“US leaders gamble with the worlds most trusted asset” . . . and lose ???
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[i][b]Photo Above[/b] - A "disturbance" breaks out among inmates at Folsom Prison as a song by Johnny Cash reminds them how everyone gets screwed. [b]Not shown[/b] - disturbances breaking out among voters on our debt crisis. [/i]
There's so much wrong with this headline (see link above) I don't know where to begin.
First of all, our current leaders (Biden and McCarthy?) are hardly the ones who created this mess. Nor are they the clowns that any sane person would pick to fix it. The $31.4 trillion national debt ($250,000 per taxpayer) has been building for eons. Let's concede that 2021 and 2022 did see some of the most absurd government spending ever. If America's financial reputation is, indeed, “our most important asset”, why even trust it some random president and congress who happen to get elected in an even numbered year?
Wait – we don't do that? We don't have our money controlled by them? Then now DOES it work?
The US financial system is managed by UNELECTED bureaucrats. Not politicians who we can hold accountable on election day. This would explain so much. Except how we now owe $250,000 each in federal debt. Here's my theory on how we got here.
[b]The Federal Reserve Chairman is appointed. [/b]From a crew of Fed governors, who themselves are appointed. To 14 year terms, in odd numbered years. This is supposed to appear bipartisan. But does zero to ensure competence. One of the Federal Reserve governors succeeded in driving his own bank into insolvency this year. This should serve as a wakeup call, eh?
[b]The FDIC Chairman is appointed to a 5 year term[/b]. Again, because he wears a non-partisan uniform. His job is to use FDIC money (actually, our money) to bail out banks which fall into a hole and die. His job is also to send in examiners to detect and end risky practices, to prevent banks from falling into a hole and dying in the first place. Well, THAT'S been going really well, hasn't it?
[b]The Secretary of the Treasury[/b] – this year our Treasury Secretary is 77 year old Janet Yellen. Nominated by the more mature President Biden. Some people would say “give her a break, she's a woman and she's new at this – only been on the job for 2 years”. Think again – Janet first began working at the Federal Reserve over 50 years ago. Been there at least four times. In between she's variously been: a Harvard professor; chair of the Council of Economic Advisors; a professor at University of California Berkeley; a Brookings Institution think tank expert . . . If you want to find someone's fingerprints on this financial mess, Janet's are everywhere, going back 50 years. Her signature is also on every dollar bill in your wallet.
[b]The Comptroller of the Currency – [/b]flies under everyone's radar. Can you even name him? (Michael Hsu.) His direct supervisor is Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. But she has almost no power over him. The Comptroller is nominated by the president – ALSO for a 5 year term - to appear non-partisan. But that doesn't necessarily mean that he's in cahoots with those 5 year FDIC guys. Even though his job sounds similar:[i] “to investigate misconduct committed by institution-affiliated parties of national banks, including officers, directors, employees, . . . “[/i]
Okay – those 4 appointees should be enough to get the job done, right? But wait, there's a bunch MORE federal agencies with their fingers in the money pie. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – created after the 2008 banking system meltdown. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. A special regulator for Credit Unions, and another for mortgage lenders. The Securities and Exchange Commission; the Congressional Budget Office. The Government Accountability Office (aka Government Accounting Office); the Council of Economic Advisors; the Office of Management and Budget; the Office of Economic Policy; the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Not to be confused with the similarly named “Office of Financial Stability” . . . and 50 state banking regulators too, of course.
If you concluded that responsibility for this mess is spread so thin as to be almost nonexistent - you get a gold star. Quick . . who would you actually blame any specific thing? None of these appointed geeks actually does anything other than preside over staff spending money that doesn't even belong to them. Of course, that's how we ended up in debt over our eyeballs. And these guys are all saying [i]“no problemo – just raise the spending limit so I can get back to work and stop answering your annoying questions”[/i]. (Janet Yellen, I'm looking at you). I just made that quote up. But that's the vibe coming out of the White House, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and congress, isn't it?
Actual leaders - in a democracy - are accountable to voters. The appointed bureaucrats aren't. And the few people who ARE elected to their jobs (the president, leaders of the senate and house) probably can't balance their own checkbooks. Biden isn't even allowed to drive, or go to the bathroom by himself these days.
We now have the highest interest rates in a generation. The highest inflation rate too. Record spending on everything imaginable – defense, welfare, education, healthcare, infrastructure, social security, spotted owls . . . and we still have homeless camps 2 miles long.
Yesterday a deal was reached to increase the national debt – and government spending. Hooray - we are saved!
[b][i]“Ask everybody who ain't asleep to stand right up and yell . . .” *[/i][/b]
* lyrics to “Hey Porter”, the first song written by Johnny Cash (1954). Ry Cooder's cover of this song may be more compelling than Cash's original version though.
The debt pays obligations already made via the budgetary process.
The reality is that Republicans have been playing a game for a very long time: complain about the budget, but cut INCOME in *spite* of debt.
If you already have debt, is cutting income going to make your problem BETTER?
Remember, Trump cut a death tax which only hit those with the ability to pay, and lowered other taxes on the highest earners in discredited-yet-classic trickle-down theory.
Look at who increased wealth during the pandemic. Not the middle class, the billionaires.
@SomeMichGuy if you already have absurdly excessive debt, better not to keep adding to it. we can't undo past wasteful spending. we can stop it in the future, however.
So the bottom line is that its "Business as usual" while the tour bus plunges over the cliff and the crash (when it comes) will be even bigger. Of course, when it comes the timing will be chosen by someone who doesnt have Americas best interests at heart..😷
@SusanInFlorida We can absolutely agree that..And coming at that from either end, we can look at the lobbying and political donation system from the election end and the fact that any representative who dares to tell Americans they are living beyoind their means and are going to lose that game wont stand a chance at the ballot box..😷
@whowasthatmaskedman i have some nuances here. few people agree with all of them.
1. lobbying should be legal. but all lobbyist meetings with officials and their staffs should have 48 hours advance notice and be open to the public, including the press. 2. remove the dollar limit on campaign donations. but make each donor's name and address public within 24 hours of cashing the check. All PAC officers will be listed if that donation came from a group instead of a natural person. 3. Prohibit campaign appearances in churches, or at workplaces during business hours. It is okay for a business owner or a holy man to rent a hall and invite a candidate to speak at other times. 4. All foreign checks - for any reason - received by a candidate, his wife, his kids, his grandkids - must be disclosed to the public. Name of the giver, as well as the relationship between the giver and the recipient. This especially applies to: "corporate board memberships"; "consulting fees"; "speaking appearances"; "donations to any foundation or charity chaired by or named after the politician in question". 5. All late payments of taxes must be disclosed - not just income tax, but property tax, business taxes, etc.. As well as a decade's worth of tax returns and medical treatments.
@SusanInFlorida In the spirit of compromise I can see that a full tax audit on each Representative and their immediate family would fix at least half of that.. Bit regarding donatioons there is always a way around. Like "suggesting" to a church congregation that theu donate to a prefered candidate. And with the televangelists thats a lot. To me this boils down to the idea thatanyone holding authority in the community. (and lets include the police) needs to agree to be under greater scrutiny, since they have their hand in the publics pocket..😷
