About Me

In writing the "About Me" portion of this blog I thought about the purpose of the blog - namely, preventing the growth of Socialism & stopping the Death Of Democracy in the American Republic & returning her to the "liberty to abundance" stage of our history. One word descriptions of people's philosophies or purposes are quite often inadequate. I feel that I am "liberal" meaning that I am broad minded, independent, generous, hospitable, & magnanimous. Under these terms "liberal" is a perfectly good word that has been corrupted over the years to mean the person is a left-winger or as Mark Levin more accurately wrote in his book "Liberty & Tyranny" a "statist" - someone looking for government or state control of society. I am certainly not that & have dedicated the blog to fighting this. I believe that I find what I am when I consider whether or not I am a "conservative" & specifically when I ask what is it that I am trying to conserve? It is the libertarian principles that America was founded upon & originally followed. That is the Return To Excellence that this blog is named for & is all about.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Standard & Poors' Projection - Right On Schedule

"Just last month Standard & Poors projected that they would lower America's Triple A bond rating by 2012 if America's financial outlook continued to deteriorate - S&P cited growing government health care costs & specifically called out that Medicare Part D worsened the outlook."  Some long time readers of these messages may remember these words I posted on July 13, 2006.  The events of this week show that America is right on schedule for the bond downgrade & all of the problems for you & me that ensue.
 
Thanks to a long time member of our group (who probably remembers the above passage) for sending along the chart below that provides some statistics re America's current financial condition - everything that is up should be down & vice versa.
 
As BO continues full force unimpeded with his social compact plans for America we will become all too familiar with the terms - default, insolvency, haircut, bankrupt, & worst yet defunct.
 
 Here is the "change" promised 2 years later-----

January 2009
TODAY

% chg.

Source

Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S.
$1.79
$3.59

100.6%

1
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel)
$43.48
$99.02

127.7%

2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel)
$38.70
$108.38

180.0%

2
Gold: London (per troy oz.)
$853.25
$1,414.50

65.5%

2
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL
$3.56
$6.33

78.1%

2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL
$9.66
$13.75

42.3%

2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. fob
$13.37
$35.39

164.7%

2
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall
7.6%
9.4%

23.7%

3
Unemployment rate, blacks
12.6%
15.8%

25.4%

3
Number of unemployed
11,616,000
14,485,000

24.7%

3
Number of fed. employees, ex. military (curr = 12/10 prelim)
2,779,000
2,840,000

2.2%

3
Real median household income (2008 v 2009)
$50,112
$49,777

-0.7%

4
Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10)
31,983,716
43,200,878

35.1%

5
Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10)
7,526,598
9,193,838

22.2%

6
Number of long-term unemployed
2,600,000
6,400,000

146.2%

3
Poverty rate, individuals (2008 v 2009)
13.2%
14.3%

8.3%

4
People in poverty in U.S. (2008 v 2009)
39,800,000
43,600,000

9.5%

4
U.S. rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings
5
9

n/a

10
Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10)
29.9
23.5

-21.4%

11
Failed banks (curr = 2010 + 2011 to date)
140
164

17.1%

12
U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate (This is even after the earthquake.)
89.76
85.03

-5.6%

2
U.S. money supply, M1, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)
1,575.1
1,865.7

18.4%

13
U.S. money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)
8,310.9
8,871.3

6.7%

13
National debt, in trillions
$10.627
$14.278

34.4%

14
Just take this last item:  In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history. Over 27 times as fast!
Metaphorically, speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets
past you in the left lane 27 times faster . . . it would be doing 1,755 MPH! This is a disaster!
Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury

 

2 comments:

  1. BO’s ‘social compact’ may be part of his extreme ideology and drive to level ‘playing field’ for all in US and for leveling the US comparatively in the world. This is our 21st Century Karl Marx, a Saul Alinksy disciple.

    Left unchecked the US dollar will collapse. Then the IMF / G20 may rescue the US economy with a coordinated debt restructuring. This may include severe entitlements’ ‘haircuts’. At first, BO may gleam with delight and proclaim that capitalism killed the US and world economy. BO may then expect a promotion – global leader of an economic New World Order (NOW). No way! The IMF and G20 will bluntly rebuke him and ask that he organize communities again. The IMF understands that the private economy must be re-established and allowed to thrive.

    The economic NOW may struggle for several years. However new technologies plus global nanny state destruction will catapult the world economy to unprecedented heights.

    BO cannot comprehend this. He has never created a dollar of genuine wealth. Finally his days of influence are waning every day as our public debt daily increases by 4-5 trillion. Soon, however, Capitalism will thrive as never before!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You figure it out. The day S&P came out with report - DJ down at one point over 400 points. Following days DJ up a lot. Go figure.

    ReplyDelete