Message-ID: <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAFqpzsOKmxRKjJMqgamkxWfCgAAAEAAAAGqP6vc49fxBg8V+SMWuPk8BAAAAAA==@hendohome.com>
Date: Mon Dec 19 13:21:13 2005
From: hendo at hendohome.com (Dennis Henderson)
Subject: .An uncontrolled fiscal crisis.. America.s
	futureunder George Bush.

<Spraying Full can of Bullshit Repellent on this>.

Total crap.. 

If you believe any of this, you probably day-trade your 401k...

Move on people... Nothing to see here... 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: J.A. Terranson [mailto:measl@....org] 
> Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 2:26 AM
> To: Full-Disclosure
> Subject: [Full-disclosure] .An uncontrolled fiscal crisis.. 
> America.s futureunder George Bush.
> 
> 
> While we're debunking George...
> 
> 
> http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Apr05/Whitney0411.htm
> 
>  The Economic Tsunami: Sooner Than You Think by Mike Whitney 
> www.dissidentvoice.org April 11, 2005
> 
> Send this page to a friend! (click here)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .If the world's central bankers accumulate fewer dollars, the 
> result would be an unrelenting American need to borrow in the 
> face of an ever weaker dollar -- a recipe for higher interest 
> rates and higher prices. The economic repercussions could 
> unfold gradually, resulting in a long, slow decline in living 
> standards. Or there could be a quick unraveling, with the 
> hallmarks of an uncontrolled fiscal crisis..
> 
> -- New York Times editorial, 4/2/05
> 
> It seems that there are a growing number of people who 
> believe, as I do, that the economic tsunami planned by the 
> Bush administration is probably only months away. In just 
> five short years the national debt has increased by nearly $3 
> trillion while the dollar has continued its precipitous 
> decline. The dollar has fallen a whopping 38% since Bush took 
> office, due largely to the massive $450 billion per year tax 
> cuts. At the same time, numerous laws have been passed 
> (Patriot Act, Intelligence Reform Bill, Homeland Security 
> Bill, National ID, Passport requirements etc) anticipating 
> the need for greater repression when the economy takes its 
> inevitable nosedive. Regrettably, that nosedive looks to be 
> coming sooner rather than later.
> 
> The administration is currently putting as much pressure as 
> possible on OPEC to ratchet up the flow of oil another 1 
> million barrels per day (well over capacity) to settle down 
> nervous markets and buy time for the planned bombing of Iran 
> in June. Like Fed Chief Alan Greenspan.s artificially low 
> interest rates, the manipulation of oil production is a way 
> of concealing how dire the situation really is. Rising prices 
> at the pump signal an upcoming recession (depression?) so the 
> administration is pulling out all the stops to meet the 
> short-term demand and maintain the illusion that things are 
> still okay. (Bush would rather avoid massive popular unrest 
> until his battle plans for Iran are carried out)
> 
> But, of course, things are not okay. The country has been 
> intentionally plundered and will eventually wind up in the 
> hands of its creditors as Bush and his lieutenants planned 
> from the very beginning. Those who don.t believe this should 
> note the methodical way that the deficits have been produced 
> at (around) $450 billion per year; a systematic and orderly 
> siphoning off of the nation.s future. The value of the dollar 
> and the increasing national debt follow exactly the same 
> (deliberate) downward trajectory.
> 
> This same Ponzi scheme has been carried out repeatedly by the 
> IMF and World Bank throughout the world; Argentina being the 
> last dramatic illustration. (Argentina.s economic collapse 
> occurred when its trade deficit was running at 4%; right now 
> ours is at an unprecedented 6%.) Bankruptcy is a fairly 
> straightforward way of delivering valuable public assets and 
> resources to collaborative industries, and of annihilating 
> national sovereignty. After a nation is successfully driven 
> to destitution, public policy decisions are made by creditors 
> and not by representatives of the people. (Enter Paul Wolfowitz)
> 
> Did Americans really believe they could avoid a similar fate?
> 
> If so, they.d better forget about it, because the hammer is 
> about to come down big-time, and the collateral damage will be huge.
> 
> The Bush administration is mainly comprised of 
> internationalists. That doesn.t mean that they .hate 
> America,. simply that they are committed to bringing America 
> into line with the .new world order. and an economic regime 
> that has been approved by corporate and financial elites alike.
> Their patriotism extends no further than the garish 
> tri-colored flag on their lapel. The catastrophe that middle 
> class Americans face is what these elites breezily refer to 
> as .shock therapy.: a sudden jolt, followed by fundamental 
> changes to the system. In the near future we can expect tax 
> reform, fiscal discipline, deregulation, free capital flows, 
> lowered tariffs, reduced public services, and privatization. 
> In other words, a society entirely designed to service the 
> needs of corporations.
> 
> There are a number of signs that the economy is close to 
> meltdown-stage.
> Even with cheap energy, low interest rates and $450 billion 
> in borrowed revenue pumped into the system each year, the 
> economy is still barely treading water. This has a lot to due 
> with the colossal shifting of wealth brought on by the tax 
> cuts. Supply side, trickle down theories have been widely 
> discredited and Bush.s tax cuts have done nothing to 
> stimulate the economy as promised. Now, with oil tilting 
> towards $60 per barrel, the economic landscape is changing 
> quickly, and shock waves are already being felt throughout 
> the country.
> 
> The Iraq war has contributed considerably to our current 
> dilemma. The conflict has taken nearly one million barrels of 
> Iraqi oil per day off line (the exact amount that the 
> administration is trying to replace by pressuring OPEC). In 
> other words, the astronomical prices at the pump are the 
> direct result of Bush.s war. The media has failed to report 
> on the negative affects the war has had on oil production, 
> just as they have obscured the incredibly successful 
> insurgent strategy of destroying pipelines. This isn.t a 
> storyline that plays well to the American public, who 
> expected that Iraq would be paying for its own reconstruction by now.
> Instead, the resistance is striking back at the empire.s 
> Achilles heel (America.s need for massive amounts of cheap 
> oil) and it's having a damaging affect on the US economy.
> 
> Just as the economy cannot float along with sharp increases 
> in oil prices, so too Bush.s profligate deficits threaten the 
> dollar.s status as the world.s reserve currency. This is much 
> more serious than a simple decline in the value of the 
> dollar. If the major oil producers convert from the dollar to 
> the euro, the American economy will sink almost overnight. If 
> oil is traded in euros then central banks around the world 
> would be compelled to follow and America will be required to 
> pay off its enormous
> $8 trillion debt. That, of course, would be doomsday for the 
> American economy. But, a recent report indicates that 
> two-thirds of the world.s 65 central banks have already 
> .begun to move from dollars to euros.. The Bush plan to 
> savage the dollar has been telegraphed around the world and, 
> as the New York Times says, .the greenback has nowhere to go 
> but down..
> There.s only one thing that the administration can do to 
> ensure that energy dealers keep trading in dollars.control 
> the flow of oil. That means that an attack on Iran is nearly 
> a certainty.
> 
> The difficulties facing both the dollar and the economy are 
> not insurmountable. The world has been more than willing to 
> compensate for America.s wasteful spending as long as America 
> shows itself to be a responsible steward of the global 
> economy. However, the administration.s military and economic 
> recklessness suggests that some of the key players on the 
> world stage (particularly Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Germany, 
> France, China, Brazil) are collaborating on an alternate 
> plan, a contingency plan.
> If Iran is bombed in an unprovoked act of aggression, we will 
> certainly see this plan activated. The most likely scenario 
> would be a quick switch to the euro that would have grave 
> implications for the American economy (Russia has already 
> indicated that it will do this). For Iran, an attack would 
> justify arming disparate terrorist organizations with the 
> weaponry they need to attack American and Israeli interests 
> wherever they may be.
> In any event, an unprovoked attack will dispel the remaining 
> illusions about Bush.s war against terror and confirm to 
> everyone that we are engaged in a new world war; a conflict 
> for global domination.
> Tough Years Ahead
> 
> The neoliberal chickens have come home to roost. America has 
> become the latest staging ground for the eccentric economic 
> policies of the Washington Consensus. The towering national 
> debt coupled with the staggering trade deficits have put the 
> nation on a precipice and a seismic shift in the fortunes of 
> middle-class Americans is looking more likely all the time. 
> The New York Times summarized the country.s prospects like this:
> 
> .The economic repercussions could unfold gradually, resulting 
> in a long, slow decline in living standards. Or there could 
> be a quick unraveling, with the hallmarks of an uncontrolled 
> fiscal crisis..
> 
> .An uncontrolled fiscal crisis.. America.s future under George Bush.
> 
> We are facing years of collective struggle ahead. If there.s 
> a quick fix, I have no idea what it might be.
> 
> Mike Whitney lives in Washington state, and can be reached at:
> fergiewhitney@....com.
> 
> 

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