THE ECONOMY IS NOT RECOVERING - GET PREPARED

THE ECONOMY IS NOT RECOVERING - GET PREPARED

By: Devvy

December 28, 2014

NewsWithViews.com

To look at data being released by the Lying Machine out in Washington, DC., specifically minions who work for the criminal impostor in the Red House (formerly known as the White House), one would think happy days are here again!

I know it's tiresome and depressing to constantly read how bad things are economically in this country, but commerce runs the engine of our economy and our lives for it generates the income we all need to survive. It's also confusing because one doesn't know who or what to believe. However, is it not better to know the truth than to rely on an illusion? Truth from people who actually care what happens to we the people.

Intellectually lazy media hacks, some who actually pass themselves off as journalists, not only in the 'mainstream' media but also on cable networks are nothing more than good little toadies who prattle on about a growing economy without ever broaching the subject of the head of the beast, the privately owned "Federal" Reserve and what impact its had on our economy and daily lives for over 100 years. Oh, sure, once in a while one might see a headline about the "Fed" and raise a soft-ball question about how "they" manage our money and economy. But, for the most part, they simply stick to the script:

Everything Is Awesome! (Dec. 24, 2014): "Good news! The U.S. economy grew at a rollicking 5 percent rate in the third quarter. Oh, and it added 320,000 jobs in November, the best of its unprecedented 57 straight months of private-sector employment growth. Just in time for Christmas, the Dow just hit an all-time high and the uninsured rate is approaching an all-time low. Consumer confidence is soaring, inflation is low, gas prices are plunging, and the budget deficit is shrinking....

"This bah-humbug brand of moral superiority has flourished since the crisis: How dare you celebrate this or that piece of economic data when so many Americans are still hurting? It's awkward to argue with that view, since many Americans are indeed still hurting. But the economic data keep showing that fewer Americans are hurting every month. No one is satisfied with 5.8 percent unemployment, but it's way better than the 10 percent we had in 2010 or the 11 percent Europe has today. Declining child poverty and household debt and personal bankruptcies are also worth celebrating. Better is better than worse. Whether or not you think Obamacare had anything to do with the slowdown in medical cost growth, it's a good thing that Medicare's finances have improved dramatically, extending the solvency of its trust fund by an estimated 13 years."

Really? The deficit is shrinking? The deficit is the shortfall needed by the thieves in the Outlaw Congress to continue their lunatic spending. That deficit gets added to the debt through borrowing. That is not shrinking, it's growing faster than weeds. Paying Down The Debt Is Now Almost Mathematically Impossible

Consumer confidence is soaring? That's why so many of us contribute little to nothing to the economy except what we need, not want. Why? Because unlike the author of the piece above who must have been kissing the Blarney Stone lately, the real numbers tell a different story.

Fewer Americans are hurting every month? I guess that accounts for the continuing rise in the number of Americans on food stamps; closing in on 50 MILLION. Obamacare most certainly has hurt millions of Americans causing financial hardship from being forced into that monstrous mess, and oh by the way, did you see this one?

Obamacare’s Christmas surprise by Rep. Mark Meadows (December 19, 2014)

"If you like your health care plan, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has a Christmas surprise for you! When will this new present arrive? December 25th....CMS has proposed a new rule that includes an overly reaching provision allowing CMS to re-enroll anyone who has not made the annual trek back to healthcare.gov in a cheaper plan of CMS’ choosing. That's right, the government will choose your plan, perhaps limit access to your doctor, and ultimately make the decision on what is “best” for you.

"Not to worry, just like Lady Justice, who wears a blindfold when determining guilt or innocence, CMS will use a blindfold to pick your plan. The agency will select your plan without knowing your medical history. They will do so without knowing if you are currently undergoing treatment or working with a specific doctor. They will do so without knowing your financial status. Despite the fact that the millions of people who already enrolled chose the plan that they believed was best for them.

"CMS has laid the perfect trap: Sign up at healthcare.gov one time in your life and we will never let you go. If you don't continually re-enroll each and every year, CMS will keep you on the plan that it chooses because, after all, CMS knows what's best and they always make the best decision...

"To be clear, a citizen will sign up once for a private plan with a healthcare provider, only to have that plan changed by the federal government. Moreover, CMS will change your plan after the open enrollment period ends, leaving you and your family stuck with a potentially unwanted plan for the year." I encourage you to read all of the article if you are one of tens of millions forced into that unconstitutional Ponzi/taxing scheme.

As for the idea that Medicare's finances have improved dramatically, well, fiddle-dee-dee, let's just ignore the numbers. As I write this column Medicare's unfunded liabilities are $80,483,145,378,862. By the time I could write down those numbers on a piece of paper it jumped to $80, 483,146,986340. That's TRILLIONS of dollars. TRILLIONS. I also ask: What Medicare trust fund? You mean the one like Social Security? Oh, good. That's reassuring, but since there's no money in the U.S. Treasury each month for the payouts, it all comes from borrowing from our enemies like Communist China, printing up more worthless paper to pay off old debt to issue new debt.

The national debt created by the thieves in the Outlaw Congress and urged on by millions of Americans who now depend on all those government agencies to create unconstitutional, worthless jobs, is $18.4 TRILLION bux and climbing. That's awesome?

Not according to those who are not on the government payroll:

Expert: Obama economic surge built on doctored data - 'Suggestions that all is right again with the world are nonsense'

NEW YORK – "The White House appears determined to deliver in the president's upcoming State of the Union speech a ringing message that economic growth under Obama is robust, with the DOW topping 18,000 for the first time and the Bureau of Economic Analysis reporting last week revised estimates placing third-quarter growth at an impressive 5 percent.

"But critics, like ShadowStats.com econometrician John Williams, call it a smoke-and-mirrors illusion of economic data dishonestly calculated and reported to look rosy. Put simply, Williams, in the most recent edition of his subscription newsletter, argues that the developing White House narrative of “the strongest economic growth in a decade” is nonsense. He argues that the full economic recovery indicated by the real GDP numbers reported last week by BEA is “a statistical illusion created by using too-low a rate of inflation in deflating (removing inflation effects) from the GDP series.”

"Williams further argues “no other major economic series has shown a parallel pattern of official full economic recovery and meaningful expansion beyond, consistent with GDP reporting.” Williams’ analysis of retail sales, again adjusted to remove an artificially low rate of inflation, shows “a pattern of plunge and stagnation and renewed downturn, consistent with patterns seen in series such as consumer indicators like real median household income, the consumer confidence measures and in the unemployment and most housing statistics.”

"WND previously has reported that real unemployment in the U.S., measured by traditional definitions that include an estimate of those forced to drop out of the labor force because jobs are lacking and those seeking full-time employment who are forced to take part-time employment is closer to 23 percent, rather than the 5.8 percent the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in November, confirming Donald Trump's accusation that Obama’s jobless numbers are “phony.”

It's not just one person blasting the trumpet (although Williams is very good at what he does), it's many. Dr. Edwin Vieira, who was one of the first sources I ran across 24 years ago when I began my journey, has written exhaustively about the subject for over 35 years and written what should have been a Pulitzer prize winner: Pieces of Eight -The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United States Constitution. If you would like to further your knowledge about our debased monetary system and why it always brings down a country, constitutional attorney, Larry Becraft, has a whole section on money on his web site.

• Another Fabricated Jobs Report — Paul Craig Roberts
• You better believe it: Fisher Sees New Housing Bubble Signs, Warns of MBS Buys - "A top Federal Reserve official said on Thursday he is seeing signs of the United States re-entering a "housing bubble," and warned about the U.S. central bank's ongoing purchases of mortgage-based bonds."
• 5 U.S. Markets That Are Already Back in Housing Bubbles
• John Williams of ShadowStats debunks the myth of economic recovery
• New Global Crisis Imminent Due To “Poisonous Combination Of Record Debt And Slowing Growth", CEPR Report Warns
• What’s Really Going on Inside the Latest GDP Number

And, if you think what those rotten, corrupt Republicans did in passing the budget deal last month was bad, which it was (illegals and fully funding Obamacare), I highly recommend you read this one through: Meet Your Newest Legislator: Citigroup because it's an in-your-face set up for the next collapse. None of it constitutional, all of it designed to bankrupt you and me. Dead serious. They know what's coming.

In 2008, thieves in the Outlaw Congress stole hundreds of billions of dollars from we the people- all borrowed with the debt slapped on our backs - to unconstitutionally bail out banks. No where in Art. 1, Sec. 8 of the U.S. Constitution does it authorize the bandits in the Outlaw Congress to steal from you and me to loan or give one penny to private banks or automobile manufacturers. Not a penny. But, the banks were "too big to fail". You, me, our children and grand children on the other hand aren't 'too big to fail'. We are being driven into poverty to pay this massive debt shoved down our throats and keep the banking cartels pumping worthless paper. And, voters were so pleased with it all, they just reelected most of the same incumbents who were in the Outlaw Congress in 2008 who voted to further impoverish them.

Now, comes the next round; people had better be very afraid :

It's Official: "The Worldwide Bail-ins Are Coming. "On November 16, leaders of the G20 Group of Nations – the 20 largest economies – made an important decision. The world's megabanks now have official permission to pledge depositor accounts as collateral to make leveraged derivative bets. And if they lose a bet, the counterparty to the contract has first dibs on your money.

"But this proposal profoundly changes the rules for banking globally, and not in a good way. Deposits in banks that are “too big to fail” will be “promptly recapitalized” with their “unsecured debt.” This avoids those nasty taxpayer-funded bailouts that proved so politically unpopular during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

"And the largest chunk of unsecured debt is your bank deposits. Insolvent banks will recapitalize themselves by converting your deposits – checking accounts, but also money market accounts and CDs – into stock. Thus, when you deposit money in a bank, you're taking the same risk as someone buying a stock. Or, for that matter, betting on a horse named “Falling Star” at the local racetrack. Because, in effect, that's what banks are doing with your money."

Virtually ALL of the Big Banks’ Profits Come from Taxpayer Bailouts and Subsidies: "The government moved the arms and legs of the big banks to pretend they were still alive and have been doing so ever since. But they were no longer going concerns after they went bust. The government pumped blood back in these dead banks and turned them into zombies. They will never come back to life in a real sense … they are still zombies 3 years later. Many of the world’s leading economists and financial experts say that by choosing creditors over debtors, the government is dooming the economy. See this and this. The big zombie banks can never come back to life, and – by trying to save them – the government is bleeding out the little guy. By choosing the big banks over the little guy, the government is dooming both."

The B Word by The Mogambo Guru: "And now, thanks to new legislation by the Congress, the taxpayer is suddenly responsible for a massive, unbelievable $300 trillion in derivatives owned/financed by banks, because the economic system is now so dependent on corruption after corruption that nothing can change it, meaning that cash and credit (debt) will continue to be created in ever-increasing amounts so that the government will grow like a malignant cancer and the economy continue to sputter, until the economy collapses in a Huge Stinking Heap (HSH), as confidently predicted by Ludwig von Mises of the Austrian School of economics, which is (since you were too shy to ask) the only true theory of economics, and I spit (“ptui!”) on all the other stupid theories, the takeaway being that if you are NOT buying gold and silver with a frantic, manic urgency born of unrelenting hysterical fear, then there is something very wrong with you."

What's underway is like a huge hurricane forming and it is going to slam this country. For decades countless individuals have been warning about the "Fed' and the disabilities of our monetary. It is the subject which caught my attention big time 24 years ago. America 'Crossed the Rubicon' a long time ago. The lying thieves in the Outlaw Congress (with a few exceptions like Dr. Ron Paul) have refused to abolish the head of the beast, the "Fed", and so we have come full circle. The herds will be devastated while wailing, "How come no one told us?"

In an effort to mitigate the destruction, years ago, Dr. Edwin Vieira began his concentrated effort on trying to get certain states of the Union to protect their citizens by passing constitutional sound money bills into law. In my column, Second Critical Bill for Your State Legislature - 2013 Session, I have again outlined the problem and given you the solution along with exhibits to get to your state rep and senator. Here we are over two years down the road with no states that I'm aware of getting prepared for what's going to hit and it will hit the states big time. There is still some time left if the states act, but they better get off the dime and quit ignoring reality.

I have written about the massive amount in pension liabilities being carried by the states as have many others. Even the CBO, the non partisan Congressional Budget Office has issued a warning: The Underfunding of State and Local Pension Plans: "By any measure, nearly all state and local pension plans are underfunded, which means that the value of the plans’ assets is less than their accrued pension liabilities for current workers and retirees."

Think this has changed since 2011? How can it with more folks retiring and not enough dying? Pension Tsunami, Record Federal Spending Increase U.S. Debts by $4.2 Trillion; State Debts Explode:

"But that's just the federal shortfall. States, too, have trillions in unfunded pension obligations, which they use funny accounting methods to conceal, resulting in states claiming to have just a small fraction of the unfunded pension liabilities they actually have. State pension obligations have repeatedly been expanded in ways that were supposedly “revenue neutral," but which any honest legislator could see would actually cost taxpayers countless millions. Under one such expansion, a Philadelphia councilwoman recently "retired" from her position for just a couple days in order to collect a $478,000 pension, then returned to office on January 2. She took advantage of a pension-law change that was “touted as being 'revenue neutral’" when it was introduced. “It's been anything but that. Since its introduction, Philadelphia's DROP program has cost the city $258 million in extra pension costs over a decade, according to a 2010 Boston College study.

Well, this is likely to come to your state in the not too distant future:

Kansas Governor Proposes Using Pension Money to Cover Budget Gaps Created By His Tax Cuts - (December 15, 2014)

"In 2012, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed a landmark bill that delivered big tax cuts to high income earners and businesses. Less than two years after that tax cut, the state's income tax revenues plummeted by a quarter-billion dollars -- and now Brownback is pushing to use money for public employees’ pensions to instead cover the state's ensuing budget shortfalls. Brownback's proposal: Slash the state's required pension contribution by $40 million to balance the state budget. But Kansas already has one of the worst-funded pension systems in the nation. The state was also recently sanctioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission for not accurately disclosing the shortfalls.

"Brownback, an icon of tea party economics who was re-elected in 2014, defended his proposal to divert money from the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS), telling the Wichita Eagle: “It's kind of, uh, well where are you going to go for the funds? And I don't like it, but it's kind of what's your other option if you don't hit K-12 and higher ed with allotments?”

When hack politicians like Brownback get in charge of your money with a little help from their friends in the legislature, the end result is always the same: YOU get screwed. As for "tea party economics", that's a new one to me. A lot of Americans who belong to tea party chapters have become knowledgeable about the problem with fiat currency and the "Fed", but sadly, most don't. Hopefully, in the future they will learn as I did so long ago.

State legislatures go back into session week after next. The time for getting bills into the hopper for the upcoming session - which in states like Texas, Montana, Nevada and North Dakota are not only short, when they go out of session, they don't come back until 2017 - has passed. But, all state legislatures have the option of getting emergency legislation introduced or even call a special session. Is your state legislature addressing the money issue? What about your state pension? Your 401(k) for the "golden years" - what backs up the paper? The time to find out is now.

Arrogant and uninformed state reps and senators throughout the land are playing with fire while they go about business as usual. Budgets and new legislation to wade through while the 800-pound gorilla sits smiling in the middle of the floor.

• “But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
• "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
• "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
• "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here.” ? Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

The madness is believing the day of reckoning for all the massive debt - including taxing schemes like SS, Medicare and "free" prescription pills - won't come because somehow, someone in a position of power is going to ride in on the proverbial white horse and save everyone's bacon. People hope things will get better. I read a line in a book recently: "Hope sits on the shelf collecting dust." It's boots on the ground that gets the job done, but when you have blind legislators in the state houses and crooks in the Outlaw Congress, it usually takes a catastrophe to wake them up. Well, maybe not since the core problems of what happened in 2008 still have not been fixed spelling future disaster and a bigger repeat of what happened back then.

The "Fed" continues to print worthless confetti to pay off old debt that can't be paid off because there's no money in the people's purse. Is that not madness? It is the only reason the big 'whoosh' hasn't hit, but how long can it go on? You can only put so much air in a balloon before it bursts.

We frequently hear, "Are you better off than four years ago?" during the campaign "season". Are you? Better off than two years ago? How much more will the criminal enterprise in Washington, DC steal from your paycheck in 2015 to fund the madness? Are you living paycheck to paycheck? What will you live on in retirement? Social security and a pension or retirement fund backed by worthless paper? Will past predictions like the ones in the column below come true?

Speeches Ignore Impending U.S. Debt Disaster by Carolyn Lochhead, September 12, 2004: "Laurence Kotlikoff, Economics Chairman at Boston University, who has written abundantly on this subject, offers up a shocking response on how to close a $51 trillion dollar fiscal gap: "To give you idea how big the problem is, you'd have to have an immediate and permanent 78 percent hike in the federal income tax." More than double the payroll tax, immediately and forever, from 15.3 percent of wages to nearly 32 percent; Raise income taxes by two thirds (roughly 78%), immediately and forever; Cut Social Security and Medicare benefits by 45 percent, immediately and forever;"

That $51 TRILLION dollar fiscal gap is now $212 TRILLION and growing. Is this not madness?

When I started this column Medicare's unfunded liabilities was $80,483,145, 378, 862. That's almost $80.5 TRILLION dollars. I'm finished and catching the numbers as they rack up faster than a slot machine, the debt is: $80,484,271,260,537. Another billion in debt in just a few hours. Where is the money going to come from? How much more of your paycheck? Throw in 20-30 million liars, cheats and thieves (illegal aliens) and what do you think will happen to the numbers? The big squeeze is on and it will continue until "shop 'til you drop" brings reality under the noses of the herds who pay little or no attention to what's going on around them in their pursuit of tweeting, texting, sexting or just plain heads up the dark tunnel syndrome.

I can only encourage everyone to take the time to assess your assets and encourage you to buy gold (and some silver) because it's the only real money and unlike politicians, it doesn't lie. Right now gold is low so its a good buy. This is a very good interview with James Turk about currencies and the war going on most Americans know nothing about. Gold is not an ATM machine. It's a long term investment as a hedge against inflation. When panic starts and demand goes through the roof, availability will be zilch.

Sadly, I can no longer recommend my dear friend of over 16, years, Harvey Gordin to help you with purchasing precious metals. Quite unexpectedly, Harvey passed away from a heart attack on November 19, 2014, sitting at the kitchen table with his wife. It was over in a minute; he didn't suffer in the sense one thinks about a heart attack. Gosh, I miss him and his cheery phone calls.