hardest blow on Americans," concluded Roberts, "will fall when China does revalue its currency. When China's currency ceases to be undervalued, American shoppers in Wal-Mart, where 70 percent of the goods on the shelves are made in China, will think they are in Neiman Marcus. Price increases will cause a dramatic reduction in American real incomes. If this coincides with rising interest rates and a setback in the housing market, American consumers will experience the hardest times since the Great Depression."
In short, China has the American economy by the throat. Should they decide to squeeze, we will all feel it. China's strong hand in this even extends to the diplomatic realm; China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and could veto any actions against Iran proposed by the United States…” (emphasis mine)

One of the major problems of the Bush Administration is that the world will turn away from the dollar and purchase petroleum products with other currency. It is one of the reasons for getting rid of Saddam and for invading Iran; both had the temerity to begin selling their oil in Euros, not dollars. If other currencies gain favor, then other nations will not have to buy as many greenbacks to pay their bills. As the dollar weakens as a world standard, the U.S. Economy weakens. Remember, there is nothing propping the dollar up, no gold, or precious metals, not even a solid industrial base. The value of the dollar rests on an agreed upon arrangement between Nations. The dollar has no value in and of itself.

Essentially, the world doesn’t care if they trade in Euros or Dollars, it is a business decision based on rate of return.

But what I think is that this and other articles are saying is that the world is disconnecting its boxcars from the coming train wreck of the American Economy.
This is a train wreck composed of many different threats and conditions:
  1. The strangle hold of China and other countries over American debt

  2. The individual debt of American Families is enormous

  3. There is a negative savings rate among American Families

  4. Banks and Credit Card institutions have predatory laws that double the minimum payment and can also quadruple the interest rate on money owed.

  5. Middle Class jobs, meaning middle class wages, are disappearing

  6. Thousands of American have simply stopped looking for work, and are undercounted in employment statistics.

  7. Bankruptcy, once a second chance, is not an option any longer.

  8. Due to rampant greed and speculation, the housing market is way overvalued in many parts of the country.

  9. Anything made with Petroleum will skyrocket in price due to global production being unable to keep up with demand.

  10. The staggering cost of Bush’s War will cripple the Federal Government for decades and prevent federal assistance to Americans under all circumstances.

  11. Due to the price of gasoline going up markedly, the cost of groceries will also rise in dramatic fashion.

  12. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer are all made of petroleum. As the price and availability of petroleum becomes more problematic, the cost of food will also skyrocket.

  13. The rise in poverty rates among Americans is alarming at present and this will only grow more severe. Americans are already beginning to see starvation.

  14. The United States has ignored the very real threat of Global Warming and will be paying a heavy price, financially, physically, and emotionally due to massive storms and weather related incidents.

  15. Due to Bush’s lax or non-existent pollution laws, the average American is exposed to harmful levels of Arsenic, lead, PCB’s, Pesticides, Herbecides, and other toxins.

  16. Millions of Americans have no health insurance. Therefore they either avoid medical care as they cannot afford it, or they access care through the Emergency Room, one of the most expensive forms of medical care available.

  17. Corporations now fully write the laws of this country, obviously in their favor and harmful to American Citizens.
These are facts folks, they aren’t products of my paranoid imagination. These are major issues facing Americans today, and we are threatened with a predatory Corporate world with politicians who are so besotted with their own lust for power and money that they are absolutely indifferent to the plight of their own citizenry.

“Train Wreck”? Naw, it is much worse than that.

One last point, the Bush Adminstration has created a debt from the Iraq War that will cripple this country for generations:

Economists say cost of war could top $2 trillion
Tally exceeds White House projections
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | January 8, 2006

“WASHINGTON -- The cost of the Iraq war could top $2 trillion after factoring in long-term healthcare for wounded US veterans, rebuilding a worn-down military, and accounting for other unforeseen bills and economic losses, according to a new analysis to be presented today in Boston…”

These horrendous debts must be paid, and you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be the poor and middle class of this country who will pay them. The Bush Administration is doing every thing it can to destroy the financial hopes and plans of Americans, with the exception of the tiny minority of wealthy at the very top.

The trillions owed from this mistaken war will mean that there will be no government assistance, of any kind, at anytime.

These trillions in debt will mean that no matter what catastrophe strikes America, natural or manmade, there will be no federal assistance.

These trillions in debt mean that all government programs, excluding defense and military will be slashed or eliminated.

This is deliberate.

It would appear from these moves of the Bush Administration is that their true goal is to push the majority of Americans into abject poverty, while maintaining a ridge wealthy minority at the very top. There is a deliberate attempt to remove all vestiges of Democracy in this country, and substitute a Theocratic Fascist State. AFter all, a poor, starving and desperate people are also a docile and malleable people. Perfect fodder for petty tyrants and insane Relgious Ideologues:

Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Dobson, Robertson, Reed, Falwell, you know who they are.

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