Washington on the Economy: The Big Con

By Al Walsh

Obama, Geithner, Bernanke and the rest of the Washington cast of characters are basking in the afterglow of the G-20 summit and parading around the country:  patting themselves on the back for “saving civilization” and pronouncing that “the Recession is over”.

Yeah?  Really?      Let’s reconsider that.

The derivatives mess that was key to bringing the whole house-of-cards down is still with us.   One recent article valued it at over one quadrillion dollars.  We can’t know for sure, because it’s unregulated and no one’s talking.

The banks are still insolvent.  Creative accounting, with the government’s blessing, hides the extent of the rot.  Many experts say that more bank bailouts are coming.

The bank bailout created a whole new debt element that Main Street is expected to pick up the tab for.  One article predicted that the interest alone on the debt could amount to more than our total Gross Domestic Product.

Unemployment is awful and getting worse.  The true figures are much worse than the intentionally deceptive government data says.  The last estimate I saw was 16%+ nationally.  While Obama beats his chest and crows, fresh layoffs are being announced; such as Eli Lilly’s announcement of 5,500 more layoffs over the next two years.  I suppose that when we’ve finally all lost our jobs, the statistics will look great because there won’t be anyone left to get laid off.

The housing market has stabilized a bit, but there are more mortgage resets coming that will drag it down further.  Commercial real estate just continues to decline.

Consumers are expected to pick up demand and buy us out of the recession – but how?  They’re up to their necks in debt, out of work, and broke.  Adding insult to injury, the very banks who created this mess are gouging them with new banking & credit card fees.

There’s good reason why Gold & Silver are rising in value; despite government’s best covert efforts to hold them down.  The dollar’s been trashed, and is becoming a laughing-stock globally.   I just laugh when the Fed ”suits” keep talking about a “strong dollar policy”.  I’m starting to feel like a ”banana republic” citizen.

Wall Street pundits cheer whenever the stock markets show an uptick.  Keep in mind that the vast majority of market trading is institutional; by the very people who have the biggest vested interest in fooling the rest of us.  Gee, there couldn’t be any market-rigging going on, could there?  Nah, we only have free and open markets here in America (and if you believe that I’ve got the proverbial bridge to sell you).  I’m reminded of the time last year or the year before when Goldman Sachs was publicly recommending that investors sell their Gold (while secretly buying it for their own account).

I won’t even get into the growing “anti-business”, socialist tendencies of our government for decades that have done so much damage.  We voted these successive administrations in, and we deserve what we get.

Apparently Obama thinks that he can talk us out of recession by spreading rosy messages.  Mr. President, even if you could pull the wool over America’s eyes - they have few assets left to do anything with.

For decades, the Fed has been pulling our economic “butts out of the fire” of each bubble by pumping out even more money and creating new bubbles.  I think they’ve finally run their string.  Now we have a long way to go to dig ourselves out; the hard way.

I respectfully disagree with you President Obama, and consider it insulting that you think we’re so ignorant as to buy into your big con.

By the way, I sure would like to see that audit of the Fed which has been getting kicked around in Congress.  Actually, I’d like to see the Fed be audited, and then disbanded.  They’ve screwed up our economy and stolen from the pockets of the citizens long enough.  It’s time to put U.S. monetary policy into the hands of a true government agency; and out of the hands of self-serving bankers. While we’re at it, how about an audit of the Gold reserves.  Why all the secrecy?  What do you have to hide?  What have you “gentlemen” been up to for decades that you don’t want America to know?

I love America and don’t want to see the country endure any more pain, but I have to “call ‘em as I see ‘em”, and the fundamentals just don’t add up to the same story as the ‘Washington speak”.

Protect yourselves the best you can fellow citizens.  It’s going to be a long and bumpy ride.

Borrowing from the immortal words of Dennis Miller:   “It’s just my opinion.  I could be wrong.”

Of course, according to former President Carter, I’m just being a “racist” for daring to disagree with President Obama.  I actually feel sorry for the President that he has to endure this buffoon speaking in his name.  There seems to be no end to the silliness.  If only it wasn’t so expensive.